Very. A blog about Pet Shop Boys.

With news that Pet Shop Boys are talking to producers about their upcoming effort, I thought I’d take a moment to play “armchair producer” and point out four talents whom I think would be exceptionally suited for the duo’s sound.

1. Trentmøller - The Danish producer’s two studio efforts and excellent rerub of “The Sodom and Gomorrah show” highlight his ability to pull emotion out of the most minimal of sounds. If Pet Shop Boys were to produce an album along the lines of the “electro record” that Fundamental was slated to be before Trevor Horn’s involvement, then he could bring out the best from Lowe’s demos. I’d be interested to hear his treatment of Tennant’s vocals, as well.

2. M.A.N.D.Y. - I’ve recently become very obsessed with the two heads of Get Physical records and the sound they’ve pushed forward. Electro house that’s unafraid of emotion and release, creative sounds and arrangements that are aimed directly at the dancefloor as well as the cerebellum, they could certainly hold the Tennant and Lowe sound high. (This would also mean that there’d be an increased chance of a mix by Booka Shade, my favorite semi-recent dance music discovery.)

3. Ewan Pearson - Have you heard his Disco Odyssey mix of Goldfrapp’s “Ride A White Horse?” No? Here’s a nine-minute video edit of the 15-minute-long masterpiece. Between that track and the other mixes that fill out Piece Work (including his take on Tennant and Lowe’s “Psychological,”) it’s hard to deny that he’d be able to take Pet Shop Boys into an ecstatic, modern direction that still has the pop hooks that have served them so well.

4. Gui Boratto - Another minimalist, Boratto’s ability to create anthemic moments from spare, elegant melodies and simple 4/4 beats shows that he has the chops to take the barest bones and create something much, much greater. I’d be very interested to hear what he’d do when given the full, lush demos that Pet Shop Boys have been producing over the last few albums.

This is the one-minute song recorded for Visionaire 53 - SOUND. It’s the sort of thing that shows off exactly why Pet Shop Boys are so highly regarded - it’s 60 seconds with a beginning, a middle, and an end that doesn’t feel like a jingle.

I received my copy of the latest Literally and got a reminder that I have to renew, this time by sending in cash, as they can no longer handle credit card transactions for some reason I didn’t quite believe.

From the official site:

Chris and Neil have been writing new songs for much of this year and will continue until they feel they have enough songs for a new album. The writing sessions have proved very fertile with, so far, seven new songs being completed. Some of the songs they wrote early last year are also likely to feature on the album. Meetings with potential producers are already being lined up for March. The release date for the new album will probably be early 2009.

Pet Shop Boys have also been sketching musical ideas for their ballet which is still under discussion with Sadlers Wells theatre in London.

From the official site:

Pet Shop Boys have recorded a new version of the early 80s classic, “I’m in love with a German film star”, with Sam Taylor-Wood on vocals. The track will be made available for sale on CD on this site as the second release on the Lucky Kunst label. There will be a seven-inch mix, a “full length” mix and a dance remix. Full details will be here as soon as we have them. “I’m in love with a German film star” was originally a hit in the UK in 1981 for The Passions. The first release on Lucky Kunst was “Love to love you, baby” by Kiki Kokova.

From the official site:

The latest issue of Literally, the exclusive magazine sent to all members of the Pet Shop Boys Club, is in production now and should be dispatched by the end of the month. Contents of this bumper 44-page issue include Neil and Chris’s tribute to Dainton, a full report of the last date of the Fundamental world tour in Bucharest and an interview with Neil Tennant, as well as news, letters and exclusive photos.

I wonder what the story behind this is.

First of all, my most sincere apologies. I’ve got notes and stuff here, but as I said in my last post, it’s been hellacious around VeryPSB headquarters. Here’s some bullet points.

• Pet Shop Boys , as I typed this, are doing the Battleship Potemkin thingwith the BBC Radio Orchestra at the Barbican. A text from a reader who attended stated just this: “Beautiful. Tears. This movie, this music.” I really hope we see a proper release of the film with their score, as the CD release has been truncated and it doesn’t fit the film properly. Here’s a link to the program for the event and another link to the Time Out interview with Tennant that, once the chestnuts about pop irony are shoved aside, offers a few new anecdotes about the Potemkin events.

• There are some new demos available for your perusal on the official site. I can’t link directly, but if you go to the Product section and click on “Exclusive Tracks,” you’re all set.

• Beloved (at least by me) cover act West End Girls have a second album on the way according to the wags at Pop Justice. One of the singles released before Shoplifters streets will be a version of “Little Black Dress,” a song best known as “One of the ones that didn’t get into the musical that nobody saw.”

• You need to buy the headphones pictured below and listen to Concrete. Trust me.