DJ BOOTH

New Music: Pet Shop Boys, Goldfrapp, Placebo And More

[Editor’s note: We introduce a biweekly music column from renowned DJ Paul V. Let us know what you think in the comments section.]

ALBUM REVIEW:

 PetShopBoys_CD

Pet Shop Boys, “Electric” (Kobalt)

It’s a sin how the last few PSB records were guilty of being boring. So I was thrilled to hear how inspired the UK duo sounds on their 12th effort. Mega producer Stuart Price (aka Midas Touch Man) made it clear he wanted to give it all a “euphoric, fresh feel,” and he succeeded 100%. These are some of the most enticing beats, gut-punching basslines and infectious melodies they’ve come up with in ages. And it’s a spirited Neil Tennant who offers his patented Brit-centric, droll lyrics on tracks like “Love Is A Bourgeois Construct” (a nod to Madge’s Confessions On A Dance Floor) and “Bolshy.” Many of the best songs (“Fluorescent,” “Axis,” “Inside A Dream”) are more chanted than sung, letting the seductive disco rhythms and neon-lit synths do all the talking. The song that really sums up this vibe is the “It’s Alright”-inspired lead single “Vocal,” where Tenant extols the virtues of church via the dance floor. Bravo, Boys!

 

SINGLE REVIEW:

Placebo_single

Placebo, “Too Many Friends”

It was inevitable that social media overload would inspire its own theme song. Singer Brian Molko laments “My computer thinks I’m gay, I threw that piece of junk away” and lays it down that all these “friends” we gather on the interwebs, “staring in to their phones,” do nothing but create sorrow and pain. Yet the song is a terrific, mid-tempo rocker with an alluring hook. “Like” it or I’ll unfriend you…

 

HOT REMIX:

Kate Boy, “The Way We Are” (Bixel Boys remix) – Free Download

LA’s Bixel Boys polish up this fab single with just the right amount of pumped up house beats for maximum club love. Australia and Sweden, represent!

SOUND AND VISION:

Goldfrapp, “Drew”

Goldfrapp hints a first taste of their forthcoming disc Tales Of Us which drops on September 10. This gorgeous, evocative ballad pulses like a dream, and in the video, Allison fantasizes about some kind of Fellini-esque, pansexual tryst in an abandoned mansion. Bonus points for plenty of NSFW male bumcakes all over the place, too.

 

DJ Paul V. has been offering up his alternative/electro beats on dance floors since 1982, most notably at LA’s Dragstrip 66. He’s also an accomplished blogger and author of Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay.

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