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11.11.2005 klo 09:56

Pet Shop Boys

If I were to list the best bands ever, I'd probably have to put Pet Shop Boys high on that list. That's funny, because I've never been a huge fan of them. I've bought their music, some of it, quite a few albums actually, but haven't really collected it.

It's just that they've pretty amazing. They've done lots of music, and it all sounds really good. Even at it's worst, it's really quite good. At it's best, well, there are few that can match their genius in pop music. The music, the witty lyrics and the way Neil Tennant delivers them - that all is just brilliant. It's constant four-star material in my iTunes ratings, with five-star hits every now and then.

I particularly enjoy their melancholy bent. The whole concept of sad, almost depressing pop music you can actually dance to is strange and charming. Everybody can make a happy, perky pop hit, but not many can do a great sad song.

Of course, Pet Shop Boys are not the only ones to do that well. Wolfsheim does it pretty well on their Spectators album, as well - the whole genre is summarised in their song I Don't Love You Anymore:

I don't love you anymore
and we're dancing
You're not the one I'm falling for
but we are dancing
I will not praise the times we had
and won't deny that I feel sad
The silence speaks for you and me
while we're dancing

We've split up, sad and miserable, yet we're dancing. How nice. Not to mention the biggest hit from that album, Once in a Lifetime, which is even more distressing (my interpretation: a man commits suicide by drowning in the same sea that swallowed his pregnant wife earlier).

Speaking of Pet Shop Boys, I must recommend the new editions of their albums. Double-cd discs feature all sorts of interesting extra material, but what's best is the thick booklet, where Neil and Chris tell interesting anecdotes and stories behind the music. Top-class reading material for Pet Shop Boys aficionados!

10.11.2005 klo 12:31 | Be the first to comment | TrackBack (0)