Collection: PSB Elysium era singles completed!

So, after waiting what feels like ages, the first of the parcels started arriving today! Well, I guess it's technically yesterday because it's early Friday morning here, but you know what I mean. These are the Winner, Memory Of The Future and Memory Of The Future Remixed singles by Pet Shop Boys. I've actually now got all the Elysium era CD singles, a first for me. I don't collect Pet Shop Boys singles (nor any singles of any artist for that matter) religiously. There's simply too many of them. I'll only buy the post Format singles for the new B-sides or older ones if there's a specific mix I really love. The latter doesn't happen often because I think a lot of Pet Shop Boys remixes aren't great. Anyway, I already had both Leaving singles and I needed to get my Pet Shop Boys single collection sorted out and up to date, so I ordered these. I don't mind not having Vocal because whilst I like the remixes on there, there's no B-sides. If Zoverstocks get a copy in I'll order it but I won't be too concerned if they don't. Although because of the new bonus tracks, I've placed a pre-order for the upcoming CD release of the Love Is A Bourgeois Construct single, due for release at the end of the month. I've placed an order for CD1 of Together, and some other singles too actually - they'll be here next week sometime. I'm delighted with these though because I actually loved the Elysium era  in terms of B-sides. I'd have to regard In His Imagination and The Way Through The Woods as two of my all time favourite Pet Shop Boys tracks in all honesty!

This coming week...

Evening all, no real post as such today because this week promises to be an utterly chaotic one with the slew of releases heading my way. I've got three Pet Shop Boys singles, Madonna's MDNA Tour Bluray/CD and of course The Clash Hits Back and Sound System. That's lots of first impressions posts I'll be making this week, and also arrival posts of course. Pet Shop Boys singles and Madonna MDNA items have already dispatched. I don't think the MDNA Tour Bluray/CD will arrive tomorrow. The Pet Shop Boys singles I ordered however I think may just. As for The Clash stuff, I'm expecting it will dispatch first thing tomorrow morning (at nearly 9PM here I can't see it happening tonight). I'm expecting that it will get here on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. I can't think of a bigger week than this upcoming one for my music collection - needless to say I simply cannot wait for it all to arrive. I've also got to try and track down a copy of the Depeche Mode Ultimate Music Guide too. I've got some posts floating around that I'm drafting too, hopefully I'll be able to publish one or two of them in the midst of it all too. See you all tomorrow for day one!

It's 26, actually.

On this day twenty-six years ago, Pet Shop Boys released their seminal second album, Actually. More polished and accomplished than the preceding Please, the album enjoyed great success. It has since become their third biggest seller worldwide. The singles enjoyed a lot of success too: three out of Pet Shop Boys four UK #1 singles came from the Actually era. Not to mention the unforgettable duet with Dusty Springfield on What Have I Done To Deserve This, itself a #2 smash. Actually stands up as one of the finest synth-pop you could hear. A varied one too, with the pomp of It's A Sin, the haunting Kings Cross, and the deceptive Shopping. Kings Cross is one of their finest achievements as songwriters in my opinion, and I've always felt Shopping (which is about privatization in Thatcher's Britain) was grossly underrated. As you can tell - I really love this album. It's steeped in nostalgia for me as a fan - it was one of the first albums of Pet Shop Boys I listened to. Perhaps shockingly though, it'd be in five or sixth (roughly) if I were to rank my favourite albums. Bare in mind - I'd still give it a 9/10 (or 10 on a good day). That's only because I played the album to death, it and Very were my original favourite Pet Shop Boys albums. Nevertheless, Actually is still a superb record. And who could forget that iconic cover art? Happy anniversary Actually!

Reviewed: Pet Shop Boys - Inside A Dream

Oh, how I love this. It's one of my three favourite Electric tracks; the others being Bolshy and Shouting In The Evening. It's a beautiful dream-scape of a song. It literally envelops you in its luxurious synths, every time I listen to it. Very relaxing, and it's the slowest song on the album. It starts off very ambient (with vauge trance flourishes)in style, before picking up tempo. It does become quite a snappy synth-pop track, but never a total all-out dance number like most of the other Electric songs. It's really no bad thing. I think this might be one of the most classic sounding Pet Shop Boys tracks on Electric really. My favorite aspect of the arrangement definitely is how it embodies the title of the song. The opening chords really do sound like you're in a dream. Even Neil Tennant's vocals have a decidedly hazy feel here, and his ethereal tone just complements the song perfectly. The lyrics to Inside A Dream are ambiguous though, to say the least. More than a little vague too. It's hard to pinpoint just precisely what the song is about really. Neil himself has even commented "I don't know what I was thinking of really" when he wrote the song. The lyrics reference "The Land of Dreams". When I heard that, my gut reaction was that the song is referencing the USA. I've a sneaking suspicion I wasn't the only person that thought the same either. Therefore there's a possibility that - at least subconsciously - the lyrics are about their three month stint in Los Angeles in early 2012. They lived there whilst creating Elysium, although many of the tracks on Electric spanned from those sessions too. Inside A Dream didn't come from those sessions though. It was shortly afterwards. Initial composition began in Berlin, with the track being subsequently completed in London. Of course, my theory on the lyrics could be wrong. Then again, considering even Neil Tennant didn't have anything in mind when writing them, perhaps not. It's certainly plausible that their experiences in LA are reflected subconsciously here. Regardless of the lyrics, I just love the atmosphere of this. Dreamy, tranquil. It's probably the most atmospheric track on Electric. It's divine really.

Reviewed: Pet Shop Boys - Love Is A Bourgeois Construct (Digital Single)

Today I've finally been able to listen to the first digital bundle for Love Is A Bourgeois Construct. A decidedly mixed bag really, here's my initial impressions:

Love Is A Bourgeois Construct (Nighttime Radio edit)
The first remix is the better of the two. Honestly, it's not that far removed from the original. It's just got more synthesizers. It's an inoffensive remix that keeps the essence of the original, something which can't be said for a lot of Pet Shop Boys remixes. Having said that, it does nothing to advance the song either. Not awful, but nothing special either. Stuart Price has done far better remixes than this to be honest.

Entschuldigung
The first of two new B-sides. It's not awful, but give Pet Shop Boys extremely high standards for B-sides... it's very ordinary. Musically, it's totally Electric in sound. It lacks the impact of say, Shouting In The Evening for me though. The lyrics also don't help, the few that there are. The song is simply an apology to German fans for not being able to speak German. To be honest, the whole song feels like a throwaway. It wouldn't sound out of place on Electric, but it wouldn't stand out on it at all. It's very much the definition of B-side really.

Get It Online
By far the best song out of this package. Get It Online wouldn't fit on Electric really. It's a little bit too retro in sound (it's very Kraftwerk actually). Also, it's far more relaxed and less punchy than the Electric tracks. Like Entschuldigung lyrics are minimal. What's not minimal in Get It Online though are prominent Pet Shop Boys vocals. I have to say I love Neil's vocal work here, and the rather unusual vocal line/effects. It makes for interesting listening. Even addictive listening - Also the subject matter - the dominance of Internet culture - gives it the sort of universal appeal that Entschuldigung perhaps lacks. Not the best Pet Shop Boys B-side by any means, but a worthy addition.

Love Is A Bourgeois Construct (The Penelopes Remix Radio Edit)
Remixes of Pet Shop Boys songs always leave me with some degree with trepidation. Given some of the horrendous remixes that have surfaced on past singles, can you blame me really? Thankfully, this mix wasn't the worst I've heard. Much like the Night-time mix though, it was very ordinary. I did like the last minute of the track though, were it takes a more interesting direction. In fact if the music there comprised more of the mix I'd have liked it a lot more. As it stands, it's listenable but forgettable.

It's an average EP all round really, and the only track I can see myself listening to on a frequent basis is Get It Online. Later on I'll listen to the second bundle, titled Love Is A Bourgeois Construct Remixed. I'm slightly apprehensive about that though because it's got low ratings on Discogs. I'll be back later in any case.

Unforunate events and new Pet Shop Boys songs.

Afternoon all, it's been an unforunate two days. There was a bad car accident yesterday just opposite the family business. The driver of the vehicle was killed - he had an apparent heart attack at the wheel and lost control, crashing into pedestrians in the process. An awful event indeed. I can't even begin to imagine the pain his family and friends are going through right now. Simply heartbreaking. They're very much in my thoughts. Incidentally, today also marks the 10th anniversary of the death of my grandfather, whom I was very close to. It's also been announced today that the famed Northern Irish poet Seamus Heaney has passed away too. Very sad news - I studied his poem Mid Term Break as part of my GCSE English coursework. It was one of the favourite pieces of poetry I studied, and it moved me an awful lot. I just hope this marks the end of the unfortunate series of events here in Northern Ireland.

On a slightly lighter note, Pet Shop Boys have unveiled snippets of the two upcoming Love Is A Bourgeois Construct b-sides! The two digital bundles (including the B-sides) will be released on September 2nd. Both tracks are dance songs, very much continuing on with the overall sound of Electric. They're definitely more experimental in style though, I don't think they could have fitted on the album.To be honest, both songs share more similarities with each other than they do with Electric's songs I think. Anyway, here's a brief breakdown of my initial thoughts below.

Entschuldigung
Well, this most certainly has a pulsating arrangement. It's a very hard dance track. To be honest, I'm struggling to think of a harsher dance track in Pet Shop Boys history. It doesn't sound all that dissimilar to the legendary German group Kraftwerk. Very appropriate too, considering the title of the song is German for "sorry" and the lyrical content. The song is essentially Pet Shop Boys apologizing to German fans, because despite frequenting Germany often they are unable to speak German. As you could imagine, German phrases are abundant in Entschuldigung. There's not a hint of English to be found in the sample (nor Neil or Chris' voices either). I'm totally illiterate in German myself, so I can't offer anything in the way of a translation. At 5:02 in length though, it's the longer of the two B-sides.

Get It Online. 
Still a dance track, but less harsh sounding. Get It Online is very retro in sound actually - and in my opinion it sounds even more like a Kraftwerk song than Enshuldigung. Get It Online also contains a number of foreign phrases too, although again I can't translate any of them. English does feature this time though. Also, so does Chris - I'm fairly sure that's him singing "whatever I want, whatever I want, I can get it online" through a vocodder. At least if it's not, it sure as hell sounds an awful lot like him. Also it seems like my initial theories that the lyrics would discuss illegal downloading have been thwarted. You can hear samples of people saying "proceed to checkout!" which - coupled along with the line quoted earlier - seems to suggest it's more about the dominance of internet culture. How it's now an integral part of our daily lives, and let's be honest: what can't you do on the internet? It's also a rather short 3:36 in length. That may not be no bad thing though because it does sound like it contains minimal lyrics. I could see this being a Chris Lowe track actually - there's no hint of Neil Tennant in that sample at all.

So - that's my brief thoughts on both tracks. Very tenative I know, and subject to change.I like both songs so far, although my favourite would be Get It Online at this point. Both songs stylistically aren't that far removed from one another really. I don't know when the tracks were recording, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were recorded around the same time. Of course, we won't know that for sure just yet. In any case, I'm looking forward to hearing them in full!

Love Is A Bourgeois Construct tracklisting announced!

Afternoon all - I'm just back from a spot of record hunting. It was a very strange day actually, with somewhat mixed results. It happens sometimes though. I also got some new CDs in the post so later on, you can expect a double whammy of such posts.

Anyway, in a rather important bit of news for Pet Shop Boys fans, the track listing for the Love Is A Bourgeois Construct single packages has been unveiled! It was previously announced that two new B-sides - called Entschuldigung! and Get It Online - would be included. A relief indeed considering Vocal didn't have any original tracks as B-sides. The remixes for the single are done byDave Aude, Little Boots, The Penelopes and Claptones. The only one I've heard of from that quadrant is Little Boots. I really like her though - Nocturnes is one of the best albums of this year in my opinion. So if that remix lives up to expectations it could become a personal favorite. You can read the full list of remixes on the official Pet Shop Boys website. I rather liked the Vocal remixes actually, so I'll be interested to see what I make of these. Altogether, there's seven remixes and two b-sides. They'll be released in two digital bundles, the first containing four tracks, the second containing five on September 2nd. The CD release is coming September 30th. It'll include all nine tracks. The CD single isn't eligible for chart (due to running time limits), but the digital bundles are. That's probably why the CD single is coming a few weeks later. They've also said that a vinyl release will come at a later date, but there's no indication just when that will be. In any case, I can't wait to hear these B-sides after Electric proved to be a terrific album. The only downside for me? The graphic used on the site. I really hope that's not the official cover and it's just a placeholder image. If that's official it's surely the laziest Pet Shop Boys cover I've ever seen. Time will tell though. 

So, that's it for now. The beauty of these walks means my writers block is shifting, you'll most likely hear from me later on. See you then!

Normal Service Resumed

Afternoon all. Normal service can now resume after the celebrations of Joe Strummer's 61st birthday yesterday. As one final note regarding Joe, I have to say I was bitterly disappointed that none of the channels - at least those that I have - seemed to mark his birthday. Very underwhelming indeed, especially as Channel 4 aired a documentary about 1D fans earlier in the week. It just makes you wonder, doesn't it? I know I've been quiet recently (apart from yesterday). Good news - that seems to be changing! I've had horrific writers block as of late. However, I've started regular exercise and somehow, that seems to be clearing my mind.

Anyway - the actual purpose of this post is a rather insignificant thing I'd like to share with you. I actually got this last Monday, but actually writing the post slipped my mind. I've been a scatterbrain lately, more so than usual. I never share music magazines I buy, only in exceptional cases. I regularly buy two: NME and Classic Pop. They compliment each other, I think. Anyhow, when I went to get my copy of the latest issue I was shocked to discover it came with four pictures! In excellent quality too. In the picture, you can see Adam Ant and Eurythmics. The other two were actually Pet Shop Boys and Debbie Harry. The reason you can't see those is because they're already up on my poster wall! It's the first proper picture I have of Pet Shop Boys on it (I do have one of just Neil Tennant), and although it's not the first Debbie Harry poster in my possession, it's the first to go up on display. You see, I do keep all the posters I get free with the NME, thus I've ended up with a couple of Debbie Harry posters (and one of Blondie). I may put Eurythmics up, but not sure. I do like them, but I am strict about posters I put up. I have to really love an artist to put them on display. Posters, t-shirts etc are bold statements I feel. As for Adam Ant though, I have to say I really don't like his music. So there's no chance he is going on my wall.

 My poster walls are getting extensively redesigned at the moment actually - with the help of my dad. I'm simply too small to put most of them up and let's just say, my handiwork is scrappy, to say the least. They also never stay up when I do it. Never the less, I'll be sure to take a picture of my walls when they're complete. That should hopefully be within a week or so. At the moment though the blogging cogs seem to be ticking in my head again, so hopefully regular blogging will resume from this moment on. Stay tuned!

Pet Shop Boys - Introspective

Introspective is the third studio album by the Pet Shop Boys, released in 1988. It is their best selling album overall and also remains a favorite with critics and fans alike. The album was produced by Trevor Horn who would also produce Fundamental almost twenty years later. On Introspective they embrace the burgeoning house music/club scene (almost) fully. The result? The only truely club oriented Pet Shop Boys album along with Electric. When I originally wrote this post, I was critical of the album, but I've been listening to it quite a bit lately and I have to admit that I now would consider it among my favorite Pet Shop Boys albums!

This is a very unusual Pet Shop Boys album. Firstly, the album only contains six tracks. However, the track lengths are all long. In fact, every song on the album is 6 minutes at the least. This also goes against the grain of many traditional albums containing songs that are the more standardised length of 3-4 minutes. This concept was one that they had envisaged since work commenced on the record. Initially, this definitely made the album one of my least favourite Pet Shop Boys albums as I felt that the extended mixes more often than not just didn't add anything to the tracks. I have to admit though, that the tracks have grown on me immensely and I actually prefer some of them to their shorter versions! The only track that I feel is bettered on the single release was It's Alright.

Whilst you have to admire them for going against the grain with this album you could argue it also hindered them to a degree: some fans may have been disappointed that the singles were very different to the album versions. Especially in the case of Always On My Mind - this was the first time it was on an album. Neil himself admitted in a speech to the Oxford Union that he regretted the album being released so soon after Actually and that the 12" nature of the tracks may have been a hindrance to the band long term and the success of their next album, Behaviour which is one of their least successful commercially.

Interestingly also, the album only features two songs written specifically for the record itself. These being Domino Dancing and Left To My Own Devices. Always On My Mind was actually released as a single a year prior to the albums release during the Actually era, I Want A Dog was a former B-side and I'm Not Scared (which was written by Pet Shop Boys for Eighth Wonder) and It's Alright are cover versions. Also, all of the albums tracks were singles or at least featured on one in some format: Eighth Wonder released I'm Not Scared as a single and I Want A Dog was a remix of the original, which had featured as Rent's B-side. Despite the songs coming from all these different places though the album is still consistently good, there's no track on the album I particularly dislike. I'm Not Scared remains one of their great forgotten masterpieces I think. It's also remarkable that the album sounds as cohesive as it does really.

In terms of lyrical themes, there isn't really any. Although there is a definite concept to the album: that of clubbing. The tracks are all extended in length which would obviously cater to clubs and DJ's. Not only that, but closing track It's Alright is a cover version of a house music track, house pioneer Frankie Knuckles remixed I Want A Dog for the album and Neil felt the the album title of Introspective sounded "a little ravey". Most significantly Always On My Mind also is mashed up with an acid-house (the dance music style of the time) track called In My House.

As for the title - it stemmed from the fact that they are dance songs, but have introspective lyrics, along with the additional aforementioned reason that the title sounded ravey. Personally I have to wonder why they didn't save the title for Behaviour, as its overall themes of reflection would make that more suitable surely. Although on repeated listening I came to appreciate that it is an introspective album. The album was actually going to be titled Bounce initially, in reference to the fact they have bouncy bass-lines. The unreleased demo of the same name was also going to be on the album too. Personally I wouldn't call the tracks bouncy, although there's definitely a strong club oriented theme.

Overall,I have to say this album has grown on me so much. Initially, it would have been one of my least favourite Pet Shop Boys albums, but there's definite layers to Introspective. It's interesting to compare the album to Electric - the only other truly club oriented album in their discography. When I look at the two side by side I can definitely appreciate that for a synth-pop club album Introspective does deserve its name, definitely more than I initially thought. Nevertheless, it's another very strong Pet Shop Boys album!

Actually

The album artwork has also become rather iconic.

Actually is the Pet Shop Boys second album, released in 1987. Usually in music reviews I often read about the dreaded "sophomore slump", a term that describes how an artist can have successful debut album campaign that generates hype but when the second album comes along, for various reasons the album doesn't match the predecessor's success. This definitely wasn't the case with Actually though, as not only has it become their third best selling album overall, but has now earned its place along with the likes of  The Human League's Dare as an essential album in synthpop music. The era has now been called the bands "imperial phase" - a term which has stuck with both fans and the duo themselves using it frequently - to describe their success at this point,

In terms of sound, the album is fairly similar to their debut album Please, but it sounds more polished. Its the only time in their discography were I feel that two back to back albums have a similar sort of sound. After Actually they change their sound very much so with Introspective, then with Behaviour and so forth. It also definitely sees the band growing as musicians, they're slightly more adventurous on Actually and Neil Tennant's lyrics are going from strength to strength. The final track on Actually, the majestic Kings Cross, still is one of the bands finest moments from a lyrical point of view, and that track along with Loves Come Quickly from Please, are probably the first two tracks that show off how good Neil's lyrics are.Another example of his lyrical skill can be found in Shopping; which remains to this day almost without doubt their most misunderstood track ever (in terms of lyrics).

It's by far my favourite of their trio of 80's studio albums, and I think one of the reasons has to be the choice of singles. It's very rarely that I say this (I'm struggling to think of any other album to be honest), but I think they got the single choices for this album spot on. The public seemed to agree too, half of the singles from Actually (Its a Sin and Heart) reached number one, and Always On My Mind also reached number one during the era, despite it not being released on Actually itself (Which fans were furious about, such was the popularity of their cover). Actually was therefore re-released with a copy of the single. Since Actually, the duo have never had another number one single in the UK, but its interesting to note that their only number one UK album was actually Very, released in 1993.

Despite the singles being very popular, its worth noting that Heart and Rent didn't appear on the album in the same versions that were released as singles. Heart in particular, which was a little bit slower on the album and not just as disco sounding. Personally, I prefer the album mix of Heart and don't really have a strong preference in which version of Rent I like better. I like both mixes.

The album was originally going to be titled Jealousy, with the track of the same name included on the album. For reasons that haven't been stated by the group themselves, Jealousy was dropped from the tracklisting and the name of the album thus changed.


Originally, this used to be my favourite album along with Very but I would be lying if I said that has remained the case. It's not that I've gone off the album, the others have grown on me to various degrees over the years, some overtaking Actually for me in enjoyment levels. When I originally got into Pet Shop Boys I overplayed the four singles of the album to absolute death, it's a case of it being too familiar really. I've never been a huge fan of either It Couldn't Happen Here or I Want To Wake Up either. Although it is worth noting that the album only has 10 tracks, so weaker tracks do stick out for me more, plus I tend to find I review my favourite artists much tougher than I would review others. 8/10 tracks are winners for me so it is still very, very good. Truth be told, It Couldn't Happen Here is a really well made song, but I've never fully got into it.

I know the penultimate paragraph was a bit more negative but this is still a brilliant album that I do often neglect. Whilst they don't hit their musical zenith for me until Behaviour, this is still one of their best albums. I'd also say it's arguably the best of the 80s synthpop albums, seriously. I would also say it's the best Pet Shop Boys album to start with too. Not only are some of their biggest hits like It's A Sin and Heart included, it's also balanced. As much as I love Behaviour and Very (my two favourite albums) they're quite atypical Pet Shop Boys albums. Actually has a good balance of poppy, bombastic numbers balanced with more melancholic down-tempo material. It's a brilliant second album!

Pet Shop Boys - Bounce (Demo) (Updated 28th July 2013)

Bounce is probably my favourite Pet Shop Boys demo! This was recorded in 1987, around the time that Domino Dancing was also being written. Originally, Introspective was actually going to titled Bounce and, at a time, this was being considered for inclusion on the album. Why it was eventually dropped I don't know for sure, but I think it's a real shame this song was discarded and left to lie dormant in the vaults. One thing that I especially love about Bounce is how it sounds more or less the polar opposite to what you'd expect a song with its title to sound like. Initially, I expected the song (based on its title) to be a glossy and punchy piece of synthpop but it's really not. It actually makes the song one of the most interesting ones to write about. The tempo of Bounce is set at a mid-tempo speed and implores two really interesting musical techniques. First of all, the percussion line in the song is simply a drum machine playing every sound in its library one by one whilst keeping in time with the beat. If that sounds positively hellish fear not: it's actually done in a rather subtle way. What a relief otherwise the song would be an absolute mess! The second technique (if you could call it that) in the song is what makes it that little bit special. Neil singing the word "bounce" is sampled and made to sound rather jittery, no doubt to give a feeling of actual bounciness. Also lyrically, its not what you would expect either. Lyrically the song is about a rather tense relationship that has the potential to end in absolute disaster, as the line "will you be the one I look back on from a prison cell with regret?" shows. The narrator isn't ready to give up hope on the relationship though. Despite not giving up, the underlying sense of danger in the relationship reminds me of another Introspective era demo: So Sorry, I Said. In any case it's a shame this wasn't on Introspective as I think it would have fitted in quite well. For some reason I can envisage this being the closing track on Introspective as it's shorter length would have been a refreshing change from the lengthy running times of the other tracks. In the Introspective Further Listening booklet they say that the song was never recorded properly, personally I think the demo has a rather polished sound as it is. It'd have needed minimal more tweaking I think. In any case it's never been officially released. Two versions of it have leaked, a 7" mix and an instrumental. A great little demo that deserves more attention!

Please (Updated July 25th 2013)

Released in March 1986, Please is the debut album by Pet Shop Boys. Named as such so it would form a sentence, for example in record shops customers would ask "Can I have Pet Shop Boys album, please?" This was the first of two albums that they would take this logic for when choosing album titles: Actually was chosen as the title for their second album for similar reasons. In any case Please is a great debut album, although it's probably the one I listen to the least out of their trio of albums from the 1980's. As for its rating in my overall ranking of Pet Shop Boys albums it'd be firmly in the middle. The reason being I think it does suffer from a more dated production. I don't wish that to be taken as a criticism against the album, I still listen to the music here rather often.

 Initially, Please could have actually sounded quite a bit different. Pet Shop Boys producer of choice for the record was Stephen Hague, who has produced for many artists such as Erasure, New Order, OMD, Public Image Limited, Blur and Marc Almond. It was two particular tracks that he had produced though that formed the main reason that Pet Shop Boys wanted him to produce their album though: Hey DJ by The World's Famous Supreme Team and Madame Butterfly by former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren. EMI suggested some alternative candidates to produce the album though, interestingly one of them was none other than Stock, Aiken and Waterman! Eventually though the decision was made that Stephen Hague would be allowed to reproduce their 1984 single West End Girls and it would be re-released. I'm sure you can work out the next part: Stephen Hague's version ended becoming a massive hit and eclipsed the original version in terms of success and he got the green light for producing the entire album. The album was recorded for a tight deadline though; Suburbia was the last track recorded for the album and is really not that different from the demo mainly because they couldn't do anything else.

I have to say that I think Please is a strong debut. It's definitely somewhat more raw in terms of the music, and definitely not as polished sounding as Actually which sounds bigger, fuller and just generally a bit more grandiose. I think that actually becomes a bit of an advantage for Please though, as much as I love synthpop from the 80's sometimes I think it has a tendency to sound a bit too polished, so its nice to have an album that is more gritty. Despite growing on subsequent albums though, I think Neil's lyrics are still really good here, Love Comes Quickly and West End Girls both have brilliant sets of lyrics I think, and they really do cover more difficult and unusual subject matters even at this early stage in their career, such as urban decay, casual sex and violence. Later Tonight and Why Don't We Live Together? are two of their most overlooked album tracks I think. I was particularly pleased to see the latter receive its live debut on their Pandemonium tour to support Yes.

There are some minor preferences I have though in terms of versions though, but even still that doesn't mean I don't like the versions here. I prefer the 10" of West End Girls to the 7" (really I think its because I've heard the original so much), Suburbia's video mix is better than the album mix in my opinion also, although again I still like the album version. The only one were I much prefer a subsequent version to the original is Violence, I think the Hacienda version that was released as a B-side for I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing communicates the sentiment of the song much better, to the point were I can't really say I overly enjoy the original. I can't say I've ever really been able to get into I Want A Lover either, but I wouldn't say its a poor song by any means. The only real change I would make to the album is getting rid of the little Opportunities reprise track, only because I feel having those sort of short reprises and interludes as a stand-alone track as an album is just filler more often than not. Given the choice I'd probably replace it either with A Man Could Get Arrested or Jack The Lad most likely. It's a shame those songs would serve as two of the B-sides for the Please era singles I think

All in all though Please is still a great album that, despite it sounding a little dated now, still holds up as one of the best synthpop albums of its time. I have to admit that I much prefer artists to grow and develop into their peak rather than peak with their debut album and then burn out, so for a debut album what I look for mostly is an indication of the artists potential really, rather than peaking too soon if that makes sense. Using that criterion then Please is a highly recommended album. Although they would grow and get better with their subsequent albums you definitely get a real sense of their talent here and the album still has its fair share of classics, it has one of the most consistently great quadrant of singles you will find. A great start to a brilliant career!

New Pet Shop Boys single announced (and some tour attendance chatter)

Afternoon all, just a brief (and unexpected) post to make before I watch the last two episodes in Season 1 of Six Feet Under. A great show, by the way. Anyhow - this post is yet another Pet Shop Boys post. I apologize for the onslaught of them on my blog as of late but as it is a new album I hope you can oversee the high frequencies.

In any case the news is rather big: new single announcement! The new single is Love Is A Bourgeois Construct and it will be released on September 2nd. I'm pleased at the single choice: it's the most typically sounding Pet Shop Boys track on Electric for me. What has pleased me even more though is that B-sides have made a comeback! There will also be remixes of course, but as of yet no announcement of any - according to the official site they'll be coming soon. The two new songs are Entschuldigung and Get It Online. The former means "sorry" or "excuse me" in German and it's written as an apology to German fans that they're unable to speak their language despite spending a lot of time in Germany. It sounds like it's going to be a very humorous song but as of the moment, that's all that is known about it. Absolutely nothing is known about Get It Online whatsoever - although I'm wondering if it's written in response to the act of illegal downloading. After all - they've made no secret of their very strong dislike for such behavior. There will be a CD single, 12" and digital formats. Unfortunately I won't be able to order it on release - Sound System by The Clash is only a week later and I do want to save up before it's release. However I'm hoping to order it very soon after Sound System.

With the announcement of even more new tracks (they're really spoiling us this year), the high acclaim Electric has received and it becoming the most successful Pet Shop Boys album since Very in the UK album charts, it's really a great time to be a Pet Shop Boys fan. For me, this is the best year since becoming a fan in 2010 by far. The cherry on top of this already delicious cake would be if they announced a Belfast date. Unlikely as they have only played here once - during 1991's Performance tour. They haven't announced a tour date for Dublin yet either (most likely where I'd see them) so as of the moment attending the Electric tour is very much unknown. Going to Dublin means I'm actually going into another country, and it's not cheap in the Republic of Ireland. It would actually be double - perhaps even triple - the cost of them playing Belfast once accommodation, travel etc are factored in. And that's even if I can make it to Dublin.  For reasons far too personal to discuss on this blog there's a very real chance I will simply be unable to see them this tour at all, due to circumstances beyond my control. Believe me, not something I'm happy about but I can't help it. Sometimes these things happen - and hopefully I'll be able to see them in a subsequent tour.

I hate to end posts on a down note - especially because I'm not down. At the end of the day I'm just grateful that they're still even recording music after near 32 years together. Many of my favourite artists: The Clash, Joy Division, Nirvana for starters simply cannot do that. And not only are they still recording music together, they've just released what I feel is one of their best albums ever. I can't ask for more. As I said before, going to see them live would just be the finishing touch to an amazing year. I don't need to see them live to appreciate what a damn good album Electric is. Connection with the music is what matters to me. Consider this: I'm as big a Joe Strummer fan as you're likely to find amongst 19 year old girls. I became a fan knowing full well I'll never see the man with my own two eyes. And yet, he's become one of the biggest inspirations in my life. So yeah, perhaps no gig; but definitely no love for the music lost. It's all good. I'll be back with more posts later!

Nightlife (B-side) (Updated 22nd July 2013)

DVD single cover.

I've always found myself enjoying the B-sides and unreleased tracks from the Release album more enjoyable than the album itself. And Nightlife continues this trend. It was a B-side to Home and Dry (it featured on the UK DVD single). I do like Home & Dry an awful lot, but I definitely prefer Nightlife in all honesty. The track took me by surprise initially. It's one of the lightest, most airy sounding Pet Shop Boys you'll ever hear. I also think the chorus to the track is one of the most infectious chorus' in their discography. Also - Neil sings in his falsetto, not too dissimilar sounding from Before. It's an obvious stylistic homage to the Bee Gees and a deliberate one at that. Neil himself has stated it sounds a tad Bee Gees and they even contacted the Bee Gees about recording it for Nightlife. The Bee Gees never responded and it was left at that. The track wasn't written during the Nightlife sessions though, it's actually a bit older than that. It was written for their musical Closer To Heaven, specifically to perhaps serve as the closing song. The original title for the musical was actually Nightlife. Lyrically, as it deals with the issue of night-time culture, I actually think this could have fitted on quite well in Nightlife so it's pretty unusual for a Pet Shop Boys song in that regard. In terms of lyrics, it's simply about nightlife. It does highlight the negative aspects of nightlife culture however. For example; it's repetitive as people are "looking for life every night". The emptiness of nightlife is implied there also. Reminding us of these negative qualities only adds weight to the argument it would have been a perfect fit on Nightlife, I think. Lyrically the song also reminds me a lot of Saturday Night Forever from Bilingual too. Following the non-inclusion in Closer To Heaven  the song was then considered for inclusion on Release, but Neil & Chris weren't happy with that particular mix. Personally, I'm glad that it wasn't included on Release as it would just not have fitted in at all. It suits being a B-side better than being on Release I feel. It remains an overlooked gem I think, I'm just glad that the Format compilation allows me to have a physical copy of it (officially)!

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!

Yesterday's Purchases

I was working on this post last night, alias I was tired and went to bed. Anyway, last night I said that I didn't just get Electric, so here's all that I got. Left to right from top they are Pet Shop Boys - Electric, New Order - Lost Sirens, Goldfrapp - Black Cherry, Fleetwood Mac - Tango In The Night, David Bowie - Low and New Order -Movement (2CD Special edition). Originally my plan was to get Delta Machine by Depeche Mode but they only had the regular edition in stock (I always go for special editions). I just left it and that's how I ended up with Black Cherry and Low. I actually ended up with more albums for less money - Head is a fantastically priced record store. Even Electric only cost £9 which for a new album on release day is pretty good. Although the fact that there's no deluxe edition accounts for that I'd say. I'm so pleased that I finally got Tango In The Night as I've wanted that for ages, and I've finally got all of New Order's studio albums at long last!

Electric: First Listen

Afternoon all. Well - only one place to start today. I went into town, got my copy of Electric and I've already listened to it. I have to admit - I was a bit wary of the new album. I loved all the snippets I had heard but I had really disliked Vocal. Also - the reviews have been so good I was worried it would turn out to be underwhelming like I felt Random Access Memories was. As it turns out I shouldn't have worried - here's my first impressions from first listen. I'll have a proper review in a few weeks once I've digested the album a bit more:

• It's been well documented that the album is a banger. That's one way of putting it. It's by far and away the most crazily dancefloor oriented album they've ever done. And it's brilliant because of that. Anyone who particularly loved Relentless will love Electric, I'd garauntee it actually. And most importantly it's far better than Elysium.
•  One thing that does play second fiddle to the music though are the lyrics. Although Love Is A Bourgeois Construct does have great lyrics - it's probably the most typically sounding Pet Shop Boys song on the album. That may disappoint some but honestly the dance arrangements will engross you so much lyrics become -  dare I say it - an afterthought. Whether or not the lack of lyrical depth will harm my repeated plays of the album remains to be seen. Frankly I don't think it will.
• Vocal is the worst track on the album for me (but it is a good closing track). Axis also makes the perfection introductory track too. So far my early favourites are Inside A Dream, Bolshy and Shouting In The Evening. I have to say Thursday sounded a lot better than I thought it would be though - Example's rap actually fitted in really well. The only track I was disappointed in was Fluroscent - I loved it from the sample but truth be told the track doesn't evolve much from that. It's still good but it didn't blow me away as much as I had hoped.
• I actually like every song on the album - even Vocal grew on me when heard in the context of Electric. Honestly - it's truly rare that I like every song on any album but it's especially rare for Pet Shop Boys. In fact the only other Pet Shop Boys album I like every song on is Yes. Even then - it took a year to reach that status. To have Electric achieve this on first listen is really something for me indeed.
• The album also has a lot of late 80s sounds to it whilst still sounding very modern. To put it succinctly, it sounds very much like a Pet Shop Boys album - Vocal however I still feel does sound a bit generic. Electric balances old and new perfectly however.
• So - where does it go in the all time rankings? Obviously this will change over time. However at the moment it'd be most certainly in my top five - and frankly I can see it being just behind Behaviour and Very in the top three. It really is genuinely brilliant.

So - all in all this massive Pet Shop Boys fan gives Electric a hearty two thumbs up. It's a dancefloor album with real flare and pinache. I'll be back later with pictures of today's purchases in town, thanks for reading!

Preparations

Evening all - I type this as I watch The Killers live from T In The Park. Great concert so far - I'll post my full thoughts on it tomorrow.

This isn't a sound of the week post as such - heat and being busy in general has left me unable to concentrate on my music, books and TV. As such the only real album I've actually listened to this week in full was Very by Pet Shop Boys earlier. I'm starting to get excited for Electric tomorrow - still hard to believe there's another new album coming so soon after Elysium.

One track that has grown on me so much lately though is A Different Point of View. I love the Very album in general and I've always liked A Different Point Of View. However it's grown on me so much and now I can say I love it. It's surely one of the most bombastic tracks they've ever made - and one of the most extreme examples of their trademark happy music with sad lyrics style. I actually think it would have been a great single in all honesty - that nearly came to fruition too I believe.

That's all for now really - tomorrow will be a very busy day as I have Electric to pick up. You can expect my first listen reactions of course. I've also got other CDs coming tomorrow too but I'll post more about them then. Stay tuned!

To Speak Is A Sin (Updated July 13th 2013)

A relatively ignored album track from Very. Originally I felt that this song was a weak spot on the album. Very is full of mainly upbeat tracks, so originally I felt it didn't fit. It definitely goes against the grain of the album in both tone and lyrical theme. Now I would say it's one of my favourite tracks from the album and one of my favourite Pet Shop Boys songs! Stylistically, the track has a rather stark resemblance to a Very era instrumental demo called Playing Hard To Get. However, Playing Hard To Get definitely is not a demo of To Speak Is A Sin.  To Speak Is A Sin is actually an old song, even older than Its A Sin, written in 1983 on the same day that an unreleased song called In The Club or In The Queue was written. That almost certainly goes some way to explain why To Speak Is A Sin is rather different from the other tracks on Very, given it was recorded ten years prior. As for Playing Hard To Get, I would say it's perfectly probable that the track was never developed because it's too similar in sound to To Speak Is A Sin. The song is about homosexuals in a bar, and feeling too nervous to talk to anyone the person may find attractive, its got this lonely/desperate feel to it and I think the saxophone adds to that effect. Having said that, the lyrics don't specify any particular sexualities so it's a track anyone could identify with I think. As for other official versions such as remixes etc, there are none. However - the track was performed on their Discovery tour. Neil has stated that he prefers the keyboard line that replaced the saxophone in the live version. Personally I disagree -I think that's what makes the song. Originally, I used to think that the song didn't fit in with the album, but now I think it fits in really well. Its good to have a slower paced song mixed in with the faster tracks, but also I think it particularly compliments Go West. I mean that song is about aspiring to have an idealistic gay utopia, but I think To Speak Is A Sin presents the realism to balance that out possibly. Definitely an overlooked song though!

Bye bye PSB B-sides?

Vocal CD single cover

I'm sure you've all guessed by now, I love Pet Shop Boys. That's hardly news though. What is news - to me at least - is the track listings announced today for the limited edition Axis 12" and the Vocal CD single. It's particularly the CD single of Vocal that's bugging me.

As any Pet Shop Boys fan knows, they excel at B-sides. Not only that, but B-sides are a regular thing for them. They're the only artist that I listen to that still does them without fail even in the digital age. For example: Winner, the lead single of their last album had three B-sides. And not only that but they're known for doing exceptional B-sides. They have two double disc compilations of B-sides: Alternative and Format. They're both full of many of the duo's best songs.

 Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that Vocal has a stash of remixes but no B-sides. None whatsoever. I had a feeling that would be the case because a news item on their website a few weeks ago only mentioned that "a CD single containing remixes will be announced shortly". Nevertheless it's very disappointing news indeed. I don't know the reason why. Perhaps they felt that because their last era produced 9 B-sides (many of them stemming from the Elysium sessions) it was time for a break. Having said that it's a pretty poor excuse if so. It's well known that Pet Shop Boys are not only very prolific in the studio but songs will lie unreleased  for years before being used. Sometimes they even surface as B-side if they're particularly eclectic. Even if they didn't record new tracks for Electric era B-sides there's no shortage of already recorded material I'm sure.

Not only that, but it's a pretty poor business move. Many fans continue to buy their singles exclusively because of their B-sides. Particularly the newer singles which come after the release of Format. I don't buy CD singles (never did really) but I do make a point of buying Pet Shop Boys ones when I can find them because of their B-sides. Add to that the fact I find remixes of their songs to be very hit and miss.That's a fairly common view amongst fans too I think. However, I won't be buying Vocal. Unless the remixes are of exceptional quality. However I don't like Vocal as a song to begin with so the chances of that are slim.

I really hope this isn't a sign of Pet Shop Boys slowing down.. B-sides have always been a strong point for them. Also, the singles from Elysium were utter non-entities in the charts. And fans had more reason to buy them because they contained B-sides. I can see some fans not buying Vocal because it hasn't got any B-sides, so I dread to see where it will chart (if it even does). This is a move that will harm them on every level I think, I only hope that it's just a move exclusive to Vocal. Time will tell.