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search results for “Fascinating”
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You searched for ‘Fascinating’, which matched 13 songs.
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Past, Present & Future  performed by The Shangri-Las  1966
Recommended by 4givemyNglish [profile]

Haunting melody inspired by the Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
Lyrics are truly depressing for a so called "girls band" and this song so unique has been qualified as one of the saddest ever made in the sixties. The Shangri-Las is a fascinating and under-rated band that deserves to be re-discovered. Quick list of recommended songs : Remember (Walkin' in the Sand) -yes they did this too!-, I Can Never Go Home Anymore, Give Us Your Blessing, Leader of the Pack, etc...


available on CD - The Best of the Shangri-Las (Polygram)




  delicado: This song is utter genius. 'just don't try to touch me... because that will never happen again'. They are indeed under-rated. It's strange really. There are CD compilations out there, but they all seem to marketed in a budget kind of way.
  jeanette: There's hot debate as to what this song means... I've read that it's about a rape survivor which kind of makes sense but I think it has too much mystery to it to define completely. George "Shadow" Morton surpasses even the greatest hopes for girl-group trash-drama. As to the compilations, there's a great one on RPM called "Myrmidons Of Melodrama". Strangely, its available in two different covers, with slightly altered tracklisting (a few songs on one not on the other and vice versa) but either one contains all their best tracks and some amusing "Radio Spots" with Mary Weiss (lead singer) giving tips on how to behave on a date. "Don't barge on ahead like a baby elephant" she advises; "you'll get attention all right, but it won't be favourable".
  milhouse-paris: The two different versions of "Myrmidons of Melodrama" are quite different, not only because of the tracklisting, but also becouse the most recent one(2002, by RPM) has stereo versions of 5 songs. I'm not sure that these songs sound better in stereo than in mono...
  delicado: I now have the newer 'Myrmidons' comp. So many great tracks. My favorite bit of this song is right at the end when she says "I'm all packed up and I'm on my way - and I'm going to fall in love ... but at the moment, it doesn't look good ... At the moment, it will never happen again."
Les Biches  performed by Flora Purim  1968
Recommended by gregcaz [profile]

This record is a complete mystery to me even though I have every other Flora album. Dusty Springfield-style orquestrated pop that sounds like nothing you'd associate with her name. There the slightest hint of bossa, and the flipside (actually the A-side, but I find this B much more interesting) is a basic 60s pop ballad with a bit of a European flavor, produced by folk stalwart Milt Okun, interestingly enough. Both sides are meticulously arranged with washes of strings, horns and reverb. Fascinating! The copy I have is a promo copy, and I wonder if stock copies even exist, since it's in no discography I could find. Does anybody know anything about this?

from 7" (Tetragrammaton)



  andyjl: Jacques Brel recorded a song of the same title around the same time. Maybe it's a cover version of his original? Les Biches ('The Does',ie female deer) is also the title of a late 60s film by French director Claude Chabrol, though I don't think the Brel song is on the soundtack.
  gregcaz: Well, the record only lists the producer Tony Harris as the composer of the song, so I kind of doubt. There's also no apparent link between that title and the actual lyrics to the song.
2002 - A Hit Song  performed by The Free Design  1969
Recommended by rum [profile]

Despite '2002 - A Hit Song's insistent chorus of "it's gonna be a hit, hit, hit!", by the end you're not convinced, "it's not gonna be a hit is it Free Designers?" "No� I'm afraid not Rum. To be honest it hasn't a hope in hell. Oh yeah we're bitter, of course we are, but, you know, when you're in the idiom of soft rock you can't get away with angst, you've got to maintain this 'pleasing' fa�ade, so that's why we sound so jolly, so 'up' on this song. But yeah, it's hard..." Yes, they may, as they sing, have "sealed it with a kiss" but the cracks show. And it's that that makes this song particularly memorable. It's fascinating to see the rips in their Peter Pan wonderland, a place where they usually spend their time flying kites, blowing bubbles, befriending dolphins. And so this palpable excitement you hear in their heady harmonies is not fuelled by a surefire optimism of success but by an almost delirious desperation, "hit, hit, hit, sure to be a hit, hit, hit, gonna make a hit, hit, hit" they sing, panting, shaking nervously, craving that big fix. The track is a flip-side to the Byrds' 'So You Wanna Be A Rock'N'Roll Star'. Both are bitter recipes for pop success but whereas the Byrds are pissed off that any talentless buffoon can follow their recipe to success get a hit, the Free Design are pissed that "We did all this last time, and it did not work!". I guess you have to suffer for your art, and maybe the Free Design were having too happy a time. Or maybe their hair didn't swing right or their pants weren't tight.

from Heaven/Earth (Project 3 LITA005CD), available on CD (Project 3)



  olli: heh..brilliant commentary.
  konsu: Wow. I never thought of that song as such an exploded schematic. But it does shed light on their own self awareness even if unintentional at the time.
Mandom Mod Och Morske M�n  performed by Merit Hemmingson  1972
Recommended by delicado [profile]

An instrumental with a fascinating fusion of styles, this track starts out quietly and then explodes delightfully. Hemmingson plays what sounds like a church organ (alongside various other keyboard instruments), but mixes it in with wah-wah guitar, funky beats and percussion, strings, and a dirty, blaxploitation soundtrack-style flute, to produce a compelling sound. Sabu Martinez plays the congas.

I can't offer a great deal of background information here, since I picked this up on a third-hand recommendation, but there are a few great tracks on the album

from Trollskog (EMI 4750192), available on CD (EMI)




  delicado: Just to note that this still rocks it for me 12 years on!
Um Girassol da Cor de Seu Cabelo  performed by Milton Nascimento / Lo Borges  1972
Recommended by mr_klenster [profile]

This entire album is beautiful and fascinating. I seem to be a sucker for rather melancholic, afflicted, and intoxicating sounds, so here I go again. The first half of this song is slow and haunting, I don't understand Portuguese, but the tone sounds like a filmic remembrance of tragically lost love, with yearning lyrics paired to beautiful piano-led orchestration . In the middle of the song there is a break of dark, doomy strings, followed by the second half, which is a quicker tempoed revisit of the first half, taking the form of a psychic climax.

from Clube Da Esquina


Dodo  performed by David Bowie  1974
Recommended by robert[o] [profile]

A fascinating out-take from the "Diamond Dogs" sessions, �Dodo� can be seen as the starting point of Lady Stardust�s shift from glitter space-boy to paranoid, plastic soul stylist. Like almost everything on D. Dogs, the lyrics are inspired by Orwell�s �1984�, but the music seems to be profoundly damaged by sleek, eerie production style of Willie Mitchell.
Thus the song plays like Al Green in Hell, w/a great groove and deeply creepy feel. The Thin White Duke starts here.

from Diamond Dogs (out-take) (RCA)
available on CD - Diamond Dogs (30th Anniversary edition) (EMI)


Pull the Plug  performed by Starz  1976
Recommended by schlick [profile]

Fascinatingly morbid yet compelling rocker about euthanasia.

from Starz, available on CD (Capitol)


Sweet Talkin' Woman  performed by Electric Light Orchestra  1977
Recommended by scrubbles [profile]

Try to remove this from all the boring "classic rock" trappings its acquired over the years. Appreciate what a fascinatingly strange combination of overheated pop, symphonic grandeur, and rock-ish muscle this is. So 1977, yet so timeless. Thank you.

from Out of the Blue, available on CD (Columbia)



Humpty Dumpty  performed by Marc Moulin / Placebo  197?
Recommended by mr_klenster [profile]

I think Marc Moulin deserves to be written up on this site. This is one of those artists that produced music years ahead of his time (of course, Tohubohu another outstanding testament), experimenting with the development of genres, melodies, fusions, new instruments, sounds, but ultimately just creating fascinating work. This song Humpty Dumpty is from one of his band projects, Placebo. I think it's an excellent example of someone pushing the boundaries of music, yet maintaining a musical sensibility and general credibility.




Tinseltown In The Rain  performed by The Blue Nile  1983
Recommended by eftimihn [profile]

The Blue Nile must be one of the most enigmatic and fascinating bands of all time. Formed in Glasgow in 1981 they released just 4 albums in 23 years with 6 years between the debut "A Walk Across The Rooftops" (1983) and their sophomore effort "Hats" (1989), 7 years between this and their third album "Peace At Last" (1996) and an 8 year break until their latest record "High" was released in 2004. That sums up to a mere 33 album tracks in almost a quarter of a decade, but what they lack in quantity they make up in quality. While "Hats" is undoubtedly their masterpiece, "Tinseltown In The Rain" may be their strongest single track. Backed by a strong, funky bassline combined with jazz-like piano chords and incredibly lush strings the track shines with a wonderfully clear, sophisticated arrangement and production. Paul Buchanan delivers wonderfully emotional, heartfelt vocals to it that tinges the song in a melancholic and uplifting mood at the same time.

from A Walk Across The Rooftops, available on CD




  ronin: "Tinseltown in the Rain" brought BN to the DC airwaves, as also did "Stay." A band not based on 3 guitars, and I actually liked it! "Easter Parade," also on lp, is a very slow, detailed description of an event, loaded w/haunting atmospherics, coming to an understated climax. (To me "Hats" is their least exciting work.) "Peace at Last" and "A Walk Across.." are the most exhilarating... electronics/Linn drum machines aside, it's the magic of Paul Buchanan's incredibly moving voice. His heart's on his sleeve... a big sleeve. Emotion drips from every syllable. These get constant airplay at home.
Hotel Voulez-Vous  performed by Miranda July  1997
Recommended by jeanette [profile]

This is like a favourite film. A spoken word track, with backing by a scratchy American Red Cross WWII record, it's an epic tale of time travel and family hatred.

Miranda is multi-talented, being a recording artist, film maker, performance artist and writer. Unfortunately she seems to have given up making records: a real loss.

from 10 Million Hours A Mile, available on CD




  barrythejackal: Quite right. Mesmerising stuff from this really interesting performer and Kill Rock Stars affiliate, with as much balls as any of the seminal riot grrl bands on that label. Essential listening!
Pleasures  performed by Cubismo Grafico  2000
Recommended by bobbyspacetroup [profile]

Cubismo Grafico -- aka Gakuji Matsuda -- has quickly become my favorite J-Pop act, and this here is one of my favorite tracks. My impression of J-Pop has been that it is either too overtly dancy or sickeningly cute for my tastes. (To be fair, my bias is based on a relatively small cross-section of music.) Anyway, this track is neither. This is an extremely well-constructed selection that strikes me as both very modern and very "easy" in a way that sounds good to my ears. On this track, Gakuki Matsuda is credited with guitar, steel pan, rhodes piano, mc-303, turntable, and voice. So, yeah, he seems like a talented guy. The music is structured around a child's narration of an amusement park attraction (found on the fascinating "Sounds For Little Ones" compilation of a few years back). The sample lends a fun, playful atmosphere. Delicado thinks he has spotted two of the musical samples used here (or at least the compositions used), and I'm pretty sure he is right. They're both very well known, and, much to the credit of this song, I'm amazed I didn't spot them myself. I'll give you a hint: one of them is one of Burt Bacharach's biggest hits.


available on CD - Mini (Escalator Records (Japan))



Po’ Boy  performed by Bob Dylan  2001
Recommended by Gumbo [profile]

Just when I had almost lost all hope of ever hearing a new Dylan song which, as a combination of an engaging vocal performance and fascinating lyrics, just fill you with a strange sense of happiness - he comes up with this one. While not being like a typical Dylan classic, this one has a very, very warm feel to it + vocals which I thought he couldn't produce in 2001 anymore. After the rather cold and almost posturingly melancholy "Time Out of Mind" album, "Love & Theft" was pleasantly wise and human.

from Love & Theft, available on CD


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