'Save your anaesthetic for the boy next door: nothing in your needle knocks me out no more.'
IT'S 90s o'CLOCK.
No, seriously. Diamond Rings, solo project of Toronto-based D'Urbervillesfrontman John O'Regan, typically peddles fairly grungy, downbeat affairs (not necessarily a criticism - Wait And See is a fantastically dirty lo-fi affair, and All Yr Songs could easily stand on its own without the so-dire-it's-amazing music video that was probably literally filmed on a budget of a dollar) but with his latest release, O'Regan has really upped the ante.
Yes, that probably is the gayest thing you've watched so far today, assuming you don't start happy hour early.
On the song itself, Show Me Your Stuff is a glittery number, based around a slinky beat torn straight out of Namie Amuro's iconic 80s homage What A Feeling and a house piano melody that sounds like it was intended to have you partying like it's 1994, topped with O'Regan's gorgeous New Romantic bass delivery. And that's before we've even gotten to the chorus. Oh my, the chorus (which doesn't come in until the 2:15 mark. Yes, it's one of those tracks.) All the aforementioned elements start ramping up in the bridge with some extra synthy swizzles, before it all falls away into a piano middle eight peppered with biting lines such as the one subtitling this blog (In case you hadn't noticed: Amazing.) before dramatically exploding into the chorus, with all the elements which made the verses so amazing going into absolute hyperdrive. Already your jaw's on the floor that an indie darling such as O'Regan has had the audacity to record something so shamelessly pop, and this is all before you've even heard the bat-shit-insane second middle eight, a...somewhat cartoonish affair at once equally dire and amazing.
All in all, Show Me Your Stuff is a slice of 90s pastiche that simply cannot be missed, and if it's anything to go by O'Regan's solo effort could be the shock indie-pop album of the year.
...as frankly, I wasn't getting much done on EITHER blog. So, I'm back like a cheap Taiwanese hooker. That insists on posting random Chinese messages on my long-abandoned blogposts. What of it?
So, what poptasticness have I been listening to during my lengthy absence?
Scissor Sisters - Night Work
Well, obviously. Sex and Violence has staked a claim to being one of the greatest tracks of the year thus far, with its dramatic bass piano chords slashing into a chillingly psychopathic set of lyrics delivered in a double-takingly calm and collected fashion by Mr Shears himself in his spine-tingling bass register. Gorgeous. Though terrifying, of course. Tracks like Sex and Violence tend to be the highlights of any album they go on, but its a testament to the sheer quality contained within this album that it is equalled several times throughout the long player! Album of the year, no contest.
Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite
Well, All The Lovers is undoubtedly THE track of the year (so far, at least - and an honourable mention must go to the poppers o'clock-tastic remix from Fear of Tigers), but the rest of the album is...a mixed bag. Although it is of course Dame Kylie's best album in years (since Fever? Probably.), we must not let loondom blind us to the fact that there is filler present here. Not, of course, that that should get in the way of the albums highlights - the divine Illusion being one, along with Get Outta My Way, which plays like a far more mature Wow which has discovered its true sexuality and hit the clubs for the first time. However, the stand-out of the LP has to go to the unrivalled Cupid Boy; the verses a dark, seductive affair layered with Minogue's velveteen coos and a shimmering, smouldering electronic bass backing, before launching into a crescendo of electronic stabs in the bridge and a relentless rave charge of a chorus topped off with Kylie's frozen-sugar cries (one presumes her claims to be in Heaven are a rather gloriously unsubtle metaphor, especially when coupled with such crescendoes in the music). Luciana's influence is unmistakeable (I want a demo!), and Cupid Boy goes down as Kylie's greatest track since...well, All The Lovers (but still, what a pedigree!).
Nabiha - Cracks Now we have the obvious candidates out of the way, we can move onto the discoveries! Nabiha Bensouda is a Danish popstress with an album spanning a wide range of genres that I would strongly advise you to check out. You may already be familiar with Popjustice-backed Deep Sleep, an energetic, retro-esque job released in Denmark in September last year, but far more intriguing are highlights The Enemy, which does the whole retro-energy job far more effectively and puts the likes of VV Brown to shame; You, a brooding little number with verses layered with Nabiha's coquettish coos and a mesmerising hook, before breaking down into an absolute synth and string explosion, which is definitely one of the tracks of 2010; and Boomerang, an infectious, almost a cappella, handclap-laden track with an irresistible percussive hook. Though the album tails off slightly towards the end, Nabiha displays real pop potential, and her album is definitely one of the must-listens of the year.
Anybody else love When You Were Young by The Killers? American duo The You Know Who (backed by Swedish production values, natch, as all the best music is) have come damned lose to a lawsuit with the shimmering, 80s-tastic Dance Tonight, which ghosts the aforementioned track scarily in the intro, the instrumentation...well, listen below, but either way, I'm not holding it against them - it's brilliant!
