Niki N. Phaser » Ignored-Gold

Ultravox – Lament : A Mystery of Sadness

Niki N. Phaser — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:18:18 +0000

You don’t really need to be a retro freak or someone who grew up in the 80′s to be familiar with the music of Ultravox (at least, I hope so !). Chances are, if you are neither of those two things, you still heard Dancing with Tears in My Eyes at least once, either on the radio, or that time when you decided to watch VH1 Classics or when you dad shouted at you to turn down that ”dubstep crap” and listen to some real music. Well, allow me to expand you knowledge of that band with that song.

There were a lot of synthpop masterpieces to choose from (like the obvious Vienna or maybe Reap the Wild Wind), but I finally settled on Lament, the title track from their 1984 album, which spawned the aforementioned hit. Lament is basically just what the title promises — it’s a sad, deep and thoughtful ballad, but this is that good sadness, that you never get enough of. The memorable chorus synth hook can drift one’s thoughts in all sorts of directions (even after listening to the song on repeat for one entire week in 2006). Give it a listen, see if there are any ‘wounds’ in your life, which you don’t want healed.

Just to LAMENT again

Type O Negative – Everything Dies : Uncle Lou Into Eternity

Niki N. Phaser — Sat, 01 May 2010 11:45:54 +0000

Yeah, this time it was for real, Peter Steele, iconic frontman of metal band Type O Negative has really died. It happened two weeks ago, but we all know that with Lord Steele we have to wait a little bit and be sure that we are not supposed to laugh at yet another dark joke of his. It is only appropriate that we should remember Type O’s Everything Dies, from 1999′s World Coming Down, a perfect song to qualify them as more than a metal band, but an alternative (and loud) way to deal with universal themes of death and love and fear of all that these two can bring. Still, this is not what you would call a mainstream track, but you can definitely spot a genuine ballad behind all the grunting from the intro, combined with something which sounds like a Hitlerjunge convention. It was just like Type O Negative to go for weird mixing choices, but this is one of those songs that you have to listen with one hand on the volume. That haunting piano from the verse is so addictive that you just have to hear it better and then the chorus kicks in, loud and celebratory, as if hailing death as the one thing in life that is certain — the grounds on which you can build your existence. RIP P.S.

Everything Dies here

Mazzy Star – Fade Into You : The Moment When It Happens…

Niki N. Phaser — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:39:27 +0000

Mazzy Star’s best known song, Fade Into You, is not a very complicated track, it hardly ever crosses the acoustic border. Hope Sandoval’s vocals are also pretty steady all over. The structure is simple, the production minimal. Yet maybe it’s just these things that make Fade Into You the perfect soundtrack for that moment we all take once in a while, those few minutes when we just stop. It provides the distance we all need sometimes when looking at our lives. It might be mistaken for a love ballad, but Fade Into You just seems more like an ode to closeness. Lyrics like “I look to you and I see nothing, I look to you to see the truth” are as truthful and cynical as any relationship, no matter what are the circumstances. The demystifying of love is exactly what gives it strength and before happiness there is the warmth of a comforted heart. But then again, I’m really just guessing here, hear for yourself:

FADE INTO HERE

The Knife – Pass This On : Weirdpop

Niki N. Phaser — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:52:18 +0000

Well, unlike most bands I write about in this section, Swedish experiment-pop duo, The Knife, would probably prefer to be ignored. They have the media-phobia of Terrence Malick, but sure enough, they do qualify as excentric geniuses. Just like they don’t care too much (or at all) about promotion, they are really not trying to please anyone else but themselves. Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer create a new, experimental brand of pop, that is as catchy as can be, but still strange and eluding mainstream. Pass This On, from sophmore album, Deep Cuts, will make you understand better what this is all about. The steel-drums hook will make you wonder why does this sound so familiar (it’s a normal reaction to songs you’ll love for the rest of your life), while the voice, the lyrics will conjure a fascinating uncomfortableness, convincing your mind that there is something wrong here, but you can’t help closing your eyes and falling in the melodic whirpool of this weird pop. It’s a rather instinctual review of a song, I know, but that’s the way this Knife ‘cuts’.

PASS THIS ON HERE

Dogstar – Enchanted : Simple

Niki N. Phaser — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:51:47 +0000

Since they first started, Dogstar members knew that this will always be ”that band that Keanu Reeves plays bass for”. (“in his spare time, by the way”). With this in mind, these guys decided to cut the bs and instead of going through all the compromise-rollercoasters of a starting band, they concentrated on the simple pleasure of making music together. They haven’t changed the face of rock’n'roll forever and they do have stuff that one could ignore without making the biggest mistake of one’s life, but there is also music by Dogstar that does the trick: you hear it, you like it, you wanna hear it some more. Enchanted is one the songs that prove this, at least to me. Singer-guitarist Bret Domrose describes their music as “pop-aggressive” and the mentioned song exemplifies. Ok, it might sound like a Danielle Steel kind of rock, played by male models in jeans, and there is a nice nit little guitar solo in the middle part, but somehow it works. And you don’t have to be a Keanu Reeves fan to like it.

Enchanted

The Forminx – Love Without Love : Schlager Days

Niki N. Phaser — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:36:48 +0000

Vangelis’ career is one of many interesting contrasts and considering that he started making music at the age of four, it’s only natural that he explored quite a few genres before becoming the synth-guru he is known today. Less famous than Aphrodite’s Child, his international successful band with Demis Roussous, is his first musical pack, The Forminx, which were the Greek version of The Beatles’ craze, that swept pretty much the whole world and bred countless clones, one (or more) for each country. The Forminx were quite a hit in 1960′s Greece, after seducing the youth with their catchy rock’n'roll tunes and innocent schlagers. In the latter category, Love Without Love holds an honourable place. The English lyrics sung with a bit of accent, the strange choice of words here and there (”You understand me so much”), Toto’s trumpet, they all provide Love Without Love with the 60′s charm of European schlagers. But beyond that, this is a very well done piece of music, that doesn’t conjure up laughs, but a real emotional response in the listener and hypothetically ‘translated’ into contemporary music production, it would prove to be a masterful tearjerker ballad.

LISTEN TO Love Without Love

Roger Waters – Hello (I Love You) : Acoustic SF

Niki N. Phaser — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:41:19 +0000

There is no point in showing off every one of Roger Waters’ musical merits, every Pink Floyd album he almost entirely written by himself or every legendary gig he was involved in. We’ll just concentrate on this track, Hello (I Love You), which featured on none of his albums, but on the soundtrack of The Last Mimzy and it was the best thing about that rather mediocre movie. In fact, this Howard Shore co-written song doesn’t even really fit that movie, only maybe in some of the lyrics (“The kids will have to separate Their future from our past”, “Your child can read you like a bedtime story”). It sounds far too dramatic and moody for a film about a sort of Terminator Teddy Bear sent from the future to protect a threatened mankind. With an acoustic background that will bring Bowie’s Space Oddity to mind, you’ll find that this track would fit better on some sort of romantic SF thriller about junkies in love with holograms. But, despite, its context and it’s video, Hello (I Love You) remains an interesting piece of music.

VIDEO

The Byrds – Child Of The Universe : Innocence As Food

Niki N. Phaser — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:15:58 +0000

Ok, so maybe your San Francisco gran would spit in my eye for calling The Byrds ignored-gold, but the truth remains that you have to be into 60′s music in order to be well acquainted with this band. They are known, but they just haven’t had the luck of Oliver Stone making a movie about them. Though not a fan of their rodeo-Nashville Mr. Hyde, I can’t help acknowledging the timeless quality of songs like Child of the Universe and Eight Miles High.

But, right off the bet, I must clarify that I’m reffering to the orchestrated version of Child of the Universe, as it appears on the end titles of the 1968 sex-comedy, Candy. Also, I should mention that, despite a cast including Marlon Brando, Richard Burton or John Huston, this song is probably the best thing about that movie, though one must admit that the peeks at Ewa Aulin anatomical highlights gives one a retro hard-on. I guess the real thing about The Byrds, as with many bands of their time, is the vocal harmonics they achieved in both of the songs mentioned. Still, maybe Child of the Universe has more charm because of its flower-power-esque lyrics, like “Love for anyone who needs her, Innocence is all that feeds her” or maybe because of the Krzysztof Komeda-like arrangements (including male choir), done most likely by Dave Gruisin, who co-wrote the song with Roger McGuinn. However, Eight Miles High contains some of the most studied vocal harmonics, because their effect creates a sound that could hardly be characterized. But, don’t take my word for it, listen to both songs:

Child of the Universe Eight Miles High

Califone – Bottles & Bones (Shade & Sympathy) : Experimental

Niki N. Phaser — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:09:28 +0000

It’s still unclear what kind of music does Califone play, but it doesn’t really matter as long as it sounds like this wonderful song, Bottles & Bones (Shade & Sympathy). This Chicago outfit of proggies dable in some sort of experimental folk, mostly acoustic, but also with some electric shades here and there. They seem like a bunch of guys who work the fields the first six days of the week and then, on Sunday, they gather on someone’s porch and start jamming. No commercial pressure whatsoever – absolute freedom. And Bottles & Bones (Shade & Sympathy) sounds exactly like that. The emotions which transpire through this song are 100% sincere, musically that is (the ooohhh’s of the chorus will make you ponder on your existential loneliness, wherever you are). The lyrics outline a strange universe, dangerous and degraded: “Nervous john, Rescues all the whores” (Taxi Driver ???), “Aching to get your pocket picked” or “Clouds of angels liquored pink and underage”. It kinda sounds like Kurt Cobain faked his suicide just to retire somewhere with no electricity and release unrehearsed songs under the name Califone. Still, the song was written by Tim Rutili, the founder of Califone. In case it sounds familiar, you should know that Bottles & Bones (Shade & Sympathy) was featured on the Will Ferrell movie Stranger Than Fiction, contributing like 60 % to the film’s profoundness.

LISTEN TO THIS EXPERIMENTAL SONG HERE

Apoptygma Berzerk – Apollo (Live On Your TV) : Energy

Niki N. Phaser — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:34:18 +0000

Apoptygma Berzerk, a Norwegian futurepop band, has tackled mainstream success, especially with their 2005 album You and Me Against the World, but never quite make it in becoming a household name, other than in their own field. Their last album continues a more accessible sound, that distances them from the euro-futurepop scene which they practically help build in the 90′s. Released in January 2009, Rocket Science is probably one of the best albums to come out this year and also one of the most underestimated. It’s filled with powerful tracks, like Black vs. White, The State of Your Heart – Shit End of the Deal, Trash or Shadow. But, to respect the band’s choice, I’ll recommend for starters their first single off of Rocket Science, Apollo (Live On Your TV). If released by any mainstream band, this song would have most likely became one the biggest hits this year. The catchy keyboards and the energetic guitars would make anyone instantly start jogging. And smile while doing it. And when say ‘anyone’, I mean anyone, but old Apop fans, who are mostly disappointed with Stephan Groth’s new pop direction. Also, Good Charlotte fans should know that Benji Madden makes a vocal cameo on Apollo (Live On Your TV).

And P.S. Despite rumours, Stephan Groth is not Brian Molko’s older brother…

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR Apollo (Live On Your TV)