Hey there, you naughty children. Now that you’ve had nap time, I can tell you a story. Monsieur Milk and I were bonding over a song he posted in an open thread, and we decided to have a chat about this ‘n’ that.
Miss Anita: So what’s new in your musical zoo? The original track you posted in the open thread intrigued me, because I’m always looking for new sounds I haven’t heard.
Monsieur Milk: This is just dancey stuff I have been listening to lately, there’s still a lot of new non-dance music that’s in my library. The only theory I have been throwing around recently as to why there’s not a crazy amount of new music I listen to these days is that given the delivery state of new music today, artists aren’t given time to breathe, their music is crushed under the weight of singles being produced by the noise of every man and his dog posting stuff on the Internet.
The single from their album is released to YouTube, the people consume it till it has lost its flavour and the other tracks on the album are forgotten. New artists aren’t given enough time to develop their sound, so rather than progress their original sound from their first album, they try to reinvent themselves with a new fresh sound. There are only a couple of bands off the top of my head that have resisted this in one way or another and have made great second albums, such as Tame Impala and Ariel Pink. Most of the other bands I can think of that are still producing interesting music established themselves before the dominance of the web.
First up, the requisite Kylie Minoque track. Kylie’s one of those “shared” artists, right? Favored by gay boys and straight boys alike.
Gerling featuring Kylie Minogue: G-House Project
Miss Anita: We always love Kylie, and it’s obvious this Gerling track is a floor-filler, when it’s not captured off of a web stream, as it was for the video you linked to. Two questions about this. Do you have a longer version? And, have you heard any of the Kylie remixes / mashups put out by Go Home Productions, because this Gerling track is giving me a strong GHP vibe?
Monsieur Milk: Gerling were a Sydney from band of my youth, a lot of guitar and electronic stuff. They popularised a certain look, which when their first album came out every one at our school copied for a couple of years. The uniform was a baggy white Tee with a extremely slouched Caribee backpack so it almost hit the back of your knees when you walked.
In the early 2000s Kylie’s was recording collaborations with few famous Australian indie bands as part of a record label connection, so there are some more hidden Kylie gems out there on the Internet. This one sadly seems to be the only version they made from what I can find… I have heard a couple of tracks from GHP when mashups were a bigger thing around 2007, but I have kinda of dropped off them as of late.
Here’s a track that might surprise you.
Amral’s Trinidad Cavaliers Steel Orchestra – Oye Como Va
Miss Anita: Your version of Oye Como Va gave me a laugh. I used to listen to the original (by Santana) on a 45 when I played “radio station” in my basement on hot summer days when I was like 7 years old. It seemed so serious, and I didn’t know Spanish back then, so it was mysterious, too. The version you linked to seems so relaxed and calm. “Mi ritmo? OK, yeah, whatever.”
Monsieur Milk: I convinced my buddy while record shopping to pick up that steel drum album for a laugh. After a couple of weeks he lent it to me and suggested I put in on while cleaning. Half way through mopping the floor Oye Como Va came on and within seconds I unconsciously started dancing. The most fun I’ve had doing the chores in quite some time!
This next one took me back, waaay back in the day when I had a beat up leather jacket filled with badges and pins.
The Stranglers – Toiler On The Sea
Miss Anita: The Stranglers. Oy, they are from my high school years! I thought they had faded away (they did) never to return (they did that too, but I didn’t keep track of them). Have you been a fan for a while?
Monsieur Milk: I have been a Stranglers fan for quite some time as my father used to play them to me, but only recently have I sat down and listened to their first couple of albums. They are great, but I can see why they never got huge like like their contemporaries. They were just a bit too scattered in their sound. Moody punk one minute, lovely keyboard pop the next.
Miss Anita: Your father. I see. Well don’t mind me, I’ll just hop on my Rascal scooter and trundle over to the old folks’ home now.
New Order – Everything’s Gone Green
Miss Anita: Do you have “Everything’s Gone Green” as a single or 12 inch, or do you have the “Singles” compilation? What attracts you to the classic “New Order sound?”
Monsieur Milk: I have the first five New Order albums I think… I think their early stuff is fantastic, and I originally got into them from Joy Division and the big Post-Punk scene in Melbourne around 2003. With their early stuff they seem to be experimenting with synthesizers from a basis of their Post-Punk, Joy Division era. The outcome of that was some awesome dark, driving, dancing music, compared to the synth pop they started putting out in the latter part of their career.
Then we discussed the song he posted a while back:
Hot Chip – How Do You Do?
Miss Anita: The Hot Chip song, I see, is from June of 2012. It’s the only one out of the five that I would call “current.” Oye Como Va is from the 50’s and became popular again in the 70’s. The Stranglers are from the 70’s and early 80’s, for the most part. New Order is 80’s, Gerling is 90’s. Are you a listener of older music as a habit, or are you not finding much of interest that has been released in recent years?
Monsieur Milk: I don’t really find myself thinking, “I’m only going to listen to music from this era.” but I just find my self gravitating towards sound that I find I like. If that happens to be from the past then so be it. Good music is good music, it’s why classical has and will persist, and there’s no reason to throw out amazing music because it is old.
Miss Anita: The New Order track is definitely EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and I think the Gerling track could qualify as well. Are you a fan of electronica?
Monsieur Milk: I was a close follower of Electronica and dance music my whole life, but I stopped listening to what was being played at night clubs and raves around 2007. This was around when Dubstep started taking over and all the Electronica artists I thought were interesting started doing less dance club driven stuff. I still try to keep up every now and then to new stuff in that area, but there’s only so many times I can sift through hearing, “wub wub wuuuuuuuuuuuub” before giving up and listening to some rock or metal to clear my head.
A good example of why I have slowed my listening is this, Skrillex was playing in Melbourne and a friend was in charge of setting up his music equipment. All he was told to set up was two CD turntables. So in essence the concert was just Skrillex, two CDs and a slider to go from one deck to another and not much else. So while he’s dancing around on stage looking like he’s constantly mixing the sound, all he is doing switching from one CD to another. I think he charged around $100 a ticket. It just doesn’t seem right when compared to what the likes of Daft Punk and Chemical Brothers have delivered in concert, but what do I know?
And there you have it. Five songs you might not have heard before, and a little story behind each one.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
