Nuclear Beef

Daedelus Travels To Japan Audio Beef Today. Springtime meets The Cure in uptown Tokyo.

'A Touch Of Spring' by Daedelus from his 2003 EP The Quiet Party on Plug Research Records

UPDATE: 'The Walk - Mark Saunders Everything Mix' by The Cure, remixed by Mark Saunders from Mixed Up, original (single-only) version anthologized on Staring At The Sea: The Singles

So I'm in Japan right now, on the 15th story of a hotel in Tokyo. Since I arrived in this crazy country, I've had to get used to constantly hearing people say things which I don't understand in the slightest. My brain isn't quite used to this, so I keep thinking that I comprehend... before realizing that I actually don't.

This sensation reminds me very much of this Daedelus song, in no small part because it begins with someone saying something I don't understand in Japanese. So I've been humming this song to myself for days now, and it seems very much the perfect soundtrack for Tokyo, as it features a thick groove and more than its fair share of confusing whimsy. Daedelus effortlessly merges the disparate, just as my experience of Tokyo combines the sensation of being incredibly conspicuous and completely invisible. Those playing along at home may share my inkling that this metaphor can be extended to the lead melody here. Daedelus seems to have jacked it from some song I've heard before... I swear it's by The Cure. If anyone who is reading knows which Cure song he's cribbing from, please let me know! db suggested that it's 'Fascination Street,' but it's not.

I must have walked down one thousand streets in Akihabara today and all of them could have been named 'Fascination.'

(God, my life is crazy sometimes. Extra special shouts out to db, without whom none of this would be possible. Also shouts out to Cinnacism who somehow found this track stuck in her head at the very same time I did. FWIW, this post was written on Saturday the 19th, but I haven't had a chance to post it until today. I'll be back in teh USA in a few days..)

UPDATE: Special thanks to adania, who told me (while hanging out in Yasu, JP) that The Cure track in question was, in fact, 'The Walk.' Thank god for her, I had been going nuts for months trying to figure it out. I knew I had heard that melody before, and it was a Cure song.. but my copy of Staring At The Sea is on vinyl, so I was too lazy to find it and check it for that track. Go figure. The mix here is by Mark Saunders, who (as that discogs.com link attests) has done a lot of work for various classic UK synth acts. Solid.

I kissed you in the water /
I made your dry lips sing /
I saw you look like a Japanese baby /
In an instant, I remembered everything