That new album by Ivy, All Hours, is excellent by the way. The download version below is a continuous mix, done as a single 70-minute file. Enjoy the tuneage!

Download ‘Cheap, Painless & Easy: Scrubbles.net Fall 2011 Mix (66.93 MB Zip file)

Track listing:
1. Neon Indian — “Polish Girl” (Era Extraña, 2011)
2. Herb Alpert — “Beyond” (Beyond, 1980)
3. Cliff Martinez — “They’re Calling My Flight” (Contagion soundtrack, 2011)
4. Lady Gaga — “Fashion of His Love” (Born This Way bonus track, 2011)
5. Frankmuzik — “Ludicrous” (Do It in the AM, 2011)
6. Pet Shop Boys — “Flamboyant” (PopArt: The Hits, 2003)
7. Still Corners — “Endless Summer” (Cuckoo EP, 2011)
8. Ivy — “Everybody Knows” (All Hours, 2011)
9. Sarah Cracknell — “Taking Off for France” (Lipslide UK edition, 1997)
10. Madonna — “Deeper and Deeper (Instrumental)” (single b-side, 1992)
11. Bob, Gordon, Maria and Susan — “My Name” (Sesame Street: Aren’t You Glad You’re You?, 1977)
12. Bobby Caldwell — “All of My Love” (Carry On, 1983)
13. Melissa Manchester — “The End of the Affair” (Emergency, 1983)
14. Ben Rector — “Let the Good Times Roll” (Something Like This, 2011)
15. The Monkees — “Apples, Peaches, Bananas and Pears” (1966 outtake first issued on Missing Links, 1987)
16. The Mamas & The Papas — “You Baby” (If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears, 1966)
17. Matthew Sweet — “She Walks the Night” (Modern Art, 2011)
18. Baby Washington — “I Can’t Wait Until I See My Baby’s Face” (single a-side, 1964)
19. Dusty Springfield — “Small Town Girl” (The Look Of Love, 1967)
20. Johnny Crawford — “Cry On My Shoulder” (single a-side, 1963)

I remember the footage of Diana and Michael doing “Upside Down” in concert, but this segment of Miss D. and Larry Hagman crooning together is totally new to me. Yeeks!

Defying expectations, the Pet Shoppers followed Nighlife with 2002′s Release, a laid-back, guitar-oriented effort. This album was greeted with perhaps the worst reception of the boys’ entire career. People wanted nothing to do with a glum, introspective PSB, apparently. It’s actually not all that bad, but the shortage of memorable tunes doesn’t exactly make this a keeper, either. “Home and Dry” was the oddly bland choice for first single, with the anthemic (thanks to Johnny Marr’s guitar) “I Get Along” being a much improved follow-up. I ended up getting a cheap used copy of the deluxe Release recently. The album is pleasant chill out music, marred by the dated (and unnecessary) vocoder effects on several tracks. One highlight is “The Night I Fell In Love,” Tennant and Lowe’s airy tale of bedding a macho rapper who bears a striking resemblance to Eminem. That and “I Get Along” belong on a PSB’s Greatest compilation. The rest, not so much.

Completing my Pet Shop Boys journey meant downloading the two new tracks off their 2003 compilation, PopArt: The Hits. The sleek “Miracles” was a good stab at relevance, but the real stunner was “Flamboyant”. This and its b-side, “I Didn’t Get Where I Am Today,” count as two of my favorite PSB tracks. I’m also loving the “Flamboyant” video, a dizzying montage which includes clips of Japanese game show contestants making cleverly choreographed shapes from their bodies. Like the Pet Shop Boys themselves, it’s bizarre and brilliant at the same time.

By 1962 many Motown songs were crossing over to the (white) pop charts, but by and large it peddled energetic R&B to a primarily black audience. Gordy was also branching out to jazz, country and gospel with new sub-labels Workshop Jazz, Mel-o-Dy and Divinity — examples from which pepper this set, but never overwhelm as on the ’63 and ’64 volumes. Mostly it was R&B ballads and dance tunes, however, simply produced but with just enough of a “spark” to give it mass appeal and an enduring quality. Probably the best examples from this year came via trio of pleasant, Latin-influenced hits that Smokey Robinson crafted for Mary Wells — “The One Who Really Loves You,” “You Beat Me To The Punch,” and “Two Lovers.” 1962 was also the year that Marvin Gaye transformed from a limp Nat “King” Cole wannabe into a bona fide R&B star. His “Stubborn Kind Of Fellow” is one of the more infectious tunes here, along with “Do You Love Me” by The Contours (later popularized on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack). It was also a good year for The Marvelettes, who had a good run of wistful, quintessential Girl Group turns led by raspy-voiced Gladys Horton (“Beechwood 4-5789″). It’s also interesting to hear early, non-hit sides by The Supremes and The Temptations here; Gordy obviously knew that both groups had talented vocalists that deserved wider exposure. The effort would pay off in spades later on.

We all know that well-known “Golden Oldies” drive projects like this, but the obscurities and one shots on these sets are also, suprisingly, worth hearing. The 1962 set in particular has a lot of great, gritty R&B sides by the likes of Hattie Littles, Gino Parks and Henry Lumpkin that never caught on simply because that style of music wasn’t too hip in 1962. There’s also a few goofy novelties here that are worth mentioning. “Hang On Pearl,” about a guy frantically trying to save his drowning girlfriend, didn’t do much for singer Bob Kayli but it’s a hilarious tune all the same. “Exodus” by Hank & Carol Diamond is an earnest if kitschy jazz ditty that has a strong whiff of Happy Hour at the Holiday Inn. Another intriguing novelty was “I Call It Pretty Music But The Old People Call It The Blues,” the debut single from a precocious blind youngster called Little Stevie Wonder.

These are cool sets, beautifully packaged and worth it for the detailed track-by-track liner notes alone. The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 2: 1962 came out in 2005 in a limited edition run of 8,000; later years have already gone out of print, but new copies of this particular volume can still be had via Amazon Marketplace at this link.

I originally intended this mix to center around synth-based New Wave and contemporary songs with a similar, programmed-by-robots feel. It did end up that way for the first half, but the rest is more of the retro-lounge and soul that typifies my other mixes. Regarding the pleasantly purple cover design, the main image of Mr. and Mrs. Plastic comes from a manilla folder full of photocopied old magazine ads that I’ve had sitting in my files for 20-odd years. As the tenth anniversary Scrubbles.net mix, Plastic Fantastic is also something of a milestone. When I did the Is There A Stain On Mai Tai? mix in Summer 2001, I had no idea they’d still be going a decade later. Time flies!

As with our Spring Good Thing mix, Plastic Fantastic is presented as a continuous hour-plus mix. Track listing is below, with YouTube links where I could find them. Enjoy!

Download ‘Plastic Fantastic: Scrubbles.net Summer 2011 Mix’.

Track Listing:
1. Chic – “Le Freak” (Z-Trip Golden Mix) (The Disco Breaks Mega Mix, 2010)
2. Oú Est Le Swimming Pool – “Dance The Way I Feel” (single, 2009)
3. Daft Punk – “Derezzed” (Tron: Legacy soundtrack, 2010)
4. Plastics – “Top Secret Man” (Welcome Plastics, 1979)
5. The B-52′s – “52 Girls” (The B-52′s, 1979)
6. Devo – “Come Back Jonee” (Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, 1978)
7. The Buggles – “Clean, Clean” (The Age Of Plastic, 1980)
8. Talking Heads – “Air” (Fear Of Music, 1979)
9. Lipps, Inc. – “Rock It” (7″ edit of a track from Mouth To Mouth, 1980)
10. Janelle Monáe ft. Of Montreal – “Make The Bus” (The ArchAndroid, 2010)
11. Lío – “Suite Sixtine” (Suite Sixtine, 1982)
12. De-Phazz – “Something Special” (Death By Chocolate, 2001)
13. Tipsy – “Big Business” (Buzzz, 2008)
14. Arling & Cameron & Swarte – “Jealousie” (Sound Shopping, 2001)
15. Fitz & The Tantrums – “Don’t Gotta Work It Out” (Songs For A Break Up: Vol. 1 EP, 2009)
16. Noisettes – “So Complicated” (Wild Young Hearts, 2009)
17. Sheryl Crow – “Summer Day” (100 Miles From Memphis, 2010)
18. Adele – “He Won’t Go” (21, 2011)
19. Sade – “When Am I Going To Make A Living” (Diamond Life, 1984)
20. Peter White ft. Basia – “Just Another Day” (Caravan Of Dreams, 1996)
21. Marshall Crenshaw – “Starless Summer Sky” (Miracle Of Science, 1996)

The Wikipedia entry for that album quotes singer Corinne Drewery: “I find it difficult to form opinions about a lot of modern music because my head’s buried in the past. A lot of my favourite records seem to have been picked up in the discount rack at Woolworth’s. I’ll be quite happy if our records end up in the Woollies bargain bin in 10 years time.” I find this funny (and quite true, actually), since my copy of Get In Touch With Yourself came from trawling the 75 cent bin at the local F.Y.E. store (which also netted ’90s goodies by k.d. lang and Shakespear’s Sister). Your wish came true, Corinne!

One of the most interesting aspects of Savage is the fact that Lennox and Dave Stewart teamed with director Sophie Muller (and a few others) to film videos for all dozen of the album’s tracks. The resulting video album was one of the earliest examples of its type. The clip below, “Heaven,” is one of my favorites. I could totally picture it being played on the runway at a swanky ’80s fashion show:

For the cover art, I used a detail from a Pollyanna LitKids print that was used to test paint colors. Very cute, and hopefully it will draw new customers to the store. Am I obnoxious, or what?

Anyhow, the mix is presented below as single mp3 file with the songs’ starts and endings segueing together. Additionally there is a track listing with links to YouTube videos of some tunes. Enjoy!

Download ‘Good Thing: Scrubbles.net Spring 2011 Mix’.

Track Listing:
1. Saint Etienne — “A Good Thing” (Tales from Turnpike House, 2005)
2. Amiel — “This Way, That Way” (Accidents by Design, 2004)
3. Erasure — “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)” (Other People’s Songs, 2003)
4. Röyksopp — “Happy Up Here” (Junior, 2009)
5. Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark — “Save Me” (History of Modern, 2010)
6. Robyn — “Hang with Me” (Body Talk, 2010)
7. Dusty Springfield — “I Want to Stay Here” (Reputation, 1990)
8. Tina Turner — “Confidential” (Wildest Dreams, 1996)
9. Pet Shop Boys — “To Step Aside” (Bilingual, 1996)
10. The Buggles — “I Am a Camera (12″ Mix)” (remix of a track from Adventures in Modern Recording, 1981)
11. Nokko — “Call Me Nightlife” (Call Me Nightlife, 1993)
12. Masami Okui — “Round Dance Revolution” (La Fillette Revolutionnaire Utena soundtrack, 1997)
13. Mari Atsumi — “Suki Yo Ai Shite” (1970 Japanese single, compiled on Nippon Girls CD)
14. The Paris Sisters — “Long After Tonight Is All Over” (Sing Everything Under the Sun, 1967)
15. Eliza Doolittle — “Pack Up” (Eliza Doolittle, 2010)
16. Konishi Yashuharu & Pizzicato Five — “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo” (Readymade Digs Disney, 2003)
17. Soulsister — “The Way to Your Heart” (It Takes Two, 1988)
18. Patti Austin — “Every Home Should Have One” (remix of a track from Every Home Should Have One, 1982)
19. George Benson — “Inside Love (So Personal)” (In Your Eyes, 1983)
20. Boy Meets Girl — “No Apologies” (Reel Life, 1988)
21. Duffy — “Keeping My Baby” (Endlessly, 2010)

Today’s video comes via The Video Beat, an online retailer of offbeat ’50s and ’60s video. This is French Ye-Ye singer Sylvie Vartan in a Japanese commercial for a mod clothing purveyor called Renown. Dig that groovy Op Art:

If there was ever an album that is overshadowed by its one hit, The Plastic Age is it. The album feels like a meditation on humankind’s relationship with technology, done with a bit of theatrical flair. Since the songs use mostly analog instruments and has a decided lack of nervous edge, I would hesitate to call The Age Of Plastic a “New Wave” album — mostly it reminds me of what ABBA was doing around the same time. “Elstree” is probably the most ABBA-esque tune they did, a wistful tale told from the perspective of a former employee at the U.K.’s famed Estree Studios:

The Buggles’ story has a typical ending. Following The Age Of Plastic, members Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn were recruited into supergroup Yes for one album, 1980′s Drama. The two then worked on a follow-up, 1981′s Adventures In Modern Recording, with Downes leaving midway through production on the ultimately hitless project. The album is an interesting experiment, more prog-rockish and with the kind of grandiose production that would echo in Horn’s later work with Seal, Pet Shop Boys, Rod Stewart and others. The Buggles’ sound still resonates throughout the years, most affectionately with Daft Punk’s “Digital Love” from their Discovery (2001) album:

The three albums I got were Waking Hours (1989), Change Everything (1992) and Twisted (1995), supplemented with an iTunes download of their non-LP 1990 single “Spit In The Rain.” Generally speaking, it’s good stuff. Not particularly innovative, but warm and reassuring. The hook-filled Waking Hours contained lots of deja-vu moments (I must’ve owned it when it was new), Change Everything (with “Last to Know”) is the most solid and surprising thing they’ve done, and the grunge-influenced Twisted seems overbaked and painfully short on good melodies, perky hit “Roll To Me” notwithstanding. For less than ten bucks, I got a nice little crash course on a band that deserved another look.

On a similar note, here’s another video from the same YouTube user/Aretha fan. On their recent reunion album History Of Modern, Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark did a cool remix using vocals from Aretha’s ’67 track “Save Me.” This self-penned tune was a perennial fave of mine, if only for the stanza “Call in the Caped Crusader/Green Hornet, Kato too.” OMD’s treatment adds electro-funk synths to the original’s gritty vocal and guitar — it cooks!

Speaking of “Girl from Ipanema,” how about a clip of Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz performing their hit in a wintry lodge (?) in the teen flick Get Yourself A College Girl? That Astrud really knows how to stay perfectly still.

And here is Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim doing their ’74 classic “Aguas De Marco” on some unknown variety show. It seems like every song I’ve heard with Ms. Regina finds her laughing and having a good time, and this is no exception:

• The top 40 is filled with the usual teen-oriented, overly produced swill, but there were a few notable goodies. Cee-Lo Green’s “Forget You” is a certified smash with the kind of classic, Motown-inspired melody that will likely stay durable in the next 10 or 20 years (personally I prefer the bluntness of the radio unfriendly version). I get a similar vibe off Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” although her other charting single “Firework” did nothing for me. Both of these share chart space with their corresponding Glee cover versions. The Glee stuff is fun and all, but it comes across as too shrill outside the TV context.
• Below the top 40, bucketloads of Country. This surprised me. I would expect to find crossover-friendly artists like Taylor Swift in there, but many of the tunes were hardcore, intense, soul-searchin’ twangy stuff from people who would have never escaped the CMT ghetto only five years ago. What happened?
• Speaking of which, what very few veteran performers reside in the Hot 100 are said Country stars — Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley (whose unborn baby narrative “Anything Like Me” might be the most cloying thing in the 100), Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Reba McEntire (!) and George Strait (!!!). The only non-Country veteran to land on the chart is the ghost of Michael Jackson, whose collaboration with rapper Akon “Hold My Hand” appears at #84.
• And hip-hop. Lots of hip-hip, but it leaves the impression that the genre has changed little over the past decade. And when did Eminem get so damn depressing?
• A few songs from people you’d expect. Ke$ha? Annoying and bratty sounding as ever. Kanye West? Meh. Rihanna? No longer sings like a robot, but not terribly interesting either.
• Out of the singles ranked outside the top 40, the only ones that halfway appealed to me were the Plain White T’s “Rhythm of Love” at #66 and “Strip Me” by Brit songstress Natasha Bedingfield, which barely made it in at #100. Like I said, lots of dreadful Country/Hip-Hop to slog through.

That said, let’s move on to the three tracks I finally settled upon:

Bruno Mars — Just the Way You Are (#7). This one’s a bit on the mawkish side (I predict many wedding plays), but it boasts a killer hook and Mars’ voice is sweetly pure against a blessedly simple production. The charismatic Mars, who also co-wrote “Forget You,” certainly has the goods to have a long-lasting career.

Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull — I Like It (#21). A cheeseball party anthem that made its debut on MTV’s Jersey Shore, what’s not to like? It might be considered a desperate move to grab a mass audience on Iglesias’ part, but this one feels similar to Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” in having an immediate, appealing hook that grabs you from first listen and never lets go.

Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina — Stereo Love (#35). Probably the most unusual song in the Hot 100, this sinuous dance track (from Romania!) topped charts all over Europe last year. The synth-based groove is as cold and robotic as anything a U.S. artist could come up with (actually, it’s very reminiscent of Robin S’s ’90s dancefloor hit “Show Me Love”), only the results are somehow more organic and sexy. I’m loving this one. It’s gotta be the accordion. I guess Weird Al Yankovic isn’t the only one who knows that any pop song can be improved with accordion.