When I was going through my old cassettes the other day I found the soundtrack to the 1987 film "Hiding Out." I'd forgotten how wonderful it is, how much it used to mean to me and popped it immediately into my boom box (that I set up a few months ago after getting tired of nothing but constant streams and downloads of digital music.)

...in the 80s I really only loved two songs on it. "Real Life" by Black Britain and Boy George's opening track "Live My Life." But now I hear the cohesiveness of all the songs in relation to the angst and frustrations of teenage life and the film in general... (see here for full track listing)

Scissor Sisters' new album is their most "out there" album yet! It's amazing and they wear their Bee Gees/Queen/Elton John influences like a second skin. Some of the songs may be more fit for gay night clubs than mainstream audiences, but for anyone who loves their disco mercilessly beat-driven and all sweat-inducing...well...wow!!

Night Work certainly lacks subtley with its phallic imagery (just give "Harder You Get" a listen) but it also knows its way very well around the dancefloor. Forget the lascivious invitations for casual gettogethers and promises of safe sex (on songs such as "Whole New Way") and enjoy the show!:) Your cardiac work-out and dance-happy feet will thank you!

My favorite bonus?...on "Any Which Way" Kylie Minogue shows up in the chorus! Other highlights? On "Fire with Fire" (soundling eerily like the band Styx) the mood is light and hopeful and on title track "Night Work" the mood is actually a bit Loverboy's "Working for The Weekend"...both in content and spirit...the Scissor Sisters have definitely got their retro on throughout the entire album and that's a very good thing for anyone looking for a bit of  70s and early 80s nostalgia!:)

The soundtrack to "Wicker Park" is one of my favorite albums and it's one of those rare instances (for me, at least) where I love every single song! Whether it's the melancholic and dreamy "Maybe Tomorrow" by the Stereophonics or Danny Loher's version of  "The Scientist" (so much more heartbreaking than Coldplay's) the sound is phenomenal...and like so many of my favorite soundtracks far better than the movie it goes with...

The Dead Weather make dark and bleak sound beautiful and lovely...I can't get enough of either "Horehand" or "Sea of Cowards"...both albums are so raw and amazing it's as if every note reaches inside me and takes everything out, replacing it all with something halfway between the blues and gut-wrenching sensuality...wish I could truly do these two cds the justice they deserve!:)

Three AWESOME novels about music I hope to get the time to write about soon...hope you're having a great week!:)

The first is witty, sometimes a bit too dry and serious, but always interesting and very British 60s music...the second is (for me, at least) a bit far-fetched plotwise, but has a lot to say about music and music criticism and the third...wow...it's spunky and fun and truly captures the spirit behind loving music more than almost anything else in life (the cover is fabulous!)