Greetings my farraginous faculae and welcome to the third edition of Farraginous Fridays.
A big thank you for those of you who read and commented on last week’s babe-based installment; it’s always good to have your rhapsodical remarks. This week I’m looking at music under the far more vast and undiscovered umbrella of SPACE!
Farraginous Friday #03 – Space : The farraginous frontier (SPOTIFY)
Farraginous Friday #03 – Space : The farragionus frontier (YOUTUBE)
The first astronomical disc to be spun this week is The Tornados‘ Telstar. This song from 1962 was named after the first satellite launched into space that was capable of relaying television signals. Written and recorded by the ever eccentric Joe Meek, this instrumental serves as a suitable and jubilant introduction to our gallant journey into the galactic musical galleries of the slightly less well-known. Try not to hum this for the rest of the day.
The Flaming Lips
Our shuttle’s next stop is with our Oklahoman, balloon-bearing friends, The Flaming Lips. It is my true belief that this wonderous band, led by the forever-young and exuberant Wayne Coyne, should be the first band to perform in space. Their live shows are comparable to having all of your birthdays and Christmases from the age of 3 through to 10 rolled into one. The sleeve notes for this song describe it as “An untested hypothesis suggesting that the chemical (in our brains) by which we are able to experience the sensation of being in love is the same chemical that caused the ‘Big Bang’ that was the birth of the accelerating universe” and I believe every joy-emitting word of it. The Soft Bulletin, from which the song originates, is arguably their best album; an ambitious leap from quirky, psych-punk-heads to purposeful and experimental, cosmic rockers.
Ears firmly pressed against the walls of the craft, we can hear moon-clambering frustrations from the painfully consistent Eels. Also gazing up at the stars (or maybe the heavens?) is the talented multi-instrumentalist that is Sufjan Stevens.
Ozma
Ordinarily firing out heavy power pop-laden guitar riffs with some extra twinkling from their aptly named (for the purposes of this blog post) keyboardist Star Wick, Ozma (ruler of the land of Oz?) deliver a peculiar and catchy Russian-based affair into our cosmos on this occasion. Flight Of Uri Gagarin, sees this Pasadena based quintet toy with traditional Russian instruments such as the balalaika to create the sound which defined their self-styled “Russian cold fusion” album, The Doubble Donkey Disc.
Never will there be a more perfectly obscure way to enjoy the story of man’s first triumphant departure in to space.
The gravity defying Super Furry Animals bring us a song that sincerely makes every man, woman and child want to travel in space… or at least to the dance floor. Rings Around The World is the fantastic opening track from the album of the same name.
The Only Ones
We land, this week, with the 70′s classic Another Girl, Another Planet from South London-born, punk-rockers The Only Ones which, coincidentally, was their only big hit. A surprisingly chirpy number considering the lacerated vocals of Peter Perrett depicting his struggle with drug addiction (“Space travels in my blood”).
The song is a regular feature on all rock ‘n’ rollers’ playlists, appearing on many a punk-rock / new-wave box set and I think the perfect way to end this week’s planetary playlist.
I truly hope you’ve enjoyed the little adventure of Farraginous Friday #03 and that you will add all comments you have regarding individual songs, the playlist or Farraginous Fridays in general.
Please continue to spread the word to all your friends and feel free to subscribe to the blog via email or the RSS feed on the right hand side of this page.
An extraterrestrial ta-ra for now…
Farraginous Francis x
Farraginous Friday #03 – Space : The farraginous frontier (SPOTIFY)
Farraginous Friday #03 – Space : The farragionus frontier (YOUTUBE)
