Type | Popular culture, music, news, reviews |
---|---|
Format | Internet |
Founder(s) | Tom Ewing |
Founded | 1999 |
Language | English |
Website | freakytrigger |
Freaky Trigger is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. [1] From 2000 to 2005, it also used to host a music-specific blog, titled NYLPM. [2] Ewing also started the popular music forum I Love Music (ILM) in August 2000 as a sister website to Freaky Trigger. [3] A notable feature on the website is Popular, a longtime ongoing series where Ewing reviews each UK Singles Chart number one single ever in chronological order. [4] Popular was later the subject of the Saint Etienne song of the same name. [5]
Freaky Trigger was featured in OC Weekly 's list of "10 Crucial Music Websites" [6] and one of its reviews, Eminem's “Stan” by Tom Ewing, was referenced on the list of "The Best Music Writing of 2015" by the Complex . [7] The Guardian have also referred to Freaky Trigger articles, one time on the Freaky Trigger piece "The Strange Death of the UK Charts", [8] and one time on an Ewing piece on Cliff Richard. [9] Stylus Magazine have also referred to Freaky Trigger in an article. [10] The NYLPM blog was notably eulogized by Pitchfork in early 2006, following the suspension of its publication. [2]
Bubblegum is rock and pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, that evolved from garage rock, novelty songs, and the Brill Building sound, and which was also defined by its target demographic of preteens and young teenagers. The Archies' 1969 hit "Sugar, Sugar" was a representative example that led to cartoon rock, a short-lived trend of Saturday-morning cartoon series that heavily featured pop rock songs in the bubblegum vein.
Saint Etienne are an English band from Greater London, formed in 1990. The band consists of Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They became associated with the UK's indie dance scene in the 1990s, beginning with the release of their debut album Foxbase Alpha in 1991. Their work has been described as uniting 1990s club culture with 1960s pop and other disparate influences. The name of the band comes from the French football club of AS Saint-Étienne.
"Regret" is a song by British alternative rock band New Order. It was released on 5 April 1993 as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Republic (1993). Stephen Hague is credited as both the producer and as a co-writer. It was the band's first single released on CentreDate Co Ltd following the collapse of Factory Records.
The Beta Band is the debut studio album of the Beta Band, released in June 1999 by Regal Records. The album followed the critically acclaimed compilation of their first three EPs titled The Three E.P.'s (1998). With high anticipation for The Beta Band, the band originally planned to record the album in four separate continents, but financial constraints slimmed the recording locations down; however, the album was still recorded in a variety of locations. The band approached creating the songs in a variety of ways, sometimes forming songs from single melodies, sometimes bringing together other strands of music, among other forms.
Tales from Turnpike House is the seventh studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne, released on 13 June 2005 by Sanctuary Records. It is a concept album in which the songs depict characters who all live in the eponymous block of flats in London.
Finisterre is the sixth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne, released on 7 October 2002 by Mantra Records. A double-disc deluxe edition was released on 3 May 2010 by Heavenly Records.
I Love Music (ILM) is an Internet popular music forum started by pop critic Tom Ewing in August 2000 as an adjunct to his music website, Freaky Trigger.
Gerard Mark Johnson is a British keyboard player. He is best known for his work with Saint Etienne, The Syn and Yes.
"Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" is a song by Italian electronic music producer Spiller with lead vocals performed by British singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Various versions of the single were later featured on the German reissue and some UK editions of Ellis-Bextor's debut solo album, Read My Lips.
"Don't Give Up" is a song by British electronic music artist Chicane featuring vocals from Canadian singer Bryan Adams. The track was released on 6 March 2000 as the second single from Chicane's second studio album, Behind the Sun (2000). "Don't Give Up" peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart and became a popular dance track in clubs across Europe and North America.
Black Secret Technology is the fourth album by UK electronic producer A Guy Called Gerald, released in February 1995 to widespread critical acclaim. It has since been described as the best jungle album of all-time by publications such as Fact, Pitchfork and Freaky Trigger.
"James Dean (I Wanna Know)" is a song by British singer Daniel Bedingfield. It was released in August 2002 as the second single from his debut studio album, Gotta Get Thru This. Like his debut single "Gotta Get Thru This", "James Dean" was also a hit, reaching number four on the UK Singles Chart, making it his second top-10 hit. It entered the top 20 in Australia, peaking at number 19. The song name checks Freddie Mercury, Brad Pitt, Sly Stone and Daddy Warbucks.
"He's on the Phone" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne in collaboration with French singer-songwriter Étienne Daho, released in October 1995. A fast-paced dance track, it is one of Saint Etienne's biggest hits, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, number 31 in Iceland, number 41 in Sweden and number 33 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. The lyrics tell of an "academia girl" trying to escape from a relationship with a married man: "He's on the phone / And she wants to go home, / Shoes in hand, / Don't make a sound, / It's time to go." At the centre of the track is a spoken-word section by Daho.
The Last Dance is the fourth EP and seventh overall release by English post-rock and experimental rock band Disco Inferno. The EP was the band's third release to develop their innovative production and sample-based approach. After initially recording sessions for the EP with their original producer Charlie McIntosh, the band's label Rough Trade Records were unsatisfied with the sessions and instead the band worked with a new producer, Michael Johnson, famous for his work with New Order. His production ethic included a period of pre-production, the first time the band had used this process.
"Where Are You Now" is a 1965 song written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent. A ballad, it was commissioned for use in the Granada Television police drama It's Dark Outside. A recording by Trent, released due to demand from viewers of the series, became her only top 30 hit when it reached the top of the UK Singles Chart for one week in May 1965. She was the first female artist in the United Kingdom to be a credited writer on her own number one single.
"100,000 Fireflies" is the first single by the American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, taken from their first studio album Distant Plastic Trees, released in 1991. It is known for its bleak, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and black humour and for Susan Anway's sparse, soprano vocal performance. The song saw play on alternative and college radio stations on its release and slowly grew into a cult classic, becoming "the ultimate staple" of indie mixtape culture during the 1990s.
Words and Music by Saint Etienne is the eighth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne, released on 18 May 2012 by Heavenly Recordings. The band announced the album in a Christmas message on their official website on 11 December 2011. The album features collaborations from longtime Saint Etienne associate Ian Catt, as well as Richard X and former Xenomania members Tim Powell and Nick Coler.
"Gunman" is the debut single by English speed garage duo 187 Lockdown. The song was released twice, first in November 1997 where it reached No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 on the UK Dance Chart, then again the following year, peaking one place lower at No. 17.
Her Handwriting is the debut album by English indie pop band Trembling Blue Stars, released in May 1996 as the first album on Shinkansen Recordings. The album is an intimate song cycle centred on the romantic break-up of frontman Bobby Wratten and Anne Mari Davies, his former bandmate in The Field Mice and Northern Picture Library. After writing several songs about the break-up in early 1995 that Wratten believed to be messy, he discarded them, but engineer and musician Ian Catt persuaded him to record material based on the break-up in his own studios in Mitcham, South London, over the subsequent autumn and winter.