Nothing going on here but the music. No tenuous threads tying these tracks together. Just good, solid tunes with what gamers refer to as “high replayability.” Like Peggle for your ears, I suppose.
Previous versions here:
The Heavy Rotation Archives
Sparks – Frankly Scarlett, I Don’t Give a Damn
The worst moustache in the business meets some of the brightest and smartest pop in the world. The Sparks take on a Southern legend with the purest of worst intentions, taking the jilted and none-too-pleased side of things. Catchy as hell and with some of the best couplets/triplets(?) ever written:
That soft southern accent
Delivered without the slightest trace of a British accent
Even that’s starting to wear on me
and this, which I’m dying to use out of context somewhere:
We cut each other so much slack
That we were both falling over backwards
!!! – Take Ecstasy With Me (Magnetic Fields cover)
The most plaintive of love songs, wherein love is replaced with lust and lust is altered chemically. New York’s funksters !!! take Stephen Merritt’s ode to the downside of unpopular lifestyle choices (“we got beat up just for holding hands”) and turn it into an ode to the simple pleasures of getting fucked up with someone else. Loads of additions to the original lyrics drive the point home:
I’ve got a new kaleidoscope and I’ve got a stack of records
It’s all in your head so don’t doubt it
We could have fun just listening to your pulse
Balkan Beat Box – Bulgarian Chicks (INSPKTR Bootleg Mix)
Normally when I hear the phrase “world music,” I start looking for the exit and elbowing my way past Paul Simon fans and various members of Vampire Weekend. The Balkan Beat Box, founded by ex-Gogol Bordello member Ori Kaplan, takes all the chin-stroking and masturbatory SWPL-ness out of it and shows everyone (including me) how all these disparate ingredients can rock the dance floor. Funky, fun and highly recommended to close-minded bloggers everywhere.
Soulwax – Any Minute Now (Vote Whitey Mix)
Time to combine two of my favorite things: the dance-rock express that is Soulwax with the main man of all things fucking great, Whitey. Prepare to have your lids flipped by Whitey’s undeniable backbeat and general electronic wizardry.
Whitey – Individuals
Speaking of fucking great, here’s yet another fucking great track from Whitey. Just another day at work for the master, combining an a distorted electro loop that defines the word “crunchy” with some great drumwork and a great set of cynical lyrics directed at all those people who insist on showing their uniqueness by doing what everyone else is doing:
I see places
Fashionable places
Where all the smart people go to stand in line
Stand in line
Makes their lives
All perfectly designed
For killing timeI see people
Fashionable people
Go where the right people go to watch themselves
For themselves
All for one
And none for all
Stand against the wall
Cause you’re so over it allSo this is nothing personal
I ain’t got nothing against you all
But if you can’t select something that’s really your own then why bother selecting at all
And if there’s anyone actually listening now who finds this uncomfortable
Just wait for the end of the music
All files in a smartly-ZIPped jumpsuit and armed with a harpoon gun:
Heavy Rotation Vol. 30
(link opens in new window)
-CLT