Nico - "The End"

I'm notorious for my dislike of The Doors. It's not that I think they as a band are awful, it's just that Jim Morrison is. He is by far one of the most overrated singer/lyricists of all time, and his behavior both on stage and off was appalling. I usually don't condemn rockstarish behavior as it really doesn't have anything to do with the music, but it bothers me in the case of Morrison because I don't feel he was a strong enough artist to warrant his erratic behavior. However, I digress...

One of The Doors' most famous songs is the dirge "The End," which closes out their debut album. Long and surreal, i's a decent entry in the progression of experimental music on pop records. But while the original gets lost in its jammy excesses, the cover performed by Nico on the June 1, 1971 album fares much better. Accompanied by Brian Eno on synthesizer, Nico plays a droning harmonium throughout the nine minutes of the performance. While The Doors version is drugged out and hazy, Nico's is focused and haunting, feeling like inevitable, impending danger. 

"Heresy" and where it came from

It should be no surprise that Trent Reznor is a Depeche Mode fan. His music has always evoked the gothic brooding that DM is most known for, not only in mood but in execution, using hard industrial synths and mechanical beats. While most industrial acts from the 80's like Nietzer Ebb and KMFDM appealed to a select audience, Depeche Mode had several industrial qualities while never getting burdened with the tag, (listen to "People Are People" to get what I mean).

While the closest Nine Inch Nails have ever come to being in the same fish tank as Depeche Mode is their debut, Pretty Hate Machine (1989), the song that bears most resemblance to the group is on the caustic "Heresy", found on Reznor's niche market solidification, The Downward Spiral (1994). On the CD issue of Depeche Mode's Music For The Masses (1987), there's a remix included as a bonus track - an "aggro" mix of the single, "Never Let Me Down Again". On it is a programmed synth pattern that more or less can be cited as the basis for the NIN song. Whether Reznor's borrowing was an intentional homage, or his collective unconscious at work, it makes for an interesting listen when examining the evolution of music trends.

The Move - "Feel Too Good"

Truly one of the most underrated rock epics of all time, The Move's "Feel Too Good" is a sledgehammer, soul/funk free for all. Coming in smoothly with confident drumwork, the bass thumps down with no regard for anything in sight. The guitars enter viciously while Roy Wood delivers one of his most enthusiastic lead vocals.

From the band's third full length album Looking On, released in the fall of 1970, "Feel Too Good" shows The Move changing at an alarming rate. Starting off as a psyche pop group with their self titled and a handful of singles, the band grew more muscular with Shazaam (1970). With the entrance of The Idle Race's Jeff Lynne, The Move began to take a backseat to Lynne and Wood's new project - Electric Light Orchestra. While contarctual obligations kept them linked to The Move for another two albums, they handled their disinterest incredibly well - cutting two solid records with Looking On and Message From The Country, as well as a few non album singles, like the amazing "Chinatown".

For "Feel Too Good", the band slams through a full nine minutes of hard hitting pyschedleic rock. Complete with bakup singers and swirling eastern tinged guiatr solos, the track is a non stop thrill ride with a curious, but always delightful barbershop quartet outro.

Back

Sorry to all that read this for the lack of posts. Been very busy latley. I'm hoping starting today, it will be updated with more regularity.

Halloween Mixtape

This past week I compiled a Halloween mixtape with commentary for Death and Taxes. It is quite a ghoulish romp and I know you will all love to death. Happy Halloween!

Sufjan Stevens - "(You Are The) Rake"

Sufjan Stevens has an interesting career. His first solo album A Sun Came was released in 2000. A mixed bag of lo-fi indie rock, folk, and world music, it was not an easily digestible record. Whatever small grouping of fans he might have gained with his debut must have ran for the hills when he released his second record, Enjoy Your Rabbit, an instrumental, electronic song cycle based on the Chinese Zodiac. It was then that he announced his ambition to release 50 albums, each one dedicated to a US state (a concept that has gotten Stevens a lot of notoriety even if he has no plans to continue it further than his landmark Illinoise record).

Getting back to A Sun Came - a reissue of said record hit stores in 2004, containing two newly recorded bonus tracks. One of them was a redo of the proper album's "Rake", a version that Stevens recorded presumably during the Seven Swans sessions given it's plucky sound and Meghan Smith's backing vocal. Both versions are great but the remake is the real winner. The original is purposely tinny, sounding like a transistor radio with a special broadcast just for you. While it's inspiring, it's also self contained and melancholic. "You Are The Rake" is the complete inverse. All of the sounds are clear with immaculate acoustics (a common trait for all the songs on Seven Swans). Rather than the somewhat destitute nature of the original, the remake is uplifting and a great way to end the lengthy sprawl of the album.

sufjan stevens - You Are The Rake by spacechef

John Lennon - Double Fantasy (Stripped Down)

On the occasion of what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday, the majority of the late Beatle's solo back catalogue was reissued (yet again), both as individual albums, and in one large boxset encompassing nearly everything. Two 'best of' collections were also released: Power To The People, a more traditional greatest hits package, and Gimme Some Truth, a four disc box set for lazy "Lennon fans", who don't have time to listen to everything, but would like to hear a few hours of his music sorted into lyrical categories. For whatever reason, Lennon's swan song collaboration with wife Yoko Ono, Double Fantasy, was reissued with a second disc containing all of the album's tracks, sans overdubs. Aside from the peculiar singling out of that album, the idea of releasing embryonic Lennon material is kind of odd. In the years following his death, the release of demos and outtakes from the Lennon vaults has become so frequent, that the general public image of him seems to be of a man playing acoustic guitar alone in a room. Those familiar with Lennon's living discography, know that the man was a big fan of production. Phil Spector, known for his lush recording techniques, worked on several records with Lennon, including a controversial set of orchestral overdubs and tweaking to The Beatles' Let It Be, an album that's original concept was for a bare bones, "warts and all" live performance record.

The point here is that Lennon would most likely not approve of this somewhat frivolous bonus disc, not to mention all of the previously released anthology recordings released since the mid 90's (The Beatles Anthology can be excused for majority rule). For starters, one of Lennon's trademarks was his doubletracked voice, which is the first noticeable difference heard on Double Fantasy Stripped Down. Lennon notoriously hated his own voice and looked for various ways to distort and experiment with it in order to achieve a sound he was comfortable with. Taking his vocal overdubs off is like tearing off the top of the casket. Secondly is the lack of gated reverb, a style that would come into full swing popularity wise in the 1980's. Gated reverb is a technique that has been greatly criticized since the aftermath of its heyday. Lennon, however, had been using it for years at this point with great effect ("I Don't Want To Be A Soldier Mama" comes to mind when thinking of 80's production in the 70's). Double Fantasy continued the progression of Lennon's use of heavily reverbed production, handled by Imagine engineer, Jack Douglas. The final product was an album both Lennon and Ono were very proud of and excited about. Ultimately, the bonus disc here is like a director's cut for a director who supervised every aspect of the film.

The appreciation of Lennon's work will always be skewed by his death.  Double Fantasy was initially panned upon its November 1980 release, but soon after Lennon's shooting on December 8th, the public grew to appreciate the record, and it has gone on to be hailed as one of the best records of the 1980's. Personally, I like the album, and I feel like the initial distaste for it was more of a resentment towards Lennon for cutting another record with his wife, whose songs are no where near as bad as everyone wants to believe. "Kiss Kiss Kiss" and "I'm Moving On" are particularly great early examples of avant-pop. The release of a 'stripped down' version though just seems pointless, and not in Lennon's legacy's best interest.

Surfin' Bird

The song is a classic from 60's surf rockers The Trashmen, but which late 70's cover is better - The Ramones or The Cramps?

Nico - "The Fairest Of The Seasons"

As far as I'm concerned, this is the saddest song ever. I've never sat down and read the lyrics but Nico's vocal is quite clear, and Jackson's Browne's words have a bittersweet reflection to them that is so clearly resigned, that you don't need to really find a narrative. The performance of this particular song that opens up Nico's debut solo album, Chelsea Girl, is what makes it so memorable in its mournfulness. The tone of the guitar, the drip of the strings, and of course, that voice. It's possible I'm being blind sighted by its use in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, where it's used as the backdrop for a montage that shows all the characters moving on with their lives. Even though they all had improved since the beginning of the film, it felt so morose to me because ultimately, the adventure was over. Everyone had to move on for better or for worse. What has been most bothersome though is that "The Fairest Of The Seasons" closes out the soundtrack which is a very arresting way to go close a set of songs -  enough to make you not want to leave the house, or maybe even get out of bed. The movie itself at least had the upbeat "Everyone" by Van Morrison as its exit music. The best method for listening to this song though is in the context of the original record, as it's immediately followed by its mirror image, "These Days", which switches from minor to major with a briskness that seems hopefully in its maturity ("These Days" is also featured in Tenenbaums when Margo exits the bus with Richie waiting for her).

Beck & Bat For Lashes - "Let's Get Lost"

For someone who hasn't seen any of the Twilight movies, I sure am on a twisted kick of the films' soundtracks (must be the fall). Last week, I spoke of the haunting Lykke Li track, "Possibility" featured in New Moon. This week I find myself stricken from the Beck/Bat For Lashes collaboration from Eclipse. Natasha Khan enters the song with the line "Touch me I'm cold", her voice cascading across a humming synth and cool atmosphere. Khan's voice always sounds shivering as if from the depths of a cave - this performance might be her most affecting with that aesthetic. The second verse is taken by Beck, using plenty of reverb as has become his usual calling card for his 00's balladry. The instrumentation remains sparse throughout, yet powerful, focusing mainly on a mood that is unsure but hopeful. The song has a feel to it that would make it right at home in a climactic scene from an 80's teen drama, as the protagonist and the girl he loves finally work through their differences. The fact that it's connected to a saga about vampires is a little disappointing because the tone of the song feels a lot more real than that. Perhaps the movies are more human than I realize, and should maybe go see what I'm missing. Until then, this song shall suffice.

Fatboy Slim - "The Joker"

In connection to the last post, we listened to a lot of things at work yesterday, and they weren't all good. The first album of the day for us was Fatboy Slim's widely ignored fourth album, Palookaville.

In the 90's, Norman Cook rode the wave of Big Beat led by electronica powerhouses like The Chemical Brothers and Prodigy, finding mass success with the soul tinged, "Praise You", a great song in of itself, but one that's success was accelerated by the hilarious Spike Jonze video. Having had limited success with The Housemartins, Beats International, and Freak Power, Cook finally made a name for himself fifteen years into his career with You've Come A Long Way Baby (1998), a record filled with funky grooves and infectious beats.

While Paloolaville (2004) is a better outing than the disastrous Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars (2000), featuring some notable guest spots from Damon Albarn and Lateef The Truthspeaker, the record is a predictable retread of what Cook has been doing for years. The reason I feel the reason to share this little blurb about the record is the tremendous awfulness of the album's closing track, a cover of the already despicable Steve Miller Band song "The Joker". Featuring a lead vocal from Parliament-Funkadelic's notorious Bootsy Collins, the cover is one of the most embarrassing pieces of music ever to be released by a revered artist. Treading in Kid Rock territory, the song reeks of bad R&B and stale pop sensibilities. Collins previously had contributed vocals to Halfway's lead single, "Weapon Of Choice", a song that is only remembered for its Christopher Walken tap dancing video (also directed by Jonze). Like on their previous collaboration, he completely chews out the scenery with his buttery vocals, slathering up the song with  misfired sexiness. While "The Joker" is a lame enough suburban stoner anthem in of itself, this over popped up version's nadir occurs in the new counter melody added to the song's post choruses towards the end of the song. As the album's closer, it's presence manages to completely erase any positivity one could have towards any of the other songs on the album. Check it out if you dare - as usual, there's a funny video to go with it, Cook's usual backup plan for lackluster, or in this case, horrible material.

Lykke Li - "Possibility"

Today at work, we listened to the soundtrack to New Moon, the second installment of the Twilight series. While the soundtrack to the first film focused more on emo and post grunge, both New Moon and Eclipse turned their focus to more indie oriented artists. While Muse unleashes their usual brand of terrible post prog sludge to all three, the majority of the second and third soundtracks showcase some very good tunes. Most particularly is the haunting Lykke Li ballad, "Possibility". While its presence on the album feels a bit too early, creaking along at track four, the song is a beautiful walk through gothic imagery and smokey vibes. Most fitting is its accompanying video, shot in black and white with dramatic lighting, it is the perfect compliment to the soul searching song. Here is a link to the video.

Antony & The Johnsons - "Knocking On Heaven's Door"

It's been a long argued over debate whether Bob Dylan, one of the most widely covered artists of all time, did his songs better than the legions that cover him. While of course this can only be truly determined artist by artist, I think it's widely accepted that the man is outdone quite often (Dylan purists would argue, but can they really maintain that The Jimi Hendrix Experience version of "All Along The Watchtower" isn't definitive?)

In 2007, The Weinstein Company released the film I'm Not There, the highly experimental bio film that featured six personas of the Bob Dylan psyche, portrayed by six actors of varying age, race, and sex. The film's soundtrack was a Dylan cover free for all - two discs filled to capacity with brand new recordings by a wide range of artists. Between the two, there is an album's worth of great music, and another of filler. The whole album in one shot can be a bit of a grueling listen about three quarters in, but one of the record's sweetest plums is saved for the very end.

The penultimate track on the I'm Not There soundtrack is a haunting version "Knocking On Heaven's Door", performed by Antony & The Johnsons. A sparse recording, featuring only piano, acoustic guitar, and Antony's quivering croon, it is by far the best rendition of the often covered track. While Guns N' Roses' version reigned supreme (and probably always will in the general public's eye) for the last two decades, this take features a breadth and grace that stays true to the original's sentiment but reveals more pain and anguish than Billy The Kid could have ever hoped to express.

Beck - "Totally Confused"

I was listening to Beck's single for his breakthrough hit "Loser" in the record store today. Among the b-sides were two songs made with indie producer Tom Grimely. Most particularly of note is the song "Totally Confused" which features nearly all members of  forgotten alt. rock quartet That Dog, a band that has remained almost entirely unlistened to by the general public (most remember them as that band they never heard of on the DGC Rarities compilation). It makes sense for Beck, being labelmates with the group, but also because That Dog's frontwoman Anna Waronker is sister to Beck's longtime drummer Joey (the latter Waronker has been a frequently sought after session drummer since the early nineties, having played with The Smashing Pumpkins, Elliott Smith, and R.E.M.). The band's violin player, Petra Haden would go on to join The Rentals, The Decemberists, and put out her own a capella version of The Who Sell Out).

Here's live version with That Dog performed circa 1994.

Kristina Stapelfeld Finalist In Pavement Contest

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon has been hosting a competition for young scrapping guitar players to send in videos of themselves in an effort to be picked to play alongside everyone's favorite indie rockers, Pavement, for one evening. Out of what I can assume were thousands of submissions, my friend Kristina was chosen as a finalist (along with four others).


Kristina writes her own songs, and her cover here of "Shady Lane" carries the same delicate sweetness of her own work. The competition is kind of a mixed bag, and it makes me wish I had sent in a video of myself playing "Perfume-V" with a cat in my lap or while jogging. There's a guy also playing "Shady Lane" who used a four panel screen to show himself playing all the parts of the song. It's not bad but he actually plays the song incorrectly which I guess would probably matter given the context. There's a rather out of tune bedroom performance of "You Are A Light" by one guy, someone playing a sloppy guitar solo over "Fin", and a father playing "Grave Architecture" in a bath tub while his son dances around in a monkey costume. Needless to say, I voted for Kristina but would have even if I didn't know her. Tune in September 23rd to see if she pops up.

Here's the link to vote.

VMA Highlights

Last night I watched the MTV Video Music Awards, as I had fallen out of the habit over the last few years. While host Chelsea Handler bombed in one of the worst hostings of an award show I've ever seen, the night was not without its merits, if only a few. First and foremost was the night's closing performance. The publicly shamed Kanye West, who fell from grace last year after interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech - something that I really can't believe we're all still talking about, closed the show out with an outstanding performance of a new song called "Runaway". Decked out in bright red and gold chains, West opened the song manually mixing samples and clips before taking the mic. Later joined by Clipse's Pusha T, the song was a welcomed resurgence after the dismal autotuned mess of 808s And Heatbreaks.

2010 MTV Video Music Awards - More VMA Video

Lady Gaga won a bunch of awards, all of which she seemed to get a bit too emotional over (I guess the VMAs mean more now than they did when I was a kid), each acceptance wearing a different dress. It was most fitting that Cher would present the award for Video Of The Year to Gaga, as it seems like a gimme that she will one day be performing "Pokerface" in front of a middle aged Las Vegas nightclub audience (this of course is not a knock to Ms. Germanotta, as I am a fan of both her records, but her gaudy stage show seems to be aimed at being Madonna, but coming off more like late period Cher).


The performance I was most excited for, I was completely robbed of by MTV. Swedish pop star Robyn was set to perform her amazing dance/torch song, "Dancing On My Own", but was only allotted time to perform one chorus. For the few seconds she was on, we did get to hear the backing track in remixed form, it's four on the floor pulse beat replaced with a sticky electronic dub stomp. For the time it was on, it was pretty cool, but my excitement about seeing Robyn exposed to a larger audience was squashed. Perhaps it's for the best.

2010 MTV Video Music Awards - More VMA Video

Weezer, Oh Weezer

Weezer have been a critical punching bag since the arrival of their lackluster comback Weezer (better known as 'The Green Album') in 2000. The album was lazy, lacked inspiration, and just wasn't as fun as the summertime zeitgeist of 'The Blue Album' (1994), or the soul searching rockfest, Pinkerton (1996). A big part of the record's failure is in part to departure of original bassist Matt Sharp, who seemed to take the fun with him over to his own band The Rentals (even on his own personal Pinkerton, the reflective lost weekend Seven More Minutes).

Not to say 'The Green Album' was all bad - the album's first two singles, "Hash Pipe" and "Island In The Sun", were enjoyable enough. The problem was Weezer seemed to lose their direction as they got older. While most bands evolve and grow into a new version of themselves, Weezer progressively just started to sound like other unexciting party bands (their latest single's chorus sounds like an Andrew W.K. reject). Every once in a while they could pull off a decent single like "Perfect Situation" or "Pork & Beans", but the majority of their album tracks were weak sauce. As they moved forward through Raditude (2009) and now their latest release Hurley, the band seem only concerned with making funny videos and having hokey songs with gang vocals on the chorus, a practice that hit full swing on much panned Make Believe (2005) single "Beverly Hills", a song I never thought was that bad, but was a depressingly far cry from the similarly loose love anthem, "El Schorcho". The band seem to be having the time of their lives though. With their ridiculous album covers and spectacle of a live show, they're clearly still that gang of jokers we first came across in 94, even if those jokes have been stale for a decade.

Weezer
Tags: Weezer, New Music, More Music Videos

It's All About The Benjamins - Biggie's Verse

I just noticed the other day when listening to "It's All About The Benjamins" the other day that it samples "It's Great To Be Here" by the Jackson 5 on Biggie's verse. It's a great example of how the act of sampling can create a whole new sound when used in its new context. On the original song, the guitar hook used in its intro heralds a joyous outburst by the group. The song as whole celebrates the wholesome party down theme that the Jacksons made a career out of delivering. In the context of "Benjamins" though, the loop is transformed (tuned down slightly) into a paranoid gangsta rap creep. Notorious B.I.G.'s words pound through while the riff skitters over the beat with confidence, yet also with a dreadful cloud hanging over. It's fitting the sample would only be used for the late rapper's verse. The song would be released as the last single off Puff Daddy's debut album No Way Out, just a little over a year after Biggie's death.

"Most Of The Time" - Bob Dylan

After his landmark 1976 record, Desire, Bob Dylan's output fell into some sketchy territory. After his odd turn into Gospel rock on Slow Train Coming, Saved, and Shot Of Love, Dylan carried on into the 80's, surrendering to the trappings most financially privileged musicians fell into that decade. After a hand injury and a stint with the supergroup, The Travelling Wilburys, Dylan finally hit pay dirt in his solo career with 1989's Oh Mercy. Produced by Daniel Lanois, best known for his collaborative efforts with Brian Eno, both on his ambient work and producing successful U2 records, the record contains a productive kick where his previous efforts dragged their feet.

The album's most layered and best track is the tender ballad "Most Of The Time". Remembered by many for its appearance ten years later in the film High Fidelity, it's sometimes easy to forget that its by Dylan, given it's warm layers of production, and pop/rock balladry (Dylan's gravel pit voice notwithstanding). Lanois's tones both soothe and burn, creating a melancholic atmosphere that aches with regret, while Dylan's lyrics recall a former love that's not quite fully gone from his thoughts. While the singer assures the listener, "I don't compromise and I don't pretend/I don't even care if I see her again, most of the time", it's clear that this time is not one of them.

The Disintegration Loops

I am currently a bit in awe of William Basinski's four CD set, The Disintegration Loops. Created during a process of salvaging old bits of music the ambient musician had created in 1982, the result is the sound of the recordings deteriorating into nothing. I'm not 100% sure of how the sounds I'm hearing are being created, but the smokey glow of the tracks are more breathtaking than the majority of the ambient music I have ever heard. All four volumes  have a picture of the New York skyline in the wake of 9/11 as their cover art, as this was apparently Basinski's rooftop view upon the completion of the mix of the album. The eerie and peaceful vibe of the music conjures up so many feelings and questions as one can imagine in the events of that horrible day. It's hard to choose a favorite piece out of the bunch so I will include a link here to a youtube page that has several excerpts from the massive project.