Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Standing Proud


Right, this week Contrast Podcast puffs out it's chest, fans out it's tail feathers, and struts about like the cock of the walk. In other word, it's fully indulging in the mortal sin of pride. And CP sure has a lot to be proud of! Well, more specifically, those fine folk who contribute do. So download the podcast here, listen to it, and don't forget to tell everyone here how proud you are of us all.

Here's the f'ing awesome playlist:

(00:00) Intro from Mr G. Letch & Mr A. Thrub

(02:29) Cassius Clay - I am the greatest
Tim from The face of today

(04:57) The Fall - MC5
Chris from Phosphorous.net

(08:50) A plus D - I’m really Hot! Hot! Hot!
The Professor from Old fridges can kill

(12:48) The Beach Boys - Hang onto your ego
Brendan from The Rising Storm

(17:10) I, Ludicrous - Preposterous tales
Dirk from Sexy Loser

(23:09) The National - All the wine
Marcy from Lost in your inbox

(26:35) King - Love and pride
Mark from Cinema du Lyon

(30:18) Pride tiger - Let ‘em go
FiL from Pogoagogo

(34:12) 1990s - Pollockshields
JC from The Vinyl Villain

(39:29) Ringo Starr - I’m the greatest
Natalie from Mini-obs

(43:17) The Decemberists - The apology song
SiD from Too Much Rock

(47:03) Neil Young - River of pride
Linda from Speed of dark

(50:40) Zebrahead - I’m money
James from Appetite For Distraction

(55:12) Pieter Spealman - Some song I made
Pieter from Two Tramps in Mud Time

(59:55) Hüsker Dü - Pride
Bob from Gimme Tinnitus

(01:02:14) Roxy Music - The pride and the pain
Conrad from White Car Records

(01:06:57) The Lightning Seeds - Three Lions
Crash from Pretending life is like a song

I was rather fortunate that the appropriately monikered Pride Tiger recently released a stonking album from which I could offer up a most excellent track. Actually, I was kinda surprised that I took to them; these four Vancouver lads worship at the altar of seventies vinyl rock; you can sure hear the Hendrix, Sabbath, and Thin Lizzy leaking through. And that's generally not my favourite idiom. However, each of those three acts have one or two songs that I think rule. Paranoia. Boys Are Back in Town. Foxy Lady. And Pride Tiger manage to sound like the best bits of those songs all scuzzed together. What's more, their name comes from a freak collision of a Dio video and Okanagan apple cider. So, awesome local band + theme-appropriate name = no brainer. And I'll even take the uncharacteristic step of posting my contribution:

Pride Tiger - Let 'em Go (buy here )

What else was under consideration? These tunes:

Vice Squad - Stand Strong, Stand Proud (buy here or e-here)
Vintage 1978 Bristol pop punks fronted by the tough-as-nails, glam-as-fuck Beki Bondage. The band sort of dissolved into messy factions in the early 80s, but now Mizz Bondage is once again leading a reconstituted Squad with herself as the only original member. This song is from 1981, the year the band signed/sold out (delete as you feel appropriate) to EMI. It's a good stomper, but could do with being louder, faster, and more in-yer-face, IMHO.

Dayglo Abortions - Proud To Be A Canadian (buy here or e-here)
Another local(ish) band. The DA's hail from BC's provincial capital of Victoria and have been churning out their gross-you-out, sophomoric thrash punk (c.f. Argh Fuck Kill, I Killed Mommy, Fuck Satan To Death) for over a quarter-century now. Long may they continue.

Speaking of sin, I'm off tomorrow to Las Vegas for a full week of the stuff. Actually, Vegas isn't my favourite place on earth. Too much fake, too much materialism, too much too much. And yet it fascinates me - I can't help but see it a uniquely American 1920s mashup of Weimar Republic decadence, Versailles Palace just before the French Revolution, and The Shopping Mall. But despite my ambivalence, I plan to try and go with the spirit of the place (purely for reasons of anthropological research, of course).

The latter four days of my stay will be spent at a work conference, so the debauchery content of those days should be rather low. However, for the first four days I will be off duty, so anything might happen. I am actually meeting up with Dearest T, who occasionally visits and comments round these parts. He is one of my closest friends, and I'm looking forward to a stonking time. We've discussed which sins to focus on, and have agreed to ditch Envy, Anger, and Pride. That leaves Greed, Gluttony, Lust, and Sloth. The actual proportions of the mix we'll leave to chance. Après nous le Deluge.

So, I suppose I should post a few songs to get us in the mood for Vega$$$. But before I do, next week Contrast Podcast celebrates the year 1997, coz Tim likes it. Get thinking, and get submitting.

Right, music.

The Beat - Jackpot (buy here)
Roy Batty - I'm Too Sexy For Sex (no idea where to find more of this mashup goodness)
Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf (buy here)
Sex Pistols - Seventeen [Lazy Sod] (buy the now-official Spunk bootleg here)

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Enjoy Vegas Fil. I was of fairly the same opinion as you, but I was there for a 40th birthday 2 years ago and enjoyed myself immensely, though the company did help somewhat. At the risk of making Private Eye's pseuds corner, may I suggest taking in the Guggenheim at the Venetian (no really), especially if you want a bit of piece and quiet.

Anonymous said...

you lucky lucky bastard, costs me nearly £800 for a week in vegas, love the place, for the same reasons you stated you didn't, too much of everything. I also got married there by an elvis, possibly the best experience of my life. going for my second visit later this year.
AJ

Unknown said...

Here's the deal. You put $1 in a slot machine for me. If I win, you transfer the money to my Swiss bank account.

If you lose, well that will teach you not to gamble in Vegas.

Enjoy. Look forward to hearing all about it

Mentok said...

Here's a better deal. Take JC's dollar. Put it in the slot machine. Agree in advance that, if you win, you will give all your money to me. That way, you can never be obligated to fulfill your agreement with JC.

I will then fly to Scotland, collect JC's dollar, fly back and buy a villa in Costa Rica in your name.

If you lose, I'll give you $1. In this case, you'll be obligated to tell JC that you "won" WHILE playing the slots (be careful not to say you won "at the slots".)

Then, you match my $1 and we deposit it in a Swiss bank account per JC's instructions, but we set it up so that he has to go there in person to retrieve his money.

Then, we get the bank to send us the security camera footage of JC freaking out when he finds he's flown all that way for $2. We then post that on a website supported by Google ads, sit back and wait for the money to start rolling in.

(I know this would all seem very complicated to most people, but I'm sure with your banking background you probably handle transactions like this every day.)

Under JC's deal, you lose no matter what. Under mine, you win no matter what. It's a no-brainer, dude.

ally. said...

duran duran - well i never...
and i've always dreamed of strutting about the place like the cock of the walk... one day...


and yeah vegas is horrid but fascinating.
try and get to the neon boneyard
x

Unknown said...

Ally - I had the great pleasue of meeting Mr FiL on one occasion.

We talked music (natch).

Believe me. Duran Duran is not the half of it.

adam said...

I can't believe you played Duran Duran. Have I not mentioned, mentioned several times actually, that they are the devil. I'm shocked.

FiL said...

Dearest Enda: I fear my stayhere has not changed my base opinion much, but there have been some glorious reedeming discoveries, about which more later. Not sure I'll get to the Guggenheim, but I'll keep that in mind for emergency therapy if needed...

Dearest JC: I lost your dollar, plus thirty-nine of my own. I'm ruined.

Dearest Mentok: Your plan was brilliant. Or would have been, had you not posted it publicly. However, let's talk - I think there's a budding launderer lurking within you. ;)

Dearest Ally, there's nowt stopping you from strutting!! And I did investigate the neon graveyard - looks fab, but alas, scheduling does not permit...

Dearest JC (again): Say no more and I won't tell them about our drunken Avril Lavigne singalong.

Dearest Crash: Yes, well, I fear DD were hardwired into my young psyche. First video I ever saw. Constant rotation on the ray-dee-oh while my musical synapses were being formed. So it's a fair cop, but society is to blame. And further to my defence, I'm in sodding Vega$, so a large dollop of cheese is entirely appropriate, methinks. Finally, The Beat and the Pistols were strategically placed to buffer the other questionable tracks... ;)

Unknown said...

I keep telling you.....Ms Lavigne was not drunk that night.

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