auspicacious

(Another "music I like" entry, because I can.)

British folks of a certain age will remember a band called Prefab Sprout, which put out some amazing albums in the 1980s and 1990s. Paddy McAloon's compositions, combined with the synth sensibilities of Thomas Dolby's production, combined to create a sound that's been compared to the best pop composers alive today. McAloon is an obsessive perfectionist, who supposedly has demos for several more albums stashed away -- including a concept album based on the life of Michael Jackson (!). His lyrics are often earnestly religious, reflective, or sentimental in ways that many would consider to be astonishingly uncool, but he sells every word to the listener.

He's been fighting serious health problems for the past decade or more, but managed to publish one of these "lost" albums, Let's Change the World with Music, in 2009. Here's hoping for more. Here is the very 80s video for From Langley Park to Memphis' "Cars and Girls."