There's one thing I hate and that's people doing ironic covers of other peoples' work. I lost respect for Ben Gibbard when he did it solo and I don't think I've listened to manic street preachers since I saw them do this live.
Mechanical Bride however do this song and the writers justice with the evocative and hauting melodies of Lauren Doss on a piano laden reimagining of a classic piece of modern popular music.
Melissa Laveaux delivers an original performance that stays true to the isolation and insecurity of the original but without relying upon it. It's soulful and, as covers should; feels like it means something to the artist.
I hadn't heard of friendly foes until yesterday which is a damn shame, no idea why but we've found them now and they're amazing which is the most important thing.
The three tracks I've heard are full moon morning, couch surfing and get yr shit together; all of which got rated on my ipod. A huge rarity but these are worthy of even higher praise. The latter is heart breaking because they seem to remain criminally under rated. I'm hoping that they're just under the radar and their inclusion on the indie rock playlist next month and festivals in the summer will give them the notoriety they deserve.
Friendly Foes are Ryan Allen, Liz Wittman and Sean Sommer who together make up a self-proclaimed verse-chorus-verse FFM indie-pop band from Michigan. They're in sort of the same vein as The Subways if Subways had a good male singer and Ash if they were fun and still had Charlotte Hatherley. Full moon morning Couch surfing Get yr shit together My body (is a strange place to live)
"The Swedish duo JJ emerged on Gothenburg’s Sincerely Yours Records in 2009, with a particularly gratifying take on the musical preoccupations common to much of the label’s roster. Their take on neo-Balearic indie pop filters Air France’s tropical haze, the Tough Alliance’s penchant for slyly irreverent appropriation, and the Honeydrips’ fragile twee pop melodicism into a beguilingly lush, gently electronic style reminiscent of prime Saint Etienne with a smoother, beachier sheen."
Kitchen The Greenhorn EP begins with the incessant tapping of metal on metal which then underscore plucked acoustics before intermittant drumming and high tops introduce the vocals. The percussion her is refreshingly unique as it is there to add effect rather than keep time, a feature that endeared me to the their stylings way back when.
The double bass, plucked early on before being bowed later, is haunting enough on its own but with the light background guitars, progressive drums and menacing vocals with perfectly introverted lyricism it adds to a heady concoction that makes for a great opener.
Spit The ensuing track starts off more traditionally but the layered instrumentation seeps into the track independently to ensure a cocophonic, controlled, yet energetic performance and the vocals are solid in parts where others might waiver. In other words; this chick got a VOICE!
Power in Paper The music here is a little more sparse as the lyrics take the front seat that they are worthy of. Supported well by driving strings, the delivery is excellant on this track. Possibly the pick of a great bunch.
Octavia Kicking off much like Alan's Psychadelic Breakfast with what sounds like an egg being fried... Maybe not though who knows, sounds cool though. The sizzling fades out for an acoustic guitar backed up by light bass. The lyricism here is exceptional, I dig the hell out of this track.
Overall the EP is mega impressive. Home recorded faultlessly and, the thing that impresses me the most is that what was great about BIRP inclusion cress and their first singleDucking stool they've taken and built upon to glorious effect.
"Not waiting" is a stylish track, the drums that I have eulogised with high praise in the past lead the way with light tabbed electric guitar and sharp vocals following where they drive. Things get heavier with a metal inspired guitar solo which underscores the second verse superbly without ever threatening to drown out the other aspects that make BabyGravy a great band live as well as on record.
The B-side is a little more electro with disco keys and a hook that will stick with you as you step out of the doors into the apocolyptic tempatures of the english streets from the venue. Or the bus. Or wherever you're listening.
I'm going to be completely honest and say I like Owl City and was pretty close to deciding to go see him live in Oxford and even though I also like Lights I decided the whole evening would be a little affeminate and now the english have jumped on the bandwagon it all became a little less cool.
I first became aware of him through working on Blalock's Indie Rock playlist and liked a few tracks, firstly the saltwater room ft. Breanne Duren from his first album. And then I downloaded Ocean Eyes in which I'd reccomend downloading Hot air balloon, Hello Seattle and yes, fireflies is a good song but as the western world is if there is anything that does sound nice it will be played to death until you begin to hate it.
If you just have the songs mentioned above you won't be missing out on an incredible amount however the album as a whole is a really nice listen. The only exception being a song called "Dental Care" which is just dreadful, the lyrics are terrible, the tune sounds like it was written for children and the delivery is pathetic and whiney. The latter is something that he skates around a lot of the time but manages to steer ever so, just clear.
Of course his story is exaggerated, it goes along the lines of; aww he turned to music at his parent's house as a result of his insomnia (which i'm assuming is to link people to other meteoric rises in Seattle as in, "curt cobain turned to heroin as a result of his back pain") while working at a coca-cola warehouse. If his parents aren't mega rich and his job working for the world's largest drinks manufacturer was to pay for either tuition or to feed his family then I apologise but I'm thinking this isn't the case.
I'll level with you, his lyrics are FULL of cliches and songs like "on the wing" is just a list of words and phrases that sound nice in pop songs. BUT it's all a very unintrusive listen, it's nice to have on and as you float in and out it probably will make your day a bit better and sometimes that's all music needs to be.
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Sunny Day Real Estate Essential D/L- Seven, In circles, song about an angel, Round, 47
Sunny Day real estate are seen as the pioneers of emo. I thought I better check them out as I further my e(mo)ducation. Now I'm not emo, people just say that because I'm incredibly morbid and talk about death all the time lol :)
These guys split up before I was even listening to good music but reunited last year on a north american tour and are playing coachella this year before coming over to europe and playing england for the first time ever.
The album I posted above is essentially a greatest hits (in that it's their best songs) so you may as well get the whole thing but the 4 I posted are definately the standouts.
I've said alot of things about fanfarlo, most of them at the very least mildly phrophetic of a band so perfect they'll be talked about with revery in folklore towards the second half of this century.
They've been playing the perfect reservoir live almost constantly and are going to keep going, check the dates here. They've been playing a few new tracks too and they sound incredibly promising.
Have a plan was just magnificent. I saw them last year and wasn't perfectly sure what to expect but they were brilliant, an absolute pleasure to catch live. I expect they'll be at festivals this summer too and from what I hear they're warming up for a new album right now. They're having a small tour early this year so check the dates here.
They're releasing Falcon pretty soon. St. Jude was brilliant, an absolutely majestic retrospective over a the band's early career. Of course they are flourishing now and have gained a great live reputation and judging from the two tracks released from it are moving on a bit from the early oasis inspired youthful exhubberance of their debut. Definately something to look forward to.
Since declaring the '59 sound my album of 2000-2010 Gaslight Anthem, surely inspired by such an accolade have gotten back in the studio. Now i'm not expecting '59 sound part 2 but nor would I be dissapointed if they didn't change a thing as that was a perfect moment in modern music. Im sure that whatever they do bring out it'll be a nice encore to it rather than a removal.
Now Dev Hynes is releasing his second album. The first was the truly imperious falling of the lavender bridge which was just an inspirational piece of musical artistry. Of course he did have a hand from Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis on it and that guy knows how to steady a ship. I heard lead single marlene live years ago and didn't really get it. It's now 2010 he's just released the marlene ep and nothing on that EP stuck with me. However he's great live, a really charming and humble performer who is content in the knowledge of what he and those around him are capable of.
When I first started this blog I used to give little introductions into how things were going in real life. I kinda stopped this as it seemed a little bit pointless! There's twitter for getting updates on what I had for breakfast (weetabix btw ;)) but recently i've felt like crap constantly and never felt even remotely ok. Anyway turns out- mould all over the bottom half of my curtains which i've been breathing in for months while I slept. Got rid of it, now I feel great. Woke up at 6am this morning not feeling sick for the first time in ages! I had such bad panda eyes as well I looked like death and even those are fading away! Lol so yeah check for mould in your room it's super bad for you.
The Who- Quadrophenia (1979) [Essential Downloads- The punk and the godfather, I've had enough, Love rain o'er me, My generation]
I saw this for the first time the other day. It was highly anticipated as over the past year or so I've gained an attention span for watching movies that I never thought possible. True I could really only manage to sit through 20 minute american sit coms prior to this. Besides the basic message of this movie is fuck being part of a scene and be who you wanna be.
This movie is about music and that's why it's great. The underlying thing is the mod -v- rocker culture clash but I'm not even 100% what a mod is and still enjoyed the undertones as much as the musical journey that we are led upon along with Phil Daniels who I think Alex Turner would get away with playing in a remake, although obviously that'd be pointless they just look similar.
There's great scenes, Louie Louie and My Generation at a house party early on, Jimmy dancing in the club before getting thrown out and sleeping on the beach and finally going back to the scenes of a great time which as we all know you should never do but which is hard to resist. BELLBOY!!!
Download the movie or you can probably get it off ebay for a few pounds. It's worth having in your collection. As good for living in the moment as I'd imagine it is for nostalgia.
I figured it might actually be sensible to post when i'm going through these. Basically there's online and offline research. Offline tends to be through magazines and other publications such as NME and Kerrang. Online a myriad of blogs are at our disposal and as well as going through my favourites regularly I also search for ones that are probably amazing but I haven't heard of yet.
You're catching me on a wednesday which is the day I get nme delivered. Now, I've grown increasingly frustrated with NME as it doesn't really give any new information except for opinions which tend to be outlandish and ill researched. They have a few good features though, the new album releases, the 10 tracks you have to hear this week and the reason I can't cancel my subscription- academic gig listings.
So right now i'm on the album page reading about these guys...
This is Eddie Argos of Art Brut and his Girlfriend from Blood Arm. It's a concept album that not so much meets inbetween their two bands but meets halfway between "inspired" and "stupid" there's a few good tracks but also a track written from Billie Jean's child's point of view. Yeah, that Billie Jean. So make up your own mind whether this is a positive use of resources, i'd reccomend the top one but check out the others if you like it-
You may be aware of race horses as they released the two best songs from this their debut album last year. You can get that here. Cake and man in my mind are great tracks, yeah they're welsh so get comparisons to every other welsh artist there is; Super Furry Animals, Manic Street Preachers. I don't think there are any others... Tom Jones and Catatonia... ah you know bullet for my valentine are from bridgend? Intense.
I fear I may have swayed off topic here. So, if you do nothing else make sure you download "cake" it's brilliant. Great chorus, it sounds like it's straight out of the 60s.
I'm just going to post links to the rest as i'm weary-
"White Hinterland is the artist name of Portland, Oregon based Casey Dienel (born March 10, 1985), an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She released her debut album, Wind-Up Canary, in 2006 on Hush Records under her own name. Dienel presently performs and records as White Hinterland, whose first album, titled Phylactery Factory, was released on March 4, 2008, by the independent record label Dead Oceans"
Phylactery Factory (Rec- Dreaming of the plum trees, Calliope and the destruction of the art deco house) Icarus
Smith Westerns Reccomended: Boys are fine, Be My Girl, Girl in Love, Dreams
"The Smith Westerns are from Chicago, and as far as we can tell are either named after a tourist trinket manufacturer in Tacoma or a chain of honkytonk restaurants in south England. Maybe both. Imagine being on family vacation somewhere kind of corny and sucky but running into a girl or boy who is also on family vacation in the same corny, sucky place. You guys buy each other pins from the gift shop at the foot of a rollercoaster, maybe they’re little cowboy hats. You throw some skeeball. Then you go back to your hometowns and write each other crazy letters for the rest of the summer while listening to Marc Bolan. That’s what this song sounds like. So maybe they know what they’re doing with the name. Regardless, this shit is so good we had to learn all the words just so we could yell it at grumpy snitches on the subway." ~ Last.fm
My favourite band of the week for sure! Such an accolade might sound trivial but literally each week I have a favourite band that I listen to loads and each of them hold a place in my music library (heart) forever.
I found them because fanfarlo announced they're replaying the gig I missed at the jericho which first of all was the best news I could possibly have gotten, anyway these guys are supporting...
O.K as ever I barely even think about what an artist might look like let alone actually search it out, the only time this method ever really did me a disservice was with patrick wolf, lol I just had no way to prepare for that! Anyway these guys are YOUNG. 15 and 18 to be precise. My knee jerk response would be to say yeah so what so are smoosh but here's the thing- first aid kit's lyrics are not at all representative of their age. When I first listened to them I had in mind the chick was like 32! Smoosh's lyrics are very teen, these.. just are not.
The guardian gave them a bit of a slating in their new band of the day review so now i'm saying fuck the gaurdian's lists because they've been giving up and coming bands a really fucking hard time the past couple of weeks and it is NOT. COOL. tossers.
"Beach House is an indie rock/dream pop group which formed in 2005 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The group consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, organ) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboards). Legrand is the niece of french composer Michel Legrand. The group has released three albums: 2006’s “Beach House”, 2008’s “Devotion” and “Teen Dream” in early 2010.""
"Since The Verve broke up again (for the third time) after releasing 'Forth' in 2008, Ashcroft has started a new band - the awkwardly named United Nations of Sound (his ex-Verve bandmates Nick McCabe and Simon Jones have also started a new band - The Black Ships - with Davide Rossi from Goldfrapp).
The band has just released their first single: Are You Ready - which thumps and pounds along to Ashcroft's distinct vocals (and theosophical lyrics) before crescendoing into a Stones-like wall of guitar. The single was produced by No I.D. (Common, Kanye West) and is from the debut album, due to be released in late March." ~ National Post
It's been a while in coming but i'm finally giving a heads up about Stornoway. I first became aware of them at a local Oxford festival where they played a tent and it was absolutely packed, you couldn't even see them there were so many people, my first taste of "Stornomania"...
O.K maybe that phrase isn't particularly cogent when referencing a folk band from Oxford but they're passionately revered around the town. The first time I actually got to SEE them was on my birthday, in the oxford botanical gardens-
It was as picturesque and intimate a performance as you could ever wish for. My education from that day I have to pass on is thus; the name was chosen as it's a place none of them had ever been. The lead singer Brian Briggs had become engaged the night before which is why there is champagne in the bottom left of that picture.
It was a weird thing because the whole thing was go to see stornoway then go to another gig at the academy later on but after this I just thought nothing could top that and went home happy about 5pm.
I love a band who play unique venues, when Long Blondes played a library back in 2005, Gaby Young playing vintage clothes stores and recently Stornoway became the first band to play the Sheldonian- Yeah that's right, a gig in the sheldonion-
The real reason for the timing of this post is that Stornoway's album has recently become available. The first thing that struck me was that I've got all of the songs already and I don't know whether it's because i'm local as most are from different sources but my thoughts on this are as follows. An album ideally should capture a period of a band's career and rather than being some huge production the original opus should ideally chronicle their rise to releasing their debut and having listened to these songs for a while now I think it captures that perfectly.
My favourite track is "you don't know anything" complete with three way harmonies and local references. Zorbing and Unfaithful are the two other tracks that I tend to point people towards when originally getting into them but the style of "Pupil of your eye" really is worth a check out.
I wanted to post a couple of songs by these guys they're one of my most cherished bands. I heard about them through this track, I was sent it when my grandfather died-
"I heard grandpa on my transistor radio He said, "Kid, its time for me to go, And I know that there was something that I wanted to show you, But its time for you to find it on your own." Let me tell you about rage when a signal died that day, Theres nothing out there and I don't care--its to take my life away "I'm not ready and I don't want to see, Nope"
So I checked them out, I was at university in canada at the time and the second song I heard was "moving to canada" and it seemed like this band was writing for me. That song isn't particularly great but it sounds upset yet optimistic and that was where I was at that point. However the second song I wanted to highlight is as beautiful as the first-
Most people probably know Ash from the 90s. When I saw them last summer it was a primarily nostalgic time, awesome but dated. Last year they announced (during the "what can other bands do to "do a radio head"" period) they decided to release one single a month and then release those 12 songs as a collection at the end of the year (each year?). The first I heard was white rabbit which was great. Here's the rest-
01 Return of White Rabbit 02 True Love 1980 03 Joy Kicks Darkness 04 Arcadia 05 Tracers 06 The dead disciples 07 Pripyat 08 Lay down your arms 09 Ichiban 10 Space shot
I've been wanting to do a post on psychedelic/stoner/college rock for a while and here's my favourite tracks from this genre. If you don't know the tracks i'm going to post where they were featured in simpsons episodes ;)
QBRC- Wild Weekend The episode where Homer goes to the Superbowl and Lisa and Marge try their hand at Vincent Price's egg magic. This song is in the episode and briefly at the end after they say "don't you find it weird in an episode about the superbowl and featuring Dolly Parton we didn't see any football OR singing?"
Byrds- Turn Turn Turn This is from "Three men and a comic book" where Barts drinking a shake and starts thinking in the wonderyears voice.
Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense Peppermints This is from the stonerific perfection that is "weekend at burnsies" this is the part where homer is going about his day high and as he's shaving rainbows come out of his face :)
Jefferson airplane- White Rabbit This is from the same episode as the one above but has also been used in two other (newer and worse) episodes. It's also used in pretty much every stoner movie ever.
Enjoy and if you can, smoke along to these tracks! I myself don't so have one for me ;)
I just wanted to highlight my anticipation for the new lightspeed champion album by making sure everyone else has already fallen for his debut-
First up, I have a lot of respect for brandon flowers. Yeah shock right? It's just he doesn't seem to be in it for the money, he writes soooo much good music that isn't put on major release I mean- don't shoot me santa, romeo and juliet, the ballad of michael valentine- he could have put all these on day and age and it would have been the biggest album of the year, I like to think there's a reason he doesn't..
There was no real reason I mentioned the killers, it was just something that had been on my mind and I wanted to let it out...
Lightspeed champion Essential Downloads: galaxy of the lost, tell me what it's worth, dry lips and no surprise for wendela
Former test icicle, younger than me but let's not hate! I saw him for the first time in birmingham supporting bright eyes in one of the most uncomfortable warm ups i've seen. His plane was late so had to do like a 20 minute acoustic performance, some of the crowd was disgustingly poor mannered, it was in birmingham though so... *isolates certain portion of audience!*
He was alright that night but saw him at the charlotte in leicester and he was spectacular. I believe his debut album went to number one in the english popular music charts but maybe it didn't. Either way it was awesome, love it- plus emmy the great does backing vocals on it. That night he was supported by the amazing Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man which I am going to write about soon as i've rediscovered their apocolyptic awesomeness of late.
The comparison to mr. flowers is due to how many sessions this guy puts on the net for his fans, titles like "this album was written and recorded in a day" and "album in a day 2" and "house sitting sessions" and an album of greenday covers he works hard man and loves music. Although one time I read he dug "pork and beans" by weezer so much he listened to it constantly for a week... This hopefully is not true as that song is more puke and balls than anything else.
His music is visceral, maybe I use that adjective too much just cos I know it and it makes me feel superior or maybe it's relevant here. The music is expansive, thanks i'm sure in part to mike mogis' hand, you can really hear his input throughout the album. And the lyrical themes are original (Hate to think what would happen if I started to drink like you, maybe I will loosen up..well, pour me another gin. Guzzle down, my neck will burn as we kiss and I'm sick in your mouth.) backing from emmy the great perfects an already great album.
Highlights of the album are galaxy of the lost, tell me what it's worth, dry lips and no surprise for wendela. That's if you don't like getting a feel for the whole album and *goes on rant about popular music*... Enjoy!
Remember the days where you'd pick up an album just because you liked the look of their album art? They're not totally gone, actually in theory they should be more prominant what with the freeness of everything. However this is why I picked up this recently leaked EP.
These guys are like Patrick Stump doing Rocket Summer covers, which is even better than it sounds. Oh god yeah, so emo get over it. Basically you'll really like this band if you like that sort of thing.
When this band came on my recently added playlist on my ipod I went to skip as I was looking for new music and didn't have time to listen to accomplished bands. It turns out however, that Birds of Tokyo aren't seasoned pro's but just really, really good.
Loads of streaming tracks at their last.fm for you to check out but you could do worse than have these guys on your ipod. They sound like any quite good rock bands of today in 20 years when they're doing greatest hits tours.
The Avett Brothers I and Love and You, January Wedding, Kick Drum Heart, Laundry Room
You're perfectly welcome to the apprehension that you hold. If Oasis were called The Salford Siblings, the cribs were called the Jumpin' Jarman Bros or Kings of Leon the "ridiculously inbred family who write songs about firey sex with each other but there's nothing weird going on, honest... band" then you'd probably have held them in the same disregard. But alas your fears are unfounded and your apprehension? moronic!
They're now a four piece and so with the bluesgrass vibe they got goin own it'd be easy to compare them to Mumford and sons. They're not quite that though. You know that split EP Ben Gibbard did with Andrew Kenny called home and it was all quite countryfied, this is very reminiscent of that.
They play nice acoustic melodies, write quite good songs and harmonise without it getting a bit much. They've been in a lot of tips for 2010 but I wouldn't go that far. Their inclusion is on the back of Mumford and sons who had immense blog hype and an album that was anticipated for three quarters of a year. The Avett brothers' album in which the hype is built is already available and unless you're vampire weekend it'll take a lot to still have people getting that excited in 11 months' time.
They're labelled as experimental and psychadelic but I'd be wary of calling anyone that since the garbage that was animal collective and besides- they're not really. They have elements sure, but the best ones and if those elements improve the track then it happens but otherwise they're not doing anything for the sake of it which is a relief with copycat AC's and the originals still unfortunately in existence.
I want to give a huge shout out to the bassist on this album, Ira Wolf Tuton. It's brilliant, it doesn't drive the tracks so much as adding alot to the journey. Think of it like being lost but having someone who stops the atmosphere from getting too intense.
Catalogue this one next to local natives and mgmt in your collection.
One of the only things that come close to the impact rush of discovering a great new act is finding someone else who can actually rap and this guy is the best rapper i've stumbled upon since Mr. Shaodow. His flow reminds me of Deltron 3030 in the late 90's. It's seemless, effortless and passionate. Best of all- he's canadian!
His sound is encompassed by three key points; a great beat, a masterful flow and ingenious lyricism. There are so many more layers to his rhymes though. There's the usual name dropping that you get in rap but they aren't there just for the sake of it, those big names fit around his rhymes. Then there's his honesty,
"When i'm writing I repeatedly edit words and rework tracks, i'll admit i'm like the Raptors- I got weak first drafts", O.K, get over the brilliance of that simile and compare it to Lil' Wayne's "I don't write shit cos I aint got time", Oh little weezy you do, you write a hell of a lot of shit; i've not heard as much shit as your latest album since i roomed with Robert Coultrane...
The two tracks i've put here have both been given coveted 4 star ratings on my ipod. You're missing out if you don't check this guy out-
When this first came on my recently added playlist on my ipod today, I was bemused as to how a country artist had made their way through a pretty ruthless screening process. The closest to country i've allowed in the past is Jenny Lewis and that's exactly the reason she's on there.
She has the smoke and fire of the Rilo Kiley frontwoman with the darkness and whiskey tinge of Chan Marshall. The instrumentation too, is gorgeous. Slow downstrokes that sound like spilling a thousand tiny diamonds. Lyrically the themes are what you would expect but it's the original perspective that makes her stand out. It's all undeniably rooted in country but with an irresistable edge.
As a rule I only reccomend one country artist a century but I have no problem making an exception here. Seriously though if you know of any other great non cliche artists from this genre i've got a pretty open mind right about now.
I blogged about delphic in the first half of last year, heard counterpoint to the extent I didn't want to hear it for another 6 months. Cue their inclusion in alot of big in 2010 lists, I go to check them out again and they're not even on my ipod. Still though that made me think I should get reacquainted and check out their album, it's in the title and here's counterpoint for the uninitiated.
Really weird thing about penguin prison seems I had a track by them on my ipod since early last year and the second I heard it today I remembered it as if it was one of my most played. Preeeeetty high praise I think!?
So there's been a lot of electro indie around and i've not been a huge fan. Golden Silvers opened my eyes to the road of acceptance last year but i think i'll always be a bit wary. So the guys from new york and someone once said to me if you can make it there you can't make it anywhere... when i say said, i mean sang and when i say someone i mean Frank Sinatra and when I say to me I mean to my Grandma 50 years ago, but you get the idea. O.K I'm thinking about deleting this whole paragraph...
Bottom line is, you know what the deal is- it's electro with intermittent vocals, it's catchy and enjoyable but without too much depth. Get these two tracks and they're a definate good addition to your pallette but you won't be missing out too much if you don't but his album if electro artists make those?
Smalltalk: Leamington is a town near where I grew up. Sharks are the first worthwhile band since Nizlopi to come out of that void of an area and I thought they were were a mention.
I first became aware of Sharks through Kerrang which i've recently been favouring over any other music publication and indeed any competing music publication but was reminded of them when I referred to my old port of call from back in the day, NME for they were featured on this rather fantastic mixtape.
I've been hearing a lot of comparisons to "ghost of a thousand" a band which i couldn't get away from last year. These guys are a lot more coherant and wouldn't be so bad to wake up to at 10am. I mean from the point of view I woke up to GOAT last summer at about 10am and they blew my fragile face off.
The guitars are sharp metal, the vocals are 90s indie and the harmonies? well they push these guys from middle of the road to likeable. Even Frank Carter thinks so.
WTF Shall Pass All Is Not Lost Needing Getting Skyscrapers White Knuckles I Want You So Bad I Cant Breathe End Love Before The Earth Was Round Last Leaf Back From Kathmandu While You Were Asleep In The Glass
Internet darlings Ok Go's third album. Their second was brilliant, 2006 was a great summer and that album was a soundtrack to it. It was however one of those albums that to someone who didn't have it on their playlist that summer will probably think it was kind of lame. Good memories though, here's to making some more with this one.
Their videos for "here is goes again" and "a million ways" were incredibly popular back in the day when newscasters would say "A rock band has gained massive success on a video sharing website known as "you. tube". where ordinary people can "up. load" videos..." after the first one people thought that was it, the second one was maybe a stretch i mean they were no "college jocks get lonely and bored"... and yet, here they go. again.
It's hard to talk to people who have decided they don't like Pete Doherty. So I don't.
For everyone else I figured the best way to go about doing justice to the spokesperson for a flailing generation is to focus on the three defining acts of his career so far.
There's around 3 links in each of the titles so make sure you don't miss any.
The Libertines Essential Downloads- Vertigo, Don't look back into the sun, Time for heroes, Up the bracket, What a waster, Boys in the band, The good old days, Can't stand me now, Last post on the bugle, Music when the lights go out, HaHa wall, Arbeit Mach Frei, The Saga, what katie did, campaign of hate, What became of the likely lads
It would just make sense to download both albums as they are both flawless. It's a shame the majority of this generation won't get to see them live because they are the iconic band of that period but it's another question as to whether the majority of them really deserve it.
These albums for me are raw passion and energy mixed with some great music and some of the best songwriting of recent times. I tend to point to this as one of his finer moments-
Is it cruel or kind Not to speak my mind And to lie to you Rather than hurt you? Well, I'll confess all of my sins After several large gins But still I'll hide from you I'll hide what's inside from you. And alarm bells ring When you say your heart still sings When you're with me Oh darling, please forgive me But I no longer hear the music
The geurilla gigs and live shows merely go down in folklore for the time being.
The video for up the bracket is a nice snapshot of such times-
Babyshambles Essential Downloads: La Belle Et La Bete, Fuck Forever, in love with a feeling, down in albion, back from the dead, 32nd december, carry on up the morning, delivery, you talk, un bilo titled, unstookie titled, baddies boogie, lost art of murder, beg steal and borrow, the blinding.
Babyshambles' gigs are unique in that there's the sense of nostalgia of the Libertines' times, the enigma that is Pete Doherty, the great music that Babyshambles made in the wake of the split and in the past two years seeing a great band with huge tracks that don't need any of that. Well except pete.
At university after a night of high times I'd put on old cd's of libertines and babyshambles sessions and drown in the portrait of a distinct moment in his career that they encapsulated. The nearest thing to those cd's are Miles Davis' bitches brew sessions in terms of the atmosphere they capture and convey. This demo like feel encapsulates their debut album, down in albion. It's marvellously intoxicating.
The first time I saw Babyshambles was in 2004. I was completely sober, Pete wasn't and by the end of the night made everyone feel like they were on one hell of a trip, such was his charisma. He came on about midnight, just as the place was ready to fall apart with the riotous crowd, such were the early days of the shambles. He went off after around 15 minutes and said he couldn't play any longer unless he paid something like £2000 to pay the venue's fine.
So I left around 4am slowly walking out, exhausted as pete played acoustically on his own. I've no idea when the gig finished but it was one hell of a time.
That night he played a lot of Libertines tracks. Next time I went to see him up in Manchester he played zero. Shotter's nation was an incredible album and Pete was becoming a pretty polished performer, I mean as much as is physically possible for him to be. He wasn't totally clean but I saw him solo in the summer and last month in Birmingham and he looks as healthy as i've ever seen and the gigs were flawless, intertwining classic Libertines and Babyshambles with some astounding stuff from their upcoming LP. Rarely do you get the kind of reception those tracks get when you announce you're playing something new but these are already huge amoung fans.
Peter Doherty Essential Downloads- Last of the english roses, A little death around the eyes, New love grows on trees, For lovers, Arcadie, Broken love song
So that's Peter Doherty. If you read tabloid newspapers you've got no reason to like him because who wants to pay any attention to a talentless druggie who's in and out of prison constantly? Of course if you listen to the music and have the remotest appreciation for passionate artistry you probably already dig his bones. There's probably some stuff on this page you haven't gotten already though, there was a lot I didn't! Thankyou for having an open mind.
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The first in my series focusing on the people who were there for people who needed them for the past decade and for the people to take those into the next decade. There'll be about 50 of these. First up-
I first heard eminem in high school around 1998. When Busta Rhymes first heard him, his reaction was to put his face through the windscreen of his tour bus. My reaction was symbolically similar but no way was I cool enough to pull off the physical act.
I was around 13 at the time and now I realise quite how supportive my parents were putting up with me playing Dre's 2001 album and Eminem's Slim Shady LP in the car relentlessly until I went to college.
It's a crime that people aren't aware of some of Eminem's lesser known tracks which tend to be the ones where he isn't playing dress up. I feel it pretty important to do a retrospective of 1998-2005 as he was on top the whole time.
The Slim Shady LP (1999) Essential Downloads- Guilty Conscience, Brain Damage, If I had, My fault
Yeah. So the lead off single off this took rap into the mainsteam, my name is. I think it made a lot of people realise rap isn't everything it's made to be and is a pretty good time. This started off his thing with releasing a joke single to lead off the album but that's all those tracks were and if you don't listen to the rest of the albums then- ya know.
Guilty Conscience was the track I mentioned above relating to Busta Rhymes. At the time the track was pretty revolutionary and reading Dre's biography he says he made the beat and did a sort of back and forth with Em relating to these three stories and he suddenly came out with the now infamous line "who's gonna take advice from somebody who slapped dee barnes" and then went on with "what's wrong didn't think I'd remember, temper temper mr. dre, mr. NWA, mr AKA, mr coming straight outta compton y'all better make way".
Brain Damage was one of Eminem's early lawsuits as it's about his time at high school and a few incidents regarding a guy called DeAngelo Bailey. It's a pretty intense track and if you've been bullied it resonates and his anger in this track but the reason it was thrown out of court is the same reason it's not "that" intense and that's that the scenarios detailed in the song are quite abstract and obviously not a realistic detailing of actual events.
'97 Bonnie and Clyde depicts a recurring theme in Eminem's works and that is describing murderous fantasies of his on off wife Kim. If you don't think about it too much the track is quite good but I think people thinking about the reality of Eminem's debut and not being able to suspend a reasonable sense of disbelief is why there was a little tiny bit of an uproar over it.
The lyrics on Role Model hark to his next album, it could easily have been on it. The backing track on it is infectious as hell. This track showed great potential. My Fault shows brilliant ability in capturing a scene with lyricism and quite an accurate relaying of drug abuse at house parties and how from one point of view it can be good times and from others it can be pretty bad news.
If I keep going into this much detail this post is going to be massive so basically get the tracks i've mentioned above to get a good grasp on Eminem's earlier stuff. It really is perfect for that sort of high school age. I'm not saying get it for your kids cos that'd be mental but if you just don't give a fuck and haven't heard anyone else say it yet, get it. It's good but really pales in comparison to the follow up.
In between his debut and me going to college Dre released his amazing follow up to the chronic and it featured a couple of tracks with eminem, one was what's the difference but one was forgot about dre and featured this verse which pretty much went down in history-
So what do you say to somebody you hate Or anybody tryna bring trouble your way Wanna resolve things in a bloodier way Just study your tape of NWA. One day I was walkin by Wit a walkmen on When I caught a guy givin me an awkward eye And strangled him off in the parkin lot wit his Karl Kani I don't give a fuck if it's dark or not I'm harder than me tryna park a Dodge But I'm drunk as fuck Right next to a humungous truck in a two car garage Hoppin out wit two broken legs tryna walk it off Fuck you too bitch call the cops I'ma kill you and them loud ass mother fuckin barkin dogs
Marshall Mathers LP Essential Downloads- Kill you, Stan, Who knew?, I'm back, The way I am, kids.
Where the Slim Shady LP was autobiographical in an exaggerated comic way the Marshall Mathers LP was plain brutal honesty. Even the comic tracks like "real slim shady". It was released about a year after the slim shady ep and sold about 2 million in the first week which is enough to make susan boyle question her very existence.
It kicks off with kill you which is such a good track, the dexterity he shows in his language as well as his ability to sum up the whirlwind of the past 12 months into a few lines is incredible.
Stan is next and what can you say about this that hasn't already. It's the most original concept for a song and his delivery is mind blowing like how can anyone come up with this kind of stuff? This track is what elevated Eminem to legendary status, number ones all over the place, yeah pissing all over everyone and he could do nothing wrong for the next few years. If you don't know stan, it's the tale of having no hope and putting all your faith into somebody that there is no way they can give you all the help you need.
The way I am, lyrically is as potent as it gets. The references to his own life along with modern society, gun crime, violence and general celebrity culture are interweaved to make a track that just doesn't let up for its entire duration. Drug Ballad is just as brilliant. It's one of my favourite Em tracks without a doubt.
The whole album is brilliant although, bit of advice, don't download Kim. I don't think i've ever recovered from having it come on in shuffle on my ipod in 2003 while I was having a nap haha. I literally haven't heard that track in 6 years, it's mental. If you want to hear just why some people have taken umbridge to being namechecked on some of his tracks give it a listen.
There's a bonus track on the end of this called kids which you really should give a few minutes of your life to. It's 9 years later and i still think it's great.
There are a few guest appearences on the album that aren't so good. Bizarre and Xzibit being the worst of these but there's a funny bit in Bitch Please II where snoop dogg goes "nu-uh no he didn't? what what? You shit on those niggas two times?!" I've never been a fan of snoop dogg but I always take everything he says literally...
In between MM and the Eminem show he helped bring a few of his chums up into the public eye. Proof, who died a year or so ago, was greatly talented and for that i'm thankful that we were graced with D12 but for the large part it was a bit pointless. As fun as tracks like my band and purple hills were that's all they were. However there was one track on D12 World where Eminem gives one of the best performances of his career. Unfortunately there are other people on the track but his verse is the best delivery I have ever heard.
The Eminem Show Reccomended Downloads- Cleanin' out my closet, Sing for the moment, My dad's gone crazy, Til I collapse
In terms of Eminem's post Infinite albums, Relapse aside, The Eminem show tends to be held in the lowest regard. I mean forget sales figures because they were as mental as ever but in terms of solid material the album was, to put it lightly- patchy.
I think any bad blood would be down to the carnival atmosphere of the album, it all seemed a little bit celebratory and even the serious tracks like cleaning out my closet and sing for the moment were still marketed as mainstream tracks which I guess was the right way to go from a money making point of view.
The difference between this album and the others were that yes, there were great tracks but the rest of the album lacked the same depth as others. The two tracks mentioned above would have been album tracks on any others, not singles.
One track which you might not have heard "My dad's gone crazy" is a brilliant track masquarading as a joke track. It features his daughter but has lyrics like "... pain inside of my brain, in the eyes of a little girl inside of a plane aimed at the world trade... screaming at the sky til clouds gather..." but also, "fuck that shit bitch eat a mother fucking dick chew on a dick and lick a million mother fucking cocks per second i'd rather put out a motherfucking gospel record". The contrast of those lyrics really highlight the highs compared to the lows of this album, the highs are great but the lows are kind of lame and embarrasing at times.
8 Mile is a brilliant movie. Inspiring as it gets but the soundtrack, for which Eminem one a M-F'ing Oscar, is as good as all the accolades it garnered. There are 3 tracks that have to be highlighted. Firstly Lose Yourself in which Eminem condenses an entire movie into 4 breathtaking minutes. Rabbit Run is incredible, it is a masterpiece in terms of a encapsulating and building on a feeling into a lyrical and crescendo, the beat getting progressively faster with no chorus. The self titled 8 mile is probably the least heard of all the tracks but still worth a listen.
Encore Recommended Downloads- Evil Deeds, Mosh, Rain Man, Curtains Down.
People also give Encore a hard time but for me I was as excited about this as I was for the Marshall Mathers LP. It's a proper albumand showcases everything that is great about eminem, kicking off fairly self-referentially with Evil Deeds a pretty relentless flow but nothing too serious. The focus shifts on toy soldiers and it gets back to that inpirational anger that was missing from the previous album. The track is pretty much a prelude to Mosh which was released in the lead up to the Bush/Kerry election and really grabs hold of a nation's feelings responding with an unrepenting fire.
There's a few joke tracks in the middle, my first single, big weenie and rain man which despite the light hearted nature of them really show how talented eminem is at writing and spitting rhymes.
I really like the close to this album, it starts off about 3 tracks in with one shot 2 shot which is pretty good as it tells a pretty good story of a night at a club with d12, then curtains down with dre and 50 cent is a killer closer. Thinking about it maybe it wasn't that great of an album but at the time I loved it. It did start off that stupid indian voice he does but there's a few tracks you should really hear on here if you haven't.
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That's it, that's Eminem. Tomorrow, Peter Doherty.
