The music seemed to always take itself pretty seriously and the group were growing and realising their atmospheric strengths. They never quite fit with the successful new romantic pretty-boys like Duran Duran or Spandau Ballet, they seemed more aligned to U2’s trajectory. Indeed, when U2 got set to record their breakthrough album The Unforgettable Fire with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, the group told them they had been listening to New Gold Dream…
The ad copy for Justin Bieber’s new perfume The Key states: ‘The Key is an inspiring new fragrance that invites you to unlock the endless possibilities of believing in your dreams, bringing you closer to Justin than ever before’. His previous two perfumes were called Girlfriend and Someday. I assume the not-so-subtle message to his fans is: If you buy all three you may hold the key to someday being Justin’s girlfriend.
Within Korea (and outside) I think PSY may find with time that the exposure (and its attendant irony) will defuse any political/social motivations behind the song and render it the exact opposite: a total glamorisation and endorsement and validation of the very things he sought to ridicule. Everyone LOVES “Gangnam Style” = it’s totally cool to be Gangnam Style. Oppan Frankenstein…
Remember the future? The old future of SF paperbacks with blocky robotic font and sweeping imaginative artworks? It was a future that still seemed like the future. The future was going to be different. Well, now the future is here and most of it looks like a cover version of the past…
Celer: Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long. A husband and wife duo based in Southern California, who made some of the most moving ambient music I’ve ever heard. They were straight up there on high rotation with my other ambient heroes like: Brian Eno, Harold Budd, Steve Roach, Thomas Köner, William Basinski, to the modern standard bearers like: Fennesz, Stars of the Lid, Windy & Carl, Grouper etc etc…