Archive for the 2002 tag

My Robot Friend: We’re The Pet Shop Boys

"We're The Pet Shop Boys" is so...meta. I don't even know where to start. Released by My Robot Friend in 2002 on the full length Hot Action, it's a song about the Pet Shop Boys, created almost entirely of Pet Shop Boys' own lyrics. As if that wasn't enough, the Pet Shop Boys themselves actually did a cover of it as a b-side to "Miracles". Oh and it doesn't stop there, either; Robbie Williams did a cover of the Pet Shop Boys cover of the song about the Pet Shop Boys. Where will the madness end!?

Done, of course, more in the Pet Shop Boys' style than his own, My Robot Friend is worth checking out for his other material as well. He relays tales of robot adventures amongst the humans set against exactly the sort of machine-made pop you'd expect from someone who does his live shows in a full body robot costume (do NOT miss his live show if you happen to come across one...think Captured By Robots, the sequel).

official website
buy Hot Action on Amazon.com

Endora: Perfect Isolation + Carmen

I met this band ten years ago after I saw them opening up for Anything Box. Or it may have been Book of Love. I was instantly hooked on their synthpop sound with goth style vocals. I felt they could have been extremely successful, but for whatever reason, they parted ways after a series of shows and demos. I’m not sure what most of the members are doing these days, but their keyboardist Rubin has remixed numerous trance, synthpop, and EBM tracks (Iris, Icon of Coil, Syrian), and has a successful photography company.

The two songs I’m posting are from a five track demo CD. The first is “Perfect Isolation”, one of my favorite synth songs of the last decade and one of the most heavily requested songs when I did Destination Unknown. The second is their cover of Anything Box’s “Carmen”. It adds a darker dimension to the song without destroying the elements that made the original a classic.

New Order: Tribute at Neo 2/4/10

I  still get excited every year when we do our New Order Tribute Night. It’s not only a chance for us to play a bunch of New Order that we don’t normally play at Atomic, but it’s now one of the few times a year that I indulge in the brilliance of one of the most influential bands over the last thirty years.

The two songs here represent two completely different New Order styles, but they share that sentimental touch that ties the history of the band together. "Dreams Never End" is from their debut album Movement. Musically, the album still had a Joy Division feel to it, but it laid the ground work that turned them into international pop stars later in the decade. It's one of the few New Order songs with Peter Hook on vocals. Listen to Dreams Never End (1982) and then The Cure’s Inbetween Days (1985). Trust me. The second song, "Here to Stay" was recorded for the 24 Hour Party People Soundtrack in 2002 and was dedicated to Martin Hannett (Joy Division/New Order producer), Rob Gretton (Joy Division/New Order manager), and Ian Curtis (Joy Division lead vocalist).

New Order Online [official fansite]