Cities Part 1 - Europe

Theme time again... the rule being that the theme must appear in the song title. I like how this method links a disparate variety of musical types. There are wider regional rules in effect, though... this group is all part of the Western rock/pop school. Today we have part one of a two-parter on CITIES. I´m a happy man in the green of nature breathing the clear air, but I also love the electricity of the concrete jungle. Cities have often been the subject of songs by the bands who love them, and Part 1 focuses on Europe, my current home continent. The Deal sisters are by far the best thing to ever come out of Akron, Ohio (honorable mention to Chrissie Hynde)... but that´s not the city they chose to sing about. Instead, it´s London that gets the honor. Although the Pixies get most of the plaudits, I consider the Breeders the much superior band. Of course, Kim Deal´s Pixies songs are great, but you have to sit through the Black Francis stuff to get to them... luckily here at Soundbombing we get right to the good stuff. London Song by the Breeders, from Title TK (Elektra, 2002) This one is a real offbeat gem I discovered on my favorite podcast (other than my own), Not Your Usual Bollocks (NYUB). I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast, it´s easily found on iTunes. This is a snapshot of the touring life of a band, but don´t worry, it´s no horrendous Journey-style-self-indulgent-boo-hoo-being-famous-is-tough-whine-a-thon. No, in typical Scandinavian style it´s much more low-key, and several million magnitudes better than that crap. I don´t know how a whole album of this kind of stuff would be, but as a one-off it hits the sweet spot. Oh, and they´re not actually Norwegians themselves, hailing instead from Mälmo, Sweden. A Beautiful Night in Oslo by Billie the Vision & the Dancers, from Where the Ocean Meets My Hand (Love Will Pay Bills, 2007) Pereza means "laziness" in español, but these guys don´t seem to fit the bill too well. They´ve put out three albums so far and tour constantly. Pereza are hugely popular over here, and deservedly so, as I feel that they´re about the best band the country has to offer at the moment. Pereza is composed of two guys, Leiva & Ruben, and in almost all their videos they are beating the shit out of each other some way (even with samurai swords!). Don´t know if it´s a reflection of real-life animosity or just good fun, but it doesn´t really matter since the music itself is so tasty. Madrid by Pereza, from Animales (Sony BMG, 2005) Bonus North American track: This is another one I found in an audioblog, although I can´t quite recall which one... if forced to guess I´d say it was Said the Gramaphone. I´m glad you´re all reading my audioblog, but be aware that there are many, many great ones out there that can expose you to a ton of great music you´d miss otherwise. My favorites are listed at the right of this page, but they are really only the tip of the iceberg. Not much to say about this sweet little confection of reggae/pop. Moffat is a Québécoise chanteuse and this song reminds me a lot of LDN by Lily Allen, but en francais and about Montréal! The home of the Habs is also the only city from this post that I haven´t visited myself... I´ll have to make it up there one day. Montréal by Ariane Moffat, from Le Coeur dans la Tête (EMI, 2006)