What does love want me to do?

Dear friends,

Special shout-out to Contributor Jeremiah and Contributor Jenny P, whose song recommendations are on my May, part I mix cd (for unknown reasons, possibly the sheer amount of music, my ipod, Little Monkey Jr, is in a coma. I hope that it wakes up eventually to reveal something important just in time for sweeps but until then, I will have to make do with a stack of blank cds Sharpied with the month of provenance. *soft sobbing is heard*.)

The recommended songs, The Chauffeur by Duran Duran and 1985 by The French Kicks, make surprisingly good bedfellows. The former, a steady beat dotted with adenoidal Le Bon's usual Euro-trash observations; the track's general emptiness goes a long way to establish mood. Something like a nightime spy scene. The latter is like the aural equivalent of a party in a downtown NYC loft in the mid-80's where all of a sudden you see your fellow partiers a little too clearly. And they're all gabby coked up-monsters so obvs you need to leave. But first you'll finish your drink and hear the rest of the song playing as you slowly inch your way over to the door.

2. In link related matters, for a non-rabid, level-headed take on coachella, head your way over to Contributor Liz's The People's Dance Party and take a look at Michael Cameron's piece. As a devotee of British elevator music, I appreciate his bit on Keane's set.

3. For a non-rabid, and decidedly more truthful letter than anything Britney Spears could dream of mustering, go to Contributor Mike's blog and follow the link to Alan Sparhawk's apology for Low's recent tour cancellation.

Contributor Caryn writes about her May 4th The Decemberists live experience and about a NY Times' anti-intellectual rock pronouncement directed at those kids on her gig review site, More in the Monitor. While she and I differ in opinion about the NYT (since I don't read that particular paper for the music reviews and she does, I have no beef with it for their music related articles. To me, they are the metaphorical equivalent of a well-dressed person at a gallery opening talking too loudly at the wine and cheese table. You can't help but hear them but are far too busy trying to stuff yourself with crudites to challenge their prattle but somewhere in your heart, you know you don't really want to be introduced. You can't take them seriously. It might get ugly.), this is not about that but about the response she got from one of her readers, which was snark dressed up as white gloved comment insinuating that her argument was simply whitey elitism. Hmmmm...

Personally, when I hear a song that features a man singing a complicated revenge tale from the belly of a whale, like the hilarious and thoroughly enjoyable The Mariner's Revenge Song, I LAUGH. Why? Because Victorian drama as album cut is amusing and certainly non-alienating to anyone with an imagination to go with their sounds. That certainly doesn't translate as white people music to me. Sorry. Us non-Caucasians can read and stuff too. But maybe I'm responding in just as rash a manner, so go to the site and read the comments exchange for yourself.

3. Riddle me this: what Peaches song does Leslie Feist sing on? Where can I find the song call Tatty by Britpop, girl-fronted almost-rans, Sleeper? Whatever happened to Michelle Shocked? Does anyone remember a song called German Kid, this novelty rap song by Dee Dee Ramone? What in the heck is Ashe Bowie of Polvo and Helium fame doing nowadays? Help!*

4. A long time ago, I had to go the circus as part of a school assignment. I went with my friend Kelly, who was famous for her terrifyingly embarrassing public behavior. Sometime during the endless presentation, the ringmaster happily announced that after the show, Shannon would be performing! Shannon? Get the heck out! I was way too excited. For me Shannon was an example of the better sort of popular dance pop of its day. But it couldn't be. Not shannon!

At the close of the circus, a small woman came out and stood center stage wearing a banana yellow bolero jacket, enthusiastically doing the snake to a prerecorded track as tractors drove around her picking up elephant and tiger crap. Kelly was shocked into comportment. Whereas I did the mini running man in the stalls. How could I deny the powerful pull of Give Me Tonight and Let The Music Play? Crank it!

5. In other dance related nostalgia news, I can think of no dancefloor moment quite as satisfying as m/a/r/r/s' Pump Up The Volume when the guy goes "put the needle on the record/put the needle on the record/put the needle on the record/when the drumbeat goes like THIS" BOOM, BOOM, followed by a sped up and squirrely Ofra Haza vocalization. It makes you wish for your own piece of cardboard to throw down and bust a move on.

6. Since American PR for the new wave of British acts handily creates more backlash than interest, I decided to stop reading those articles cum adverts for my sanity. Perhaps this is why I have no beef with The Kaiser Chiefs. I Predict A Riot seemed a tad pedestrian to me. The approaching riot of the title sounded bloodless and non-threatening; hipsters gettin' rowdy. Oooh. Better grab your culottes. The Modern Way, however, is great; a retro curve ball with a question mark guitar riff and an a quasi anthemic chorus from a sincere sounding vocalist. The song doesn't seem to be putting on an act; it presents itself without that emperor's new clothes patina. Whether the rest of their album is more of the same remains to be heard...

Love, D

* Contributor Jared just informed me that these questions seem rhetorical. They are NOT. They are actual questions and I really want to know the answers! So if you have any ideas and/or information, please reply in the comments field.

songs to seek: mariner's revenge song/the decemberists, gimme tonight/ shannon, let the music play/shannon, pump up the volume/m/a/r/r/s, the modern way/the kaiser chiefs