bonnie blips.

Blip Transmission #50

Metric/Dead Disco

First off: I absolutely LOVE Metric and adore this song. The lyrics are smart, the song is anthemic and you can bounce around to it. This is also a complete staple to their live show and many feel that this song is at it’s best live where it’s extended with Emily ad-libbing poetry in the middle. If ever you get the chance to see them live, you absolutely must do it. Metric is one of those new new wave acts that does it best and this year’s Fantasies was self-released, keeping with their indie spirit.

Blip Transmission #49

The Cure/Disintegration

This album is epic, and it came out when I was in high school which in turn brings back lots of memories. I remember the big tour that summer - The Cure, New Order and The Sugarcubes being THE event that year and of course I couldn’t go. When I heard this epic title track from the Disintegration album for the first time, I got shivers. It was that kind of song, and it still is.

Blip Transmission #48

VNV Nation/Arena

For many, people think that EBM is not quite emotional. Quite the contrary -especially in the case of VNV Nation’s catalog as they explore so many different emotions, especially as their body of work matures.

Blip Transmission #47

Information Society/What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)

I was hoping to find the original version with the original video, but the video dubbed with a remix will have to suffice. I absolutely LOVED this song, and even though it’s so very dated now, both musically and visually (spandex bicycle shorts, anyone?), the song still is a great track that you can totally go nuts on the dance floor with.

Blip Transmission #46

Otis Redding/Try A Little Tenderness

Whenever I hear this song, I automatically thing of Duckie from Pretty In Pink lip-synching along. It’s an amazing movie music moment, and it can’t help but put a smile on your face. Oh, Andie, why did you have to go for Blaine?

Blip Transmission #45

Murray Head/One Night in Bankok

When this song came out, I was all but 10 or 11 the song was so oddly alluring to me. An unlikely pop song with its talk-singing and chess-ridden lyrics, it became very dated, very quickly.

Blip Transmission #44

Depeche Mode/It’s No Good

The period after Songs of Faith and Devotion was quite an uncertain one for Depeche Mode, since Alan Wilder left, and Dave Gahan was on the verge of collapse from his addictions. When Ultra finally came out, it was a true return to form - a dark album that is one of their best, most confessional albums to date. This video, directed by longtime collaborator Anton Corbijn, portrays DM as a sleazy lounge act - while tongue in cheek, DM has always been on the darker side of pop.

Blip Transmission #43

Pat Benatar/Wuthering Heights

Great cover of the Kate Bush classic. I don’t really think anyone else could really pull this one off. This was never a single, so this video is pretty much a compilation of other videos.

Blip Transmission #42

Nitzer Ebb/Join In The Chant

The first time I heard Nitzer Ebb, I was in high school and my jaw dropped. I always loved electronic music, and this was harsh, mechanic, and aggressive. I was a total non-conformist in high school and this was one of the bands that really got me into industrial (which was really still quite a new and small genre at the time). They were also one of the opening acts at the first concert I went to, Depeche Mode at Giants Stadium in 1990.

Blip Transmission #41

Weezer/Undone (The Sweater Song)

This was the first song I heard from Weezer, and I loved it. It was everything I loved about indie rock, but with a power pop sensibility and it got stuck in my head like glue. Weezer’s “Blue Album” could be credited with the American indie/emo explosion in music over the past decade to a certain degree.