Well what a good day it has been so far pop pickers. Not only have i fully discovered and appreciated the earthly delights of St Etienne (more on that in a moment), but my good friend Paul opened his hairdressing salon today and gave me a rather brilliant trendy new "do" (more on that in another moment). Oh! And Mr Pants and I booked our holiday to Florida next year so now we are broke. But excited. On with the post...
Anyway, this totally reminded me of when DazPlaz and I went to Las Vegas and Los Angeles last November as I was listening to it on the plane and in our rental car, which reminded me to look in my holiday diaries book and found this gorgeous little memory that i had written down from Nov 4th 2005...
If anyone is in Birmingham and wants an appointment you can call on 0121 643 0333 - I guarantee you won't be disappointed :)
THE JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY:
Yes, yes - i'm ashamed to admit but i didn't really have much time for St Etienne in the past and I'm not really sure why. I think they just sort of flew under my radar somehow. Thanks to a bit of a revival on PopEatsPop and the enthusiasm of Mr D'Luv (plus i'm eager to hear if XO is a fan?) and a generous offer from regular reader Steven, i am rapidly catching up on the glory that is St Etienne. They range from gloriously slinky pop like Who Do You Think You Are and Like A Motorway to the haunting, simplistic beauty of Hobart Paving, that may or may not have bought a tear to my eye. I purchased what i think is their most recent cd, which is all about the day in a life of an east london tower block; not much of a stretch for a band that have apparently focused on the melancholic romance of London's backstreet (boys) for the past 15 (!) years. Tales From The Turnpike has the ability to observe everyday life marked by a seedy underbelly. From some great electro pop that harry Gelliwell would kill to have, to crystallised vocals and intimate jazz harmonies, it all reaffirms St Etienne's unique ability to hug souls Like lemonade on a sunny day, it's refreshingly bittersweet. I have to stop gushing now because I have some more discovering to do...
THE DISCOVERY OF A JOURNEY:
Ah, any excuse to shop at the Gap! Brilliant for basics and good work outfits that stand the test of time. And sometimes they give away brilliant free stuff too - last year they gave away a cd of artists covering their favourite songs, which I rediscovered today while I was looking for some piano music. Alanis' version of Crazy is so much better than the weird dancey single remix she released, i can't help but love anything Jason Mraz does (i wouldnt mind putting my pink in the geek - oh how frightfully vulgar of me...) and Joss Stone came across as not boring or pretentios for a change...
MP3: Alanis - Crazy
Anyway, this totally reminded me of when DazPlaz and I went to Las Vegas and Los Angeles last November as I was listening to it on the plane and in our rental car, which reminded me to look in my holiday diaries book and found this gorgeous little memory that i had written down from Nov 4th 2005..."I heard the cutest thing today. Dazpanteloons and I were walking behind some 8 year old kids and two guys passed who were all over each other One kid said UGH! HOW GAY! But then this other kid who i now want to adpot said 'so, there's nothing wrong with being gay. And just because two men kiss doesn't mean they are gay. They might be bisexual'."
Awwwwwwwwwww :) If there was any interest I might start a new blog publishing my holiday diaries - i like to think they are pretty witty and informative! Let me know...
THE NEW HAIR:
Ah Paul Matthew Loft Insulation as only I am allowed to call him... one of my good friends for many a year now finally opened his own salon today called PRECISION and I was one of his first customers. And a very funky look he gave me too - even cutting out all the gray!! :(
If anyone is in Birmingham and wants an appointment you can call on 0121 643 0333 - I guarantee you won't be disappointed :)THE ZAPPING LOVES COLLIDE:
Now I quite like the Killers as you may well know :) But I have also been trying to persuade the nation that Mohair are quite a nice diversion too (check out here and here). Anyway at a gig in New York this week, the not very pretty Mohair were joined on stage by the far more facially pleasing B-Flo :O Mercy be! I would have loved to have been there, but had to do with the pictures and review. Now if you haven't checked out the marvelous, almost cabaret stylings of this aces group, please do so now, or i will be well annoyed ;)
Coming soon: everything that i wrote yesterday that has been pushed back by this post! Plus! Right click here to hear a cover version of Sound Of The Underground by an act called The 4 of Us...PS! Does anyone have the September issue of Midland Zone - apparently Mr DP and I were featured in the civil partnership bit!! Even a scan would be appreciated - if you can help out email me here....
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Next up you should pick up Smash The System: Singles And More (the two disc version), which has all their hits and then some...
cut and past:
http://xolondon.blogspot.com/2005/08/review-saint-etiennes-tales-from.html#comments
Nice haircut!
Todays post has everything. St Etienne, Pinkiedusts mist, Alanis and St Etienne(i said that already, right?). Thats not to mention the fact that your a total studmuffin. The hottest blogger around(after Miss Ella of course).
I adore St Etienne but your right, they've always flown under whatever waves they should have been riding. They never grabbed the NME crowd whilst they always seemed a bit too adult for Smash Hits. To me they were the 1990's ABBA. I think they were also on the same indie record label as Oasis yet their melodies were so Eurovision. Back then they were a bit of a illicit secret/word of mouth aspect to them and it seems they still have that feel to them even in this internet age. Just make sure you thank whoever showed you the light as you'll never look back.
Keep up the excellent work & stay beautiful.
Besos
Robpop!
Oh and Pinkiedust is mine. Hands off!
J'Ason - I have you and Pinkie to thank for turning me on. Er, to the Et! I shall indeed hunt down the two disc edition of their hits collection and let you know my verdict. My Tales cd came with a second cd as well?! And ta, i do love my sporty new do - i took it on the town last night and have never been so felt up :)
XO - ooo i read your post. You are so much more insightful than i am! Although to be fair to me, i was overstimulated from all their new sounds running thru my head...
PG - i knew that more than anyone you would appreciate the hair, though its not that great a shot of it ;) I was going for a Justin Lanning/Becks look :)I shall indeed consider doing a vacation blog in the very near future...i think my diaries go back to 2000...yikes!
Rob(O)pop- well gees, make me blush why don't you. What lovely words you threw my way. I am happy to be second hottest blogger on the block behind the stunning blowupdollable Ella :) I now feel under immense pressure to do something even better tomorrow :O Oh my god! This is what it must be like to be rubbish in bed...;)
http://popstebags.blogspot.com/
As far as Don Pablo, I could never really imagine doing "the big dance" with him, because DazPocketRocket would be extremely jealous... of Paul.
Anyway, here's a link to a post I did about Tales From Turnpike House last year, Paul.
Here are my pics from the Saint Etienne concert in LA this past February for the Turnpike House tour...
And while we're at it, here are my pics from the Killers concert in Cleveland last year.... not bad for a digital camera in the audience, I must say :)
I shall load up a picture in my lovely profile as proof of my manliness...
One more thing. Posting a picture of you when you were 17 aint gonna win over these boys. Why not a recent one? With all your lovehandles and tragic fashion sense.
ps. Anal beads? How 80s...
J'ason I do hope the "ew!?!?" did not regard my pic. If so, I will cry for quite some time.
Paul! My style(or as Ella puts it my "tragic fashion sense")is very 80's. The anal beads simply corresponds with that motif.
I have more CDs by them than anybody else, I think. Their rare fanclub stuff and import things are brilliant too. Tales From Turnpike House probably their best album.