This bright hour

A good pop song says very little about its origins. Who knows whether the band spent years and albums studiously crafting their technique or simply flung themselves out of the seas of noise like an evolutionary jackpot winner. From what I understand, this Danish group would fall closer to the latter category. But I'm not here to affix labels. I don't care about the upbringing of my party guests. I just want them to put magic in the air.

Sort Sol — White Shirt

An all-starry night

OK, just one more from the extended Can family. All-star dream team bands are usually a dicey proposition. Just ask many a prog rock outfit or the Brooklyn Nets. The egos in the room tend to suck the life out of the music. Or everyone has a different idea of what's going on. The solution seems to lie in not taking things too seriously. 

I'm not sure who put this band together, but who can help but be intrigued by this assemblage, especially considering Jaki Liebezeit is on drums and Arthur Russell wrote the lyrics. Despite his early technical innovations, I enjoy almost nothing The Edge has put his name to, so this company is a nice surprise. This tune sounds like nothing any of these guys are known for. It's like they met up on the bandstand at a German nightclub and improvised something that works for both dinner and dancing. All in all, a very pleasing way to spend the next 8 minutes of your life.

Jah Wobble, The Edge, Holger Czukay — Hold On To Your Dreams

The truth about Benghazi...

is that some surprisingly delectable multicultural pop originated from there. And most people only think about Libya when dictators fall or when Republicans spew conspiracy theories. Ahmed Fakroun went on to achieve global stardom with some slick crossover tunes. I'm sure this early-'80s number would sound equally slick if subjected to proper digital cleanup, but I like the scratchiness of this version. Sounds desert-dusty and jerry-rigged from a scan of radio fragments of its day.

Ahmed Fakroun — Fil Moden El Kibira

Pause

That moment where you have to slow yourself to a near-halt and try to grasp the fleeting feeling of shifting tracks as things move decisively onto a new course. It's probably not possible to bring your mind to a full stop, but you might get close enough to glimpse a coherent past, present, and future all at once. Here's 5 minutes worth of music to accompany the effort.

Ryuichi Sakamoto — Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

Medium rare

There comes a time when it's hard to make distinctions between A-list, B-list, and even lesser bands of the post-punk era. I wasn't around to make those judgments first hand anyway, so it's all retrospective evaluations of other people's memories. And aren't we all in the same gang in the end? Listening to this track, I'm happy to imagine Medium Medium were the most innovative mofos in the UK. I might even be willing to believe they invented the slap bass and dour vocal posturing.

Medium Medium - Nadsat Dream

Harmolodic happening

It's like Ornette Coleman said — if you've got a band of great improvisers, let 'em fly all at once. I'm paraphrasing. Bad-ass drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson clearly modeled his Decoding Society on Coleman's "harmolodic" approach and very un-snooty welcoming of electric instruments into the party. The band's records — sometimes dense, often super-energetic, always colorful — are absolutely worth checking out. 

Here are a couple tunes from the bizarrely-jacketed Barbecue Dog, which features not only a young Vernon Reid (on banjo?!), but also that sweet anomaly of a drummer-penned piece without a single drum to be heard.

Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society - Yugo Boy

Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society - Mystery At Dawn

Traveling inward

Sorry to bail on a Thursday tune. Life's distractions sometimes overwhelm. But here we are away from all that noise and back into the world of searching sound, courtesy of one of Australia's finest avant-post-whatever bands. I really want them to play at my next birthday.

The Makers Of The Dead Travel Fast - Untitled

The Makers Of The Dead Travel Fast - Three Heads

Dazzling

Dazzle Ships is one of those albums people love in hindsight or at least in principle— the archetypal non-commercial "serious art" statement by perennial chart-toppers. I admit I'm mostly on board with that. And conceptually, I do like the idea of dazzle (anti-)camouflage, with its intent to confuse rather than conceal. I guess that's what's going on with the album's dour abstractions. But then they throw in a pop gem like this one, which would surely give their ship away to enemy rangefinders.

Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark - Telegraph

Summer mirage

I have hazy childhood memories of mid-level MTV hits from The Fixx. For some reason, I spent a lot of time wondering about that second "x" in the name. Seemed designed to make them appear extra intense, which I suppose New Wave often wants to be. Years later, I was surprised to find myself really enjoying the stainless steel pop of their Reach The Beach album. Worth checking out, although there is the headscratcher of why they bothered employing the world's most indistinct and boring drummer when cheaper machines were very much available.

Meanwhile, it seems we're in for a little heatwave. Which calls for mirages in the shape of music. Which this one totally is for me right about now.

The Fixx - Reach The Beach

Soundtrack to anticipation

Well, this is probably the only time you'll ever see anything resembling Tom Cruise's mug on the 'blague. I don't have many associations with Risky Business, but this tune from Tangerine Dream's soundtrack (yes, them again) really put me into a frozen contemplation when I realized how deeply engrained it is in my brain. Since I can remember, this exact tune has played in my head in those quiet, abyss-facing interludes before big life moments of consequence, the ones where you are totally and painfully aware of the loudness of your own breathing. It spans nearly every variation of that experience across my memory. Which is both amazing and a little sad that I'm only now becoming conscious of it. Anyway, another good reason to keep TD on regular rotation.

Tangerine Dream - The Dream Is Always The Same

Big sunset

I'll admit it, various daily grinds have gotten on top of me and fatigue has set in. The time is ripe for a little 'blague vacation, so I'll be laying low for the next week. Here's a fitting sunset ride-off tune, consumed as I still am with Tangerine Dream and their many flavors of reflection. This one comes from a soundtrack to a movie about baby aliens stranded on Earth and discovered by the dude who one short year later would star in Revenge of the Nerds. Hang on to that mental image for a few days. See you back on 4/9.

Tangerine Dream - Alley Walk

Where the moon is, that's where I am

Having wasted a few hours half-watching the Oscars, I can't think of a better corrective to the movie industry's desperate self-promotional ploys than the sweet intonations of Daniel Johnston. I'll take his sad madness over the sorry entertainers of the red carpet almost any day.

Daniel Johnston - Sorry Entertainer

Synthesizers in crisis

If you dig The Cars (debut album, at least) as much I do, today's song will be quite a treat. Aside from looking awesome in their videos, keyboardist Greg Hawkes clearly had some ideas of his own. They seem to involve a kid running from both FBI and KGB agents in a downward spiral of plot twists in my made-up film. They also involve some sweet pitchbending (perk your ears up at 2:32). The fact that some of my own synth adventures seem at home in this soundworld only make me fonder. Thanks to Jason for hipping me to this one.

Greg Hawkes - Block Party

Lovable loser

I love that ELO have been thoroughly rescued from the dustbin of AOR history, and that Jeff Lynne's insistent fusion of Beatles and bombast seems to have the respect it always deserved. Still, I suspect their '80s output will remain stashed in the attic. Which is a pity. Secret Messages has some killer moments. This is my favorite, with its preposterous rainy day verses (synth sax!) and equally preposterous chorus (TR-808 handclaps!). Totally mismatched and totally worth blasting out loud. I'll stand this one next to "Evil Woman" any day. Dig this one too from the same album.

Electric Light Orchestra - Loser Gone Wild

Swim across oceans

Remember when it felt metaphorical to talk about a small world? It was a big, big world for so long that people now coming of age will never truly appreciate that dizzying sense of distance, things being so flattened and easily available in the digital version these days [commence old man exhalation]. Imagine then the excitement or confusion for those exposed to these transcontinental tracks by Hector Zazou, Bony Bikaye, and a couple weird German dudes called CY1. Some call this a European answer to My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts. I say that's a fine description. And certainly worth your attention, especially if you appreciate how long it takes to swim across oceans.

Zazou/Bikaye/CY1 - M'Pasi Ya M'Pamba
Zazou/Bikaye/CY1 - Mangungu

In session

Let's hear it for the session men. The best ones find a way to make their mark. Their voices sneak into your consciousness even while wrapped up in other people's music. The rest wear ponytails and/or goatees.

Chances are, if you like Talking Heads' Speaking In Tongues album, you're already a fan of Wally Baradou. He was quite the session butterfly throughout the '80s, so I'm sure he's planted some tasty licks in a diverse number of ears. We're going HAM on Wally today, rocking a generous three jams from his classy solo work. Here's to it.

Wally Baradou - Canyons
Wally Baradou - Endless Race
Wally Baradou - Chief Inspector

Franco Italo

Amid all the gloom about the euro zone meltdown, I think it's helpful to focus on what really unites the continent — namely an appreciation for Italo Disco. Here is a French variety, well-suited to the strutting lifestyle of your dreams.

Le Club - Un Fait D' Hivers

Bad drugs

Oh man, how could I have neglected to post this on Halloween! I'm not much of a goth fan, but I do like how Bauhaus sometimes came at it from a darkly psychedelic angle. This one is particularly queasy, with a swirling dubbiness that seems to come straight from a thoroughly gone night of debauchery.

On the lighter side, every time Peter Murphy moans the chorus, all I see is this.

Bauhaus - She's In Parties

Pale boys approaching

I know it feels like a lingering summer out there, but I'm anticipating the upcoming chill and crunchy leaves that so often brings vaguely gothy new wavey stuff like this to mind. Is it overwrought? Will I ever outgrow it? Listening to these tracks back-to-back, gotta say no and no. I don't even care if the second one is double its appropriate length, that chorus is just tasty.

Sad Lovers and Giants - Vendetta

Sad Lovers and Giants - Man of Straw

Music for babies' expanding minds

From the minimalist tension of Friday's track to the wide-eyed wonder of these Japanese new agers. I don't know why I have a near-endless attention span for this kind of stuff. Maybe it's because I can imagine a 2-year-old version of myself looping it in his head while making all kinds of discoveries about water and clouds. At any rate, Yellow Magic Orchestra's Haruomi Hosano produced this, and that alone can be your official seal of quality.

Inoyama Land - Glass Chaim