Post by The Curmudgeon on Oct 3, 2014 13:22:19 GMT 2
So with this series folding, I really could have played it safe, with some relatively unknown but still obviously great track from the Rolling Stones or Bowie, but I decided playing it safe is for mass murderers and Nazi's. This is what's known in the UK (I don't think this phrase ever made it anywhere else) as a "Marmite" song. Marmite being famous for either being loved or loathed.
1997 was a pretty good year musically for the Curmudgeon. Two albums were released that still get regular rotation, one being often recognised as the Greatest Album of All Time. That would be "OK Computer" by Radiohead, and the other would be "Blur" by, er, Blur.
Alongside big-hitters like those guys though, a small band from Ireland were getting all kinds of critical panties wet with their own blend of smart, sophisticated chamber pop music. The swaggering macho bullshit of the likes of the Verve and Oasis were replaced by wry, tongue in cheek lyrics, beautiful melodies and pop music laced with references to Oscar Wilde. They're even named after a poem written in the 1300's. "He drinks a whiskey drink, he drinks a lager drink" this ain't.
Maybe they were too smart for their own good, because the Divine Comedy never really got the success they deserved. Neil Hannon's rich tones were last heard here on the sublime "Perfection as a Hipster" from the God Help the Girl album, but this song, named after a fairy tale (of course) is just gorgeous.
Let's end this series with "The Frog Princess."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L0p2bLOoHU
1997 was a pretty good year musically for the Curmudgeon. Two albums were released that still get regular rotation, one being often recognised as the Greatest Album of All Time. That would be "OK Computer" by Radiohead, and the other would be "Blur" by, er, Blur.
Alongside big-hitters like those guys though, a small band from Ireland were getting all kinds of critical panties wet with their own blend of smart, sophisticated chamber pop music. The swaggering macho bullshit of the likes of the Verve and Oasis were replaced by wry, tongue in cheek lyrics, beautiful melodies and pop music laced with references to Oscar Wilde. They're even named after a poem written in the 1300's. "He drinks a whiskey drink, he drinks a lager drink" this ain't.
Maybe they were too smart for their own good, because the Divine Comedy never really got the success they deserved. Neil Hannon's rich tones were last heard here on the sublime "Perfection as a Hipster" from the God Help the Girl album, but this song, named after a fairy tale (of course) is just gorgeous.
Let's end this series with "The Frog Princess."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L0p2bLOoHU
