The fact that they released a brand-new James Bond theme a couple of weeks ago plus the news that they decided to delay the new Bond flick until Fall has got me thinking quite a bit about James Bond themes. So here’s one of my all-time favorites. Partake and be pleasured by the 80s blacklight goodness:
Talkin’ about that, talkin’ about that, talkin’ about that, talkin’ about that…
Earlier this month perennial thisischris.com favorite Warren Dunes was on Nancy Guppy’s “Art Zone” show on The Seattle Channel. They performed a song that has not yet been recorded and released to the general public, so if you haven’t seen them perform it live, this is probably your first time to be able to hear it! It’s basically an instrumental, because the only lyrics in the whole song are “Talkin’ about that burden” repeated over and over.
The first half of this video is actually Nancy Guppy interviewing Julia, which you should watch if you are interested. The song itself starts at 3:25 (I’ve keyed the video to start then). Partake and be pleasured:
Thanks once again to Eva & Cedric, the Walker Twins of The Black Tones, and their music video show Video Bebop for once again introducing me to an amazing music video that I’d have otherwise probably never seen! (Seriously, you should watch new Video Bebops whenever they are released).
This time it’s local (of course) band Smokey Brights. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them live at some point. But anyway, “Different Windows” is a fantastic song. It’s gots groooove to it. And the video is hilarious, full of dime-store costumes and bored musicians on their cell phones, all with a wonderful 80s VHS vibe to it. Partake and be pleasured:
Wishes come from you and not a random shooting star…
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is a rather good new cartoon on Netflix, about a tween girl trying to find her family of underground dwellers in a post-apocalyptic surface world full of giant, sentient animals.
This scene is from a flashback to before all the craziness began, showing Kipo and her father (voiced by Sterling K. Brown!!) enjoying some domestic tranquility and a charming, lovely family song. Partake and be pleasured:
Didn’t I just do a Black Tones song as my Wednesday Listening Pleasure at the beginning of this month? Oh, yeah, I did. Shut up: they’re good and I really enjoy their music. Plus they’ve released their first-ever official music video! It’s for “Ghetto Spaceship” and features a dramatized version of a time when the Walker Twins’ mother was pregnant with them. Since they’re in utero, they’re of course naked. The Walker Twins do seem to enjoy to be naked. Here’s Cedric on the cover of their album Cobain & Cornbread for example:
Who want some cheese?
Anyhoo, “Ghetto Spaceship” is from Cobain & Cornbread. Partake and be pleasured:
“Though I respect that a lot, I’d be fired if that were my job…”
This month marks the 30th anniversary of the release of They Might Be Giants’s seminal album Flood. Their first major-label album, but still two albums away from creating a full backing band, Flood is still the band’s best-known and (arguably) most-lauded creation.
So popular was/is Flood that for many people it was a gateway drug of sorts; it served as the entryway to the rabbit hole of TMBG’s 22 studio albums plus uncounted singles/EPs, live albums, demo tapes, collections, samplers, and solo projects. Though some people never really explore TMBG beyond Flood (these people are derisively called “Flooders” by some), the songs from Flood still remain as iconic as any song in the band’s lexicon.
Here, therefore, is the official music video for Flood‘s lead single, “Birdhouse In Your Soul.” It is full of TMBG’s penchant for creepy imagery, bizarre-yet-highly-coordinated dance moves, and of course some William Allen White. Partake and be pleasured as if it were 1990 again:
“I put him in my pocket, saved him for another time…”
Vanna Oh is a local Pacific Northwest musician whom I’m deeply ashamed to admit I had never heard of until this week. I heard of them thanks to Eva & Cedric Walker (of The Black Tones) and their new music video show called Video Bebop on The Seattle Channel! Thanks, Walker Twins!
So anyway, Vanna Oh simply shreds and I absolutely adore this song and the resultant video, which does great things with primary colors and also with film speed. Partake and be pleasured:
