Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Ramones- the accidental first parody of a boy band

Sorry Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett but the Ramones were the first band to satirize the manufactured pop stuff since the lead three members seemed to parody the archetypes accidentally, think about it.

1)Joey: So sensitive that the poor man had OCD

2)Johnny the tough guy to the point of being a racist, controlling asshole

3) Dee Dee-the "wacky" guy who was obsessed with nazis and even fantasized about killing his girlfriend in a song. Also illiterate as any account on the making of Rock n Roll High School will tell you(took him 50 some takes just to get the word Pizza)

4)Tommy/Marky: the straight man who tried to keep everyone together although Marky was an alcoholic for a while and well, with people like the above going at each other's throats(for good reason, granted, Johnny stole Joey's ladyfriend and married her), who could blame him?

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Just a note

When choosing to what Coldplay Scientist cover to listen to, go with the Aimme Mann one because Willie Nelson and his voice is a letdown.
In the meantime, here are some of my other favorite female sung covers:

Colin Farell's ex sings a Smiths tune (Much better than it sounds, believe me)
Neko Case sings some Tom Waits, probably far better than Scarlett Johansen

Sia sings Radiohead, although here, the violins are the standout part.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

This is an issue

Gorillaz are going to have converse shoes in Feburary of 2012. The problem?
Nike as usual, has pretty big sweatshop issues, especially in the case of Converse.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Damn it

Everyone needs to hear some Flying Burrito bros/Gram Parsons right fuckin now!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

my 9/11 tenth anniversary playlist and why

1) New York State of Mind- Billy Joel:Yes, this was far, far too overplayed in the month or so after the attacks, but listening to it in its original form, it's a soft solitary, sad ode to his favorite city. I picture a young Joel standing on an apartment's roof looking out over the city with a beer in hand just as the sun goes down. He's come a long way from Hollywood whether it was for a gig or to visit his best girl, but now he gets to unwind from the long tedious, likely heated drive and savor the metropolis in all its charm. I don't care what a dickish slate writer says, Joel's all right here. Basically, the calm before the storm as it were

2) A Pair of Brown Eyes-The Pogues: My Boy Shane seems to have predicted certain tragedy about 16 years before it occured, but I'm not trying to spout any conspiracy theories here: Shane says the song was about talking to a war veteran in a pub just as the narrator was going through a breakup, but this song could easily apply to 9/11 too, besides, who didn't want to drink and cry for a few hours after watching all the news coverage?

3) Two silver trees-Calexico: This is from the Nevver blog and it has a nice haunting melody and whispering to it, capturing the specter of death and paranoia that hung over the city and nation for weeks afterward

4) All is Violent, All is bright: Another meloncholy piece courtesy of the Nevver blog, a bit cheesy with the guitars at first, but then it gives off a good tense industrial vibe

5)Hallejuah- Jeff Buckley: I don't think there's any explanation necessary for this one, although I sort of prefer John Cale's version better if only for the vocals. But this is very beautiful on its own, especially the guitar solo.

6) This Mess we're in- PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke: I haven't listened to PJ Harvey that much, but she works nicely with Yorke's (good and emotional, mind you) wailing though I have to give the prize for vocal work here to Yorke, he's the hero of this tragic love story and does a hell of a job with it. A good mix of mourning and fear here; I picture a man stumbling from the wreckage and squinting through the sobbing, confused crowd trying to find someone, anyone he can clutch on to for help.

7) Oh Comely-Neutral Milk Hotel: from the one and perhaps only both surreal and heartbreaking album ever. The lyrics seem absurd, but with the acoustic guitar and Jeff Mangum's strained voice? god damn. Just get Aeroplane Over the Sea, seriously.

8) I really feel(Lunar Flex) Drum Club; Another ominous industrial sounding track, complete with middle eastern chanting. Very primal scream like like except slower and apocalyptic. Listening to this, you can picture a taxi slowly moving through a wrecked city.

9) The National Anthem- Radiohead: I could see this song used in a Bourne Identity film, it's a perfect five minute summary of a panic attack with Thom wailing a mantra about large crowds(everyone's around) and attempting to hang onto sanity(Hanging on). My most favorite Radiohead song ever is probably Idiotique for it's almost pogo-esque beat against bleak lyrics, but this may very well be at a close second(well, okay, second place is probably Paranoid Android). I guess then you could say Kid A is an electronic, paranoid version of Aeroplane over the sea?

Saturday, September 3, 2011

thoughts on Straight edge

Well, only one question really: where the fuck were the lady straight edge bands?!!!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Question

Is what Nicki Minaj is doing all that different from the works of Wu Tang clan or RZA?

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Punk and the swastika

for a certain somebody
Okay so some of the punks back then were kinda dumb,but they were young and could relate to the feeling of being in Nazi Germany(oppression of labor unions, Powell,etc.) Did I mention that Johnny Rotten had a great love of Reggae and Siouxsie would later fully speak out against racism? Read the whole feature, it's a tad bitter in places, but it's a lot more complicated than just "punks wearing swastikas are ultimately racist!" Was it a stupid gesture? Yes. Was it somewhat, perhaps a tiny bit understandable in context of their surrounding environment? Also yes.

Monday, August 29, 2011

call me fucking stupid

But I'm actually kinda happy a hip hop artist with D.I.Y. internet Roots won an MTV award And anyway, couldn't A tribe called quest also be grouped under the White hipster fanbase genre of rap? Methinks there's a bit of ageism going on here.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

thoughts

Imperial Bedroom: It's a much less unnerving version of Pinkerton set in a jazz bar. Poor lil Declan mopes and mulls over whether to talk to a girl, scolds himself for not being the right type and regrets past loves that went sour. And he's not at all sarcastic about it; he's quite, reserved and,well, sad. It's quite a far cry from the sarcastic Costello many were used to on his earlier stuff. While it lacks the agonized wail of a Gordan Gano, say, Imperial Bedroom is the best damned Jazzy emo precursor out there. Get of yer ass and get it.

Crazy Rhythms: The rhythms aren't crazy, but they're good. Pitchfork called this geek rock and I'd agree in some respect; Loveless love, Moscow Nights and Original love deal with the yearn of no longer being a virgin,but most of the time, this record sounds like a really good garage band tuning up and practicing, giving it all a nice suburban "we're rocking out to beat ennui" vibe.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Assesments

Mission Of Burma: Like the Minutemen, they aren't so much punk as acoustic rock and as much as I hate to say it, this didn't draw me in. The guitars on All world cowboy romance were quite impressive, but overall it didn't have the catchy hook of a "Shit from an old notebook" or the smooth softness of "Do you want New Wave or do you want the truth"

Young Marble Giants: Now this? Incredible- these guys flirted with everything from pre 8 bit noises on "The Taxi"(Seriously, these guys coulda been video game composers if they wanted to) to simple guitar pop on "Wurlitzer Juke box" t0 the60s spaghetti western guitar sound on " Choci Loni" and the lady's voice makes it all even more unnerving. No wonder they didn't record another album, it probably couldn't top this one! Bravo kids, bravo!

Next up: Imperial Bedroom and Crazy Rhythms.

In which I peruse selections from the Pitchfork various best album of the (insert decade here)

I went to bed early last night and with not much to do, I decided to check out Pitchfork's picks for best albums of the 70s, 80s, and 90s- here's the ones picked out as most intriguing either due to a lyric sample or description alone:

80s:
Imperial Bedroom-Elvis Costello: apparently, this was quite the personal album. Oh, and I have to thank him for producing Rum,sodomy and the lash of course.
Fear and Whisky-Mekons- described by Eric Carr as a " drunken redneck lecturing on socialist economic policies" I am in!
Signals, Call and Marches- Mission to Burma: Academy fight song is a catchy sonovabitch(okay, it's not on this album, but still) and That's when I reach for my revolver packs an emotional wallop(why the fuck hasn't it been used in some remake of Hamlet?) so why else wouldn't you want to listen?

Crazy Rythyms- The Feelies: Being impressed with their cover of Paint it Black,making the sitar filled classic into a low key yet rallying cry for raining on people's parades(I assume) and their original Boy with Perpetual nervousness, I decided to check out the rest of their album. Oh and Brendan reid says they were a precursor to Weezer only obviously not as creepy as River Cumuo(let's hope)

And don't the Kids just love it- Televison Personalities:Pitchfork sez these guys invented Twee, but to me, stuff like This Angry Silence or Part time punk highlights something darker: it's basically a much sadder version of Charlie Brown. Twee's actually more cheerful even when it talks about relationship problems

Colossal Youth-Young Marble Giants: The final Day is a short, disturbing gem, and apparently, the morbidly fascinating idea of the apocalypse haunts the rest of the album too:
Though the album's spare, perfectly placed strokes of guitar, bass, organ, and voice would have more of an effect on mopey slowcore types and basement four-trackers, the ineffable thing about the Giants' music was how simultaneously haunting and cheery they could be. "Eating Noddemix" is music for brushing your teeth to the morning after an apocalypse, and the inimitable "Wurlitzer Jukebox" is a dance track for the last man on earth, with a geiger counter relentlessly ticking out the beat. Om, baby, yeah. --Brendan Reid

Brushing teeth?A Geiger counter? Oh Boy!

E2-E4-Manuel Göttsching. The last name alone sold me


70s:

Band of Gypsies- Jimi Hendrix: Never heard this one, nuff said.

A tribute to Jack Johnson-Miles Davis: Not a fan of boxing,but this somehow intriguied me

Historie de Melody Nelson-Serge Gainsbourg: Apparently a very creepy album about Serge's ladyfriend. Sounds like another precursor to Pinkerton


I'll do the 90s list tomorrow, but today's selection I chose to download Young Marble Giants' Colossal Youth and Misson Of Burma's Signals, Calls and Marches. My reviews will come soon.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Book O Mormon

Didn't get to see the musical,but I got the broadway cast recording and shall be listening to it. Methinks "Fuck you, God" may very well be on par with that of The Pogues' gallows humor, vulgar semi religious anthems such as Sickbed of Cuchulain or Sally Mcleanne, but we shall see.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Doug Fieger, you wicked dead bastard

Why? Why in god's name must My Sharona be so fucking catchy enough for me to listen to it three times in a row? I think I'm gonna listen to it a fourth time..ooh yes.
Is their first album actually in any good?

oh Drunksongs blog-

How I miss thee

Along with Something I learned today, 7 inch punk, and Born in the basement(where'd that one get off to?), this blog opened me up to a whole slew of punk sub genres. It took a long, long time for me to determine who exactly my favorites were(the selection was overwhelming and back then, I could only judge whether I liked it or not based on "catchiness"),but they certainly introduced me to good stuff like Descendent's 'Merican and The Specials. God bless them.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Boys of Summer

This is the only Eagles associated song I will ever tolerate; it's an interesting parallel to songs The Descendants, particularly Silly Girl and Hope, all of which lament onof lost love, but Henley represents the regret that comes later in life. Rather than simply obsess over the girl who got away and vow that he's the only one for her, Henley pines for her while also realizing his juvenile foolishness("Don't look back, you can never look back"). Sure, he's still in love with her, but at least he's honest about his behavior, if not necessarily outright self loathing. There's a similar structure in Pulp's Common People(I'll get to that one later); Jarvis starts out berating his supposed love interest about how lower class people live, but as the song builds , he turns inward, revealing his hatred for himself and the way his life turned out. While Milo Ackerman had a whole 20 years or so in front of him during Milo Goes to College 40 something Henley was trapped between the nostalgia of youth and embracing a sad existence as an adult in the bleak year of 1985.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Am I a crazy weirdo

or do the lyrics to Dag Nasty's What Now allude to more than a bromantic friendship?:
silly boy
in over his head again
silly boy
doing his best again
silly boy
why don't you ever learn?
silly boy you
can't help getting hurt
behind us- lying and hiding
behind us - the lying and hiding

I know it's not much, you gotta hear the spoken word part to understand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqLSSdoW2Zc
Tell me yer thoughts

coming up sometime: Between The Descendents and Motley Crue lies The Donnas- an assessment

Monday, May 30, 2011

Emo saturday morning part 3: adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

Between 1993 and 1994, a few strange things happened: we got a new president who was just as bad as Bush I(trying to end the welfare program, starting an uncalled war with Bosnia when diplomacy and justice would have faired better,etc.), Cobain commited suicide*, Kafkaesque comic Bill Hicks succumbed to cancer, A young religious man named David Koresh went mad and took a bunch of women and children hostage, and Lorraine Bobbit cut off her husband's cock. Yes, it was a confusing, tumultuous time to be a young person and it certainly shows in these songs. Some have a poppier tone like Evergreen's Constellation while others accurately capture the fear and chaos brewing; listen to the manic howl of Indian Summer's Truman or the suspenseful clatter of Gauge's 38 cinder, that's the sound of desperation and the fear of what was to come.

*By the way, all that talk of Cobain being a spoiled rock star is somewhat diminished here in his suicide letter:
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/05/its-better-to-burn-out-than-to-fade.html

We see that he was in the throes of depression and for him, there wasn't much of a way out since no one really took the effort to reach out and say something until it was too late and they did it half assed.

Emo Saturday Morning part 2: Ren and stimpy (1991-1992)

This here's another short one, but I'm surprised how much I mined out of the first one with one glance at Fugazi's lyrics so here we go:

So we start with another blast of sincerity from Nation of Ulysses, an anarcistish emo/punk band from D.C. with their song Today I met the girl I'm gonna marry. Although this could also be an example of irony since they were quite supportive of Binki Kill, the famous riot grrrl band who eventually moved to D.C. from Washington. Either way, it's a passionate, desperate yelp for love and justice.

Next is Samiam with Clean, this one being a bit more brooding and angsty in the Nirvana sort of vein. Nowadays, everyone says the band's popularity was based on marketing and well, alas, that is true in the case of the grunge genre which they ultimately became a part of. Nonetheless, a glance at the lyrics shows that there's a tiny influence from Nirvana's Lithium, displaying that sort of everyday moping around the house feeling burnt out kind of mood:
http://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/samiam/clean.html

Now, onto Jawbox which is slightly more intellectual as opposed to Lithium or Clean as it explores a relationship between two people, one person of which feels a sense of pity and sympathy for the other.
congratulations sister
you put yourself right over
though you don't think i understand
this sudden awkward rupture
this stuck-unhealing fissure
no love could possibly withstand
and i'd never say

it doesn't mean that much to me
glad anyway
to see you struggle free
This half sarcastic half sincere delivery really defines the tone of the first half of the decade; many romantic comedies of the era like Reality Bites or Singles tried and failed to mix existential dread with the wry observations of shows like Seinfeld. Yet, in the end, everything came out as insincere and smarmy with only the music and surprisingly, Children's shows like Pete and Pete or even Ren and Stimpy pulling this off the best.

Next: 1993-1994

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Emo via my Saturday morning tv shows: a summer project

So yes, another quick one while school's away- from 1990-1997, I recall watching some kind of Saturday morning block or another or at least watching repeats of some cartoon

Let's start with 1990, Bobbys' world: I didn't watch it when it first aired cos I was two, but whatever, it's good starting point:
songs:
Repeater-Fugazi
wit's end/never more-Iconoclast
Want-Jawbreaker
Guatamala- Moss Icon

1990 was a time of uncertainty and anxiety, obviously because it was the start of a new decade, but also because of the fall of the USSR and end of the cold war in general which left everyone feeling lost and confused, a sentiment nicely expressed by Fugazi:

You say I need a job,
I've got my own business
You want to know what i do?
None of your fucking business
But now I'm lying here
Knowing that business had a name,
But now I'm a number

While this could easily be read as an anti communist sort of sentiment, I believe that it's about losing a status of sorts. In the 80s, people were stockbrokers, hair metal stars, corrupt politicians, any type of deed or sin of the famous you could possibly imagine was splayed across pages as though they were bold epic novels, (a trend which only got worse into the 90s, but that comes later), once the decade was over though? Bam! They became part of the population, one of the unwashed working class people that they once scoffed at.

Along with status change, there was also a hint of sincerity creeping in whether it was expressed through an environmental message like in Moss Icon's Guatamala or via the voice of a tongue tied, lovelorn young man in the aptly titled Want. The 90s was going to be a totally different decade and these songs certainly showed it.

Next: Ren and Stimpy or Emo years 1991-1992

Friday, May 27, 2011

The Meatmen vs Animal collective

Meatmen-we're the meatmen and you suck 198_: surprisingly boring for a so called bad taste band(and for a man who dresses like he's a race car driver being represented by the church of Scientology) Gimmie good ol GG Allin's I wanna fuck myself any day

Animal Collective- Here come the Indians 2003: despite the reputation of these guys as childish hippies, I liked their version of the clanging industrial noise made famous by throbbing gristle or even Lou Reed's metal machine music. Is it redundant? Sure, but they bring a much more lighter, peaceful mood to the style, almost like Phillip Glass trying his hand at Industrial rock.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Swing Kids discography

It's like if a rage induced, spurned rimbaud took a buncha caffeine pills and put his poems to song. And the screaming! Oy the screaming! I think Justin Pearson has pioneered screamo here, friends.

Do I like it? Well the performance certainly more passionate and desperate than Cap'N Jazz's Gilliamesque depictions of youth trauma. I kind of like it.. they certainly brought gothic rock to a softer genre with their cover of Joy Divison's Warsaw so kudos to that(which as an excellent bass line). Yet, lyrics wise, Cap 'N Jazz wins for surrealism.

So what does this 23 year old who was barely out of Elementary school think of these two 90s emo landmarks?

Cap'N Jazz: 8/10 for weird lyrics yet generic beats

Swing Kids: 9/10 for tight, tense rhythm and striking if occasionally grating vocals

Otherwise, I am quite happy with Sunny Day Real Estate and Rites of Spring being my two favorite emo acts.

Bonus review thing: Cap'n Jazz's alphabetapolothology disc 1

So I've sampled Cap'N Jazz's stuff before and could never understand what the hell they were talking about even when I looked over the lyrics. I figured they were depicting some sort of twisted nostalgia for a traumatizing childhood as seen in songs like In the clear which depicts a child's fear of a child eating dog or Yes I'm talking to you which is apparently about mournfully reminiscing of eating cookies with your childhood friend turned best girl on a moonlit night. But then, there's songs like olerud which seems to involve a boy venting all his love problems onto his fairly young father or my personal favorite, Que Suerete which tells of a love/hate relationship between a boy and girl. So is it a concept album biography? How one person develops from a fearful boy into an equally timid socially awkward young man? What? While this record's interesting, the idea of surreal childhood memories was better explored with Boards of Canada's Music belongs to Children, I think.

cro mags' age of Quarrel

Speed metal and "political views" don't mix. For reals.

Nice insight here though and it's nice to know I'm not the only one who has Negative Approach as their favorite hardcore band:
http://onebaseonanoverthrow.blogspot.com/2009/01/if-aids-dont-getcha-then-warheads-will.html

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Texas

So listening to the sample of texas I put together, I found it's not like California at all,it takes after the likes of Washington with the diverse sound; there's the skuns for instance with their straight up rock of Earthquake Wave while Plastic Idols composes a slinky, spaghetti western-esque if politically incorrect tribute to Asia with Siamese Lust. Even the actual defined punk bands are diverse; Big Boys bring a funk rythym to the incredibly short "Lesson" while The Dicks give us crunchy, grinding guitars in No Fucking War. Could it be that post punk had more of an impact than punk itself? If so, how and why? Does this phenomonon extend to the southeastern region as well? We shall find out!

four corners of hardcore: an experiment

So my summer boredom has led me to explore whether the four corners of The U.S. (Florida, Washington D.C.*, California, and Washington) had a different hardcore sound and here's my results:

D.C.: Maine didn't have much, I'm afraid so I used this one and took away the obvious bands Minor Threat and Bad Brains. Here, I found that a lot of themes of the music dealt with rage against the government which likely resulted from being constantly surrounded by government buildings and the like. Lewis Black highlighted this as for why he does his angry shtick in one of his specials too. I also realized that the area as well as the states surrounding it, there were quite a few songs dealing with the hardcore scene itself like Government Issue's anarchy is dead or minor threat's bottled violence. I was gonna put th' inbred here too, but they're from the midwest, thought they were from Virginia!

California, specifically Oxnard: Much more thrashy and skate styled as opposed to the others with a general fuck parents let's skate! tone to the songs as opposed to D.C. Thus, despite what many punks claim, there was a tiny bit of influence from the devil may care druggy whimsy of 60s San Francisco.

Florida (more like flori-duh! Amirite?): Florida's sound is basically the Boston of the south; there's no real politics except teeny tiny pockets(i.e. Proletarian in Boston, the Eat(maybe?) in Florida) with the rest being pure stupidity (roach motel, Hated Youth vs.The Freeze, Gang Green, F.U.s) Lots of hatred for the state itself though, particularly from roach motel. probably due to the heat and far too much tourism( as they address in reptile land)

Seattle:this had less punk on it and more post punk, but still provided some interesting insight. For one, it showed that hardcore punk even then was making an impact after its initial period what with the U Men's solid action starting with a punk bass beat whereas The Melvins and Fluid deviated from it, choosing more of a 60sish rock flavor. For another, the punk sound a lot less alike;The Fartz were typical fast hardcore while the Lewd was much more traditional. So Seattle is the most diverse of this group, obviously. Sorry Portlandia.
I may do two others, comparing the rest of the southeast scene with Florida and Texas with California.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Right..

So everyone knows about the infamous Quincy episode about punk rock, yes? And everyone knows about the terrible, terrible attempt by one of his interns to demonstrate pogo dancing, right?

But have you ever seen the actual band that plays on the show? Well, I got em right here, folks:
Please to enjoy, Mayhem!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjHV9wQv6u8