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May 31, 2007
Word Association: Check the bassline out, uh-huh
Those of you who have been temporarily blind for the past two weeks have missed the introduction of a new feature here at M.S. The premise is simpler than a game of schoolyard tag: Every week one member of the crew lays down a musical query to another contributor, calling him or her out by name (i.e. "tag Jeff, you're 'IT'"). This poor, put-upon Swankster then has roughly a week to raise his or her fists and respond to the challenge. And, after fighting back with the very best answer to the question at hand, he or she can essentially "tag," "tackle," or "pants" someone else with a word association of his or her own. Ah yes, see how the abused becomes the abuser?
Last week, Dave Klein posed the following challenge to me, which I in turn outsourced to Spinto Band guitarist Jon Eaton.
To Koren Jon Eaton: Would Have Made a Great Instrumental
"If you could leave the chorus of orphans in, Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life" could make for the kind of instrumental you'd hum during eight hours of any workday. It's nice to have a big old bassoon of a rapper hovering over a bunch of orphans, but the young ones steal the song. Hook, line and sinker, I've been laying sod all day and humming along.
It reminds me of the rap song that all the kids in your high school used to play way too often, and like a lot of Red Hot Chili Pepper songs, everyone would be real sick of it. But then, if you haven't listened for a couple of years and then tune in, you end up nodding your head too..." (J.E.)
Although it takes a pretty secure "gangsta gangsta" to hoist a sample from a Broadway musical--and a very secure man to compare himself to an 11-year-old girl with a cherry-red perm and a heart-shaped locket--I have to agree with my sod-laying friend. Here are some of the more unfortunate rhymes and word choices in this School of Hard Knocks:
1. "Sip the Cris and get pissy-pissy."
2. "If you with me ma I rub on your tits."
3. "I flow for chicks wishin' they ain't have to strip to pay tuition."
(On second thought, I take that back. Even John Keats would be pissed he never thought of number three.)
** Should you disagree with Jon's choice, Spinto Band plays NYC's Mercury Lounge on Saturday, June 9th, where you can dispute him in person. Here's a link for tickets.
Jay-Z - Instrumental Hard Knock Life
To Monty: Favorite Song Inspired By a Work of Literature
Previously:
Word Association: Truth Hits Everybody, the Police Were Overrated.
Word Association: Explanation and Inauguration.
Posted by Koren Zailckas at 09:15 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Numerology: ...going on Seventeen
by David Klein
While 16 will forever be saddled with a sweet image, even if the song is about sullying that very innocence, 17 is pure angst on wheels. To hear the songwriters of the last 40 years tell it, to be 17 is to be miserable, angry, depressed and quite possibly suicidal. Songs celebrating the free and easy side of 17 are very much in the minority. Boyd Bennett, an unheralded rockabilly player who reckoned Bill Haley had ripped him off, had one lone hit in 1955, with a rocking number called “Seventeen.” It went, “Seventeen, hot rod queen/Cutest girl you’ve ever seen/Tell the world I’m really keen/On my hepcat doll of seventeen.” A charmingly dated scenario, to be sure, but not the true 17. In “Sexy + 17,” the Stray Cats looked backward to the ‘50s—as they did in all their musical endeavors—to find something unthreatening to admire about the number. The dearth of positive 17 songs certainly stems from the fact that the number has become inextricably associated with its age equivalent in human years.
The most joyous moment in pop 17-ness has to be the opening couplet of “I Saw Her Standing There.” “Well she was just seventeen/and you know what I mean” is as much a part of the rock vernacular as “I can’t get no satisfaction.” Maybe if that crooked number had been part of that ecstatic song’s title, things might have turned around for 17. But the Beatles went for “I Saw Her Standing There” and henceforth, 16 out of every 17 “17” songs have been sung from the point of view of someone extremely miserable.
Janis Ian, who had an unlikely hit in 1966 with “Society’s Child,” at the precocious age of 15 (and that’s pre- Tiffany and TRL) scored an even bigger hit nearly a decade later, with “At Seventeen,” a first-person chronicle of that age’s particular pain, with details that we may never see the likes of again. Lines like, “To those of us who knew the pain/Of valentines that never came/And those whose names were never called/When choosing sides for basketball” will always send douche chills shooting up the spines of people who lived through the era when this song was all over the radio. Winning a sort of Oscar in its field, “At Seventeen” has earned a hallowed place in I Hate Myself and I Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You’ve Ever Heard by Tom Reynolds, which I highly recommend, and a cursory Google search reveals that many people feel share the belief that the song reaches dangerous levels of moroseness. Because of its ubiquity on the airwaves during the singer-songwriter-friendly ‘70s, “At Seventeen” had a virtual lock on the number for several years, successfully withstanding a gob of spit and an elbow jab by the Sex Pistols, whose “Seventeen” declared “I’m a lazy sod!” but alas, the only number Mr. Lydon utters in the song is actually12 more than 17 (“You’re only 29/Got a lot to learn”). Pistols contemporaries The Cure went for “17” glory with “Seventeen Seconds,” the catchiest song ever written about the last 17 seconds in the life of a person who has just committed suicide. Tracey Ullman obviously saw the appropriateness of 17 for her song “You Broke My Heart in 17 Places” (a pretty nifty song, the chorus of which adds to the titular phrase, “Shepherd’s Bush was only one.”) Unsung Chicago rocker Ike Reilly has a sleazy masterpiece called “Hip Hop Thighs #17,” but it gets disqualified for numerical arbitrariness. Jimmy Eat World’s “Seventeen” gets disqualified for never mentioning the number. Tim McGraw’s “Seventeen” gets disqualified for being by Tim McGraw. Ditto “Seventeen” by Winger.
Rising from some strange, pillowy planet, “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” by Broken Social Scene is a favorite song of robot geishas worldwide, as well as one of mine. Sadly, and I do mean that, there is no mention of the titular number, although the line “Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me” gets said 13 times in a row. There is no justice. Ladytron’s “Seventeen,” which is as icily cool as one would expect from this gelid Liverpool outfit, decadently declares, “They only want you when you're seventeen/When you're twenty-one you're no fun.” With its throbbing dance-floor beat, this one really gives my winning choice a run for its money.
Keren Ann, the exotically heritaged singer songwriter who cannot seem to garner any negative press, comes close to seventeen-ly sublimity with the stately “Seventeen,” sounding something like what a young, alto-voiced Leonard Cohen might have written. A beautiful song, but the sophistication of the arrangement and the singer’s knowing perspective serve to belie the song’s central plaint, “Look at me/I’m only seventeen,” rendering it an odd choice for the quintessential “17” song. For that distinction, a song really must embody the whole seventeen-ian ethos. And that’s why there’s only one real choice.
Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” from 1982’s Bella Donna has the quaking, feverish intensity of a very confused, very sexy teenager, on the cusp of adulthood. It announces itself boldly in a spray of 16th notes (16th notes—that has to be significant) and Ms. Nicks delivers a whomping vocal that I defy you not to respect in the morning. Even Joan Cusack’s campy performance of the song in School of Rock only serves to reinforce Eo17’s iconic status. Here’s a song that’s embraced by the once and future nerds and the whirling ingénues among us, as well as those of us who fall somewhere in between.
Stevie Nicks - "Edge of Seventeen"
* Random fact about “Edge of Seventeen” – The title comes from a mishearing of the phrase, “the age of seventeen,” reportedly drawled by Mrs. Tom Petty, in response to Ms. Nicks’ query as to when she had first met her husband.
Numerology is our pal Dave's ill advised quest to find the definitive song for every number from one to a hundred. He'll probably coast on teen angst for awhile, but there are rough times ahead.
Previously: No. 1, 2-4, 5-7, 7 (counterpoint), 8, 9, 10/11, 12/13. 13 (counterpoint), 14/15, 16
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 08:20 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Philly heads up: Free LCD Soundsystem show
Maybe this will get the (currently MIA) illadelph Swankster off his ass and back in the posting saddle. The city of brotherly love is throwing a party with LCD Soundsystem performing for free! Well, not exactly how its going down. LCD Soundsystem is doing Myspace's "the List" thing and you can go for free if you do the following:
FREE SHOW LCD Soundsystem Philadelphia, June 6thGET ON THE LIST,its easy as…
1. Add LCD Soundsystem and The List to YOUR Top Friends.
2. Send a MESSAGE to The List with your name/e-mail answering this question:
Q: What does DFA (James Murphy's Record label) stand for?
3. Once you're on The List we'll send an e-mail with venue info and instructions on how to pick up your tickets for you and one guest.
LCD has the midas touch and Sound of Silver rules like none other so this is excellent news for Philadelphia. In related good news, the team to beat in the NL East is almost at .500. Way to go fellas!
-- -- --
Doesn't it seem odd that singles still get official releases these days? Hard to believe anyone needs further convincing to buy this album. Though I'm aware the bubble that we reside in is not representative of the general population. Anyway "All My Friends" is the next single.
-- -- --
As previously reported on Spring Time Dance Party, "Freak Out/Starry Eyes" is included as a b-side to the new single. Advice: Best heard with volume set to dangerous. Especially during the out of left field "Moby Dick" drum break. Oh and as also previously reported Franz Ferdinand covered "All My Friends" too:
Franz Ferdinand - "All My Friends" (LCD Soundsystem cover) LINK REMOVED
Our Scottish friends sub sharp guitar chords for Murphy's frantic piano in this honorable yet distinctly more Rock cover. Ending with a tight turn into classic Franz for the goodbye sign-off of stomping flair and self assurance. Threatening a vicious pounce before abruptly cutting out.
Lads, I'm still hungry. -MS
Previously:
LCD Soundsystem - Live @ Webster Hall, NY, NY - 5.14.2007
Coachella Photos: LCD Soundsystem Live @ Sahara tent - 4.28.07
Spring Time Dance Party
Video: LCD Soundsystem Covers Joy Division
Franz Ferdinand's Cover of LCD's "All My Friends" now, more later
Sounds like: Sound of Silver
Posted by Merry Swankster at 12:52 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 30, 2007
Retrohump Day: Two Sans Theme
Usually, I try to assign these video posts a theme, even if that theme is startlingly flimsy or entirely concocted after the fact. Try as I might though, I can't seem to find much connective tissue between today's stellar entries. One is a relatively new discovery for me, one an old favorite. One is fast and serious, bordering on nervous, the other loose and romantic, drunkenly relaxed. One shows Brits in the US, the other Yanks in Europe. One professionally produced in stark black and white, the other amateurishly captured in grainy color. They both feature skinny white musicians playing variations of underground rock music, but that's hardly the basis for a snappy title, now is it?
the Monochrome Set - "Eine Symphonie des Grauens"
(Minneapolis 1979)
"Eine Symphonie des Grauens" is an accidentally stumbled upon song that I now find hard to believe has existed happily without me for nearly thirty years. I mean, if it's just been lying around for all that time, why have its praises not been shrieked towards the heavens? I promise I was listening for the shouts.
The stern visage of singer Bid in this contextless footage suggests that he had to part ways with his former bandmate Adam Ant due to an acute allergy to foolishness and foppery. A further investigation of the Monochrome Set's discography will most likely utterly discount this theory. But that's a matter for another time.
the Monochrome Set - "Eine Symphonie des Grauens"
Pavement - "Kentucky Cocktail"
(Belgium 1992)
Considering the fact that they've been my declared favorite band for well over a decade, it's a wonder I don't write about Pavement that often. I guess I'm afraid my levels of enthusiasm will make me sound foolish or something. So I'll go for understatement here when I say that this stuff is still tremendously appealing. Gary Young as the frazzled old hippy, Steve Malkmus as the dickish task master, it just all fits the oral history to a tee. When they start playing it's shockingly heavy, yet impossibly casual. And perfect, really. Not by any technical definition that you could quantify, but still. A magic trick I've studied from all angles on loop without making any progress towards unlocking.
See what I mean? I could break out into a sonnet at any moment, if I'm not careful.
Let me just end on a note about the song in question, "Kentucky Cocktail". I always regard with great respect bands who save very high quality material for special circumstances, like the late John Peel's show, for example. Though it's not quite as sublime as its Peel Session brother "Circa 1762," "Kentucky Cocktail" was clearly an album quality composition. To be willing to toss such a song away, to turn it into a footnote for the trainspotters...well that kind of supremely confident nonchalance is kind of inspiring still.
Pavement - "Kentucky Cocktail" (John Peel session)
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 02:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 29, 2007
Smashing Pumpkins: Keeping hot bass players employed since 1988
Ginger Reyes
Though the latest lineup for the Smashing Pumpkins consists of just two original members (Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin) it appears the "hot female bass player" quota has been filled according to the unofficial job description.
Following the lusted lineage of previous lady-Pumpkins D'arcy Wretzky and Melissa Auf der Maur, new girl Ginger Reyes (aka Ginger Sling) should soon be making the rounds of those silly "100 Hottest Rock Babes" lists Blender magazine is so fond of.
[Follow the jump for short "where are they now" updates on D'arcy & Auf der Maur.]
RELATED:: The Newest Smashing Pumpkin's Shoegazy Past
Melissa Auf der Maur
With a pockmarked resume highlighted by stints with Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins, one would expect Auf der Maur to have a moderately-rich development deal with VH1for a '90s Rock' retrospective. Instead she appears entrenched in the '00s culture of putting oneself out there by keeping busy with her blog.
//Site
//Lightning is My Girl Blog
//MySpace
D'arcy
Rumors of D'arcy returning to the Pumpkins were likely squashed forever when Billy Corgan called her "a mean spirited drug addict, who refused to get help" on a blog post from 2004. Information on current whereabouts are scarce. She seems to have dropped out of music altogether. The murky puzzle becomes slightly clearer on why that might be considering this: She was arrested in 2000 for possession of crack-cocaine. Muddy clarity continues with these details found on her Wikipedia entry:
D'arcy has been living in Watervliet, Michigan. She owns a horse farm and three antique shops. One of the horses D'arcy owns, "Jet Set Miss", was accepted into the Arabian Horse Pilot Program in August 2000 after passing inspection in Romeo, Michigan.
Sounds like she's taking the right steps needed for a promising career as a FEMA administrator. Godspeed.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 04:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
More high seeds left High & Dry
Third-round voting in the Radiohead tournament has begun at our tournaments page here.
After the jump, the upsets and the ecstasy.
Third-round previews
Pink Floyd bracket
Karma Police (1)
74% (23 votes) defeats Where I End and You Begin (9) 26% (8 votes)
VS
The National Anthem (5)
71% (22 votes) defeats (Nice Dream) (4) 29% (9 votes)
__
There There (3)
66% (23 votes) defeats You and Whose Army? (11) 34% (12 votes)
VS
Airbag (10)
80% (28 votes) defeats High and Dry (2) 20% (7 votes)
WINNER OF PINK FLOYD BRACKET TO FACE
Kraftwerk bracket
Everything in its Right Place (1)
73% (24 votes) defeats Bullet Proof (8) 27% (9 votes)
VS
A Wolf at the Door (4)
defeats 53% (18 votes) Subterranean Homesick Alien (5) 47% (16 votes)
--
Idioteque (2)
74% (26 votes) defeats Motion Picture Soundtrack (10) 26% (9 votes)
VS
How to Disappear Completely (14)
70% (26 votes) defeats Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box (6) 30% (11 votes)
Roxy Music bracket
Paranoid Android (1)
90% (27 votes) defeats Lucky (9)10% (3 votes)
VS
Optimistic (4)
52% (16 votes) defeats Street Spirit (5) 48% (15 votes)--
Exit Music (For a Film) (6)
71% (22 votes) defeats Planet Telex (3) 29% (9 votes)
VS
2+2=5 (2)
84% (26 votes) defeats The Tourist (10) 16% (5 votes)
WINNER OF Roxy Music bracket TO FACE Pixies bracket
Pixies bracket
The Bends (9)
74% (23 votes) defeats Scatterbrain (16) 26% (8 votes)VS
No Surprises (4)
77% (23 votes) defeats Morning Bell (5) 23% (7 votes)
--
Fake Plastic Trees (2)
63% (20 votes) defeats Pyramid Song (10) 38% (12 votes)
VS
Let Down (3)
68% (21 votes) defeats A Punch Up at a Wedding (11) 32% (10 votes)
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 11:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 28, 2007
Videos: Memorial Day
Since today is registered the country over as weekend, we will stay in our preferred off-day more vids, less chat mode. This time however, we make a minimal effort to be thematic by offering a couple of eighties classics with a vague military bent.
New Order - "Love Vigilantes"
(Tokyo, 1985)
Gang of Four - "I Love a Man in a Uniform"
(Dance Fever 1982)
This lip sync-tastic Gang of Four clip from the internet show "Post Punk Junk", segues into the less appropriate and less compelling footage of Yellow Magic Orchestra. You can go AWOL at that point, or you can soldier through.
Sorry.
Gang of Four - "I Love a Man in a Uniform"
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 11:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 27, 2007
Video: Gui Boratto - "Beautiful Life"
A bit back I put up a performance video of this same song, but since we're still not remotely tired of it, here's the official clip. It's a nice piece of work.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 11:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 26, 2007
Video: White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
Posted by Merry Swankster at 02:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Video: Sissy Wish - "Float"
Possibly the leading Summer Jam contender all over A: My apartment, B: Maura Idolator's car, C: Slightly behind the times sections of Norway, D: Nowhere else. The video gives us a bit of the ol' behind the scenes whatnot.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 10:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 25, 2007
Before you ride into that bloody hot sunset
Control trailer
Radiohead tournament. Vote second round.
Fin
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 02:05 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Word Association: Truth Hits Everybody, the Police Were Overrated
For those fickle members of the MS audience that missed this feature's launch last week, the full rundown is here. Reader's Digest version: Every week, an MS contributor is given the task to find the best musical answer to the words assigned them. Some times these words will form an understandable query, sometimes not. Once answered, the previously on the spot will in turn challenge another. I started last week and ended with the challenge below, which was answered by Prof. David Klein as such... (JK)
To David: Overrated Band, Underrated Song
I was temporarily thrown for a loop by Jeff's two-edged challenge. I've heard a lot of people call bands overrated but it’s never been a big descriptor for me. I'm more the type to say, “I never really got them” or “I respect their work more than I listen to it.” The “O” word often gets tossed at rock’s sacred cows. If you really want to get a certain type of person’s goat, just say something like, “The Sex Pistols were overrated.” Or the Ramones. Or Joy Division. It’s easy to lob “overrated” at a band that achieves massive success (U2, Coldplay) because nobody could really deserve that level of universal acclaim (except maybe the Beatles). In other words, too fat a target. I guess the target I ultimately chose is fairly fat, in its way, but I think pronouncing this outfit overrated will give me the most joy, because the Police were overrated in many if not all of the most telling ways.
First, they were overrated by the rock press, who fawned all over these guys as if they really were the Beatles of the ‘80s. The critics were understandably enamored of the bands’ impeccable chops, but also with its international influences, and of course, its lead singer. Beyond that, and this is an absolutely critical point, the Police's records were overrated by a long shot. They were all extremely spotty affairs, with some good singles and a few stray tracks, and a lot, a lot, of filler. And what does a band really leave behind when all is said and done but their recorded output? The obligatory Andy Summers song always sent one scurrying for the fast-forward button, and the Stewart Copeland songs were never anything special. That left Sting, who was more than capable of writing good songs, but several of the LPs were rush jobs recorded while on tour and offered to a world clamoring for new product from the three blonde dudes. The bottom line is the Police never made a great album. Their swansong, Synchronicity, contained several excellent singles but was marred by middling tracks and that awful Andy Summers song, “Mother.” As the band got bigger and bigger, so did its pretensions, and inevitably Sting's throwaways got heavy on sloganeering (“One world is enough/for all of us”), mysticism and politics, all surefire ways to make well-played but average songs into something much worse. Let’s also not forget that as Sting grew into the trio’s unabashed leader, his ego was amping up for a solo career in which he would delve deeper into faux reggae, dream of blue turtles, wonder if the Russians loved their children too, and declare love to be “the seventh wave.” (I can’t believe I missed that one in my quest for the perfect “7” song!) But by 1982, the former Mr. Sumner was saying things like, “It would be false for me to be modest. I believe I’m a great singer and a great songwriter.” (That same year, John Cale had this to say, “Being a living legend is such a precarious livelihood. It’s like being a bar of soap in a shower which doesn’t have any water in it.”)
Still, before they were living legends, there was a time when the Police were one extremely talented band and an exciting live act. I remember hearing (and of course, taping) a radio concert of the band in the Regatta de Blanc era, and loving their speedy but extremely tight versions of songs that had already been smoothed out and slowed down on the record. (I also remember an overly familiar radio DJ referring to the band as “The Cops” which I thought was the height of idiocy. I mean, would you refer to the Monkees as the Chimps?) A case in point is “Truth Hits Everybody,” a song from the debut outing from the Police, 1978’s Outlandos D’Amour. The band played it a lot in concert, but since it is certainly no one’s idea of a major song in the Police canon, it would seem to qualify as underrated. It’s just a couple of sturdy riffs and a keening vocal line, but on the live version of the song, they just tear it up. Check out Copeland’s fills and the tight interplay in the breaks. This version, from the Message in a Box collection, sounds a lot like the one I thrilled to back in the day. Other versions I checked out from even a few years later lacked the fire and over-the-top energy captured here in a sizzling two-and-a-half minute burst.
the Police - "Truth Hits Everybody"(live)
To Koren: Would Have Made a Great Instrumental
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 09:30 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
May 24, 2007
We Need Some Art Damage in Here, Stat!
On the heels of two prominent posts celebrating the armadillos in our trousers set, we've got to maintain the balance by getting very pretentious, very quickly. Luckily, one of the most famously obtuse and hard to find releases of all time, the formerly cassette only 1980 compilation From Brussels With Love, has been recently reissued and delivered to my hot little hands. This tape was the first proper release of the esteemed Belgian label, Le Disques du Crepuscule, which was founded by journalist Michel Duval and Joy Division homewrecker Annik Honore. The pair's partnership had begun years earlier when they turned a disused sugar refinery into a Brussels club called Plan K that would be a desirably high concept venue for Factory Records acts on holiday. This Factory connection is reflected in the tracklisting, which features unused material from many of Tony Wilson's menagerie, as well as many other art rock luminaries. There's a solo studio track from genius producer/lunatic Martin Hannett! Electro drones from Wire members Gilbert and Lewis! "She Blinded Me With Science" man Thomas Dolby sounding exactly like fellow traveler Robert Wyatt! An unknown cut from Krautrock notables Der Plan!! An interview with Eno, backed with a Phil Niblock ambient track!! Multiple Durutti Column entries!!
Now this is the kind of music that the public could care less about!!!
Obviously this stuff's going to take a while for me to process, but here's a couple tracks fit for immediate consumption;
Kevin Hewick & New Order - "Haystack"
"Haystack", credited to Kevin Hewick and New Order, predates any material from the former Joy Division, beating the "Ceremony" single to very selective racks by a good four months. If Hewick was auditioning for the still warm lead singer slot, the obscure Factory signee was going about it all wrong. His bright eyed, glamorous delivery was certainly not Ian Curtis inspired. Instead, think Bryan Ferry with about 50% less panache and 96% less vibrato. Which is not to say that it isn't pretty great. Over a guitar slow dance deep in the red, Hewick starts with the very Ferry-esque line, "She kicked off her stilettos and we fell into the haystack." From there it's the kind of romantic heroin song that we should probably be glad they don't make anymore. Needles ("Haystack," get it?), rolling up sleeves, leaving tire tracks, etc. It's not very subtle. At least not until it gets very odd, with Hewick misremembering a few nature lessons on the refrain, "It's early in the morning and the bees are singing/ the birds are stinging/ in an open air sur-gery." Right.
Up until the end, New Order doesn't really make their presence explicity felt. There's a subliminal icy synth wave hovering below the uncharacteristically raw Hannett recorded guitar, but it mainly creeps in and then recedes again just as quickly. As the track glides towards its finish, however, the boys step up. A stark, stabbing (yet melodic) key blast overwhelms the listener before settling into the left channel, as the right ear is partially soothed by calming white noise. It sounds alien and confrontational sure, but still immediately compelling.
The actually Belgian group the Names were forced to drop their initial Iggy inspired moniker the Passengers when they noticed a rival group of Pop devotees had beaten them to the NME review section, which gives you a nice snapshot of the times we're dealing with. Ironically, this is more Joy Division indebted than the above track, although not as egregiously as other Factory/Crepuscle acts like A Certain Ratio. In fact, singer Michel Sordina's quaking voice more resembles Robert Smith, who would have to be considered more of a contemporary than a direct influence. With the angular guitar stabs, the quick and stiff rhythm, and the synthetic countermelody, you might make the blasphemous joke that Factory Records lived up to its name, churning out interchangeable products. I won't, but YOU could. It still sounds vital though, the storming build up to the final notes especially.
Phew, dedication to obscurism restored. I can sleep soundly again.
// From Brussells With Love buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 03:35 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
The Shillest: Who is that singing Wicked Game?
[Before I start, do you know that you can vote on all of the second round matchups of the Radiohead song tournament here]
Watching the Shield (yeah, that's how I roll) on Tuesday, I encountered an ad for one of the many shows that I do not watch on FX. The tagline for the ad was "McNamara/Troy Office." I knew the song, but not the show.
The fans of Nip/Tuck knew the show, but not the song.
It was "Wicked Game," the Chris Isaak cover by the late, lamented Giant Drag.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 01:47 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Numerology: You're Sixteen, You're Beautiful, and You're...KISS?!
by David Klein
I never realized just how many 16 songs there are in this world. As anyone with a cursory knowledge of number songs knows, “16” songs grew in abundance in the 1950s, when girls had sweet sixteen parties, with 16 candles on their cakes. “16 Candles,” a 1957 hit by the Crests, inspired the 1984 movie of the same name, which itself became a cultural touchstone, albeit briefly, back when the whole world belonged to Molly Ringwald and we only lived in it. “You’re Sixteen” by Johnny Burnette, was remade into a hit by Ringo Starr, at the start of his hot streak in the early ‘70s. Songs like Neil Sedaka’s “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” and “Only 16,” a hit for Sam Cooke, tend to emphasize the youth angle (“She was too young to fall in love/and I was too young to know”) If you read between the lines in the ever-salacious Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” you can surmise that all the cats don’t just want to “dance” with the budding nubile in question. No discussion of “16” songs would be complete without “Sixteen Tons,” a country classic that everybody from Johnny Cash to Bo Diddley to Stevie Wonder have covered (“You load 16 tons and what do you get/Another day older, deeper in debt.”) And let’s not forget that quaint ditty from The Sound of Music, “Sixteen Going on Seventeen.” On second thought, let’s.
Sixteen was no longer sweet by the time the ‘70s rolled around. Iggy’s stomping “Sixteen” from Lust for Life is twisted and carnal in the extreme, while Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks was so enamored of 16 that he wrote the caustic, knotty “Sixteen” as well as the more straight-ahead “Sixteen Again.” And in the ‘80s there is the poignant “Sixteen Blue” by the Replacements. I know it’s blasphemy, but I always liked the rockers more than the heart-on-your sleevers by Mr. Westerberg. Sue me. The Chills, one of my favorite bands of all time, had a song called “16 Heartthrobs” which was one of the lesser songs off the sublime Brave Words LP.
There is a slew of songs entitled “16 Days”: from erstwhile Golden Palominos vocalist Lori Carson, Modern English of “I Melt With You” fame, and Ryan Adams’s former outfit, Whiskeytown. And the number is still hot, as recent songs by No Doubt and Le Tigre (both called “Sixteen”), the Decemberists (“16 Military Wives”) and Fall Out Boy (“A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me”) attest.
As always, though, I go with my gut, if indeed I have a gut feeling, and thus the winning16 song is one that is deep in my blood, with decades of enjoyable listens behind it. It’s a song that always got me going and made me want to dance around (as good a barometer as any). While contemplating Kiss for the overrated band/underrated song query recently tossed to me by my esteemed colleague with the paisley iPod case (Mr. Klingman) I came to the conclusion that while there are many negatives you could hurl at Kiss, overrated is not one of them. Yes, they have legions of fans (an army, I heard) willing to lay down their lives for the Knights in Service of Satan, (apparently, that’s what Kiss stands for) but you don’t find too many people praising the band’s musicianship, the deeper meaning of “Cold Gin” or the complexity of their arrangements. Some people just like going to the circus.
I have enjoyed a few Kiss songs in my time, but found most of their output a bit too lunk-headed and party-hearty for my liking, even in the pre- Lick it Up years. Nevetheless, there was a time when I could draw each of their faces in ballpoint, and if I had to name a favorite Kiss member, it would have been Ace. I even saw the band play, on a triple bill with the J Geils Band and Mahogany Rush, at an outside gig at the long-gone Roosevelt Stadium in New Jersey. I remember dutifully standing up and singing along during “Rock and Roll All Nite” but I wasn’t all that captivated. I think I was too far from the stage to fully appreciate what they were all about.
“Christine Sixteen” was always one of the good, good Kiss songs, maybe their best. It’s just flat-out fun, a bouncy pop number with a sweetly stinging Stones-y guitar lick and a satisfying arrangement that makes it the ideal song to listen to on your way down to the Dairy Queen after a little league game. All the dopey Kiss hallmarks are here: the lumbering vocals, the adolescent lyrics (“She’s been around/but she’s young and clean”) even a bonus dopey spoken narrative (“When I saw you coming out of school that day…”) and yet it’s hard to resist. Maybe it’s the complex call-and-response (Christine! Sixteen! Christine! Sixteen!) Maybe it’s that saloon piano going ‘clang-clang-clang-clang.’ Or maybe it’s just those three drum hits the set off the chorus. I know some of those “sweet sixteen” songs have more cultural significance, and I know the ‘Mats song is deeper, but I can’t help myself, and besides, this isn’t about cultural significance. It’s about finding the song for the number that just feels right.
* Random fact about “Christine Sixteen”: The 1977 single’s B-side, “Shock Me,” was covered in multiple deconstructive versions by Red House Painters.
Numerology is our pal Dave's ill advised quest to find the definitive song for every number from one to a hundred. He'll probably coast on teen angst for awhile, but there are rough times ahead.
Previously: No. 1, 2-4, 5-7, 7 (counterpoint), 8, 9, 10/11, 12/13. 13 (counterpoint), 14/15
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 09:25 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
May 23, 2007
Retrohump day - Like a hurricane, they rocked
As I started thinking about what today's Retrohump should focus on I began taking stock on our recent obsessions regarding all things 90s. The wrapped search for Best 90s Album ended with Ok Computer taking top honors - a foreseeable and anticlimactic result that flew in the face of MS writers contrary opinions (here, here, and here). (The current knockout tournament dovetails from there with a search for the best Radiohead song and is still very much in play.)
Runner up and looking up to Ok Computer was that other shocker of 90s heavyweights. The one iconically wrapped with a naked baby fishing for a dream. Naysayers shouldn't get too worked up with the results, because a definitive resolution by Internet voting, no matter what we proclaimed, was never really the intent of the tournament. We probably gained most not from tangible results but from the honest and open discussions beget by the natural desire of publicly justifying a vote. While the elimination format was a great exercise in pseudo-democracy, at the end of the day I doubt we resolved anything. I bring this up because it is hard to argue Nirvana's cultural effect on the world transcends less than anything Radiohead has done, or in all probability, will ever do.
Stock examples of Nirvana's effect on greater culture (for the early-90s layman) include both the dethroning of Michael Jackson from the charts; and splashing a deadly wave of irrelevance on practically every 80s hair metal band. Which brings me to this edition of Retrohump.
Hmm..provide me some flashbacks to the 1980s monsters of debaucherous cheese you say? If you count yourself among the detractors questioning the need to spotlight sleaze-rockers then I must warn you the chances of a future stop on the hairspray wagon of questionably tasteful thematic glory will only increase as we get closer to the hilarity going down at Rocklahoma*. The new 80s hair metal festival serving dual roles as excellent case study for the increasingly niche-based (long tail) world we live in, and a repository for excess Schlitz inventory.
Ratt - "Round and Round"
Countering our typical penchant for the obscure with this!? Gotta keep you kids sharp by inviting perspective into the mix, or Here is a Counterpoint to Obscurer than thou.
Motley Crue - "Live Wire"
You scan a bunch of these videos and they all start looking the same. Tight multicolored leather pants, excessive hip shimmying, accessories galore, heavy makeup... In fact the whole scene is not unlike witnessing a bunch of pre-op transvestites meeting at an S&M club for an androgyny dance party celebration.
Whitesnake - "Slide It In"
Subtlety was never the forte of the 80s. Evidenced here in both title and in David Coverdale's description of Tommy Aldridge being a "thunderous octopus on drums." I might have to repurpose that last analogy someday. Wait for it.
Motley Crue - Live on Countdown Revolution - Australian TV
I take back any past comment claiming I had seen the worst television in the world. I suggest preempting the play click with some Tylenol.
-- -- --
This swath of awful could go on for hours. Until next time...Rocklahoma baby.
* - If anyone out there is going to this and is interested in writing about it for Merry Swankster.com. Please email me.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 03:48 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 22, 2007
Monolith Festival coming to Red Rocks
Introducing: Monolith - a new indie rock festival coming to Colorado. Much will be made about the competition between ACL and other late summer fests from the music news is porn folks. All you need to know is one of the most rockingest venues in the world is debuting a new festival in the backyard of Merry Swankster's western HQ. Claiming 50 bands on 5 stages including Flaming Lips, Decemberists, Spoon, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cloud Cult, Yacht and more to be announced (initial lineup lists less than 40 bands).
MS excitement is tepid at this point. Curious to see who else is added. I suggest every Krug band for some unique buzz.
Initial lineup after the jump.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 05:28 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
NEWS: Lady Sovereign is bad at stuff
[Photo cred]
Are you guys as tired of the predictable antics from Lady Sovereign as I am? From the regular comments appearing on this previous post it seems Lady Sov's defenders number high while subscribing to an indecipherable style of writing that spits on conventional QWERTY readability by using unnecessary text message shorthand.
Because interest in the above mentioned post will not die, here is a link to yet another foul-up from the biggest phony midget in the game care of Brooklyn Vegan.
Lady Sovereign imitating the faces of her audience?
-- -- --
In related "haven't I heard this one before news:"
M.I.A. drops out of Sasquatch due to visa problems
Posted by Merry Swankster at 04:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Spring Time Dance Party
I don't know why you still love me with all the promises I've broken lately, but I take pride in the fact that I did deliver a Springtime dance party while it was still actually Spring. Moral victories, people.
LCD Soundsystem - "Freak Out / Starry Eyes"
It's been no guarded secret that the MS gang has a big ol' man (and occasional lady) crush on James Murphy right now, but the dude keeps on sexin' it out and we can't help ourselves. The latest mind blower to trickle in from DFA headquarters (which I imagine as a nefarious moon base with a terrific espresso machine) is this twelve minute dance monster, "Freak Out/ Starry Eyes." It's actually two songs jammed together, held apart by a drum solo that lasts over two minutes. The first segment, or "Freak Out," is more in line with the cosmic disco goodness of the workout prompting 45:33 than Sound of Silver. The emphatic mantra, "If you do it again, I'm gonna freak out/ so do it again", repeats ad infinitum as the pitch perfect 70's cop show horn fanfares suggest a suave pimp strut over an invigorating jog. When the congo drums (somehow recorded to give them an almost steel drum-esque echo without the metallic clang) eventually morph into the afforementioned expansive solo, the mood is so giddy that "Aw shit" murmurings can be heard loudly in the edges as if this were a James Brown record. Then, out of the blue, comes "Starry Eyes," a sleek electro number that keeps gathering steam for the final four minutes. Nancy Whang takes lead vocals in her wide-eyed "Get Innocuous" voice, complaining of dance related foot fatigue. After this absolutely bananas club Frankenstein, you couldn't blame her.
Mmmmwa! (That's the sound of me kissing my fingers, as if to signify "Magnifique!")
// LCD Soundsystem - website
// LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends" single pre-order
This infectious Norwegian pop chart abuser was posted a couple months ago over on Fluxblog, and although Idolator bit immediately, there's been shockingly few bandwagon jumpers from the wilds of Hype Machine so far. This absence of praise is empirically wrong. This is about as expertly constructed as a pop song gets. Sissy Wish, which is seemingly (and fantastically) the singer's actual name, hits every note with a rapid cadence that defies the helium lightness of her pure bubblegum voice. The delivery is so spot on that you barely notice the always evolving production touches keeping the insistent synthetic background from getting stale. Some light backing mews here and a touch of artificial brass there, and the replay quotient quietly elevates. Around the 2:15 mark, a sudden geyser of majestic bubbles shoots up from the song's center and Sissy's vocal takes on a much richer tone. Before you can catch your breath, the drums are at you again. Her voice splits in two, bobbing and weaving around itself. One voice is bratty, one is more cooly reserved. All of it is really quite good.
// Sissy Wish - website
// Sissy Wish - Beauties Never Die buy (you do know the conversion rate for kroner, right?)
I saw this Kansas City "band" (pronounced the shun) a few years back at the formerly cool and just flat out former Luxx club in Williamsburg. Though all of the outlandish details escape me at the moment, I distinctly remember the prominent use of Nirvana masks (not just Cobain, Krist was in there too!) as well as a lion costumed performer giving birth to a snake. It was like hipster Gwar. Despite such antics, the group's hilarious trashy pop songs never really caught on. It was a delight to recently discover that a new album, Fool's Gold, was a more polished if no less bizarre animal. For all of the music's superficial resemblances to Madonna's "Holiday" it's (male) singer Cody Critcheltoe's unbelievable lady voice that seals the Material Girl comparison. It's frankly unsettling. I can understand if folks out there aren't too keen on this, but the goony D.I.Y. approximation of 80's chart pop and Cody's willingness to risk being flatly ridiculous won me over pretty quick. Has anyone coined the phrase "hermaphrodite pop" yet?
// the Ssion - website, where you can buy the new album, Fool's Gold
The backing track for this, the most exciting track yet to emerge from M.I.A.'s August release Kala, is nothing but an abrasively minimal beat that sounds like a faulty slot machine paying off repeatedly. Like the cash fountain it resembles, this is not nearly a bad thing. Her shout-chirp delivery from Arular is firmly intact, keeping up with semi-current events by taking a pot shot at F.E.M.A. The real treat however is when she slips into her sing song "Amazon" mode and appropriates the unlikely "All I wanna do is a zoom zoom zoom" portion of "Rumpshaker." Shake they will. The best evidence we've gotten that our girl's house won't collapse under the weight of her debut's hefty accolades.
// M.I.A. - website
// M.I.A. - Arular buy
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 04:10 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
But first, some stats
Today, second round voting in our Radiohead tournament begins anew. Click here to participate. But first, some stats.
Record of seeds
1 seeds: 3-1 (yes, Timmy, a 1 seed lost).
2 seeds: 4-0
3 seeds: 3-1
4 seeds: 4-0
Notables
Lowest seed remaining: "Scatterbrain" (16)
Highest seed ousted: "Creep" (1)
Album records
Pablo Honey: 0-6
Bends: 7-5
OK Computer: 9 - 2
Kid A: 7-0
Amnesiac: 3-5
Hail to the Thief: 6-3
B-sides 1-11 (Pearly* winning the play-in game)
More stats after the jump
1 seeds: 3-1 (yes, Timmy, a 1 seed lost).
2 seeds: 4-0
3 seeds: 3-1
4 seeds: 4-0
5 seeds: 4-0
6 seeds: 2-2
7 seeds: 1-3
8 seeds: 1-3
9 seeds: 3-1
10 seeds: 3-1
11 seeds: 2-2
12 seeds: 0-4
13 seeds: 0-4
14 seeds: 1-3
15 seeds: 0-4
16 seeds: 1-3
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 08:35 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 20, 2007
Sounds like: Sound of Silver
Can we tell you some of the things we love?
1) Crowdsourcing content!
2) Soliciting comments
3) Introducing new features
4) Service journalism
Re: point three, I can only imagine a unlikely conversation between two MS.com readers occurring thusly.
"Hey, did you check out the latest Obscurer Than Thou?"
"Is that Retrohump?"
"No, that's the one where he gets his mother to review indie rock."
"No, that's Matriarch Musical Express."
I digress. It may seem like we spend our entire lives thinking up new MS.com features, but I assure you that it's pretty organic. An idea comes to us, and, if we can bear writing up the explanation, we proceed.
I can bear writing the description. So here we are.
Re: point four. Humans, being social creatures, occasionally find themselves in a musical discussion with other humans. Sometimes, one human will ask another for music recommendations. And with tender being a scarce resource and the human mind prone to curiosity, humans receiving music recommendations will likely wish to know what a band's album sounds like. We, with your help, will dissect an album's song to its core elements.
Note: this is not "Influenced by." If something unintentionally reminds you of the Backstreet Boys, don't be afraid to share it. We will begin this journey with Sound of Silver As you submit comments on suggestions for the list, we will add them to the main post. When we get through every song, consider this to be your conversation cheat sheet. After the jump, find the track listing and our initial suggestions.
1. "Get Innocuous!"
One of the main refrains in "Get Innocuous" is a sped up version of Kraftwerk's "the Robots", and the multi-Murphies on the vocals in that one are very Bowie in Berlin as well. The beat that comes in there a lot of people have said is a riff on "I'm Losing My Edge", but I think it's that beat from the demo the DFA did with Britney Spears if anyone's heard that...
2. "Time to Get Away"
3. "North American Scum"
4. "Someone Great"
5. "All My Friends"
6. "Us v Them"
LCD Soundsystem's "Yeah" (the rhythm, beat); David Bowie (the voice in the segue chorus) [KO]
7. "Watch the Tapes"
Harry Nilsson (rhythm, voice); Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" (A-oooooh!) [KO]
8. "Sound of Silver"
9. "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down"
Burt Bacharach (piano-driven and vocal lilt); Weezer (in the "Maybe I'm wrong; maybe I'm right" portion of the song) [KO] Bowie's "Rock n' Roll Suicide" [JK]
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 07:54 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 18, 2007
I've Got Believers, Believe in Me...
Well, I guess I'm not quite as confident as Bowie was in his "DJ" lyrics that I have a legitimate rooting section, but, as I stated previously, I will be DJ'ing tonight at the Lotus Lounge on the corner of Clinton and Stanton Streets on the Lower East Side. From roughly 10 - late. If you're keen to power through the slightly discouraging weather with concentrated doses of beer and music, please join me there. If not, you're not the readership I thought you were.
The last shameless plug had some bribery mp3's on it, which still exist. I offer you no bribe now but the possibility of a fine time.
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 04:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Hillary is losing her edge
We're way overdue on weighing in on this, as Wonkette, Time's quite good Swampland, and probably seventy music blogs have already posted.
But, so what?
Hill-Hill has asked supporters to choose her campaign song.
Oh my lords. Smash Mouth's cover of "I'm a Believer!" Oh my rick rubins. Jesus' Jones "Right Here, Right Now".
Clearly there's no indie rock fan in the Clinton camp. So, whose got some pretentious indie rock suggestions?
How about Belle & Sebastian's "She's Losing It"
The Smith's "Oscillate Wildly?"
How about Radiohead? Was that enough of a reason to link to our fabulous, still-running Radiohead May Madness tournament, which is located here?
"Electioneering" is the obvious election-themed post, but it's not sharp enough. "Let Down?" "How Can You Be Sure?"
What say you?
Posted by Keith O'Brien at 03:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Word Association: Explanation and Inauguration
So there's a new feature we've been tossing around the ol' idea park for a while now, which I think is finally ready to see the light of day (the idea park is only open at night, also it doesn't exist).
Since this site's inception the roster of contributing writers has ballooned from a meager 3 to a whopping 7. As our continuing domination over the increasingly lively comments section shows (readers please keep it coming, by the way), we're all pals and we like to continually tease, encourage, mock, and just generally pick fights with each other over music quite a bit. Which is why we're all here. But I have to think that beyond the occasional after the jump grousing, there has to be a better way for all of our contributors to interact more significantly. A way for us to develop the kind of continuing bar stool banter that occasionally develops in our non-virtual lives.
The premise is simple, each week one member of the MS crew will lay down a challenge to another contributor, calling them out by name. The challenge can be a totally straightforward musical query ("best drum solo"), a less straightforward musical query ("robot make out music"), or a complete and utter non-sequitur ("turkey club"). The challenged will then have roughly a week to respond with the best musical answer that they can muster, and a couple paragraphs in defense of their choice. When successfully completed, they will throw down the guantlet to someone else. This guantlet will be continually thrown down in perpetuity until it doesn't know why it bothers to get up anymore. Hopefully the result will get us to post things we'd have no call to otherwise, and result in profound entertainment for all.
To give you an example of how this will go, I will indulgently throw myself an alley-oop. Pretend someone else had said...
To Jeff: Worst Song Ever
Declaring something the worst of all time is just as tricky as deeming something the best. They're both extremely strong words, and you better be prepared to back them up. For mental cases like us who've heard who knows how many songs, you have to power past simply dumb, inept, or boring to find the truly musically offensive. Cheesy pop songs are too easy, avant garde noise torture too ambitious, and personally disliked genres too subjective to be the absolute nadir of musical achievement. No, we need to dig deeper, looking under rocks much fouler than "My Humps" or "Nookie". We're gonna need a novelty song.
The playlist of Dr. Demento and his ilk is bad enough, but the worst Ray Stevens can throw at us pales in comparison to the horror that is the British novelty song (for example see the Crazy Frog debacle). Well, I've gone one step beyond even that. Not only is my choice a British novelty song from the 70's, it's the sequel to a British novelty song from the 70's! Pop hack Johnathan King is to blame here, as the middling success of his 1971 parody "Johnny Reggae", recorded under the name Piglets, inspired this 1976 bullshit, "Baby Reggae". This time it was billed to the infinitely ickier sounding Big Pig with Little Porker. This is the worst sort of parody for many reasons. For one, because it seeks to simultaneously capitalize on and belittle a thriving cultural force, while completely watering down the sound it seeks to emulate with horrible cheesecake production. Other sins include being a blatantly soulless cash in on a non-hit (like the song equivalent of Anaconda 2), and forgetting to even attempt being funny. More than anything it's downright creepy. Mr. King lowers his voice a few octaves to limit his recognizability, presumably out of shame, and the result is a man named "Big Pig" in an off kilter deep baritone singing "Baby Reggae, giggle for me," to which a disembodied baby sound ("Little Porker"?) obliges. Any time a novelty song reminds you of pedophilia, it's a bad sign. Its worst sin, however, is probably being so completely bereft of ideas that it can only fill one minute and forty seconds of its excrutiating two minute and twenty-two second run time before resorting to a fart joke, and deciding to run out the clock.
Let's review. Novelty cash in, culturally condescending, wildly annoying, toilet humor, vaguely remiscent of pederasty, and most of all, bloody awful. I think we have a loser.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the worst song of which I am aware...
Big Pig w/ Little Porker - "Baby Reggae"
So there's an example. Going forward, the abstractness of the answer will probably be directly proportional to the abstractness of the trigger phrase/question. As eager as I am for this feature to blossom into complete randomness, I'm gonna keep it strictly musically related at the onset. If I dropped the Dada bomb right away, there'd be no sense of delight when someone finally has to scramble to find the perfect musical expression of "napalm trousers", or whatever. So slow start it is, but in order to allow for a wider spectrum of strange answers, I throw it to Mr. Obscurer Than Thou himself, David Klein.
To David: Overrated Band, Underrated Song
P.S. No backsies...
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 01:40 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
NEWS: Killers Bail out of Red Rocks Show After Two Songs
[Hello, various interlopers; after you read the below, please participate in our May Madness tournament to find the best Radiohead song here]
Red Rock's summer concert series is off to a rocky start. During the second show of the season it took only two songs into their Denver concert before the Killers cancelled Thursday's show. Brandon Flowers was visibly and audibly upset while singing "When You Were Young" and walked off the stage. Ending what first appeared to be a moment of lyrical forgetfulness and turning it into an extended break with PA music turned on in an attempt to distract from the empty stage at the base of the sandstone monoliths.
After about ten minutes Killers drummer (likely short straw puller) Ronnie Vannucci, Jr took to the mic and delivered the evening's eulogy: "His voice is very screwed up," referring to Brandon Flowers who suffered an apparent throat injury, before spiraling oddly into praising the crowd's otherwise good health.
Even odder was the serendipitous presence of Merry Swankster at Red Rocks - camera in hand to record the announcement described above and the shit-storm of boos from the "loyal" Killers fans. Video by Kelli Douglas, distribution care of YouTube.
Video of doctor who followed after the jump.
Posted by Merry Swankster at 04:50 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
New Sunset Rubdown due in October - Random Spirit Lover
New Sunset Rubdown due in October. On top of uncrested expectations for the sorta announced new Wolf Parade album, 2007 is really solidifying as an amazing year in music. Will Krug and Boeckner wear the crown of the second half?
Previously:
Sunset Rubdown/ Frog Eyes / Beirut @ the Mercury Lounge, New York City, 5.22.06
Sunset Rubdown - Live @ Hi-Dive, Denver, CO - 4.16.2007
Sunset Rubdown - "Winged/Wicked Things"
Random Spirit Lover tracklist after the jump.
The Mending of the Gown
Magic vs. Midas
Up on your Leopard, Upon the End of your Feral Days
The Courtesan has Sung
Winged/Wicked Things
Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns
Stallion
For the Pier (and dead shimmering)
The Taming of the Hands that Came Back to Life
Setting vs. Rising
Trumpet, Trumpet, Toot! Toot!
Child-Heart Losers
Posted by Merry Swankster at 03:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 17, 2007
Numerology: the 14th and "The 15th"
by David Klein
Would that there was a title track to Paul Westerberg’s 14 Songs, because I am facing a dearth, a lack, a paucity and so on, of proper 14 songs. Were it not for the fact that I have a totally ace 14 song up my sleeve, I might have already experienced my first spate of night terrors related to this numerological quest. In my zeal to provide some kind of a range, however, I have turned up the following: “Fourteen” by the sometimes delightful, occasionally un-listenable Beat Happening, in this case, in blatant un-listenable mode; “14 Years” by Guns ‘N Roses, whom I could never fully embrace, the somber “14 Days” by Nick Lowe, and “Feb 14.,” a cry in your beer number by the Drive-by Truckers.
Good thing “14 Cheerleader Coldfront” by Guided By Voices arrived unexpectedly on my desktop the other day, like one of the cans of Schlitz that Robert Pollard lobbed high and far into the crowd when I saw GBV play an outdoor show many moons ago, in Central Park. It’s an unadorned little number off the originally self-released Propeller, sung by sometime vocalist Tobin Sprout (whose name could almost pass for a GBV song.) Like most GBV songs, the lyrics are either inscrutable or simply nonsensical, like text derived from William Burroughs’ cut-up technique, and that’s part of the charm. But the slightness of the 90-second song, the lack of any real cheerleaders, and the arbitrariness of the use of 14 here render it an also-ran. The fact is, there’s only one really great 14 song, and it’s Television Personalities’ “14th Floor,” the first single from a seminal band that was shambolic before your favorite band was shambolic. This is what Chuck Berry would have written if he had been a young Brit, living in council housing in 1977. (I realize that, in a certain sense, this is an ill-advised simile, but come on, take that leap of logic with me.)
I'm looking down on London/But there's little I can see/Cos I'm living so high up/And it looks so small to me/And I'm feeling so frustrated/Cos the lifts are out once more/And when I get home from work tonight/I gotta climb 14 floors, I tell you mate...
14th floor Oh no, my face don't fit 14th floor Just a number on the council list
14th floor Oh no, there's nothing to do/14th floor It's got a roof, it hasn't got a view
Television Personalities - "14th Floor"
Crooning to the MS public, I humbly intone, “Fifteen minutes with you/Well, I wouldn’t say no.” Don’t get me wrong—I understand why Morrissey went with the far more evocative “Reel Around the Fountain” as the song’s title, but “fifteen minutes with you” is the song’s main hook, and it would have made my job a whole lot easier. What I’m trying to say is, I see no other choice but to break my own rule, big-time. I have said many times that ‘tis better to refer to the number in question then to never refer at all. After breaking this rule at 3 and 4, I have adhered well to it since then, but blast it, what better 15 song is there than Wire’s “The 15th”? And no, the Fischerspooner cover version could not be construed as better (although it is damned good, and more fun than Mike Watt’s cover version on 1996’s Whore: Tribute to Wire, containing My Bloody Valentine’s sizzling cover of another numerically named Wire song that seems all but a shoo-in later on in this list.)
Andy Warhol’s concept of 15 minutes of fame serves as the basis of a number of 15 songs. The late and sorely missed Kirsty MacColl gave us “Fifteen Minutes,” a charming, Kinks-ish hate-note to sell-outs, bozos and others “whose mediocrity excels,” from her finest record, Kite. Johnny Boy, of “The Generation That Bought More Shoes…” fame has a “Fifteen Minutes” too. The Blue Aeroplanes, one of the only bands that ever got anywhere with a vocalist who spoke rather than sang (imagine a more versatile Art Brut led by a declaiming debauched poet type) have a track called “Warhol’s Fifteen” which has a lot in common with a Neil Young song except lines like “Whatever eye is trained upon it/your face is the future/a smoother transaction is hoped for/than the hollows beneath their skin.” Early glam queen Suzi Quatro and ‘90s house proponents Sheep on Drugs are among several outfits with songs called “15 Minutes of Fame.” And an early Snow Patrol song that could be the template for a lot of recent Snow Patrol is called “Fifteen Minutes Old.” Still…I’m not convinced that any of these approaches the icy majesty of Wire’s “The 15th.” In fact, when it comes to icy majesty, accept no substitutes.
“The 15th” breaks every rule. It doesn’t say the number; it doesn’t even say much of anything discernible. The subject of the song, the vague “you”—could be an idea that was never expressed. Maybe the 15 somehow relates to the album’s title, 154. Maybe it’s a bunch of clever nonsense. Enigmatic is hard to pull off. Michael Stipe, for example, managed when he mumbled, but once he enunciated, and started singing about the flowers of Guatemala, a lot of the mystery was gone. “The 15th” shows how to maintain the mystery, with words that convey an almost alien-sounding logic, even though we cannot grasp them.
Reviewed, it seemed/As if someone were watching over it
Before it was/ As if response were based on fact
Providing, deciding, it was soon there
Squared to it, faced to it, it was not there
“The 15th” is like the monolith in 2001. It just is.
Numerology is our pal Dave's ill advised quest to find the definitive song for every number from one to a hundred. He'll probably coast on teen angst for awhile, but there are rough times ahead.
Previously: No. 1, 2-4, 5-7, 7 (counterpoint), 8, 9, 10/11, 12/13. 13 (counterpoint)
Posted by Jeff Klingman at 10:55 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Insomnia Video: Gui Boratto - "Beautiful Life"
As nice as it to see our man step out from behind his DJ set-up, it's also leading to some early morning confusion at MS HQ. Is the Brazilian TV editing just odd enough to make it seem like Gui is simultaneously laying down New Order guitar riffs and manning the