Pop Open Group H - REVELATIONS

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Here's who the tracks were by, and what I thought of them.

Like poptasticuk says, this is the jolliest group so far. But that's not cos it strays from the theme - something else I realised about the group is that several (maybe all) the songs in it are voiced (or fronted) by dead people (or...by Death itself!).

Track 1: One-T ft Cool-T - "The Magic Key": I knew this candyfloss pop-hop track well - it was on Polish music TV incessantly during my honeymoon, with its adorable video of cartoon One-T going up to heaven. I find it pretty irresistible (though I can see why others might not) in its shameless sweetness - the bit where the "superhuman baker" puts him in the oven brings visions of some weird Maurice Sendak afterlife.

Track 2: Bob McFadden and Dor - "I'm A Mummy": I knew the Fall cover version but had never heard the original. Stevem says he likes its combination of fun and serious, what I like is that the ee-ee-ee-ee-ee squeaky noise the walking Mummy makes is actually quite creepy. I envision the Mummy as looking a bit like Feek The Freak, from the Ace Trucking Co. stories in 2000AD. I like that he sounds like Droopy.

Track 3: Kavinsky - "Dead Cruiser": As last.fm puts it, "Kavinsky is a zombie in need of revenge; killed when he crashed his Ferrari Testarossa in 1986. His records are the story of his first steps in the world of the living dead." - could you hear that in the records? Nah, but it's a great concept and package - the music's good too, tense electro though it fizzles rather than climaxes.

Track 4: Gunilla Thorn - "Merry-Go-Round": A Joe Meek production, the metaphysical subject matter doesn't bring the thematic connection to me as strongly as Gunilla's cackling, deaths-head voice, like a skeletonised Eartha Kitt. This one grew on me strongly - I didn't like it much at first but it wedged in my brain and ended up competing with all the rest.

Track 5: Harpers Bizarre - "Witchi Tai To": This was my easy standout, a lovely bit of haunting psych-pop-meets-exotica, with vocals by someone who sounds lost in a hinterland between life and afterlife. Twilight in an empty tiki lounge.

The voting levels have been POOR for this group - there's some great stuff here so now you know what it is please go back, hear the tracks on FT or via the download, and vote! Voting poll: http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/402025.html

Where have all the flowers gone?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I was curious to see just how many homegrown female musicians are currently in the UK charts. Below are some figures taken from Everyhit for new entries in June 2007:

- 48 new entries

- 28 from UK artists (58%)

- 9 from acts featuring at least one female (18%)

- 2 from acts featuring at least one UK female (4%)

These two acts were: ( Wait for it... )

The percentage of British acts in the charts is very encouraging for our music scene as a whole, but my inner Elastica-fan is sobbing at the fact that that 53% of the UK entries from the last three months are guitar bands and only ONE of those features a lass. Singing*. And it's a rubbish song. Perhaps the girls are better off out of it.

*I'm not dissing singers by any means, but where are all the girls who bought guitars by the fretful a few years back?