Opening our celebration of new(er) music that I have stumbled across this week is the magnificent Amanda Lear, who returns to our waiting arms with a brand new single Chinese Walk!
And now onto some cover versions of familiar songs - a concept which has always intrigued me (which is why I am such an avid fan of such twisted-covers specialists as Nouvelle Vague, Señor Coconut, Richard Cheese and the like). First up, courtesy of our friend John-John it's some delightfully weird young lady Maria Minerva tackling Abba's Honey Honey head-on... Quite unusual!
Then there's the new "tribute" album from the Canadian label Paper Bag Records (free to download from their website), celebrating the silver anniversary of Madge's seminal True Blue album (a discovery to which I was alerted by my "sister under the skin" the lovely Henry over at Barbarella's Galaxy - again). It's a sadly somewhat "dated-sounding" collection - there's a band trying to be U2, another slightly reminiscent of Siouxsie, a neo-Mari Wilson, a would-be-Altered Images, and so it goes on. I recall discovering a very similar-sounding covers album called Hybrid Kids (with versions of songs such as Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?, Save Your Kisses For Me and All the Young Dudes on it) way back in 1979!
However, there is one quite decent cover that caught my attention... Young Galaxy's version of Open Your Heart:
Shaking us out of our complacency, the marvellously mad Miss Róisín Murphy is back again with a most shocking video for her latest collaboration with Dutch DJ Mason - Boadicea:
Now breathe...
I think a little more gentle madness is in order after that, so let us celebrate the fact that Thomas Dolby (he of She Blinded Me With Science fame) is back! I don't usually like anything that resembles Country'n'Western (except Dolly Parton, in very small doses) but how can you resist a song called Here Come The Toadlickers with a video featuring drug-addict puppets having sex? I can't...
To conclude, an intriguing little number by an intriguingly-named band, Fenech-Soler (which sounds like it should be a brand of chocolate):
Have a great Oestrus!
Love the Thomas Dolby song x
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tony. Thomas Dolby in a muppetesque weird dream in the Welsh countyside. WTF!
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed a remarkable discovery. I am still receiving therapy as we speak. Jx
ReplyDeleteHow fabulous to have a new track from Amanda Lear - I had no idea about this until yesterday! The song is from a new album, coming later this year. And then there is of course the most welcomed return from Roisin...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the Madonna tribute album - the one track I like is "Open Your Heart".
The less said about the honky tonk tune, the better (although I do of course understand the attraction regarding the video). ;)