This one has been on repeat on my iPod today: A slice of pure pop bliss that's as welcome as a cool ocean breeze during this past week of beastly, Hel-L.A. summer weather. From some of today's best songwriters, Saint Etienne, here they capture the effervescence of Abba and The Beach Boys and channel it for the luvved-up generation.

Saint Etienne - Lightning Strikes Twice (from 2005's Tales From Turnpike House)

Unfortunately for all male robots like myself, females into electro, or females making electro for that matter, are few and far between. Electro, by and large, is a male-dominated affair. This makes my quest to "make a circuit" with an advanced-level functioning female droid that much more challenging. I'm not entirely sure why this is the case - maybe electro music is more masculine by nature, more cold and sterile versus warm and organic. But fear not, male machine minions! There are a number of fembots on the rise to ameliorate this imbalance.

You gotta love cover versions. Sure it might be the lazy way to express one's musical creativity, but it's also a surefire way for a band to get noticed [Case in point: Soft Cell's biggest hit, Tainted Love, was a cover of Gloria Jones' 1964 hit]. The practice continues to this day, with many artists offering up their own interpretations of their influence's work. One of my favorite current acts, Nouvelle Vague, is basically a Bossa Nova/Jazz/Sixties pop cover band of 70s and 80s new wave and punk hits. [By the way, they've got a new album coming out. Go buy it.]

Enjoy Youtube.com while you can since certain evil corporate entities are already hard at work trying to shut it down.
Here are a few clips I'm enjoying at the moment:
Gorillaz - Dare [Live in Manchester]
Heaven 17 - Let Me Go
Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf [long lost banned video] - heard about this one for years. Glad to see it has finally been unearthed.
Vanity 6 - Nasty Girl
Vitalic - My Friend Dario

I thought I would take this opportunity to announce my New Year's Resolution. Mind you I've never kept any previous year's resolutions, but I think it's probably best to keep this one, if not for the sake of my sanity then at least for that of my co-workers.