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:: Friday, June 06, 2008 ::

MemeP3 Friday

The Dop has hit me up with a meme. I'm always unsure about what to do with these. Fraser Lewry over at Blogjam would point out that this is "merely hapless blog sewage ... that makes my hopeless shitsack of a website look up-to-date."

On the other hand, I'm quite interested in the transfer of memes, the way ideas pass from generation to generation. The idea of memes themselves is a perfect example. Richard Dawkin's popularised the idea in The Selfish Gene, where they were used as a literary example of how collective memory is transferred in a way similar to biological genes (hence the cumbersome rhyme). He then stood back and watch from the sidelines as others ran with the idea, analysing everything from religion and folk music to humour and fashion from this perspective. There are now books dedicated to meme theory itself.

This meme is not one of those ideas. It's one of the "fill in the blanks" exercises, no more interesting than a chain letter, which might tell the reader something about my personal life, or at least how I chose to present that in public. A useful exercise for you in armature psychoanalysis but represents nothing in terms of the study of the evolution of ideas.

Anyway, I digress. The meme says:

‘List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to’.

(Why seven?)

Some after less deliberation than was given to my opening gambit, here they are:

dEUS – The Architect from the album Vantage Point (V2) [see Goatlab Radioshow below]
Everyone's favourite Belgian rock outfit mount a triumphant return with this disco enthused anthem to special geometry. Just look at these lyrics:

He said:
"I won't throw myself from the pier
I'm gonna go home and shut up for a year
And when the year is over I'll reappear
And have a solution"

I've reason to believe that what I find
Is gonna change the face of humankind
And all these years before, well I was blind
That's my conclusion

Cause I'm the architect

And so he drew himself a pentagon
Thinking it through a geodesic dome
From the coast of Tahiti to the hills of Rome
Step aside cause the man will take the Nobel Prize home

Now you show me The Streets or The Arctic Monkeys tackling issues like that. They can't think outside of their own heads or that of some chavvy street urchin. There's no way they would be writing songs about architects with egotistic designs on a Nobel Prize. This is the big picture. This is what it should be about.

Marillion – Kayleigh from the album Misplaced Childhood [youtube link]

Epic 80s prog rock ballad action here. It's like punk never happened. This popped-up on a charity shop find compilation tape Mrs P bought for the car and it's been stuck in my head for months now. I love the guitar sounds on it and the repeated refrains in teh lyrics, "do you remember...", "by the way...", "I never meant to break your heart." And that "dancing in stilletoes in the snow" image I referred to last week when Decal used the line as a song title.

Amnesia – Celsius from the album Hysteria (Boy Records Spain)

Thanks to Brendon in the office who dug this classic out of his record bag and asked if I'd mind dusting it off (and ripping it to CD while I was at it). This is proto-new-beat from 1988. As the discogs reviewer states

“Not Electro, not EBM, not Acid, not House, but a bit of all of those and more: This is one of the first true Techno full length albums with a distinctive European sound. Of course, this has to be called a typical New Beat release, but it only shows how New Beat was an important predecessor for the european sort of Techno, Trance and Hardcore.”

The album is horribly dated but it's often refreshing to return to the source. I dropped into in a DJ set at the last Goatlab and it went down well. In fact, it wen't down better than most of the rest of it!

DJ Rainbow Ejaculation - Allmygaysarefriendsodetotheblueoysterrainbow [Maladroit Remix] (forthcoming on Cock Rock Disco / Death$ucker) [see Goatlab Radioshow below]

I crack up every time I hear this. The whole album is outragous but this is the stand out track. YMCA-breakcore. I opened the last Goatlab radio show with it, see below.

Stallio – The Future Sound of Retro from the Mash Smater Not Harder MP3 release on Bad Taste [see Goatlab Radioshow below]

Again, I also played this on the last radio show. Like Ronseal, this does exaclty what it says on the tin. Mash-ups that are cleaverly put together to show how songs can be constructed, rather than just speeding it up and whacking soem frantic beats on top. Brilliant remix work.

PJ Harvey – Grow Grow Grow from White Chalk (Island)

Haunting tune from what is probably Polly's must involving album. Here's a live video from the Colston Hall gig on teh day the album was released last year that I reviewed here. I didn't realise how long ago this was. The album has been on heavy rotation all that time. (Chatting with Lou Syntheme shortly afterwards I found out she was at the same gig. Dorset girls gotta stick together.)



Exillon – Darkassid from It's OK To Dance (Ad Noiseam)

Jay gave me a copy of this album when he played Goatlab in February. Along with The Doubful Guest, who also played that night, and Syntheme, who played in April, I've really got into acid again recently. I've picked this track as a favourtie as it reminds my so much of early Chemical Brothers, and where I wish they had developed on to.

I'm short of suggestions of people to pass this on to, but I'd like to know what Natali, Armin, 606, Skip and Ripley would pick.

Here's the often plugged Goatlab Radio with Gusset, Parasite & special guests Syntheme & Toecutter - May 2008 [71MB MP3]

Tracklist:

1. DJ Rainbow Ejaculation - Allmygaysarefriendsodetotheblueoysterrainbow [Maladroit Remix] (Death$ucker/Cock Rock Disco)
2. dEUS - The Architect (Island)
3. Stallio - The Future Sound of Retro (MP3)
4. Syntheme - Ceedee (Planet Mu)
5. Komar & Melamid - The Most Unwanted Song (MP3)
6. Toecutter - Music Sounds Better With Me (Death$ucker)
7. UnTrKmind - Cornerway (ARP)
8. Toecutter - Best Party Ever (Bang Gang 12")
9. Odan - Quinckes Boob (ARP)

Update:
Choices from Parasite and Saturine

Labels: GoatLab, MP3

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