the ordinary boys – how to get everything you want in ten easy steps
now that front man preston has found love and fame via the new world route that is reality tv, he along with his mates, manage to get the option to record a third album for a major.
bet no-one saw that coming.
what i suspect will come as a surprise to many, is just how much fun this self deprecation filled concept (prog-indie-pop) album is.
of course the haters will jump all over the ‘oh aint the celeb-media love affair evil’ slant of the wordplay, will be an easy target for those that want to find such a thing. however, when the music is as pumped up and disco friendly during the horns-n-electro’d club chez-moi i am not going to be dropping this album on the charity shop pile for a while yet. instead when the ireallylovemusic clan are all involved with their get together mealtimes, this album will be an easy contender to soundtrack these times of family related bliss, as it ticks the enjoyment boxes for just about everyone.
there’s a welcome upbeat pop band giving it their skanked up all during the hook filled nine2five, the corny acoustic love ditty i luv you, (gotta love all these slade/prince styled nu-text speak titles), the strange blur styled fairground britpop madness of commercial breakdown and all manner of jaunty chorus rich pop music on offer across the rest of the album.
so, album of the year ? no way. a fun filled guitar pop album that doesn’t take it self too seriously ? too damn right.
more detail : here
sean lennon – friendly fire
dreary beyond belief.
don’t bother, this is seriously dreary.
pet shop boys – concrete
currently enjoying a serious return to the top of the pop pile with a deluge of artful product on all manner of shelves (books ! cds ! dvds !). these grey haired masters of electro pop decide to do the honourable thing and finally release a live album.
naturally, as this is the ever subversive pet shop boys, things are never quite as straightforward as you would perhaps like them to be. as the blokes behind the songs, took their craft to the bbc, asked to borrow one of their big budget orchestras, and strap trevor horn behind the button pressing desk to make it all come together in a grand epic manner, thus deserving his credit as musical director.
also, the guys opened their contacts list and randomly picked a few mates to help out, just to prove how they are very much still part of the pop music game 20 years (give or take) after their debut release.
so we get rufus wainwright dropping in on the casanova in hell, robbie williams gettting jealousy, and even frances barber pops up during friendly fire.
with back catalogue classics getting the orchestral backing (supplemented by the the necessary underlying electro-throb of course), the album refreshes several overly familiar tracks, while giving recent productions a wonderful sonically rich airing, for example, the virgin airing of the sodom and gomorrah show sounds absolutley fantastic, with its excess of backing singers, synths and orchestral backing.
no wonder the crowd (don’t forget – this is a live recording !) go nuts, in a civilised manner of course ..
more detail : here