Mr. Watson...

A new playlist has debuted on Puck & Baedeker's Live365 radio station. One of the tracks on this playlist will be the subject of Monday's post. Click here to be taken to Puck & Baedeker Radio.

Make a soundtrack for the beach in winter

1. This Mortal Coil - Song to the siren
2. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Lullaby
3. Ride - Vapour trail
4. Ikon - Ashes of blue
5. Cocteau Twins - Serpentskirt
6. Team Sleep - Ever (foreign flag)
7. U2 - Bad
8. All About Eve - Martha's harbour
9. Smiths - Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me
10. Craig Armstrong - Glasgow
11. Wang Chung - Devoted friends
12. Donna Lewis - Nothing ever changes
13. Annie Lennox - Why
14. Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke - Liquid moon
15. Tegan Northwood - Close
16. Sisters Of Mercy - untitled [b-side to Dominion]
17. Cure - The same deep water as you

Still shouting

When I saw Shout Out Louds in July, it was as a casual fan who had picked up the first album but not really clicked with the band. That show made a much more enthusiastic fan of me; they are very confident and great fun live, and they're such an adorable bunch, really.

This is the first time I've ever seen a band twice on the same promotional cycle, and it was interesting to see the changes that they've made over the last few months. Shout Out Louds have worked out some segues between songs, so there were some seamless transitions last night that hadn't been there before. They've greatly expanded 'Impossible', with an extra verse and a bridge that aren't on the recording. (I would be thrilled to hear them perform it in the style of the 'Possible remake by Studio', whoever that is; that version is quite lovely.) It was also nice that the accordion was in working order this time around, meaning that we got to hear 'Parents' livingroom'.

Some of the best parts of the last show I saw were still there, though. The 'Train in vain' break during 'Very loud' is still fantastic. And 'Hard rain', which they only played because of the busted accordion in August, and which has since become my favorite track on Our Ill Wills, now has pride of place in the encore.

I like that while Shout Out Louds can be counted on to reference the well-established indie pop cannon - sixties, Cure, Smiths - it's obvious that they're old enough to really wear a new wave mantle confidently. So I hear other references, too, from Cars to Icicle Works, even Chameleons, and those are what make them distinctive to my ears.

In July the audience was smaller but more enthusiastic. Tonight there were more people who were too aloof to dance (get over it people; you'll never be that cool.) I hope that didn't leave Shout Out Louds feeling unappreciated. They gave another great show. It would have been great to hear their stellar cover of 'Man in the moon', but I quibble...

Shout Out Louds official website

Georges Bataille

I was jealous of people with a God to hang onto, whereas I... soon all I'd have left would be "eyes to cry with."

Blue Of Noon, p. 126

MARC ALMOND - TEARS RUN RINGS

In the United States, Soft Cell are shelved among the new romantic one hit wonders, and possibly in another musical subcategory of new wave remakes of vintage songs (see Naked Eyes, Taco...) It's not surprising that they didn't enjoy more mainstream success. To start with, they cultivated a dark, somewhat sleazy aesthetic, referencing genres that weren't getting much attention at that time (Weimar Berlin, anyone?) Moreover, their songwriting was hugely inconsistent, and Marc Almond's vocal talents were thin at times.

When Soft Cell split, Marc continued to explore the fringes of pop music, regularly incorporating orchestral arrangements and the music of Jacques Brel. He didn't turn his back completely on the idea of commercial accessibility, and the closest thing he had to a hit (in the U.S.), 'Tears run rings' is a Motown-inspired song that one could image Supremes singing, albeit with different lyrics. It makes use of a classic fifties/sixties pop formula: a ringing instrumental melody, a low verse followed by a high chorus, a minor key that somehow doesn't prevent it from being upbeat. The tight horn and string parts and a great breakdown point out how Motown anticipated disco.

But Marc has other things on his agenda, too, namely a political subtext which seemed to come naturally to so many British acts during the Thatcher era. 'Tears run rings' is 'Eve of destruction' dressed up as 'Where did our love go?'. To be sure, the song shows a level of skill in composition and in vocal performance that Marc Almond had recently raised.

The metaphor of 'Tears run rings' is a sweet, deceptively innocent lover who seduces with the intent to destroy; the real subject is a power structure (both political and religious) that pacifies its citizens while it pursues destructive goals that will be realized by the time the public discovers them. 'On heavenly rain you fell into my life / Unforgettable smile, unforgettable lies / In the name of the cross or a banner of love / with the hand of a friend or under a blanket of trust.' The thing that keeps the song from tilting too obviously into protest is the somewhat pre-Raphaelite chorus: 'The angels sighed, a little girl cried / The tears run rings around my eyes'. For the most part the images are metonomic, which makes it easier to dance through them, and they make for some fantastic lines, many involving fire: 'When the bed is burning around my head', 'You tried to burn the house down when I slept'.

The effect is the same as many of the songs from Cabaret, which take innocuous structures - the folk song, the beerhall song, the burlesque song - and inject them with ominous political subtexts. The first verse of 'Tomorrow belongs to me' is a pastoral expression of national pride; the final verse drops the veil on an ugly, xenophobic threat.

Marc Almond started his music career in art school, and he seems to have preserved an artistic/theatrical mentality throughout his career. While that may not be the best recipe for commercial success, fortunately there are plenty of other modes in which to be successful.

Marc Almond official website