The Rich Girls Are Weeping

19 July 2006

You're in the doldrums. Hello readers popping in from The Morning News! They've called us out again for one of our past selections (yay, thank you!), Ratatat's "Tacobel Canon," and in that endearing way that makes me feel about oh, two feet tall, Mr. Womack reminds us all that Ratatat take a great amount of insipiration from Brian Eno and Robert Fripp (or, as Aurelio Valle and Pete Gannon would say, "Guitars that sound like kazoos!") and then offers a download of Eno's take on Pachebel’s Canon, "Brutal Ardour," which you know, I should have done, given my well, uh, well-known Eno obsession.

See? I mean wow. Can I just like, step into that picture? Where's the magic time machine or fairy glam-mother when you need 'em? Never around! Hrmph!

Ok, so to atone, how about a side by side comparison of Ratatat and Eno?

Brian Eno -- Here Come the Warm Jets

Ratatat -- Lex

Which reminds me, I was googling around the other day for a clue as to what other people think Eno's "Baby's On Fire" is about (because ok, yes, I do stuff like that...like this is at all shocking!). I've always thought it was about the vain, vain ways of a papparazi-hounded starlet and her "friends," but really, who knows with Eno. Anyway, I found something kind of disturbing: Some people hear the opening line of "Cindy Tells Me" as "Cindy tells me the rich girls are leaving..." Personally, I don't think that's what it is (obvs), but, again, as this is Eno, does it really matter which you hear? I suppose if you try to do some kind of close reading of the text, it does, but otherwise, not really. It's all about words that sound neat together. Right? Well, don't worry, we're not changing the name of the blog, promise.

Which reminds me, you may have noticed that depravedfangirls.org is down -- we're in the process moving everything over to fourinchesfromthecuff.com, so it might be MIA for a few days -- sorry about that.

If I didn't know better, I'd think this was a Pitchfork review. Because it's only comprehensible if you've done close readings of the lyrics of the last few offerings from Interpol and The Walkmen. So I can't tell, then, if the author is mocking me for knowing that, mocking himself for actually being able to write in that mode, or both.

Oh, and that Hold Steady b-side, "Curves and Nerves," they've got up for downloading on the MySpace? Um, there's a reason it's a discarded b-side. It's quite possibly the worst thing they've committed to tape. Sometimes we forget that there's a reason tracks fall by the wayside in the recording process. (Sorry, Brian. I know you liked it...) Those remixes they've got up are pretty questionable too. Eeesh.

Before we part ways, dearlings, one last thing -- it was inevitable, you knew it: Christina Aguilera remixes. <3

Christina Aguilera -- Ain't No Other Man (Sam998899's Underground Remix Radio Edit)

Christina Aguilera -- Ain't No Other Man (JNX's ''U Got Tekhno Soul'' Edit)


And oh, I lied. This is the last thing. The Ballet! BRKLN VGN said they were for fans of "Voxtrot, The Smiths, Belle & Sebastian, The Magnetic Fields and other 'sissy pop'...." This is slightly alluded to in the comment thread of the post, but never clearly stated: Babies, the "sissy pop" referenced in the band's Myspace URL might be more along the lines of, um, The Hidden Cameras, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, and yes, The Magnetic Fields. Do we see the pattern here? *ahem* Lots of mp3s at their site, check it out! Rather good! (New Yorkers: They have a release party for their new effort "Mattachine!" (ref: Mattachine Society) slated for the 21st at Magnetic Field in Brooklyn, and play the Cake Shop on the 23rd.)

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love Ayo, but I think this summer he's started to lose it a little bit. He's been trying to find the voice he used to have, but I don't think his heart is in music right now.

That says nothing about how closely you read your lyrics, but I felt like saying that, and I'm not going to say it to his face because he's way bigger than me. [*than I]

cheers,
phiz

Wednesday, July 19, 2006 9:07:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's most def not "leaving", but listening to it closely I don't really hear a satisfying 'p' sound. It almost sounds like "weaving" (which, come to think of it, would sorta fit too). The lack of a strong 'p' could, however, be due to overzealous anti-P-popping strategies in the studio. Mysterious!

Wednesday, July 19, 2006 10:23:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Upon further consideration, I realized that of course it's "weeping", because of the internal rhyme with "sleeping". It's gotta be!

Thursday, July 20, 2006 9:44:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i was curious about that board in the eno photo so i asked m. he says it's a large-format neve, 80 series, with "an assload of optional neve compressors" installed on it. eno looks cool and all, but that thing is really beautiful.

thought you might like to know; hopefully my nerd isn't showing too badly...

Thursday, July 20, 2006 12:42:00 PM  
Blogger Perfik said...

A little off topic, but being an Eno fan, you may or may not know that "Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch" is actually taken from a news piece from Paw Paw, Michigan in which citizens reported a black man running out of a wooded area on fire looking like a blowtorch. I think the news piece was similar to that Leprechaun in Alabama.

Thursday, July 20, 2006 1:30:00 PM  
Blogger cindy hotpoint said...

lalitree: how right you are, it does hinge on that interal rhyme!

karen: girl, the board is 95% of why eno looks so cool in that picture. tell matt thx for the deets on it, good to know. ...and you know i would never chide you for exhibiting recording nerdiness, in fact, I would join you in said activity!

Thursday, July 20, 2006 2:52:00 PM  

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