Of venerable gardeners, giant rodents, knickers, jelly blobs and funky jumpsuits - and mayhem!

Phlox paniculata "Blue Boy" is the most magnificently-scented bloom in the gardens at the moment - even outdoing our Nicotiana sylvestris..!

It's another snippets post, dear reader:

• National treasure news: The much-revered Geoff Hamilton, host of BBC Gardener's World for seventeen years through the late 70s, the 80s and early 90s, died 30 years ago this week (and would have been 90 years old next weekend). Needless to say, the show he presented for so long had a rather good tribute to him by current co-presenter and Chelsea-winning garden designer Adam Frost - himself once Geoff's apprentice - and we also watched another special programme Monty Don Remembers... Geoff Hamilton just the other day. Here's the man himself in action:

Geoff Hamilton & Ann Swithinbank's gardening tips (1980s)

• Order, order! news: A Brazilian legislative assembly was rudely interrupted - by a group of capybaras! Beats bloody "Just Stop Oil" protesters throwing orange powder, I suppose...
• Naughty knickers, shock! horror! news: Middle England has been clutching its pearls in shock at the news that the high street's most reliable, middle-of-the road store Marks & Spencer has started selling crotchless panties from a range by sex shop Ann Summers! Whatever next - poppers on sale in the "ready-meal" aisle?
• Don't eat the jelly! news: Thousands of bright electric blue sea creatures, thought to be "sea rafts" - related to the Portuguese Man'o'War but not as deadly - have been blown off-course from their usual tropical warm sea habitat, and washed up on a beach in Cumbria in northern England!
• And finally: RIP, David Z. Who? I hear you ask. Not only was he the principal studio engineer whose work transformed the early recording career of Prince (and was credited for creating the sound that launched the Purple One to mega-success), not only did he produce the magnificent She Drives Me Crazy for Fine Young Cannibals (which broke the band in the US, hitting #1 over there)... he was also one of the geniuses behind THIS!

Lipps, Inc. - Funkytown

And the weather? Still dry, not as hot as it has been - but so incredibly blustery I came home to find a whole branch of the bastard weed tree had snapped off and landed on top of the plants at the top of the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers! Not much damage done, thank goodness, and The Madam's chopped it up and thrown it over next-door where it belongs [they're actually away, thank gawd, so we have some peace]!

---

FOOTNOTE:

Mayhem, Lesson 1 to 6 - incriminating evidence from Hils' 60th birthday party!

In case you were wondering what we were all staggering about dancing to - it's this!

DelaDap - Georgian Lesson 1-6

It truly wouldn't be one of our parties without it...

Birthday Queen

Happy birthday to my (real) sister Hils...

Here's a little choon of which I know she is fond. And so are we!

It's the effervescent DelaDap and their Georgian Lesson 1-6. Pay attention, now - there will be a test afterwards...

DelaDap - Georgian Lesson 1-6

Trombetista
Harmonika
Tuba
Kontrabacho
Guitarra
Trombone
La Voice

Dancing is a luxury
A pleasure to waste time
An excess of emotions without rules
A fantastic Tra-la-la without meaning and practical use
Now, everybody let´s dance!

Lession 1: Enjoy the rhythm
Lession 2: Clap your hands energetic to the rhythm
Lession 3: Jump in the air

Lession 4: Shake your feet to the beat
Lession 5: Shout "Hop!"
Lession 6: Let`s sing together...

Indeed.

Fire up the smoke machine and put on your heels

In general 2012 was not one of the best as far as our musical tastes here at Dolores Delargo Towers were concerned. An awful lot of the new music around was of the tawdry, "urban", deadly dull and mindless kind. Even some of the hoped-for new music from established artists - George Michael, Mika, Robbie Williams, even the Pet Shop Boys - was underwhelming (even though I have featured the latter many times during the year, I cannot bring myself to count any of their songs as highlights). Much of the music that really made an impact was old stuff (given the fact it was the Jubilee and the Olympics, which relied heavily on nostalgia, this is not a surprise), including the wonderful reunion of Marc and the Mambas at the Meltdown Festival, and much of Kylie's musical output (if rehashed with an orchestra).

Nevertheless, as is my wont at this time of year, I have selected twenty songs - with a little difficulty - that perhaps represent the best (in my opinion) this wet, gloomy year had to offer. So here goes...

Despite the fact we in the UK had absolutely no summer at all to speak of, in June we had a glut of choice music all of a sudden. One of the choicest was Mr Cosmo Jarvis and his incredible performing groinage - with Love This:

Another mid-summer fave was a little Gallic number by Dombrance featuring Sourya - The Witch:

Dombrance (feat. Sourya) - The Witch

Fabulously kooky Melbourne duo Parralox returned with the very entertaining single Sharper Than A Knife, first featured here in September:

Parralox - Sharper Than A Knife

That eternal pop hopeful from Blackpool Little Boots launched herself into the world of Disco back in July, with very pleasing results - it's Headphones:

Little Boots - Headphones

Our Glorious Leader Queen Madge threw everything into promoting her new album MDNA during 2012, yet the pop world (tainted by eternal sniping from GaGa-ites and ageist journalists alike) failed to be set alight by any of it - despite her triumphant Superbowl appearance. The highlight of Madonna's musical year for me was Offer Nissim's remix of Girl Gone Wild (featuring the ever-gorgeous Kazaky), which I featured back in May:

Madonna - Girl Gone Wild (Offer Nissim remix)

Speaking of powerful camp gay icons, the music world here at Dolores Delargo Towers would be somehow incomplete without Amanda Lear - and, true to form, back in February she delivered the goods with the magnificent La Bête et la Belle:

Amanda Lear - La Bête et la Belle

A debut single that really caught my imagination was Solomon Grey's Firechild, as featured in November:

Solomon Grey - Firechild

The Scissor Sisters made a very welcome return to form in April with the fantabulosa Only The Horses. [Sadder news followed towards the end of the year, when they announced they were "pursuing solo projects" for a while. No, not splitting up, of course.]

Scissor Sisters - Only The Horses

If ever there were to be an obvious successor to the Sisters' crown, it would be the ever-wonderful Hot Chip - who bounded back into our lives in June (a productive month it seems) with the fantabulosa Night and Day:

Hot Chip - Night & Day

One of the most catchy (if possibly the least cool) tracks of the year was another from June, in the form of the folksy tones of Rumer and P.F. Sloan:

Rumer - P.F. Sloan

The ever-reliable Young Professionals treated us to a rather fab new number earlier this month - Be With You Tonight:

The Young Professionals - Be With You Tonight

We missed seeing the decadent-sounding Mollyhaus at the Big Gay Lifestyles Show this Autumn - shame - I still love their Love Machine (as featured in May):

Mollyhaus - Love Machine

Speaking of the Gay Lifestyles expo, it would be churlish of me not to feature one of the highlights of that day, our friend Marcus Reeves's stunning new single Black Tears:

Marcus Reeves - Black Tears

Once again from June, the superb Irrepressibles treated us to a new musical outing (and a semi-nude video to boot) - here's Arrow:

The Irrepressibles - Arrow

One of my fave Welsh artists Bright Light Bright Light had a killer of a song out in October - I loved it, it's Feel It:

Bright Light Bright Light - Feel It

It fell to one of the "old-timers" Miss Gloria Estefan, however, to provide us with the style and decadence we want and need from a dance number - her superb Hotel Nacional from way back in February was a treat!

Gloria Estefan - Hotel Nacional

Still echoing through my brain from November - courtesy of the incredible tonsils of Haringey's finest, Adele - is the theme to another of Britain's reasons to be proud during 2012, the new James Bond film Skyfall:

Adele - Skyfall

THE musical memory of 2012 for me has to be seeing our beloved Princess Kylie on stage for the first time at (one of the rare sunny days this year) Proms in the Park! Celebrating all year her 25th anniversary - with appearances for the Jubilee and many other guest slots on stage, film and TV, and an "Anti-Tour" of b-sides and rarities to boot - Miss Minogue's Abbey Road Sessions album is sublime, as is this, the single (featured in October) Flower:

Kylie Minogue - Flower

Almost, but not quite, my favourite song of the year is Georgian Lesson 1-6 by the mad-as-hatters DeLaDap (as featured in late November):

DeLaDap - Georgian Lesson

However - and this is unusual for me to have two tracks by one artist in my favourites of the year - but there can only be one triumphal anthem for 2012. It just had to be the magnificent Scissor Sisters and Let's Have a Kiki!!

Scissor Sisters - Let's Have A Kiki (instructional video)

"And work and turn, and hu-hu-honey!"

Happy New Year!

[Let's hope it's a better one for music.]

Muzica noua

Time, methinks, to open the musical Pandora's box once more.

Let's open with the official new single mix by Stuart Price of Pet Shop Boys' next single Memory of the Future has just been premiered on Radio 2, and is rather hypnotic and soothing - it is released on 31st December:

Pet Shop Boys - Memory of the Future

Taking the beat up a few notches, here's the latest from the man with the most unlikely real name (Orlando Higginbottom) and band name, to boot - it's Your Love by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, and it's totally catchy!

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Your Love

This lady by the name of Janina Gavankar is apparently famous, appearing in some TV programmes I have never seen (True Blood, The "L" Word). She is also a singer and musician, and this, her new single Waiting for Godot is an intriguing musical odyssey indeed (even if she does pronounce it "gu-doh")...

Janina Gavankar - Waiting for Godot

Speaking of anthemic, The Answer, the latest from the super-cool Avec Sans has a hook that gets right inside the brain, if you let it:

[2022 UPDATE: Video now gone from the interwebs, but the track is available to listen via Soundcloud.]

If you love (as I do) your music a bit electro-retro-80s-stylee, then this collaboration between DJ Kris Menace and the legend that is Miss Kittin, Hide is simply perfect - I love it!

Kris Menace feat. Miss Kittin - Hide

At last, we have the new release by our dear friend the amazingly multi-talented Mr Marcus Reeves (who we most recently saw at Gay Lifestyles) - three cheers for the fantabulosa Black Tears:

Marcus Reeves - Black Tears

And finally... Something I just heard last night on Radio 3 (of all places - but it was on their Late Junction slot, not one of their classical music programmes). It's fantastic. It's fun. It's DelaDap and their Georgian Lession 1-6 - all together now!

DelaDap - Georgian Lession 1-6

As always, enjoy - and let me know your thoughts!