What I'm listening to these days

Cure Trailer

A.R. Kane , The Loft/The Weather Prophets, and other 80's english pop music. I am intrigued by which groups and songs are holding up over the years. AR Kane songs hold up but the production is just too tinny. It doesn't sound full. Same problem for a lot of bands. The Loft/The Weather Prophets did some great songs, "I Almost Prayed" is a classic and since they just were a guitar band they still sound great. The original stuff was done on cheaply by necessity and lacks depth. Dif Juz is still just one wonderful swooping instrumental after another but production is again thin.


Amon Tobin - Bath Tub

On the recommendation of a friend I've wandered through some Cure stuff: Pornography, The Head on the Door, and Seventeen Seconds. Best overall quality has to be HotD. Just still sounds great, the songs are tight, and only suffers from a few "epic" songs that just seemed silly then and well sillier now, Kyoto Song for one. Pornography is a 3/4 record. The title track is useless, Short Term Effect is a turgid mess, however Strange Day yes. I loved it then and Love it now. "Give me your eyes that I might see the blind man kissing my hands" just gets me every time. Nice midtempo driving and almost metal drum line with a linear guitar break (reminds me of RS's work with Souixie) and misty synth washing over top. Nice.

So the lesson learned here is that enjoy the old stuff but be prepared for things to not sound as good as you might remember.

The Cure "Strange Day"