Archive for October, 2003

Spend Quality Time, Learn To Cook

Relaxed Muscle "B-Real" - I heart Jarvis Cocker as Darren Spooner. It was seriously difficult to pick a single song to post here, almost all of the new Relaxed Muscle record is fun and ridiculously catchy. And just flat-out ridiculous, too. There's a song called "Beastmaster" on this album, and it's really, really good. I'm not kidding, that song totally rules, and so does "Sexualized" and "Tuff It Out" and the one where he says that he rules his woman with a "Rod Of Iron." I know that a lot of people may be freaked out by Jarvis Cocker fully embracing his goofy, extremely ironic sense of humor, but I think this album was exactly the right thing for him to do after Pulp. Basically, he's deflating lofty expectations and having a silly good time. That's pretty joycore to me.

The Redhead Said You Shred The Cello

A String Quartet Tribute To Weezer "El Scorcho" - I'm developing a real fascination with Vitamin Records' string quartet tribute records to the giants of 80s and 90s alt-rock. On one hand, they are utterly frivolous and sort of ridiculous - what exactly is the point of making Marilyn Manson's music sound 'classy'? On the other, they can be surprisingly good and reveal an unexpected musical continuity between modern pop and actual classical music. Some things that seem as though they would obviously be a sure thing in the string quartet context, such as U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name" fall flat, whereas oddballs like Weezer's "El Scorcho" and "Dope Nose" sound almost as though Rivers Cuomo had this kind of arrangement in mind all along. Not all of the Weezer songs work so well, though. "Undone - The Sweater Song" and "Say It Ain't So" are total duds, but that could have something to do with some awkward decisions on the musician's parts to include the percussion and intro chatter of the former and to add fuzz pedal distortion onto the chorus of the latter.

I'm currently collecting string quartet adaptations of any pop music that I can find. As it stands, I have tributes to Radiohead, Weezer, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Bjork, U2, R.E.M. (including a totally bizarre rendition of "Crush With Eyeliner," of all songs!), The Cure, The Smiths, Pearl Jam, Tori Amos, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and Coldplay. I know that there are tributes to Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, John Lennon, The White Stripes, Jeff Buckley, The Who, and Black Sabbath by the Vitamin Records people, and if any of you can help me get copies of these, I would greatly appreciate it and do my best to return a favor. It doesn't have to be Vitamin Records string tributes - any instrumental string arrangement of a pop song would be great, I'm just focusing on the 80s-90s artists out of a) convenience and b) my own curatorial interest in that era.

This Will Be The Last Time I Ever Do Your Hair

Wow, the Scissor Sisters album still isn't out! That's a real shame, because it's easily one of the best pop records of the year, and more people should know about this record than a couple hundred clued-in p2p users. I guess the word is getting out slowly, because I get a good number of people coming to this site looking for the song "Laura," and a few people have even emailed me asking me to post the song again. So, this is for you guys, and all the people who haven't heard it yet.

My love for "Laura (Simone)" runs very deep; it really doesn't matter how many times I hear it, I never ever get sick of it. I've been thinking about how it would be a great comeback single for Michael Jackson. Just imagine him singing that "Simone! Simone!" part of the chorus! It would be such a perfect fit. Also, that last line "one face among the many / I never thought you'd care" would sound great coming from ol' Wacko Jacko - it would be just the right combination of weirdness, irony, and pathos. (Well, hey! This song is finally being released as a single in the UK next week. Good timing.)

"Music Is The Victim" is another highlight from the album. It starts off rather like a late 70s/early 80s Elton John upbeat rocker type of song before surrendering to total silliness by the time it hits the bridge.

50 Cents Cheaper Than The Real Thing

The Network "Right Hand-O-Rama" - Don't be fooled, this is actually Green Day with two extra members who may or may not be former members of Devo. The joke goes like this - The Network are meant to be proteges of Green Day, and their record is out on Green Day's vanity record label. However, they sound suspiciously similar and are playing up the press hype about them being Green Day in disguise to their own advantage, pissing off the real Green Day in the process. I guess they are going for a Klaatu/Beatles sort of thing, with the twist being that unlike Klaatu, they really are themselves pretending to be a new band.

The record is a nice surprise; it's a dynamic throwback to new wave which often sounds exactly like Devo, with occasional homages to Wire and Magazine. With or without the presence of the guys from Devo (I'm pretty sure that's Mark Mothersbaugh singing on a few of these songs, by the way), this seems like a logical progression for Green Day, moving on from aping the Buzzcocks, The Ramones, and The Undertones to their immediate successors, as though they were slowly working their way through the punk/new wave canon.

Though I respect their desire to pull off a cute hoax and have some fun with the music media, I really wish that they had instead had the courage to release these songs (or at least the ones which are obviously sung by Billy Joe Armstrong) as Green Day. It would have been much more impressive, and would have allowed them to subtly reinvent themselves while remaining a dependable radio/singles band. This hoax thing seems as though they want some distance from the music on the record, or feel that it wouldn't be acceptable to their image, label, or fans if it was under their own name, which is sort of ridiculous since it really doesn't sound that different.

This song, "Right Hand-O-Rama" is one of the cuts that I've pegged as a Wire soundalike. It specifically sounds like a reworked version of "Three Girl Rhumba," particularly around the chorus. It's not a dead ringer like "Connection" by Elastica, but if you're familiar with both songs, I'm sure you'll catch the similarity. As with "Connection," it's a pretty great song on its own terms. Lyrically, we're in familiar Green Day territory - it's about some creepy loser compulsively masturbating.

Suddenly I'm Miss Beehive 1963

Both songs today come from the new Wig In A Box - The Songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch compilation, which has impressed me quite a bit. I'd never bothered with the actual Hedwig musical, but as it turns out, there were some really excellent showtunes in that show, and some top-drawer talent have recorded the songs for this new record. I recommend checking it out - in addition to the two songs below, there are some top notch recordings by Spoon, Sleater-Kinney with Fred Schneider of the B-52's, The Breeders, Imperial Teen, and (surprisingly, since I normally dislike him) Rufus Wainwright.

The Polyphonic Spree "Wig In A Box" - I decided to post the Polyphonic Spree song mostly because it's an interesting song for them, since it deviates quite a bit from the formula of their album (which I like a lot, by the way), and suggests that they should perhaps seriously look into making their next record more of a showtune-y affair. The style suits them very, very well.

Frank Black "Sugar Daddy" - Frank Black gets the nod for the opposite reason, since this song is a bit of a throwback to his more wild Pixies-era singing than what he's been doing over the past several years. Lyrically and musically, it sounds as though it was written specifically for him. If I heard this song without knowing where it was from, I can't imagine suspecting that it wasn't a Frank Black original.

I Feel Like I Won Some Kind Of Weird Prize

A few minutes ago, I received a private message from a user on Soulseek. This is what it said:

your file directory says "i will ban you if you don't share" well the files you share are total crap - so i'm banning you for sharing crap

I mostly share radio airchecks and broadcasts from the United States and the UK, comedy albums, found audio, out-of-print albums, and several Malkmus and Pavement live recordings. I make a point of not sharing much pop music because I'd rather a) give little to no reason for the RIAA to go after me and b) I'd rather just hook people up with uncommon and rare stuff. This guy is sharing albums by The Eagles, Toto, Snap, Steppenwolf, late period Pink Floyd, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, The Osmonds, Chicago, Dixie Chicks, Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt, Sarah Brightman, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, the Grease soundtrack, etcetera, etcetera, you get the idea. He's the kind of guy who is almost begging the RIAA to sue him.

(Somehow there is no Billy Joel in his collection. I thought that was kind of weird at first, but it occurs to me now that I like a few of BJ's songs, and since this guy is apparently the Anti-Me, he cannot have anything that I'd like.)

Do you think this guy just goes around banning anyone on Soulseek who doesn't share his taste? Which would be, like, most everyone? I find that note really funny, and kind of flattering in a weird way.

Funkaho "Goatworld" - Anyway, here's a song that I'm sure this guy would qualify as 'total crap.' I heard this for the first time on last week's episode of Brian Turner's show on WFMU. It's completely bizarre, and it is apparently part of this guy's hip hop supervillain schtick. It's more of a weird novelty than a great song, but I like it.

Be My Toy, Come On, Have A Fit, We Live On Blood

The Fall "Theme From Sparta FC" (new version) - This is from the newly released The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country On The Click), which is in fact significantly different from the original leaked version of Country On The Click. I posted the original version of "Sparta FC" sometime over the summer, so this should give some of you some idea of how the album has changed (aside from having about half the songs replaced by new songs). If you can believe it, they actually made "Theme From Sparta FC" rule more, which is really good news for me since this song has become one of my all-time favorite Fall songs.

Packaged With A Beat

Gerling "Blood On The Microphone (part one)" - I had never heard of this Australian band before a few days ago when I sort of stumbled upon them accidentally during a soulseek downloading spree. They are a disco punk band who put almost all of their American contemporaries to shame, with the exception of maybe The Rapture. Imagine The Liars with a better handle on disco and electronic music, and you're halfway there. This is from their newest album Bad Blood, which is worth tracking down on p2p or on import, if you have the cash.

Sparks "Something For The Girl With Everything" - A few years ago, someone sent me a few cd-r copies of some Sparks albums, and I didn't really like them at the time, but I'm coming around to them now. This is taken from one of the records which was sent to me, 1974's Propaganda, which is generally considered to be one of their career peaks. I find it hard not to get a nice manic thrill every time I hear this song.

This Ain't The Show, I'm Just EQing It

Jay-Z "What More Can I Say?" - Brand new Jay-Z! This is the first track to leak from the forthcoming Black Album, which he says will be his final record. If you listen to the lyrics on this song, it sounds like he means to make good on that claim. It sounds almost as though he's eulogizing himself, or more accurately, his career. This song is great, I'm even more excited than I already was for the new album now. I think the best Jay-Z material tends to be the songs that just drip with pride and confidence, and this is one of those for sure.

[This is the studio version taken from a promo cd, by the way - NOT a radio rip. As it turns out, this song isn't going to be the first single for the record - it's just a teaser track for 'the streets.']

I Voted For DJ You're The Man Now, Dog

Please help Andrew Earles pick a DJ name.

I Might As Well Be Shipwrecked In The Middle Of The Sea

Electrelane "On Parade" - Electrelane go full on post-punk! It's a pretty great song, but when I put it on, I start to think about which song this probably sounds exactly like which I'm only half remembering. But this isn't a bad thing. As with 80s-style electro pop, I don't see any good reason why bands today shouldn't keep these traditions alive. There is something to be said for tradition, isn't there? Throughout history, traditional music has been a major part of music in general. Why should relatively young genres/traditions be considered so different from enthic folk music, classical, opera, and other music that is focused less on originality and more on culture and history?

The b-side of this single is a pretty interesting cover of my favorite Bruce Springsteen song, "I'm On Fire," by the way. It's worth checking out.

Sam Cooke "Lonely Island" - As with the Zombies song from last week, I really don't have a particular reason for posting this song other than that I love it. It's a perfect song. Sometimes I wish this were radio instead of a blog so that I could just play things for the audience without having to explain it away. Sometimes back-announcing is just enough, you know?