On the back of discovering "Totally True", I reminded myself just how good at least half of Violens' debut album is, the euphoric volcanic ash cloud that is "Another Strike Restrained" still being my favourite, although I think their best song is probably "Acid Reign", with its rigid machine gun rhythms and that delirious spiralling piano hook. I remember giving their record a pretty hard time in my PopMatters Review last year, but here's hoping their second kicks dust in my eye.
Also, at work I chucked on the greatest hits of Radiohead. It's hard to think of a track more groundbreaking than "Idioteque" was at the time, or my personal favourite, "Everything in its Right Place". "Pyramid Song" also made me weep in public, quite obviously. Radiohead will always be my favourite band; they encourage me to be a better musician every time I hear them. And a more depressing one also. *final chord of No Surprises echoes through my brain*
But wait, what's this...?!
POPDAR ALERT.
What else? Oh yes, amongst a relatively alternative day, one sparkling ray of pop light that pretty much has obliterated every other pop record released this year. You've all heard Wynter Gordon's surreal would-be-filthy-if-it-wasn't-so-classy "Dirty Talk", a veritable triumph of pop dance, but you ALL NEED TO BECOME AWARE, of what is already one of my tracks of the year: The Denzal Park radio edit of "Til Death".
At first it starts like a generic could-even-be-the-Saturdays tune, with an innocently pulsing bass and plain beat that actually suggests this might not be any good. Wait... give it another few lines... "...til death do we party, with the music I die..." aaand BANG! This is hands down the most exciting chorus of the year. There's nothing more exhilarating in pop music than a lyric that suggests you might die on the dancefloor, never mind one that suggests Wynter is actually fine with it: "Help! My mind! I think I'm losing it. Take! My Life! But I'm cool with it." Wynter yelps these lines as if her life depends upon it, with a lust for life and partying, as a synth chord onslaught that puts LMFAO to shame, is so heavy it threatens to bring the track down with it. But as Wynter says "With the music I die". She's not going down alone, and certainly not until this 3 minute gem has slapped you in the face with its final notes. The incredible, notably European, sound of pop revolution in 2011.
FYI. This is a radio remix. If you search for it you'll come across a rather unimpressive original version before this jaw-dropping version comes up. Just goes to show, bigger is better.
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