Five Songs I'm Loving This Week

Say Hi To Your Mom, "These Fangs"

I've written about this band before; a few years ago I posted a song by them called "Let's Talk About Spaceships". I have a thing about songs with cute subjects. A song about fangs would apply, I believe (unless it's a vampire song--I guess that wouldn't be cute). They have a song called "I'm In Love With An Android". I just love them! I saw them in concert here in Jacksonville a few months ago--they put a really good show. Even though I didn't know most of the songs, I still enjoyed them all. This is who they think they are.


Maybe they're trying to tell us not to say hi to our mom? They're sending out mixed messages! Say Hi To Your Mom's Website and Myspace

Easterly, "Wicked Conversation" (remix)

What a wicked song! And I mean that in the best 80's way (I am a child of the 80's, afterall). The song follows more of a 50's/60's type path, though: falsetto male vocals steadily climb to a crescendo then abruptly fall--repeat throughout the song. The chorus is sharp and the transition from verse to chorus is almost flawless; the chorus is a logical extension of the main melody.

It's got an awesome lyric, too: "Illiteracy's your best defense". Ouch! If the person gets the insult, he/she should be very offended!


Easterly's Website and Myspace.

The Fabulous Rudies, "99 Luft Balloons"

Speaking of 80's...one guess as to what one of my favorite songs of the 80's was? Yep, I went around as a child kicking imaginary balloons (or were they imaginary?) and singing the only phrase from the German version I knew: "Captain Kirk". That's not even a whole line. Eventually I heard the English version enough to where I knew the lyrics. I don't know the lyrics any more; in fact, listening to this cover, I'm trying hard to remember the corresponding English lyrics, and they ain't comin' back. I remember "In this dust that was a city". I remember the lyrics were very powerful and very sad for me...perhaps the most profound thing this 8th grader had heard (besides maybe "New Religion" by Duran Duran).


The Fabulous Rudies even look fabulous. Their Website and Myspace

Shortwave Dahlia, "Song For Vara"

Nice electronica! I don't post a whole lot of electronic music because an electronic song has to be really exceptional to get my attention. I spent too many years in too many clubs to appreciate just any blip or bleep. It better be one frickin' fantastic blip and bleep, and these are pretty fantastic blips and bleeps. I think there may even be some sweeping guitar in there, too. The music could be a lost Cure song from the Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me era. The vocals are lovely, too. Usually with electronic songs, I like the music but cringe at whatever the band tries to pass off as vocals. Not in this case: in this case, the vocals fit the song perfectly. The singer doesn't overcomplicate his part--he doesn't try to go toe to toe with the swooping and souring instruments. Instead, he chooses a very low-key approach which blends in with the music well.


Huh...so that's what Billy Corgan's up to nowadays. Heh heh--no, that's not Billy Corgan. That's Jack Alberson and some of the other members of Shortwave Dahlia. Their Website and Myspace

Plus/Minus, "Fadeout"

I like the hushed vocals in this song. While the music is tense and driving, the singer seems to be letting his voice glide along on top of the music; content to let the instruments carry most of the tension. The two different approaches work well together. The tension doesn't stop building, either...no fadeout on that front. It becomes more frenzied until the song crashes and ends abruptly.


That must be one hell of a toothache that guy has. Plus/Minus's Website and Myspace

English Lyrics, "99 Red Balloons"

You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got.
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one, they were gone.
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message, Something's out there.
Floating in the summer sky.
99 red balloons go by.

99 red balloons.
floating in the summer sky.
Panic bells, it's red alert.
There's something here from somewhere else.
The war machine springs to life.
Opens up one eager eye.
Focusing it on the sky.
Where 99 red balloons go by.

99 Decision Street.
99 ministers meet.
To worry, worry, super-scurry.
Call the troops out in a hurry.
This is what we've waited for.
This is it boys, this is war.
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by.

99 Knights of the air
Ride super-high-tech jet fighters
Everyone's a superhero.
Everyone's a Captain Kirk.
With orders to identify.
To clarify and classify.
Scramble in the summer sky.
As 99 red balloons go by.

99 dreams I have had.
In every one a red balloon.
It's all over and I'm standing pretty.
In this dust that was a city.
If I could find a souvenier.
Just to prove the world was here.
And here is a red balloon
I think of you and let it go.

Nena, "99 Luft Balloons" (1983)

(Wait--so 99 Decision Street isn't the sequel series to 21 Jump Street?)

I took German in high school and college (about a total of a year's worth). I remember eins, swei, drei...der, die, sie...and I'm sure a few other words.

In a better world I would've found the mp3 for the original version in English and/or German. Here's the video on Youtube, though! (The German video is also available--what cool earrings!)

(Lola: Bringing the 80's to the masses since 1990)

*Note: I got a comment about making my bitrates higher. I don't encode the mp3s myself, and I don't really know anything about bitrate. I thought I could raise the bitrate in EZArchive when I'm making the link, but it lets me choose a lower bitrate; it won't let me go higher. One day I'll ask a more computer savvy person than myself to help me re-encode, but for now the mp3s are as is. Most of them are encoded at a decent rate; it's just once in awhile you get a bad one. The mp3s on EZArchive are lower quality, anyway.

Anyways, I'm going to bed now. It's late. I'm glad I got this out on Saturday, though. Well, okay, so it's 11:51 p.m. I should have it uploaded before midnight.