THE SEARCH FOR CELINE IS OVER

So Allen Lanier is gone.

Which may only mean anything to you if yr a fan of Blue Oyster Cult. Which I am.

Anyway, Lanier was a founding member of the band, and even contributed a few songs. Like this one.

"Blue Oyster Cult: Searching for Celine" (Watch on YouTube)

Lanier died from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (C.O.P.D.), a disease associated with smoking. Which is worth mentioning given his pre-death bio on the BOC website.



So let that be a lesson to you, kids.

Anyway, I’m sorry to hear he’s gone.

Don’t fear the reaper,

This is dF

LISTEN TO IT #83: PRACTICALLY ALL IS NEARLY FORGIVEN

Franz Ferdinand have returned.

I was starting to wonder if they would. Nine years ago, they were one of the hottest bands in the UK, thanks to their breakthrough hit “Take Me Out”. Their debut album was promising, and their second LP, You Could Have It So Much Better, made good on that promise and then some.

Then it kind of went off the rails with their third album, Tonight, which added seedy keyboards to their post-punk-revival sound and sounded like one big hangover. It didn’t help that by then, leader Alex Kapranos was doing things like attempting to hook up with Xenomania (the production team behind Girls Aloud) for the third album because FF was always meant to be a pop-star band.

Tonight actually was a decent album, but it did take some getting used to, and while it sold well and got generally good reviews, critics didn't seem as enthusiastic about it as the first two albums. That was 2009, and after that FF seemed to drop off the radar. So when I heard they had a new album coming out, the big question was: does it still matter?

Judging from the first two singles, the answer seems to be, quite possibly, yes.

Musically it doesn’t deviate from the FF post-punk dance formula, and sounds like a continuation of the previous album, only more recharged, as though the time off has done them good.

So there’s reason for optimism – provided you liked FF to begin with. This won’t win over the haters. But I have to say, I’m liking these two songs.

Also, bonus points for the Saul Bass/Penguin design ripoff homage.

Listen.

"Franz Ferdinand - Right Action (Official Video)" (Watch on YouTube)

"Franz Ferdinand - Love Illumination (Official Video)" (Watch on YouTube)

PARENTAL GUIDANCE: The second video is somewhat NSFW (due to stripper pasties).

Weather permitting,

This is dF

DO NOT ADJUST YR LIVEJOURNAL

ATTN LiveJournal readers:

If you’ve been seeing recent posts of mine pop up more than once on yr friends page, it’s because of the following:

1. I crosspost from Dreamwidth.

2. LJ has been super-slow in completing the crosspost.

3. So slow, in fact, that I assumed it failed and manually reposted on LJ –

4. – after which LJ finally got around to processing the crosspost.

Which I assume is because Obama and Vlad Putin are fighting again. Or something.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Double vision,

This is dF