Music that doesn't suck
I've been meaning to do a music post for a while. At the moment, I am avoiding both Today's Big Project (cleaning the bedroom) and the mess that is the current chapter of Flom. And so, music!
Classical Gas
When I joined eMusic, I wasn't sure how long I'd stick with it, since although my tastes are eclectic, they're mostly limited to commercial music. I rarely like something on the first listen. The "my musical tastes are superior because I listen to bands you've never heard of" attitude prevalent on the site's boards is just the sort of pseudo-intellectual posing that I hate. (These are the pompous a**es who refer to Justin as the epitome of mindless, mass-produced pop, making it clear that they haven't actually listened to his latest album, which is more creative than most of the generic music 'alternative' radio plays these days.)
However, I have a growing wish list and have blown my 30-download allotment within two hours of the monthly refresh the past two months. I blame Mozart. As it turns out, eMusic has a truly excellent classical library that includes works recorded by St Martin in the Fields and the LSO. I'm not terribly knowledgeable about classical music - I like Mozart and Puccini and various works by others, most of which I know from figure skating routines. The beauty of 10-cent downloads is that I can try different performers or take a guess on something when I'm not sure which horn concerto in E is the one I want.
Indochine, Mon Amour
In 80s America, we had 'college rock' - alternative music before alternative went corporate, played almost exclusively by small stations that served local colleges and universities. In the late 80s, some of the bands that had garnered loyal followings on college rock had breakout mainstream hits. Unfortunately, they changed the sound that made them unique and though they continued to have commercial success, I haven't bought an album by these groups since 1990 (other than CDs to replace my old cassettes). I refer primarily to U2 and rem.
Alternative music has always sold better in Europe. I suspect that this is partly due to government-ownership of some major stations, which tends to discourage payola (alive and quite healthy in the 21st century). The other reason would be the importance of clubs, which have never been as popular in the US because the major audience is locked out by the drinking age. In any case, the music that made the weekly top 40 in Britain (to which we listened faithfully every Sunday night on the BBC) was never a string of generic, R&B-influenced ballads. You might get Hazel O'Connor one minute and Abba-influenced Bucks Fizz the next. You had ska, new romantics and rockabilly all selling well.
For this reason, even though Indochine was hugely successful in the 80s (think NSync), they are best categorised as alternative. The closest comparison I can make is to The Cure, both musically and as a band that has endured. The Cure still attracts teens to their concerts, and the kids stand next to fans in their 40s (in fact, the one time I saw them, I took a friend's daughter who almost could have been my daughter). They're still cool, and they're still making great music.
When I first managed to get my hands on "3 Nuits Par Semaine", Indochine's megahit that was released the year I lived in France, I wasn't all that interested in their new stuff. Thanks to the magic of YouTube, however, I discovered "Adora" and "Alice & June", some of the best new music I've heard in ages. I ended up downloading the whole album through a somewhat questionable Russian site (by their interpretation of Russian law, downloads are performances and thus the artist has to be paid, but not the distributor). Since the distributor (Sony) is an idiot and doesn't have a US distributor for its French catalogue, I refuse to feel bad about this. Make it available, and I'll be happy to pay for it (again). (Interestingly enough, Indochine is on the Jive label - I had no idea that they had a division in France or that they even handled this kind of music.) In any case, I love this album. This is what 'alternative' should be, rather than the generic, tuneless whining that is substituting these days on alt radio.
Adora - Indochine (YouTube) - It appears that a bunch of fans won a contest? Fabulously queer video - and yes, this is the one the band released.
Alice & June (YouTube) - I'm not sure why I like this video so much - it's definitely minimalist. It just works.
You Never Knew You Needed It
Admit it. You were just thinking to yourself, Self, I've heard the Jamaican patois version of "Informer" sung by a white Canadian reggae singer, but what I really need to hear is a version in Hindi and Farsi, sung by an Indian pop singer and a Persian dance/hip-hop artist.
Chori, Chori - Aneela ft Arash (YouTube) - warning for gratuitous gun play and sense of humour.
My eMusic Lists
I've been compiling some of my favourite finds at eMusic into public lists, which you can find here, should you want to sample some of the more interesting things on my playlist.
And now, I'm off to clean the bedroom, unless some kind fic writer has uploaded a new instalment of one of the WIPs I'm reading (or the washing machines have flooded - I can hope).