Domenica 13 Gen 2008, 17:56

I hadn't noticed this until 5 minutes ago, but Atlas by Battles is a complete (but slightly speeded-up) rip-off of Capital City off Simple Minds's debut album Empires and Dance… who'd'a thunk it?

Empires… is pretty much the only Minds album I can listen to any more, although when I was 14 they were one of my favourite bands - and the first proper gig I ever went to was their show at Ibrox Stadium in summer 1986. Cracking day that - the first band I saw were The Waterboys, hitting their Big Music stride with their This Is The Sea album, and particularly on Whole Of The Moon, still a brilliant song, if over-familiar. That gig really opened my eyes - I was already fanatical about music by that time, but it cemented the idea that live music beats everything. I can temper that statement a wee bit now (sex is nice, for example) but it still holds true for me 99% of the time.

Anyway, I've got Empires and Dance on just now, and it's fantastic. Cold, teutonic electro music - aside from Capital City, there's the brilliant, demented Twist/Run/Repulsion and I Travel - a song that still frequently gets included when I'm making up compilation CDs for friends. Top notch stuff, highly recommended…