Wenn ich etwas nicht will

Wer hier schon etwas länger mitliest, weiß dass ich ein Fan von Tracey Trunblad Thorn bin. Tracey ist die eine Hälfte der leider nicht mehr existierenden Gruppe Everything But The Girl. (Obwohl das auch nur zum Teil stimmt, denn beide sind miteinander verheiratet und haben Kinder)
Über einen Mail Verteiler von Virgin erhalte ich ab und zu News von Tracey. Hier zum Beispiel erklärt sie hier wie es zu einem Remix von einem Song zusammen mit Neil Tennant kam…

The previously unreleased Hot Chip mix of Tracey’s gorgeous cover of ‘King’s Cross’ is now available digitally.
Tracey explains why Neil Tennant and Christmas go hand in hand for her…

What is it with Christmas, and Neil Tennant, and me? I have no idea, but it’s all turning into something of a long-running saga, with a little whiff of panto thrown in for good measure.
All started at the EMI Christmas Artists’ Party three years ago. (Christmas Artists’ Party? I’m getting images of Wizard sharing a glass of egg-nog with Cliff Richard, Jonah Louie, Shakin Stevens, and…) I should rephrase that – the Artists’ Christmas Party, an altogether less bizarre event, where you get to hang out with other people on the label, at Christmas.

Anyway, three years ago, at the height of my “I have retired from the music business” phase, I went along to one of these parties and during the course of it got asked by Neil Tennant “What are you doing with that beautiful voice of yours at the moment?” “Hah! ” I blurted out, “Shouting at the kids mostly!”, thinking it would sound dark and witty, though it came out sounding a bit more like Waynetta Slob than I would have liked. He gave me a look of slightly withering pity as only Neil Tennant can do, and on the way home I started wondering whether he might have a point.
Well, you know the rest, I got off my arse and decided to make a record, and rounded up all the loveliest DJ-producers I could find and made Out Of The Woods. I bonded especially well with Ewan Pearson, not least through our shared love of Dusty Springfield, Gene Kelly, extremely camp disco records, not-at-all-camp finger-in-the-ear folk records, Rufus Wainwright, and of course, the Pet Shop Boys.

“I wanna do a cover of Kings Cross played on the harmonium”, I announced, to which he retorted, “Good idea. Let’s put a brass band on it as well”. You can see why we got on.

Last year there was another Christmas Party, so I took Ewan along, and lo and behold, there was Neil Tennant again, clearly as much a fixture at these events as the tree and the vodka luge. I introduced them to each other and told Neil we had done a cover of Kings Cross with a harmonium and a brass band. He raised an eyebrow and expressed polite but distant interest, as only Neil Tennant can do. Then Ewan and I got over-excited about meeting Cathy Dennis, and I think I probably forgot to tell Neil T that he was semi-responsible for me even making a record again, and that I could quite happily sing the entire Pet Shop Boys back catalogue around the Christmas tree every year, with or without the vodka.

So here we are, another year later. No invitation to an EMI Christmas party yet, which I hope doesn’t signal some ominous new banning of festivities (har har, I am joking record company people…). But just to celebrate the season, and round off what has been for me an amazing year of good reviews for Out Of The Woods, a fantastic set of remixes which have torn up the dancefloors of the world, and my discovery via MySpace of a whole world of fans and “friends” who still seem after all this time to be interested in what I’m up to, and not all of whom could be classified as stalkers – I am delighted to announce the release of Hot Chip’s characteristically bonkers remix of King’s Cross. It chops up my voice, it goes boink and bleep, it speeds up, it slows down! It starts out all mournful, goes all celebratory and a little bit off its head in the middle, and fininshes up a bit melancholy and hang-overy at the end. What could be more Christmassy? Bring on the tinsel! Lights! Reindeer! Snow!

Und dann war da noch ein Link der mir wieder alles vermiest so schön und lustig der Text davor auch war.
Der Links führt zu iTunes! Das Problem aber ist dass ich iTunes hasse! Ich wehre mich vehement gegen dieses System in dem eins zum anderen passt und keinen Spielraum lässt für irgendetwas anderes. Ich sehe und höre von Anderen immer nur wie viele Probleme sie damit haben und dass die iPods alles andere als sicher und perfekt sind. Nicht selten habe selbst miterlebt wie die Dinger abstürzten und anschließend entnervt von deren Besitzern in die Ecke gepfeffert wurden.
Das hat aber leider zum Nachteil dass mir solch kleinen Juwelen wie z.B. von Tracey oder letztens von der Seite h69.net bei der Thierry netterweise den Link in den Kommentaren postete, nicht downloaden kann.
Schade, schade, schade.