Peters and Pixies

By Swedish indie pop/rock band Peter, Bjorn and John I have stand-alone’s Writer’s Block (2006), Living Thing (2009). I read decent reviews of the band & having Swedish roots myself I felt it was time to nurture those roots with some music. There are many bands with a similar sound – wry lyrics, sweet melodies, song nicely with a solid, if gentle, rock beat. Think a slightly more rock, folk-rock Simon & Garfunkel. Two cds were enough to satisfy my roots.

The next on the shelf is Peter and Gordon: The Ultimate Collection. Tight harmonies, radio friendly songs & a direct line to The Beatles via Peter Asher’s sister Jane (who nearly married Paul McCartney). They had hits written by McCartney & charted too many songs to list here. The cd collection is a rich introduction to the British sound off the mid60’s.

Though at the time they were regarded more as bubblegum than serious like, say, The Yardbirds, thanks in part to their often lush orchestral arraignments. The production work is still amazing on songs like A World Without Love & Woman. Once their moment passed Peter Asher went on to become one of the most influential music producers in California with several top of the charts lps by Linda Rondstadt, James Taylor, Cher.

Further along the shelf are Pixies who were critical darlings in the early 90’s. They influenced bands such as Nirvana & Radio head with their alt-rock sound that as a fun mix of surf, punk & experimental with surreal lyrics. I had as cassettes Doolittle & Bossanova – but, as all too often happened, both tapes stopped working. I eventually replaced them with a stand-alone best of compilation.

Tracks from the first couple of lps often show up in movies, TV shows to quickly establish a character as a nerdy nonconformist who is more hip than the room. My favourite track is This Monkey Wants To Go To Heaven. Quirky fun music & worth tracking down if you want to be more hip than my blog 🙂