Is it any wonder? (Summer soundtrack #7)

After a few years on hiatus, Keane has new music out, which is reason to dance in the streets on a hot summer's day. The new song, "The Way I Feel," sounds great, but I still consider "Is It Any Wonder?," a gem from 2006 (13 years ago!), to be peak Keane.

It's because (Summer soundtrack #6)

"I'm Not in Love" by 10cc is perhaps in my personal top ten--nay, my top five--of favorite songs of all time. It is the perfect love song, lyrically, sonically (is that a word?), emotionally, and atmospherically, and why there's not an internet radio station dedicated to playing it non-stop, 24 hours a day, I will never understand.

By chance, I was in Alley Cats, an excellent record shop in Orillia, Ontario, earlier this week when this was played over the sound system. And even now, nearly 45 years later, the song still gives me a chill.

In town on business, I had fun explaining to a younger colleague that this was the original version, that other versions she was aware of were (in my opinion) pale imitations. She knew versions that I did not (a live version by Robert Smith and The Cure apparently), and I knew versions that she did not (Olive's somewhat drum-and-bass version from 2000, to me a major disappointment from a group I had adored up to that moment), but we both agreed that the song, no matter who recorded it, is ethereal, lovely, and poignant.

Why I didn't buy the vinyl then and there, I do not understand. I do have a CD version from The Very Best of 10cc, but here's one occasion when I can agree with hipster audiophiles: The warmth and intimacy of the vinyl cannot be denied.

A mellow tune for summer, but even a long, hot summer requires its slow jams.

* * *

Here's a short BBC TV documentary about how the song was made.

Wow. Just wow. It seems incredible that someone would make this much effort--especially in an era when multi-tracking was new and tape-looping was novel and rare--to create "just a pop song." But indeed 10cc did, as did ABBA, as did the Beatles, as did Giorgio Moroder, and did many other greats (by my estimation at least).

This article, cited in Wikipedia has more backstory about how the song came about, particularly lyrically, spawning from a complaint by band member and lead singer Eric Stewart's wife that he didn't tell her he loved her often enough.

Pfft. Typical man. Can't say the words but can feel all the emotion. In time, he can find a way to tell the world the way he feels. And maybe eventually even you.

Nonetheless, with the end result being the exquisiteness that is "I'm Not in Love," I'd say Mr. Stewart finally and sufficiently got his point across.

In the pink (Summer soundtrack #5)

It's OK, Duran Duran, your secret's safe with me: You basically ... let's be kind and say "co-opted" ... late '70s Roxy Music's style, sound, wardrobe, and lyrical content for your first, I dunno, five or six albums. But I forgive you.

This past Sunday, I went shopping, mainly for shoes but for other clothes as well. In my never-ending quest to get outside of my own self-induced ruts, I went into a store I normally don't visit: Le Château, a Montréal-based clothing store chair that has locations in Toronto and across Le Canada. What drew me in was this beautiful soft pink suit--not unlike something Bryan Ferry would've worn in 1979 or Simon Le Bon in 1983. And while I coveted it, I realized, too, that at 57, this is a dream best left to the past.

To tell the truth, I couldn't have worn it in the past either because I'd have been way too self-conscious. Not because of the pink color per se, although I do not look particularly appealing in pastels. But let's face it: I was never a pretty man, not in an '80s blond highlights, triangle-shaped face, androgynous features, Patrick Nagel print kind of way.

It was likely a painful realization at the time. But now? Well, now I seem content with some comfortable shoes, stretchy-waist cotton trousers, and checked and plaid easy-care shirts. The mighty have fallen, perhaps, but the mighty are a heckuva lot more comfortable than they were throughout much of the 1970s, the '80s, the '90s, the '00s, and probably even last week.

Jock itch for the brain (Summer soundtrack #4)

Ah la la la la la kill me now please.

The thing is, I despise this song, at least lyrically--it's sexist, braggadocious bullshit. And yet "Sweat" by Jamaican reggae shame band Inner Circle has been stuck in my head for the better part of a week now.

So I'm adding this song to my summer soundtrack if for no other reason than it'll remind me that summer isn't always easy-breezy Cover Girl. No, sometimes it's crappy reggae reminding you that Hell is other people's music, trying to enjoy summer in the city, and in doing so, sweating so profusely that you end up with the worst case of jock itch you've ever had in your adult life.

Not that this happened to anyone I know, of course.

Blue jeans sur la plage (Summer soundtrack #3)

From Québec avec summer amour, Les Hou-Lops (or, if you prefer, Les Têtes Blanches, which appears to have been an alternate name for the group), performing their non-iTunes available hit from 1965 or so, "Blue jeans sur la plage."

Classic! (Summer soundtrack #2)

Only five years late to the party. Nevertheless, I'll keep dancing.

Pressure off (Summer soundtrack #1)

And I'm only four years late!

To me this song epitomizes the year 2015 in music (Nile Rodgers and Janelle Monae as guest artists).

To me, this song also epitomizes the Duran Duran sound, look, and ethos--the band to dance to when the bomb drops, as Simon Le Bon reportedly once said. The song sounds great--it is perhaps a progression in sonic quality--but I'm not sure it's really a progression in sound for the band. I'm no Duran Duran expert, but this wouldn't sound out of place on Astronaut, Medazzaland, or even Notorious.

And maybe that's OK. Duran Duran is nothing if not consistent and yet still remains exciting to watch and listen to, even after all these years.

Having said that, I'll never understand Nick Rhodes whole look. Is smug gender-bending with an unnatural hair color still a thing?

Oh, scratch that. I forgot the era in which I'm living.

If . . . !

I can't think of a better song or a better collaboration for end-of-summer dreaming--Little Boots meets Jean-Michel Jarre.

Would you run away with me?

Three from our electronic overlords

"Oblivion" by Grimes (released early 2012). I actually prefer "Genesis," but I couldn't find an official video for it. A bit precious? Maybe, but I still like her voice and overall sound.



Trip-hop lives! One of my favorite musical genres of the last two to three decades survives in the guise of French musician and DJ, Wax Tailor, here performing "Heart Stop" with vocalist Jennifer Charles



"Harvest Moon" by Poolside. No real video but such a gorgeous "daytime disco" (their words) sound. Denmark meets California. I believe this is the Neil Young song, actually, with Poolside's version bordering on sacrilege for some, but still, so lush and true to the spirit of the original.

And there my friends is your perfect end-of-summer soundtrack.