Miracle >> I'm watching the sun fall from the sky, as many have done in the eye of the mind

Alrighty, I'm back.  After realizing three years have passed since I started this thing, I've decided to stop beating around the bush and just post lots of my all-time favorite songs, since I've barely gotten to many of my all-time favorite artists.  Yes, Tumblr has been consuming most of my attention, since I can post major-label songs (recently by the likes of Ween, the Sundays, the Pointer Sisters, the Police, *NSYNC, Ride, PJ Harvey, the Church, Marvin Gaye, Goldie, the Bangles, the Future Sound Of London, Depeche Mode, PM Dawn, Daft Punk, Plexi, Sinéad O'Connor,  etc.), which is something I obviously can't do on here.  I'm going to start doing shorter posts on here.

Miracle - "Strange Taste"

(self-released[?], 2013)

Here is an astounding song from Steve Moore (Zombi) and Daniel O'Sullivan (lots of bands).  It effortlessly lays to waste most of the '80s-wannabe bands of the current era, as well as the output of most actual '80s bands.  I got it for free from Mixmag at SoundCloud.  The production is gorgeous.  You can tell the band did not treat this song as a mere throwaway.

Here are the young men

This song is not on any of Miracle's official releases (an album, an EP, and two singles), for some unfathomable reason.  I really hope they release it as a standalone single, because it could be huge on college radio.  The bio at the Planet Mu page says "In fact it was on a Guapo / Zombi tour in 2006 they first met, with the music starting to trickle out slowly around 2010. Initially the music was intended as an instrumental dance project, however the project started to take on a life of its own when Daniel started to add vocals and lyrics."  I would love to get an instrumental version of "Strange Taste," but the version with vocals is impossible to improve upon.  The long pause between "sun" and "fall" in the chorus is so tantalizing.

I think this sums up Miracle's main influences pretty well

The concerts I've seen since I last posted on here 4 months ago:
Cat Power + Nico Turner at House Of Blues
Rihanna + A$AP Rocky at New Orleans Arena (rechristened Smoothie King Center [really] last week)
Bodhi3 w/ guest poet Moose Jackson at Siberia
Darkside + High Water at House of Blues
Julianna Barwick + Vasillus at Tulane's LBC Quad
Cobalt Cranes + Grooms at Circle Bar
The Body + Pyeya at the Mushroom
The Amazing Acro-Cats (yes, performing cats) at the AllWays Lounge's Marigny Theatre
Chelsea Light Moving + Merchandise at One Eyed Jacks

(After the Darkside show ended on Super Bowl night, I drove by Siberia to possibly catch High On Fire, but after seeing the huge throng of black-clad people milling about outside, I assumed it was a sellout and didn't even stop.)  Skipped Voodoo Fest, at which the Cure played "Burn," my favorite song by them, for the first time ever.  Out of the bands in the list, Grooms were the most striking and memorable.  Expect a song from them on here very soon.  The new Warpaint and Blouse albums are big disappointments so far.  And Grimes signed to Jay-Z's management team... No comment on that.

Planets with similar climates: Depeche Mode - "Blasphemous Rumours" (1984), National Skyline - "Metropolis" (2000), Tears For Fears - "Change" & "Start Of The Breakdown" (1982), Satisfact - "Dysfunction" (1996).

Zombi >> It's never sunny in Pittsburgh

Zombi - "Challenger Deep"

(Relapse Records, 2005)

This is the barnstorming first song on Pittsburgh duo Zombi's album Surface To Air.  The whole album is an unquestioned masterpiece of the genre, particularly "Digitalis," the title track, and 18-minute closing epic "Night Rhythms," which is basically the "Djed" (Tortoise, 1996) of this past decade.  "Challenger Deep" is definitely more aggressive and "rock" than Zombi's overall sound, with a titanic bassline that has been enhanced by performance-enhancing drugs.

I have not been to every weightroom in the country, but I have to wonder aloud, "Why is this not the most-played album in weightrooms across the country?"  Most of Zombi's tracks (remember, I don't use "songs" to refer to instrumental compositions, since "song" implies singing) are prominently based on synths, with occasional galloping drums providing the gravitas, but mostly keeping in a controlled, almost New Age / Phaedra vein that sounds straight out of Berlin in the mid-'70s.  For example, the aforementioned "Night Rhythms":

The production of the album, done by band members A.E. Paterra and Steve Moore themselves, is phenomenal, almost 3-D.  It could even be the best-produced album I've ever heard.  In keeping with the band's epic tendencies, the CD booklet is one of the thickest I've ever seen, packed with dazzling full-color satellite photos of land formations.

Back cover

Keep in mind that this band had its name before the whole ludicrous infestation of zombie / vampire / werewolf chic that has happened in recent years, to the point where any lonely dip can walk into a drugstore and buy a romance novel whose plot involves a lonely housewife being seduced by a vampire or nonhuman entity of some sort.  (Pers. observation; CVS drugstore, 8/20/11.)  I bought this CD in early 2007; I think I missed Zombi live once circa that year, but I'm not sure.

Tremendous 2004 press photo taken in a mausoleum; L-R: A.E. Paterra, Steve Moore. (Photo by Shawn Brackbill.)

Some capsule reviews:
The driftwood at the Rivertown pier in Kenner: A huge pile of it, a couple of city blocks long.  I got a great piece on which to mount my staghorn fern which I've owned for 13 years.  Few good board-esque pieces remain, so you'll only want to go if you need long pointy pieces.
Those white oval stickers with abbreviations in them, for the backs of cars: Still not good.  My mom just added a "VH" one to her Tahoe, denoting the island of Vinalhaven in Maine, making her look like a Van Halen fan to 99.9% of the world.
Jay-Z: Still douching it up, referring to his wife Beyoncé "my bitch" on his new collabo album with the even douchier Kanye West.  On a related note, Amber Rose looks better and better with each dis lyric Kanye writes about her.
Breakfast for dinner: Along with TV dinners, the Nestlé's theme song, and Fruit Wrinkles, one of my favorite food trends of the '80s.  Am trying to help it make a comeback, but for some reason, people still seem to want to eat dinner for dinner.

Planets with similar climates: Trans Am - "Trans Am" (1995) & "Television Eyes" (1999), Simple Minds - "Theme For Great Cities" (1981), Deadsy - "The Key To Gramercy Park" (2001), Six Finger Satellite - "Race Against Space" (1998), Rush - "Tom Sawyer" (1981), Quicksand - "Baphomet" (1992), Faith No More - "Kindergarten" (1992).