Pet Shop Boys/Britney Spears/Adele/Rihanna + 3 (Marc Johnce Mashup) art review

 


As a lot of you music fans/petheads know that this was featured on the Pet Shop Boys official site a while back. I love Mash-ups only if everything is in rhythm and it's balanced. This is an excellent example of that, it's actually one of the few I heard that doesn't last an hour. I am not knocking the hour long ones because they are good, but sometimes keeping it basic is real good too! The title of the mash-up even stood out to me "Did You See Me Moving Along?" It kind of reminded me of other songs I have been listening to through the course of this year: Hanson's "Weird", A-ha's "I Wish I Cared",Depeche Mode's "People Are People","Shake the Disease","Try Walking in My Shoes","But Not Tonight", "Wrong","Enjoy the Silence",The Gorillaz- "Feel Good Inc.", Regency Buck "Free to Change Your Mind", New Radicals' "You Get What You Give", Erasure's -"The Circus", Anita Baker - "Giving You the Best That I've Got",Camouflage- "Great Commandment", New Order's "True Faith", Soft Cell's "Where The Heart Is","Insecure? Me?","Monoculture","Tainted Love", Human League's "Human", Phil Collins' -"In the Air Tonight", "Another Day in Paradise", and Pet Shop Boys' "Love, Etc", "It's Alright", "One Thing Leads to Another", "Lies"and "End of the World","Paninaro"," to name a handful that read struck out to me lyric wise, and some relate and some don't, but it defines a feeling of the power of love to keep moving along and hanging in there. In fact, It's actually inspiring and encouraging in my opinion, especially going through a rough time. It consists of The Pet Shop Boys - "Did You See Me Coming", Britney Spears - "Till The World Ends" ,Adele - "Rolling In The Deep", Huey Lewis & The News - "The Power Of Love", The All-American Rejects - "Move Along", The Bloodhound Gang - "Bad Touch" , Rihanna ft. David Guetta - "Who's That Chick" What's really dynamic about it as well, is that you have a nice amounts of generations here and ethnicity.

It's by Dan Mei and Marc Johnce (2009)

Mashup & Video Edit By Marc Johnce:
http://marcjohnce.com
http://www.facebook.com/marcjohncemashups
http://www.twitter.com/marcjohnce
here are the links for it or just type in "Did You See Me Coming" mash up on youtube, that's what I do.


The video in art aspects I would have to say it's an abstract, structured collage, meaning it have a bunch of different themes but at the same time, it have a relation to how people are in everyday life, almost like the title of the Godfathers' song "Birth, Work, School, Death", but more to the appeal to youth and how the world is today really. It's good to move along because situations are inevitable but it's up the person to decision what to do: either sink or swim. In other words it simplifies life in general in three minutes and thirty-seven seconds or one of the few mash-up that comprehends the meaning.



I hope it was alright to post this video, seeing it's for promotional use only, but I think it's worth posting about, not because it was featured on a band's site but it really speaks out to me. No more sugarcoating things but just enduring and hanging in there; the nice guys may finish last, but I find it worth it, in eternity when you know you all you can. That's what makes it in the end.

New arrivals!

Introspective and Please Further Listenings came in the mail last night! Thanks to Clare for telling about them! They looked good compare to what I thought, the Please case does have a crack on the side, but the CDs are well preserved!

Pet Shop Boys - Discovery (Live in Rio-1994) art review

Discovery Tour dates: 26 October-11 December 1994
production design/Lighting design: Abigail Rosen Holmes
choreography: Les Child;Claire Eastman


I finally watched Pet Shop Boys' Discovery concert all the way through on YouTube, I would love to see this on DVD someday with a commentary along with their movie It Couldn't Happen Here.

This piece starts off with camera footage of Pet Shop Boys and their travels to Latin America, variations of locations kind of like a travelogue, which was pretty cool to see while the song "The Man Who Has Everything" can be heard at the same time. "...Pet Shop Boys wanted a performance that reflected  the sense of sun and sexual liberation that could be found in places like Brazil..." Catalogue (p. 199)This particular concert was filmed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil(South America). The tour; however, was also in Singapore, Australia and Central America. The actual concert begins with a small hint of "Tonight is Forever" and moves on to "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing," this is one of my favorite bits because of the optical illusion, not only from the visual, but also as the giant props that almost look monumental. The outfits Neil and Chris wear absolutely remind me of a Andy Warhol-esque style. They continue to wear the outfits until after "One in a Million/Mr.Vain"(Culture Beat's song), which is my favorite Mash-ups they did out of the three. The other two Mash-ups are "Left to My Own Devices/Rhythm of the Night"(Corona's 1994 song, not to be confused with DeBarge's 1985 version) and "It's a Sin/I Will Survive"(Gloria Gaynor) and also includes a cover version of Blur's "Girls and Boys" and of course The Village People's "Go West."  This concert is very lively as well as erotic, I have to admit this, it's more erotic than the bits in Performance, but sex is a form of art. The line-up was pretty good, I must say! To me, it also gives a reminiscence of their previous tours. Meaning, the pieces including: "Paninaro"(even though it's the 95 version  they are performing, but it's 1994), "Domino Dancing", "King's Cross", and "It's a Sin" and used some of costumes from their 1989 tour MCMLXXIX. "'...And we reused things: some of the Derek Jarman films, some costumes, and sort of brought everything we'd ever done together...', Chris said. 'It was a straight-up concert in many ways. Apart from the naked people in cages.'And the coned hats with lights on,' Neil added.'" Catalogue (p. 199) I have to agree with Neil and Chris, I did have vibes of their previous concerts throughout the whole concert, especially "West End Girls" it definitely reminded me of Performance version almost. And then the fact it's traditional concert at the same time symbolic as well. It's full of art: from dancing, visuals, props, sexuality, costumes, etc. I like the idea of reusing ideas what people have done, it's original and sometimes actually work! The nun outfit in "It's a Sin/I Will Survive"  reminded me of the show The Flying Nun. "'I think this show reflects how we've changed', Chris noted. "We're more liberated, I think we're more liberated as people....Neil rejoin.'" Catalogue (p.199). I again concur, this was a very loose concert, almost like a collision of Performance and MCMLXXIX with a dash of Latin/erotic/liberated flavor. It also proves they can get with the times no matter the age range, it's also intriguing they kept it cultural and funfilled theme as well. It's a nice contrast between 80's and 90's, I must say! "' The whole thing about it was that it was a fun, sexy party show.' 'It was meant to be a party, 'Neil said.'" Catalogue (p.199) And that's exactly what it was! The only two songs that was played on guitar were "Rent" and "Suburbia" and the gold glitter jacket Neil wore is very similar to the one he wore in Performance and "How Can You Expect to be Taken Seriously?" music video only difference is that the cuffs wasn't black in this one. The "Go West" reprise had me laughing because as soon as the music goes out, then it comes right back on, and Chris was being a camera guy for a moment filming the crew and the miles of fan shouting and you have Neil introducing everyone which was respectful. The title itself "Discovery" was a combination between Disco and Very which was a creative move, because it does fit their previous material Disco and Very. A friend of mine Clare told me and she said it's also mentioned in an interview too. It also discovers how freely they can be as people and artists too, and also proving to make use of what they had done back then up to that point and even now. The tour program even have a reminiscence of "Yesterday When I was Mad" straight jacket on it.The VHS cover by Mark Farrow had the colors to represent the same colors of the Brazilian flag and the tone of the concert itself. Andy Earl's photograph of the metallic cone hats was brilliant because the sense of movement ( because of the messing with the speed of the camera) can be define and detected something fantastic is about to go on. They do have an age limit of 15 or older just to be safe. More facts can be found in their book Catalogue (p. 198-201) and other places.The format is only on VHS and Laserdisc as of now, rumor has it that it will be in another format soon.The colors were very vivid as well. It's definitely worth watching in my opinion.Oh I forgot to mention in "Paninaro", Chris does his notable turn arounds, the jacket he worn must have been heavy otherwise he would have spin a bit faster and last but not least, you see Neil doing something very unusual on "Being Boring" as in blowing a kiss.




Here's Sally Field as the Flying Nun, now compare what she's wearing to the female singer during "It's a Sin."

Two Smash Hits collections

The first one is the small Best of Smash Hits, the seller gave me misleading info and photo too, but I decided to keep it, it looks fascinating and it does have something related to what I was looking for. The first one was compiled by Neil Tennant, but was foreword by John Taylor of Duran Duran. It's almost like the other one, that's the one I wanted before.
The 2nd one is the best of Smash Hits:The 80's this one I didn't even know it had free posters: Wham! and John Taylor of Duran Duran. This is a remarkable book, it takes you on a journey of the best moments of Smash Hits and about the artists and bands themselves. It's something I would recommend along with the previous book. This one is foreword by Neil Tennant and edited by Mark Frith. Will edit to give more discussions about it.Oh and it does include Pet Shop Boys photos!

Another fantastic finds!

I can't believe I own a Marc Almond picture disc! They had a clearance sale they didn't have much of Soft Cell vinyls or CDs but they did have a nice amount of Marc Almond CDs and vinyls!

New items!

Amoeba music had some great Pet Shop Boys items! Again these look very artsy to me, I couldn't resist! They had a lot of limited editions as well including Yes, Etc, Actually Further Listening, Release, Alternative in a different case, this one is where Neil and Chris' head move around when you move it, they also had Singles collection 2000 two out of print singles! It's Fantastic! The vinyls are in great shape!

Collection update!

This is the Soft Cell vinyls I gotten too plus CDs, I know all are singles except The Art of Falling Apart, but they look very artsy and they were about a $1 couldn't resist a deal! The CDs I gotten were Non Stop Erotic Cabaret, Enchanted, Child Star(missing a cd), Monoculture(Single). I swear there's sales everywhere! It's very exciting!

A collection update with some awesomeness items!

I know what I said about I'm not really a vinyl collector, but after having a great deal at Amoeba Music today, I couldn't resist! Only reason I gotten these vinyls because these in particular look artsy in my opinion and my mother have gotten her record player fixed so once she's hooked it up, I'll have these for a quick spin! I also gotten Soft Cell vinyls for the same reason! Also came across some good CDs too: Fundamental/Fundamentalism and Disco 4. Once I get all my items that I've ordered, will post an updated collection photo!

Another collection update!

The Montage tour came in the mail today, have a few more items coming in soon! I Will have more art discussion posts in the near future!

R.I.P. Eric Watson (1955-2012)(updated photo wise)

I hope this is the right photo, it's the only one that I know of that looked accurate, I'm sorry if it's not the right photo. *I found an accurate photo!!!!!!!!

here's the site I found the photo click here
I was in shock about hearing Eric Watson passing away of a heart attack! A friend of mine Clare and a few others told me about what happened. I couldn't believe it, Even though he passed on the 18th of March! Photography is an art as you already know, so I thought it was necessary to do a post dedicated to him. I would have done this post sooner, but I was in school.

"'He was born on September 9, 1955 and from Newcastle, he attended Hornsey School of Art from 1977-1980, he gotten a degree of fine art and history. After his college years, he worked with the Rembrandt Brothers(Gered Mankowitz and Red Saunders) contemporaries included Adam Ant, before working for Still Records, where he created cover photos for Madness. He continued his photography from 1981-1987 in Smash Hits(magazine) where also his friend Neil Tennant was assistant editor. He also directed many artists videos including Pet Shop Boys, Rod Stewart, Chris Rea, Holly Johnson, and Dusty Springfield, Yaz and along with many others. Also did photography for Spandau Ballet and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. After that, he continued concentrating on Television commercials.

The videos he directed by the Pet Shop Boys were "West End Girls(co-director Andy Morahan)",'Love Comes Quickly(co-director Andy Morahan)', 'Opportunities(original and co-director Andy Morahan)','Suburbia', 'DJ Culture','Domino Dancing', 'What Have I Done to Deserve This?', 'Left to My Own Devices','It's Alright','So Hard','Jealousy' and 'Was It Worth It?' *He also was the film director in the film unit in the concert Performance.

The album/sleeves/singles photography includes: 'West End Girls', 'One More Chance', 'Opportunities', 'Love Comes Quickly', Please(along with other photographers), 'Suburbia','It's a Sin','What Have I Done to Deserve This?(with Val Wilmer)',Actually(with Cindy Palmano),'Rent','Always on my Mind','Heart(Annually using a mix of the 'Heart' photos for the book image)',Introspective(with Cindy Palmano, Peter Andreas, Michael Roberts),' It's Alright',Literally(UK cover with Lawrence Watson),'So Hard',Behaviour,'Jealousy (with George Mott)', 'DJ Culture',Discography,'Paninaro '95',Alternative(the interview portraits),'I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore' and 'New York City Boy.'

'He presented his photographs at the Blue Gallery in London and in the 'Icons of Pop' at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and also where his photos of the Pet Shop Boys were located during 2006.'
'During his final years, he worked as the Head of Photography in a small college in Rye, East Sussex. That is where he influenced and inspired a huge amount of younger students.'"(Catalogue, Wikipedia, www.guardian.co.uk (Facebook edition))

His art, will always be remembered in the Pop world, he is in a better place where no more suffering and flourish as a spirit. He's gone but certainly not forgotten! There are some site I cannot go on because of where I am so if you want to look more of him up, happy searching. His photos of his work can be found in Catalogue, various albums, his website, etc.

A PSB collection update!

I recently gotten Back to Mine today, and still awaiting a few items to come in, for the next few weeks I'm estimating. I liked the albums cover of it and the idea of artists revealing their inspirations in this manner, a nice respect idea I believe. Back to Mine was $0.09 plus shipping! Amazon and those deals I'm telling you!

A new Arrival!

I have two more items coming in soon, but "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing" single was one of the cheapest items on Amazon and thought to get! It came in a few days since I ordered it! Funny thing, the colors of it matched my attire yesterday! The CD isn't in bad condition but the back of the album case, consists of little cracks nothing too major. It includes the album version of course, mixes of the song and have "Violence(Hacienda version)", "Too Many People" and "West End Girls(Sasha Mix)." If you like good deals then, Amazon is packing with them! The album art consist of Neil in the middle with a overly excited shouting pose and little Chris around him in a about to be moving pose and the CD itself have pink silhouettes of poses of Neil and Chris on it. It has a symmetrical relation to the album art between colors and the musicians.

Another artsy photo, I think.

I know this was a previous pet text, I think Neil did this one, I can't remember exactly. I find this too an art piece or an art expression. Some simple based quote "People Before Profit" I find this a strong phrase or saying because, in this day of time, that's all it matters: profit. I mean how can they have profit without people to have it. There's a Bible verse: The Love of Money IS the root of all evil. Some People say its the money...it's not, it's the LOVE of it. Money is a necessity, but it's not all worth it, it can't make you happy. Even the most successful people can still be miserable, even when you die, you can't take the money with you so why crave it? I also like the fact the banner itself consist of two secondary colors: green and purple. You can tell that the photographer took notice at focal point and position, even if it's a phone image. Then by having tents behind the banner just reveals how there's nothing new under the sun. I also like this photo because it represents a voice for people who can't speak or see, and if they are homeless, it makes people want to think twice in some cases.

Marc Almond with Andy Warhol photo

 

I find this photo so awesome knowing Marc Almond had a photo with Andy Warhol, such precious and fantastic memories an artist could have! There's one of Marc and Dave with Andy but I can't find it at the moment, will post when I can get to it. I love it when an artist of any medium get to see one of their inspirations!

Something looks pretty abstract

The latest pet text is about mixing, Chris Lowe took a photo of this mixing data, but to me, it looks pretty abstract. It have the effect of looking symmetrical at the same time asymmetrical. The line in middle and the angles make it symmetrical but the asymmetrical part is where the lines shooting more on the right side. I can't read or tell what the data means of what genre the new album and song would be, but from the lines, it might be very artsy than usual. At first, I thought it was a digital bush or tree or something, I never seen lines looking chaotic(actually I have, kinda went a bit dramatic here), it almost look like something Jackson Pollock would have done.

Bob Marley - Is this love / Soft Cell - Tainted Love (from movie JUST GO...

 This clip have some adverts of the movie as well as the woman modeling and it's looped as well.

I played this mash-up before I found out it was on the 2011 movie "Just Go With It." I had no idea it was on a film, this mash up along with the 1964 version of "Tainted Love" by Gloria Jones appeared on the movie "Beauty Shop."Now out of all the times "Tainted Love" appeared on movies, shows, etc, this is the first time for me to hear a mash-up of it on a movie especially using a contrast genre; reggae with it. I personally thought it went well with Bob Marley and the Wailers' "Is This Love?" Even though they are different genres, they both have a sense of insecure love or the feeling what happened with love? Could it work or not? I heard several mash ups with "Tainted Love" and I believe this is one of my favorites, it was actually funny that it was on a movie, just goes to show that "Tainted Love" will always be known covered, sampled, radio appearance, etc. This appears on the scene where the young woman in a swimsuit walking out the water, the same one Adam Sandler's character is supposedly in love with. The movie won the Teen Choice Award and was nominated by MTV Movie Award and the Razzie Award. I would say it's pretty cliched but, the soundtrack using mash-ups at the same time using regular songs was pretty cool!

Pet Shop Boys - Love etc. art review

I find this video quite fascinating a definite change from their other videos where they are actually animated, The way it started off with a row of hearts with he word "Love" on the ribbon and having daggers/swords puncturing the heart, kind of reminded me of "Tainted Love" a little bit and then seeing skulls being held in a manner like that made me wonder if it's symbolic type of art or just odd, but that's what I like about this video. It reminds me of a video game type feel to it, only thing needed was a score between Neil and Chris or a Player 1 or a Player 2. Kind of like Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Californication" video where you have the band members in a video game during the video and have score numbers, If I'm not mistaken, then again the animation is very different from this video. This video I find eccentric because of having a mix of black and white with color. Symbolism I would say when parts of the lyrics is coming to life as in seeing love (heart), luck (four leaf clover) something like that. This video actually also remind me of the artist Banksy, he's known to do graffiti art but not exactly as graffiti like tagging but more of dark humor with stenciling. And "Love Etc" definitely have some kind of dark humor, but it contrasts because it's sending a message "You need Love" and "Too much of everything and anything is never enough" I have to agree especially in a world we live in today. I really like the usage of having a pac-man in there, it was like a sadistic one because of having little teeth like a shark would have. To me that symbolizes how money and evil can eat up on people and with all that fails, choose love! This music video I think have a basic vibe, something straight to the point not something complex where someone need to spend several hours to comprehend. So overall, this is good video and it absolutely sends out an excellent reminder for people: money is only temporary but love is forever that's why you need it.


Here's a Banksy piece, this reminds me of the part in "Love, Etc"where you see couples kissing from straight to gay.