I've Been Thinking About You
Rec Room #17 – Things we’re enjoying this week
Kia ora, welcome to this week’s newsletter.
The End of Year / Christmas party season is in full swing. Over the coming weeks many of us may find ourselves holding an aux cord, connected to a Bluetooth speaker or hovering over a YouTube search bar trying to think of a good song to put on. If you do find yourself in this situation and paralysed with indecision, I recommend I’ve Been Thinking About You by Londonbeat.
It’s a perfect song in this situation because it allows you to test the waters without fully committing to any one course. If your audience is receptive you can easily progress to heavier hitters like Haddaway ‘What is Love?’ and Corona ‘The Rhythm of the Night’. But if nobody responds to it there’s still room to dial it back and pursue a smoother direction with something like Roachford ‘Lay Your Love on Me’ or Rod Stewart ‘The Motown Song’.
Like all the best party songs, I’ve Been Thinking About You also rewards close listening. It has depth, it has layers – listen to the way Londonbeat sings the line “deep down I’m so confused about you” at 1:34, right before a 3D animated guitar flies through the frame. There’s lots to take in here, and all of it is extremely good.
–Cal
On the topic of getting the party started, here’s a hypnotic one man band cover of Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic. Same man also does a nice cover of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac.
The sixth and final documentary in this season of Frame is directed by Susan Leonard (The Casketeers) and introduces 11-year-old Inez, a cool, smart, funny kid for whom life has been very difficult for the last few years. Inez’s mum Sonia wrote a beautiful piece about it for the site, which you should have a read of either before or after you watch.
Jane recommends How Did This Get Made? – specifically, the episode on Cats. “I never planned on watching this movie and now I want nothing more than to spend a lovely evening trying to figure out what a Jellicle cat actually is and marvelling at how badly the art department managed to screw up the scale of the set.”
The new episode of On the Rag this week is about design, and all the everyday things that are designed by men, for men, to the disadvantage, annoyance and downright danger to women. Once you start thinking about it there are examples everywhere, aren’t there.
Leonie recommends American Utopia, the David Byrne documentary directed by Spike Lee. “It’s not a bio – there’s no comment from anyone but Byrne himself – it’s simply a multi-camera filming of the American Utopia live show he toured here in 2018. It is SO incredible being able to relive one of your favourite ever shows, and get close to all the amazing performers he shares a stage with. Felt very lucky to see it again.”
In episode four of Coming Home, Duncan and Jane heard (and in Jane’s case remembered) what it was like for overseas based New Zealanders to return during the pandemic this year. For most it was a bit of a bumpy landing, and for some it’s been more of a struggle than anticipated to reintegrate into the New Zealand working culture.
Sam recommends Geri Halliwell’s new YouTube series Rainbow Woman. “It’s a mix of fictional short films (she plays Queen Elizabeth I terribly in the first one) and weird little promo bits for her upcoming album. It’s absolutely a vanity project, one that you could only fund with Spicemillions, but it’s transfixing to watch a one-time pop star just doing her own weird thing.”
Sophie recommends donating plasma to the New Zealand Blood Service. “They need 7,000 more plasma donors by July 2021, and they’ve recently made it easier to donate. Have a look and see if you’re eligible – it’s fun, I promise.”
Last week’s Business is Boring guest is without question the best podcast guest we’ve ever had, because she brought in a massive cake for the office to eat. Michal Garvey is the founder of Foodprint, an app that connects cafes and restaurants with thrifty shoppers looking for big discounts on unsold or cosmetically flawed food. The problem with the cake she brought in that meant it couldn’t be sold was something like “too much caramel”. Love it.
Matt recommends sandwiching a square of Whittaker’s creamy caramel chocolate between two Snackachangi Vinegar + Salt chips. “Absolute flavour bomb.”
Finally, Miranda recommends Mr Vintage’s range of Love Don’t Judge merch for Diabetes NZ. “25% of proceeds go to Diabetes NZ. And $25 for a gorgeous t-shirt is a bargain!”
That’s all for this week! If you’ve got a bargain or rec to share, or any other business to discuss, please reply to get in touch. See you next Wednesday 👋
