Saturday, August 13, 2011

GABBA: Leave Stockholm


In the days before the mash-up became the purview of every digi-geek, merging two contradictory (but weirdly complementary) styles of music involved intense labour. Witness London's currently-inactive Gabba, who like Dread Zeppelin before them created a fascinating hybrid of two divergent seventies phenomenon, the Ramones and ABBA. While the novelty factor is outta site here - bordering on dinner theater - this out-of-print 1999 record has grown on me over time despite my long-espoused ABBA-ophbia.




Let us know what you think of this culture clash in the COMMENTS section, which is where you'll find the Leave Stockholm link.)


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12 comments:

  1. jeffenAugust 13, 2011 at 8:15 AM

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    http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ikcjml5rejj9vh3

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  2. VicAugust 13, 2011 at 8:34 AM

    Strange. Funny. And I bet they had fun doing it, and making that video.

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  3. Bigscott62August 13, 2011 at 2:51 PM

    way cool, indeed, alot of my comrades don't like it, because, get this they take the Ramones "seriously", Lord....

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  4. AnonymousAugust 14, 2011 at 7:52 PM

    Can't I just despise it on its own merits?

    Emerson

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  5. postbearAugust 14, 2011 at 11:57 PM

    i have zero interest in listening to abba, but they are perfect punchlines to many, many jokes. they are pretty much the distillate of pop music from their era, so using them to warp the music of any other genre is obvious. remember that metal compilation from about ten years ago that was all abba covers?

    i usually think of pop as crafted music, and abba was well-crafted. it is intended to be hooky, infectious and to just barely, at most, challenge the listener. no wonder punk and metal bands cover pop tunes all the time - the song will automatically be catchy, recognisable and you can always fall back on the claim of mockery if your fans think you're soft for covering it. here's where i'd go on about patti smith covering 'you light up my life' and doing it affectionately if it were my blog, but enough yapping from me.

    thanks, jeffen, i'll give this a listen.

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  6. jeffenAugust 15, 2011 at 10:47 AM

    Vic
    I'm glad they kept the humour level high.

    BigScot
    I LOVE the Ramones but I know they're funny.

    EMerson
    And there is much to despise here (though I've come to find it's charms).

    Postbear
    I have a long screed entitled "Why I Hate ABBA that will make it here someday.

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  7. Sir Les BAugust 15, 2011 at 12:45 PM

    Now this intrigues me. I'm a sucker for a cover version and bought into that whole mash up vibe a few years ago, so I am unashamedly gonna have a listen to this with an anticipated mind

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  8. AnonymousAugust 16, 2011 at 3:46 PM

    no- uh uh


    nazz nomad

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  9. jeffenSeptember 4, 2011 at 3:41 PM

    sir les b
    So what did you think?

    Nazz
    (Well, I laughed!)

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  10. AnonymousSeptember 6, 2011 at 11:30 PM

    You have just made my life entirely complete. THANK YOU.

    ...stacey

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  11. jeffenSeptember 9, 2011 at 9:25 PM

    Staacey
    Words I love to hear!

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  12. A Dashing BladeMay 11, 2012 at 3:47 PM

    Caught them down the Garage a good few years ago now, pissed myself laughing for the entire set (with them not at them).

    But, media file link down, any chance of a re-up to replace my dodgy 160kb/s version?

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