Category: Downloads (Page 13 of 13)

Come Dancing! (Seona Dancing, that is…)

Fans of “The Office” will no doubt recall David Brent’s settlement-financed single – a cover of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” – but were you aware that Ricky Gervais himself was actually a member of synth-pop duo in the ’80s? True story…and God only knows how it’s taken this long to appear on my radar, given that I’m such a massive fan of ’80s synth-pop to begin with.

The band was called Seona Dancing…that’s pronounced Shawna Dancing, ta very much…and since you’re probably still wondering, no, this isn’t a joke. You can go to Gemm.com and find the band’s two singles available from several different vendors…or check out this photo here, from their unofficial MySpace page:


(That’s Ricky on the right.)

And even more oddly, the songs – which can all be downloaded at no charge here – are rather good. Personally, they remind me a bit of B-Movie. But for a few twist of fates here and there, we might well be listening to “More to Lose” or “Bitter Heart” on Flashback Lunches today.

Don’t hold your breath for a reunion tour, though. It’s clear from that this clip that Gervais can’t look back on these days without cringing.

Fear for the future generation.

I went to iTunes to look for possible children’s music to get for my daughter for Christmas. There’s a lot of hip stuff out there nowadays; Dan Zanes (late of the Del Fuegos) has recorded half a dozen albums aimed at children, They Might Be Giants have done at least two discs worth of kids’ stuff, Jason Falkner did two discs worth of instrumental versions of Beatles songs, and, as a parent, let me assure you that your children could do a whole lot worse than the Wiggles or Ralph’s World.

When I went to the homepage for Children’s Music on iTunes, however, they had a list of new albums as well as holiday favorites…and on the new albums, for some reason, they’re pitching the latest Bowling For Soup disc (which, unless I’m mistaken, isn’t specifically aimed at kids), and in the holiday favorites, there’s actually a song called “I Farted On Santa’s Lap (Now Christmas Is Going To Stink For Me),” by the Little Stinkers. This is actually on the Children’s Music page.

Come on, give me a break.

I can buy into the fact that Bowling for Soup is goofy fun that anyone of any age can like (“1985” was a staple on Radio Disney), but do we really need to stoop to intentionally handing our kids fart jokes? It’s not like there aren’t enough of them around, and it’s not even like they aren’t funny (Einsten proved that farting = hilarity), but, seriously, don’t go out of your way to dumb my kid down, all right? They might be funny, but they’re not “children’s music” by any stretch of the imagination.

Give It Away, Now: Free Mute Math download

Mute Math’s song “Typical” is available for free download. Never heard of Mute Math? This is what Bullz-Eye’s Mike Farley had to say about them:

On one hand, New Orleans four-piece rock band Mute Math is a throwback to ‘80s synth-pop a la Flock of Seagulls or Power Station, and at times they have an alt-electronica feel akin to Radiohead. But most of all, Mute Math’s slickly produced Warner Brothers debut is an amalgamation of sounds that are blended to create something way greater than the sum of its parts. Deftly mixing guitars, keys and electronic loops with the unique gravel-infused vocals of Paul Meany, Mute Math is a band that is going to win over a wide range of listeners – from the college kids to the music snobs who read “Spin” to the dudes who grew up in the ‘80s that are looking for something new to stick in their musical pipes. The first two singles, “Chaos” and “Plan B,” are representative of the album, but when these guys scale things back, as they do on the stunning track, “You Are Mine,” their potential as your new favorite band goes way up.

To download the song, click here.

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