john barry, 1933-2011

john barry and the eternally cool nancy sinatra.

nancy sinatra was terrified to record the theme song to the fifth james bond flick you only live twice in 1967. "are you sure you don't want shirley bassey?" she asked. the series was already iconic, along with its theme song, and just three years before, bassey scored a major hit with "goldfinger." despite the trepidation, nancy pulled through and "you only live twice" is often considered one of the best bond themes. there were two versions: the lushly orchestrated, sweeping main title version, which had a slight oriental feel; the re-recorded single version was much more guitar heavy and rock-oriented, and featured a double vocal track.

the song and the music for the film was written by john barry, with lyrics by leslie bricusse. barry, a five-time academy award winner, died today at his oyster bay home. he's best known for his work with the james bond series, but his best work, in my estimation is the oscar-winning score for dances with wolves.

nancy sinatra - "you only live twice" (main title)

Nancy Sinatra - You Only Live Twice (Single Version) - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

colours

dance away your monday blues (and grays, and greens, and reds, and yellows).

Young Liars - Colours - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

rocket trip to mars

the image on the cover of fredrika stahl's newest album, sweep me away, looks like it could have been an outtake from faye dunaway's life magazine 1968 photo shoot. it must be the beret. but stahl is neither french, nor is she a 1930s gangster. she's a swedish pop singer-songwriter whose wistful, lilting voice enhances her pop-jazz repertoire. this is a rocket trip worth taking.  

Fredrika Stahl - Rocket Trip to Mars - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

voice memo

when it comes to music, i'm perpetually single. i love downloading individual songs. that said, i download a fuckload of albums, but it's rare when i listen to album straight through and like all or nearly all of the songs. typically i like one or two, keep those and delete the rest. last week i got double the surprise when i listened to two albums all the way through and decided  none were worth deleting. the first one was mirrors by u.s. royalty. i chose the two songs that bookend the d.c. band's first outing. "hollywood hollows" is gritty, dirty rock, while "voice memo," my personal favorite, is a stunning, soothing ballad. disparate sounds that complement each other to perfection.

U.S. Royalty - Voice Memo - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

U.S. Royalty - Hollywood Hollows - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

send me an angel

there aren't too many bands that can pull off a song that sounds like a cross between a show tune, cat stevens, gin blossoms, and blues traveler. yet somehow, vermont's the peasant dramatic succeeds with "every angel," from their debut EP sleeping golden october.

The Peasant Dramatic - Every Angel - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

the next big thing

is this san francisco's next great electropop band?

Hot Challenge - Across the Room - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

night surgeon / night nurse

in the pantheon of barbara stanwyck's films, "night nurse" is not one of her best. in fact, it's terrible. unfunny, contrived, and even the old reliable stanwyck isn't so hot. it's a shame, too, because who doesn't love a little pre-code hollywood t&a? night surgeon, on the other hand, is terrific. fun, well-conceived, and even barbara stanwyck would like it. the portland, oregon electropop band is so new, they have only 33 fans on their facebook page. that'll change soon, i'm sure, because these two are going places. take their tune "color me black and white." it's like a good fuck: seductive, addictive, passionate, but knows when to rock it hard.

Night Surgeon - Color Me Black and White - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

nightwatch

on a blistering august day six-and-a-half years ago, my college buddy, michael, and i loaded up his four-door sedan with nearly all of our respective belongings, drove out of boston and headed west. destination: san francisco. with no jobs, no apartment, no friends save for each other, and no working air conditioner in the car, we began our journey. it took us nine days to reach the golden gate. (p.s. the united states is fucking huge. especially that flat, boring middle part.) the cross-country trip was extraordinary, but there were times where it felt as though we were sailing along the rumble strips at 100 mph.

one of the more memorable moments occurred in the desert of new mexico, 80 miles east of santa fe. it was nighttime, and there were few lights along the two-lane highway. the car was packed so full that the backseat and trunk lay closer to the ground than usual. when we unexpectedly drove over the dead coyote, it took us a while to realize that the muffler popped off. we pulled over but decided to stay in the car figuring that if there were dead coyotes around, there were likely live ones. still we exited the car for a moment to get some air. despite the fear of coyotes, and wondering how the hell we were going to get to santa fe, the new mexico desert at nighttime is extraordinary. shooting stars, clean air, and a perpetual moon glow that lit up the night on the horizon. if we weren't so scared about our situation, music would have made the moment enchanting. acrylics' "nightwatch" captures that moment perfectly.

Acrylics - Nightwatch - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

bucharest

The New Division - Bucharest - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

copvan

each month a select group of 35 worldwide music blogs each submit a track by a local artist for a global initiative called the music alliance pact. some of the tracks are godawful. this one is not one of those. it's pop punk goodness from dubliner gaz le rock. dig it.

Retarded Cop - Copvan - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

gay human bones

when a band decides to write and record a song with a title as provocative as "gay human bones," it had better be fucking good. (you know how sensitive those gays are!) luckily for harlem, their tune with that title is excellent garage noise-pop. it captures the same kind of charm and surprising sweetness as black kids' "i'm not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you." 

Harlem - Gay Human Bones - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

this is magic

checking out these guys thursday night at popscene. their song "pumped up kicks" made waves last year and now the LA band has finally released an EP featuring the aforementioned tune, this one below, and a third called "helena beat." their sound is as sly and clever as houdini himself; and as sexy as uri geller.

Foster The People - Houdini - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

new myth

yummy, yummy flowers.

Lia Ices - New Myth - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

the plastic age

if everything old is new again, i'm waiting for the next great jazz age. the roaring twenties revival. a time that was ruled by the three F's: flappers, frivolity and flamboyance. where everyone can channel their inner clara bow. each week, my friend daniel and i have movie night. we usually watch classic movies, and there are certain qualities i look for when choosing a title. call her savage has enough plot for five movies. technically it's not a roaring twenties epic like bow's iconic it, but it is pre-code and features the following things: flogging/whipping, suggestions of beastiality, prostitution, overt racism, attempted rape, insanity, escorts, and a trip to a gay bar.

Hundreds - Happy Virus - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

animal

this one is making the rounds on the interwebs. not sure how old this is or if a polished version will end up on her new album, born this way, or not. but this is "animal."

Lady GaGa - Animal - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

if she knew what she wants

classic.

Bangles - If She Knew What She Wants - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

daniel

yesterday was my buddy daniel's birthday. i've mentioned him a few times on the Pop Sucker. he's a great guy. if you know him, consider yourself extremely fortunate.

elton john - "daniel"

blind times

dibs on the guy in the hat. mmmmm....

a quick check of the interwebs confirmed that lolita star sue lyon did, in fact, marry a man serving time for murder and robbery in the colorado state pen in 1973. she began working for prison reform and conjugal rights. now that's love. they divorced when he broke out of jail and committed another robbery. now that's hot.

Jail Weddings - Blind Times - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

the bianca story

if you're looking for a great murder mystery, look no further than 1973's the last of sheila. it's a spectacular and underrated show business whodunnit written by (of all people) stephen sondheim and anthony perkins. and it's headlined by a cast of spectacularly bad and rightly overlooked '70s stars including raquel welch, richard benjamin, james coburn, joan hackett, and my personal fave, dyan cannon. the bianca story would make a great title for a 1970s whodunnit, starring people robert culp, adrienne barbeau, lynda carter, vicki lawrence, mark hamill, and kristy mcnichol. god, it would be so hot. but the bianca story is merely the name of a swiss indie rock band. and they're like a musical battle of the network stars.

The Bianca Story - Coming Home - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

sensual harassment

is it just me, or does the chick on the cover of sensual harassment's new EP alpha draconis look like the chick who was mauled by the shark at the beginning of jaws?

Sensual Harassment - Soldier - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

that's where it's at, sam

this imaginary city sounds like a great place. very melodic. very torch song. it's hip, it's now, it's happening. population: anyone who's cool. dig it.

Imaginary Cities - That's Where It's At, Sam - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

the quintessential twenty something

my quintessential twenty-something years are rapidly coming to a close, so this song seems fitting. austin-based the black and white years have come up with a really interesting song, which appears on their latest LP patterns. i'm not really sure how to describe it, but it feels as dizzying as the wallpaper and rug patterns that appear in the above photo. it's part 8-bit video-game soundtrack, part '90s europop (a la ace of base), part modern indie rock. three seemingly disparate styles of music melded into a truly enticing concoction. it took me a while to wrap my head around everything that was going on in this song and truly warm up to it. now that i have, we're BFFs for life. 

The Black and White Years - The Quintessential Twenty Something - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

bosley

i wish i knew more about how music affects the brain. what sets some music apart from others in terms of what's appealing? take bosley for example. he's a brand new electropop artist. his music feels awfully familiar. in fact, if you lined up his stuff alongside some other mainstream, radio-ready electropop, i'm not really sure i could pinpoint many differences. BUT, and this is a huge but, it's a lot better and much more appealing than that other radio-ready stuff. i'm still not sure why. and i cannot stop listening to it. 

Bosley - End of Time - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

Bosley - Love Grenade - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

[POP SCKR CLSC]: walk away renee

your name and mine inside a heart, upon a wall/still find a way to haunt me/though they're so small

the first time i heard someone say the words "baroque pop," i thought they meant pop for poor people. then i realized they meant with rock 'n' roll with elements of classical music. baroque pop reached its height in the mid-60s, one of the most influential and important periods for pop music. and since this was before the advent of synthesizers, the common baroque-style instruments such as the oboe, french horn, and harpsichord were played live on real instruments. the term "baroque," for all you history buffs, was an artistic style popular in the late 1500s - early 1700s characterized by overt expressions of emotion, drama, elegance, and self-confidence. (basically, an early modern version of this blog.)

one of the first pieces of baroque pop to go mainstream was by the left banke, a largely unrecognized and forgotten band that became a two-hit wonder in mid-to-late 1966. their most famous song is "walk away renee." this was followed by "pretty ballerina." "walk away renee" is one of those glorious pop songs that is so good, so exquisite, a monument should be erected in its honor. (hehe ... i saw "erect.") the song was written by the band's keyboard player, michael brown. he was only 16 when he wrote it. yeah, it's ok to hate him.

The Left Banke - Walk Away Renée - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker

promise land

no, this isn't an advertisement for urban outfitters or american apparel. those crazy kids jumping for joy are hooded fang, the toronto-based group that recently released their debut self-titled album. although they seem to be largely flying under the radar right now. i certainly hope that changes because their album is a solid, straight-forward indie pop affair channeling the likes of camper van beethoven and belle & sebastian. dig it.

Hooded Fang - Promise Land - thepopsucker.blogspot.com by the Pop Sucker