Starry Eyes · The Records

1979 baby!

 It's power-pop time.

Words are very unnecessary as the immediacy of Starry Eyes has sudden impact. 

This slice of youthful romantic pop rock is perfection. Hooks, guitars, drums and bass all delivered with the right amount of insistent energy. Everything is in the right place. A vibe in sound that is so idealised in my brain that it's the apex where my heart should always belong. 

It's a bit funny though as maybe my delusional nostalgia is hacking my mind because the song is actually a lot more cynical than the innocent boy meets girl, boy doesn't wanna argue, bittersweet break-up feelings that this tune initially suggests. You can have your sacking the shonky band manger scenario, I'm sticking with the defiant exuberance of someone moving on because fish, sea and zesty temerity. 

Dracula - Christine Pilzer

[1966]

Back in the 90s kitschy Euro garage/psych/fuzz pop and easy-lounge gear from the 60s and 70s was all the rage and this was one of the great discoveries featured on a foxy ladies of French pop compilation. 

Groove-a-delic cinematic horns and fuzz with sultry french lady vocals put through some foggy echo chamber for a bit of fun horror pop.  

 

[2024]

60 years later: Another song called Dracula with a groove-a-delic beat with all sorts of wah-wah and fuzz reverbed to the max. This one's sung by a man dressed as a foxy lady with guitars, synths and vocals all put through a wonky hypnagogic echo chamber.  

Cosmic Neighbourhood - Tomte's Dream

Tomte's Dream - Cosmic Neighbourhood [2015]

Deliriously psychedelic like you dropped acid watching a kids show on the telly while an old 78 is stuck  on the gramophone. 

Gone Fishing - Cosmic Neighbourhood [2015]

On acid again while an old ice ream van is drowning joyously in a boggy and froggy pond.

Two Faces - Cosmic Neighbourhood [2015]

That mysterious swirling sound that's mildly euphoric in a daydeam-y kinda way. 

Owl - Cosmic Neighbourhood [2015]

A glistening dreamy carousal from the corner of your mind enters the kitchen. You probably need to be off your nanna to enjoy these tunes because they're probably way too annoying for a straight mind.

23, 24, 25 BEST

I skipped doing an end of year music round up last year and the year before for various reasons but mostly because I'm not buying or listening to a hell of a lot of new music or newly re-released music any more. For what it's worth here's a couple of things I enjoyed in the last few years.

2023

Sepia Cat City - Moon Wiring Club

Holy Evil Sister - Controlled Death

2024

Road To Nowhere - CT57

Diamond Jubilee - Cindy Lee

Aeson Zervas - Aeson Zervas

Millbrook Memories - CT57

2025

Gruesome Shrewd/Grisly Exaggerated - Moon Wiring Club

With You Every Night - Ariel Pink

Danse Des Larmes - VÍZ

War Against The Lie - Susu Laroche

Per Tenebras Ad Motem - Controlled Death

So that's all pretty hauntologic, hypnagogic and darkly ambient gear. Dream-edelic.

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Old cds, records & tapes on the stereo in 2025
Geogaddi/Campfire Headphase/Twoism - Boards Of Canada

Moons Milk In Four Phases/Black Antlers/The Ape Of Naples - Coil

Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age - Broadcast & The Focus Group

Last American Hero/Genie Head Gas In The Tower Of Dreams/KFC City 3099 PT. 1 Toxic Spill/Star Digital Theatre/Flushpipe/Gecko/Kava Jar Race/iAsia - James Ferraro

Evol - Sonic Youth

Juju - Siouxsie & The Banshees

Maanam - Maanam

Nowa Alexandria - Siekiera

You're Living All Over Me/Bug/Hand It Over - Dinosaur Jr

Seventeen Seconds/Faith/Pornography/Head On The Door/Disintegration - The Cure

You Made Me Realise/Isn't Anything/Glider/Tremelo/Loveless - My Bloody Valentine

Treasure/Victorialand - Cocteau Twins

Mysterious Skin OST - Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd

Xuvetyn - Loveliescrushing

Boys And Girls - Bryan Ferry

Land Of The Lost/Follow Blind/Silver Sail - The Wipers

Emergency Third Power Trip - Rain Parade

Uninvited By The Clouds - The Church

Black Vinyl Shoes/Present Tense - Shoes

Black Sea/Skylarking - XTC

The Monkey Puzzle/Casablanca - The Saints

Automatic Midnight/Suicide Invoice/Audit In Progress - Hot Snakes

Songs About Leaving - Carissa's Weird

So it seems I've been mainly listening to music from the 80s and the 00s. Mostly all about the guitars whether that be jangly, dreamy, noisy, gloomy or gaze-y. Otherwise it was all about the haunted or hypnagogic psychedelic-electro-acoustic experiments.  

After Resident Advisor did a thing on the best electronic albums of the century so far I pretty much decided that had to be Boards Of Canada's distinguished Geogaddi cd even though it didn't even get on their retarded top 100 list. As much as I love my other favourites The Caretaker, Philip Jeck, Burial, The Focus Group, Panda Bear, Daft Punk, Gas, Pole, Rustie etc. Geogaddi to me seems to be outstanding to a startlingly degree... by a long long way. 

As far as the 80s go re-listening to Isn't Anything impressed me the most. As I played it to death back in the day, I've rarely revisited it this century unlike say Cocteau Twins' Treasure which I've never stopped playing for 35 years. Isn't Anything is surprisingly underrated by the new shoegaze kids who can't seem to get past Loveless even though Isn't Anything might be even more innovative and exciting. 

The suave nocturnal moods of Bryan Ferry's Boys & Girls was my second most played album this year after the new Moon Wiring Club epic. So smooth and sophisticated and Mark Knopfler makes an appearance.

Hadn't heard The Cure's Disintegration for 34 years and I was mighty impressed. I mean Robert Smith is always handy with his pop sensibilities and cold gloomy tones but Disintegration gets absolutely delirious in the best best possible way.

 

CT57 - Road to Nowhere

[2024]

A three and a half hour faux field recording of driving along listening to weird late night radio talkback segments amongst wonky vapourwave instrumentals, disorientating hypnagogic sequences and eerie hauntological ambience. The spawn of James Ferraro and the KLF cicra Chill Out. 

The Day the "Conducator" Died (An Xmas Song)

[2012]

From possibly the greatest LP of the 10s comes this stark, dark and somewhat sardonic tune. I'm not sure how Merry Christmas-y it really is but just wait for the the glorious ten seconds at the 7.20 mark where Jingle Bells is played by what sounds like some tiny tiny bells but I think is actually a glockenspiel. 

It's actually about brutal Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu who along with his wife Elena was executed on Christmas day in 1989. So for many that was a very happy day but not for ole Nicolae though, he had to face a mentally deranging episode of ontological insecurity then his brisk demise. The song depicts a delusional man shocked that he was being lined up against a wall so suddenly, wracking his brain as to what caused him to be in front of a firing squad. Yet to the rest of the world it was obvious.

There is a sense of glee when that ten second sequence of Jingle Bells comes in, a feeling of relief as the populace have taken vengeance after years of violent oppression and that perhaps the misery has finally subsided.

Happy Christmas!

Bruce Haak - I Like Christmas

[1981]

The marvellous moog maestro with the ultimate CHRISTMAS ditty. Probably my all-time favourite. An absolute vocoder robot vocal banger! So upbeat it's euphoric. This was part of a split single Bruce Haak did with Tiny Tim and it's a great shame that every household doesn't own a copy. 

Holidays are lots of fun
In winter cold or summer sun
But for me there's only one
Day like Christmas

People smile a special way
Love and gladness fill the day
That is why I'll always say
''I like Christmas''

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Merry Merry Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas!

No More Christmas Blues - Suicide

Hey Lord - Suicide [1981]

Suicide are here to spread some Christmas cheer. 

Nice.

No More Christmas Blues - Alan Vega [1981]

If you thought Hey Lord was a laugh just wait for this one. The hilarity continues. I actually think this is a deranged Suicide classic with their signature down and out in New York city vibe with monosyllabic snarls of barely articulated sentiments. I don't get that this tune is credited to just Vega because it has the same Martin Rev backing track as Hey Lord so... anyway Merry Christmas!

James Ferraro - They Dont Know Its Christmas

[2021]

I haven't checked out new James Ferraro music for like twelve years or so. I missed this one when it came out on Christmas day back in 2021. They Don't Know Its Christmas is some sort of neo-classical electronic Christmas music jam. Nowhere near the mind altering deliriousness of peak Ferraro but it's pleasant enough while it's playing with all of its fake frosty ambient bells, fake choruses, wintry synths and faux holy minimalism. Lonesome Christmas melancholia... 

What happened to this guy? For five or six years he was one of the greatest, most vital and unusual musicians on the planet, running the underground. In 2009 alone, he released sixteen innovative solo albums and they were all pretty good, over half of which were mind blowing epic ambient-drone-noise hypnagogic pop sound-collage extravaganzas.

James Ferraro - Star Digital Theatre: Movies For P.T. Cruisers [2009]

This is not normal music. At the start it might not sound like much but wait until you're about twelve minutes in then tell me how you're going when the bubbling off kilter psychedelic ambient stasis starts getting delirious. Twenty two minutes in and the frenetic tribal new age starts becoming unhinged. Thirty minutes in and the electronic arcade synth-waves are going barmy and zig zag-y... and that's just the first track... 

Vince Guaraldi Trio - My Little Drum

[1965]

Classy Christmas classic.