Hey You Guys!

Does anybody remember The Electric Company?

(Yes yes, I am giving away my age there.)

The Electric Company is a syndicated children's television program produced by the same folks that gave us Sesame Street. Thought of as a show catering to more mature kids (ergo, kids with minds more sophisticated and, well, with greater tendency towards perversion), The Electric Company is best known for its screechy catch-phrase popularised by the diminutive Rita Moreno: HEY, YOU GUYS!

Ah, yes. Quite the sentiment of our music programmer here, hehehe. And see, I can take a hint (/me getting up from bed and typing this post).

OK. Playlist now.

1. This Rainy Decade - CLEANERS FROM VENUS

This comes straight out of the catalogue of L'Agence Des Refusés, reportedly a 1980s cassette only Belgian label which is attracting some kind of interest within the snooty "hard-to-find titles" clique. Perhaps our European radar (who also happens to be Belgian) can shed more light on this.

2. I've Got a Crush on You - LUSCIOUS JACKSON

From the compilation "Red Hot + Rhapsody: The Gershwin Groove" comes this quirky, delightful cover.

3. Modern Girl - CAMERA OBSCURA

Camera Obscura, the band from Glasgow, Scotland, has been around since 1996. The song "Modern Girl" comes from arguably their most popular work to date, Let's get Out of This Country, released some ten years later. A new album, My Maudlin Career, is due for release on April 2009.

4. Only Happy When It Rains - RICHARD CHEESE and LOUNGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

I like Shirley Manson a lot and this is one of my favorite songs by Garbage. This track in the playlist is a wicked remake by the irreverent Richard Cheese.

5. Straight to Hell - LILY ALLEN (from the War Child Heroes Compilation)

Lily Allen does this cover with no less than The Clash's Mick Jones. Read about the War Child heroes Compilation here.

6. Army of Me - BJORK

And oh, who does not know Bjork?

So there. Capping off this post is this clip from what was once a part of my perverted childhood. Enjoy folks.

Something Special

Happy Halloween! Being the sweet people that we are, we thought about uploading a playlist to keep you company throughout the holiday, however bleak the mood of this mix is.

The playlist:

NICK HARRISON - "Something Special (Remix)"
BEATS INTERNATIONAL - "Dub Be Good To Me"
LILY ALLEN - "Everybody's Changing"
MARINE GIRLS - "Times We Used To Spend"
NICK DRAKE - "One of These Things First"

Check out Nick Harrison, whose song "Something Special" is remixed to accommodate The Specials' "Ghost Town". Intense songwriting, with lyrics that go like this: "Tragically dressed she arrives/Holding her head off the dance floor/There's few with better taste/And clothes that cover life's mistakes". More of Nick Harrison at MySpace.

The next song reportedly got Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) into legal trouble. The bass lines of "Dub Be Good To Me" are actually sampled from The Clash's "Guns Of Brixton". Towards the end of the song, horns akin to those played in "Ghost Town" can be heard. Listen closely, and you be the judge.

Originally by Keane, "Everybody's Changing" is given a whole fresh flavour by wonder girl Lily Allen. In all honesty, we like this cover better than the original.

If you are a fan of Tracey Thorn and Everything But The Girl, you must have known by now that Tracey comes from an equally delightful all-girl group called Marine Girls. Their song "Times We Used To Spend" appears in the list.

Capping off is my personal favorite, Nick Drake, a singer-songwriter who brought the meaning of the word melancholia to unprecedented crevices.

Hope you like our mix, and we're leaving you with the lyrics of "Everybody's Changing". Just sing along and let go of the knife in your hands ... yes you, Freddie.

(Up next: Scenes from Skalloween!, and shoe-gazing as a new form of sport)

Everybody's Changing
Originally by Keane
Lily Allen

You say you wander your own land
But when I think about it
I don't see how you can

You're aching, you're breaking
And I can see the pain in your eyes
Since everybody's changing
And I don't know why.

So little time
Try to understand that I'm
Trying to make a move just to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody's changing
And I don't feel the same.

You're gone from here
Soon you will disappear
Fading into beautiful light
'cause everybody's changing
And I don't feel right.

So little time
Try to understand that I'm
Trying to make a move just to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody's changing
And I don't feel the same.

Everybody's changing
And I don't feel the same.

Trash Radio Manila Episode 13 Part 2: Esoteriska

Yes. We're still doing Episode 13 :">

Part 2 goes out to a friend who visited the house last week. Initially professing that he abhorred ska and reggae, he somehow modified his statement after discovering The Specials featured extensively in a recent issue of a popular UK magazine. "Ok," he says, in essence, with renewed conviction. "Actually, I like traditional and two-tone ska; I just couldn't dig the so-called third wave ska sound. Reggae? Maybe I'm just sick of the usual Marley stuff." (For this statement, I could not quite blame the guy. I know a lot of people who, after listening to just a couple of Bob Marley tunes, pass themselves off as reggae connoisseurs. But I digress.) And yes, he hates DOT reggae twice as much. Go figure.

We do hope he doesn't end up hating the playlist that we have prepared for him. I mean, you have here Hepcat, ska legends in their own right, as well as St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review, a ska band off the Russian Federation which can swing and skank at the same time. Oh yeah, this friend of ours admits to liking Lily Allen, so we have also included a song from this talented artist. He might as well find the Skoidats and Skavoovie delightful as well. And how about the collective known as BOTAR? At any rate, if you have not heard of these guys yet, then check out this playlist:

1. HEPCAT - "I Can't Wait"
2. ST. PETERSBURG SKA-JAZZ REVIEW - "Old Devil Moon"
3. LILY ALLEN - "Friday Night"
4. SKOIDATS - "Still Standing"
5. SKAVOOVIE and the EPITONES - "The Coffee Connection"
6. BANDITS OF THE ACOUSTIC REVOLUTION (BOTAR) - "It's A Wonderful Life"

High bitrate playlist can be downloaded here.

We're entering into another (busy) week. Do stay with us for more playlists, as well as a write-up on a local artist. Have a great week ahead.

Photos of Hepcat, St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review, Lily Allen, and Skavoovie all come from their respective sites, links which are provided above.