Alas, not enough time to give 'The Starbucks Effect' and lengthy praise (again!) to the Pet Shop Boys, having just watched their "Life In Pop" DVD which flew by at nearly 3 hours. So just some reference notes/precis points:
Tennant/Lowe = Lennon/McCartney? Discuss....
Abba - Discuss....
West End Girls and/or Rent and/or Trevor Horn = Game Over
'Depth Thru Surface' - the final chapter on their DVD, 3 words sumising the dynamic duo & for that matter, true Pop Art(-ists) (Warhol etc.) very well.
Shame there were no interview bytes with their very much 'unsung', 1st producer, Bobby 'O'.
20 years in the 'more volatile than ever' music business and still going strong, as Brandon Flowers (Killers) calmly stated, "Who survives beyond 5 (years)?"
Well, (cough), "When I look back upon my life", not only is "It's A Sin" possibly my most pivotal pop-record, the Pet Shop Boys themselves have been the most vital veins in my pop-pulse. Period.
Short & Sweet, Mark Lawson's "TV Matters" column in The Guardian (23.11.06):
REPLY FROM JON HILLCOCK/XFM:
-----Original Message-----
From: jon
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 5:36 AM
To: james hyman
Hey James, only just checked out your Lawson entry from last week (been on holiday in Dubai) - obviously I found it especially pertinent, not least cos the newsreaders in question keep me company on a nightly basis through the week..
Yes there are nutters out there in the smallest of hours. Yes it always gets colder at 5am (even though the A/C is on the same temp). Yes daylight is a rare thing during these dark, dark (and long!) winter nights. Yes I will probably do myself a mischief down to extraordinary Red Bull intake...
...But at least you get to travel home past the sardine-tin trains, full of bleary-eyed, stressed out suits, knowing you're going homem to a warm bed. Suckerrrrz! Ahem.
ps... have you heard the bowel-shudderingly intense dubstep of the Skream album yet? it's a frickin speakerjammer!
DISC 1:
1. Go - Ondrej Rudavsky
2. Hymn - Walter Stern
3. Feeling So Real - Julie Hermelin
4. Every Time You Touch Me - Julie Hermelin
5. Into The Blue - Dani Jacobs
6. That's When I Reach For My Revolver - Lance Bangs
7. Come On Baby - James Hyman
8. James Bond Theme (Moby’s re- version) - Jonas Akerlund
9. Honey - Roman Coppola
10. Run On - Mike Mills
11. Bodyrock (fire version) - Fredrik Bond
12. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? - S.Wilkinson/H.Laurence/P.Alcada
13. Natural Blues - David Lachapelle
14. Find My Baby - Barnabyand Scott
15. Porcelain - Jonas Akerlund
16. We Are All Made of Stars - Joseph Kahn
17. Extreme Ways - Wayne Isham
18. In This World - Stylewar
19. Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday) - Stylewar
20. Jam For The Ladies - Simon and Jon
21. Make Love F*** War - Giles Bury
22. Lift Me Up - Evan Bernard
23. Spiders - Ben Weinstein
24. Beautiful - Ben Weinstein
25. Raining Again - Barnaby Roper
26. Dream About Me - Hugo Ramirez
27. Slipping Away - Hugo Ramirez
BONUS VIDEO TRACKS:
28. Bodyrock (Audition version)
29. Natural Blues (Animated version)
30. Porcelain (US version)
31. Extreme Ways - Bourne Identity cut
DISC 2:
Go - A Film about Moby
11AM, screening of 'Happy Feet' with the Eddy B (pictured top left), (the weekend, the rush), Fluff Fluff, Binky, Kate & Charlotte/Camilla. Fab family flick with a superb soundtrack (similar to Moulin Rouge with its updated medleys/modern 'mash-ups') and the steady pace, set against the sparse animated Arctic backdrop worked so well, compared to usual frantic cutting/edits (often there to compensate as style over substance). 'Happy Feet' has deservedly tip-tapped its way to the top of the US Box office and current crop of animated kids features out & about in 2006/2007.
Empire Leicester Square was freezing (maybe PR blasted cold air conditioning for added realism!!) so onto a quick hot Yo! Sushi Rinse round the corner afterwards. Chilled afternoon, early evening gym & steam/sauna session with Mr. Bootross then watched the genius of "Borat" with that hotel wrestling scene killing it!!!!!
[Rodigan & Crowd at daybreak in Salento/Italy, 2006]
In very crude terms, David Rodigan, (as a radio/club DJ) is to Reggae as what Westwood is to Rap and I suppose DJ Hype to Drum & Bass though I'm not here to compare them; love goes out to all manz dem. This blog entry is really to big up Rodders heavily after stumbling across some right raucous raw footage on, yup, of course, You Tube.
I wrote to Rodders once a few years ago (his reply here), when he was on Kiss, and he/his show still is but this was old skool Kiss, based on Holloway Road before EMAP's takeover.
Despite an important, early MTV shoot the next morning, Rodigan kept me awake till about 5AM with an awesome one-off reggae special; it was like DVD radio, a cool school lesson from the teacha preacha telling it concise, dropping dub-plate presshahh with heart-felt commentary!!!
Anyway, back to those riveting Rodders Yout' Tube, sorry YouTube clips. Watching about 20, engorging on a new Ben & Jerry's flava, Vanilla Toffee Crunch, I came close to the end of the tub, wheeled the ice cream up for some criss' biscuit at the bass - sorry reggae speak's taking over!!
In this clip, Sir David drops the 'Sleng Teng' to devestating effect and the raw energy he emanates reminds me of Cutmaster Swift's crazy chicken dance at the 1989 DMC World Mixing Championships when Swiftie mightily mixed together Alison Williams "Sleep Talk" with Mantronix "King Of The Beats" and the crowd went chicken oriental, er, mental.
In 'The Father Of Clash', at 'Riddim Clash 2006', Dave is busting deadly dance moves to Prince Buster, carrying on even when the DJ's rewind stops the music dead.
Give thanks here to ja Father Downbeat vs. Father Rodigan vs Father soundclash with more magic moves that puts even Gene Kelly's finest choreography to shame. Some may joke that the Rod Man comes across like an accountant or embarassing uncle showing off on the dancefloor at an office party - WHEEELL & F*CKING COME AGAIN!!! Rodderz is the MIGHTY MOVER!!!!
Over at H20 in Milan, kicking off in heavy Dr. Who/Davros stylee leather jacket, Rodz gets political and schmaltzy with some Cornetto riddim for the Pavarotti Massive (!) as well as practically making love to his DJ mixer/gear!
Rodigan also kept my mate JonJon (aka Udders) up till 5AM, in his case he was watching the YouTube clips and he commented on Rodder's performance being like a cabaret and more importantly he calmly and seriously stressed that here were some of the most captivating clips he's ever witnessed - I have to agree!!
Your Majesty/Royal Highness, having quite rightfully bestowed Norman Jay with an MBE, please come again & bestow similar honours on Rodders, the international don RodiGWAN!!
Not to be confused with the, err, Milf Rider porn site ('NUFF POP-UPS all round there!!), the latest web epidemic is the simply addictive Line Rider. Traffic to the site has caused meltdown ("Service Temporarily Unavailable" etc.), be patient and get on it!!
Far from being the final nail in the coffin for "Mash-ups", on offer at "Good Blimey" is an overwhelming overdose of 2,747 tracks (7 volumes) of banging "Bastard Pop"!!! Get back to us in about 3 years when you've been thru this aural abundance (!) - happy digital digging!!!!
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