What I'm Listening To: Many Different Things

Lost '80s soundscapes, gems of indie pop and kawaii metal energy.

Hi Friends, I’ve been digesting a ton of music lately, from totally different areas of the sonic spectrum. Makes for good times and happy ears all around.

Lost ‘80s Soundscapes

At my local record score I found a rare treasure I never thought I’d find on physical media: a CD with the musical score for the delightful European film MOMO (1986). The film was directed by Johannes Schaaf and based on a book by Michael Ende (author of THE NEVERENDING STORY). Curiously, this CD came with German magazine clippings about Schaaf and a random Atreyu/Falkor image.

I wrote about this film a few years ago which you can read here — and here’s a sampling of the lovely score.

In the continuing odyssey of deep dives into ‘80s pop bands beyond their one-hit wonders (see my previous post about The Outfield), I was delighted to discover there’s a lot more to The Human League than their Top 40 hits Don’t You Want Me and (Keep Feeling) Fascination. They also have an anthology I was tickled to add to my collection simply because of the title alone: A Very British Synthesizer Group.

Hard to pick one track because it’s all glowing with a sense of humor and fun vibes of weirdness, so I guess this sums it up:

Conversations about ‘80s music with my friend Matt also led me with gratitude to discover many tracks of delight from Talk Talk. I’m still diving deep into these guys and loving what I hear.

Gems of Indie Pop

Also introduced to me through Matt-chats is the modern band Nation of Language, whose sound I have attuned myself to with wondrous enthusiasm.

Behold, a favourite track from a previous album…

…and one from their upcoming release. Great stuff!

Kawaii Metal Energy

And in other musical news, I was thrilled to take my 15-year-old son to his first real rock concert last week. We’ve been bonding musically over our own discoveries in the world of “kawaii metal” — a blend of metal fury with Japanese pop that lifts the spirit while channeling your rage. It’s just what I need to battle world events, so seeing BABYMETAL was a beacon of joy, and their songs are irresistibly vicious and fun.

We had a great time here, and according to friends who live nearby the arena, it was so loud they could hear it from their kitchen.

This video with Poppy as a special guest is transcendent (and helluva great time in concert)…

…and this older track is on the mellower side, but breathtakingly beautiful. An antidote to all the world’s ugliness. I love it so much.

I hope this brings you joy, friends. Lord knows we need it.