The latest Plastilina Mosh record came out just in time for my birthday a few weeks ago. After the first full listen of All U Need is Mosh I was stunned that is wasn’t the greatest record ever made, because I’m huge, huge fan. I guess it’s bound to happen, but it’s always a downer when a band seems to take a step backward. I know, it’s all in my head. After several more complete listens I do love more than at first. There are a large number of great tunes and the whole world should buy it. My favorites in general are the more electronic stuff, but the punk-pop single “Let U Know” is totally fun. Other standouts include the slow electro-funk “Paso Fino” and the pretty “Pervert Pop Song.”
This record is at the literal end of the line on the shelf. So, I’m always staring at it, but it’s been a long time since I’ve heard it. That’s too bad because Bird Wood Cage by The Wolfgang Press is a great album. Someone reviewed it on Amazon with the title “Industrial-Strength Bootie Quake.” In addition to being funny that’s also accurate. Sure, it’s late ’80s alt music on 4A.D., the record label synonymous with “gothic” music, and no self-respecting art school student at the time would be without it. But these songs are also a lot of fun, and dance-able! My favorite is probably the last one, “Shut That Door.”
Welcome to the singles club. At least that’s what I think I’ll be posting all week. This one is a 12 inch of “Stop This Crazy Thing” (1988) by Coldcut. It’s probably the best dance single ever recorded. If you disagree with that I’d love to hear what you think is better.
Junior Reid (Black Uhuru) provides the perfect vocal complement to this jungle music which is replete with all sorts of hoots and hollers, including Tarzan’s signature wail. The sounds and samples are themselves what’s crazy here and I definitely do not want to stop them.
This is one of the most played records in our collection. Long live Coldcut!
(I found this video of “Stop This Crazy Thing.” The record cover appears to be for a 12 inch (different edition than mine), but the record itself looks like a 7 inch, and the music is shorter. The original 12 inch is seven and a half minutes of jumping.)
Nine singles, 18 songs on 18 sides, did I play them all? Damn straight. See the complete track listings below.
I won’t comment on Michael Jackson himself other to say that the song titles visible in this picture pretty much sum up his life. Everyone has their own definition of “enough.”
This package came out in 1983. I was working at a small chain record store a few years later when I saw a couple copies collecting dust in our seven inch singles bin and decided I must have it. How could I resist such a fantastic package, of songs that I like, printed on glorious red vinyl, with an employee discount? Well, I couldn’t.
Each sleeve and record was produced just for this set, “MJ1,” and they are numbered and labeled accordingly. Most songs are from the mega hit albums “Off the Wall” and “Thriller.”
MJ1-1:
1. Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough
2. I Can’t Help It
MJ1-2:
1. Off The Wall
2. Working Day And Night
MJ1-3:
1. Rock With You
2. Get On The Floor
MJ1-4:
1. She’s Out Of My Life
2. Push Me Away
MJ1-5:
1. The Girl Is Mine
2. Can’t Get Outta The Rain
MJ1-6:
1. Billie Jean
2. It’s The Falling In Love
MJ1-7:
1. Beat It
2. Burn This Disco Out
MJ1-8:
1. Wanna Be Startin’ Something’
2. The Jacksons – Rock With You – Live
MJ1-9:
1. Thriller
2. The Jacksons – Things I Do For You – Live
I’m back! And what brought me back? Too many chocolate chip cookies and an awesome dance single.
Mary and I heard Dead Or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” on the car radio yesterday, and I just had to hear it again. The version on this 12 inch is the “Performance Mix” and you can believe I was doing a performance all three times I blasted it today. I did move to turn it down a bit when I saw the UPS guy outside, but fortunately he went to another house. I was able to complete my dance routine mostly without interruption. And pretty much everybody has to dance when they hear this classic. It’s so punchy!
The performance by singer Pete Burns is so complete and uninhibited that I can’t imagine it being more entertaining. And I’m only talking about his singing, see the video for more. Life lesson from Pete Burns: If you going to do something, do it all the way and don’t hold anything back. Except maybe when it comes to body mods. I saw Pete on some strange TV show a while back and I think he’s overdosed on plastic surgery.
Like a record baby!
Dead Or Alive – You may be surprised who has been associated with this band over the years. Pete Burns
Title: Won’t You Hold My Hand Now (Heavy Times Mix)
Year: 1984
Format: Vinyl 12 in.
Rating (1-10): 5
Owner: Mary
Acquired: ?
Keeper: No
The endless line of King 12 inch singles continues. This one is another version of “Won’t You Hold My Hand Now”, the “Heavy Times Mix.” I’m going to admit that this time I found it less annoying, maybe slightly entertaining. The songs on side two, “Endlessly” and “Never Ending” are probably better. I usually play the record I’m writing about when I post, but right now I’m still spinning the last one, The Gift by The Jam.
It’s Cinco de Mayo time! Today we celebrate Mexico sticking to the French in 1862, and Plastilina Mosh. We’ve reached the end of my Plastilina Mosh collection. Tonight we have a DVD titled simply, DVD. And the only thing I like better than Plastina Mosh’s music is their music plus video. After seeing a couple PMosh videos on MTV3 I knew I had to get a hold of this. I’ll admit that I haven’t seen the entire thing. There are a bunch of album documentaries and extras. But I have watched all twelve music videos and they are so damn good I give it a rating of 10 just for those.
By now you know I’m a complete fan of their music, and that I think they are geniuses. Their videos just take all of that creativity, fun, funk and hard rocking to another level of entertainment. Every one of these music videos is excellent, and no two are similar. “Mr. P Mosh” borders on being Dali-esque in it’s silliness.
As I understand it, this was released as a companion to the double CD collection, which explains the matching artwork. I love the pic of the guys in tuxedos inside the case. Is it me, or do those heads look pasted on National Enquirer style?
Happy Cinco de Mayo eve! The only thing better than a Plastilina Mosh album is a Plastilina Mosh double album. And that’s what we have with Tasty + b sides. It’s considered a “best of” of sorts, but a slight majority of the songs on the two discs weren’t on any of the first three albums. On the Tasty disc there are four brand new songs and those alone make it worth the price. I love all of them, but my favorite of that batch is “Nalguita.” You can check that one out at the PMosh MySpace page. It’s too good for words. And what’s with that song at MySpace called “Babasonicos remix”? That’s not on any album I have! Curses!
The b sides disc curiously has a number of songs from previous albums, but it also has some really heavy stuff. “Quiero Mi Pastilla” is a hyper-speed punk piece, and “Purrum Pum Pum” is a metallic dirge. Who would think a chorus of “Purrum Pum Pum” could sound so heavy? I don’t think it means anything, but it sounds cool. I’m surprised most of these weren’t on the other releases. The All Music Guide has a good review of this collection, and short clips of all the songs, if you want to know more. Tasty + b sides is a great place to start if you’re looking to get some of their music.
As usual, the album artwork and packaging are excellent. The jewel case comes in a cover with sketches of the fellas. The booklet has a bunch of great photos, and the front cover pic of a couple kissing in the park is fantastic. It evokes the same emotions as their music. The inside of the back of the jewel case contains the words “Happy Listening.” That’s as much a description of the music as instruction for using it.
For a long time I was unable to find the Plastilina Mosh albums I was missing. The first one, Auqamosh, can be especially expensive and I’ve seen listed in numerous online stores for $80(?!). For real. I found Hola Chicuelos used at Secondspin. For this one they moved to EMI Latin. All notes are in Spanish.
Hola Chicuelos is another piece of music greatness from the genius duo. Like the first two it’s stylistically all over the place. I think a few songs made it to the Latin charts. “Peligroso Pop” is maybe the most poignant sounding pop song I’ve ever heard. Now, I don’t have any idea what they are saying. The lyrics could be his grocery list but the total sound kills me. “Garret Club” is sort of like a jazz dance number, with real horns and strings. I love that one too. “Te lo juro por Madonna” is a rocked out tune with a great guitar riff. I believe that one was a hit. Another hit was “Enzo.” After “Peligroso Pop” this is my favorite. It’s mid-tempo, uses a lot of megaphone, some quick rapping (Or is that sportscasting? I can’t tell.), and a great sing along, or at least hum along chorus.
The album art is again quality stuff. The pages show Jonaz and Alejandro in their individual hotel rooms and, well, it’s just funny when you flip through it.
Juan Manuel is the second album by Plastilina Mosh and the first one I bought. It’s named for a good friend of theirs. I stumbled upon it when reading reviews about another Mexican group I was interested at the time, Titan (pronounced tee-tahn). This record is a little less rocked out than their debut but it’s my favorite. With the exception of “Supercombo Electronico” there isn’t much hard rocking here at all. There are some jazzy funk and funky jazz tunes like “Saint Tropez is not Far”, ethereal numbers like “Shampoo”, and plenty of great dance stuff like “Human Disco Ball.” My absolute favorite song is the super-chill, slow tempo, vocoder vocaled “Baretta ’89.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a essentially mellow song that is this exciting.
Also included on this “enhanced CD” is a great video for “Human Disco Ball” depicting the “enchanting story of a boy and his pinball machine.” Like I said yesterday, I’ll get back to the videos later. Another music hero of mine, Money Mark, has a production credit on the record. At first I thought his fingerprints were on everything, but it turns he only did three songs. And great album art is not dead! For one funny tidbit look inside the tabs that hold the CD center. I think that face peeking out may be Juan Manuel himself.
The album is bookended by two beautifully strange instrumentals, “Nordic Laser” and “Good Bye Happy Farm.” The latter ends with the sounds of horse hoofs slowly clip-clopping off into the distance. What could be better than that?
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