Made In France: France Gall’s Baby Pop
France Gall might not have the sophisticated mystique of Francoise Hardy or the continental sensuality of Bardot, but she was an integral part of the Yeh Yeh Girl pantheon
Category Archives: Music
Up All Night!: 56 Northern Soul Classics
I enjoyed it not only as someone who loves great pop music but also as someone who appreciates the special aura that rarity can bestow upon pop entertainment
Funky Frauleins, Volume 2
The appeal of female-centric vintage international pop comps is due no less to the power of the female voice to soothe and inflame than it is to the female form as an era defining marker of style.
Shadow Music of Thailand
The title Shadow Music of Thailand evokes ideas of ancient and mysterious folk traditions. A CD with such a title, one might assume, could offer the listener a portal to arcane, culturally insular sounds that were never intended for Western ears. The truth, however, is a wee bit different.
The Vampires of Dartmoore: Dracula’s Music Cabinet
Dracula’s Music Cabinet was part of a wave of horror-themed novelty albums released in Germany during the late 60s and early 70s, all of which were seemingly inspired by the very type of horror films that Europe was producing at the time, as best exemplified by the work of our own beloved Jess Franco.
Billy Idol’s Cyberpunk
Fascinated as I was with such claptrap, I kind of understood where Billy Idol was coming from when he made Cyberpunk. Pretty much everyone dismissed the album, Idol fans didn’t want to hear a bunch of computerized crap. Electronica and industrial fans thought Idol was jumping on a bandwagon.
Joe Meek: Portrait of a Genius
In the course of making all of these records, hits and flops alike, Meek pioneered a sound that was largely achieved by applying too much of just about everything — compression, reverb, echo, distortion, close miking — that the finicky British sound engineers of the day prided themselves on using judiciously.
Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat &Bossa Nova 1966-70
Needless to say, if you want to reenact the dance contest scene from Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966-70 is the ideal soundtrack.
