What Are You Listening To Right Now?


James

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Now your laughter has a hollow ring

But the hollow ring has no finger in

So let's close the book and let the day begin

And our marriage be undone

XTC and Andy Partridge sure knew how to come up with those good ol' "romantic" love songs. Bitter stuff sure, but as always the Swindon lads does it with beauty and style.

 

Edited by ArtieRollins
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Did you make disease and the diamond blue?

Did you make mankind after we made you?

So circling we'll orbit another year

Two worlds that won't collide

So circling we'll orbit another year

Moon still tries to steal the tide away

Don't need another satellite

Two other great XTC classics, this time from their 1986 masterpiece, Skylarking. Produced by none other than Todd Rundgren, and heavily inspired by their idols such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles and The Kinks. A true game changer for the band, with Rundgrens talent for coming up with beautiful harmonies and arrangements plus having two great and clever song writers such as Andy and Colin Moulding, who both wrote some of their finest material here. 

The album was a perfect payback to those who had tried to write them off as just another one hit wonder (with Making Plans for Nigel) or being labeled a "second" rate Talking Heads/The Police, by some rather nasty critics, but I guess they must have stopped listening to their albums after Go 2 (1978), as these guys came up with a least 3-4 albums from 1979-1984 that easily matches anything Talking Heads and The Police came up with in the same period.

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Change must be earned

Sacrificial bonfire must reign

Reign over good

Banish the bad, reign over good, banish the bad

Let's not forget the great contributions done by Colin Moulding, and here are just one of his (many) finest moments. 

The original closer of Skylarking, Sacrificial Bonfire, (later on some CD versions had Dear God as the final track), and from 01:41 and outwards, it truly showcases what a wizard and true star, Todd Rundgren once was, not only as a musician, but as a fantastic producer.

 

 

Edited by ArtieRollins
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I sometimes really hate the whole copyright thing, UMG, contains blah, blah blah, and that means the video is blocked from your country.

Since I can't see or hear the original classic, I ended up with an updated one from 2007 , sung by both Waite and Alison Kraus. Beautiful but nothing beats the original. 

 

Edited by ArtieRollins
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Two epic live performances by the great Thomas Dolby:

His second album The Flat Earth (1984) moved on from the synth-pop dominated The Golden Age of Wirless (1982) towards a more "mature" sound, that showcased that Mr. Dolby had more to offer than just being the funny guy from the MTV video, She Blinded Me With Science.

But of all his great and classic 80s tunes, I find the beautiful yet sad Screen Kiss to be his finest moment, both as a musician and as a songwriter.

"Suicide in the hills above old Hollywood - Is never gonna change the world"

 

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I've been listening to Patrick O'Hearn a lot.  He's still active today, but he was one of the most influential so-called New Age or ambient artists of the 1980's.  Even though he's a bassist, I would say he and Jan Hammer have much in common in terms of song writing.  Anybody else here a fan?   

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17 hours ago, ArtieRollins said:

Two epic live performances by the great Thomas Dolby:

His second album The Flat Earth (1984) moved on from the synth-pop dominated The Golden Age of Wirless (1982) towards a more "mature" sound, that showcased that Mr. Dolby had more to offer than just being the funny guy from the MTV video, She Blinded Me With Science.

But of all his great and classic 80s tunes, I find the beautiful yet sad Screen Kiss to be his finest moment, both as a musician and as a songwriter.

"Suicide in the hills above old Hollywood - Is never gonna change the world"

 

Nice tunes 

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The vocal dance/trance movement with its uplifting, dreamy and melodic sound, had begin to take off around 1998-2002, and even though it sadly would "die" a slow death later on, in those 4-5 years, the genre produced some truly spectacular dance/trance tunes. 

I think Gouryella took the genre to another level with their stunning 1999 hit, Walhalla.

 

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