Too painful to look at the camera

Synths and glam may have been part of my diet as an 80s child but I never totally fell in love with 80s music. It’s only now – and after the main revival of 80s chic has passed that am I coming to appreciate what the decade of decadence produced.

Recently I went to Lovebox in London’s Victoria Park and went bananas over the bananas Grace Jones. It turns out another 80s superpower won my heart more – Tears for Fears. Well not quite, a few acts before Grace came BBC Sound of 2010 nominees – Hurts. Tears for Fears can only dream of being able to produce their kind of music – with all the technological advancement in the last 30 years that Hurts have to play with.

The northerners’ powerful, catchy and epic pop surprised most of the crowd – especially when they started singing along to songs they’d never previously heard. Although they didn’t win the Sound of 2010 – I expect Hurts to be the most successful from the shortlist. Ellie Goulding? Yeah – no one cares.

Here is a live version of my favourite song at the moment Better Than Love:

You can also watch the music video for Better Than Love on youtube. Or you can watch the brand new music video for Wonderful Life which they are re-releasing as their next single.

Especially when an arty fan of James and the Jewellery Store from Copenhagen makes a music video of Lights Go Dim. Only Danes, as the inventors of Dogma 95, can get away with camcorder films – Festen is one of my favourite movies.

You can download an MP3 of Lights Go Dim from my previous post about James and The Jewellery Store. But his story driven lyrics, bound with the sound of Sufjan Stephens on burlesque, deserve the attention of any art house film maker:

It also means I lived through the 80s, but being brought up in Hong Kong I missed out on all the psychedelic British kids TV. Rod Thomas clearly got a fair dose as his video for Same Old Lines shows:

This folkster from Wales played at a few summer festivals, including Glastonbury and Latitude. His music is accessible yet distinctive – I guess what being “Generation Y” is all about – standing out from a crowd of many talented people.

My parents fed me a diet of Tears for Fears, David Bowie and Roxy Music with their cheesy synthetic beats as a side, and you can hear them garnish Rod Thomas‘ songs – although James Taylor is definitely a main ingredient. 

Interpretations of music are often revealing, and James Yuill picked out the 80′s from the Rod Thomas sound palette when he remixed Same Old Lines.  Oh, and here’s the mp3:

Rod Thomas – Same Old Lines – James Yuill Remix (mp3)

Before my love affair with my inner geek began, myself, Kaziu and Ellis went to see The Brute Chorus at 93 Feet East. Powered by a Brick Lane curry and armed with my new Sanyo Xacti HD camcorder – I captured their single, Lets Grow Fins, for your pleasure. Sadly its quite compressed, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. More videos and music on their way very soon.