Dec 26, 2005 · 1 minute
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Amerie — 1 Thing
Or: "My God I Can't Believe It's Not
Crazy In Love!" But this is better. No Jay-Z to fall back on here, no trumpets to cover up the gaps, just that relentless off-kilter drum sample, each time going deeper and deeper into your head until it's the first thing that you hear when you wake up in the morning. It needs something more than Beyoncé, who's too busy making sandwiches for her man. No, this song needs Amerie, in her clicking high heels and the glorious sound of her
"bing-bong-bing-bongs". A song for crowded dancefloors, for heat, indeed, for
Hell itself.
currently playing: Electronic – Breakdown
Dec 25, 2005 · 1 minute
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Last twenty minutes – probably the most fun thing RTD has written since Dark Season…
currently playing: DALEEEEEKKKS!
Dec 24, 2005 · 1 minute
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Happy Christmas, everybody!
currently playing: The Waitresses — Christmas Wrapping
Dec 24, 2005 · 1 minute
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Okay, so with my new job (and, if I’m going to be completely honest, Mario Kart DS), this year’s run-through of my favourite songs of 2005 has been a little woeful. What I plan to do is to finish running through the songs next week, before the New Year. So consider this one of those strange Advent Calendars that runs past Christmas, so greedy children can have a few extra days of chocolate (thankfully, Cadbury’s seem to have resisted this temptation, so they still remain the Calendar of Gentlemen. And Ladies, of course).
Enjoy Christmas Eve, everyone!
currently playing: Bloc Party – Like Eating Glass
Dec 21, 2005 · 1 minute
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Yes, well. Back tomorrow, I promise. For now, I leave you with action from the US Senate!
Sen. John Cornyn: "None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead."
Sen. Russ Feingold's retort: "Give me liberty or give me death."
currently playing: The Cure – Close to Me
Dec 19, 2005 · 1 minute
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A Short Interruption Unfortunately Follows. See You On Wednesday.
currently playing: BBC3 — Something About Fairytale of New York
Dec 18, 2005 · 1 minute
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At least I'm not gay, or a woman
Ah, Ricky Gervais. I'm sure Mr. Fry was quaking in his boots at that witty retort, but I'm glad to have another reason to shove him into the Endemol offices before the first napalm strike rains down.
currently playing: Rachel Stevens — All About Me
Dec 18, 2005 · 1 minute
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The Cardigans — I Need Some Fine Wine, And You, You Need To Be Nicer
It would be here for the title alone of course, but a return to the sound of the
My Favourite Game-era makes this a fine addition to this year's countdown (yes, I'm filling. Come back tomorrow for part one of my exciting three-part series: Songs From Pop Albums That Sold Approximately 5 Copies).
currently playing: Annie – Heartbeat
Dec 17, 2005 · 1 minute
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Pete, if you’re reading: I’m getting there.
currently playing: New Order – Waiting For The Sirens' Call
Dec 17, 2005 · 2 minute
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New Order — Waiting For The Sirens' Call
We need to put together a petition to stop Barney from yelling during
Love Will Tear Us Apart. It really doesn't suit whoops of joy, you know.
Anyway, it would be foolish to deny that New Order haven't lost anything with the departure of Gillian from the band. It's difficult to pin it down exactly, but both
Get Ready and
Waiting… do seem more laddish than, say,
Republic or
Technique. And yes, it could be said that at this stage in their life, New Order are rearranging old songs rather than pushing boundaries like they did the 1980s.
None of that makes the final words of
Waiting For The Sirens' Call any less heartbreaking. Bernard Sumner gets a lot of criticism for his lyrics, most of which is unfair (I am, of course, not going to stand up for "Here comes love/it's like honey/you can't buy/it with money"). Of course he can't compare with Ian Curtis, but then Sumner isn't trying to. New Order's lyrics are often less about how they look when written down, but how they sound when actually sung. Okay, the same could be said about pretty much any act, but New Order take it to an extreme. For them, the voice is just another instrument, and as long as it
sounds right, they seem to feel that it'll all hang together in the end. Which it invariably does.
How many times must I lose my way, hey
How many words do I have to say, hey
What can I do just to make you see
That you're so good for a man like
A man like me
Words on a screen just can't convey the tired and resigned way that Barney sets off into a Peter Hook-sponsored sunset.
(Other notable New Order releases this year:
Singles, which despite a
few flaws, is a fine collection for people who want the hits, and the
Collection, DVD set, comprising all their video promos (except
True Faith '94, but that was just the original
True Faith video with other New Order videos spliced in at various points, so you're not missing anything), and the documentary
NewOrderStory, featuring the voiceover that I imagine Paul Morley still smiles about.)
currently playing: Annie – Anniemal