Le Soleil au Zénith

m: 5001 [hits], dude
a: let's have a glass of bubbly
m: i was thinking about a 24, but it's too early--not too early for me, but for some other people
m: do you even have bubbly?



If you're anything like me you avoid listening to a band even though, based on what other people say about them, you know you'd like them. There's just too many bands out there to like that at times it can get overwhelming. This could go on for weeks, even years, maybe you'll never hear that song that, for you, might be one of those "perfect songs." Unfortunate, but that's how it goes. But sometimes all it takes is one song and you're hooked. You'll do anything for that group. And strangely, sometimes the first song you hear of a band is the best song no matter how many new albums they come out with thereafter. Well, I have seen the name Crystal Castles everywhere but only recently decided to give them a listen. The song that pushed me over the edge was "Courtship Dating". It's the kind of song that you have to invent new genre names for: noispeggio, gamebitpop, hardlectro. Crystal Castles consist of Ethan Kass and Alice Glass who met during community service assisting the blind. The two left their own respective bands and started collaborating on remixes and original work. This track is about human taxidermy, and it sounds that evil.

Crystal Castles - Courtship Dating

A lot of people recommended that I see this Julie Delpy movie called, 2 Days in Paris. Ehh, it felt like a modern, redo of Woody Allen film à la française, but not as funny. It wasn't completely worthless though--I did pull this little gem from it: a song by Betrand Burgalat. Burgalat was born in Corsica in 1963, and his music suits the time and place: a swinging, French beachtown vibe wrought with wry lyrics. His name belongs chez les yéyés made famous by France Gall and Serge Gainsbourg. The track featured in the aforementioned film comes from his 2005 release, Portrait-Robot off of Burgalat's own label, Tricatel. Hold on to this one for your summer BBQs and warm, late night 7-11 runs.

Bertrand Burgalat - Sans Titre

Finally for today, a band I never thought I would have written about, Mystery Jets. I'm still not completely persuaded that this song belongs on here; I'm only tempted to do so considering the 2008 trend of, as Albie called it, "the cheese," ie The Presets. With the choruses' synthbells and the saxophone solo, "Two Doors Down," (only one door away from one of the worst bands ever) seems like it could have held down one of the top slots on the radio charts circa '83. However, just as when I listen to The Presets, I often come close to turning it off because it's so cheesy, though admittedly infectious. But, don't take my word for it.

Mystery Jets - Two Doors Down

Check back here for a post on Eurovision: A Short History and What To Know for 2008, plus Fred Falke remixing Lykke Li as soon as that drops!