Ke$ha

Sometimes I worry that Ke$ha will release a good song, because then I'd have to rethink my assessment of her as America's Least Talented Pop Star. I enjoy having my paradigm shifted on most things, but on Ke$ha I remain stubborn. If Ke$ha ever succeeds, then the skies will turn black as a plague of stinging locusts rain down from the heavens. These locusts will gnaw our flesh into a gelatinous pulp, leaving only bare bones behind.

Fortunately, her new song sucks.

How Much Three Months in Eastern and Balkan Europe Costs

As part of my plotting to return to Europe, I studied for the first time my finances from the last trip. Of course I had eyeballed the separate accounts periodically to make sure nothing weird was going on, but I hadn't diligently crunched the numbers to come up with figures regarding the overall expense of the trip.

So how much did it cost me to travel for three months in Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, and a day in Austria? (Drumroll please)

$6649.20

or

$2216.40 per month

or

$554.10 per week

Individual results may vary.

Colors

When did the LGBT community surrender the color pink to the breast cancer lobby? Was this a prisoner exchange for purple, now used by those expressing solidarity for bullied gay students? Is the garment industry behind this? Is American Apparel trying to move more pink and purple products? Is there a color conspiracy? Are lobbies haggling for colors on Capitol Hill in shady backroom deals? Has an activist been found lying in a puddle of blood, rain pelting her lifeless body, after a disagreement over the future of teal? My God! What's going on? I NEED ANSWERS!!!!!!!! B-| <--man in black <--that's "Black™," the Official Color of the Goth, Emo, and Metal Lobby!

$#*! My King Pigeon Says

It is absolutely not a wonder why society's best, brightest, and most ethical seldom go into politics. What I do wonder (and worry) about is how that pyschologically affects a country in general. If it is politically unwise for members of either party to publicly support the theory of evolution or climate change, how will politicians ever fix education? When the best-educated are branded "elitists," how does that foster a desire in others to achieve excellence? When politicians offer non-apology apologies for clear ethical lapses, what moral message does that convey to the rest of us?

Here's a test: If the recent racy GQ spread of 24 year-old "Glee" actors is causing you more consternation than what I wrote in the preceding few sentences, then I think your priorities are messed-up.

The Blueprint of This Observation Can Be Applied to Many Things in Life

A fan of 1977 Genesis might dislike the music of 1977 Wire, whose fans in turn might dislike 1977 ABBA; these determinations of dislike based on tangibles (such as a comparison of complexity of melody and the dexterity demonstrated in the playing of the instruments; or, in the lyrics, the proportion of flighty imagination to the level of confessional nakedness on display, further pitted against the presence [or lack thereof] of socio-political observations; or the rawness of one group's sound versus the polished gloss of another's), all of which blind each band’s committed followers to the one extraordinary quality that these artists had in common: their excellence.

For American nu Italo Disco Fans, Past and Future

American iTunes has recently acquired an astonishing collection of nu Italo disco releases from a decade ago. These songs were my favorites to spin during the early "Eurotrash or Eurotreasure?" days, so my jaw literally dropped, like this --> :-O when I saw the incredible collection of singles (with ALL THE REMIXES) now available. I used to pay a small fortune for imports of this stuff (when I could get my hands on the releases at all; more often than not I couldn't). Italy had terrible international music distribution at that time. Adding to the obscurity factor, I never met an Italian who was aware of the tremendous dance music scene going on within their country's borders.

Some favorites of mine that are now available on American iTunes:

Danijay (feat. Hellen) - Il gioco dell'amore (Extended Smat Mix)
Big boom-boom tune that perfectly captures that romantic/bombastic nu Italo disco spirit.

Quiki (feat. Lisa) - Together (Extended Mix) (the first of the unlabeled mixes offered here)
One of the coolest, sexiest dance songs I have ever heard.

Banshis - Day By Day (Banshiskipedia album version)
Not disco, but an especially gorgeous song from a group that had previously kicked out some dancefloor pumpers, vastly superior in its full running time and in the group's native Italian to the previously available shortened English-language version.

T42 feat. Sharp - Find Time (Fargetta Mix) (first of the unlabeled mixes on offer here)
My favorite feel-good nu Italo song from that era.

Supasonic - Love Again (Love Mix)
Emotional, romantic yearning appealingly hitched to the boom-boom sound.

Carolina Marquez - Pleasure Ground (Original Pleasure Extended)
This is my favorite of Ms. Marquez's catchy/trashy tunes because it sounds genuinely eerie, then turns weirdly beautiful at around the four minute mark. Only the Italians made songs that sounded anything like this--NOBODY ELSE. What a wonderfully weird fucked-up thing this is. The entire back catalog of the Colombian-born Italian seems to be available.

2 People - Holiday Ride (Piparo'S Main Mix)
Slighter than the other recommendations, but nonetheless an extremely cute and appealing representative of the nu Italo sound.

Prezioso feat. Marvin - Let Me Stay
Sort of silly sounding, but the melody of the sweeping-arm-gestures chorus is a killer. It looks like the entire Prezioso catalog is now available.

Levy 9 - I'm Not Scared (Hard Tunes Mix
Trash cover of an obscure 80s tune with huge synth riffs and boom boom beats.

Datura - Will Be One (Todo en Todos Extended)
A very theatrical tune.

Neja - Time Flies (Original Mix) (third of the mixes listed here)
I happily paid $20 for the CD single, but now you can have it for much less. ;-)

And a non-Italian bonus:

Jazmine - Makes Me Go (Mmm...) (Radio)
Sugar-overload track that acquired near-mythic status in the underground trash circles due to its scarcity. The whole single is now available.

You have to admire the nu Italo disco scene for its uniqueness. I feel it demonstrated greater originality and ambition than that displayed in most of the more fashonable dance music of the time. Now is a good time to find that out for yourself.