I'm a ghost

Spent a couple minutes catching up on those best-of lists of 2012, which make feel older and older each year. These guys appeared a bunch, and for good reason. Quite the catchy batch, and I'm glad the kids keep getting inspired by some extrapolated version of the synthpop of yore. This tune in particular perked my ears up while trying unsuccessfully to kick the jetlag via treadmill running. The experience was as close as I get to actual sleepwalking.

Chairlift - Ghost Tonight

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

A world so sweet and true

Love or hate, you can't deny the basic sweet-spot appeal of dreamy synth pop. I've spied curmudgeons who breathlessly grasp for pejoratives absently tapping their feet when they think no one's looking. I embraced the candy full-on a while back, and I've never found it hard to equally love "serious" music at the same time.

Which may be why it's cool to hear '70s proggers and other musos getting hip to such simple joys. Case in point — today's tunes, which by way of segue, feature Barbara Gaskin (faire maiden vocalist of yesterday's song) teamed up with Dave Stewart, who played in just about every Canterbury art rock band in shaggier-haired days (not the guy from Eurythmics).

This duo had some '80s hits, but generally played it under the radar. Honestly, they're hit or miss, but these two are surely hits in my mind. And mischievous ones at that, being radically rethought cover versions (check the originals here and here). The chorus of the first one, in particular, does transport me to a different world — accessible only for a few moments, and all the more sublime as a result. Plus, pitch bending!

Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin - I'm In A Different World
Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin - Roads Girdle The Globe

Quote love unquote me

Sorry, can't resist another one from my early NYC days. It's great that Stephin Merritt's Gershwin-esque songwriting chops have been given an appropriately-sized canvas in recent years. But I found him much more charming when he filtered his talents through dinky synthesizers and occasional magic banjo. Something about this one keeps getting me. It's far superior to the tired I album version. And the lyrics are the bees knees.

The Magnetic Fields - I Don't Believe You