My friend John turns 36 today. What I never realized is that he shares his birthday with Paul Hewson . Paul started a little band back in Ireland in 1977. Most people know him as Bono and his band as U2. When Boy finally came out in 1981 I would like to imagine that the following songs found a way onto one of his mix tapes . Death Cult is a reasonable expectation, as is, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Specials. Black Flag and X were from a different side of [...]

Because of their last incarnation, many will say that Soiuxsie & The Banshees were not new wave. But a band with a career that spans 20 years is allowed to try on many different hats & though the hat Siouxsie & the Banshees last wore was decidedly more dark (i.e. goth) their roots were bathed in the post punk/new wave scene of the late 70's. Formed after the fall out of The Sex Pistols, which was also the time that punk was assumed to be officially dead, the band's line up consisted of Siouxsie, Steven [...]

Because of their last incarnation, many will say that Soiuxsie & The Banshees were not new wave. But a band with a career that spans 20 years is allowed to try on many different hats & though the hat Siouxsie & the Banshees last wore was decidedly more dark (i.e. goth) their roots were bathed in the post punk/new wave scene of the late 70's. Formed after the fall out of The Sex Pistols, Which was also the time that punk was assumed to be officially dead, Siouxie & The Banshees line up consisted of [...]
Time to go back to basics. Recently I've found myself getting all nostalgic for the Spirit of '77. I mean it, maaan. As I mentioned in my interview below, I missed the detonation of UK punk by at least a good six years and several thousand miles. Truth be told, even had I found myself at age 15 that year in Malcom & Vivienne's emporium at 430 King's Road , I would probably have been too repressed to do anything about it. But my curiosity-driven purchase of [...]

Appearances and Chamber of Commerce fact sheets to the contrary, there's a thinly-veiled current of darkness that flows through the tree-lined avenues and perfectly manicured lawns of Riverside, USA. Pay close enough attention, and you will start to discern the seams where the all-American, squeaky-clean vision of Norman Rockwell has been unnaturally joined to the nightmare world of David Lynch. Every community has its secrets. In the case of Riverdale, these include a hidden coven of witches , a young man with a horrific eating disorder and a penchant for odd headgear , and some [...]

Aaaarggghhh! At the weekend got back from a nice week relaxing in the sunny southern climes of Dorset. The whole family enjoyed the experience, and it was doubly nice to be away from the PC and do a spot of reading. This was all with one exception. The first monday Mrs Vicar and I were forced to drive over 100 miles back home because we had been burgled. (Believe me 100 miles in old Land Rover Defender seems like an age). Now [...]

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES - DAZZLE (DREAMTIME MIX) Hallo Everybody! Todays DreamTime Mix is the 1984 single Dazzle by british band Siouxsie & The Banshees . The original version can be found on their album Hyaena . I combined the Album Version & the 12" Glamour Mix . The re-edit clocks in at 9:16 minutes. If you like this track you might want to check out the video of [...]
Dec 13, 2006, 11:08pm
swoon
1989 was great time to be 15 years old. I was a high school freshman, my first year in a public institution after spending the eight previous years in private Christian schools. The people I met were unlike any I?d encountered before and music was one of the primary forces that seemed to attract me to the friends I was making. One girl in particular seemed to regard me as her personal project, molding me like clay into a guy who didn?t just take what the radio had to offer but searched around for things outside of [...]
Someone found a Velvet Underground record for 75 cents and sold it on eBay for over $155,000 ...and I thought I got a good deal when I paid five bucks for that Halloween III soundtrack. Anyways here's a boatload of music for those of you who have yet to discover the rarest album in the world while searching through record crates at a flea market. David Bowie The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Alt Mix) The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Bowie Mix) [...]
The last couple posts have taken us in Eighties territory, which led me to dip into my extensive collection of 123 records from that period. Boy, do I love a remix. First up is Midnight Oil with a remix of their first big hit "Power and the Passion," taken from their 1982 album 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . The 123 is remixed by Francois Kevorkian and Dominic Maita. Actually, the version I'm posting is my own edit of the extended and the dub versions hacked [...]
Today would be the one year mark for this site's existence. Perusing the archives you can see a little bit of paradigm shifting in musical taste which is a good thing I guess. According to the site traffic and feed stats we actually have an audience and actual readership (which isn't that much but its still p cool). So thanks for making chinese restaurant in the forest* relevant. Special thanks to Squashed , Moka , Funtime OK , mp3blog.ch , Shay , boomawang , bbqchickenrobot [...]
Happy Halloween!! Though not quite the high-traffic release day that 6/6/06 was, today's notable all the same. We'd like to remind you that Lady Sovereign's album, Vertically Challenged , is out today. Wait, wait. It wasn't out yet?!?! Anyone else feel that though artist development is always key, that maybe that whole process was unneccesarily drawn out? Maybe it's just me... It seems to have worked -- everyone knows who she is now, right? ( site ) Anyway, speaking of delayed releases from tiny, sassy ladies -- Nellie McKay's double disc, Pretty Little Head , [...]

Halloween: the only "holiday" where religious controversy and political beliefs don't get in the way of daily plans. Kids dress up in innocent costumes and eat candy, adults dress up in promisicuous costumes and party hard. Fun stuff, isn't it? Media also plays a big role in Halloween, as music and movies (such as Friday The 13th or Rocky Horror Picture Show) have defined the holiday as a cultural event of creepy movies that make you jump at night. We all know the classic Halloween tunes, the 'Monster Mash's and such that echo in the halls of every elementary school, [...]

With all the stress of looking for a new hosting provider behind me, I figured i'd post these little Halloween goodies that had been littered in my email. At first, I was only going to post these few songs I had but today ended up being extremely boring. So much in fact, that I decided to go ahead and make a Halloween mix to post here. I think Andy is making one as well, and his will probably be much more thought out and creative. So whether you're giving out candy (like me) on [...]

When I went out to see Marie Antoinette I was already expecting it to be dissapointing thanks to an unwanted review that my friend left me a few nights ago. But here's the thing, I was upset last night because I hated the way it ended but I woke up today thinking "Hmm...it's not that bad. It's actually kinda good". So I think I wanna see it again. It's turning into one of those movies where you have to watch it a second time to really understand the meaning behind it. I loved "Lost In Translation" so I [...]

Sofia Coppola’s new film Marie Antionette opens with Gang of Four’s spiky, anthemic “Natural’s Not In It†â€"talk about an audacious opening salvo. The song’s lyrics cut through the ridiculous, rococo overindulgence of the mise en scène , offering a tacit, taunting indictment of the titular Queen and indeed, of her entire court: “The problem of leisure/What to do for pleasure…†The lyrics â€"spit out in short, caustic bursts while Dunst’s child queen, playing dress-up for the camera, winks and lolls seductivelyâ€" momentarily cast her in a critical light, underscoring her come-hither silliness [...]

Sorry, I just had to get it out of my system. I hope I didn't hurt anyone too much. From 1979 to 2006, Gang of Four have really been giving it their all. Definitely pioneers in music, they have my respect. Unfortunately, they really aren't as well known as one would like. I almost forgot about the excellence of their debut, Entertainment! until I took a look at the tracklist for the upcoming Marie Antoinette soundtrack, which isn't bad at all. Here's your song, an amazing anthem that is sure [...]
You would not believe the lengths I went to in trying to find this soundtrack here in Auburn. If there's one complaint I always have about this place, it's that I can never find a place carrying any of the music i'm looking for. I'd rather go to a record store and purchase rather than buying online because I just like having an item at that very moment. I'm pretty impatient when it comes to wanting music so that's what I do. I pretty much went everywhere you could think of that carried new album releases. [...]

Photo courtesy of Treemeat Dear Friends, for the price of admission today you get a whole funfair full of wonderful music. So roll up, and prepare yourself for a post full of exhilarating and cheap thrills! First up, congratulations are due to Heidi, who, thanks to the random finger of fate and a strategically scheduled Greek wedding, is the winner of the "Buy My Sufjan Tix At Cost" contest. She also came up with a rather nifty song title that made me giggle: "Come On! In the [...]
Molti di voi avranno consumato il nastro della videocassetta, ma adesso avete la possibilità di godervi lo spettacolo in dvd. Nocturne è ormai un classico delle pubblicazioni live di tutti i tempi. In più, la versione digitale è corredata da tre interessanti bonus: il video di Dear Prudence , le performance tv di Melt e Painted Bird e infine Play at home , un breve documentario incentrato su Banshees , Creatures e Glove . red over white the thorn.mp3 [...]