ALIVE IN LEEDS>>>"PINK KEYS" ALBUM OF THE WEEK AT NORMAN RECORDS!!!

THE GLOWING REVIEWS FOR ALICE COHEN'S NEW ALBUM "PINK KEYS" KEEP FLOWING IN... OUR FRIENDS AT NORMAN RECORDS IN LEEDS, UK HAVE AWARDED "PINK KEYS" THEIR "ALBUM OF THE WEEK" DISTINCTION -- HERE'S THEIR WRITE-UP BELOW: 

Alice Cohen returns with a fourth solo album - the second for Crinoline and with assisted this time from the newly revived Olde English Spelling Bee. Anyone familiar with the name may know a little of Cohen’s almost-pop career in the mid ‘80s as front-woman for minimalist synth pop outfit The Vels or maybe her adventures in the ‘90s with Die Monster Die, her very brief stint with Helivator, her current forays into more experimental musical forms and maybe even the video art she’s recently created for the likes of Ducktails (her ‘Landrunner’ video is outstanding), Coasting and Greatest Hits among others. How Cohen found herself tied up in the whole hypnagogic movement I’m not entirely sure but her roots in minimalist soul, disco and synth pop make her the perfect hypnagogmother to this loose collective of creative characters. ‘Pink Keys’ is the kind of album I could happily listen to over and over - especially in this hazy summer heat. Cohen’s creative instincts for pop songcraft are second to none and she’s lucky enough to also be blessed with a beautiful voice and mad synth skills. Like Prince, you get the impression that Cohen could churn out infinite rays of perfect pop indefinitely with little to no effort and on ‘Pink Keys’ we are treated to eleven magical pop variations Madonna should have written long ago. A must-own record.

 

BUNKER MIND // TRAFFIC CONTROLTHOUGHT BROADCAST "S/T" LP - AVAILABLE NEXT WEEK

You can not stop thinking. About 18, I finally calmed down, I thought I could stop thinking completely. I become a zombie for four years. Then, in a broken heart, I started again. I came out of the "grip" that held me tight. I started hearing voices. I also tried to kill time. First, you must confess that it's people like you and I believe that is broadcasting the idea. It is terrible. When I look around, I am someone who is the same idea with me. My idea is to broadcast. You can read our thoughts. The first is that we can consider a bad idea (like gender or a person's weaknesses). Second, we believe that we have the power to make people read our thoughts, even if it is bad. Because it has the broadcasting of this thought, please consider why it is a lot of people. To hear any ideas you and I are thinking of and I thought of you. Some people think that for all this world, and you can hear what you think they are. The reason for this is that you can read the mind of everyone of us. There have been times when I have an idea that I will consider 'evil'. I do not believe them, but I know they are in my own voice in my head. Then, I would think that they have been implanted by external forces trying to influence my behavior. I just do not want it to develop into something like I do not believe, my inner voice is your own or something like that.

 

BIG LOVE IN JAPAN FOR PINK KEYS!!!

A BIG SHOUT-OUT TO TOKYO, JAPAN'S BIG LOVE RECORDS FOR AWARDING "ALBUM OF THE MONTH" TO ALICE COHEN'S "PINK KEYS" -- THEY EVEN MADE SPECIAL BUTTONS DESIGNED BY ALICE AS A BONUS GIFT FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS. PHOTOS FROM THE BIG LOVE STORE BELOW >>>

>>>MIRROR BALL MEMORIES>>>

ABOVE PHOTO AND THE TWO PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF POST: 

ALICE COHEN AND FUN CITY -- PHILADELPHIA, PA -- CIRCA 1979-1980

YESTERDAY, OUR FRIENDS AT IMPOSE POSTED A REALLY FUN "SELECTOR" ARTICLE BY ALICE COHEN FEATURING HER REMINISCING ABOUT SOME TRACKS FROM THE DISCO ERA THAT ARE PARTICULARLY INFLUENTIAL IN HER OWN WORK. IN THE LATE 70's ALICE FRONTED A DISCO COVER BAND CALLED "THE MAXX" IN PHILADELPHIA BEFORE STARTING "FUN CITY" WHO PERFORMED POP AND FUNK ORIGINALS. BELOW IS THE FUN CITY TRACK "SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST" WHICH WAS PRODUCED BY LARRY GOLD AND APPEARED ON A CHRYSALIS RECORDS COMPILATION IN 1979.

"GOTTA GOTTA GOTTA"GET ON THE NEW OESBEE MAILING LIST

ALL RIGHT -- IT'S A BIG STEP FOR OESB HERE -- WE SET UP A MAILING LIST "SUBSCRIBE" BUTTON THAT ACTUALLY WORKS!! SO GO AHEAD AND SIGN UP -- IT'S NEAR THE TOP-RIGHT OF THIS VERY PAGE YOU'RE ON RIGHT NOW -- WE'RE ABOUT TO ANNOUNCE PRE-ORDERS FOR A NEW RELEASE THAT'S BEEN RECEIVING SOME LOUD WHISPERS ON THE INTERWEB -- AND NEXT WEEK THERE WILL BE SOME SPECIAL OFFERS AND A BIG SALE ON DISTRO ITEMS OVER IN THE STORE THAT'S CURRENTLY BEING RE-MODELED -- SO IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU "GOTTA" GET ON THIS THEN HERE'S OUR PAL DANNY LANE OF SOFA CLUB SECONDING THAT EMOTION AND THEN TRIPLING THE NOTION -- THE DEBUT 7" BY THESE STATEN ISLAND POPSTERS IS COMING OUT ON JULY 4TH ON THEIR OWN LABEL "MUSCULAR RECORDS" -- YOU CAN PRE-ORDER IT (AND PREVIEW/DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE 4-SONG E.P.) OVER AT THE SOFA CLUB BANDCAMP RIGHT NOW -- THE OESBEE STORE WILL ALSO BE TAKING PRE-ORDERS STARTING NEXT WEEK -- AND CHECK OUT THE KILLER YAMAHA DX-7 SOLO BY OESB'S IN-HOUSE WIZARD SLAYER ALICE COHEN ON THIS TRACK>>>

SOFA CLUB "GOTTA GOTTA GOTTA" from OLDE ENGLISH SPELLING BEE on Vimeo.

VALLEY TANGENTS

BLUES CONTROL ARE DROPPING THEIR NEW ALBUM "VALLEY TANGENTS" NEXT WEEK ON DRAG CITY -- HERE'S THE FILM FOR "LOVE'S A RONDO" DIRECTED BY TARA SINN -- IT'S A BEAUTY. DEFINITE ALBUM-OF-THE-YEAR CONTENDER JUDGING FROM THE TWO TRACKS THEY'VE PREVIEWED.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE "VALLEY TANGENTS" OVER AT DRAG CITY.

NOT SURE IF "RONDO" IS REFERENCING THE MUSICAL TERM OR THE BASKETBALL PLAYER BUT WE'LL ERR ON THE SIDE OF ERROR AND ASSUME THE LATTER AS AN EXCUSE TO TIE-IN THE VIDEO BELOW. GO THUNDER!!!

JAMES FERRARO >> PRIMAVERA STREAM >>>

WFMU HOSTED A LIVE STREAM OF JAMES FERRARO'S SHOW ON SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE PRIMAVERA FESTIVAL IN BARCELONA, SPAIN -- HERE'S AN ARCHIVED EXCERPT WITH ABOUT 20 MINUTES OF HIS SET -- CLICK HERE FOR A POP-UP PLAYER (COURTESY OF WFMU)