Brief hiatus

Dear reader, we have a lot Danish bacon to eat. Back on 1st June. Cheerio!
Markx

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Sound of the summer?

Hey - you there! Are you planning a road trip across America this summer? Are you expecting to have sex with Edie from Desperate Housewives when you reach your destination? And have you been forced to share the journey with an uptight but vaguely pretty girl from your college?

Sure, your chalk and cheese personalities will cause terrible misunderstandings and barbed banter along the way - but have you considered that when you eventually, inevitably fall for each other, you'll need a song to play over the closing credits?

Well, here is that song. And it's a belter.

Golden Silvers - Arrows of Eros


with apologies to John Cusack, Rob Reiner and anyone else involved with The Sure Thing

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New Regina Spektor video: Laughing With

Here's the beautiful new video for Regina Spektor's beautiful new song, Laughing With, courtesy of reginaspektor.org.

Before you watch, I need to tell you three things:

1) Listen to the words
2) Listen to the words
3) Listen to the words



I can't tell you much about it now, but I've just spent half an hour with the lovely Ms Spektor, talking about her new album, her choice of producers (Jeff Lynne, Jacknife Lee, Mike Elizondo), putting on school plays and what her piano teacher thinks of her new material... It's all under wraps until the album comes out in June, but I can tell you this for free: Regina has the most amazing, aqua blue eyes you've ever seen (unless you've seen my wife's - I've been instructed to say).

The interview is, of course, is for my "real job" at the BBC but I'll try to get permission to put the DVD Extras up on the blog next month.

PS: The Regina fansite seems to be down at the moment... The video should reappear once they do.

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New Dragonette video: Fixin' To Thrill

Dear Dragonette,

We think you're brilliant - but are you sure that making a video in which you scalp children and kill their parents is going to ensure your longevity in the music industry during this period of fiscal uncertainty?

Yours,
A concerned but largely unread music blog.

Dragonette - Fixin' To Thrill

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I'm In Love With A Robot

Fact: The first song I ever wrote was called "Robie The Mechanical Robot", about a mechanoid with two heads. It was so visionary and ahead of its time (1982) that it has taken pop music nearly 30 years to catch up. Its like Leonardo Da Vinci and his helicopter all over again.

So here, in 2009, is Royksopp's version of my original song. They've made a few minor changes - the key, the chorus, the melody and the lyrics - but it's essentially the same.

Oh, and it's got Robyn in it.

Royksopp ft Robyn - The Girl & The Robot

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Gig review: Ladyhawke at Koko, London

Ladyhawke's debut album was my favourite pop record of last year - an encyclopaedia of 1980s melodies, Human League synth lines, cool-as-ice attitudes, even-cooler-than-ice hooks and great big jouyous handclaps. But I was interested in what her live show would be like, because the artist otherwise known as Pip Brown has Asperger's Syndrome - a mild form of autism that can cause communicative and emotional problems.

Growing up in New Zealand, she says, "I was so solitary. Other kids thought I was a weirdo". But interviewers have remakred that Brown exhibits few of the characteristic traits of Aperger's - "chatty, warm and sincere", is how the Independent put it.

In concert, she's certainly shy - head bowed, eyes obscured by her immaculately feathered fringe, and emitting a nervous giggle every time she addresses the audience. But whether this is a hallmark of her medical condition is up for debate. She's more communicative and dynamic than, say, Liam Gallagher...

Still, Ladyhawke's apologetic awkwardness means that her gig stands or falls on the quality of the music. At first, the signs aren't good. The pounding rhythms of set-opener Magic are marred by a sound mix muddier than a swamp in the Serengeti, and Brown's vocals are barely audible for the first fifteen minutes of the sshow.

Worse still, a specially-ordered mini orchestra (string quartet, brass section and baby grand piano) seem not to have been plugged into the mixing desk. All night long, they're bowing, plucking, blowing and puffing to no discernible effect.

But things slowly start to improve as the crowd pick up the pop baton and run with it, chanting along to the buoyant choruses of Better Than Sunday, Dusk Til Dawn and Paris Is Burning. The energy gets beamed back to the stage, where a Tango-fied cover of Britney's Womanizer and b-side Danny and Jenny bring the band, and Ladyhawke herself, to life.

By the encore, even the sound man has woken up. We get our only chance to hear the orchestra on a grimy rendition of Patti Smith's Horses, before the night closes with My Delirium - and a thousand fists punching the air with every exuberant "hey!" the chorus throws up.

But we wanted more - a performer who could lob all that energy back into the crowd and set off some kind of musical adrenaline riot. Ladyhawke simply couldn't do that last night - but several gig veterans told me she'd improved tenfold since her last London date. So there's hope yet that she'll grow into a showwoman worthy of her gargantuan tunes.

Fingers (in sequinned gloves) crossed.

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