If Amoeba Music were a theme park I'm pretty sure the Electronica section would be our version of Tomorrowland. I mean, for a section so chock full of retro-futuristic realness and fad-tastic appeal it shouldn't really come as a surprise that this year's best mix of backyard barbecue/SoCal beach-walk roller-skating/AM Gold yacht-rockin' jammers is currently filed under the Groove Armada bin card, humbly packaged not unlike any other CD/LP bearing the Late Night Tales standard. That's right, UK-based compilation master-curators have issued this flawless assortment of deep cuts and legit hits from the 70's and 80's Soft Rock heyday, assembled by one Tom Findlay of the aforementioned Groove Armada, under the title Music for Pleasure. The fact that the word "guilty" didn't find it's way between 'for' and 'pleasure' in the title is perhaps saying something about how these songs have come to be appreciated and accepted as a now relatively shameless sonic indulgence (unlike, say, endless deep house mixes for Burning Man survivalists which, for me, summon full-body dry heaves).

Featuring artists like Todd Rundgren, Electric Light Orchestra, Gerry Rafferty, Sugardaddy, The Doobie Brothers, Ambrosia, Robert Palmer, Boz Scaggs and so, so many more this is surely the cheapest ticket to the Indian Summer sunset vibe-ride in your mind. Put it on, turn it up, and feel your cares fade clean away, for, what a fool believes...he sees and no wise man has the power to reason away what seems to be, etc.

To read more Behind The Grooves, go to http://behindthegrooves.tumblr.com.

I woke up with this song stuck in my head again this morning and so, accordingly, I attempt to exercise it here. Aretha Franklin's cover of Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald's classic yacht-rocker made popular by the Doobie Brothers is a manic slice of synth-indulgence that's, like many an Aretha song, dead catchy. Beware. Just give it thirty seconds of warming up and you'll be in the zone, the smoooooth R&B zone.

Aretha Franklin - "What A Fool Believes"

A new Michael McDonald and Bauhaus release in the same day! How lucky can we be? I really can't think of two more different musicians than Peter Murphy and Michael McDonald-- but I am actually excited that they both have albums out today. Bauhaus is one of those bands that I can't really imagine not existing-- like Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Cure, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, & The Smiths, it is hard to imagine my life without these bands. I wonder what bands could have replaced these bands in my life if the members of these bands had made other decisions and not decided to become musicians. I don't even know what I would have listened to in High School or what I would have talked about with my friends if not for these bands. So many friendships and relationships were built on the love of these bands. Bauhaus only released four albums in the early 80's, but they managed to make a huge impact on me and many others. Like the Smiths, the band broke up before I had ever heard of them. It is hard to believe, but this is the first Bauhaus studio album in 25 years. The new album is called Go Away White and is released today.

Bauhaus broke up in 1983 but the members of the band have all remained busy over the years. I was a big fan of both the solo Peter Murphy and Love & Rockets. These were the albums I grew up with. It was not until later that I went back to discover the brilliant albums of Bauhaus. Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins went on to create Tones on Tail after the break up of Bauhaus. David J joined them for Love & Rockets, which was basically Bauhaus without Peter Murphy. The self titled album of Love & Rockets from 1989 remains one of my favorite albums. It had such a major impact on me when it first came out. It was one of those albums I still remember going to the store to buy and listening to over and over again. I was obsessed with this album. Peter Murphy continued to release solo albums over the last couple decades as well. He released Deep in 1990 and Holy Smoke in 1992. These albums basically framed my High School years. They also still remain two of my favorites. I am a bit surprised that I am still not sick of the song "Cuts You Up," but I can still listen to it over and over again and love it just as much as I did in 1990. I am actually listening to it right now. I still can picture the entire video whenever I listen to it.

almost identical placement for these two 80's classics...maybe MCA got a good deal on this sticker shape & size...



Southern Pacific, a band big with the duster wearing crowd...mentions the duet with Emmylou, herself a duster queen...working on a duster gallery in fact I am...