Sorry

I had to post this. I know I'm not too good at describing music and so, here goes a review of Discography by the Pet Shop Boys I found on Amazon:

Actually I have to thank Kylie..I bought her greatest hits package "Ultimate" because I mildly like some of her songs...At the cash register, the cashgirl recommended that if I liked Kylie, I would definitely like this band and offered me Discography. I wouldn't buy- I vaguely remember them with their stomping disco number "New York City Boy" but it was nothing to write home about and this package seemed too old- 1991 c'mon...Just for the sake of not hurting the over-excited girl, I check the insert and saw Dusty Springfield's name..Dusty Springfield? With a synth-pop band from other side of Atlantic? What was she thinking? But enough is enough I eventually paid and drove home.

I first listened Kylie but it got thin after a couple of songs- same melodies, same ussh hissshh, same number over and over- very good for jumping on the disco floor but not so exciting to make you go on a dreamland and the lyrics are simply stupid.

Then I put Discography on the stereo...listened two first songs with amusing curiousity-lyrics and structure of the songs were quite interesting- but then the real stomper arrived knocking on all doors of my life: Opportunities...and the rest is just a story, as they say, and I simply fell in love with them.

There is not a single bad or insipid song in the album. Can you believe it?. From the first tunes of West End Girls until the end of Was it Worth it, it almost flows like a magic walk through clouds, through heaven, you laugh, you cry, you dance, you sing, you tap your feet, you think, you are depressed...God, you make everything that music should make you.

But what's more important is the band's striking intelligence...lyrics, structures, compositions, backvocals, production, small touches...are all very well calculated and sincere, just for the sake of making things more fun. Melodies are incredibly catchy and also very complex...miles better than anything Erasure (whom I listened afterwards upon Amazon recommendaton but not impressed) can achieve in their lifetime.

Particular highlights of highlights: Opportunities...Suburbia...What have I done (not surprised Dusty agreed to duet), It's A Sin, Always On My Mind (oh a tepid Elvis song becomes an unbelievably disco stomping piece but what an underlying sadness my friends), Heart, Left To My Own Devices, It's Alright, So Hard,DJ Culture...See, almost the entire album..

Well I have been missing a very important thing in my life and I am sure millions of Americans are still missing it. If only I had the chance to promote them through the Promised Land.

All in all, Discography is a must and Pet Shop Boys are true and clever wizards of Pop. Now back to backcatalogue- my first click on purchase items in Amazon: Please, the first album that started the ball to roll on.

Ahem...Pop

What would you say if I told you one of my favourite bands was the Pet Shop Boys? That I like their cover of Where the Streets Have No Name as much as the original?

Well they are and I do! Their songs are simple, have a catchy beat, have lyrics that vary from simple and stupid to simple and deep, have amazing music that you can sing along to anytime of the day and songs that stay in your head without any effort on your part.

If you have to listen to Pet Shop Boys, listen to Discography! This Pet Shop Boys album beats all other Greatest Hits of any artist hollow and means so much to me...probably the music that stayed me through the toughest times of my life, i.e. when I was learning Maths :)

More New Music

Phish!!!

They're an amazing band! The songs sound simple and plain and remind you of Dave Matthews Band (should be the other way round actually, since Phish came first). Their lyrics are witty and a lot of fun to listen to, even the sad ones.

Marijuana, the government wants to test me when I pee,
Marijuana, the gift of God to my brothers and me

:)

Lynyrd Skynyrd!!

Wow! I heard a whole album (The Edge of Forever, one of their later ones) and it was really good! Classic rock rules, whatever you guys might say about death metal :P

Tool!!!!

Another amazing band! I was originally told by the recommender that only a few songs are good. I still have to get to listen to 10000 days that Sridhar talked about, but I did hear Aenima (I don't know how to join A and E, so excuse the error :P) and was blown away. Schism and Parabol and Parabola are what I'd heard before and of course, those are God songs!!

The drummer (Dany Carey?) rocks!

New Music

Hazaaron khwahishen aisi ki har khwahish pe dam nikle
Bahut nikle mere armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikale

God only knows why I hadn't paid attention to Ghazals before. They're slow and sometimes they're boring, but when they're written by Ghalib, they're divine.

Let the singer have his flourishes of pitch. Humour him as he plays with the beat. Get teased when he teases you with the poetry, giving you one word at a time, but in the end, drown yourself in the lyrics and the singer's voice and if you can identify with the song like I did with Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi, then all the best in trying to think about something else :)

Two ghazals, that's all it took for me to decide I'm embarking on a Ghalib discovery tour. Ankur (my roommate) prefers to look at the song as a performance by the singer, admiring all the nuances of the music and the "brilliant improvisations". Me, I'm listening and digesting, word by word, the lyrics. Translations are sometimes necessary since I don't even have a good grasp of Hindi, let alone Urdu, but it's all worth it.

So listen to these, for the lyrics, with everything else as decoration and you'll know what I'm talking about:

1. Jagjit Singh - Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi.
2. Mehdi Hassan - Ranjish hi Sahi

Each is written by Ghalib, and...and...ouch! My heart hurts ;-)