The Idiot Box

LCD, LED, plasma & pixels, scan rate, HD and 16:9... chances are this jargon actually makes sense to you. Inside most peoples' homes lurks a glossy black attention-sucking monster, whose powers for good are usually subsumed by its propensity for evil. That stuff makes for some good musical fodder, so let's chow down and chew.

I've raved before about the Australian punk scene of the late '70s into the '80s, so I won't climb up on that soapbox again... BUT if you want ONE comp that sums up the scene nicely, Do the Pop! is the one to get. I love that it includes not only the era's big songs, but also obscure gems that fans of the scene will really enjoy. The very best find for me was learning of singer Dave Faulkner's pre-Hoodoo Gurus band the Victims... and their contribution is killer, maybe the best track on the entire comp. If you hear a snippet of a dj at the end, you can tell I originally got this from the mighty Swami!

Television Addict by the Victims, from Do the Pop!: The Australian Garage Rock Sound 1976-1987 (Do the Pop, 2002)

How do you pick a cover over an original by Iggy Pop? Not lightly, but if the cover band is Radio Birdman you're in good shape (I like Siouxsie's take on "The Passenger" too, I should add). Birdman is another example of Aussie first-wave punk, and probably the most influential of all. Here they take Mr. Osterberg's tender composition and speed up the sludge to a snarl.

T.V. Eye by Radio Birdman, from Under the Ashes (Trafalgar/WEA, 1988)

Repo Man was a weird-ass movie from the early '80s, and it spawned a kick-ass soundtrack. This is second-wave punk here, of the LA variety. While that scene wasn't quite up to the standard of the first wave, it still churned out some classics. Almost everything on Repo Man falls into the classic file. On "TV Party", a young Rollins rages about the box, shouting out era-specific TV hits like Hill Street Blues and Dynasty. And it's just my theory, but I think the Rollins burp that begins the song is a tribute to the croaked "Look!" that begins Iggy's (and Birdman's) "T.V. Eye".

TV Party by Black Flag, from Repo Man Original Soundtrack (MCA, 1984)

Bonus:

The bonus track manages to stick to this post's theme while at the same time departing from it entirely... gotta love when that happens. Marquee Moon is an album I got my hands on much too late, but I've been making up for it with constant airplay since. "Venus" has nothing at all to do with TV, but it IS by Television... BONUS!

Venus by Television, from Marquee Moon (Elektra, 1977)

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)