tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63512094003758104272024-02-20T00:14:21.758-08:00500 SongsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-13149517296615609852010-01-22T10:38:00.000-08:002010-06-11T11:12:49.798-07:00Bobby's songs #7 and #8: Rob Jungklas and Son House<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/S1nw66EvdeI/AAAAAAAABXI/LhLmENi8NFA/s1600-h/jungklas.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/S1nw66EvdeI/AAAAAAAABXI/LhLmENi8NFA/s400/jungklas.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429635720584066530" /></a>This entry is a twofer. The first song led me to the other and I think the second song is necessary to fully explain the first. So, I present both of them.<div><br /><div>Tennessee-based Rob Jungklas scored a pair of very modest rock hits in the late 1980s. "Make it Mean Something" (which I've never heard and cannot find on the Internet) reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSfkP1rxIk4">Boystown</a>" got some MTV airplay because it ripped of a previous Wang Chung video. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSfkP1rxIk4">See for yourself</a>. He recorded 2 poorly selling albums and then seemingly hung it up in 1989. He left the music industry and went on to get a college degree, get married, and become a high school teacher.<div><br /></div><div>The point is, you've probably never heard of him and neither had I. A buddy of mine who used to frequent the mini-mall where I worked for the first half of the 00's brought <a href="http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dzfyxqtaldse"><i>Arkadelphia </i></a>by one day and insisted I listen to it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, I wasn't very impressed. The dirty-South white guy blues rock wasn't a revelation and the music and songwriting, while occasionally engaging, did little to hold my attention. Something about his music seemed too cerebral -- and the one thing you can NOT do is <i>think</i> when playing the blues. </div><div><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ardentmusic.net/ArdentStudios-dotcom/wp-content/uploads/rob-jungklas-arkadelphia.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 195px;" src="http://ardentmusic.net/ArdentStudios-dotcom/wp-content/uploads/rob-jungklas-arkadelphia.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div>The first song on the album, however, immediately struck me as a gem. "Drunk Like Son House" is head and shoulders above the other tracks on the album. The riffs are catchy, the vocals are convincing, and the lyrics contain one of the best poetic turns of phrase I've ever heard: "Sometimes God will mumble but the Devil always annunciates." What a wonderful and horribly true observation.</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Drunk Like Son House </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">by Rob Jungklas</span><br /></div><center></center></div><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: 400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Drunk Like Son House.mp3"> </iframe> </div><div><br /></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i don't wanna be a poisonin' the water</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i don't wanna be the light that shone</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i don't wanna to be the voice in the darkness</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">all i want is a heaven of my own</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i don't wanna be a holy roller</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i don't wanna be doubtin' trancendence</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i don't want to hate the men i talk to</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i don't want to love the women that kiss me</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i'm drunk like son house</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i don't care what the good book promise</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i don't care what the preacher man say</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i'mma move when the spirit move me</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">with the whiskey and the women to help me to pray</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i'm drunk like son house</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">i come here</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">stay away from Itta Bena</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">stay away from the Stovall place</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">sometimes God will mumble</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">but the devil always annunciates</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></div></div><div>I think it is important to be familiar with Son House and his life story in order to full appreciate this song. (Perhaps some of you already know his work without knowing that you know it. The White Stripes covered his "Death Letter" on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijl_(album)"><i>De Stijl</i></a> (2003).) It was a happy coincidence that my boss had recently purchased a Son House CD and had been playing it regularly in the store -- otherwise I would not have known a thing about Son House.</div><div><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bsot.org/images/sonhouse_gbrv.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 307px;" src="http://www.bsot.org/images/sonhouse_gbrv.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div>Son House was a performing Mississippi delta blues musician in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. He was a contemporary of better-known blues icons Robert Johnson and Charley Patton. Before his career as a juke-joint musician House was a man of the cloth. He had been a Baptist preacher since the age of 15. By his mid-20s he experienced a paradigm shift. He left the church, bought a guitar, and began teaching it to himself. The first surviving record of House playing his music is from a 1930s acetate. The sound quality is terrible and some of you may not be able to listen to this song the whole way through. For those of you who do, pay attention to how the youthful, former Baptist preacher, mocks his former passion with an almost demonic exuberance. You can certainly tell he was a preacher. He was 28 here and in the midst of his pulling away from all he had been.</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Preachin' the Blues (1930) </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">by Son House</span><br /></div><center></center></div><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: 400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Preachin' The Blues (1930).mp3"> </iframe> </div><div><br /></div><div>The title, "Preachin' the Blues" encapsulates House's internal struggle that he would continue to struggle with: living among the holy ("Preachin') or living among the profane ("Blues", being the music that was played disreputable establishments and usually involved liquor). </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Oh, I'm gonna get me a religion, I'm gonna join the Baptist Church</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Oh, I'm gonna get me a religion, I'm gonna join the Baptist Church</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">I'm gonna be a Baptist preacher, and I sure won't have to work</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Oh, I'm a-preach these blues, and I, I want everybody to shout</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">I want everybody to shout</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">I'm gonna do like a prisoner, I'm gonna roll my time on out</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Oh, I went in my room, I bowed down to pray</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Oh, I went in my room, I bowed down to pray</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Till the blues come along, and they blowed my spirit away</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Oh, I'd-a had religion, Lord, this every day</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Oh, I'd-a had religion, Lord, this every day</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">But the womens and whiskey, well, they would not set me free</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Oh, I wish I had me a heaven of my own</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">(spoken: Great God almighty!)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Hey, a heaven of my own</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Till I'd give all my women a long, long, happy home</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">hey, I love my baby, just like I love myself</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Oh, just like I love myself</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Well, if she don't have me, she won't have nobody else </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Most of the lyrics to "Drunk Like Son House" are inspired from those in this song. One line, in particular, is lifted completely: "All I want is a heaven of my own." Why must I choose between preaching or bluesing? Couldn't there be some 3rd alternative? </div><div><br /></div><div>Jungklas paints an image of how House might have felt in the middle of that spiritual tug of war by evoking images of both religion ("light that shone") and lust ("I don't want to love the women that kiss me"). He even cleverly mixes the two impulses by mixing Son House's own lyrics up ("whiskey and women to help me to pray") and thereby illustrating how the dichotomy of vice and faith may reside in the same soul.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, what does it mean to be "drunk like Son House"? Having not read his biography, I cannot say when his trouble with alcoholism began, but it would be safe to say it was with him throughout his blues career. The man drank whiskey. A lot of it. All the time. It is likely that House turned to the bottle in order to drown out the conflicting feelings he had about his life. Or, perhaps it was only when he was drunk that he felt he could confront theses big issues. Maybe it was both. Either way, if you are drunk like Son House, you are deeply unhappy and conflicted. You drunkenly wonder why it's so hard to be good yet so easy to fall from grace: "Sometimes God will mumble but the Devil always annunciates." You are also very, very drunk.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, well done, Rob Jungklas. You win on this song. (Even if you did it by standing on the shoulders of a blues giant.) </div><div><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/S1ofu81YOgI/AAAAAAAABXQ/bz0D5YU-ZgQ/s1600-h/Son+House.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 234px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/S1ofu81YOgI/AAAAAAAABXQ/bz0D5YU-ZgQ/s400/Son+House.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429687192213010946" /></a><div>For those who have gotten this far, I invite you to listen to Son House performing "Preachin' the Blues" some 35 years later. Note the difference in the lyrics. Also, note how age has quieted the fire that roared in him as a young man. Listen to his delivery, though. Has this 63 year old man resolved his spiritual schism? These new lyrics suggest that he has chosen neither good nor evil but has decided to express and experience both through his music, judgement be damned. "I'm gonna preach these blues and gonna choose my seat and sit down."</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Preachin' the Blues (1965) </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">by Son House</span><br /></div><center></center></div><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: 400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://mustafastc.fileave.com/player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Preachin' The Blues.mp3"> </iframe> </div><div><br /></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Yes, I'm gonna get me religion, I'm gonna join the Baptist Church</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Yes, I'm gonna get me religion, I'm gonna join the Baptist Church</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">You know I wanna be a Baptist preacher, just so I won't have to work</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">One deacon jumped up, and he began to grin</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">One deacon jumped up, and he began to grin</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">You know he said, "One thing, elder. I believe I'll go back to barrelhousin' again"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">One sister jumped up, and she began to shout</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">One sister jumped up, and she began to shout</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">"You know I'm glad this corn liquor's goin out"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Another deacon jumped up and said, "Why don't ya hush?"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Another deacon jumped up and said, "Why don't ya hush?"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">"You know you drink corn liquor and your lie's a horrible stink"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">One sister jumped up and she began to shout</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">One sister jumped up and she began to shout</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">"I believe I can tell ya'll what it's all about"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Another sister jumped up, she said, "Why don't ya hush?"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Another sister jumped up, she said, "Why don't ya hush?"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">"You know he's abandoned, and you outta hush your fuss"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">I was in the pulpit, I's jumpin up and down</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">I was in the pulpit, I's jumpin up and down</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">My sisters in the corner, they're hollerin Alabama bound</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Grabbed up my suitcase and I took off down the road</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Grabbed up my suitcase and I took off down the road</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">I said, "Farewell church, may the good Lord bless your soul"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">You know I wish I had a heaven of my own</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">You know I wish I had a heaven of my own</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">I'd give all my women a good ol' happy home</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">I'm gonna preach these blues and I'm gonna choose my seat and sit down</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">I'm gonna preach these blues and I'm gonna choose my seat and sit down</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">But, when the Spirit comes, I want you to jump straight up and down</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">You know I's in the pulpit, I was jumpin straight up and down</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">You know I was in the pulpit, I was jumpin straight up and down</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">You know the sisters in the corner, they were hollerin' Alabama bound</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;">This audio clip from later in his life has Son House explaining himself and his struggle. "You can't hold God's hand and the Devil the other." "You can't straddle the fence." "This is how I made peace with myself." </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Lvbo07brzx0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Lvbo07brzx0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;">Think about where Jungklas was in 2003. He was over a decade removed from participating in the music industry where he had been a commercial flop. He had been living a safer life by settling down with a wife and a steady, respectable job. Yet, the call to write and record music had stayed with him. How fitting that "Drunk Like Son House" be the first track on his "comeback" album. Certainly he had struggled over the past decade with the desire to write and record music while juggling the new responsibilities of family and adult life. Perhaps<i> Arkadelphia</i> was an attempt to, like Son House, find a way to make peace with both worlds. And, like Son House, let judgment be damned. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;">Further reading:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;">This <a href="http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/Nov/23/a-teacher-channels-memphis-gothic/">interview</a> with Rob Jungklas is particularly enlightening.</span></span></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Bobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10385329465833100731noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-32154124773977160482010-01-15T17:28:00.001-08:002010-01-18T17:50:06.135-08:00Marky's song #22: Edgard Varèse – “Ionisation”Hey, don’t think I’m not cognizant of the order I’m doing these. The “twenty-one, only son” gag was an unexpected neat trick, but I’m looking for balance in my entries. I don’t want to overload the system with one or two styles of music – even if that presents an extra challenge since there are certain genres I listen to a lot more than others. I don’t want to be flattered with claims that I listen to everything. For that matter, I don’t want to be challenged on it, either. Stone cold fact: I don’t... mainly because I don’t have enough time. If I'd allow myself to get away with it, I would have made this one #21.5 (based on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCFk0f8szes" target="_"blank"">this piece</a>.) But I simply couldn’t sacrifice my integrity that way – yes, I can hear you laughing – so we move on as expected.<br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 202px; height: 150px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000bppw9" border="0" alt="" />My initial interest in modern classical originally centered around three people: John Cage, Charles Ives and Edgard Varèse. Since then, I’ve pretty much lost all interest in Cage, mainly due to his experiments with chance music. Chance music, different from free improv, is dull to my ears because it takes the creative process away from not only the composer, but the performer as well. However, I still have a huge interest in Ives and Varèse. I’ve already done an entry about an <a href="http://fivehundredsongs.blogspot.com/2009/10/markys-song-12-charles-ives-unanswered.html" target="_blank">Ives piece</a>, now it’s Varèse’s turn. Varèse is probably known best for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlFjQD4bL_I" target="_blank">“Poème électronique”</a>, my first exposure to electronic music as classical composition, but the majority of his works are for ‘acoustic’ ensembles.<br /><br />For the record, “Ionisation” is not chance music, nor is it improvisation. No way, bro, this is straight up scored for 13 percussionists. I feel it’s necessary to point that out, given the sometimes well-deserved reputation avant-garde music has for disrespecting established rules - even something fundamental like 'notes go on staff paper.' I won’t give you a full list of instruments used, but they span both traditional and non-traditional orchestral instrumentation. All sorts of non-standard percussive sounds can be heard.<br /><br />Also notable about this piece is that it’s cited by Frank Zappa as the initial inspiration for him to pursue music as a career. Zappa even convinced his mother to let him call Varèse as a fifteenth birthday present. Varèse was not at home and Zappa wound up talking to with Varèse's wife instead, but obviously that was no deterrent. Zappa albums such as <i>Uncle Meat</i> and even <i>Jazz From Hell</i> show a strong Varèse influence with regard to how sound is organized and the embracement of modern technology to enhance the composition process.<br /><br /><center><object width="340" height="285"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/a9mg4KHqRPw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/a9mg4KHqRPw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"></embed></object></center><br />The editing of this video makes it fun to watch, though reading through the comments leads me to believe that some of the instruments are not exactly as Varèse intended. (Wait, why am I wasting time <a href="http://xkcd.com/202/" target="_blank">reading YouTube comments</a>?)<br /><br /><center>-------</center><br /><br />The reference to a lack of time in paragraph one is prescient. Now that I'm in grad school, time becomes an ever-more-precious commodity. I will try to update regularly and keep adding new songs, but I ask for understanding should entries occur at a less frequent pace.Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-35184364878889755472010-01-12T09:27:00.000-08:002010-01-12T09:48:24.553-08:00Bobby's song #6: "I'm Free Now" by Morphine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/S0yydMuVuRI/AAAAAAAABWc/Wtm3baFBjsE/s1600-h/morphine2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 178px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/S0yydMuVuRI/AAAAAAAABWc/Wtm3baFBjsE/s320/morphine2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425907865776142610" border="0" /></a>The first thing that sticks out to those unfamiliar with the band Morphine is their odd make up: a crooning singer that plays a 2-string bass, a sax player, and a drummer. No guitars. Making rock music. Surprisingly, this unusual setup does not come off as a gimmick or an oddball novelty. In fact, once you immerse yourself in Morphine's music you discover that you never feel like anything is missing in the music. On the contrary, the lack of guitars opens the music up for a much richer coloration by the sax and allows the listener to focus on singer Mark Sandman's superb lyrics.<br /><br />His lyrics were generally cynical, self-deprecating, and melancholy. They tended to deal with dark issues such as addiction, romantic betrayal, and low self-esteem. Despite this the music would often be somewhat upbeat which helped to cushion the blow of his words.<br /><br />Morphine was formed in 1989 and released 4 albums in the 90s before disbanding in 1999 due to Mark Sandman's sudden death. He had a heart attack while performing on stage. (At least he died while doing something he loved.) A 5th album, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_%28Morphine_album%29"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Night</span></a>, was released posthumously in 2000.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/S0yyrDo2hKI/AAAAAAAABWk/OP_d-w-LEMQ/s1600-h/cureforpain.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 250px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/S0yyrDo2hKI/AAAAAAAABWk/OP_d-w-LEMQ/s320/cureforpain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425908103855375522" border="0" /></a>Of all their albums, I love <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cure_for_Pain"><span style="font-style: italic;">Cure For Pain</span> (1993)</a> the best. It was extremely difficult for me to pick one song from this album for a write-up. The whole album is 5-star gold from start to finish. In the end, I settled on "I'm Free Now" because that was the first Morphine song that I listened to on repeat when I first began listening to them. As noted in my previous entries, lyrics play a large part in how much I love a song. That being said, it certainly doesn't showcase the full range of the Morphine sound -- no one song could.<br /><br />If you aren't familiar with Morphine and this song makes you want to hear more, it's not <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgvHGT76kbU">too difficult</a> to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M34iZH4-qkI">find</a> a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ66zPjRlkE">number</a> of other songs to check out. Even more interesting is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=985JGeGq_tc">listening to them live</a> to see <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1iTZItBzGY">how</a> they <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXnGxASoXn0">pull off</a> their polished, overdubbed studio sound.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">I'm Free Now </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">by Morphine</span><br /></div><center></center></div><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: 400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Morphine-FreeNow.mp3"> </iframe>Bobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10385329465833100731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-23603574488044935712010-01-08T09:14:00.000-08:002010-01-08T11:01:35.437-08:00Bobby's song #5: "Sixteen, Maybe Less" by Iron&Wine w/ Calexico<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/S0eBBiHVd0I/AAAAAAAABWU/SSn-0BrqC7g/s1600-h/2863.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/S0eBBiHVd0I/AAAAAAAABWU/SSn-0BrqC7g/s320/2863.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424446139528476482" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In 2005 Iron & Wine (singer-songwriter Sam Beam) and Calexico teamed up to record a 7-track EP called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Reins">In The Reins</a>. For those familiar with both artists it was exciting to hear how 2 extraordinary songwriters and musicians would sound together since Calexico had a distinct desert western sound and Beam (up to that point) was a one-man band whose sound was influenced by his rural South Carolina upbringing. The result was THE best EP of the decade. (Go ahead and argue with me. You're wrong.)<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9PMqzN4mn4c&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9PMqzN4mn4c&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />My favorite song on the EP is a bittersweet song about first-loves, time, and memory called "Sixteen, Maybe Less". Listen to how ethereal pedal steel on the edges of the song and the tremolo on the guitars give it a dreamy-like sound. Every detail of this song, the instrumentation, the intonation, the tempo, the whisper-gentle voice of Sam Beam... all of it fits perfectly with the lyrics. Lyrics that are full of yearning and honesty.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Beyond the ridge to the left you asked me what I want</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Between the trees and cicadas singing round the pond</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I spent an hour with you should I want anything else?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">One grin and wink like the neon on a liquor store</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />We were 16, maybe less, maybe a little more</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I walked home smiling I finally had a story to tell</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And though an autumn time lullaby sang our newborn love to sleep</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />My brother told me he saw you there in the woods on Christmas Eve</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Waiting</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I met my wife at a party when I drank too much</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">My son is married and tells me we don't talk enough</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Call it predictable yesterday my dream was of you</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Beyond the ridge to the west the sun had left the sky</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Between the trees and the pond you put your hand in mine</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Said time has bridled us both but I remember you too</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And though an autumn time lullaby sang our newborn love to sleep</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />My brother told me he saw you there in the woods on Christmas Eve</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Waiting</span></span><br /><br />What a poetic notion - that a first-love should be sung to sleep by time and distance and youthful capriciousness.<br /><br />The fact that Sam Beam grew up in South Carolina, mostly on a farm, shows up in these lyrics, too. Forests, ridges, and ponds. Time has "bridled" them both. This and the earnestness of his voice leads you to believe that this is a fairly auto-biographical song - that he really feels these. Much of Beam's music is like that. You find evidence of his roots in his music and his lyrics.<br /><br />For Calexico, a band based in Tuscon, Arizona, to back Sam up with their distinctly southwestern sound, without pulling the listener out of the story of the song, is a testament to their musical talents and instincts.<br /><br />Sadly, this one EP is all we have of this collaboration. Joey Burns (singer, guitar for Calexico) appeared on Iron & Wine's excellent 2007 album, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shepherd%27s_Dog">The Shepherd's Dog</a>, but I have heard of no other plans for a follow-up collaboration.Bobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10385329465833100731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-14766323769699562752010-01-05T11:17:00.000-08:002010-01-05T11:41:27.265-08:00Marky's song #21 (only son): Metallica – “Disposable Heroes”There is perhaps no other band on the planet that people would like to see go down in flames as much as Metallica. Mere mention of the band can send some into an apoplectic rage. Such visceral reactions seem to stem from a perceived abandonment of a segment of their fans by the band. Rarely does artistic license get taken so personally.<br /><br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000bhfca" border="0" alt="" />Nowadays, in the wake of <i>St. Anger</i> and <i>Death Magnetic</i>, it’s easy to ignore Metallica; after all, there’s plenty of other music out there. It doesn’t change the fact that at one point, Metallica were the kings of the metal underground. <i>Ride the Lightning</i> and <i>Master of Puppets</i> are albums widely appreciated both within and outside the metal community. Even better, and fortunately for us, current violations do not negate prior triumphs. For once we can look back on the bad old days and truly claim that they were better.<br /><br />Personally, I think Metallica gets treated a little too harshly (but only a little.) Some thoroughly oblivious (or thoroughly paid for) music journalists laughably claimed <i>St. Anger</i> was a return to earlier form. To which I can only sat that if you’re that incompetent or that financially compromised at your job, you should change your career path. If that album had been released by a band of four unknown scruffy urchins, the heralding of it as some new-nu-(gnu?)-metal <i>tour de force</i> might have had some miniscule amount of justification.<br /><br />However, it wasn’t a bunch of know-nothing nobodies that released that album, it was Metallica. Yes, <i>that</i> Metallica. The one that said they would never do a video or bother with a live album. The one that said they didn’t want to waste money on extravagant stage shows. The one who’s drummer said to Congress that fans that did the modern-day equivalent of tape trading with their dreck of an album ought to be thrown in jail.<br /><br />I have my own theories about why Lars Ulrich testified against Napster. We’ll probably never really know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Elektra threatened the band’s financial support in return for the testimony they wanted. You know, send Lars to bat for us in the record industry or else we’ll withhold your advance for the next album. To have an artist deliver the message would hold more credibility than if it had been some record executive greed-head. I don’t doubt a major label – any major label – would blackmail an artist in their stable like that.<br /><br /><center><object width="340" height="285"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lCsH1g5ZESk&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lCsH1g5ZESk&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"></embed></object></center><br />But instead of bitching about that, let me get in the wayback machine and give you details about this song from 1986. Right from the opening guitar crunch, “Disposable Heroes” grabs you by the shirt collar and never lets go. In typical thrash form, the song has an intro that lasts for over a minute and a half before the first verse even begins, though the intro is really just another verse and chorus structure played without vocals.<br /><br />However, the thing I like best about this track is the break, which might be the best one in the annals of thrash metal. The strongest part comes in at 4:45 – in the <i>middle</i> of Kirk Hammett’s guitar solo – with a rhythm that shifts back and forth between the original break theme and a completely new riff. That ringing two-chord pattern is liberating, a rare time when the band lets up on the chunky palm muted fast picking to give the listener a chance to breathe before pumping their fist back in the air.<br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000bgk1k" border="0" alt="" />James Hetfield is not a great lyricist by any yardstick, but <i>“looking back I realize / nothing have I done / left to die with only friend / alone I clench my gun”</i> is surprisingly humanizing an event that the musicians (and many of their listeners) could not have first hand knowledge of. It’s certainly more credible than Death’s “Left To Die.” Chalk it up to a happy accident. We’ll have to, because elsewhere he talks about having to get used to the sound of a ticking clock, which I can’t for the life of me figure out what that has to do with the horrors of war.<br /><br />I almost feel dumb talking about this song in such a clinical manner. Anyone who is reading this or happens to stumble over here probably already knows this song quite well. This is my favorite Metallica song and a great example of all the virtues of the thrash metal genre. And in completely unrelated nonsense, this:<br /><br /><center><object width="340" height="285"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pDLZix8NVjg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pDLZix8NVjg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"></embed></object></center>Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-66696995699183701812009-12-18T11:33:00.000-08:002009-12-20T14:35:50.842-08:00Marky's song #20: The Smiths – “Handsome Devil”If you rounded up all the fans of the Smiths together, <strike>you’d have a lot of pretentious people all in the same spot</strike> chances are “Handsome Devil” would not be listed often as a favorite song of many. I’m not one for making lists like that (he says as he numbers each song he writes about), but if I were to sit down and ponder it, it probably wouldn’t be mine, either. It was never released as a single, and the only studio version of it that exists is a 1983 Peel Session that has appeared on various compilations.
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<br />The Smiths, as you probably know, were Morrissey on vocals, Johnny Marr on guitar, Andy Rourke on bass and Mike Joyce on drums (oh, excuse me, on <b>the</b> bass and <b>the</b> drums). They were also dynamite writers of guitar-centric pop. Sadly, they were also highly skilled at relegating their best songs to the b-sides of low run singles. According to various sources, it took an earnest plea from a Rough Trade executive to get “This Charming Man” released as a single (over “Reel Around The Fountain”). And of course, “How Soon Is Now?” was initially the b-side to “William, It Was Really Nothing” and wasn’t released as a single of its own until over half a year later, where previous band saturation caused the single to fall short of expectations.
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<br />All of the above has nothing to do with the song in question, but it does give you an immediate rejoinder when someone opines how the Smiths should have been bigger than they were and how unfair it was that such strong songwriting could have charted so poorly. They truly were their own worst enemies at some of the most inopportune times.
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<br />Anyway, cry me a river while wearing a hearing aid. The Smiths still wrote kick-ass songs even if they did go underappreciated. Me personally, I tend to like their faster songs (this post was almost about “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bie785GQok" target="_blank">Nowhere Fast</a>”) better than their maudlin crawlers, and this one bristles with spiky punk energy.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000bc0qg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000bc0qg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Most people know this track through the compilation <i><a href="http://www.askmeaskmeaskme.com/hatful.htm" target="_blank">Hatful of Hollow</a></i>. It’s not the best recording in the world – careful listeners will notice a pair of slight drop-offs in the source tape – but the rawness of the sound helps give it the snarl it needs and is a nice alternate to the slick production values that mark most Smiths songs. When Morrissey is at his lyrical best, it’s not because he’s providing great narrative or inventive wordplay, it’s because he drops wonderful and memorable sloganeering couplets. “Handsome Devil” is chock-a-block with them:
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<br /><center><object width="340" height="285"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xB31_P63-ng&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xB31_P63-ng&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"></embed></object></center>
<br /><i>“I crack the whip and you skip / but you deserve it”</i> – for those of you who are into that sort of thing, a little bit of sadomasochism. (There’s certainly more thrilling eroticism there than in a bitter middle-aged Canadian woman asking if your new girlfriend would go down on you in a theater.)
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<br /><i>"A boy in the bush / is worth two in the hand / I think I can help you / get through your exams"</i> – the crassness disqualifies it as being a come on, but it is the most sexually aggressive lyrics Morrissey has ever given us.
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<br /><i>“Let me get my hands / on your mammary glands”</i> – a unexpected gender flip that flummoxes the implicit homosexuality in... well, in pretty much everything Morrissey does.
<br />
<br />And the final line, <i>“there’s more to life than books, you know / but not much more”</i> is pure platinum. There’s no way to tell whether it’s the tutor talking to the pupil, the pupil taking to the tutor, or just a throwaway line from the Moz as he steps out of the storyline. I guess ambiguity has always been a calling card for the Smiths.
<br />
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="340" height="285"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/63gug4yq9ks&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/63gug4yq9ks&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b>Here's a live version (in a lower key) that accentuates the vocal and guitar lines better.</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b> </b></span></span></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;">-------</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I believe this concludes my posting for the year 2009. I don't expect to have another one of these ready until after the new year. Have a safe <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDV_reO930A" target="_blank">Whatever You're Celebrating</a> and see you all in Twenty-Ten.</div></div></div>Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-30486097536165170192009-12-10T18:49:00.000-08:002009-12-10T19:15:10.590-08:00Transmission Intermission.Hey everyone, Marky Narc here. This is not a regular 500 Songs blog post, but a special gift from me to you. Instead of writing a "best of 2009" list, I decided to make you a mix of my favorite stuff in 2009 instead. Below is a link to a zip file that I spent the past week putting together. It should play in your mp3 player of choice, and included in the folder is a text file of the track listing just in case.<br /> <br />Astute folks might notice that there are a few songs on the list that technically aren't 2009. I give myself a little bit of leeway when it comes to stuff like this, mainly because I'm not a music journalist and I don't get any free promos. I have to obtain my music as a regular consumer like everyone else. And sometimes it takes a while to listen to what you've got. So forgive my creative license if a song or two don't actually qualify as '2009.'<br /> <br />I realize this mix is a bit lengthy - over <strike>9000</strike> ninety minutes of music - but take it in chunks if you need to. You like music, right? OF COURSE YOU DO! So download and enjoy.<div><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000bbrkw" border="0" alt="" />Link (171.42 MB): <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?no4wmmj4yq1" target="_blank">http://www.mediafire.com/?no4wmmj4yq1</a></div>Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-89418493586050738052009-12-06T11:22:00.001-08:002009-12-07T08:23:55.996-08:00Marky's song #19: DJ Spooky – "Optometry"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b82c1"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 265px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b82c1" border="0" alt=""></a><br />Paul D. Miller (aka <a href="http://www.djspooky.com/" target="_blank">DJ Spooky</a>) really ought to go through his discography and put together an anthology. A double-CD package would be a great way to introduce him to newcomers as well as give fans an affordable condensed string of highlights. Actually, scratch that. <i>Someone else</i> should go through his discography and put together an anthology; I wouldn’t have faith in the artist himself to do it. As much as I love Spooky, he has not learned the fine art of how to self-edit.<br /><br />Mind you, I have no reservations against recommending seeing him live. I once saw him put on a show in Cambridge, MA where he spun for almost three hours until they (literally) pulled the plug on him and turned on the venue lights. Take him out of the live setting, however, and he feels compelled to make the Big Artistic Statement and tends to get a little aimless piecing it all together.<br /><br />Another example: I went to see his <i><a href="http://www.rebirthofanation.com/" target="_blank">Rebirth of a Nation</a></i> project, where he takes the film <i>Birth of a Nation</i>, chops it up into pieces and “remixes” it live with computer music backing. The music was great, but over two hours (never mind the original film is 190 minutes long) of seeing the same scenes over and over eventually lost its impact and I spent the last thirty minutes or so sitting there with my eyes closed.<br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b904w" border="0" alt="">This lack of focus becomes all the more maddening when he makes it click like this. “Optometry” comes from the <a href="http://www.thirstyear.com/album_detail.php?artist=DJ%20Spooky&album=Optometry" target="_blank">album of the same name</a>; it’s part of Thirsty Ear’s Blue Series, an attempted merging of jazz and electronics. It’s kind of a typical Spooky-and-his-Rolodex affair, where the DJ brings in all sorts of musical guests to give him some raw material for him to remix and reshape. Unfortunately, sticking Daniel Bernard Roumain, Pauline Oliveros and William Parker in a room together to make music only winds up proving that Roumain, Oliveros and Parker don’t have enough common ground on which to make compelling music. But wait a minute – are they really in the room together? And does it matter? This isn’t meant to be a 'live in the studio' album, no matter how much they might try to market this as modern jazz. Perhaps I shouldn’t criticize based merely on preconceived notions of how certain types of music are supposed to be made. Spooky’s authenticity (whatever that’s worth) isn’t at risk here. Besides, when Spooky gives us tracks like this, it's easy to forgive all prior transgressions.<br /><br /><center><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>DJ Spooky - "Optometry"</b></span></font></center><center><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width:400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Optometry.mp3"></iframe></center><br />So let’s get down with our analytical selves, shall we?<br /><br />A funky opening bass line fades in and is greeted by a drum (Billy Martin) and violin (Roumain) improvisation. It sounds like they’re going to lose the groove right off the bat, but don’t worry, they stay on task. Martin shifts back into the beat and is joined by piano (Matthew Shipp) upright bass (Parker) and sax (Joe McPhee).<br /><br />When Spooky drops the spoken sample: <i>“We’re going to do, now, something that has nothing to do with an arranged piece of music,”</i> he really begins to work his magic. Ambient effects and drum loops (played forwards and backwards) are the background for other members to solo over. Players weave in and out and Spooky even does a little record scratching here and there. But my favorite part is at the 8:43 mark – with everyone’s solo out of their system, a snare roll snaps it back to the opening beat and bass, which fades out almost as quickly as it was dropped in. I kind of wish he would let it play longer, but that simply ain’t the way DJ Spooky rolls. The last couple minutes are devoted to another Martin and Roumain improvisation.<br /> <br />Every DJ Spooky album is good for a handful of serendipitous moments like these. If you're willing to sift through them, any album is worth checking out. I don't ever expect him to have a moment of clarity and release a classic album with all the fat trimmed off; Spooky has his own M.O. and he's happy to plug away, testing his own theories. The rest of us are just spectators.Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-9820212290513583872009-11-28T08:25:00.000-08:002009-11-28T13:00:57.883-08:00Marky's song #18: Voivod – "Missing Sequences"My biggest complaint against metal music, regardless of the qualifying prefix (speed-, nu-, hair-, etc.), is that there have always been too many bands. It pains me to say that, because I am a fan. But seriously, go request a printed catalog from <a href="http://www.metaldisc.com/" target="_blank">Metal Disc</a> – you’ll get a monstrosity in the mail boasting triple-digit pages with an uncountable number of indistinguishable bands you’ve never heard of before.<br /><br />So the story of metal has been since time immemorial. There’s always been a glut of bands and a dearth of innovation. Sure, metal has mass working class appeal, but it’s still ultimately a conservative-minded genre. Doing what’s expected and nothing greater is a perfectly acceptable way to ply the trade. And as soon as one band strikes an ore vein with a strong fresh idea, an endless amount of copycat bands almost instantly pop up.<br /><br /><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 295px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b727h" border="0" alt="" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br />It’s part of the reason why I love mid-career <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=115" target="_blank">Voivod</a> as much as I do. They started out as a fairly pedestrian thrash band, but their sci-fi obsessions and deep interest in progressive rock blended together to form a truly original hybrid of forward-thinking metal. It took them a while to find their stride (the first three albums are patchy) and losing key members late in their career saw a decline in quality (avoid the albums that don’t include Denis Bélanger), but when they were on, their music can stand the tests of time.<br /><br />In the late 80s and early 90s the band released a quartet of amazing albums. This track comes from the second of the four, <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/display.php?rev=voi-nf" target="_blank">Nothingface</a></span> (released in 1989). It’s my personal favorite both for being the height of their creativity and the height of their experimentalism. The album saw them incorporate more electronic drum triggers (handled by drummer Michel Langevin) and guitar effects as well as an increased ability to write memorable melodies. Voivod is probably the only band that could make a couplet like “bauxite double bind / forgetful retry” stick in your head.<br /><br />This song is about, uh, sequences that are missing, I guess. It’s not the lyrics I care about here – it’s the song structure. Basically it's just two long verses, one of my favorite compositional devices in metal (“Excoriating Abdominal Emanation” by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7d1HvI1FyU" target="_blank">Carcass</a> is another excellent example of this concept). This particular track is club-sandwiched between an intro, a coda and a killer middle break. The verse itself has four distinct segments before moving to the break that I love so much.<br /> <br /><center><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10px;"><object width="340" height="285"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kFEB6Mn0rw4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kFEB6Mn0rw4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"></embed></object></span></center><br />“I did, I didn’t know / I think I should go … GO!” The guitar solo is short and backed only by the bass – this was the album where Voivod decided to eschew rhythm guitar tracks and let bassist Jean-Yves Thériault handle holding the harmonic background down. The apex of the song is right smack in the middle: those four chords that follow the solo are amazing; go back and listen to them again. Then it jumps into the second verse. Going through the cycle again and on to the closing section, you can tell a lot has happened, but it's all easy to separate into bite-sized chunks.<br /><br />Progressive metal that isn't navel-gazing nor a chore to listen to. What a novel idea, right? If only there had been more bands at the time willing to push themselves as hard as Voivod did. For those who don't already know, Voivod guitarist Denis D'Amour succumbed to cancer in 2005 and the rest of the band pieced together a farewell album from unused studio tracks that was released earlier this year. Thanks for the music, guys. What a long, strange trip it's been.Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-83838192153423370502009-11-14T10:50:00.001-08:002009-11-16T13:02:11.429-08:00Marky's song #17: Dion McGregor – "Vulvina"Dion McGregor (1922-1994) was a somniliquist.<br /><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 186px; height: 209px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b462p" border="0" alt="" /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Dion McGregor - "Vulvina"</span></b></span><br /><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width:400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Vulvina.mp3"></iframe></div><br /><i>Check your wife at the door. Check your child at the door with your wife. This is for men only. Come in and see Vulvina! Now, you must ask her all the questions you want. Vulvina will answer all your sex questions. Now ... step right up. Tickets are only five dollars apiece. It's your one and only time to see Vulvina. Check your wife and child at the door. Come back, ladies ... come back, ladies. In an hour or two, Vulvina will have answered all his questions. Now, if you have any questions you wanna ask Vulvina, write them out and hand them to him. He will give them to Vulvina!<br /><br />Now, at the end of this show -- at the end of this show, Vulvina will do something that no one has ever done before. And don't ask your husband until you get home and in bed tonight, ladies. Maybe you can do it! Hee-hee-heeee.<br /><br />Okay! Okay! Okay! Tickets going! Tickets going! Five dollars a head! Five dollars a head! Form a little line right there, form a little line right there. Okay! Okay! Okay! Vulvina! Vulvina! They're coming in!<br /><br />Hmmm -- five dollars? Too much ... too much, too much. Now honey, we can't afford five dollars. You wanna know? You can't go in. You want me to go in and report? Come on now -- what does this Vulvina know that we don't know? It's perfectly silly, perfectly silly. I don't care.<br /><br />Hmph, and if ... she looks ugly. Look at that picture. What? My boss is prettier than she is. Look at that. She's just got one eyebrow -- it goes from ear to ear. I ... Honey, five dollars -- that's a terrible waste, to look at her. Mmm, well it certainly is. Tell you what -- let's go home and I'll give you the five dollars. That's it. It ... it's worth it.<br /><br />You've got ... no, now come on. You wanna know what she does there at the end? Oh, alright. Well, you wait there ... you wait there in the woman's waiting room. Honestly, I've never felt so ... seedy. Imagine joining that line to see Vulvina. Vulvina What?<br /><br />Okay, okay. Bye, honey. Yes, here it is -- it's what? Nnnn, you didn't tell me it was five dollars and then tax. Alright, there it is. What a cheerless room. Hunh -- isn't she homely? Look at that face! Look at that face -- mmmm. Oh, yes! She looks like a wallaby bear. Ulff. Can you imagine this ... you can't even call her a woman. Imagine her, commanding that kind of ticket money.<br /><br />Oh -- one zip and she's out of her dress. At least she's got a pretty body. Mmm -- but that face. Who could get near it, who could get near it? I don't know. Question: how many times a night, Vulvina? ... Any number? Humph -- old whore. I'll bet it too, I'll bet she does, I'll bet she does.<br /><br />She wants a volunteer. She wants a volunteer. Umm -- oh -- alr ... I'll volunteer, I'll volunteer! Get up there on that stage -- the closer I get, the more like a walrus she looks. Oh, look at that. Unhn -- not even very young. I wonder why she doesn't sag.<br /><br />Okay, now what do I do, kneel down? Oh, very well. Oh -- oh no, I don't want to do that! No. I don't wanna do that. You have pictures? What? Oh, no, no ... well, that's impossible. Put my head in there? My whole head?!<br /><br />Uh ... uh. It's pitch black in here. It's pitch black in here. You know I'm not even touching the sides, or the back? That is incredible! Vul-vi-na! Let me out! Vulvina, let me out! Let me out, Vulvina!</i><br /><br />I know this stretches the boundaries of what is considered a “song” for our purposes (do we have purposes here?), but McGregor’s story is interesting enough for inclusion.<br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b506b" border="0" alt="" />So, yes – he talked in his sleep. I high recommend going <a href="http://www.songpoemmusic.com/dion/" target="_blank">here</a> for the full story behind who he was and how his dreams got recorded. Long story very short, McGregor was living in New York City (note the traffic you hear in the background) when his roommate Michael Barr discovered his subconscious talent in the mid-1950s and started getting up early in the morning in order to commit them to tape. A record of these recordings was released in 1964; a book consisting of dream transcriptions shortly followed. In 1999 Tzadik Records released <i><a href="http://www.tzadik.com/index.php?catalog=7404" target="_blank">Dion McGregor Dreams Again</a></i>, where this track comes from.<br /><br />McGregor narrated his dreams in a way that was simultaneously funny and disturbing. Usually he would wake up with a start at the climax of the dream, but the tape cuts off this time. Listen to this track a second time and more things emerge; the phrases <b>“five dollars a head”</b> and <b>“they’re coming in”</b> have twisted double meanings once you realize what is happening in the dream. For a unique, surreal listen, I honestly can’t recommend hearing the full album enough. It’s not something you’ll listen to once and then file away. Hearing McGregor verbally paint his dream world is engaging enough to make one want to go back again and again to see if you missed any other plays on words. <i>Too much, too much...</i> indeed.Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-31482420634350924212009-11-10T12:45:00.001-08:002009-11-16T12:54:03.085-08:00Marky's song #16: Ornette Coleman – "Angel Voice"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b24a7"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 166px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b24a7" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Ornette Coleman did not invent free jazz; no one single person did. Free jazz was pushed forward by a collection of like-minded musicians willing to test acceptable boundaries. But Ornette did become the most visible proponent and spokesperson. More importantly, he was the first to be disseminated through the channel of a large label, beginning with his recording contract with Atlantic in 1959.<br /><br />Paraphrasing from a small part of the liner notes from the <i>Beauty Is A Rare Thing</i> <a href="http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=71410">boxset</a>: nowadays it’s hard to understand what was the fuss all about. What Coleman did reads simple enough: he ignored the chord changes. Whether this is a progression or a regression depends on whom you ask, but at the risk of sounding overly portentous, all will concede that jazz was changed forever.<br /><br />By the time he took up his residence at Atlantic, Coleman already had a pair of albums out. The earlier of the two, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_Else!!!!">Something Else</a></i> (1958), was released on Contemporary (and eventually found its way to digital format through the Original Jazz Classics imprint.) In retrospect, his debut seems the least ambitious when held up next to <i><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90627436">My Name Is Albert Ayler</a></i> (1963) and <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Advance">Jazz Advance</a></i> (1956). But Coleman would eventually sail headlong into uncharted waters like the rest of them, with fascinating results. Coleman only recorded for Atlantic for three years, but released a walloping eight albums of material.<br /><br />Like Ayler and Taylor, Coleman had to make his earliest records with musicians who weren’t always hip to what he wanted. And like those contemporaries, the music succeeds without sounding forced or like people unable to communicate with each other. Of the classic quartet, he had first mate Don Cherry in tow, but Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell were still giggin’ on the opposite coast.<br /><br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b3kwr" border="0" alt="" />Coleman wrote all the melodies for <i>Something Else</i>, which helps the cause; with all the attention his improvisation theories get, it’s easy to forget that he is a very good composer. Walter Norris deserves special mention, handling his piano role in the quintet admirably. Piano didn’t really fit into Coleman’s musical vision, and he would wait almost forty years before recording with a pianist again, but Norris’s keen ear and light touch suits the music well without inadvertently imposing excessive harmonic restriction on it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ornette Coleman - "Angel Voice"</span></b></span><br /><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width:400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Angel Voice.mp3"></iframe></div><br />The order of solos is as follows: Coleman, Cherry, Norris, bassist Don Payne, another brief solo from Coleman, and a quick solo by kit-man Billy Higgins after a return to the theme.<br /><br />Although Coleman’s first solo is stronger, it’s his second, shorter solo that deserves attention. Notice how he pokes around the rhythm section, not really reacting to anything, just casually exploring – the sound of a guy both showing others what he’s looking for and working an idea out on the stand. Sure enough, he wedges the square peg into the round hole and directs the band back to the theme in a logical way.<br /><br />If you've never heard Ornette before, this should be your springboard. Save the harder stuff for later, lest you dismiss the man as an insufferable avant-guardist. If all you know is <i>The Shape of Jazz to Come</i> and <i>Free Jazz</i>, you owe it to yourself to hear the early records, just to prove that his ideas didn't emerge fully formed. He earned his stripes the old-fashioned way: through dabbling and woodshedding. You know, like a jazz musician.Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-68926493780490737922009-11-03T13:41:00.000-08:002009-11-04T05:53:34.650-08:00Marky's song #15: Aphex Twin – untitled track; disc 2, track 9 (“Lichen”)Before I digitized and ipod-ified by music collection, I had a bulky stereo with a 3-disc tray. Never mind that the quality of <a href="http://www.aiwa.com/" target="_blank">the stereo</a> was total crap; at the time, I was of the mind that bigger meant better and easily enticed by bells, whistles and flashing lights. Ahh, capitalism.<br /><br />It took me about a year after leaving school to move out of my family’s house and take up my current residence in Massachusetts. For that year, I had a simple system for said stereo: CD slot one was whatever I was in the mood for at the time – keep it real and keep it rotating. Slots two and three, on the other hand, always held the same two CDs: Aphex Twin’s double disc – also available on triple vinyl – <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selected_Ambient_Works_Volume_II" target="_blank">Selected Ambient Works, Volume 2</a></i>.<br /><br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b18td" border="0" alt="" />Aphex Twin is the project of Richard D. James from Cornwall, England. A contrarian always more interested in the process of making and manipulating sound than in the promotion of product, James happily shuns trends and popular sentiment. His first Aphex album received plenty of positive reviews while the follow-up was divisive. I heard <i>SAW 2</i> (Lynn Bousman, call your lawyer) before I heard the debut and couldn’t understand what the hubbub was about. It wasn’t until picking up the preceeding <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selected_Ambient_Works_85%E2%80%9392" target="_blank">Selected Ambient Works 85-92</a></i> a couple years later that it made sense. While the first album is consonant and even danceable, <i>SAW 2</i> is abstruse, standoffish and mostly beatless.<br /><br />If you’re like me, <strike>my condolences</strike> you need a little music to get to sleep at night. Just climb into bed and start disc two on the CD tray; <i>SAW 2</i> was the perfect late evening soundtrack after I got home from the late shift. The album progresses somnambulistically, one quiet claustrophobic track after another. It was a poke in the eye to those that raved – no pun intended – over <i>SAW 85-92</i> while desiring to elevate James to some sort of superstar status within the world of electronic music.<div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, serif; font-size: small; font-weight: bold; ">Aphex Twin - untitled track</span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width:400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/aphextwinuntitled.mp3"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000b0774" border="0" alt="" />A generally acknowledged title for this track is “Lichen,” but officially it’s untitled. The insert booklet itself lists no song titles, but instead has close up photos of various commonplace objects taken by Mr. James himself. Further intentional difficultness from a man who loves to find out what the people want ... and then do the opposite. The word that pops into my head when trying to describe this track is ‘warm.’ As you listen, try to imagine the first moments of daylight in <a href="http://www.arizonensis.org/sonoran/" target="_blank">the Sonora</a>, the sun just beginning to peek out from the horizon. Or, for those who have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia#Sound_.E2.86.92_color_synesthesia" target="_blank">synthenesia</a>, this track (much like most of the album) is a washed-out dusty orange. Even my mother, who is convinced everything I listen to is ‘weird,’ had to say, “this is beautiful.” Even when he’s confounding our expectations, Mr. James still knows how to deliver. Nighty-night.</div>Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-26211241212065731272009-10-31T10:44:00.000-07:002009-10-31T11:35:51.398-07:00Ian Songs #8, In Praise of Bacchus<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ngherockonline.net/music/uploads/imgrb/802_photo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 387px; height: 303px;" src="http://ngherockonline.net/music/uploads/imgrb/802_photo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Inventive prose be damned, let's hit this like a fan: There are few litmus tests in metal like Type O Negative. Born from the ashes of underrated thrashers Carnivore and with enough balls to dive headfirst into a goth scene that had, and let's be honest now, peaked with the first few Christian Death albums, Type O gloriously lampooned their subject matter with a straight face, dedicating turgid doomers filled to the brim with ironic Beatlesque twists to high-school notebook fodder; death, sex, depression, death, Halloween, and death. On the surface, they exuded an ultra-serious vibe, but like all <span style="font-style: italic;">good<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span><span>metal, when you dug a little deeper, it played out like a nod and wink, a veiled punchline to be enjoyed by the discerning listener. So, like most Metal Mosi (Manowar, Darkthrone, and...well, shit, power metal and black metal in general), they parted the seas of listeners; those that believe in an oh-so sober intent and those that recognize the inherent ridiculousness of it all. </span></span>Of course, there's a natural urge to push Type O into the realm of parody, and there's an awful lot of evidence that can be brought up as support (Almost all of it stemming from generously-dicked frontman Peter Steele), but the insanely well-written music pushes it past just a joke into Ween territory; loving pastiches. Case in point, In Praise of Bacchus.<br /><br />From the band's most commercially viable album, October Rust, and one that features maybe their definitive song, Love You to Death, sits Praise. Melodic and with a wall-of-distortion guitar-sheen that is downright shoegazer-inspired, Bacchus couples Fab Four with Iommi, building to an insane climax that's surreal. It's moments like these that the band revels in, making you feel uncomfortable without the use of the grotesque, making you feel uneasy as a <span style="font-style: italic;">listener</span>. But, then again, this ain't Wagner predilection for unresolved progressions, this is trading pop licks and then dropping back into metal at the turn of the dime. From either side of the spectrum, it just feels <span style="font-style: italic;">wrong</span>. It's so seamless, though, that it gets lost underneath the waves of sound, burying in your subconscious the sense that we're dangerously off-kilter here. And then, there it is, an actual crescendo that is not frustratingly cut short, AND WITH LATIN NO LESS. To this day, and it's an album I've listened to every Halloween for a decade, I don't know whether to laugh or be blown away. That, in essence, is Type O Negative.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JhJq3hE2y7Q&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JhJq3hE2y7Q&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-7702340732985821012009-10-26T10:16:00.000-07:002009-10-27T12:51:31.068-07:00Marky's song #14: Hüsker Dü – “Somewhere”<b>(Hüsker Dü, part tü – read part one <a href="http://fivehundredsongs.blogspot.com/2009/10/markys-song-13-husker-du-diane.html" target="_blank">here</a>.)</b><div><b><br /></b><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 374px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000azz0x" border="0" alt="" /><br /></div><div>Though they would go on to bigger (if not necessarily better) things, the strongest music this Minnesota trio made occurred when they were still on independent label SST. Hüsker Dü is also notable for being the first ‘underground’ band to switch from an indie to a major label (Warner), flaring a debate concerning the appropriateness of such a move that still simmers to this day. Without getting deep into an indie versus major argument, let me present a counterfactual: if Hüsker Dü’s stint at a major label had been a thoroughly positive one – replete with improved albums and the lack of heartbreaking implosion, would certain segments of indie rock nation look upon major labels with as much derision as they justifiably do? Food for thought. Even those who talk about it disparagingly refer to the action of bands moving from smaller, independent labels to larger ones in an upward fashion. “They jumped to a major label” implies ascending, not downward or lateral, movement.<br /><br />It seems that Hüsker Dü won me over despite bucking my preconceived notions at the time regarding supposed virtues and sins in music. Believe me, even though I loved the previous EP, I was very skeptical the first time I put <i>Zen Arcade</i> on. Think about what it is: a concept double album. Do they really expect to hold my attention that long? And what’s the deal with this last song being 14 minutes long? I still have some minor objections to the concept album claim. The story is about a boy who runs away from home in order to escape his tumultuous family life, only to discover the life outside of home is just as hard. This I cede, but where does “Standing By The Sea” (an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsrxigf96uU" target="_blank">earlier version</a> of which was recorded during the <i>Metal Circus</i> sessions) or “Beyond The Threshold” fit into the narrative?<br /><br />Oh well, no matter. Nowadays, the cult status of this album goes rightfully unchallenged a quarter of a century after its initial release. A legendary recording recorded in legendary fashion, <i>Zen Arcade</i> is an album that honestly does need to be listened in its entirety. The songs lose a little when plucked out of context. But this blog is called <b>500 Songs</b>, not <b>500 Albums</b>, so we have to stick to the game plan here.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000aybpk"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000aybpk" border="0" alt="" /></a>Of the four sides of vinyl that comprise <i>Zen Arcade</i>, side two is my least favorite. (I realize this is sort of like complaining about what your least favorite way of winning the lottery is.) The first half of it comes across as senseless ruckus-making, the second half sounds like a collection of tunes that didn’t quite fit anywhere else. “What’s Going On” and “Masochism World” both conclude by devolving into noise; “Standing By The Sea” is a slow drift meant to mimic the soothing rhythm of ocean waves. I am being overly-critical here; don’t get me wrong – this is all great music I love dearly, but in hyper-analysis of the album it’s a bit of a lull, and I distinctly remember being in kind of a drowsy haze when I took side two off and replaced it with side three.<br /><br />I was instantly snapped out of that haze with the bright and shiny attention-grabbing chords to “Somewhere.” The only song on the album written by one member of the band (Mould) but sung but another (Hart), this is the point where Hüsker Dü delivers on all their promise. Lyrically, this is classic Hüsker Dü emotional turmoil, contrasting desires with actuality. Furthermore, the songwriters make the concession that not only do they not know what they want, but that there might not be anything in particular that would satisfy them.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4UAnzg5RaBk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4UAnzg5RaBk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><i>Searching for the truth but all I ever find is lies</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Trying to find identity but I just find a disguise</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Looking at the nightmare when I try to see the dream</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Finding a reality as perfect as it seems</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Somewhere the dirt is washed down with the rain</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Somewhere there’s happiness instead of pain</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Somewhere satisfaction has no name</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Somewhere I can be the same</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Looking down on everything it seems a total bore</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Missing all the people that I’ve never met before</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Trying to find an unknown something I consider best</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Don’t know if I’ll find it but until then I’ll be depressed</i></div><br /><br />The backwards guitar after the second chorus that continues through the rest of the song (and into <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70kPwW3TJBI">the next</a>) is gorgeous. And it’s worth pointing out that this song is just the beginning: the entire second disc of <i>Zen Arcade</i> is amazing song after amazing song, all the way to the final feedback whine of that aforementioned lengthy final instrumental.<br /><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 394px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000axp10" border="0" alt="" /><br />For those of you who aren’t familiar with the album, I hope all this chatter piques your curiosity and that the sound sample whets your appetite. You can find all the other songs on the album on YouTube as well, but it is not available as digital download. The band has not gone back and re-mastered any of their SST output. The only way to get it is by way of the hard copy. But that’s fine, it’s not hard to track down and you can pretend to be the indie diehard that still clings to <strike>vinyl</strike> CDs.</div></div>Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-9436243555009040392009-10-25T09:55:00.000-07:002009-10-25T10:01:28.339-07:00Ian Songs #7. Mary Go Round<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.victimsinblood.com/img/disco/harderthanitwas_big.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://www.victimsinblood.com/img/disco/harderthanitwas_big.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>Let’s fire up all the clichés.<br /><br />Lightnin’ in a bottle. Always loved that phrase. Backhanded compliment? Sure, but I’d rather catch lightning then catch shit for continually banging out mediocre records. Of course, mediocre is in the, ahem, eye of the beholder. Case in point, Victims has had a nice career, crustily maximizing this d-beat n’ roll that has been eyeing an audience for some time now. But, they never seem to rise above the authentically leather-clad and the be-studded to hit the ears of folks that only have a passing familiarity with Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing (odd how that title sums up the up-to-now proliferation of the genre).<br /><br />Maybe, just maybe, it’s because Victims best work, the album of theirs' that is worth the time/effort to track down is a ridiculously hard to find demo EP. From the opening feedback to the final chug, Harder Than it Was Meant to Be is delightfully free of battleworn self-doubt, the kind of limitations that a band lumps upon their songwriting when they’ve done enough road testing to see what works and what doesn’t. Duders here are just plain pissed with phlegm covering every blown-out microphone, every amp reduced to rubble, and every drum head thoroughly smashed. And the production is endearingly shoddy, which, ultimately <span style="font-style: italic;">makes</span> this recording. Instead of hiding the flaws behind a wall of sound, it presents them up front, bobbing on the waves of coursing adrenaline and without the anchor of self-control. You can only get a recording like this on the first go-’round, which is why most demos, for whatever reason, are music’s lightning rod atop the Empire State Building.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lwIDRF6pEWU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lwIDRF6pEWU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-52303680531528359222009-10-19T11:20:00.000-07:002009-10-26T16:22:07.982-07:00Marky's song #13: Hüsker Dü – “Diane”<span style="font-weight:bold;">(Hüsker Dü, part one)</span><br /><br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000attx0" border="0" alt="" />Hardcore songs are supposed to be valued for their speed. A genre based on aggression naturally veers in that direction. So much so that when a song is presented that advances at a milder pace (like “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX-kkn684yE" target="_blank">Public Defender</a>” by S.O.A. or the bridge in Minor Threat’s “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk5ThPdSDp4" target="_blank">Screaming at a Wall</a>”), it immediately garners attention: the monotony of velocity is broken up. That’s the first thing I noticed about this song when I first heard it, but what happened about 1:10 in was much more jarring.<br /><br />We already have <a href="http://fivehundredsongs.blogspot.com/2009/07/bobbys-song-3-slim-by-sugar.html" target="_blank">one song tangentially related to the band in question</a>, and I have a second one on the brain to follow this post up with eventually. That’s the amount of influence Messrs. Mould, Hart, and Norton had on the collective conscious of underground rock. Anyhoo, this track is from the <i>Metal Circus</i> EP, a 45-RPM slab of vinyl that chugs right along at the expected pace until this, the middle cut on the three-song B side.<br /><br />I’ll try to describe the scene here: a shy kid by himself in his room on a late autumn afternoon. He notices that this one song clocks in at nearly twice the length of any other song on the record. His ears perk up a little at the opening mantra-like drumbeat, followed by a bass part played through a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flanging" target="_blank">flanger pedal</a>. And then he catches these opening verse lyrics:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">“Hey little girl, do you need a ride?</span></div><i><div style="text-align: center;">I’ve got room in my wagon, why don’t you hop inside?</div><div style="text-align: center;">We can cruise down Roberts Street all night long</div></i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>But I think I’ll just rape and kill you instead…”</i><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OuZEJS1bxK0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OuZEJS1bxK0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br />OK, so you figured out that the kid in question was me. There’s no prize for that. The lyrics are printed right on the back of the album cover (those of you too young to have owned vinyl will have to simply trust me on this) and I still missed it. I was lying on my back on the bed with the album jacket on my chest and not looking at the lyric sheet. So I sat up and said to myself <b>“wait…<i>what? What the fuck did he just say?</i>”</b> I picked up the needle and restarted the song, as if I was just not hearing right and he’d say something different the second time around.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="center; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 240px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000awh0g" border="0" alt="" /></div>This song is about the murder of Diane Edwards, which occurred in the Minneapolis area in 1980. It’s not the kind of topic I’d come to expect from a hardcore band. This was far too disturbing, far too vulnerable for hardcore – or was it? This EP is pointed to as the Great Leap Forward for Hüsker Dü, where they began to leave their hardcore sound (but not their ethos) behind and move towards a poppier approach. “Diane” is not the first truly classic Hüsker Dü song (that would be “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQn92LGyOrI" target="_blank">In a Free Land</a>”), but it’s the one that got them noticed outside hardcore circles and played on college radio stations back when getting played on college radio stations actually meant something. Yet, this song is not the one that clinched them for me. That song will be the topic for my next post. Suspense! (Sort of.)<br /><br />Partially because it's such a good song and partially because it's a simple three chord pattern that repeats through the entire song, “Diane” is an oft-covered indie rock epic that keeps getting tinkered with re-imagined. For the story so far, a search of YouTube found the following versions:<ul><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtiCaODfIzI" target="_blank">Therapy?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YfiqEcqvWE" target="_blank">Deserving Case</a></li><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naVtSMweoac" target="_blank">Eco Del Baratro</a></li><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=954uhvQDT6o" target="_blank">Die Raucherrevue</a></li></ul>Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-80894622222752226722009-10-11T09:07:00.001-07:002009-10-11T10:40:09.646-07:00Marky's song #12: Charles Ives - "The Unanswered Question"In Poland, the 5000-zloty banknote <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jbourj/images/money/addition/chopin12.jpg">has native composer Frédéric Chopin on the front</a>. If the United States were to do something similar, <a href="http://www.charlesives.org/">Charles Ives</a> would have to be included somewhere. (And not on the never-used $2 bill, dammit – though that gives new meaning to the phrase “two buck Chuck.” Ahem, anyway.)<br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000ar9yw" border="0" alt="" />Ives’s goal (insofar that he had a single ‘goal’) was to create a body of work that was distinctly ‘American.’ Ives was adamant that American musical culture could not advance if composers didn’t move beyond mere imitation of Germans. Lazy writers often slot him as a postmodernist, but in reality he had stopped composing long before the postmodernist movement began and he hardly considered himself part of the avant-garde.<br /><br />His body of work sounds nothing like composers that preceded him and very little like the actual modernists that followed. Ives’s music distinguishes itself with its borrowing from other sources. His compositions are peppered with melodies referenced from folk tunes, church hymns and early ragtime melodies as well as Beethoven and his beloved Brahms. Motifs are swiped, altered and offered back with bristling and energetic polytonality. His compositions are emotional and earthy, a far cry from the academic steeliness of real postmodernism.<br /><br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 186px; height: 250px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000as9w9" border="0" alt="" />“The Unanswered Question” (written in 1906, revised in 1934) is a program piece scored for one trumpet, four flutes and a compliment of strings. The strings are supposed to represent silence (wrap your head around that) while a solitary man contemplates the meaning of life, the perennial question of existence, or some other weighty matter. The trumpet asks a five-note theme that is slowly answered by the flutes. Unsatisfied with the response, the trumpet repeats its plangent query. The flutes respond again, more frantic and dissonant than before. This process of question and increasingly discordant answer continues over and over until the flutes, exasperated, can do nothing more but blurt out incoherence. The trumpet concludes with the original theme that is not responded to; the question remains unanswered, The Unanswered Question.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cImb1wnhIGI&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cImb1wnhIGI&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br />Because of the simplified instrumentation and relatively digestible content, “The Unanswered Question” is one of Ives’s most often performed compositions. But a single piece is obviously not enough to give an accurate depiction of a composer. For the curious listener, I’ve uploaded some more performances into one convenient folder <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=4c167a46f9d59c398d78a0e555291609f8356ef895501259f88875faa4c6c51e">HERE</a> for you to peruse at your own leisure. Included are the companion piece “Central Park in the Dark”, the Symphony of Holidays, Orchestral Sets #1 and #2, and for the really adventurous, his Fourth Symphony. Enjoy. It’s about time we got a little classical music into this blog.Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-61021155664388393482009-10-01T11:58:00.001-07:002009-10-05T10:40:10.403-07:00Marky's song #11: Boredoms - "Super Going"I’ve read that it takes courage to admit one’s mistakes. Not that I expect a Medal of Honor for this one, but truth be told, I gave up on the Boredoms too quickly. I wound up passing on giving their best album a chance for a few years simply because a small handful of earlier releases tried my patience too much. My bad.<br /><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000aqt9c" alt="" border="0" />A little background history. Back in the day (and by that I mean 1988), the Boredoms arrived from <strike>Saturn</strike> Japan to unleash incomprehensible music on unsuspecting audiences. Their albums were both aggressively flashy and violently hilarious. The best part about it all was that the uneasy chuckles their music provoked came from both those in the know as well as those who simply wrote the band off as adorable but clueless foreigners. <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Discharge" target="_blank">Soul Discharge</a></i> (1989) and <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Tatari" target="_blank">Pop Tatari</a></i> (1992) were masterpieces of fractured cultural blender-ism; its noise-making tantrums being both amusing and terrifying, yet a surprisingly large amount of the music sticks to the wall once all is said and done. The latter album in particular deserves additional mention; it was released on Warner’s Japanese imprint, which lead Spin magazine writer Mike Rubin to comment that it was probably the least commercially viable album released on a major label since <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Machine_Music" target="_blank">Metal Machine Music</a></i>.<br /><br />But all winning streaks have to come to an end sometime. 1994 saw the release of <i>Chocolate Synthesizer</i>, which was only so-so, and then the <i>Super Roots</i> series began to see the light of day and that’s when things started to get tedious. #3 and especially the monolithic #5 were the hardest pills to swallow; the former being a half-hour hardcore stomp and the latter being over an hour of a cymbal wash and open guitar strings. The band called the music “ambient hardcore”, I called it a drag. More than anything, these albums left me sad: my beloved Boredoms had lost their way.<br /><br />And so, it wasn’t until 2003 when I finally got around to picking up <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_%C3%A6" target="_blank">Super æ</a></i> (pronounced ‘super eye.’) What a boo-boo I made. It’s an awesome album, but for reasons very different from what made Soul Discharge and Pop Tatari so awesome. The band traded thrashcore freak-outs for blissful sun-worshipping voyages.<div><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000apw28" alt="" border="0" />In order to fully convey the impact of this song, I need to talk a bit about what leads up to it on the album. The opening track, “Super You”, is a pile-up of spliced chords; seven minutes of a band’s jam presented out of sequence with occasional modifications to the tape speed. A tiny beat finally pops up near the end, but it’s practically incidental to the confusing (and confused) instrumental track. If you’ve never heard the Boredoms before, this song is as worthy an introduction as any, but in the context of the album it makes perfect sense. It <i>has</i> to be the opening track – and <i>only</i> on this album.</div><div><br />From there, the album moves on to “Super Are.” It starts with a couple minutes of blocky chords played on what sounds like a Hammond organ. After a while, it gives way to some soft tribal drumming and – what’s this? Actual <i>singing</i>? With harmonies?! <i>On a Boredoms album?!?!</i> It’s true and it’s surprising how well they swing it. The band never gave us any inclination they had this stuff in them. When the first power chords come crashing into the song, it’s the most arena-rock moment the Boredoms have ever created. The track then busts into a sort of primitive stomp punctuated by trumpet runs. An ear-splitting screech brings it to a halt before slamming into our track in question.<div><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b>Boredoms - "Super Going"</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: 400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Super%20Going.mp3"></iframe></div><br />From here, the album soars into the stratosphere. “Super Going” is actually not all that complicated of a song: it mainly just seesaws back and forth between two chords; about eight-and-a-half minutes (!) in, a primal scream causes a few more chords to get tossed into the equation, eventually giving way to one final drumming climax and the word SHINE! Reading the description, you might thing it's the recipe for the most boring song ever. But in the hands of the Boredoms, it's a breathtaking magic carpet ride. “Super Going” does what all truly great songs should do – immediately demand you listen to it again once it has ended. It’s a challenge for me not to simply hit the previous track button when I’m playing the full album.</div><div><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jGqZUksAcF0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jGqZUksAcF0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b>(Here's an edited version of the album with a cool video included.)</b></span></span></div><br />The rest of the album is just as fascinating, but it was this song that won me back over. Apparently, the only substantial difference between a spazz-rock band and a trance-rock band is how long they spend focusing on each idea! Subsequent releases have mined similar trance-like territory to lesser effect. Even the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcpRSai-M2c">live</a> Boadrum <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VkBcwTPSR4">experiments</a> didn’t capture my attention as much. I guess the main problem for a band that releases so many wonderful albums is that the bar gets set very high. But really, I should cut the Boredoms some slack – the vast majority of bands never release even one classic album. The Boredoms have blessed us with three.</div></div></div></div>Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-12448258009647016392009-09-23T17:09:00.001-07:002009-10-01T11:59:07.048-07:00Marky's song #10: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time soundtrack - "Gerudo Valley"<img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 252px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000ahzd4" border="0" alt="">The spectre of Nintendo looms large over independent and underground culture. Ooooh, I made that sound much creepier than I needed to. Many a junior high school semi-outcast found some solace in video game systems. I know I did. We already have one <a href="http://fivehundredsongs.blogspot.com/2009/07/bobbys-song-2-little-computer-people-by.html" target="_blank">song article</a> related to video gaming, and I’m sure this one will not be the last.
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<br />It was only a matter of time before independent music started to incorporate video game music into their sound. Bands like <a href="http://www.minibosses.com/" target="_blank">The Minibosses</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OogbspS2PmY" target="blank">The Advantage</a> (among many others) thrill audiences with rocked-out covers of 8-bit themes. On the flip side of that, <a href="http://www.anamanaguchi.com/" target="_blank">Anamanaguchi</a> and <a href="http://www.menomena.com/">Menomena</a> go about things in reverse – using outmoded technologies to construct modern melodies. In the realm of electronic music, you can mosey over to the <a href="http://www.ocremix.org/" target="_blank">OverClocked ReMix website</a> and download for free all sorts of re-worked, updated versions of tunes from games both popular and obscure.
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<br />The point I’m trying to make here, which will most likely elicit a response of ‘duh’ from the readership here, is that access to the “situational music” of our youth is greater than it has ever been. It’s not just video game soundtracks or even <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS9qns423sQ" target="_blank">orchestras playing the music of Koji Kondo</a>, but imported soundtracks from Japanese animation series or a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Carl-Stalling-Project-Cartoons-1936-1958/dp/B000002LJE" target="_blank">compiling of the music of Carl Stalling</a>. Of course, the quality of music for video games has increased as well, as companies discovered that more and more people were paying attention to that sort of thing. In turn, the people these companies employed to compose the music spent more time crafting individual soundtracks.
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<br /><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000ak63y" border="0" alt="">Anyway, back to the topic at hand. This particular track comes from the Nintendo 64 game <font style="font-style:italic;">Ocarina of Time</font>. There’s no way to gauge a “play count” in the game <font style="font-style:italic;">à la iTunes</font>, but it easily was the most oft-listened to part of the soundtrack, mainly because it was easy to restart the music while I was playing. I made sure to explore the area thoroughly just to keep it playing and would even go in and out of buildings just to hear the music restart from the beginning. I’m probably not the only one.
<br />This track has been re-imagined many times over – a somewhat large sample of these follow below. I’ll let the music speak for itself. The popularity is with good reason: it’s gorgeous, it’s simple, and it fits the portion of the game’s scene perfectly. Good music can be found in unlikely sources – even in a tribal encampment near the desert across a bridge next to a waterfall.<div>
<br /></div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="small">Gerudo Valley (original)</font></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width:400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Gerudo Valley.mp3"><br /> </iframe>
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<br /><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="small">Gerudo Valley (JV mix): from OverClocked</font></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="small"></font></font><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width:400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Gerudo (JV mix).mp3"><br /> </iframe>
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<br /><font class="Apple-style-span" size="small"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial">Gerudo Valley (Peeples mix): from OverClocked</font></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="small"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial"></font></font><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width:400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Gerudo (Peeples mix).mp3"><br /> </iframe></div>
<br />[Question: is anybody having trouble seeing the media players? I’m not sure if they work in Safari.]</div><div>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1rfGbB0zqz8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1rfGbB0zqz8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></object>
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<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dm5sVr-OJOI&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dm5sVr-OJOI&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div> </div></div>Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-43824952518460289842009-09-09T19:15:00.000-07:002009-09-21T17:48:43.703-07:00Marky's song #9: Wesley Willis - "Feel The Power Of Rock And Roll"It was brought to my attention recently that we just passed the sixth anniversary of the passing of Wesley Willis. I remember reading about it the day after. My first thought after the initial grief was “there will never be another Wesley Willis.” My second thought after a little bit of reflection was “perhaps that’s a good thing.” As much as Wesley came across as larger than life, he was deeply troubled by demons that he was never able to fully exorcise.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000afrz0"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 172px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000afrz0" alt="" border="0"></a>In case you’re not familiar with the man, Wesley (for whatever reason, referring to him by his last name feels wrong) stood nearly six and a half feet tall and weighed over 300 pounds. He was also afflicted with chronic schizophrenia. He made his living on the streets of Chicago by selling drawings until he bought a Technics keyboard and began “writing” songs. When all was said and done, Wesley had recorded nearly fifty albums – the vast majority of which he did the artwork for. However, only the most obsessed collector needs to hear anything else besides the <a href="http://www.alternativetentacles.com/product.php?product=133" target="_blank">first two</a> <font style="font-style: italic;">Greatest <a href="http://www.alternativetentacles.com/product.php?product=305" target="_blank">Hits</a></font><a href="http://www.alternativetentacles.com/product.php?product=305" target="_blank"> albums</a>. (Alternative Tentacles released a third volume that sadly, turned out to be an unfortunate let down.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000ag5w3"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 180px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000ag5w3" alt="" border="0"></a>Critical opinion on Wesley will forever be divided. The man’s legacy left him both loved and reviled for the exact same reasons. Some relished the catch phrases and descriptions of live gigs, while others bemoaned the sheer repetitiveness and accused some musical cohorts of exploitation. But to say that all his songs sound the same is partially to miss the point. The formula was the reason his fans loved his music so much. It’s like eating your favorite food – you more or less know what you’re going to get and you still enjoy it every time. Yet, I’ll admit, it’s an acquired taste.<br /><br />Look at it from the perspective of his fellow band members. How difficult do you think it would be to go out on tour and keep an eye on Wesley? No, The Wesley Willis Fiasco was not exploitative. But American Recordings certainly was. Amazingly, Wesley got to release an album on a major label. Even more amazingly, smelling potential profit, the label advanced a mere $10,000 for the album. To me, there’s no contest as to who is guilty of exploitation here.<br /><br />Although Wesley lived a life plagued by mental illness, he wasn’t dumb. Stories abound about how he was able to recall singular events in his mind and make <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/56795921@N00/pool/" target="_blank">inkpen drawings</a> of them with surprising accuracy – even down to things like license plate numbers on cars and buses. This is from the same guy who never bothered to memorize his song lyrics and would sit (or stand) on stage with a notebook for live sets.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C3Htu74YBoc&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C3Htu74YBoc&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br />Wesley Willis succumbed to leukemia on August 21, 2003, but rock & roll will never die.<br /><br />Honorable mention/second favorite Wesley song: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjAAL3PWBXI" target="_blank">"Vampire Bat"</a>.Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-1493883108250895152009-08-24T18:13:00.000-07:002009-08-24T18:28:52.287-07:00Marky's song #8: Napalm Death - "You Suffer"No, I’m not kidding.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9Z1IGjr2cT0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9Z1IGjr2cT0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br />I seriously considered ending the post there; a ridiculously short post for a ridiculously short song. So, how short is this darn thing, anyway? Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Suffer" target="_blank">gives an official length</a> of 1.136 seconds. iTunes claims a length of 0:05, but that includes the dead time between it and the next song on the album. The label of the vinyl single reads a concise (0:01), which was probably the band’s initial intent. But it almost seems pointless to debate the issue.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000aeza1"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000aeza1" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />“Intent” is an interesting word, when you consider how much of a throwaway this track is. In fact, the session that produced this was written off and tossed away by the majority of the participants. Stories about this song – and the album it’s culled from – are the stuff of legend. <a href="http://www.choosingdeath.com/index.html" target="_blank">Albert Mudrian’s book</a>: <span style="font-style: italic;">Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore</span> does a good job collecting stories and documenting the era. (I found earlier chapters in that book far more interesting than later ones, which is an accurate way of describing death metal and grindcore in general.)<br /><br />This track comes from Napalm Death’s first album, <a href="http://www.earache.com/catalog/mosh003.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Scum</span></a>, which is actually split into two separate recording sessions with two different lineups; the only common thread <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000adr84"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000adr84" alt="" border="0" /></a>between the two sides is drummer Mick Harris. “You Suffer” is the final song from the first session, which, along with Harris, includes guitarist Justin Broadrick and bassist/vocalist Nik Bullen. The session was initially intended to be a demo, but internal friction caused this version of the band to break up before it could be shopped around. Not expecting Harris to re-form the band with a completely new lineup, Broadrick gave the demo tape away – for free – to Earache label owner Digby Pearson. The rest, as they say, is (improbable) history.<br /><br />“You Suffer” became quite a curiosity at the time for outsiders. The band always saw the track as some kind of joke, and would often play it 30, 40, 50 times in a row at early live gigs. I guess it could be considered a (very) brief moment of levity among their more politically charged songs. John Peel’s early championing of the band garnered them some more attention from the British media, perhaps culminating bizarrely in the band <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsytdmYtcf8" target="_blank">winding up on the BBC educational television program</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">What’s That Noise?</span> (The show’s title sounds tailor-made for Napalm Death, doesn’t it?)<br /><br />This is not meant to be a bio of the band; if you’re further interested in the history behind this song, I recommend the above-linked book as well as the band’s first two albums – <span style="font-style: italic;">Scum</span> and <a href="http://www.earache.com/catalog/mosh008.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">From Enslavement To Obliteration</span></a>. Sadly, at the time, neither of those were distributed in the United States; most Americans didn’t get their first taste of the band until <span style="font-style: italic;">Harmony Corruption</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000acga3"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000acga3" alt="" border="0" /></a> – a decent album, but the band had re-vamped its lineup yet again, veered away from grindcore and transmuted into a far less interesting death metal outfit. The development of American underground metal would have been very different had those earlier albums had more widespread availability at the time. Oh well. C'est la vie. Just remember, by the time you finish reading this entry, you could have listened to the song approximately fifty times.Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-14160068818486203882009-08-18T12:21:00.000-07:002009-08-18T13:28:21.290-07:00Bobby's song #4: "King Medicine" by Jets to BrazilBefore I began writing this entry my general take on the word "emo" was that it was a fashion fad practiced by kids half my age that involved wearing black clothes, <a href="http://emohairstylesfashion.blogspot.com/">having mop-headed haircuts</a>, and walking around with a scowl all the time. Which is kind of what I did when I was that age, only we called it other things back then like "being alternative" or "being a hood". <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lHcobEThmA">Self-described "emo" music</a> that I had heard in passing over the past few years always made me either laugh or grimace - I could never take it seriously. So I was shocked when I went to Wikipedia (and then to AllMusic) and they listed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jets_to_Brazil">Jets To Brazil</a> as an "emo" band. I just thought they were an Indie Rock band. And I hate the term "emo".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/SosC60jHVgI/AAAAAAAABVQ/5V_-gTMZlJQ/s1600-h/jetstobrazil.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 197px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/SosC60jHVgI/AAAAAAAABVQ/5V_-gTMZlJQ/s320/jetstobrazil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371390190131041794" border="0" /></a>However, after doing a little more research I began to see how Jets To Brazil could fall under that classification. Especially with regards to lyrical content. From AllMusic.com: "Emo lyrics are deeply personal, usually either free-associative poetry or intimate confessionals."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/SosDJQ6Uq_I/AAAAAAAABVY/sTYHtUw2yOo/s1600-h/jtbord.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Go7vMvourkM/SosDJQ6Uq_I/AAAAAAAABVY/sTYHtUw2yOo/s320/jtbord.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371390438262746098" border="0" /></a>This attention to lyrics is what ultimately made <span style="font-style: italic;">orange rhyming dictionary</span> a permanent resident in my car for a number of years in my early-20s. The lyrics sound like they were written by a frustrated novelist. Because they were. For that, and for other reasons Blake Schwartzenbach's lyrics resonated with me. See, back then I was a generally unhappy guy who spent my evenings hanging out in bars getting plastered, trying to write a novel, reading existential philosophy books, and being pretty sure that my heart had been broken beyond repair. Hey, wait - I was so totally emo! It's all making sense now. All that was missing was a studded belt and some horn rimmed glasses.<br /><br />Jets To Brazil was Schwartzenbach's second band. His first was Jawbreaker which had a decidedly <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcllXCz1jHs">more post-hardcore sound</a>. Jets To Brazil, however, were less punkish and more geared towards the indie-rock crowd. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Rhyming_Dictionary"><span style="font-style: italic;">orange rhyming dictionary</span></a> was their first album and, unfortunately, their best. JTB released two other albums which were very weak (and dreadfully boring) by comparison and then broke up in 2003.<br /><br />"King Medicine" is probably not the best song on the album, which is full of gems, but it is undoubtedly my favorite for its lyrical content. It spoke to me the loudest during that tumultuous time in my life and so I honor it here.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">King Medicine </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">by Jets to Brazil</span><br /></div><center></center></div><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: 400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Jets%20To%20Brazil%20-%20King%20Medicine.mp3"> </iframe>Bobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10385329465833100731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-34251836210258627392009-08-15T18:49:00.000-07:002009-08-15T21:14:51.819-07:00Marky's song #7: Friends of Dean Martinez - "Landfall"I don’t drive, but if I did, Friends of Dean Martinez would be a mandatory portion of all road trip soundtracks. Their music conjures up images of endless journeys through flatlands where the lack of scenery is exactly what makes things so scenic. When I close my eyes I can imagine the constant hum of a solitary car engine as the vehicle rolls along a two-lane highway.<br /><br />Hailing from Tucson, the band was originally named Friends of Dean Martin, but they were forced to change it at the behest of Mr. Martin’s estate. This turned out to actually be a <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000aas1x"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 198px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000aas1x" alt="" border="0"></a>prescient move; the sound they started with might invoke the image of a reveling, inebriated Martin enjoying the evening, but the sounds they ended up with most certainly did not.<br /><br />When FoDM first hit the scene, “alternative” music was starting to move away from grunge bombast. Curious listeners had become saturated with fuzz box guitar and were looking for new sounds. “Lounge” music was one of the many styles to fill that gap. But a lot of the stuff was simply too cloying for me. FoDM wasn’t the most egregious offender, but the band didn’t really get interesting until they moved away from copping Martin Denny grooves.<br /><br />By the time their potential swansong <font style="font-style: italic;">Lost Horizon</font> dropped, the pandering towards the martini-and-tiki-lamp crowd had ended. In its place, they composed dirges to <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000abbek"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 250px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000abbek" alt="" border="0"></a>accompany staring out the car window at the continual late night flickering of lines and lights on the highway. (All my wanderlust fantasies inevitably have me sitting in the passenger seat.)<br /><br /><font style="font-style: italic;">Lost Horizon</font> is a very “dark”-sounding album and this track is the opener. For all the hubbub about moving away from the image of the self-aggrandizing guitar rocker, it’s ironic that their strongest song should “rock” as much as it does and that the focal point is a truly heroic guitar solo. The keyboards shift back and forth between two chords as the song swells up with fretboard runs, climaxing and having a big release several minutes in, only to go back and do it all a second time before closing.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><font size="2"><span style="font-family: arial;">Friends of Dean Martinez - "Landfall"</span></font><br /><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: 400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/Landfall.mp3">&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt; </iframe></div><br /><font style="font-weight: bold;">Listen to this song on headphones with the lights off.</font> Technically, Friends of Dean Martinez still exists, but they haven’t released anything since <font style="font-style: italic;">Lost Horizon</font>, which was put out in 2005. If they truly have split up, they smartly went out on a triumphant note.Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-74647228308153187742009-08-08T23:03:00.000-07:002009-08-08T23:38:41.093-07:00Ian Songs: #6, Got to Get Cha<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://assets.mog.com/pictures/0000/0003/1726/images/1228154137.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://assets.mog.com/pictures/0000/0003/1726/images/1228154137.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>"Maceo, I want <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span> to blow." Truer words hath never been spoken (for the next three to five minutes, please believe that to be the case), especially when they leave the lips of Bootsy. But, Maceo and the Horny Horns were far away in the future when the J.B.'s had a mutiny, leaving The Hardest Working Man in Show-Biz to press some of their own wax. The result? Maceo and All the King's Men, a fairly typical offering of turn-of-the-'70s Southern funk, fried in the still-hot oils of Stax & Muscle Shoals. But, goddamn, when the J.B.'s wanted to let a groove simmer 'til a boil, there was next to no one better. Doing Their Own Thing has some burners on it, for sure; which is why Old Man Brown kept it down, suppressing the album's release and any singles from floating to the airwaves. Sad, because Got to Get Cha could've been a contender, a alternate-reality radio staple that could've rubbed elbows with R&B's guilty pleasures. The words are crap, there's no way getting around it, and they don't have a lick of the je ne sais quoi, soulful swing of the Godfather. Yet, the groove is tight and the bridge is transcendent; reaching 'dem heights through a crystal clear guitar that rings in the fact that, at this time, this was the band you wished could be backing you. Of course the snap/clap is as steady as a rock. Of course the four-string brilliantly bounces. Of course the horns punctuate every apostrophe and period. This is the fucking <span style="font-style: italic;">J.B.'s </span>and while the cat was away, goddamn did these guys ever play. Enjoy. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-5r0RUJl6o">Big Daddy Kane did.</a><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ht84qcNyXuQ&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ht84qcNyXuQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6351209400375810427.post-57307531961802493282009-08-06T19:19:00.000-07:002009-08-07T06:00:45.301-07:00Marky's song #6: John Zorn - "Nefesh"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000a8h2e"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 262px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000a8h2e" alt="" border="0"></a><br />Those of us who are huge fans of John Zorn have a word to describe ourselves: “Zornthologists.” It’s meant as a term of endearment. There’s no codified process or minimum number of albums to purchase in order to cross the line into Zornthology, but those who are there usually don’t try to hide it. Between his solo albums, band projects, collaborations, one-offs and guest appearances, I have round 100 albums connected to him on one way or another. And that that’s only a minor dent into his discography, not to mention that there are certainly much more rabid Zorn fans than me.<br /><br /><font style="font-style: italic;">Bar Kokhba</font> is not one of his better-known albums. It is named after Simon Bar Kokhba, the leader of the Second Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire in the year 135. The revolt was crushed overwhelmingly by the Romans and led to the expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem. Obviously a major event in Jewish history, the Bar Kokhba revolt is also cited as the first significant divergence between Christianity and Judaism.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000a901w"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 250px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/painkiller/pic/000a901w" alt="" border="0"></a>As you might expect from an album named after an event of such grave emotional import, <font style="font-style: italic;">Bar Kokhba</font> drips with somber spirituality. A <a href="http://www.tzadik.com/index.php?catalog=7108-2">double-CD</a> released as part of the “Radical Jewish Culture” series on his own Tzadik label in 1996, the album features various small chamber ensembles. In fact, Zorn doesn’t play on the album at all, being credited solely as a composer. Those familiar with parts of the Masada catalog will recognize some of the themes and find it interesting to hear them out of a jazz context, but – and Zorn has emphatically stated this on many occasions – Masada was never meant to be strictly a “jazz” project.<br /><br />The point behind the Masada project was for Zorn to write a “book” of melodies. He drew the inspiration for that from Duke Ellington. Duke had a book of songs – not full arrangements, but just main themes. Sometimes it would be nothing more than a couple lines on staff paper. He could then arrange those melodies into full-fledged compositions as the instrumentation dictated. If he needed to arrange it for a piano trio, he could do that. If he needed to arrange it for a 30-piece big band orchestra, he could do that as well. It was the same song, the same melody, but a different context.<br /><br />Masada plays upon the same idea, but given Zorn’s breadth of musical interests, it doesn’t restrict itself to jazz. Melodies have been re-interpreted by string trios, techno artists and thrash bands. In the case of <font style="font-style: italic;">Bar Kokhba</font>, it’s chamber music. But this track stands out from the rest of the album because it actually is a jazz piece.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><font style="font-family: arial;" size="1">John Zorn - "Nefesh"</font></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><iframe style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); width: 400px; height: 27px;" id="musicPlayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3247397568-audio-player.swf?audioUrl=http://www.complicatedgame.com/500songs/John%20Zorn%20-%20Nefesh.mp3">&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; </iframe><br /></div><br />The trio that plays on this track is <a href="http://www.mmw.net/john.jsp">John Medeski</a> on piano, <a href="http://mark-dresser.com/">Mark Dresser</a> on bass and <a href="http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Kenny_Wollesen.html">Kenny Wollesen</a> on drums. As far as I am aware, this is the only track anywhere that features this specific trio of musicians. A shame, because this song is one of the finest pieces of jazz I’ve heard anywhere, from any time period. The beautifully recorded track is balanced perfectly between the three instruments, each member getting a chance to stand out and shine without ever breaking the heavy mood. This track by itself may not be enough to recommend slogging through two full CDs of minor key chamber music, but it definitely deserves to be pulled out and placed on a pedestal.Marky Narchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15871871519628162877noreply@blogger.com2