rock nyc radio November 3rd, 2016
T5 – Swet Shop Boys – T5 stands for Terminal 5, the place where Swet Shop Boys have the biggest problems, moving across the world, as 20 something Muslim boys. “Oh no, we’re in trouble”, they worry “TSA always want to burst our bubble.” Leaving SSB somewhere between bemused and terrified as they suffer through constant random checks
No Surprises – Ramin Djawadi – If you’ve been watching HBO’s “Westworld” series, a show I toggle from love to dislike, though my bet is episode six will see if they have managed a payoff. Except for Evan Rachel Wood, who is stupendous as always. I have admired her since 2007’s “The Life Before Her Eyes” and her performance in “Westworld” is bravado and then some. This song is the Radiohead one, an instrumental on piano, played at the saloon in Westworld.
No Surprises – Radiohead – Egotistically and self-serving by the Cambridge boys, who seem to believe that the woes of life that fulfill themselves in their existence are wasted. Why can’t they all be upper middle class public school planks like Radiohead? Anyone? Sileeence...
Lonesome Town – Paul McCartney – This is Paul dealing with Linda’s death through a Ricky Nelson cover, so heartbreaking that the always optimistic Sir Paul can’t find his way through it. It is a quiet pal over a song that deals in loss through retreat and also through nostalgia.
Make America Great Again – Pussy Riot – I’m not crazy about the video, it imagines a hyperbolic Trump Presidency, while the song itself occurs in the here and now and flips the catchphrase. Nadya makes a valid point, what would make America great(er) are the very things that Americans seem to think are weakening it. This song, which will probably be more single of the year, is catchy, sexy and scary, the whispered song title is eery and terrifc at the same time.
