Showing posts with label Pet Shop Boys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pet Shop Boys. Show all posts

Monday, June 26, 2023

Pet Shop Boys - Very

Parlaphone: 1993

All statistics point towards this being the Pet Shop Boys album you're supposed to have, even if you're not a Pet Shop Boys fan. It certainly charted better than any other record in their catalogue, and is critically lauded as the duo's proper coming out party, where the somewhat coy, side-glancing nods to gay culture were finally put front and centre. More so, when Muzik Magazine was ranking their choices for the Top 50 dance albums, this was the PSB album they chose. Now, some of that may have been immediacy bias, the house and ravey remixes definitely a step up compared to the duo's '80s output, but regardless, if I can't trust Muzik Magazine's opinion on something, who can I trust?

Still, ask a regular layman to namedrop a song off here, chances are you'll get met with a blank. Folks know West End Girls, Always On My Mind, and (probably) It's A Sin, if for no other reason than their never-ending retro radio airplay. Nothing of the sort emerged from Very. Its singles did reasonably fine, with Go West - the big anthem that's so audacious, it features what sounds like the sailors from Cher's If I Could Turn Back Time video singing the chorus – doing the most damage. That darn radio play again factors in though, or rather the lack of it in the ensuing years in this case. '90s Pet Shop Boys just doesn't have the lasting cultural cache as '80s Pet Shop Boys does.

Anyhow, some may recall I started this PSB journey with the intent of very slowly going through their discography in chronological order, but have clearly skipped Behaviour. Yeah, well, that one's rep' hasn't sparked my interest quite like Very's, plus I saw this CD among a Discogs seller. I've been itching to hear this proper-like for a while, as those earworms heard on Disco 2 surely sound just as good in their original context. So nuts to orderly convention, let's get to the good shit.

The only criticism I can levy upon Very is the production doesn't quite hold up, its early '90s-ness clear and apparent. Not that that's ever been a real problem for PSB before, but there was always a sense they were riding the trends in their early work. Here, they haven't quite caught up to where synth-pop and dance music had progressed in such rapid time, which was just how things went that decade regardless. Hot today, outdated tomorrow. If anything, it's remarkable they were still able to hold their own when so many of their contemporaries had been left in the dust.

Beyond that though, this is very much Pet Shop Boys being as joyful and jubilant as they ever been. Even when topics fall into bittersweet break-ups ('natch), there's just a sense of freedom and release in it all. Very may not have their most iconic songs, but it feels like a proper cap on their first decade of music making.

Monday, May 20, 2019

Pet Shop Boys - Introspective

Parlaphone: 1988/2018

It's no secret Pet Shop Boys' success had as much to do with appealing to club culture as it was cranking out the radio hits. For their first couple LPs though, there was a clear separation of the two, the albums-proper containing the regular songs, and the EPs, singles, and dance compilations providing the extended disco versions of the hits. Which is how it was always done, or at least since the advent of the 12” records pressed specifically for DJ use. People at home ain't got time for pop tunes that don't wrap up in three-to-four minutes, while them crazies in the club just want that beat to keep going on an' on an' on an' on an'...

It was astoundingly audacious, then, for Misters Lowe and Tennant to craft an album so wholeheartedly embracing club culture while defiantly bucking the standards of pop music. There's only six tracks on Introspective, which under normal circumstances would be enough for an EP. Ah, but these are long songs, some peaking out at over nine minutes in length – the shortest, I Want A Dog, runs at six-fifteen minutes. By comparison, their longest prior LP song was One More Chance, clocking in at five twenty-eight. And as if getting Chicago house legend Frankie Knuckles in the studio with them wasn't clear enough Pet Shop Boys were all-in with this direction, they even released Introspective with a triple-vinyl option in its first run for maximum DJing efficiency.

It wasn't just Chicago house the lads from London were cribbing from. Freestyle was pretty big in the Latin clubbing areas of America too, and Domino Dancing offers nods to that genre's biggest sonic signifiers: the broken beat, and the orchestral hit. Speaking of the latter, the chap often credited with creating that distinct sound, Trevor Horn, offers his production on a couple tracks too. And hoo, can you tell, Left To My Own Devices and It's Alright featuring the sort of expansive studio work more befitting a big Broadway show than anything for an underground rinse-out (a full-on choir!). It almost makes the simple Knuckles groove of I Want A Dog quaint in comparison, but even he received quite the spit-shine compared to the rough stuff he released through Trax around the same time. No doubt having big studio bucks behind you can do wonders for the final result, and Pet Shop Boys were big clout havers indeed.

The songs themselves, while not as instantly identifiable as their early hits, are still effective in turning a worm in your ear. The topics range from their usual interpersonal observational material, to the mundane (he really wants that dog), all the way to the Big Picture. Like, after all the shit that went down in the '80s, it's has to be alright after, so long as we have dance music providing us with comfort. Oh, sweetie, if you only knew of the macabre and perverse sounds soon to emerge from clubland.

Monday, April 29, 2019

Pet Shop Boys - Further Listening 1988-1989

Parlaphone: 2018

This isn't a proper Pet Shop Boys release per se, but rather an added bonus to the Introspective re-issue. In fact, most of their albums have these Further Listening CDs attached to them now, which nags the question of whether I should review these as a separate entity at all. I probably wouldn't, but when ripping the CD to my harddrive, it came up as Further Listening 1988-1989, not as Introspective: Disc 2, thus isolating it from its mother album in my alphabetical listening queue. Perfect logical sense! Oh, and yes, Please and Actually have these Further Listening discs too, but my copies of those albums are older versions, sans the reissue bonus stuff. Will likely get the double-discer of Very though, as there was a lot of kick-ass associated material when that album was released (or so I'm told).

If you're worried about Introspective spoilers (because 'worrying about spoilers' is so trendy right now), the good news is Further Listening: Late '80s doesn't have that much material associated with its main album. Part of that is due to the very nature of Introspective, wherein- nope, not gonna' say it here. Gotta' save some material for later. All you need to know is very few disco mixes and alternate versions of songs from there make it here. Two versions of Domino Dancing (a demo and an alternate), two versions of It's Alright (a seven-inch and a ten-inch), and one one seven-inch mix of Left To My Own Devices. Five tracks may seem a lot, but with fifteen to gorge yourself on, 'tis but a droplet (especially when they're just extended/shortened versions of the album tunes).

As always, it's the b-sides that we're here for, and hoo, are there some doozies. Like that The Sound Of The Atom Splitting, essentially the Boys' stab at an acid house track. Of course, being from the UK, they don't quite get it, the track far too over-produced with studio gimmickry to actually be of much utility in a Chicago club, but those five minutes are among the strangest in their discography (apparently the original cut breaches double-digits in length). I'm more intrigued by One Of The Crowd though, what with its vocoder lyrics, synthy lead, and repetitive rhythmic pulse. It's like, proto-trance, even before The KLF were doing it. Okay, around the same time. Another b-side is Don Juan, which has something of a soft tropical vibe going for it, but in that real synthy Pet Shop Boys sort of way. I honestly wouldn't think much of it, but damn, do they know how to hit a chorus.

Then there's I Get Excited, apparently a tune that appeared on one of the Boys' earliest demo tapes (1983) that included West End Girls, One More Chance and It's A Sin. I don't know what's more fascinating, that they had such killer tunes in mind before even considering making albums, or that they were raiding it for supplemental material so long after the fact.

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Pet Shop Boys - Actually

Parlaphone: 1987

Is this the Pet Shop Boys album you're really supposed to have, even if you're not a Pet Shop Boys fan? It's certainly among their most popular, their highest charting effort of the '80s, only 1993's Very doing better. Huh, considering most things associated with the '80s was in decline by then, I wonder how Very did so well? Investigations for another time, but as I've known more songs off Actually (and Please) than Very, that does seem strange indeed. No, remixes on the crummy Disco 2 don't count as knowing songs off Very.

This one though, this album cemented Pet Shop Boys as bona-fide synth-pop stars, proving their first album was no fluke of catchy tunes and clever lyrics. It undoubtedly helped they had good ol' Thatcherism to play off of, subtly digging at the conservative consumerism that marked '80s Britain. To culturally thick individuals (y'know, Patrick Bateman sorts), a song like Shopping could easily come off as a joyful ode to decadent buying for things we don't really need. In the hands of Pet Shop Boys though, there's sly cynicism lurking behind those ear-wormy hooks and digital enhanced vocals. It wouldn't take much to strip the soul a little further for Shopping to sound like a track off Kraftwerk's Computer World.

Of course, the tune everyone remembers from Actually is It's A Sin, possibly one of the biggest club anthems Pet Shop Boys ever produced. Like, it already goes full-tilt with the bombastic string arrangements, soaring synths, and galloping hi-nrg rhythms, but those lyrics, mang! Even taking them at face value, it's a wonderful ode to self-doubt and reflection against the institutions of old, something anyone with a little rebelliousness in their nature can relate to. And while I'm sure Neil Tennant didn't write It's A Sin specifically with gay culture in mind, the fact the lyrics are rather autobiographical does give it an extra layer of meaning and understanding for those in that community. Just imagine the cathartic jubilation of dancing to this in a gay club back when. Heck, I'm sure it's still just as effective in this day and age.

There are plenty other good tunes on Actually, though only opener One More Chance hits that same high as It's A Sin (oh hi, Bobby O). What Have I Done To Deserve This? was a big deal due to giving Dusty Springfield some extra shine on her career, though I find that one treading a tad too close to Stock, Aitken & Waterman territory (those guys were everywhere at that point though). Hit Music joins Shopping in cutting on pop culture, Rent and I Want To Wake Up get into those doubting, conflicting urban lifestyles, while Heart and King's Cross tackle more traditional relationship matters. There's also a big, orchestral ballad in It Couldn't Happen Here, which sounds odd surrounded by all the synth-pop tunes. If you got Ennio Morricone on hand for a song, however, you don't waste that chance, nosiree!

Friday, November 23, 2018

Absolutely Fabulous - Absolutely Fabulous

Spaghetti Recordings: 1994

I don't know much about the show Absolutely Fabulous - heck, I didn't even know such a show existed until I heard this Pet Shop Boys charity single. That isn't to say the famed British comedy about a pair of past-their-fame ladies trying to maintain their fame didn't make it to Canadian shores. I'm sure it aired on our Public Broadcast Services networks alongside other BBC gems like Red Dwarf, Fawlty Towers, and Edward The Penitent. I think it even had a re-run slot on our comedy network, but again, I never saw it – are British comedies given the death slot of 8:30am? There's been a couple attempts at an American version of the show, but they never caught on, probably because Americans prefer comedies about low-to-middle class buffoons rather than upper-class twits. Okay, Frasier was an exception, but that show had a recognizable, admired lead, plus its upper-class silliness was tempered with gruff, middle-class sensibilities (y'know, real 'Murica how-to). Them Brits tho', they love mocking those who believe themselves better than thou'.

Of course, this has bollocks-all to do with this single. Near as I can tell, Pet Shop Boys were referenced in the show, which prompted Pet Shop Boys to make a charity single for the Comic Relief drive in return. Fair play, and it seems Misters Tennant and Lowe had some fun making a totally gaudy euro-dance tune replete with sampled dialog praising designer fashion labels while bemoaning “dull soulless dance music”. They even named their b-side remix the Dull Soulless Dance Music Mix, a thumping acid techno cut with that phrase endlessly looped along with the beat. I know they're kinda' taking the piss here as well, but they didn't have to hit the nail with such precision.

Really, the only reason I got this was for a full version of that utterly grand and daft Our Tribe Tongue-In-Cheek Mix, featuring a Rollo anthem at peak Rollo-iness. Take all the over-the-top, flashing lasers, epic gurning off your tits hits he did as part of Faithless, then bake the cheese into a cake of exquisite taste: it's so rich that you'll go sick from too much of it, but for the portion you're fed, *moi*. Sadly, the only version that came here was the mangled cut on Disco 2. Sure, maybe a local DJ might play it at a cheeky club night, but if I wanted a copy for myself, I'd have to import one from the UK, or mainland Europe, or South Africa (!), or Australasia (!!). No, seriously, the single hit the number two spot in both Australia and New Zealand! How'd that happen?

But sure enough, the CD came down low enough on the used market that paying for those extra shipping charges finally nabbed me my own copy. And hey, it even comes with an additional Rollo remix, Absolutely Dubulous. It, uh, does that Visnadi euro-house thing with the 'doo doo' organs. Kinda' dull and soulless, if I'm honest.

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Pet Shop Boys - Please

Parlaphone: 1986/2009

So I've started a Pet Shop Boys collection. Okay, I technically already did years ago, when I picked up Disco 2 from a used shop, but I don't consider that part of their album canon, and neither should you. Aside from that, which ones do I start with? I'm sure every discerning PSB fan tells you that their first five albums are all most haves, even if you're not a fan of the Pet Shop Boys. Fair enough, though my alphabetical stipulation will create a screwy chronology of their work if I buy them all at once. Nay, I'll get them incrementally, spacing things out, going on this journey of discovery as everyone else did when they were among the UK's hottest synth-pop acts ever. Yeah, much more fun this way.

Thus here we are with Please, an album so-titled because Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe thought it funny customers would be forced into a little politeness when asking for the record. They'd made a bunch of track a couple years prior to this, working with famed Hi-NRG producer Bobby O, and while they yielded some club success (Mr. Orlando was unstoppable in the '80s), they didn't reach much attention beyond that. Undaunted, Neil and Chris parted ways with Bobby, found another producer in Stephen Hague, re-recorded those initial efforts, and in short order made lots of money. Holy cow, what a turnaround!

Please was an undeniable, inescapable hit if all that chart action is anything to go by (as high as number three in Canada, and just as successful in their native UK), but it was the lead single of West End Girls that propelled it to such highs. Beyond being an irresistible slice of '80s synth-pop, it vividly paints a portrait of life on the seedier side of inner city existence, an alluring invite to walk on the wrong side of town where the upper-crust fear to tread. In fact, much of Please plays out like that, Neil's lyrics often portraying folks from disparate classes intermingling with each other as they figure out how to exist in the hyper-consumerist '80s. Much has been written of the 'irony' in such songs, celebrations of 'capitalism' by those who totally suck at it, but even if taken at sincere, face-value, they're remarkably effective at appealing to all working classes. Who wouldn't jump at the chance to act out the narrator in Opportunities (Gotta' Get That Chedda')?

What I want to know is, how has Please not been adapted into a screenplay or musical? Intended or not, the narrative is right there, a failing suburbanite looking to escape what he perceives as a falsely-cheery wasteland (Surburbia) into something a little more thrilling (Two Divided By Zero, West End Girls, Tonight Is Forever, Violence) and unpredictable (Opportunities, Why Don't We Live Together?). The music is already exuberant enough for Broadway, and Pet Shop Boys have shown plenty of savvy in stage theatrics. Seems like a sure-win to me.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Pet Shop Boys - Disco 2

EMI Records: 1994

The whole of Pet Shop Boys’ discography seldom struck my fancy, but I cannot deny they’re responsible for some of the all-time greatest synth-pop hooks in existence. So seeing this little CD sitting in a used shop, my interest was certainly drawn - all the wonderful choruses of the Boys, given the remix treatment by some of the best in the early 90s business. “Like who?” asks you. “Like these,” says me. Rollo! Jam & Spoon! Junior Vasquez! David Morales! Farley & Heller! Coconut 1! Wait, who? Oh never mind. This should be good fun, right? Right!? Haha …ha!

The idea for Disco 2 was fine. Euro-dance was at its club culture peak, and the Pet Shop Boys had long enjoyed a comfortable relationship with DJs rinsing out remixes of their hits. It only made sense to try re-capturing the creative spark that made the first Disco album a success. The difference with that one, however, was it was more tightly controlled, with less remixers - not to mention dance music wasn’t quite so diverse in ’86. Even someone with passing familiarity with early 90s dance should realize quite a gulf had emerged between American house and euro trance. The Pet Shop Boys may have tied everything together, but the disparity between all these remixes is wide indeed.

That’s not such a big deal though. Plenty of remix albums are like that, and they’ve never- Wait, this is a DJ set too? Oh my… that can’t be good, can it? Danny Rampling was assigned the thankless task and does what he can with the material provided, but this mix is a mess. Ugly crossfade slams, tracks that abruptly end, and a bizarre arrangement hobble Disco 2’s package.

Most of these cuts were singles from the ‘93 album Very. The house remixes are a fine way to start, with Go West’s rub standing out from the pack. E Smoove, however, practically destroys Liberation, sounding like any ol’ Strictly Rhythm release rather than a Pet Shop Boys single. Vasquez and Jam & Spoon do serviceable remixes of Yesterday, but you’ve heard better from them too.

The only real highlight is Rollo and Rob Dougan’s remix of Absolutely Fabulous, probably intended as the highlight since the silly outfits the Boys wore for the video is featured on Disco 2’s cover. The original was a one-off charity single tied to a British sitcom of the same name, relegating this remix’s appearance here as the only ‘album’ exposure it got. It’s gloriously over-the-top and something of a precursor to the club anthems Rollo would be churning out with Faithless shortly after. I mean, that twitchy hook! It’s… it’s… absolutely fabulous! Perfect ‘reach for the lasers’ material.

Does Absolutely Fabulous make Disco 2 worth the price of admission? Hell no, as it’s horribly botched within the mix, abruptly cut out near the final peak. Get that as a single instead. In fact, get all of these tracks as singles if you can. This CD’s a turkey.

Things I've Talked About

...txt 10 Records 16 Bit Lolita's 1963 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2 Play Records 2 Unlimited 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 20xx Update 2562 3 Loop Music 302 Acid 36 3FORCE 3six Recordings 4AD 6 x 6 Records 75 Ark 7L & Esoteric 808 State A Perfect Circle A Positive Life A-Wave a.r.t.less A&M Records A&R Records Abandoned Communities Abasi Above and Beyond abstract AC/DC Ace Trace Ace Tracks Playlists Ace Ventura acid acid house acid jazz acid techno acoustic Acroplane Recordings Adam Beyer Adam Ellis Adam Freeland Adham Shaikh ADNY Adrian Younge adult contemporary Advanced UFO Phantom Aegri Somnia AEI Music Aes Dana Afgin Afrika Bambaataa Afro-house Afterhours Agoria Aidan Casserly Aira Mitsuki Airwaves Ajana Records Ajna AK1200 Akshan album Aldrin Alex Smoke Alex Theory Alice In Chains Alien Community Alien Project Alio Die All Saints Alpha Wave Movement Alphabet Zoo Alphaxone Altar Records Alter Ego alternative rock Alucidnation Ambelion Ambidextrous ambient ambient dub ambient techno Ambient World Ambientium Ametsub Amon Amarth Amon Tobin Amplexus Anabolic Frolic Anatolya Andrea Parker Andrew Heath Androcell Anduin Andy C anecdotes Aniplex Anjunabeats Annibale Records Anodize Another Fine Day Antendex anthem house Anthony Paul Kerby Anthony Rother Anti-Social Network Anzio Green Aoide Aphasia Records Aphex Twin Apócrýphos Apollo Apollo 440 Apple Records April Records Aqua Aquarellist Aquascape Aquasky Aquila Arcade Architects Of Existence Archives Arcturus arena rock Arista Armada Armin van Buuren Arpatle Artifact303 Arts & Crafts ASC Ashtech Asia Asian Dub Foundation Astral Engineering Astral Projection Astral Waves Astralwerks AstroPilot AstroPilot Music Asura Asylum Records ATB ATCO Records Atlantic Atlantis atmospheric jungle Atom Heart Atomic Hooligan Atomine Elektrine Atrium Carceri Attic Attoya Audiobulb Records Audion AuroraX Autechre Autistici Autumn Of Communion Auxilary Auxiliary Avantgarde Avatar Records Aveparthe Avicii Axiom Axs Axtone Records Aythar B.G. 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