I'm not ashamed to admit it: I like Disco. Many kinds of Disco. Often Disco Italiano, but in the case of today's song, Disco Nederlander. Disco is dead. Long live Disco.
The song of the day is Risqué - The Girls Are Back In Town (1982). I don't know too much about Risqué, to be honest, except that they're Dutch and have awesome style (as may be evident from the album cover above and video below).
I'm pretty sure I first heard this for the first time on Intergalactic.fm's Classix station. I'm probably not old enough (or Dutch enough) to have heard it the first time it came around, ya know? You should totally listen to that station if you like this sort of thing, by the way. Save the link to your Floppy Disco.
Hello friends, family, enemies and others! Frenemies? Frothers. (Let's be real, very few people are actually reading this.
It's been a long time since I updated this blog, but lately I've been in a real YouTube-y phase... finding lots of cool old-but-new-to-me songs and nostalgic favorites. So I've decided to get back into it. But why just update on Tuesdays? (I was never so good at sticking to the whole Tuesday thing anyway.) So from now on, I'm going to be posting a new song every time the urge strikes me. Song-of-the-Day style, maybe. We'll see.
Today's track is Girls' Generation's "Mr.Mr." from 2014. Not exactly old enough to be considered retro, but not a new one either. So why choose this slightly-old-but-not-really K-Pop tune? Well... because I feel like it! I sat down at my computer tonight and thought to look it up on YouTube for whatever reason, so why not share?
It's catchy. It's cool. I like it. Nothing like a Korean pop song to celebrate, uh... Independence Day, eh? Happy 4th of July, my fellow Americans! Hope this sets off fireworks in your earholes and see you again soon.
It's actually Wednesday, shhh. But it's been a while and I have stuff on my mind, so I thought I'd stop here and dump another song off. Don't mind me.
In case you couldn't tell from my last post, I've been in an introspective mood lately. That's probably a bit stupid, but eh, I can't help it. I found myself thinking about a former lover from long ago (what do you call someone you were in a serious relationship with but not married to?) Not in a "I miss you" way, more in "I wonder whatever happened to that crazy so-and-so" way. And also in a "boy, I sure don't want to experience any of the stupid shit that happened in that relationship again" way. Let us all learn from the past and go on to have nice, uncomplicated lives.
This song reminds me of that relationship. Partially because I remember listening to this record together once, but also because the sentiment reminds me of my ex-whatever. He didn't steal my Sunday paper, but he did steal some of my cutlery. True story. Not that that's what the song is really about—but I do find myself sometimes thinking about him when I shave (my legs, anyway). I could say more on the subject, but it's probably best left in the past. Just like that cutlery, whosever drawer it ended up in.
I've been having a weird couple of weeks. Sometimes I go through phases where I wonder if I'm really putting my effort and energy into the right things—not that that's especially weird, I guess. I think most people probably experience those sorts of feelings at one point or another, but it's been hitting me extra-hard lately. I don't want to get into too many specifics about my personal life on this blog, but right now I'm earning a big chunk of my livelihood from writing, and when your creative mojo and ability to support yourself get conflated, it can feel... taxing. Someone once told me that the thing you spend the most time daydreaming about should be the thing you end up doing for a living, but churning out banal crap out of obligation is not exactly what I dreamed about way back when. That said, it's not all bad... so should I stay the course? Quit? Or find a new hobby to obsess over? I think I'll spend the day wallowing in bed while I try to decide.
The last time I felt like this was shortly after I completed grad school. I finished with good marks, but felt strangely regretful about the experience—missed opportunities and all that. The kinds of things that only students who are delaying the inevitable reality of WORK can do. Oh well—it was too late then, and it sure as hell is too late now. For those things, anyway. But what about now? What am I doing (or not doing) today that I will regret tomorrow?
OK, enough maudlin shit. Today's song is Lipseye- Don't Worry, a relatively unknown Italo Disco/ballad track from 1986 I came across during that period of post-grad woe I just described. I found it strangely uplifting at the time—galloping synth base + delicate pianos + a whole bunch of other synth sounds + constant changes might not soothe all souls, but it did mine. Also, I don't want to say outright where I was living at the time, but there were many seabirds flying around, so even the odd, shoddily-constructed jacket art spoke to me. What the hell is wrong with me? Maybe nothing. Listen and decide for yourself.
Don't worry, we'll live for... a brand new day....
So... I guess that whole posting more than once per month thing didn't exactly work out. Oh life, you tricky little time-suck of a thing.
The song of the week is SOHODAE - 사랑 그리고 추억/Love & Memories (1999). Full disclosure: I was a high school student in 1999, but not in Korea. And I didn't hear this song for the first time until much, much later. It still manages to have a bit of a nostalgic vibe for me though—over-the-top dance beats mixed with winsome-sounding vocals that are actually sort of sad get me every time. It's exactly what I hated about pop music at the time, but love now that I'm older and maybe wishing a little bit that I was younger. OH LIFE, YOU TRICKY LITTLE TIME-SUCK OF A THING.
Just like love and memories? Whoa, I just blew my own mind a little bit there.
