Author: DC (Page 1081 of 1133)

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Echo and the Funnymen Back of Love (1983)
‘Echo and the Bunnymen is one of the more interesting and innovative pop bands to emerge from the MTV-era British pop scene that also gave us the Cure, the Fixx, and XTC.  The group formed in Liverpool in 1978 and released its first album, Crocodiles, in 1980, and remained a rising U.K. act through Porcupine, their third LP, in 1983. This U.S. tour was launched when the band released Ocean Rain on Sire Records in 1984. Although a hit with critics and hardcore alternative music fans, unlike many of its contemporaries such as the Eurhythmics and the Fixx, Echo and the Bunnymen failed to have a commercial breakthrough in the U.S. They did, however, maintain a strong cult following and enough sales to justify continued support from Sire through 1987.’ — collaged

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Einstürzende Neubauten Ich bin’s (1986)
‘Of all their wonderful albums, this and Haus der Luge are my absolute favorites. They come from a similar pinnacle of their long and varied career where they coaxed each piece of metal, every giant spring, bucket of sand, etc. into a musical tapestry of pulsating rhythm. Blixa Bargeld’s voice has come a long way from Negativ Nein’s frightening scream, and on this album he manages to sing in a whisper, a chant and of course, his trademark screech that sounds less like a voice than it does a drill boring it’s way through a bell. This album is more hypnotic and, at times, even cozy. Like sitting in the worlds most comfortable chair watching the fireplace blaze so fierce and brilliant that it burns down the entire room, but you are too comfortable and mesmerized to move.’ — M. Fatino

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The Human League Dreams Of Leaving (live, 1980)
‘For Travelogue, the band worked with a new co-producer, Richard Mainwaring, who went on to produce OMD’s platinum selling Architecture & Morality the following year. Travelogue entered the UK album chart at #16, which was also its chart peak, and remained on the chart for 9 weeks in 1980. Although a vast improvement on their debut album, Reproduction, which had failed to chart at all the year before, the lack of high success precipitated the departure of founding band members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, who went on to form Heaven 17. Their departure led to remaining members Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright moving The Human League in a new musical direction with a new line-up.’ — collaged

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John Foxx No One Driving (1980)
‘”No-One Driving” is a 1980 song by UK artist John Foxx, and was released as a single in March 1980. It was the second single release from the Metamatic album, after “Underpass”. The song is typical of Foxx’s musical output of the time, featuring a Ballardian dystopian scenario involving an automobile in the lyrics, with music produced using electronic instruments (synthesisers, drum machines, electronic percussion) only. The record entered the UK charts at no. 32, remaining at the same position for a further week before dropping down.’ — collaged

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The Associates Party Fears Two (1982)
‘Unlike most bands’ much-repeated legends, the stories of excess and lunacy that quickly attached themselves to The Associates are – if one is to believe Rankine and Demp
sey – completely true: they did indeed blow half of Sulk’s advance on luxury hotel suites (including one for MacKenzie’s whippets), top-of-the-range smoked salmon (again, for the dogs) and enough cocaine to give Iggy Pop and David Bowie a run for their money, before throwing the rest into making Sulk as opulent and extravagant as possible. Lead single ‘Party Fears Two’ certainly fits that bill, an oddball elegy to excess, albeit one tinged by a sense that all this coke and booze is so much hot air and empty pleasure. Behind MacKenzie’s cheerful, Ferry-esque croon, Rankine’s orchestrations are positively lush, a smorgasbord of glittering synths, treated horns and slinky guitar lines. ‘Club Country’, meanwhile, is straight-ahead synth-pop bliss, a track fittingly tailored for the dancefloor even as it skewers middle class inertia: “Refrigeration keeps you young I’m told.” Again, Billy MacKenzie reaches impossible heights with his delirious voice, whilst the infectious beats and glossy keyboards would make even the most reticent club-goer get up and shake his or her arse. ‘Club Country’ is easily equal to ‘Fade To Grey’, ‘Poison Arrow’ and ‘Antmusic’ as a slice of pure, catchy synth-pop, and deserved bigger success than it got. Equally, The Associates surely tapped into the genre’s promise of futurism better than most of their peers, with MacKenzie’s lyrics equal parts behoven to Ballard, Orwell and Gibson, all wrapped up in his own glitter-bomb aesthetic.’ — The Quietus

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Devo Big Mess (Demo, 1982)
‘Devo’s song “Big Mess” on the Oh No, It’s Devo LP was inspired in-part by letters that were written to an LA office that managed local game show hosts’ fan mail. Devo had some friends who worked there, and the letters got passed onto them for the sake of strangeness. The writer of the letters referred to himself as “Cowboy Kim”. I can only guess that Kim had some kind of mental handicap, and I have no idea if he was really a DJ or not.’ — Devo-Obsesso

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Wall of Voodoo Factory (1982)
‘Wall of Voodoo formed in Los Angeles in 1977, originally as a soundtrack company. Led by singer/songwriter Stan Ridgway and rounded out by guitarist Marc Moreland, bassist/keyboardist Bruce Moreland, keyboardist Chas Gray, and drummer Joe Nanini, the group issued its self-titled debut EP in 1980. With the additions of bassist Bruce Moreland and his brother Marc on guitar (replacing Noland), the band’s sound crystallized on 1981’s full-length Dark Continent, which couched Ridgway’s highly stylized and cinematic narratives — heavily influenced by Westerns and film noir, and sung in the vocalist’s distinctively droll, narcoleptic manner — in atonal, electronically based settings. In 1982, following the exit of Bruce Moreland, Wall of Voodoo released Call of the West, which featured “Mexican Radio,” their biggest hit. After an appearance at the 1983 US Festival, Ridgway left the group for a solo career.’ –– collaged

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Psychedelic Furs Into You like a Train (live, 1981)
‘The Psychedelic Furs, whose name was inspired by the 1966 Velvet Underground song “Venus in Furs,” were formed in England in 1977 by brothers Richard Butler (vocals) and Tim Butler (bass), along with saxophone player Duncan Kilburn and guitarist Roger Morris. By the time they released their self-titled debut album in 1980, the group had become a sextet, adding guitarist John Ashton and drummer Vince Ely. That album, featuring Butler’s hoarse voice (the tone of which suggested John Lydon without the sneer) was a bigger hit in England, where it reached the Top 20, than in the U.S. Talk Talk Talk (1981) did better, reaching the U.S. Top 100 and producing two British singles chart entries, one of which was “Pretty in Pink,” later also a hit in the U.S. when a new version was used as the title song of a film. Forever Now (1982) saw the band reduced to a quartet with the departure of Kilburn and Morris. The rest moved to the U.S., turned to producer Todd Rundgren, and scored a U.S. Top 50 hit with “Love My Way.” Ely then left, and the remaining trio of the two Butlers and Ashton made Mirror Moves (1984), the biggest Psychedelic Furs hit yet.’ — collaged

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Strawberry Switchblade Another Day (1985)
‘There was more to Strawberry Switchblade than met the eye – their name was a clue. “Our image was colourful, but our minds were dark,” says McDowall on the phone from her home in Oxfordshire. Their self-titled first and only album featured “Since Yesterday” and other hit singles “Let Her Go”, “Who Knows What Love Is” and “Jolene”, a cover of the Dolly Parton song. But it also included their 1983 debut single, “Trees and Flowers”, a song concerning Bryson’s agoraphobia. Other songs on the album, particularly “Go Away”, “10 James Orr Street” and “Being Cold”, essayed a devastatingly bleak, eerily beautiful brand of mid-1980s pop, all sugar-high vocals, a ponderous pace expressing the heaviness of existence and chord changes of the most exquisitely miserable kind. The phrase “sinister-sweet” seems to have been invented for these wintry ballads.’ — The Guardian

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Gang of Four We Live as We Dream, Alone (live, 1982)
‘Lead singer Jon King (currently a chief executive of World Television) stalked the stage, owned the stage, his Mao-like suitcoat half-unbuttoned, undulating and Jesus-Christ-posing and crabwalking among three microphones, barking his words out. And, yes, there is a microwave involved. If you’ve seen the concert film Urgh! A Music War, there’s a performance of “He’d Send In The Army” by a much younger Go4, with King hitting a block of wood with a drum stick. For this tour, the drum stick was replaced with a duct-taped aluminum bat, and the block of wood was replaced with a microwave. Like a well-trained assembly-line worker, King banged on the box as the song stuttered and surged around him. If the sound from the last knock disappointed him, he would hit the microwave with a full swing, rearing back with the bat and coming down square on the top of it. As the song finished, King knocked the microwave off its pedestal with an inside-out stroke, and proceeded to give it ! an old-fashioned arrhythmic beat-down.’ — David Raposa

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The Teardrop Explodes The Great Dominions (1981)
‘Wilder is The Teardrop Explodes final fling but this is no half-hearted, “can it, shift it and move on” enterprise. Instead it’s a rich, dark tapestry of tightly woven, neo-psyche
delic pop tunes which could have been recorded any time in the last 25 years. The sound is crisp and clean and beautifully varied in texture which results in upbeat exuberant pop imbued with a sense of mystery and loss. What is glaringly evident is that, notwithstanding the band’s untimely demise, Julian Cope was a force to be reckoned with and one who was never likely to simply fade away. He has a bizarre knack of being lyrically opaque yet passionately revealing. I’m not sure I’ll ever understand the meaning behind some of these tracks but I’m not sure I need to.’ — Grampus

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Siouxsie and The Banshees Into The Light (1981)
‘One of the band’s masterworks, Juju sees Siouxsie and the Banshees operating in a squalid wall of sound dominated by tribal drums, swirling and piercing guitars, and Siouxsie Sioux’s fractured art-attack vocals. If not for John McGeoch’s marvelous high-pitched guitars, here as reminiscent of Joy Division as his own work in Magazine, the album would rank as the band’s most gothic release. Siouxsie and company took things to an entirely new level of darkness on Juju, with the singer taking delight in sinister wordplay on the disturbing “Head Cut,” creeping out listeners in the somewhat tongue-in-cheek “Halloween,” and inspiring her bandmates to push their rhythmic witches brew to poisonous levels of toxicity. Album opener “Spellbound,” one of the band’s classics, ranks among their finest moments and bristles with storming energy. Siouxsie’s mysterious voice emerges from dense guitar picking, Budgie lays into his drums as if calling soldiers to war, and things get more tense from there. “Into the Light” is perhaps the only track where a listener gets a breath of oxygen, as the remainder of the album screams claustrophobia, whether by creepy carnival waterfalls of guitar notes or Siouxsie’s unsettling lyrics.’ — Allmusic

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The Jam Private Hell (1980)
‘Between May 1977 and November 1979, the Jam released four albums and nine singles, a pace of output that peaked when Setting Sons was hurried along by a record company keen to capitalise on the band’s connection with Britain’s youthful masses. As a result, the album – intended as an Orwell-inspired concept – seems flawed next to 1978’s All Mod Cons and 1981’s Sound Affects, but captures why the young Paul Weller was (reluctantly) dubbed the “spokesman for a generation”. The still-relevant ‘The Eton Rifles’ is the colossus here, but ‘Thick As Thieves’, ‘Private Hell’, and ‘Little Boy Soldiers’ show what a fast and furious roll they were on.‘ — The Guardian

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Killing Joke Requiem (live, 1980)
‘”Requiem” was released in September 1980 on 12″ vinyl by record label E.G. by E.G. Records as the second single from the band’s debut self-titled studio album, backed by two B-sides, “Change” and a demo version of “Requiem”. That same year, E.G. released a 7″ version of the single, minus the demo version. Polydor also released the single in on 7″ vinyl in Italy only. The single did not chart in the UK but reached number 43 on the US Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.’ — collaged

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Adam and the Ants Feed Me to the Lions (Demo, 1980)
‘I’d seen Adam and the Ants before, the previous September at the Electric Ballroom in Camden. My older brother and his mate Olly had taken me, edging me past the doorman into the packed, smoky venue where the band’s seminal line-up were undertaking their penultimate show; Adam Ant, the late Matthew Ashman, Dave Barbe and Andy Warren – it was the 28th September 1979 – and for a twelve year old boy it was a thrilling experience. I wandered around wide eyed and fascinated by the bizarre mix of people, a kind of punky-soul-a-billy mix. Standard peroxide spiky heads with the band’s name on the back of their leather jackets. A lot of younger kids, perhaps a bit older than me, wearing intriguing Ants or Seditionaries t-shirts, kung fu slippers, moccasin-style shoes or creepers. Older guys and girls sporting a look that was quasi new romantic I guess, a taster of what was to come as punk rock curdled into the sham (69) of its former self and a slicker club culture was born. It was pre-Goth and post-punk. The UK Subs and The Exploited would soon be on Top of the Pops, a glue sniffing parody of what the Ants represented, while Adam himself would appear on the same show, resplendent in gold and black Hussar jacket, one of English pop music’s most iconic looks.’ — Sabotage Times

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Soft Cell Meet Murder My Angel (1984)
‘This Last Night in Sodom represents a shift in style from the delicate, erotic, dancefloor-friendly pop of their earlier records and contains a more eclectic mix of styles as well, from the Spanish-influenced “L’Esqualita” (inspired by the drag bar in New York City of the same name- the actual real name being “La Escuelita”) to the rockabilly-tinged “Down in the Subway”. The thematic elements of the songs are also noticeably darker, even for Soft Cell, and center around self-destruction and the breakdown of innocence. “Meet Murder My Angel”, according to Almond, is about the mind of a murderer before he slaughters his victim, while “Where Was Your Heart (When You Needed It Most)” centres on a girl who loses all self-esteem after being raped while intoxicated. The first single from the album was “Soul Inside”, which reached number 16 on the UK charts in September 1983. “Down in the Subway” was released as the second single, peaking at number 24 in March 1984.’ — collaged

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The Cure A Strange Day (live, 1982)
‘Pornography is the fourth studio album by English rock band The Cure, released on 4 May 1982 by the record label Fiction. Preceded by the non-album single “Charlotte Sometimes” late the previous year, Pornography was the band’s first album with a new producer, Phil Thornalley, and was recorded at RAK Studios from January to April. The sessions saw the group on the brink of collapse, with heavy drug use, band in-fighting and group leader Robert Smith’s depression fuelling the album’s musical and lyrical content. Pornography represents the conclusion of the group’s early dark, gloomy musical phase which began with Seventeen Seconds in 1980. Following its release, bass guitarist Simon Gallup left the band and the Cure switched to a much brighter and more radio-friendly new wave sound. While poorly received by critics at the time of release, Pornography was their most popular album t
o date, reaching number 8 in the UK charts. Pornography has since gone on to gain acclaim from critics, and is now considered an important milestone in the development of the gothic rock genre.’ — collaged

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Bow Wow Wow Chihuahua (1981)
‘Bow Bow Bow was a 80s new wave band, organized by the Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980, whose music is described as having an “African-derived drum sound”. McLaren persuaded guitarist Matthew Ashman, bassist Leigh Gorman and percussionist Dave Barbarossa of the original lineup of Adam and the Ants to leave Adam Ant and form a new group, fronted by teen singer Annabella Lwin. McLaren was also going to use Boy George (later of Culture Club fame) as a second lead singer, but he was deemed to be “too wild” for the band. McLaren discovered fourteen year old Lwin while she was working at a dry cleaners, and the group’s sound was a mix of her “girlish squeal”, Balinese chants, surf instrumentals, new romantic pop melodies, and Barbarossa’s Burundi ritual music-influenced tom tom beats, though later moving towards heavy metal. The group released three full-length albums before Lwin quit to pursue a solo career, or was kicked out, in 1983. Ashman went on to form Chiefs of Relief, and in 1995 died from diabetes complications.’ — last.fm

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XTC Rocket From a Bottle (1980)
‘The ever-evolving group had its biggest successes in the ’80s with driving, off-kilter pop songs that made hay of socio-political critiques and Beatles-like guitar hooks, and as they moved into the ’90s, they were beloved by the post-collegiate crowd that didn’t cotton to mainstream radio but was also turned off by what the post-Nirvana or Lollapalooza worlds had to offer. And as the band reached its autumn years, critical and commercial interest waned almost entirely — particularly here in the States — leaving their last two albums to be virtually ignored by the record-buying universe. Yet looking at XTC through any one of those lenses is terribly myopic. The group, which started in Swindon, England back in 1976, has gone through one of the most fascinating career trajectories right up until their dissolution in 2000. They evolved from amphetamine-fueled imps to a sturdy modern rock group to psychedelia’s second cousins to a kind of amalgam that kept an eye on each of these musical stopping points. And through it all, the band’s two preternaturally gifted songwriters, guitarist/vocalist Andy Partridge and bassist/vocalist Colin Moulding, created work that only got deeper, more thoughtful, and more complex.‘ — Stereogum

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Magazine Because You’re Frightened (Peel Session, 1980)
‘After leaving the Buzzcocks in 1977, vocalist Howard Devoto formed Magazine with guitarist John McGeoch, bassist Barry Adamson, keyboardist Bob Dickinson, and drummer Martin Jackson. One of the first post-punk bands, Magazine kept the edgy, nervous energy of punk and added elements of art rock, particularly with their theatrical live shows and shards of keyboards. Devoto’s lyrics were combinations of social commentary and poetic fragments, while the band alternated between cold, jagged chords and gloomy, atmospheric sonic landscapes.’ — Allmusic

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Cabaret Voltaire Sensoria (1985)
‘Though they’re one of the most important groups in the history of industrial and electronic music, Cabaret Voltaire are sometimes forgotten in the style’s timeline — perhaps because they continued recording long after other luminaries (Throbbing Gristle, Suicide, Chrome) called it quits. Also related to the fact is that CV rarely stayed in one place for long, instead moving quickly from free-form experimentalism through arty white-boy funk and on to house music in the late ’80s and electronica the following decade. The band, formed by guitarist Richard H. Kirk, bassist Stephen Mallinder and tape manipulator Chris Watson, were influenced by the Dadaist movement (whence came their name) and as such, came closer to performance art than music during many of their early performances. After several years of recording with no contract, the group signed to the newly formed Rough Trade label in 1978 and began releasing records that alternated punk-influenced chargers with more experimental pieces incorporating tape loops and sampled effects. Following Watson’s departure, the remaining duo inaugurated a new contract with Some Bizzare/Virgin in 1983 by shifting their sound, away from raging industro-funk and towards a more danceable form. The singles “Sensoria” and “James Brown” hit the indie charts during 1984, and Cabaret Voltaire moved to EMI/Parlophone in 1986 for The Code.’ — Avantgarde.com

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ABC That Was Then, But This Is Now (1983)
‘Beauty Stab is the second album by the British band ABC. Released in November 1983, it was a departure from the stylised production of the band’s first album, The Lexicon of Love, featuring a more guitar-oriented sound. The album was certified Gold by the BPI for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies, but was not as commercially successful as its predecessor. It peaked at no. 12 in the UK album charts and spawning only two top 40 singles (neither of which made the top 10). In a 1995 article, music journalist Simon Reynolds listed Beauty Stab among “the great career-sabotage LPs in pop history”.’ — collaged

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Pete Shelley XL1 (live, 1983)
‘With XL1, Pete Shelley integrates layers of guitar into the electronic synth-pop he essayed on his solo debut, Homosapien. While the result isn’t quite as bracing as its predecessor, the music benefits from the guitar — it sounds edgier, making the record fairly captivating. There’s still some weak material on the record, but “Telephone Operator” and “If You Ask Me (I Won’t Say No)” are terrific, ranking among Shelley’s best.’ — Allmusic

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Scritti Politti Absolute (1984)
‘For the sleeve of their first single, 1979’s “4 A Sides”, Scritti Politti opted not for a picture but instead showed a breakdown of costs– every element of the record’s production itemized. This kind of fascination with and demystification of the rock process seems like an orthodox post-p
unk move, very of its time. But it also revealed for the first time one of the unifying threads in Scritti’s career– an idea that things become more interesting when they’re broken down, and that what’s on the surface can reveal that stuff, not obfuscate it. This is pop exploded, fractured and rebuilt as a mosaic where almost every beat seems to have a different sound from the one before. Hi-hats, triangles, drum pads of every kind flicker across the mix for a second or two then never reappear. In fact the tracks hold together only thanks to Green Gartside’s deceptively light voice and sweet melodic touch, making songs like “Absolute” and “Wood Beez” into exhilarating sculptures rather than a swingers party for drum presets.’ — Tom Ewing

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Simple Minds King in White and in the Crowd (Peel Session, 1982)
‘One of Scotland’s finest imports, Simple Minds deliver a strong synth-reared release on New Gold Dream. This album harks the darker side of the band’s musicianship, and such material alludes to their forthcoming pop-stadium sound which hurled them into rock mainstream during the latter part of the ’80s. They were still honing their artistic rowdiness, and Kerr’s pursuing vocals were still hiding. But Simple Minds’ skill of tapping into internal emotion is profound on songs such as “Someone, Somewhere in Summertime” and the album’s title track. But the dance-oriented tracks like “Promised You a Miracle” and “Glittering Prize” are lushly layered in deep electronic beats — it was only a matter of time for Simple Minds to expound upon such musical creativity which made them a household favorite through the 1980s.’ — collaged

*

p.s. Hey. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. My timing or phrasing or something was not at its sharpest. Yeah, the strikes are already underway even. Unbelievable. ** David Ehrenstein, My pleasure, and thank you for saying that. Yes, and it seems that Mr. Thomas had one. The news of the Carax/ Sparks film is public? Interesting. Yes, very sadly, Holly seems to be at the end. So, so sad. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh. Kavan is very good. I had a very similar experience with John Thomas and the Venice poets back when I had your job. He always treated me like some lowly peon who was standing in the way of the worldwide dissemination of his genius. And I too never heard word-one about any of that stuff when he was earthbound. Bob Flanagan used to do this spot-on imitation of Thomas. Anyway, grim. ** Bernard Welt, Hi, B. Yes, I knew nothing of any of that. Wow, okay. That particular Agnes B space is quite nice. I saw a show there not two weeks ago. I’ll see the show for sure, and I’ll try to get to the Saturday event at the very least. And I’ll hope to meet Jayme somehow. Yeah, no, $300, theologian, that’s probably enough to ward me off. Cool: your Bechdel talk! Sooner the better re: writing to Chrystel, but probably not an extreme rush, and I would really think you’re a shoo-in. Really nice about your poem in Colby’s show! Snap that. And about the Theater department thing! Wow, you’re good, my pal. ** Thomas Moronic, Yay, you did the opposite of deprive us! They look splendid. I’ll read them carefully a little later as I was up late and then woke up early, and I’m half-brained this AM. Thank you, thank you! Yeah, John Thomas hovered around Beyond Baroque when I was doing the programing there in the early ’80s. Like I said to Tosh, he always treated me like an extremely lesser mortal. I’m good, really, really busy, but it’s all good. ** H, Hi. Slurp. Oh, thank you, then I’ll will get to NYC at the soonest opportunity. I really love Alice Motley’s earlier work. I don’t know her more recent work so well. My favorite book of hers is ‘How Spring Comes’, and I love pretty much all of her work and books up to and just after that point in time. She lives in Paris, but I’ve only run into her once since I’ve been here. ** MANCY, Hi, Stephen! Cool you love Kavan. Really excited for your new thing! ** Steevee, It’s very unique: the Kavan. Zac and I saw the new Grandieux at the Montreal festival when LCTG played there. I thought it was quite amazing, as did Zac. It was very controversial at the festival for reasons that you will quickly understand if you see it. I’m a huge of his work, and it has all of the things I love in his work, and it’s also I think his most ambitious film. It’s very, very dark. I guess if you’ve read the synopsis, you know that already. ** Kathe Burkhart, Wow, Kathe! Hey, old pal! How are you doing? It’s so very, very sweet to see you here! Thank you! Big love, me. ** Jamie McMorrow, Hi, Jamie! Really good to see you! Oh, man, I hope that whatever’s dragging you down physically and otherwise is melting like winter snow in April. Or even late March. Yeah, totally, about ‘Ice’! Really nicely put! Fascinating that your girlfriend is doing her PhD partly on Kavan. What’s the overall thing/theme of her focus? Yes, please, hang out here more often, if you feel like it. That would be lovely. xx, Dennis ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Shit, I think you were under the weather the last time you were here, or one of the last times. Fucking winter offshoots. I … wait, have I done a post on Jem Cohen here? Huh. I’ll go back and check. If there’s stuff out there to borrow, I definitely will if I haven’t. No, I haven’t seen ‘Counting’. I’ll see what the availability in my parts is. I wish you a hyper upswinging. ** Alistair McCartney, Hi, Alistair! Always a joy! The TV thing went well. The proposed TV series will star one of the performers in Gisele’s my piece ‘The Ventriloquists Convention’ and her dummy. ‘TVC’ wrapped up its Paris run last night, so we used her locality to test-shoot two short scenes just to see how it will look/work and also to help Zac and I understand what the dummy can and can’t do as far as writing the series. It was very, very helpful and went extremely well. Holy shit, it’s ready! Your novel! That’s amazing news, man! Congratulations, and I’m so very, very excited by news of its completion and inevitable journey to the world’s eyes, mine especially! I don’t think we’ll get to Perth when we’re in Australia, damn. But you never know. We’re still figuring out our itinerary. We’ll be based in Melbourne. There is some possibility that our film LIKE CATTLE TOWARDS GLOW might show at a festival in Sydney while we’re there, and, if that happens, we’ll go there for that. Definitely Tasmania. We think we’ll rent a car and try to get as far as we can into the Outback. That’s kind of the general, hoped for plans at the moment. Then to Japan on the way home to Paris, probably for a week or so at the beginning of February. Anyway, big hugs to you, pal, and you have a fantastic weekend! Love, me. ** Misanthrope, Hey. Oh, cool. I’m glad the Kavan book intrigued you. Yeah, you never know what effect stuff like that will have on you. I mean I went through a pretty rough time in my teens, and I’m fairly okay, I think, considering. I can’t say that I’ve ever liked anything I’ve heard by My Chemical Romance, but I haven’t spent all that much time or that many brain cells investigating them. Our title — ‘This Is How You Will Disappear’ — was a twisted, slightly changed offshoot from the title of a Scott Walker song. I wonder if they did the same thing? ** Okay. So, let’s see … I got to remembering ’80s New Wave the other day, and I got to remembering tracks I especially liked at the time by very to fairly- to well-known bands of that era/’genre’, and I gathered those tracks together and stacked them up and called it a gig. That’s what I did. And now, what will my gig trigge
r off inside of you that will then pass through your body and end up in your typing fingers? That’s the question for this weekend. Have good ones. See you on Monday.

 

 

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Miley Cyrus Adore You
‘Miley Cyrus’s song “Adore You,” the first track on her Bangerz album, was not originally intended for the pop star. Soul singer-songwriter Stacy Barthe penned the ballad for herself, and planned to include it on one of her projects, but Cyrus was determined to record the ballad. “It was supposed to be the first track on [my EP] P.S. I Love, and when Miley heard it she was like, ‘Um, I need that,’” Barthe explains during an exclusive interview with Yahoo Music. “And then I was like, ‘Babe, it’s the first song on my EP.’ So she doubled back with the producer, they cut it on their own, and she let me hear it. And she was like, ‘Before you shoot me down, just hear it.’ And she killed it, so I was like, ‘Anybody who’s going to go through that much trouble to get the song, babe, you can have it.”’ — Yahoo Music

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Azalea Banks 212
‘This year’s Summer Jam is at MetLife Stadium, where the Giants and Jets play, and Banks’ set time is early, out on a side stage in the parking lot. From one perspective, this is about right: “212,” her single that has more than 24 million views on YouTube — at least one of those views belonging to Karl Lagerfeld, who invited Banks to perform the song at his house in Paris this past January — recently cracked HOT 97’s rotation, albeit very occasionally. Banks is a New York–born rapper who, at 21, has been asked to play one of the most revered and significant events in the history of New York rap. From another perspective, her inclusion on the Summer Jam bill is hard to fathom. Later that same day, Banks will host and perform at Manhattan’s Bowery Ballroom for the Mermaid Ball, a drag-competition-cum-showcase of her own invention for a series of acts — House of LaDosha, Tigga Calore, Maluca — who, in the long, languorous drift of time, will never be played on a commercial rap radio station like HOT 97.’ — Spin

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Jessie J, feat. Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj Bang Bang
‘English singer Jessie J has shared “Bang Bang”, the first single from her forthcoming album, which is out this fall. It features Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande, and was produced by Swedish pop Svengali Max Martin with Savan Kotecha and Ilya, the team behind Grande’s “Problem”. The song will also appear on the deluxe edition of Grande’s forthcoming album, My Everything.‘ — Pitchfork

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Destiny’s Child Bootylicious
‘”Bootylicious” is a song by American R&B; group Destiny’s Child. It was written and produced by Rob Fusari, Melissa Hinz, and group member Beyoncé Knowles for the band’s third studio album Survivor (2001). The song contains a prominent sample from Stevie Nicks’s 1981 single “Edge of Seventeen”. The track was released as the album’s second single from the album in 2001 and became the band’s fourth U.S. consecutive number-one single. It also reached the top five in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. A “Rockwilder Remix” of the song featured Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott and appeared on the soundtrack of the 2001 musical Carmen: A Hip Hopera and the 2002 compilation This Is the Remix. Although the term “bootylicious” was first used in song by rapper Snoop Dogg in 1992, the popularity of this track caused the slang word to become widespread and it was added to the Oxford English Dictionary (defined as “(of a woman) sexually attractive”) in 2004.’ — collaged

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Rihanna What Now
‘Rihanna is joining an elite group of Stance’s brand ambassadors, called “Punks & Poets,” which includes the likes of Haim, Allen Iverson, Bambi Northwood-Blyth and more. The singer will design a signature women’s collection of socks for multiple seasons through her partnership with the
label. Her first limited-edition styles, which are in a mixed-media print called “Murder Rih Wrote,” come in crew height for both men and women, as well as an over-the-knee version. The crew sets — which are available now on Stance’s website for all of you Rihanna super-fans — come with three socks apiece and are individually numbered, with only 1,500 sets in production. This is only the first of many designs that Stance promises from the Rihanna partnership, and her first full collection will be available in September. We never thought we’d say this, but it looks like Rob Kardashian now has some serious competition in the celebrity sock designer department.’ — Fashionista

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Cibo Matto Flowers
‘Cibo Matto’s eagerly anticipated second album, Stereo Type A, reflects growth and change in the band’s lineup and sound. Joining the core duo of Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori are new band member Sean Lennon and guests like Arto Lindsay, Caetano Veloso, Sebastian Steinberg of Soul Coughing, and John Medeski and Billy Martin of Medeski, Martin & Wood. The new additions reflect the changing sound of Cibo Matto: Relying less on samples and more on their latent funk and jazz elements, Stereo Type A sounds like summer in New York — eclectic, hot, and funky. Hatori’s vocals are her most fluid and assured yet, and Honda’s harmonies, particularly on “Moonchild,” add a dreamy undercurrent to the sound. Though the hip-hop of “Sci-Fi Wasabi” and filmic quality of “Spoon” (which originally appeared on the Super Relax EP) hearken back to old-school Cibo Matto, Stereotype A’s overall sound is more direct and less fanciful than of their debut album Viva! La Woman. Tracks like “Flowers” and “Morning” reflect a nice fusion of the group’s old and new sounds, while the brassy “Speechless” and thrash metal of “Blue Train” round out a delightfully sunny collection from this diverse group.’ — Allmusic

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Kylie Minogue Sexy Love (live)
‘Kylie Minogue is back. And she’s still as wild. The “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” singer has a succulent new album, dripping with sex and baked in charm. Kiss Me Once proves that this experienced singer is also an experienced lover, as it is heavy with the imagery and seductive with its trajectory. My prized track on the album is the disco-pop single “Sexy Love.” It’s got the youthful appeal of an Abercrombie & Fitch store track list but the raunchiness of a dark corner in an upscale bar. But am I the only one that’s not as impressed and more concerned? This Aussie is slaying the competition in my eyes when it comes to her younger predecessors, but the album boasts lots of sex, and that can’t be all this once-actress has to offer, can it? Maybe I’m thinking too hard. Maybe she’s just method-singing and taking her theme to the extreme. Rather than overanalyzing it and getting lost in speculation, I would much prefer losing myself in “Sexy Love” (literally, too). Need a pregaming track for the next ladies’ night? Want a way to get fired up before you go on the prowl? This is the song you need in your life. She’s got a lethal mix here. She entices with an unexpected innocence but knows the game she’s playing. She divulges the conflicting emotions that you could relate to if you’ve ever had a heated dance session with a lustful partner. I can appreciate Minogue’s style because she’s got the appeal of a Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, or Cassie; yet, her art of seduction is not uncomfortably raunchy. She’s not over the top. Well, besides the fact her entire album is devoted to sex, ha!’ — Sheknows

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Ai Otsuka Smily
‘It took me a while to adapt to her ballads, but I am slowly starting to become fond of them. I still think she has a better voice for happy jpop, though. Maybe I am just liking the PV’s more than the song. 😆 She looks STUNNING in Heart. ** i dont think her voice not suitable with ballad songs but her attitude fits happy songs the most. ** I agree with that. Think her voice is okay to do ballads. But she’s more the happy genki type, so the Happy songs are more her I guess. ** Yeah, no kidding. If I ever saw a girl like her at a bar looking at me like that, I know what I’d do. Owwwww yeah. That’s right, I’d be far too intimidated to even make eye contact, let alone approach her, and I’d go home and cry myself to sleep about it. High five, bro! ** Yeah, she doesn’t get too sexified that often, so when she does it’s hard to not take notice. The full version of Pocket was posted today, and she is, as always, beautiful looking in it, even if fully clothed. And I agree about the other artist. Ayu is too old to be doing things like that. Surely you don’t mean Kuuchan. She can’t wear clothes. It would defy the hotness laws of science!’ — Stage 18

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Madonna Angel
‘Madonna “wouldn’t have survived that fall” during her performance at the Brit awards if she had not been in good shape, she has said. In an interview with the New York Times, the singer attributed her remaining relatively unscathed to her knowing how to fall as a result of riding horses, and to something a little less earthly. “I have core strength, and I know that saved me,” she said. “That and my guardian angels. I believe that there’s the physical world and the metaphysical world and I do believe that they are intertwined – as above, so below. So I think both were at work in the protection of me.” Madonna did not clarify whether, when talking of being saved and of having “survived”, she believed her fall down three steps at the Brits, when she was pulled backwards by a dancer when her cape failed to open, was life-threatening. She said the fall itself was painless at the time. “I didn’t feel anything when it happened,” she said. “I just remember falling backward, and I hit the back of my head. But I had so much adrenaline pumping, and I was so taken by surprise that I just was, OK, I have to keep going. So I just got back onstage and I just kept going.”’ — The Guardian

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Britney Spears I’m A Slave 4 U
‘After binging on the “Pretty Girls” video about a dozen times, I took a visual trip back in time to rewatch Britney Spears’ 2001 “I’m A Slave 4 U” music video. It’d been a while since I’ve seen it in its entirety, but what I do remember is a lot of gyrating, dancers grinding all up on one another, and plenty of sexy sweating. By that, I don’t mean the drenching “I just ran three miles on a treadmill” sweat, either — but that subtly glistening sweat that formed after a production assistant applied baby oil on Spears and the crew just before the director yelled “action!” Anyway, something else that comes to mind when I think of the “I’m A Slave 4 U” video is all of the choreography that sort of resembled one huge dancin
g orgy. Oh, and how could anyone forget about those super-low hip-huggers that nobody could wear quite like Spears? It was all so amazing and so early ’00s — after all, there’s a reason the video and song won a ton of awards, as well as inspired that unforgettable 2001 MTV Video Music Awards performance where she hoisted that huge yellow python on her shoulders.’ — Bustle

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Lady Gaga (with RuPaul) Fashion (live)
‘Lady Gaga and the Muppets’ Holiday Spectacular is a Thanksgiving television special featuring Lady Gaga and The Muppets. The 90-minute program aired on ABC on November 28, 2013 and featured guest stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elton John and RuPaul, with an appearance by Kristen Bell. Lady Gaga and the Muppets’ Holiday Spectacular is the second of Lady Gaga’s Thanksgiving television specials, following A Very Gaga Thanksgiving, which aired on ABC in 2011. Gaga and The Muppets have collaborated in the past. In 2009, Kermit the Frog was her date to the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Gaga also featured Jim Henson’s Creature Shop pieces in The Monster Ball Tour.’ — collaged

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Sheena Easton Strut
‘You know how sometimes you’ll just be, um, strutting down the street and the most random song pops in your head? Well, that’s exactly what happened with today’s kickstarter groove, the music runway werkin’, “Strut,” by the fabulous, Sheena Easton. Maybe the song popped into my head because I had just finished a killer workout, or maybe I’m just patiently waiting for winter for strut its ass on out of here so we can get down with some springtime weather. Whatever the case may be…I’m certainly glad “Strut” popped into my music brain. Sheena’s ’84 tune is also the perfect hump day treat, as we all prepare to strut right into the end of the week. For those that know this sexy sonnet, enjoy! For those that don’t, turn it up and work it out….you’ll be glad you did.’ — Philly Mix Tape

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Nelly Furtado Maneater
‘To understand why Nelly’s comeback was such a big deal, you have to look at her full story. The Canadian-born star’s early work had a much more folky sound than the music that would eventually give her the biggest hits of her career. After big success with early singles “I’m Like A Bird” and “Turn Off The Light”, Nelly got a reputation as someone whose songs had a message. Nelly had something to say and wasn’t afraid of using music to get that point across – but all in the nicest way possible. She had hits from 2001–2004 and then kind of drifted away… She still had a career to be proud of, but most people could be forgiven there’d be no more from Nelly. And then she hooked up with the production genius that is Timbaland to formulate a comeback that was very much a “wow”, whether you liked the tunes or not. As we say, nobody was expecting Nelly to come back in such a big way, and with a song like this. “Maneater “was brash, raw and tough – its stark beat and oppressive synths seeming at odds with Nelly’s previously gentle image. Nelly soon shoved all that to one side in the video, where the star goes looking for her dog (bear with us) only to discover an underground dance party. Old Nelly would’ve flown like a bird, but new Nelly busts out her best moves and shows them how it’s done. And then she finds her dog. Win win.’ — Official Charts

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Fergie London Bridge
‘We hope you’re sitting down for this, readers: the new smash hit from Fergie is NOT about a bridge in London; nor does it refer to a nursery rhyme. Evidently, “London Bridge” refers to a sexual act of some sort. Yes, Jack Nicholson would be proud of the member of The Black Eyed Peas. The song, which is included on her debut solo album The Dutchess, refers to when two women and two men have sex and form a position to make a “bridge.” We’re having trouble picturing that, too, don’t worry. Despite writing about the racy subject, Fergie insists she has never participated in the act. “Have I ever been involved in one? No I don’t think I ever have actually. No, no I haven’t,” the singer said. “But I’m definitely touching on issues that aren’t childlike!”‘ — The Hollywood Gossip

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Nicki Minaj Anaconda
‘A Unilever thermometer factory in the Indian town of Kodaikanal has been accused of poisoning workers and illegally dumping toxic mercury waste into a nearby scrapyard for 14 years. The factory closed in 2001, but according to the New Indian Express, forty-five of the people who worked there, and twelve of their children, have died from causes related to mercury poisoning, and locals continue to suffer from high rates of neurological and reproductive health issues, including heart disease and miscarriages. Hindustan Unilever has confirmed it shut the factory after Greenpeace made it aware that tons of mercury-contaminated glass from the plant were sold to a scrap dealer in Kodaikanal; it has denied claims from former workers, however, that their health has been impacted by exposure to mercury. Activists have been protesting at Unilever’s Indian headquarters in Mumbai, asking the company take responsibility for the alleged poisonings and clean up the river and forest surrounding the old site of the factory. Sofia Ashraf, a socially conscious rapper originally from Chennai who took on another chemical company in 2008 with the song “Don’t Work For Dow,” recently released “Kodaikanal Won’t,” a heart-wrenching, powerful parody of Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” that takes on the alleged toxic dumping.’ — MTV

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Paris Hilton Stars Are Blind
‘Paris Hilton is back with “Good Time,” a new, Lil Wayne-assisted single that serves as the first offering from her Cash Money Records debut. Hilton’s forthcoming album isn’t her first, of course — back in 2006, the “Simple Life” star issued her first full-length, Paris, which spawned the the shimmering pop hit, “Stars Are Blind.” During her recent stop by Billboard’s New York studio, Hilton talked to Billboard’s Andrew Hampp about her “iconic” first single, its music video and the first time she heard the song on the radio, as part of Pop Shop’s ‘Remember The Time’ series. Co-produced by Lady Gaga collaborator Fernando Garibay, “Stars Are Blind” peaked at No. 18 on the Hot 100 chart, and has sold 563,000 downloads to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. “Shooting the music video was so much fun, and I had the best time doing it, and was so proud when it came out and e
veryone loved it so much,” says Hilton.’ — Billboard

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Ke$ha Blow
‘For all we know, Ke$ha’s “Blow” is literally about having fun with one’s friends while sipping the Kool-Aid she mentions shortly after drinking something out of a champagne flute in the video; if you party really hard you say that you’re blowing the roof off, right? Her only drug is love. (One sometimes has to drink the Kool-Aid in multiple senses.) And the white unicorns cavorting in the background of the video and getting licked by Ke-dollar-sign-Ha are simply a representation of the way mythological creatures can manifest at a really great party. The kind of party where people bring you tiny bits of entertainment on a silver platter, and people go blah blah blah about their wild successes, and maybe you get to fight-flirt with a dude who totes looks like James Van Der Beek. So therefore for no reason at all I’m going to devote the rest of this week’s column to a few notable popular songs of the past that conflate cocaine with various pale equine creatures.’ — fuse

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Gwen Stefani Wind It Up
‘”Wind It Up” is a song by American singer and songwriter Gwen Stefani. Originally written for inclusion on Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005, the song was later recorded for her second solo studio album, The Sweet Escape (2006), due to favorable reception. The track contains an interpolation of The Sound of Music song “The Lonely Goatherd”. “Wind It Up” was negatively received by music critics, who criticized the song’s use of yodeling and found the track to be over the top. It was released as the album’s lead single on October 31, 2006 and reached the top 20 in most music markets. The accompanying music video, which became popular on stations such as Total Request Live, was directed by Sophie Muller and takes influence from The Sound of Music.’ — Wikipedia

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Cher Lovers Forever
‘A while ago, I saw a Wikipedia article titled “Unreleased Cher Songs.” The article listed most of the known Cher tracks that remain unreleased, and from what era and album session in which they were recorded. Under the Not.com.mercial album, my favorite Cher record, a couple of unreleased songs were listed “Obviously Caucasian,” and “Lovers Forever.” The title “Lovers Forever” intrigued me. Reading about it, Wikipedia stated that Cher co-wrote this song with Shirley Eikhard, who, by herself wrote “Born With the Hunger” for the same album. However, the article stated that Eikhard recorded the track “Lovers Forever” for one of her own albums called “Pop”. Cher revealed recently that both “Born with the Hunger” and “Lovers Forever” were written for the 1994 film “Interview With the Vampire,” but were rejected. Cher also says that her vampire love song that she is including on the new album Closer to the Truth is indeed “Lovers Forever.” I am so interested in this track, but I can’t find the wiki article any longer, and there are no youtube videos for Eikhard’s version of “Lovers Forever,” and I’d really like to hear it. This is probably the track I am most excited for on CTTT. I am really happy that Cher is featuring a track in which she co-wrote, because I really believe Cher is a great songwriter, and should showcase her talent for it more often. I hope at least one more track from CTTT credits Cher as a co-writer!!’ — cher.yuku

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Utada Hikaru Keep Tryin’
“Keep Tryin'” is a song by Hikaru Utada. It was released as her 16th Japanese single on February 22, 2006. The song was the first promotional song (January – April 2006) for Lismo! au Listen Mobile Service. It first aired on radio on January 30, 2006 and the music video was first broadcast on February 15, 2006. On December 20, 2006 iTunes Japan released a list of top downloaded singles and albums; “Keep Tryin'” ranked as #1 making it the most downloaded song for 2006.’ — Wikipedia

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Ashlee Simpson Burning Up
‘While in rehearsals for her upcoming tour, launching later this month, Ashlee Simpson has been working on adding a few cover songs to her set. Fans can expect to hear her renditions of Madonna’s “Burning Up,” Blondie’s “Call Me” and the Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” at the shows, the singer/actress announced on “TRL” on Monday (February 7).’ — All About Madonna

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p.s. Hey. So, if I’m remembering right, Steevee suggested that I do a Poptimism gig, and I felt unqualified, and then I think … _Black_Acrylic (?) tossed out the names of Sypha or Misanthrope as seemingly qualified dudes who might want to host such a gig, and I said, ‘If you guys want to do it, just send me a list of songs, and I’ll do the rest’, and Sypha raised his hand and ponied up, and he decided to make it a females-only gig, and this is it. So, that’s why something that might seem unexpected in the context of DC’s and vis-à-vis my usual gig posts happened, and I’m very happy about it, and I’m guessing you are too, even if some of you won’t admit it publicly? Thank you very much, Sypha! ** David Ehrenstein, Ha ha, that’s the most horrific? Well, I just don’t know. That is good news. ** Tomkendall, Hi, Tom. Sorry to be slow with email. It’s coming very soon. Berrigan’s a great poet, yep. Highly recommended. You’re brave. I don’t think I could do the fire therapy thing. Wait, maybe. I don’t know. Did your day end with a new chapter finished? My weekend: Eileen Myles is in Paris. I’m gonna to hang out with her today. And work on the script. And tonight Eileen, her traveling companion/pal Jill, Zac, and I are going together to see ‘The Ventriloquists Convention’. My friend/ collaborator Ishmael Houston-Jones is in town too ‘cos he’s performing in a piece by Miguel Gutierrez at the Pompidou right now, and I’ll likely see him tomorrow sometime and also work more on the script and then go see ‘TVC’ in the evening. That’s probably my weekend. Your weekend sounds pretty nice. Peruvian food is super-super-meaty. Or it was when I was kid. Still? ** Bill, Thanks, Bill. I hadn’t seen that lovely thing, no. Lovely it is. Everyone, Add a bit more fire to your taste for fire by taking up Bill on his suggestion to watch ‘A Tornado of Fire Filmed in Slow Motion’ and you will be glad. Do what I just described by clicking this. I vote for reviving that fire project. I love your new piece. The piece in the video. It’s awesome, I really love it! Rescheduled to when? ** Etc etc etc, Hi, C
asey. Thanks. No, I honestly have spent my near-whole life not giving a shit about Thanksgiving, so its lack was A-okay. I’m cool enough with Houellebecq, I’m just not so driven to read him again, I guess. Like I said, over here it’s not like reading the new novel by an interesting writer, it’s more like reading the new book by a provocation-hungry celebrity. Probably one of these days I’ll get back into his stuff. ** _Black_Acrylic, Right, awesome, good news about the far-along state of Art101 and the upcoming day set aside for the polishing! That ID-98 thing looks interesting and curious in small images and in theory. ** S., Hi. Oh, I hate vegetarian stuff that’s made/flavored to resemble actual meat. Or maybe I hate when it’s titled to resemble meat. A phobia of mine. Eek. Burzum is really in your head, huh? I know people whose heads are like that. Interesting people, to a one. Oh, that kind of helps me understand who Hanuman was. Or if he’s a deity, does that mean he still is? Is … extant? I’m really an ignoramus about that kind of stuff, sorry. Krishna makes good food. Or I mean his followers do. Applying Lacan is no picnic. From what I know. From what I know about Laconians who’ve tried to apply it. Weekend love, Dennis. ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. So, I’m guessing your male half of the Poptimism thing isn’t happening, right? No big if it isn’t. Just asking so I’ll know what to do blogwise. That little girl caught fire before my eyes when I was, like, 8 years old or something. I think I’m over it psychologically now, but who the fuck knows. Spoiler: she makes a cameo appearance in ‘Like Cattle Towards Glow’. So to speak. Oh, god, I don’t want think about Anderson Cooper’s asshole. The imagination can be really treacherous. Words are powerful things. They should be used carefully. I guess Black Friday is an example. I like the name, actually. I just wish the day could live up to it. Wouldn’t it be awesome if there a Friday once a year when everything turned black — the sky, every object, the ground, you, me. That’s an idea for a really bad novel. Or maybe a really good, really short story. They have Black Friday here in France too. It’s just that, like I said, every day has been Black Friday of late, so yesterday was just a needle in the haystack. I have an Ad Blocker thing on Facebook. It’s called FB Purity. It works, in terms of blocking ads, but it has this annoying glitch where, every time you go on Facebook, it announces sometimes up to a hundred friends who have defriended you, none of whom have actually defriended you. But it blocks all ads, so it’s worth it. ** Okay. Now it is suggested by Sypha and me that you spend your local time this weekend listening to and, in many cases, watching the song styling of a bunch of pop stars past and present, so why don’t you do that and then tell everyone and me honestly what you thought of the whole shebang or of individual parts of the shebang? Pretty simple. Try it. See you on Monday.