(Warning! Video post of me dancing in my studio, wired at 4am)

I had coffee and cake for dinner, why ? because I can’t deal with the summer disappearing and caffeine is the only remedy.

I’m fortunate/unfortunate to have an amazing coffee place round by my house.  A group of very kind Ozzies run the joint and keep it stocked with high quality blends and amazing cakes (see photo of morning ritual on the right)

For dinner, not so good, but it did kick start a demo I began working on yesterday.  I still don’t know what will become of it, but at least it’s at the point where I can pull a few moves (yes, dancing in my home studio, late at night, I’d hope we all admit to doing that)

Forgive the low light and stubble, its late…I haven’t shaved in a week.

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Del

Something Old – LAST – Nine Inch Nails

I’m not saying what he’s doing now isn’t good. Someone is certainly enjoying it, somewhere.  This is my favorite track off of Broken, that wall of guitars is like a tsunami.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXc6cdK-9Sw

Something New : Nothin’ But Love – W.H.

Honestly, I’m just in a mood to hear Pop songs lately.  The 2cnd song off of Whitney Houston’s new album (yes, Whitney Houston) a fine specimen of R&B.  Don’t judge, in fact, that’s what the song is about.  Just get through the chorus for me (and those backing vocals!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLtWVgtOwMA

My closest friends in life share one thing in common, besides myself, the Pet Shop Boys. One friend favours Kylie and Madonna, and the other, Suicide and Kraftwerk; Yet they both meet in the middle regarding PSB.

I was fortunate enough to catch their show in NYC last week and afterwards had a nice chat with both Chris and Neil.  They are fans of the Sisters (and as it turns out, discuss my solo project with Peter Robinson of Popjustice…nice !)

As people they are gracious and open, as artists they remain relevant by caring deeply about production, songwriting, aesthetics and the fan connection.  In fact fans talk about them as a subject on par with Russian lit and macro-biology; worthy of analysis and dissection.

I asked two friends to help elaborate on their long and fascinating career. My contribution beyond this is a grainy photo of myself, aged 19, with Neil autographing a few items of mine at a record signing.

Del

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Domino Dancing by David Russell

(Manager of recording artist Sia)

A “latin” Pet Shop Boys track sounds a bit like an oxymoron, but in reality DOMINO DANCING is, for me, their finest pop moment.  It’s been said by Neil and Chris that they were inspired by the late 80’s freestyle explosion that was popular in the US at the time, particularly in New York City and Miami.  It was after hearing the various hit singles by the girl band Exposé that they decided to look up their producer, Lewis Matrineé, to produce the track.  Pairing DOMINO DANCING next to Exposé’s own LET ME BE THE ONE is a perfect pop match.

Even in its demo form, before Martinez added the synth-tinged orchestra stabs and calypso drum beats, DOMINO DANCING had a bit of an island sway to it.  It was the first time Pet Shop Boys had ever released a track so mournful, longing for love instead of commenting on it.

The latin moments continued in the homoerotic video for the track, which Neil

himself has said is singlehandedly responsible for ending their chart success in the states.  No matter; the song reached number 7 in the UK and remains and enduring pop classic.

…But Pet Shop Boys have always been less about chart success (as considerable as theirs has been: 38 top 20 singles in the UK) and more about the marriage of pop and art.  The idea that a song featuring a modern day Noel Coward rapping over beats inspired by Kurtis Blow could reach number 1 worldwide seems as preposterous now as it did then, and yet that is exactly what WEST END GIRLS managed.  It’s not easy to incorporate the ethos of punk, the beat of disco, the swell of orchestra, the sweat of after-hours, the horns of the island and chart success…but somehow PSB manage to do it over and over again.

VIDEOGRAPHY by Edward Quist

(Founder of Embryoroom and director of  best selling DVD Kuvaputki)

The Pet Shop Boys were first seen by my own eyes in mid April of 1985 for the video West End Girls. Clad in a black trench coat stood Neil Tennant and the other (who was transparent !), looking rather bemused, would be Chris Lowe. From that moment, I was captivated by something that I was too young to put my finger on. Over the years, the myriad of videos and subsequent images materialized, headed by various famed directors and intelligent art design.

These videos are a genre unto themselves, an alternate reality. Whether it be love, life, sex, religion, human rights or a sinister relationship with technology; the Videography of the PSB stands in the corridors where pop culture and high art meet. It’s a Sin, Before, Rent, Can You Forgive Her, Being Boring, and West End Girls are all landmarks in modern music videos and emerging music films. My own work through Embryoroom (The Third Rail & Litter to Society) were in part inspired by “the boys” work with Howard Greenhalgh.

I wonder where they will take image and videos next ? As of late, they have been cartoons and immersed in motion graphics in an excellent Douglas Hart / fan-made hybrid and spectacular multimedia tour. I suspect, in the not too distant future, there might be a Pet Shop Boys video compilation titled Holography. Where I imagine the PSB in 3D and 360 degrees.

Some fantastic records were torn to shreds upon initial release (U2 – The Unforgettable Fire, Kraftwerk – Electric Cafe , The Cult – Love).

It’s a good rule that the best and worst reviews should cancel each other out. What about when a review borders on slander ? Given the viral nature of the internet, and the incestuous world of grudges, this could be as simple as a blogger writing an untruth that becomes a matter of national gossip.

Character Assassination EP (Itunes 3/09) was inspired by an attack on a good friend. The concept for the song evolved into a discussion about how close to ruin we are, no matter how grand we think life is; most of what keeps us happy is often just an illusion. It is also a comment on the abuse media and its manipulation.

On a personal level, we all do things that aren’t ok morally within society but OK in our private lives. Thanks to the Internet and twitter, that necessary world of privacy is close to destruction… Its tough to be a deviant these days.

Click here to watch the video that my collaborators Embryoroom did for Character Assassination;

My favorite song on this EP, Harmony Park, can be streamed here.

http://delmarquis.com/pepsimax1

It was an anemic demo until the live drums were recorded…once inspired by that I added most of the electric guitar in the mix-room on a flawless Gretsch (I exclaimed, “this tone IS Soundgarden !”) The experience taught me to never discount a song, which can come together in the last moment.

Del
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P.S. – I’ve designing some guitar strap with an as-yet unnamed company, the prototypes should be back in October…so excited. Photo of my templates to the right along with an older strap I fashioned from a vintage belt.

………………….

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO:

Something New

Walter Jones – Dueteronomy

Blows my mind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-f2vEB1evg

Something Old

Shriekback – Accretions;
This song also blows my mind, and just one of those anomaly bands of the 80’s that could never exist now. So evil and So pop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzmO2mhxkdo

Hey Pepsimaxcasters… It’s been a blinding few weeks indeed. We have had some truly brilliant gigs – Leeds on Monday was mental… we had the Sheffield Wednesday firm in and it went off!!

And the The London Forum last Thurs was totally insane!! It was packed, the crowd knew every single word to every song and  everyone was jumping about and going crazy- at one point I thought the balcony was going to come down! We then went on and partied till the small hours in Camden… I didn’t feel to clever in the morning though!

I also wanna say a big thank you to the Pepsi Max comp winners for coming down and saying  hello – top geezers! Anyway just thought you’d like a sneak peek at one of our soundchecks. This is me doing “The Drugs Don’t Work” by The Verve – one of my favourite bands. Liam, Andy and I like to take it in turns to choose a song to cover to keep sounchecks fun! Enjoy… TC.

Fade’s Tour Diaries™….. part.3 in an intermittent series…

(or musings from across the globe.)

The Adelaide Shuffle

Not only does water run away down plug-holes the other way in the southern Hemisphere, but their dance moves have a distinct funk of their own. The Adelaide-Shuffle (modified from the erstwhile Melbourne-shuffle) is a spectacle to behold. Kind of like the Running Man, mixed-up with what we used to call the X-man in 1990, then sped-up and stripped of any recognisable “dancing” characteristics and replaced with the unsexy frenetic stomp of a wooden-legged man dealing with too-high a treadmill setting. People seem to bust this local move out at any given moment all over the club, for a burst of about 30 seconds of cardio intensity like a mating-ritual for ephedrine-drunk robots. It’s bad enough when the boys do it (and let’s face it, what dance move isn’t?) but some girls get involved too. It’s a wonder any pro-creation gets achieved at all in Southern Australia. This won’t be seen in a club near you soon. [*sauce got some footage tho…]

E-Cup Bolt-ons

The best self-description of a pair enhanced-breasts I’ve ever heard. Brisbanites don’t mince their words. They also party harder than anywhere else we’ve been this year. And look good while doing it. All year-round sunshine does wonders for keeping-up your beach-bod credentials and yet manage to never take yourself (or indeed anything) too seriously. The Monastery, Brisbane, we salute you. You bring the party.

The Return from Oz

22 hours in the air is just wrong. But coming down for one hour break to visit the toilets in Singapore airport is the most unexpected dose of luxury, your long-haul economy traveller can experience. [*pic attached] They are plusher than any of the hotels we’ve stayed in on this tour. They are nicer than my own bathroom at home. They are nicer than my whole flat tbh. Like when u go into a really flash restaurant loo and wished you lived there. (we all do that….right?). There is even an attendant guy actually cleaning- all the time- instead of offering you Chupa Chups and a £5 squirt of Hugo Boss. My parting tip to anyone flying-out East is to save your ablutions for Singapore airport.. and don’t do any home-improvements before you’ve taken notes there.