Sound of the Week

Hard to believe it's the end of the week already. Today, my house is alive with Bruce Springsteen chatter. One of my relatives who attended the show is down visiting - cue talks with my brother and father (who both also attended). Even just listening to these accounts it's clear that Bruce is the ultimate showman. The irony? My father offered to take me to his show and Dublin last year and I declined. On account that I wasn't overly familiar with his work. I declined. To see The Boss. In my place my brother went. He described the experience as "like a light going on in his head". Honestly - I've come to the conclusion that should he come back to Belfast I think I'll have to go. I like all his work that I've heard thus far and he sounds like an incredible showman. And from what I've seen of him in interviews etc he seems like an incredibly likeable and down to earth man. That's all in the future of course - for now we've a sound of the week to get on with.

Admittedly this is incredibly predictable but I've been so bowled over by Electric this week. Although I must admit I was rather tempted to post up Blondie's Follow Me from Autoamerican - it's a beautiful song also. In the end I decided to go for Shouting In The Evening from Electric. In saying that though it was a close call between Inside A Dream and Shouting In The Evening. So, what made me go for Shouting In The Evening? For me - it's the hardest dance track in the Pet Shop Boys repertoire. When the main beat drops early in the track it floored me. Fast paced, rhythmic and pulsating it's as euphoric as you could hope a club track to be. The lush synths of Inside A Dream are beautiful too, but it does have a more classic Pet Shop Boys sound. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a wonderful song but I'd have to say Shouting In The Evening is a more atypical Pet Shop Boys track.

As for my album of the week - it's a very obvious choice: Electric. Honestly, I had high hopes (to say the least) when it was announced Pet Shop Boys new album would be a dance record. Such expectations were only boosted when I heard Stuart Price was producing it. In fact - he was the producer I had hoped they'd work with next actually. Vocal I felt was underwhelming initially but I've actually grown to like it because it fits in so well with the rest of Electric. In fact, it's the only Pet Shop Boys album that I've liked every track on from the first time listening to the record as a whole. Actually, the only other Pet Shop Boys album that I like every song is Yes. I feel that in time Electric will be ranked alongside Very, Actually and Behaviour as one of their all time great albums. For an artist to still be producing albums that rank amongst their best thirty years into their career is no mean feat. It's a fabulous album that is further proof that they are as fresh and vital as ever.

So that's it for this week. I promise this will be the last post about the brilliance of Electric until I write my proper review post in a few weeks ( I like to digest albums thoroughly before proper reviews are made). I have other things I want to write about too but I'll most likely keep them until tomorrow so I don't spam you out with posts. See you then!