Black Meditations on the Lobster God

This week it's a mix of this and that. I threw it together, listening to tracks I think would bounce nicely off each other. I've got a bit off the new Jarvis Cocker (the song that samples "Crimson and Clover" beautifully, no less). More from Lily Allen and some of the other usuals.

I also commented to Meera lately that Seal is perfect for this sort of thing. He's instantly recognizable and everyone loves his hits, but he's not someone that's overplayed and you're sick of. No one says "Hey, don't put on Seal" when we crack something open in the store. He's the perfect kind of intelligent popster. There's a lot going on in the lyrics, but still it's something accessible to nearly everyone.

"Kiss From a Rose" is the only exception in his catalog. And even still, it's more popular than the movie it was in ever was.

Sade is very much the same way. No one objects to Sade, and I hope that Lily Allen will be that type of popstar in a few years.

The English have a way with this that the Americans have just forgotten for years now. Our pop is just mass market, microwaveable crud. Theirs is handcrafted, hand carved meals meant to be enjoyed over a lifetime.

Black Meditation on the Lobster God

1. The Kinks - Set Me Free
2. Them - Richard Cory
3. XTC - Dear God
4. Tilly and the Wall - I Always Knew
5. Jarvis - Black Magic
6. Seal - Prayer For The Dying
7. Frou Frou - It's Good To Be In Love
8. Prince - Diamonds And Pearls
9. Sly & Family Stone - I Get High On You
10. The Fratellis - Cuntry Boys And City Girls
11. Klaxons - Isle Of Her
12. INXS - Mediate
13. Gnarls Barkley - The Last Time
14. Liquid Soul - Lobster Boy's Revenge
15. Lily Allen - Take What You Take