Comfort and Old Videos

It was a Thursday night; I had spent a stressful day at the good ole 9-5, then drove my niece to the airport, and finally headed to my mother’s house for a late dinner. When I finally reached my home, and I inched to the door, I immediately discovered something out of the ordinary – to make a long story short, to my chagrin I walked in on a burglary. Nothing quite prepares you for knowing that your home has just been “invaded” – “violated” even – and what followed was over a week of sleeplessness. I never thought that I would be terrified to walking into my own home. But the first night alone, realizing that my door (which literally leads to the outside world) was far from functional (the burglary entry) and that the back window (the exit) was also compromised, I sat at my dining room table staring at the canary yellow wall for quite sometime. After feeling sorry for myself, I threw on some music, and as I look back at just over a week ago, I realize that during those hours I totally forgot about everything other than the music playing.

I listened to a lot of the music that filled the hours of my youth and annoyed my downstairs neighbors to no end. And as I look back at it, there are two things I realized that I don’t think I ever mentioned in this blog. The first is that our favorite music is usually not the “best” (whatever that means) music or the most popular, but rather those artists, albums, and songs we have attached memories to – that takes us back to yesteryears as if they happened yesterday. The second is sometimes music can be comforting, a source of immense alleviation and solace, as it soothes away the anxiety and brings you to a new place.

I listened to music for many hours that first night, much of which is simply not officially available on YouTube or elsewhere: Alien Sex Fiend, Aztec Camera, Clan of Xymox, The Cult, Front 242, Psychic TV, and The Wild Swans to name a few. But I set out to share at least ten of the songs I listened to that evening, and was able to accomplish that goal. It is funny how, at a pretty bleak moment, I ran directly for some of the darkest music in my collection.

The last thing I would like to say is thank you. I would like to thank my friends and family who have really helped me through this situation (including putting in a new door!), and thank you to life in general for given me another lesson in humility – though I would never wish this kind of experience on anyone or want to go through it again, it has definitely toughened me up a bit more and really given me some much needed perspective.

On that note, enjoy the videos!

Lords of the New Church’s “Dance With Me” from the emimusic YouTube Channel.



Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s (OMD) “Electricity” from their MySpace Video Page.


Electricity

OMD | Myspace Video

The Cure’s “Fascination Street” from their MySpace Video page.


Fascination Street

The Cure | Myspace Video

The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On” from the RhinoEntertainment YouTube Channel.



Nitzer Ebb’s “Lightning Man” from their MySpace Video page.


Nitzer Ebb - Lightning Man

Nitzer Ebb | Myspace Video

Siouxsie and the Banshee’s “Peek-a-Boo” from the bansheesofficial YouTube Channel.



The B-52’s “Private Idaho” from theofficialb52s YouTube Channel.



Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” from the KateBushMusic YouTube Channel.



David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” from his MySpace Videos page.


Space Oddity

David Bowie | Myspace Video

Depeche Mode’s “Stripped” from their MySpace Videos page.


Stripped

Depeche Mode | Myspace Video Read more ...

Some New, Some Old Videos

No new review this week, but there will be more than one review next week (and keeping my fingers crossed over a few other things) … but of course I cannot let a Tuesday go by without posting something.

I have been e-mailing back and forth with a friend (we shall call him Candyman) about music; he has an extensive knowledge of music, especially (popular and obscure) new wave – he is keeping me on my toes! So, I thought that I would do something a bit different with this video post: split it between new videos and older ones.

First, the new videos, here is Orphan Boy’s new video for “Some Frontiers.” Here are some links if you missed the review of their album “Passion, Pain & Loyalty” (link) and a recent interview (link).

Orphan Boy’s “Some Frontier” from their YouTube Channel: oprhanboyuk.



Surfing around, I came across Maria Rodés – what an amazing voice! I think I am going to have to run out this weekend and buy her album.

Maria Rodés’ “Desorden” from the bcoredisc YouTube Channel.



The last two new videos are from veteran Bjork (one of those artists who always makes me scratch my head) and newcomers Dinosaur Pile-Up, which are further evidence that the 90s are definitely seeping back.

Bjork’s “The Comet Song” from her YouTube Channel: bjorkdotcom.



Dinosaur Pile-Up’s “Mona Lisa” from their YouTube Channel: dinosaurpileup.



Now for the old videos, and I have to state again, there are so many great songs that are just not officially available by so many bands, some that I have not thought about in years till this week, that should not be forgotten: Celebrate the Nun, Dalek I Love You, The Lotus Eaters, and Sigue Sigue Sputnik to mention a few (and let’s not forget Ministry’s first album!). Unfortunately, their videos are not officially available for embeds … I have alluded to this in the past, perhaps it is time to reach out to these artists and labels to place their music out there officially …

But reconnecting with my friend, Candyman, has really got me thinking of older music, more obscure music, and the avant-garde. Though these videos below do not reflect that (to my frustration!), they are four great songs from the 80s … Enjoy!

The Psychedelic Furs’ “Heartbreak Beat” from the PsychedelicFursVEVO YouTube Channel.



Orchestral Manouvers In the Dark’s “If You Leave” from their MySpace Videos page.


If You Leave

OMD | MySpace Video

The Cure’s “Primary” from TheCureVEVO YouTube Channel.



Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Warriors of the Wasteland” from the zttrecords YouTube Channel.

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