Forget The Future

David Cicero was a singer and keyboardist who was signed in 1989 to Spaghetti Records. The story goes that he attended a Pet Shop Boys' concert in Glasgow in 1989 and gave a demo tape to Peter Andreas, the Pet Shop Boys' personal assistant. Peter Andreas contacted Cicero with an offer of artist management and later when Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe heard Cicero's material, they signed him up to their recently formed Spaghetti label.

Two of the tracks on his 1991 debut album ‘Future Boy’ were produced by PSB; Heaven Must Have Sent You Back To Me and That Loving Feeling. The album didn’t fare too well, and PSB tried once more getting him to sing Live For Today for the ‘Crying Game’ soundtrack.

Sadly, Cicero had minor success in the charts and then like many a popstar disappeared into the ether. He seems to have reinvented himself as a trance producer as part of the duo ‘Jacob Mendez’.

MP3: Cicero – Heaven Must Have Sent You Back To Me (Expired)
MP3: Cicero & Sylvia Mason James – Live For Today (Expired)
MP3: Cicero – That Loving Feeling (Expired)

Child Of Love

On the way home, this gem popped up on my player – it’s a fantastic mashup of Diana Ross & The Supremes’ classic Love Child and the 90s dance anthem Free by Ultra Nate.

Visit Futuro’s site to get more funky mashups.

MP3: Diana Ross & The Supremes vs. Ultra Nate – Free Love Child (Expired)
MP3: Diana Ross & The Supremes – Love Child (Almighty Mix) (Expired)
MP3: Diana Ross & The Supremes – Love Child (Expired)
MP3: Ultra Nate – Free (Mood II Swing Radio Mix) (Expired)

500 miles

Woohoo! After the fantastic (and seriously under rated outside the usual circles) ‘Rollerskating’, Bertine Zetlitz has a new album coming out this fall. The first single off ‘My Italian Greyhound’ will be 500, which we have below for your listening pleasure.

Icy, quirky norweigen pop.

MP3: Bertine Zetlitz – 500 (Expired)

It's Deborah Now

Gosh. This takes me back in time. The last time I listened to a Debbie Gibson record, I was 10 years old and being shipped off to England to go to boarding school.

I distinctly remember lying in bed and listening to Foolish Beat, and it suddenly hitting me that I was going to be going far away and crying into my pillow (I was always prone to high drama).

For those of you of the same generation as me, re-live your (electric) youth.

p.s. if anyone has a copy of Naked by Ms. Gibson, I would be most grateful.

MP3: Debbie Gibson – Only In My Dreams (Expired)
MP3: Debbie Gibson – Foolish Beat (Expired)
MP3: Debbie Gibson – Electric Youth (Expired)

buy: Debbie Gibson - Greatest Hits

I Heart Jay

I'm in love. Yes, you heard it here first. His name is Jay Brannan, and I came across (not literally obviously, as that’s just tacky, and this is a high class establishment) his website whilst surfing the net tonight.

We’ll get the obvious stuff out of the way – he’s really cute in a emo/frat boy kind of way – but since it takes more than a pretty face to get me excited; he’s witty and clearly a little twisted (in a good way).

Musically, judging from the three tracks (I’ve always said I was easy), he’s a cross between early Tori (not as early as ‘Y Kant Tori’) , Tracy Chapman and Lisa Loeb.

Think acoustic, songs, simply arranged with a dry sense of humour.

We heart him (or maybe we just want his Tigger ears, not exactly sure).

If you're in New York on Friday 23rd, you can catch him playing alongside the likes of Stephen Merrit, Joel Gibb (Hidden Cameras) & Gentleman Reg at Joe's Pub.

MP3: Jay Brannan – Half Boyfriend (Expired)

Visit: Jay’s Myspace

Swedish Delight

I'm sure it’s just a matter of time before I get over this swedish music fixation (interestingly, I’ve never hooked up with a swedish guy), but whilst I’m working through my compulsions, it is giving me the chance to discover and share some of their finest with visitor to casa Homoeclectic.

I mentioned yesterday that the swedes are particularity skillful at a type of indie/twee pop that they seem to churn out in great quantities. Fulfilling the stereotype and bringing a huge amount of joy whilst doing so are Vapnet – formed from a couple of members from Sibiria (another band – not a spelling mistake) when band member Martin Abrahamsson wrote the song "Ge Dom Våld" which didn’t fit into his incumbent band’s sound.

Fans of the likes of Camera Obscura and Belle & Sebastian should definitely check out their latest full length release Jag Vet Hur Man Väntar.

MP3: Vapnet - Thoméegränd
MP3: Vapnet - Storgatan

Perfectly Formed

At the risk of becoming a bit tedious with my awe at the Swedish music scene, today’s listening pleasure comes from a band called Audrey, and their debut album Visible Forms.

Whereas most of the bands I’ve posted previously have been more on the twee angle, Audrey come from a much more melancholic place. (Think a female, rougher Sigur Ros.)

The lead singer sounds like a mixture of Bjork and Cat Power – the songs are beautifully arranged, cinematic in scope but at times delicate and leftfield.

Definitely one of the recommendations of the year.

MP3: Audrey – Mecklenburg
MP3: Audrey – Leaving/Letting Go

buy: Audrey - Visible Forms

Awww

This has been posted on a few sites, but I thought it deserved a larger audience. (It might look like Sims porn - its actually a french safer sex advert.)

Soho Pop

Currently being hyped in the circles that know about these things (this means their PR is earning their keep), the Soho Dolls claim to be influenced by the "decaying and desperate glamour, savagery and sex" of Soho. As a londoner, I’m not entirely convinced with this premise – Soho is less about the brothels and strip clubs that made it infamous and more of a controlled, at times over commercialised version of its former self.

That said, PR bull aside, the Soho Dolls are an engaging mix of “Electro–rock-punk-dance-disco” or as I read on another site; Ladytron pretending to be Sugababes doing a mean Kraftwerk impression on the Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark back-catalogue.

MP3: Soho Dolls – Prince Harry
MP3: Soho Dolls – Stripper
MP3: Soho Dolls– Pleasures Of Soho

buy: Soho Dolls - Stripper

Call Of Modernity

If you’ve been visiting Homoeclectic on a regular basis over the past few months, you may have noticed that recently it’s been a bit slow on the ol’ posting side. I’ve been out of town for work without decent internet access and am suffering the most god-awful cold (in the typical male response, I’m convinced I’m dying).

That said, the show must go on, and normal service shall soon be resumed.

One of my favourite bands this year has to be The Modern – they haven’t had a huge amount of success outside of the usual Popjustice hype, and I for one can’t understand why – sounding like a mix of The Killers, Dead or Alive and Kim Wilde, their synth pop whilst decidedly derivative is still catchy enough to have me dancing round the living room (when I have the energy to pick myself up off my deathbed).

Rumour has it that Seven Oceans will be the next single, but I’m struggling to find any more info.

MP3: The Modern – Seven Oceans

Turn Away, Run Away

22 years this week, an unknown band called Bronski Beat charted at #3 with their debut single Smalltown Boy, which detailed the troubles of a young man from Glasgow escaping to London for being gay. One of the first identifiably gay bands to get any chart success, Bronski Beat were pioneers in their own time.

22 years down the line, have we really moved that far from the world portrayed by BB?

MP3: Bronski Beat – Small Town Boy (12” Version)(Expired)
MP3: André Herman Düne - Smalltown Boy (Expired)

buy: Bronski Beat - Age Of Consent (Expired)
buy: Dirty Diamond Vol 3 (features André Herman Düne - Smalltown Boy) (Expired)

Here We Go

Miranda Cooper is a member of the UK-based Xenomania writing and production team founded by Brian Higgins. She has co-written hits for pop acts such as Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Kylie Minogue, V and Abs.

In 2000, Cooper was launched by London Records as a solo artist under the name Moonbaby. Her debut single Here We Go did not enter the UK single chart's top 75, and her solo career came to an end. A four track promotional album sampler was issued, but the album that it was meant to promote was never released.

Moonbaby songs have appeared on releases by other artists. The single "Here We Go" has been recorded by two other artists: Lene (former lead singer of Aqua) who released the track on her 2003 album "Play With Me", and Girls Aloud who included it on their 2004 album "What Will The Neighbours Say?". Additionally, Girls Aloud recorded a track from the Moonbaby Sampler called "Deadlines and Diets" for the same album.

MP3: Moonbaby – Here We Go (Expired)
MP3: Moonbaby – Deadlines and Diets (Expired)
MP3: Moonbaby – I'm Thru with Love (Expired)
MP3: Moonbaby – Moonbaby (Expired)

Swinging Labrador Mixtape

Perhaps one of the most wonderful record labels out there (in, surprise, surprise: Sweden) is Labrador records – these guys clearly love music – I’ve just spent most of the last weekend listening to their latest releases and it’s been absolute bliss (and a welcome distraction from the quite suffocating heat).

I haven’t heard all the artists on their roster, but from what I have heard so far, I’m guessing they have a keen ear for twee-pop (with a dash of synths – they are swedish after all) – think Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura. But Swedish.

To give you a taste of the label and the bands, I’ve out together a little mixtape for your pleasure.

Whilst the bands in this post probably deserve a posting each, my lack of sleep and general laziness means they’re going to have to sit together – you can find out more about the bands below at the Labrador website.

MP3: The Legends – Play It For Today (Expired)
MP3: Acid House Kings – Will You Love Me In The Morning (feat. Magnus Carlson) (Expired)
MP3: Loveninjas – Keep Your Love (Expired)
MP3: Irene – Baby I Love Your Way (Expired)
MP3: Pelle Carlberg – Riverbank (Expired)
MP3: Acid House Kings – Do What You Wanna Do (Expired)
MP3: [Ingenting] – Släpp In Solen (Expired)
MP3: Sambassadeur - Kate (Expired)
MP3: The Radio Dept – Pet Grief (Expired)
MP3: Suburban Kids With Biblical Names – Rent A Wreck (Expired)
Download: Zip File(Expired)

Serge Gainsbourg vs. Whitney Houston

To think – Whitney probably makes Serge look sober as a judge these days.

Peachy Bush

Oh man! She’s back, as filthy as ever with some really hot beats. I’m really loving Peaches’ new album Impeach My Bush.

Continuing in the vein she left off with with Fatherfucker, the album sounds richer and more radio friendly. Collaborations with with everyone and their baby mamas to record this mammer-jammer of a record, including Joan Jett, the Gossip's Beth Ditto, Queens of the Stone Age / Eagles of Death Metal dude Josh Homme, Hole/Mötley Crüe/Eagles of Death Metal drummer Samantha Maloney, and her one-time roommate Leslie Feist bring some variety to the raucous party, creating the soundtrack to one hell of a saturday night.

MP3: Peaches – Two Guys (For Every Girl) (Expired)
MP3: Peaches – You Love It (Expired)

buy: Peaches - Impeach My Bush

Nelly's Let Loose

Perhaps one of the most anticipated albums this month is Nelly Furtado’s third album Loose. The tracks have been slowly leaking over the past few months showing a grittier, more urban sound (courtesy of the likes of Timbaland) and Nelly cast as the urban vixen.

My fear, echoed around blogsphere is that this album would be a sell-out; the last thing the world needed was another urban-princess-by-numbers (calling PCD). Thankfully, Nelly has worked with some talented producers who are sympathetic to her past (e.g. Somebody to Love retains that latin flavour of her earlier albums) as well as her need to shift gears and finally get the commercial success she deserves. The album has a distinctly 80s feel, which makes it very current all things considered.

Songs such as Maneater and Promiscuous position Nelly firmly on the dancefloor with Timbalands distinctive beats while No Hay Igual is a firm nod to the baille sounds that have been brewing barely under the surface for the past couple of years. Other tracks such as Do It continue the 80s feel, stepping straight out of an early Janet Jackson album.

Surprisingly for an urban pop album where ballads are normally stuck in as fillers, the slower tracks on the album such as All Good Things are strong enough to warrant repeat listens, and the album as whole is a lot slower in tempo than I expected.

Overall the album should secure Nelly’s desire to regain the commercial success that evaded her after Folklore, give you something to listen to on your way to and from the club on a saturday night, and give JLo something to aspire to.

MP3's will be around for 48 hours - get em while you can!

MP3: Nelly Furtado – Maneater (Expired)
MP3: Nelly Furtado – Say It Right (Expired)
MP3: Nelly Furtado – All Good Things (Expired)
MP3: Nelly Furtado – Somebody To Love (Expired)

buy: Nelly Furtado - Loose

Happy Beast-Day

You Caught Me Love Dancing

I'm torn (don’t worry, I’m not lying naked on the floor); Is It All Over My Face (Larry Levan Mix) by Loose Joints has to be one of my favourite disco records of all time. So, it was with some trepidation that I approached Cazwell’s reinvention of the seminal disco classic.

Staying fairly true to the original mix(augmenting the original track with some instrumental crunch produced by Kaz Gamble (Cooler Kids), Cazwell’s version basically features him rapping between the original chorus. His rapping style reminds me of Eminem and (this is not necessarily a good thing) Bloodhound Gang.

Cazwell’s lyrics take what was a euphorically sleazy track (think, coke, E and a lot of sex under disco balls) and relocates it in the backroom of a dodgy LA club with meth being the stimulant of choice – it’s sleazy, vulgar and for some reason appeals to me.

Or maybe I just like the way he looks.

MP3: Cazwell – All Over Your Face (Expired)
MP3: Loose Joints – Is It All Over My Face (Larry Levan Mix) (Expired)
MP3: Loose Joints – Is It All Over My Face (Larry Levan Male Vocal Mix) (Expired)

buy: Larry Levan's Paradise Garage: Classic West End Records Remixed
buy: Cazwell – All Over Your Face

En-ger-land!

Sigh. While I do enjoy most aspects of my job, the one thing that I would gladly trade is the endless talk about football that I am subjected to. I’m not sure what it is about straight men in a social setting– but rather than discussing things of relative interest (state of the nation, what’s the point of Keane’s latest offering, will Paris Hilton ever actually launch her album?) – they seem intrinsically programmed to talk about football.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like a man running around in a pair of shorts as much as the next guy, but I certainly don’t understand the obsession for the game. Sadly, my relative disinterest makes it very difficult in a professional setting where the guys seem to equate masculinity with their ability to analyse to the endth degree the movements of the players and I’m sitting there trying to find an excuse to leave the room.

This is going to be a very difficult month.

MP3: Embrace – World At Your Feet (Oakenfold Radio Edit) (Expired)
MP3: Infernal – From London To Berlin (World Cup 2006 Mix) (Expired)
MP3: Tony Christie – Is This The Way To The World Cup (Expired)
MP3: England 1982 World Cup Squad – This Time We’ll Get It Right (Expired)
MP3: New Order – World In Motion (Expired)
MP3: The Farm – Altogether Now (Expired)
MP3: Badiel & Skinner & The Lightening Seeds – Three Lions (Expired)
MP3: Gerry & The Pacemakers – You’ll Never Walk Alone (Expired)

It's Not That Good

Whilst we are loving Shakira' s new song, we're not loving it THAT much! (see price below).

Oh George!

An Easier Affair
by George Michael, Raudhri Cushnan, Kevin Ambrose & Niall Flynn

Here comes one for the ladies
For the ones who love me
To think I thought I could be some kind of family man
I told myself I was straight
But I shouldn’t have worried
‘Cos my Maker had a better plan for me

And I’m dancing with the freaks now
I'm havin’, I’m havin’ so much fun
What you sow is what you reap now
I’ll do my dance with everyone
I’ve been getting too much Sun
(Yes I’m dancin’ with the freaks now)
We’re havin’, we’re havin’ too much fun for them
Look who’s talking Guilty feet now…

Well let me tell you people
It’s an easier affair
Not living my life with other people on my mind
No, got nothing to hide from anyone
Yes, I’m walking on new air
Just living my life
Better believe I'm gonna get what’s mine
See I don’t have the time
For the haters

And all the time that I wasted
How careless of me
Too young and stupid to see
I put my life in their hands
(Gonna look for Cupid, man)
Oh, and I know that they want me to hate them
There’s no hurry
I’ll just have to be the bigger man

Dancin’ with the freaks now
I’m havin’, I’m havin’ so much fun
What you sow is what you reap now
I’ll do my dance with everyone
I’ve been getting too much Sun
If I turn the other cheek now
Would that be, would that be too much fun for them?
Look who’s talking
Guilty feet now…

Well let me tell you people
It’s an easier affair
Not livin’ my life with other people on my mind
No, got nothing to hide from anyone
‘Cos I’m walking on new air
Just living my life
Better believe I’m gonna get what’s mine
See I don’t have the time for the haters

Don’t let them tell you who you are is not enough
Don’t let them tell you that it’s wrong
Or that you won’t find love

Don’t let them use my life to put your future down
Don’t let them tell you that happiness can’t be found

For my life

Take it to the streets
There are stories you can keep
They’re just passing you by

Don’t let them tell you who you are is not enough
Don’t let them tell you that it’s wrong
Or that you won’t find love

Don’t let them use my life to put your future down
Don’t let them tell you that happiness can’t be found

See – the lyrics aren’t that bad – a bit on the embarrasing side, but George – could we have a tune please?

MP3: George Michael - Easier Affair (Expired)

buy: George Michael - Easier Affair

Lovin Linus

Linus Loves is actually a production alias for Duncan Reid and Kevin Kennedy, the co-owners of Mylo’s Breastfed imprint, as well as well-respected remixers in their own right.

It looks very much like they can add album-making to their list of skills, with this extremely funky debut LP. Like Mylo’s ‘Destroy Rock & Roll’, Stage Invader is a very 80s-influenced album, but this duo is taking things farther still – there’s everything from a Marvin Gaye adaptation (‘The Love’, a take on Gaye’s ‘Heavy Love Affair’) to the Georgio Moroder-ish ‘Stage Invader’.

As far as highlights go, ‘VH1’ is the closest in spirit to Mylo’s own songs, with a disco riff that sounds very much like a mellower version of ‘In Your Arms’ when it gets going. The moody android funk of ‘Hot And Wrong’ attempts to take things in a different direction, as does the analogue euphoria of ‘Baby I’m Amazed’, but in the end, this album is an update of 80s Italo-disco.

This is what the soundtrack to the new Miami Vice film should sound like.

MP3: Linus Loves – Waterfall (Expired)
MP3: Linus Loves – Night Music (Expired)
MP3: Linus Loves – Baby I’m Amazed (Expired)

buy: Linus Loves - Stage Invader

Liza's Da Bomb

A post on another site on the weekend reminded me of the fabulousness that was (is?) Liza Minelli – whilst she’s universally acclaimed for the Liza With A Z era, I still have a soft spot for her Pet Shop Boys collaborations. It seemed like pretty much the campest idea ever at the time: Pet Shop Boys, the masters of pop artifice, teaming up with Broadway legend and commercial has-been Liza Minnelli in a cross-generational gay icon culture clash.

Whilst being bit of a mixed bag, Results does feature some fabulous (can you think of a better word) moments; arranging Sondheim’s Losing My Mind as a hi-nrg track and conversely, the Boys’ Rent as a show tune complete with full orchestra were both acts of genius, and Don’t Drop Bombs is camp as a row of tents and, yes, fabulous.

Check out the Don’t Drop Bombs video – Liza looks great (this was way before the era of David Guest and those bizarre husband-beating stories) and I lurve the finger shooting sequence!

MP3: Liza Minnelli – Losing My Mind (Expired)
MP3: Liza Minnelli – Rent (Expired)
MP3: Liza Minnelli – Don’t Drop Bombs (Expired)

buy: Liza Minnelli – Results

Not A Mistake James

Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, The Postal Service) has a new project; James Figurine is the name and the album is called, Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake.

Out July 11th on Plug Research (and in Europe on Monika Records late June), it takes the unique sound Tamborello has already fashioned with Dntel and The Postal Service and blends it with 'dancefloor oriented electronic music'.

Here's how Tamborello describes it:

"In November of 2001 my band Figurine went on a short tour of Germany with Lali Puna. Our label there, Monika, set us up with a driver to get from show to show. She only brought three or four tapes to listen to on the drives, mostly techno. I’d never paid much attention to dancefloor-oriented electronic music, but listening to the same tapes over and over again (especially Kompakt’s pop-leaning Total 3 and some 7”s on Parfum) while driving through Germany made a giant impression on me. So this record was supposed to be an extra melodic, minimal techno record with some sparse vocals, but my technopop tendencies got the best of me, the songs slowly filled up, and this is what I ended up with."

The album is a cracker, sounding exactly like The Whitest Boy should have sounded like. My only reservation is, the cool, wistful vocals and the almost metallic electro feels out of place at the start of summer – for me the european techno/electro sounds evoke winters in Scandinavia and don’t quite gel with the current heatwave we’re experiencing in London.

MP3: James Figurine – 55566688833 (Expired)
MP3: James Figurine – Apologies (Expired)
MP3: James Figurine – All The Way To China (Expired)

buy: James Figurine - Mistake, Mistake, Mistake, Mistake

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

It's 3:36 a.m. - some bastard has tried to steal my bike, and now my keys don't work on the lock - the insurance company is on VM, my camera has no battery and I just had a quote for £70 for them to drill the lock later on today (assuming the bike is not at the back of a van by then).

I'm not happy. (Look ma, I have a place to vent.)

Who Else Is Crazy?

A roundup of the other Crazy covers, mashups etc.

MP3: Gnarls Barkley vs. Phoenix – Running Crazy (Expired)
MP3: Gnarls Barkley vs. Skee Lo– Crazy Wish (Expired)
MP3: Gnarls Barkley vs. Prince – Crazy Times (Expired)
MP3: The Kooks – Crazy (Live Lounge Cover) (Expired)
MP3: Terri Walker – Crazy (Radio 1Xtra Live) (Expired)

It’s a bit like when everyone wants to do I Will Survive at the karaoke isn’t it?

Nelly Furtado's Crazy

I must admit, that inspite of the fact that it’s been on my playlist since December, and has been at the top of the UK charts for what feels like forever, I still haven’t grown tired of Crazy. Joining the ranks of folks covering the track is Nelly Furtado who performed the track for Jo Whiley’s Live Lounge. The quality of the rip isn’t great, but I like the quiet, resigned yet confessional quality she brings to the song.

MP3: Nelly Furtado – Crazy (Gnarls Barkley cover) (Expired)