Flashback Friday - Face to Face

Well if you haven't noticed by now a lot of my flashback posts have been groups/artists from the 80's. In the 80's I was a teenager and music was my escape from everything. I promise I'll do my best next week to pull a song from another decade.....


I was sitting at home this past Tuesday night going through the 300+ CD's, and vinyl I've accumulated over the years. Most of my collection came from my aunt Cynthia who used to take me record/CD shopping in Berkeley every summer here. We'd go to Tower Records (now closed), Amoeba Records, and a few indie stores which are now long gone. As I was going through my collection I remembered a group from the summer of '84. I searched for an album from a group called Face to Face. As I was  looking I remembered that album was one of the many albums I had sold when I was jobless in the early '90's. I kept the majority of my vinyl, but I regret ever selling any of it. Lesson learned. 


After realizing my mistake in my youth I retreated to You Tube to see if there were any of their videos posted. I was happy to have found that there were. "10-9-8" was their first single that I remember hearing and seeing on MTV as well as Night Tracks 





I would spend just about every Saturday nights from 9pm to 12m watching videos on Night Tracks. Another single that came out a few months later called "Under the Gun" which got played  a lot as well.





After watching these videos I search for their music on iTunes. I was excited to find it there. I downloaded it and began listening to it again. I remember how much I loved this album. There isn't one song on it that I didn't like. The songs that I posted are their most popular, but there are others on the album which I felt should have been singles instead of these. I know that Flashback Fridays are usually about one song, but this one is about one album. 


Hearing this album took me back to that summer when I first bought it. It made me miss my record shopping excursions with my Aunt Cynthia to Berkeley. The hours she'd spent walking from store to store with me until I found everything that I wanted to find. And then would pay for it all even though I had my own money. That was 26 years ago, but still seems like last year to me.


Thanks again Auntie.

Suggested Listening - The Radio Dept.

This is a band I found by mistake, and what a lucky mistake it was for me. I was bored (but when am I not) on my iPhone on iTunes (no this isn't a plug for apple) scrolling through genres to finally ending up on alternative. I was scrolling and listening to samples of random artists I finally came across The Radio Dept. 


The band was started in 1995 by schoolmates Elin Almered and Johan Duncanson, who named the group after a gas-station-turned-radio-repair-shop called "Radioavdelningen" (Swedish for The Radio Department). Shortly after forming the two stopped playing music together which put the band on hold. The group was reformed in 1998, when Duncanson starting making music with Martin Larsson. In 2001, Larsson's then girlfriend Lisa Carlberg joined the group on bass, followed by Per Blomgren on drums and Daniel Tjäder on keyboards (Carlberg and Blomgren left the band when they changed directions in music a few years later). 


I don't know what drew me to them, but I started listening. As I listened to songs on the "Pet Grief" album, I came across this song "It's Personal"





Although there isn't a video that I could find for this song, I don't think it needs one because the song can stand on its own. A beautiful instrumental that you should listen to with your eyes closed and let the song take you into a dream like state. Another favorite of mine on the album is "The Worst Taste in Music". 





Some of you may recognize their music since a few of their songs where used in the Sofia Coppola's movie "Marie Antoinette" (great sound track, not so great movie). Their (The Radio Dept.) music fit in perfectly. They have an 80's electro-syth sound that went well with the other music in the movie. This next song is off their album "Lesser Matters" called "Where Damage is Already Done". This is another great song on a equally great album.







This song as well as the album seem more up beat sounding compared to "Pet Grief". No matter the sound I enjoy their music. Listening to these albums makes me think they this would be a great soundtrack for a nice long road trip. It seems that The Radio Dept. is another group that's not well know here in the U.S. that should be. Their music albeit not mainstream seems like they would find a great fan base here but they very rarely tour the U.S. This is one of those groups that I will like for as long as they are around and together. 

Suggested Listening - Holden

Holden's not well know here in the U.S. They are a group from France, which maybe the reason. They were formed in 1997 with band members Armelle Pioline (Vocals), Dominique Dépret (aka Mocke, guitar), with help from Pierre-Jean Grapin (drums), Evan Evans (keyboard) and Richard Cousin (bass). The band came up with their name from the JD Salinger's novel character Holden Caulfield.

My friends Paula and I discovered their music on MySpace  around 2006. We would spend our lunch hour scouring for new music/artists (what MySpace was originally created for) which sometimes would turn into almost an all day thing (hopefully our old boss Linda isn't reading this). Paula came across their page and played a few of their songs. Even though I don't speak or understand French that well if at all, I enjoyed their sound. Their Album Chevrotine was just released and they had a few songs posted. The first song I remember listening to was "Ce que je suis" (translates to "I have the right")

The lyrics of the song translate to:

I have, I have the right,
I have the right too,
To fail, to faint,
Until I weight the price,
But what happens to me?
I laugh until I cry, I cry until I laugh.
But what happens to me?
I sleep beside my bed
Ohoo I so regret,
I am not what I am,
Walls have ears,
Walls talk to much to me
Ohoo I so hate,
I am not what I am,
The moon is stalking me
The moon is on my back

I have, I have the right,
I have the right too,
To lead, to dismiss men,
To the end of night.
Ohoo I so regret,
I am not what I am
Walls have ears,
Walls talk too much to me.
Ohoo I so hate,
I am not what I am,
The moon is stalking me,
The moon is on my back,
Ohoo I so regret,
I am not what I am,
Walls have ears...

Armelle's voice is beautiful, that if she sang it in English it would loose the emotion in the translation. Another on the album is "Sur le Pavé", though it's sort of a creepy video. I can honestly say I don't think I've ever watched the video the entire was through.

But my favorite song on this album has to be "Madrid".

This a song that you should add to your collection of music for driving. It one of those songs that makes you want to own a convertible and drive down the coast (if you live by an ocean). I haven't listened to this CD in awhile because I played it to often. I have a tendency to do that with music or an artist that I really enjoy.  

I read a few weeks back that they had released a new CD in March. I haven't found it since they are relatively unknown here. I was lucky enough to ask my old boss Linda (who is originally from France) if she wouldn't mind picking up Chervortine (their third CD) for me on her trip back home. I can't thank her enough for this. I just might try to enlist her help to get their new CD since she's back living in France (hopefully she's reading this part). It's always great to discover artists from other countries that you would never hear on U.S. radio. I hope that in the future they become better known in the U.S. It would be great them perform live.

Suggested Listening - Jacob Golden

I discovered Jacob Golden's music in 2007 on Myspace of all places. I can't remember exactly how I came about finding his page, but took a listen to a few of his songs he had posted. He had recently released "Revenge Songs". What I liked most about his music is he writes from the heart. His songs are intimate confessions about his life. He sings about his traumatic childhood being an only child who was orphaned at a young age, and how he chased his dream of a music career, only to have it end quickly. 


He lived with his German-born mother in Sacramento, CA until she fell ill with cancer and passed. Then was sent to live with his father he'd never known only for him to pass from complications of diabetes when Jacob was 16. In his shortly lived band named Birthday (which he formed in the late 90's), the group moved to London to record the one and only EP for the band "Welcome to Life" on the Rough Trade label. When the band broke up in 2001 he stayed in London and continued to chase his dream of musical stardom. While still there he released his first solo album "Hallelujah World" to less that rave reviews. Feeling defeated he returned to back to America to Portland to re-evaluate his career and begin a new life. It wasn't until a year later at a 10 day silent retreat in Yosemite did he realized what it was about music that he was looking for. His realization that being a rock star wasn't the most important thing about his career, it was being genuine. I feel the songs on his "Revenge Songs" CD reflect that (it was released in 2007).





"On a Saturday", is a great song. Other songs on the CD, "Out Come the Wolves, Shin A Light, and the albums title song "Revenge Songs".





(So this isn't a video of the song, but this was the best quality sounding version). I think this is the best song on the CD by far. You can feel his emotions as he sings. I think his sound is similar to Nick Drake. I love that he pours his heart and soul into every song which make this CD sound a bit dark and broody. I was lucky enough to get one of the limited edition handmade copies before the official release. Listening to it again reminds me of how much I like it when I first bought it. I hope that he releases some new material soon. His loyal followers (and me) are looking forward to it.

Flashback Friday - Fake

Before each Friday I'd try and find a song for my flashback entry. I listen to music constantly if not incessantly to and from work and home, all in hopes to find that song. As each Friday approaches I stress myself out because I haven't found one to write about. Well it seems that my Friday morning commutes no matter how good or bad it is I am inspired by one of the songs that I hear.  And this Friday it was this one....

Back in my youth a few years ago, (haha!) I clubbed every weekend at a place called the Twilight Zone (i still have my membership card as well). It was an small old movie theater that they turned into a dance club in Alameda. I ended up there Saturday nights with my cousin Jon and friends. I'd get all dress up in my black shirt, black pegged pants, my creepers (my old fav shoes), put on a few rosary beads and crosses (hey it was the 80's and that was cool at the time), and black rubber bracelets. My hair would be perfectly quaffed and held in place by the can of aquanet I would use (damn I think I have a few pics of those nights). I was a huge fan of new wave music back then, siouxsie and the banshees, joy division, front 242, gene loves jezebel, etc. The Twilight Zone played all of that and more.


Without fail they would play this song....





I don't know what it was about this song, but when it was played the dance floor would fill up. It did have a catchy synth beat which most if not all 80's songs did. I would join the masses on the dance floor and dance my rendition of taffy pulling (hopefully some of you will know what I'm talking about). You had all the goths, modes, punks, and preps on the dance floor dancing along to what ever their dance style was. It was sort of cool, it didn't matter who you where nobody hated you because you weren't like them.


I loved that club and the space that it was in. The stairs around both sides of the dance floor took up up to the old balcony. This is where the DJ booth was located as it sat and over looked the dance floor. We'd go upstairs every week and request every song that we wanted played that night. And the DJ (for the life of me I can't remember his name) would play each and every one of them. Between sets of songs he'd  throw in a music video up on the screen located on the stage. This video would sometimes get played, but not often. 


I had to look this song up on You Tube and was glad to have found it. Listening to it this morning reminded me of the fun I had back then. 

Suggested Listening - Nick Drake

My good friend Paula introduced me to Nick Drake back in 2005. I knew nothing of him or his music and I'm so grateful that she introduced me to him. He was signed to Island Records at the age of 20. He released his first album Five Leaves in 1969, but this wasn't the first album that I had heard. 



Paula had brought over his CD Bryter Layter  for me (this was my first introduction to his music). I can honestly say that there isn't a song on this that I don't like. Each song seems to flow without effort into the other. One song on the CD is Northern Sky....



This is a great song and I thought that I had heard this somewhere before, but couldn't remember. Another one is titled "Hazy Jane I" my favorite on this CD.



This album (Bryter Layter) and Pink Moon on there release didn't sell more than 5,000 copies. His lack of commercial success in his career is mostly because he rarely performed live or gave interviews. Nick did have loyal group of followers in the beginning and thanks to one of his bigger fans, Joe Boyd (manager) his music still lives on. He put in his original contract with Island Records that Nick Drake's music would never go out of print. I have to say Thank You Joe Boyd because without this I and others may have never discovered his music. 


Nick Drake's ability to write his emotions into his songs is what moves and amazes me. There was a documentary that was done on his life called "A Skin Too Few". This documentary included family movies and pictures as well as his sister Gabrielle Drake. She talked of his music and his bouts with depression and insomnia which he often wrote about in his music. He died at the age of 26 from an overdose of antidepressants which some say was a suicide, but others say was accidental. This documentary tells a sad story, but it tells it with so much artistry and to such emotional effect that the film is one of those rare works that resonates long after it's over. If you become or are a fan of his music I suggest you watch it. 

Flashback Friday - The B-52's

(For some reason my blog didn't post last Friday so I'm posting it 3 days late)

The B-52's  are a group that I discovered in the summer of '82. Now while I'm not a huge fan of their current stuff I loved their first couple of albums. A song that I really loved which is also a title of an EP is Mesopotamia. This was suppose to be a studio album which they started recording with David Byrne of the Talking Heads, but Byrne ended up pulling out of the project before it was finished. 





I can remember the first time I heard it. I was at my cousin's house on Buena Vista in Patty's room. She said what I can remember, "Oh you should hear this group I think you would like them." She put on the EP and I sat on the edge of her bed and listened. After listening to the entire EP I knew I had to own it so bought it the next day. I must have played that EP non-stop for at least a month. There are other songs that I like, Cake, and Loveland, but Mesopotamia is my favorite. I liked The B-52's because I think they had a unique sound that no one else seem to have had back then.  Every so often I listen to this and it reminds me of summers that my brother and I used to spend here in California, hanging out with our cousin's Patty, Melissa, and Jennifer. Good times....

Suggested Listening - Sigur Ros

They are not your conventional pop or rock group. Sigur Ros comes from Iceland. 

The group formed in August 1994 by Jón “Jónsi” Þór Birgisson  (guitar and vocals),  Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson  (drums 1994-1999), and  Georg Hólm (bass). Now members include Kjartan Sveinsson and Orri Páll Dýrason. When I first heard their music it was on a TV show on cable called Verve. I flipped on the channel and hear the music that they were playing, it was very ethereal sounding. I left it there and was trying to figure out the lyrics to the song that was being sung. I had no clue that they were Icelandic and Jonsi was singing in his native language. I think that's what intrigued me more. After they finished playing the song I came into, they began their next song. It was Svefn-G-Englar (roughly translates to Sleepwalkers).....







This song put me in a trance like state. I sat glued in front of the TV until they were done. I've never had a group or artists move me like this song and the others that they played that day. Over the years I had stopped listening to them. I watched a documentary that Sigur Ros had done in 2007 called Heima, and it re-introduced their music back into my life. The documentary was filmed in the late summer of 2006. They returned home to play a series of free, unannounced concerts for the people of Iceland. This was and is a beautiful documentary about the band traveling home and their music. Here's the trailer to the movie....





Sigur Ros I can say is my favorite band and I will never tire of listening to them. I remember reading in someone's blog on their music and I quote "You ain't human if SR don't make you weep." I will be the first to admit, there are a few songs of theirs that have almost brought me to the brink of tears. If this is your first time hearing them I encourage you to look up more of their songs and take a listen . I believe that if you aren't a fan of them now, you will be come one shortly after...

Flashback Friday - David Bowie

This morning I had my iphone on random shuffle. I was listening to a play list that I created of all my favorite music (well not all) from the 80's. Just as I was getting on Muni (our subway) to head to work Fashion from David Bowie comes on. 



This song came out in 1980 and I was between the ages of 12 and 13. I think I was just getting ready to begin Junior High at Maywood. We had just relocated to Washington state from California the year before, so I didn't really have many friends. I was not a very outgoing child and was an introvert so this made it difficult for me to make friends.


On the weekends I would sit in my room and listen to my stereo (a hammy down from my parents). If I was feeling bad or down I would retreat to my room, shut the door and tune into my favorite station. I would sing along to every songs and learning all the lyrics perfectly.  There was a great station called "the wave" (no longer on the air) that played new wave/modern rock. I would listen for hours and sometimes record my favorite songs off this station (god I think I still have some cassette tapes some where at home). This was one of the songs that would get played a lot, but only felt that way.


This song reminds me of hanging out in my old room. Music poster plastered on every wall with my over sized headphones on and laying on my bed. Hearing it now reminds me of where I was as a child and how much I've grow and changed since then.

Revamping my Format

So I'm finding it a little hard to keep up with my current format of how often I will post. This is how I envision it from this point forward....

First Sunday of the month - New Artist Profile (a new artist that I discover and think you might enjoy)

Monday/Tuesday- My Suggested Listening (artist I'm currently listening to)

Fridays - Flashback Friday (A blast from the past ranging from the popular to the obscure. A great song that brings back great memories every time I hear it.)

Look for my next post tomorrow for Flashback Friday!!!!!

Flashback Friday - Total Coelo

Thank you Myla for this first post...


The other day a friend of mine forwarded a link to this song. Total Coelo - I eat cannibals









Total Coelo a one hit wonder from the 80's (well at least I think the song was some kind of hit). I remember hearing it for the first time on MTV back in 1982 (when they used to play music). The tribal drumbeat sucked me into the song. and then one by one the group appeared in the video. I thought the girls were hot (we'll 80's hot) and they all seemed dressed in what it looked like hefty bags. The first time that I heard this song and saw the video I think I was a Freshman/Sophomore in high school. I was sitting at home after school watching MTV instead of doing homework. Daydreaming of the day that I wouldn't have to go to school anymore and being out in the world on my own. Now as I listen/watch it again I'm taken back to that day. The girls dancing in a spotlight with a back drop that looks (or is trying to look) like the African Sahara. The video filmed in a studio with neon lights and fog/smoke machines. They were all dressed in colorful costumes (aka hefty bags), and dancing along to the catchy lyrics with their well choreographed dance routines.


I still love this song....

Gossip (AKA The Gossip)

What can I say about this group other than I ♥ THEM!!!! Gossip started back in 1999 with founding members Beth Ditto (lead singer), Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell (guitarist), Kathy Mendonca (former drummer), and now Hannah Billie (present drummer). They all met (with the exception of Hannah Billie) in college where they all attended Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. Now they all reside in Portland, OR where they are based.


The first CD that I bought of theirs was Standing in the way of Control 





This is the song that got me hooked. If I had to describe their sound I would say a little punk with a hint of disco. I don't think there was a song on this album that I didn't like. Beth Ditto has such an awesome voice that you can feel the emotions in her singing. Some songs on the album, Fire with  Fire (love this one as well), Jealous Girl, Coal to Diamonds, but a song that I think you can really feel her emotions is "Yr Mangled Heart". My favorite line in the song goes, "I don't want the world, I only want what I deserve!". This CD is a must own (in my opinion).


I just recently bought their newest CD Music for Men and all I have to say is WOW!!! Sometimes bands have a tendency with their follow up album not doing so well, but not this one. First single I think was "Heavy Cross"





The first couple of albums/EP's were gritty and raw, but this one seems a lot more polished. Don't get me wrong I loved the raw sound and feeling that I got from listening to the others. With this album they signed with a new studio which is a part of Sony, so I feel they wanted to try and make them look/sound a little more main stream. Some other songs on the CD are Dimestore Diamond, Vertical Rhythm (great song), Love and Let Love, and Four Letter Word.


I was hoping to see them April 19th @ the Regency Ball room here in SF, but they canceled the show. 


This is a group to keep your eyes out for. I feel like they are on the verge of becoming big soon. So if you get a chance and they are in your city see them while you can in a small intimate venue. You won't regret it!!!!!

Getting back to business....

As you may have noticed I haven't posted anything in about a month. It seems that I had some malicious gadget on my blog that prevented me from having access. I finally resolved the issue and now can really start my blog.  :-)

And So It Shall Begin....

After weeks of trying to decide what I want to write about in my blog I finally came up with a format. It may change over time, but this is how it's going to start...

Mondays - New Artist/Group (write about new and upcoming artists and/or groups that I think are going to be someone to watch out for.

Wednesdays - Suggested Listening (Artists that I like and think you should give a listen to.)

Fridays - Flashback Friday (a song from my musical past that envokes great memories everytime I hear it.)

Look for to my first "official" blog Monday March 1st.

In The Beginning....

Music has always been a passion of mine. Unfortunately my life path didn't take me down that road, but I'm hoping this blog will be my outlet for it. I'm hoping to broaden my musical horizons and my readers with new groups/artist I find, and rediscovering music from my childhood up to now. So I invite you join me on my journey.....

Chris