June 27, 2007
…in which i will be commenting very slowly about the music i have enjoyed so far in the summer (part 2)
Well, it’s 95 degrees here in the Newest of Yorks, but weather.com assures me it “feels like 100,” so rest assured that hauling my dryer-hot girlpants-and-other-laundry up the hill several blocks back home was extra special this afternoon. And rest also assured that I wished I had a martini afterward. But I didn’t — sadly, there’s only contraband rum in the freezer — so I had to settle for ice cream and the dulcet tones of northwest twelve-piece Pink Martini.
I know this is old news — the album’s been out for like weeks, I’m sure you’ve seen the pompadoured woman drunkenly smiling at you from the cover — but Hey Eugene! is fast becoming one of my summer favorites. Pink Martini’s big band-Disney song-tropicalia-fusion could probably get a bit grating in the rains of fall or the blustery blizzards of winter, but it’s actually a pretty perfect accompaniment to the hot air that my fan seems to enjoy fruitlessly blowing around.
One of the amazing things about this album is that there’re so many languages on it. Aside from English, there’s at least Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic — the last being the very badass “Bukra W’Badu,” which I shall post here for your enjoyment. In addition, and for comparison, I offer “Tempo Perdido,” which sounds like it’s straight from a Latin-American dance hall. Singer China Forbes has the kind of full-on jelly donut voice that is required to be able to pull off both of these songs, in their vastly different languages, with the proper amount of finesse. But do yourself a favor and also locate the title track, k? Better yet, check out the album. It’s worth it — really, there’re too many kitschy-cool tracks for me to even begin to discuss.
And, as with all things intoxicating, please enjoy responsibly. Remember what Dorothy Parker said about martinis? Google it if you don’t, wink wink secret handshake.
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July 12th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
If anyone is wanting to find some cool new music, the Lovemakers are dropping a new album soon and its going to be great! Keep an eye out, because the album drops soon and they are going to tour as well.
September 11th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
dag yo, I really dig this a lot.