Songbook Xtended: My Kingdom

The Future Sound of London - My Kingdom (1996) [Original Post]

I'm not exactly sure what's going on in the video for My Kingdom. Does it accurately predict and forewarn of the devastating spread of COVID-19, Brexit, racism, and turmoil in Ukraine? I'm joking, of course, but now that the suggestion is planted, watch it again. I noticed FSoL music videos don't load information and comments correctly on YouTube. I don't know why that is. I'm not trying to suggestive anything conspiratory or enigmatic. Probably just some stray symbols breaking code. It happens on multiple FSoL videos and I haven't encountered it anywhere else, though. Benign but the kind ominous mythology a band like FSoL used to thrive on cultivating. I'm reminded that FSoL did interviews via webcam. That sort of thing used to be a lot more interesting. A cyberpunk edge mercurial enough in the moment to not seem tragic. I like the music, with or without the stories. Chillout.

Songbook Xtended: Stripped

Rammstein - Stripped (1998) [Original Post]

Usually I present these selections without comment. Who has the energy to be insightful? I try not to think about the project too much, but the CDClub Songbook is a subjective analysis and cataloguing of chronology. Did Justin Bieber kill music? That guy who smashed the thumbs down on YouTube in 2014 sure thought so! I try to stay naive, making heartfelt selections in the moment. Music that speaks to me. Yet as I update the master list - I can't help but notice this is the first appearance by Rammstein. How unlikely. I suppose one was part of a post-mourning exodus - a distraction. The German growler's addition to a Depeche Mode covers album. Self-effacing Songs For The Masses. I suppose it only makes sense. What would Depeche Mode be without their entry into Berlin leather bars? "Let me hear you make decisions without your television". English speakers shouldn't say tele-vision so deliberately, but I can live with it. It's evocative. That video is probably Not Safe For Work -- watch out for that. I've been researching mythologies and World War II for an unrelated project. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with how this participated in that, but here we are. An amusingly guttural cover of synthboy edginess.

Songbook Xtended: Kool Nuit

M83 feat. Kaela - Kool Nuit (2023) [Original Post]

Did Justin Bieber kill pop music, or is it just getting harder to find & connect with the good stuff? I was excited to check out new music from M83, even if I wouldn't characterize myself as a fan. That's not a knock. I just meant to say I'm a weary traveler who's bumped into them from time to time. I've liked M83's airy meditations on a protracted captured moment. Kool Nuit has some of that cool breeze, but is more cinematic in its scope. It wraps and surrounds -- at least in its first section. It is a song of two characters. The sweetness of the first half becomes more unsettled as the drama ratchets up and sweetness becomes tempest. I can only apologise for the cover art so much. I'm not feeling it. I am very much feeling this song though. An exciting real-time addition to the 2023 CDClub Songbook chronology. Rarity.

TrailerClub: True Stories

True Stories (1986) [Original Post]

Songbook Xtended: Bedtime Story

Madonna - Bedtime Story (1995) [Original Post]

I suppose this song represents a breakthrough of some sorts. After a week of mourning a loved one it was the first new song to enter the CD Club Songbook. A song I haven't thought about in a long time, drifting to the surface because of something overheard somewhere. It's (literally) Madonna doing Bjork, with the kind of music video production we can only dream of these days. A welcome step in Madonna's evolution through the nineties, but not quite the brilliance that would follow a couple of years later with the Ray of Light album. A nice cool dip before she full submerged herself with William Orbit and ultimate became Frozen.