the cure's "pictures of you"

"I've been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they're real
I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel..."

Spring is here or something. Everyone's love-sick it seems... I thought this Cure song would be... well, the cure to some of these "feelings" my friends are spreading around like the change-of-weather germs we exchange with hugs and handshakes. Spring makes us all little pussy(cat)s. How better to share the oogly googly sentiment - that a shift in pollen, new flowers and better weather cause - than Robert Smith's crooning about some lover he once had - with only pictures to preserve the memory?

"You were bigger and brighter and wider than snow
And screamed at the make-believe
Screamed at the sky..."

Nirvana's "Love Buzz"

FYI from Wikipedia:
* "Love Buzz" was the first single released by Nirvana in 1988 on Sub Pop Records. This single contained two songs from the debut album Bleach. It was a limited release of only 1000 hand numbered 7"s. Several different counterfeit pressings are also in circulation. The single contains "Love Buzz", a cover version with slightly different lyrics than the Shocking Blue original and "Big Cheese" on the B-side. The Bleach album version of Love Buzz was mixed differently and is missing a 10-second sound collage introduction put together by Kurt Cobain. "Love Buzz" was later released on the EP Blew.

* In 1989 a review by British music magazine Melody Maker described the Love Buzz single as "Limited edition of 1000; love songs for the psychotically disturbed".

* A "violent" performance of the song can be seen on the 1994 home video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!. Earlier in the show (not seen on the video), Kurt, drunk, angry and high on cough syrup, smashed the PA system at the club with his guitar, frustrated that it had consistently malfunctioned. (Viewers can see a pallet covering the PA, which was added in case Cobain decided to take a second shot.) Unbeknownst to Cobain, the PA belonged to a friend of the bouncer, Turner Van Blarcum who, when Kurt dove into the crowd, decided to exact some revenge. Kurt responded by hitting the bouncer in the head with his guitar, drawing blood. A brief fight ensued but the bouncer was restrained by Novoselic.

* A rehearsal from 1988 and another live performance from 1990 can both be found on the DVD with the 2004 box set With the Lights Out.

* In 1995 'Love Buzz' was used in the film Mad Love.

Love Buzz's cover art probably features my favorite-era Nirvana. Perfect length on the hair, boys. Yeah, I don't expect to be groundbreaking on this one. I'm probably preaching to the converted, which seems to be the theme as of late... in any case, I was reminded of how fucking awesome this song is when it randomly started playing tonight. In turn, I just wanted to encourage you to dig it up and just give it a listen.
Turn it on,
dance a little
(just a little, please)
and get sexy.

Saxon Shore's "The Shaping of a Helpless Joy"

If Tristeza were still what I longed for them to be, they would be Saxon Shore. That's strange for me to say because SS just got done with a tour in Japan with Tristeza - so I mean, whoever booked it is probably under the same train of thought.
The driving drum rolls on this song are what pinned my ear, and the layers of guitars hooked me in further. However, the sonic sounds panning left to right and back again are what caught my soul...
Listen, I know this is Oliver's band - but anyone will tell you that I'm not inclined to just like a band because my friend is in it. I sincerely like this album! It is fucking good.
It's a bit timeless - is it from 1992? 2018? -or- Are you waking up to it? Falling asleep? Still dreaming?
And there's no distinct [name of city here] sound - San Diego? Cork, Ireland? Kyoto, Japan? It's just good music on a good consistent, fluid album. Inspiring.

saxonshore.com