Novel Eye

Yes, went to see Duran Duran last Wednesday. My husband, alas, could not go as he came down with a terrible cold and so pretty much missed all of his vacation. In the grand scheme of things it's a very, very, very small tragedy, but like a papercut it seemed quite agonizing to both of us. The first we have not seen together since we met. It was good, though not great. The crowd was smaller than the last time they played the same venue--perhaps because that was a Friday and this was a Wednesday. The opening act was rather like a mediocre Killers or The Bravery. There was no big screen--such a standard of concerts now. The best bit was towards the middle when they came down--the five, four original and one new--to the center of the stage and did a stripped down, remixed medley of "Last Chance on the Stairway," and "All She Wants Is," plus some extra bits. Red Carpet Massacre and L'Arc's Kiss came out within a week of each other last year, and I disliked ...

This is a pin I bought at the Duran Duran concert last week. It's a dagger dripping blood through a heart. The banner says RCM for Red Carpet Massacre. This is the emblem from L'Arc ~en~Ciel's concert tour towards the end of last year--the Are You Ready? 2007 tour--with a flaming arrow through a heart and a banner.

Some Duran Duran with some songs that I believe prove their musical merit. eSnips gives me the power and I'm going to use it. ( Bwahaha ) Get this widget Share Track details This is one of my all time favorite songs. I have it on a B-Side Collection, although I can't find any mention of what it was B-Side of, just that it came out in 1988. The words are quite haunting, as is the melody. But, I can hear you say, this is not at all a standard D2 song. Well, no, but what is a standard song by any band? How do you average that? Thomas Dolby's singles were always abnormal compared to the rest of their respective albums. Same with Barenaked Ladies. I think the B-Sides are often truer to what the band wants to be without the pressure of the labels for commercial success. Get this widget Share Track details This is probably more like Duran Duran you're thinking of, right? It's from Pop Trash , released 2000. The words are based on the true story of a boy who was building ...

Matt sent me this interview: http://www.transpacificradio.com/2007/08/07/tpr-spotlight-2-japans-foreign-labor-market/ I think it says it all, plus it's a pretty interesting interview after the Duran Duran stuff, and OH, how the interviewer does not want to acknowledge that Duran Duran might have musical merit. Probably loves U2. I hardly think D2 is the most plugged band--certainly not anymore.

This has been a strange week for music. On Monday I was mentally writing the next section in my lengthy post on taste as I drove to Target and thinking about the first two albums of rock and roll that interested me (the reasons for that will become clear when I post this opus--hopefully tomorrow), David Bowie's Let's Dance , and Duran Duran's reissue of Duran Duran (their first album which they re-released as their third album after their second album Rio and it's hot videos put them on the map, not to be confused with their 10 th album, also called Duran Duran but referred to as The Wedding Album because of the cover art which...oh, never mind). Anyway, I flicked on a radio show here in Boston called "Left Over Lunch" with DJ Julie Kramer which plays 80's and early 90's music (and some 70's glam) between noon and one and which I never get to listen to because of reception. The first song being played was Modern Love from Let's Dance --we...

I don't like U2. I don't hate U2, I just don't think they're very good. Certainly not as good as many people think. I think they are on a juggernaut that seems unlikely to stop anytime soon, but so is American Idol. I've been thinking about this post for some time, debating when and where to write it. I don't say this to be controversial, or provocative and I don't do it to antagonize my many friends who do like U2, really, really like U2. Oh, I could give you lots of reasons why. That Bono seems to have a Messianic complex, that the Edge has been playing the same 3 cords since the beginning of their career (even on his soundtrack for The Batman --animated series {not to be confused with the vastly superior Batman, the Animated Series }). That somehow, because they were Irish and sang a few songs with a message, they were anointed by the British music press and could do no wrong. That they have consistently ripped off their sound from lesser known bands (w...