Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Lee Ranaldo Free Downloads and Streaming
Sunday, 24 January 2010
New Article at The 405
I'm shameful to announce that I do not have any more gigs booked at all. I've been waiting for The Strokes/Carl Barât/Belle & Sebastian/Sonic Youth to tour Britain for a long time, but I've been unlucky, it seems.
The Libertines' fanblog 'Breck Road Lovers' seems to have gone dead since Christmas. I hope the woman who runs it is okay, and coming back soon: she fueled my obsessive following of Carl & Pete with daily titbits for about a year, and it would be a shame to lose that reliable and eclectic news source.
Friday, 25 December 2009
My Favourite Releases This Decade
I have often said that Up the Bracket (2002) was the better Libertines album. I still agree with myself there, because it shows the Libertines for all the potential they had, all the pace and energy and raw talent they had as young men, where the eponymous second album is more a window to the fractured romance and the imminent collapse of the band. For all that, there is something lasting, something honest and original about The Libertines. While the chords are recycled from 60s beat pop and later punk, the words are decidedly more intelligent than much of the pointless punk-rock released in the early 00s. Amidst many others, wry references to Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray, old classic comedy series The Likely Lads and Rudyard Kipling novels, show The Libertines' very British heritage, and literary intelligence. Opener 'Can't Stand Me Now' is one of the most hailed and beloved post-punk gems of this decade, tearing open and bearing to the world the tethered hearts of frontmen Pete Doherty and Carl Barât. Their tale is not only perfect fanfiction material, but also much more serious, warning of the dangers of hard drugs and the risks of a friendship as frenzied and intense as theirs was. The Libertines tells the final chapter of the story so perfectly, it just cannot be ignored. Aside from being a romantic historical record, The Libertines is more importantly a collection of really good punk rock songs, with the stylish guitar playing of Carl Barât, the unusual voice of Peter Doherty and the skilled and powerful rhythm section of John Hassall and Gary Powell forcing the music along. This is an album to be young to, no excuses, and one I have sought solace and escape in for many years.
2004 looks to have been a good year for music. 20 years into their career, Sonic Youth were still releasing amazing albums. Sonic Nurse is one of their most atmospheric releases, though all their albums have an atmosphere of their own. The artwork of Sonic Nurse sums up the atmosphere very well - warm and dark, ambiguous and slightly disturbing. 'Pattern Recognition' is textured and intense, with Sonic Youth's traditional noise guitar in the background. The feel changes at track two though, with a much more mellow and rich sound coming through, lyrics considered and melancholy. The threat of an explosion of Sonic Noise never leaves though, with gently pounding guitar and drums insistent throughout the album, briefly losing control in shrieky 'Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream', and then coming to beautiful and unsettling fruition in the not-to-be-listened-to-late-at-night thriller 'Paper Cup Exit'. Throughout the album, the listener feels as if they are caught in some perfect balance, which could be tipped at any point, as brittle as it is expansive and all-consuming. This mood could be created by the very rich timbre of the guitars, the threatening lyrics or the precise use of silences and dynamics. Whatever it is, I chose Sonic Nurse over excellent predecessor Murray Street (2002) and more radio-friendly but brilliant follow-up Rather Ripped (2006) because I can get lost in Sonic Nurse and never find anything I'd want to change, or skip, and the atmosphere is so wonderfully crafted.
Every track on The Blinding is... blinding, if that is excusable. The lo-fi rambling and ranting that makes up endearing first album Down in Albion (2005) is nowhere to be seen on the EP that followed, being replaced by eclectic and polished indie delights. Every track is worth mentioning. Sexually charged 'The Blinding' is probably about heroin, and it's power to make you 'happier than you've ever been'. The song's angry but captivating chords can only be played loud; the sultry bassline teases you, walking you gradually but decisively to the police car of the chorus: there the chords are more subdued, worried, as the questions come into the lyrics. "What will you do if she runs out of time for you?" But no! You run and escape, with a scream and a guitar solo that sounds like scrapyard metal being torn through rust, but tunefully. And so the cycle repeats, straight into the unexpected richness and tenderness of 'Love You But You're Green'. The lyrics are wonderful, talking of angered imaginary lovers in a fuzzy past. 'I Wish' changes the mood again, the ska-reggae impossibly bouncy and summery, boasting the fabulous, stubborn Pete Doherty line "It's not the same old story. It's new to me." which is, despite protestations, a very good point. 'I Wish' openly admits to the writer's smoking crack, his empty wallet, his lacklustre approach to life on drugs. But it's unbelievably happy with it, and summery because of the offbeat major chords. 'Beg, Steal or Borrow' is like a preview of the second Babyshambles album, but still has its place on The Blinding, upbeat and uplifting, yet with a melancholy tint to the lyrics. Finally: ah, 'Sedative'. From start to finish, 'Sedative' is a work of art, the chords perfectly rounded, the voice perfectly off-key, the tempo ideal, the gently undulating guitar an escape I could only have dreamt of before hearing this song. I've gone on too much about this EP. You get it.
The last album Blur recorded together, I have probably summarised Think Tank pretty well in my Rough Guide to Blur at The 405 (plug plug), so I shall try and explain why I chose it as one of my favourite releases of the decade instead. This album manages to be summery and uplifting as well as sad, in almost every song. That juxtaposition of emotions seems to be what I look for in music: I like it when you can rise above being miserable and look in on it, escape it, rather than wallowing in it, which is what typically sadder music offers. Think Tank is definitely about more than introspection though. 'Crazy Beat' is a crazy beast, a dancefloor filler and a rocker. 'We've Got a File On You' is an unexpected bit of shouting to wake you up, 'Brothers and Sisters' a quirky, sultry commentary on the State of Things, and several of Blur's best beautiful tender love songs are on this album. Maybe I love Think Tank because it never fails to make me feel like the sun's shining.
I can see that's a very mainstream top 4. The Libertines are generally regarded as a typical knocking-on-the-door-of-twenty-year-old's favourite band, Blur sell to adoring millions all over the world, Sonic Youth have their lower portions firmly on the thrones of revolutionary rock royalty, and Babyshambles are famous for dubious Dohertian reasons. The point is, these bands are big because they deserve it. There are plenty big bands who don't: I'm not plugging Coldplay or U2. I genuinely believe that these are amazing albums, and I'm not giving my decade's favourites to some little band just because no-one's heard it, so no-one can argue. No, these albums are fantastic, if a little quieter than I expected my favourites to be, on average.
Thursday, 3 September 2009
The Cribs @ Kerrang! Radio, 3/09/09
At just past 1 o' clock, 50 people were gathered in Kerrang! Radio's Birmingham studio, having won a competition (we had to guess what song was played backwards, and it was, as it always is, Men's Needs.) 'Johnny Marrman and the Jarmans' took to the tiny tiny stage to a wave of cheers from a mixed crowd - some of us were Cribs fans, and others generic competition winners.
The setlist was short and sweet. The brothers Jarman and their esteemed colleague kicked off with excellent We Were Aborted, the first song they ever wrote together. The second song was We Share The Same Skies, a rather tender track (for the Jarmans) with added Marr twinkle. Hari Kari was next, another faster number, and then City Of Bugs, a track with lots of distortion that sounds a little like Be Safe from the third album Men's Needs, Women's Needs Whatever (2007), minus Lee Ranaldo (of Sonic Youth, who guested on Be Safe). Finally, they ended with current single, and probably weakest track, Cheat On Me.
The playing was a Hell of a lot less shambolic than I expected; I think Johnny keeps the band together musically, and adds depth and shine that covers up the Jarmans' sometimes messy playing styles. The atmosphere was unusual with there being only 50 people, but not bad. The band spoke a few times, once to say they'd been out in Birmingham the night before, so it was 'too early' for them, and once to sardonically say we'd probably all illegally downloaded these 'unheard tracks' anyway.
Afterwards, they signed and chatted and took photographs with friendliness. Ross was talkative, Johnny Marr was highly sought after for signatures, and the twins differed considerably in the strength of their handshakes. I asked Johnny "Do you sign things you weren't on", producing The Cribs album, to which he replied "Yeah, if it's good I'll sign it. The Beatles, Nirvana...". Gary (looking tanned and a little exceptional) mentioned my Sonic Youth shirt, at which I remarked I loved Lee on Be Safe. Ryan signed The Cribs and told me it was 'well old school', and then I got the photo below. Very very nice day.
9/10
Saturday, 29 August 2009
10 songs I love right now (8) - 28/08/09
The sound of the summer. Along with Song for Sunshine, this song has taken the credit for all the happiness recently. With wonderfully sardonic self-critical lyrics, it bounces along with upbeat piano chords and gentle dual vocals, until the original tune of Act of the Apostle returns, seamlessly, and the softness of edgy melancholy returns. Very pretty, but multi-layered.
Helsinki - Cheer Up Goth Kid
The title of this song is quite ironic, with this being one of the most emotionally tense and 'black' tracks Drew McConnell has ever aired. Surprisingly Biffy Clyro-esque in lots of ways (instrumentation, vocal layering, dynamics, the 'aaaaaah' section towards the end), Cheer Up Goth Kid sums up an emotion perfectly, I think. When he sings "December", I actually feel for him, deeply. Ask me if you want this track, I can send it, I know it's pretty rare.
Louise Attaque - J't'emmène au vent
This French song came to my attention via a Helsinki live cover, and it's very upbeat and lively. The lyrics are charming but uninspiring end-of-relationship lyrics when translated from French, but it's the fun folk-rock backing with fiddles, and the novelty of the strong French voice, which make this song great for me.
Reuben - Stealing Is Easy
From the new rarities album We Should Have Gone To University, Stealing is Easy has soundtracked a difficult little patch of my existence with its unsympathetic-yet-empathetic lyrics and loud guitar parts. Thanks Reuben.
Sonic Youth - Shadow of a Doubt
I am glad Kim Gordon is in Sonic Youth for this track alone. Usually, her breathy vocals and simple lyrics seem to add nothing to records, but on EVOL, she stands out more, and with better results. This track in particular is made superbly atmospheric and unusual by her sighs and whispers and yelps, and the simplicity of the lyrics describing the strange scene on a train. I love it - percussive sounds and an oriental edge perfect what is already very enthralling.
Belle and Sebastian - We Are the Sleepyheads
We Are the Sleepyheads encapsulates what Belle and Sebastian do so well: put melancholy and bitter lyrics over upbeat and uplifting music. Because of the relentless guitar strumming and cheery rhythms and harmonies, the line "We've been in this town so long we may as well be dead" actually brings a smile to the face. You can think 'so true!' without it bringing you down.
Amy Winehouse - Me & Mr. Jones
I wasn't impressed with this track when the album Back to Black came out, but I've come to realise it's a good song. It showcases Amy's voice and her talent as a songwriter: it's angry, witty, sarcastic and flirtatious all at the same time. Like a strong woman - like Amy Winehouse minus media image.
The Libertines - Dilly Boys
If you don't particularly like the idea of Pete Doherty dressed as a rent boy ("hands on hips, pout on lips") then don't worry, this song has much more to offer. An uplifting chorus that has you smiling along, and then a soft, tender bit at the end, and rather poetic lyrics in the verses which withstand some, if not too much, thinking about.
Reuben - Ways of Staying Pure
Opening with Jamie Lenman's terrific voice singing, rather sexily, "Yesterday was quite a day, and I've been a bad boy", this song is killer, no filler, all the way through. As if I'm not hooked in already, it's packed with loud/quiet sections, a 'big' guitar sound, brittle yet rich harmonies and a wonderful gentle part past half way through with a round of "Oh-ooh-oh-ooh" and then screaming! Excellent! For similar brilliance (with more 'emo' tendencies, however), see Words From Reuben.
Bright Eyes - Coat Check Dream Song
I'm not as impressed by Bright Eyes as I'm told I should be, but I like this track. More atmospheric and more enticingly sung, it is my favourite on the album, and also the most experimental (less Bob Dylan copying, in other words.).
Monday, 6 July 2009
10 Songs I Love Right Now - 6/07/09
Caravan wasn't the standout song when I first heard Think Tank: Crazy Beat and Brothers and Sisters were my instant favourites, but Caravan is a grower and I've had it on repeat lately. Beautiful simplistic melodies gently chug along over sprinklings of keyboard, and typically eloquent Damon Albarn lyrics sung in a heavy, faraway voice make this song perfect for drifting away into.
Sucioperro - Liquids
The recent Sucioperro album, Pain Agency, is a proper experimental rock album, pulling out the stops on instrumental skill and raw emotion. Liquids is the opener and it has it all: riffs that Sucioperro will be offered serious money for by whoever makes Guitar Hero, angsty lyrics, little quiet sections with really weird guitar runs in, a melodic section at the end, aggressive drumming. Played back to back with Conception Territory's strange cowbell solos, you're going to go on some serious trip.
Ali M Forbes - Under Her Sails
So, Envy & Other Sins split up this week, to the great disappointment of their fans, who are a lot more sympathetic than their ex-record company. Ali's first demo is this song, as yet unreleased, but a lovely ditty with xylophone and acoustic instruments. It's pretty. Hear it here.
Sonic Youth - Walking Blue
I was always a fan of Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth, and I tend to love his songs best on their recent albums. He writes intense lyrics and sings them in rich, deep tones. This song is the same, with gorgeous percussion (I think it's a metal thing you scrape?) and nice chord progressions. Also a fan of What We Know, similar, but driven more by bass.
Stiff Little Fingers - Doesn't Make it All Right
Laid-back punk-ska track, made good by the fiddly bass part and the vocals - anti-prejudice lyrics are sung with a mixture of anger, disdain and exasperation, until it builds up into a percussion-and-mantra-powered punk song at the end.
Dirty Pretty Things - The Weekenders
A Dirty Pretty Things B-side, this track is just a daft Didz Hammond-ish retelling of the end of a relationship ("I showed you nearly all my heart and you showed me the door"), but it's done with nice guitar parts and upbeat chords. And Carl Barât's voice in the chorus is delicious. But that's just a given.
Blur - Popscene
It's deservedly on their new getting-back-together-and-making-a-lot-of-cash CD, Midlife, deservedly because it's a fantastically mad track, padded out with a brass section. This track is credited with giving birth to Britpop. It's certainly a lot of fun, I'll give it that.
The Coral - Who's Gonna Find Me
The Coral are fantastic at vocal harmonies, and that's what I love about this track: that and the slightly Hawaiian slides on the guitar. Pretty simple in structure and lyrics, this track is nothing to get excited about, really, but it's the sound of (a slightly angsty) summer and I'm temporarily addicted to it.
Yeti - Till The Weekend Comes
My favourite from 2008 album The Legend Of Yeti Gonzales so far, Till the Weekend Comes is a relaxed and slightly melancholy pop tune. Four-part harmonies and a day off: it's about as free as I ever feel these days. Don't Go Back To The One You Love is my second favourite, with cinematic lyrics describing some kind of thrilling escapade through the wilds of America, as well as containing Yeti's usual precise harmonies. There's a nomad in his mustang and everything.
The Specials - Ghost Town
The Specials are back together! The Specials! Despite a patchy Glastonbury performance, The Specials are back in full force, most still jumping round that stage, Terry Hall still staring intently into the crowd with an intimidating expression on his face. This song doesn't need justifying. It's fucking ace.
Leave me a comment if you'd like, if you agree or disagree with the above. Always open to debate.
Monday, 15 June 2009
'The Eternal', Sonic Youth
When first listening to this album, it feels like Sonic Youth have regressed more than progressed. It could be that their indie vehicle has veered too close to the mainstream for their liking, or for their fans' liking, so they have deliberately headed back to the early 2000s sounds of Murray Street and Sonic Nurse; it could just as easily be an unconscious returning to that sound, or it may be something that only I have perceived. However, The Eternal does remind me of those albums, less mellow than Rather Ripped, and with generally longer and more noise-filled songs.
You may notice, I am not raving about this album, yet. With Sonic Youth, the music recorded in the last 10 years is very different to their original trademark sound, but in each era, they record a lot of similar music. It feels like Sonic Youth are retreading old ground here. Admittedly, it is ground that they paved (or should that be broke?), but movement forward is slow and...a little boring.
Having said all that, looking at The Eternal out of context, this is a great album of good songs. Opening with the unnerving chords of Sacred Trickster, it matches the standard of any of the young bands around today. Sonic Youth will not be left behind. They are on a platform of their own - listen to the cryptic lyrics of Anti-Orgasm, the rocking 'woah-woah's of Thunderclap, the beautiful timbre of the guitars in Walking Blue or the profound lyrics and gorgeous bassline of What We Know for proof.
You could compare Sonic Youth to Jane Austen. Yes, she basically wrote the same book loads of times, but they're all classics, aren't they? They're all praised, and they all epitomise their genre. Well there you go. Sonic Youth have done it again.
7.5/10
Sunday, 17 May 2009
10 Songs I Love Right Now (6) - 17/05/09
Libertines are my favourite band, and I Got Sweets is my favourite B-side at the moment, along with Half-Cocked Boy with its sumptuous chords in the chorus. I love I Got Sweets because it is jazzy, breaking into a walking bassline and instrumental solos in the middle. It's proper music, this, and Carl's voice couldn't be more attractive. I've been over-listening to Eight Days A Week (Beatles Cover) too. Let's hope this reunion happens, which their gig in London last night seemed to make more imminent.
The film The Boat That Rocked brought this song back to my attention. I've always loved it, however simple the chord progressions are. The lyrics about the taxman 'taking all my dough' work in the recession - it's a very miserable song lyrically, but it's so relaxed and manages to be uplifting at the same time.
Paper Cup Exit starts quietly, with repetitive drums and then a soft guitar riff. It seems like a 'skip' track until the unnerving verse comes in, with slightly discordant guitar chords against Lee Ranaldo's severly underrated, rich voice. After the crypic lyrics 'I don't mind if you sing a different song, just as long as you sing along', it drops to an edgy, almost scary riff. From there, it gets more and more tense. This track is haunting, but in the most amazing way.
Carcrashlander - Coast To Coast
On CarCrashLander's album Mountains On Our Backs, this wasn't a standout track to me, at first. I loved Quoting Dead Comedians and Capillary Webs. They're still good, but this proved to be a more elusive gem, with catchy lyrics and melodies that got trapped in my head, but were subtle enough not to get on my nerves.
Wolfmaaaan! You're giving me the hump, maaaan! I don't know why this track is quite so memorable, or catchy, or sexy, but it is. There is a long drum solo at the end too that sounds almost like African fusion - it's a great track, and I can see why it was a live favourite back in the Down in Albion days.
This is a track filled with such sincere-sounding tenderness, with such well-chosen words, it is impossible not to fall in love with it. Building up slowly from a simple drum beat, through soft sprinklings of guitar, to the soaring chorus, 'I just want to be, darling, with you', it is intoxicating. And it helps me sleep, which for once, is not damning.
Django Reinhardt - Minor Swing
If you can spell his name, Django is a brilliant find - I found him because he is said to have influenced Carl Barât's guitar playing style very much, which I can see. So surprised was I to hear a song from the soundtrack to the Johnny Depp film Chocolat, that I went and downloaded it straight away. Minor Swing is exciting, jazzy, displays musical virtuosity and reminds me of Johnny Depp, which has to be good.
After getting over the inital shock of hearing my stereo singing 'Oh! Listen to me! I'm on the stereo!' I found this to be a great song. The vocals are very American, which would usually put me off, but this time added to the lilting feeling of the song, with its lo-fi but uplifting edge.
The first thing I thought when I heard this was 'Man, he can play guitar!' Graham has mastered the fine art of finger picking here, or at least showcases it to its full advantage for the first time. It's a great track, very simple and repetitive rhythmically, but energetic, well-played and very danceable (it may not be in the dictionary, but you know what I mean, right?)
Marmaduke Duke - Je Suis Un Funky Homme
The album (Duke Pandemonium) is thrilling enough before this track comes on, but this comes like the cherry on a particularly delicious cake. Daft and excellent in equal measure, Je Suis Un Funky Homme is a wonderful slice of experimental dance pop - that high-pitched organ and those mad vocals...it's a musical delight.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
10 Songs I Love Right Now - 28/03/09
High time for another of these I think.
Freakin' Out is possibly the most uptempo song about boredom you will ever find. It's about that month when you weren't going through relationship problems, weren't really in love with anything, didn't need money, weren't recovering from a serious addiction - and the absence of anything interesting was driving you mad. Everyone's felt it. This song captures that, with a fantastic little guitar solo and a catchy chorus. If you want to hear Graham at his most sensitive best, outside of Blur, listen to the beautiful Ribbons And Leaves as well.
Bite Hard is the best song on Franz's third album, Tonight, from the gentle but unnerving piano introduction, with unsettling lyrics, to the ambiguous cries of 'Bite hard!', to the fantastic upbeat synth solo. It's perfect to wake you up in the morning, and it's brilliant live, and it encapsulates the singalong silliness of Franz at their best.
The Libertines - What a Waster
What A Waster was not a crap first release. It was not a 'This band have potential, but we're gonna have to wait and see' track. This song, rightfully, gained The Libertines a ridiculous amount of hype as the British front line in NME's 'New Rock Revolution'. This track was, and is, a punk rock explosion of anger and youthfulness, referencing Ulysses and the Beano and the Book of Revelation, shot through with sadness, bursting with expletives and oozing talent...a brilliant song.
Levellers' most recent release, Letters From The Underground, is an angry, rough record, with guitar solos and fast fiddle sections and political lyrics; it is typical Levellers. This song stands out however as being a bit different. It's sentimental, looking at failing love: 'it's just one kiss to build a dream upon'. It's softer, more thoughtful, and has some lovely melodies.
The Strokes - New York City Cops
Like Last Nite, New York City Cops is a snapshot of a moment in time, in New York City, at night. It opens with Julian Casablancas being daft - "Oh! Haha, I meant: Ah! No I didn't mean that at all." This is endearing, especially with his undeniably sexy voice. For once, The Strokes abandoned their extremely repetitive strum-strum-strum-strum formula (at least on lead guitar) until the chorus. It's a welcome break.
Peter Doherty - New Love Grows on Trees
It is hard to sum up the brilliance of this song in a paragraph. It's beautiful, telling of the foolishness of teen promises and decisions ('If you're still alive when you're 25, will I kill you like you told me to? Well I really don't want to.'), telling of growing up, telling of new love growing on trees (?), all sung in Peter's fitting drawl over ambient electric distortion and acoustic guitar. It's so much more than pretty.
The Hair, now Club Smith, are one of the better new bands to make use of the fashion for electronic synths and samples in British music right now, because they combine it with catchiness, great percussion and some really (dare I say it) funky songs. Half Cut is a walk-along-the-road-smiling track.
Sonic Youth are still up there in my favourites, and now I've found Dirty, that's where they're staying. Purr growls along in two-chord sultriness: it's violent, youthful, brilliantly played garage rock. The opening riff is life-affirming and gives me the shivers. The lyrics are simple but definitely thought out. Almost as brilliant are the melancholy Wish Fulfillment and Chapel Hill from the same album.
A new track from the new album Quicken the Heart, due out in May, Wraithlike has the lo-fi edginess of A Certain Trigger without the polish of album number two. It's a return to their roots, only faster, angrier and with more interesting time signatures.
Peter Doherty - Broken Love Song
Played with 4 guitars onstage live, Broken Love Song is a very pretty track, with lovely lyrics about loneliness and a chord sequence to die for. Nice vibrato on the electric guitar makes this track, as well as Pete's voice, which works very well on this softer album. Want more of Peter being poetic? Try I Am the Rain, it's not as good musically but it's got nice introverted lyrics. Lots of metaphor.
I've been listening to a lot of music this month. Last week last.fm told me I'd listened to about 2 full days of music on my iPod and computer alone. Check these songs out, they might do for you what they do for me.
Saturday, 7 February 2009
10 Songs I Love Right Now - 3/02/09
This is a great one to kick off with. The riffs in this song are turbo-charged, and there are loads of them. Besides this, the great lyrics: "So they say you're a troubled boy, just because you like to destroy all the things that bring the idiots joy, but what's wrong with a little destruction?" And it has a la la section! No pop rock song can be complete without a la la hook. Oh, this song - how can it not give you an angry high?
This song takes a while to get going, starting with those sultry chords and characteristic raw guitar noise, and then the brittle vocals, atmospheric and unsettling. It's repetitive and absolutely mesmerising. It builds up half way through, until suddenly it rocks out into this maddeningly irresistable chant of "You got your dirty boots!" over the backing and then fades out into soft, gentle strumming. Heaven.
The Clash - The Guns of Brixton
I couldn't decide whether to include this or London Calling, but everyone knows London Calling, so I decided to put this in instead. It's dark and it was so new when they released it - this fusion of reggae and rock, with those almost comic sound effects and samples. It captures a moment in time so perfectly; seventies London, down and outs being hunted down by the racist police, taking sides to survive.
Of course, the Babyshambles versus Dirty Pretty Things debate...I'll just add my two pence. Pete had the talent and the poetry, while Carl had the passion and the technical skill, in my opinion, although of course it's more complex than that. Neither follow-up band is good as The Libertines, but Babyshambles are better than Dirty Pretty Things. It's sad to think that the latter are gone now, as they did have something, but not quite the something that Babyshambles have. Take this track, Fuck Forever. He is just a master of choruses, no? This is not to be mistaken for background music; asymmetrical bar layouts, out-of-tune shouting and most of all, great great lyrics.
Parklife gained Blur their fame, though it is a little clean for me. This song is a standout though. The slightly on-edge synths and Damon's mocking, neutral tone. The chorus I especially love about it. The harmonies just work so well, and the way he puns on misery and mystery, and the last line which always trails so poignantly into the next chord sequence...
The Drop is not the best on the album Random Acts of Intimacy in my opinion, but it seems to be the one I'm listening to most. The beautiful guitar playing throughout, and the lovely lyric "The days fall slow, like summer rain" I just want to listen to over and over again. When it breaks down at 2:50 as well, into a softer quieter bit - that's pretty. Very pretty.
A'Rebours is a deliciously upbeat track, especially that bassline which comes in at the very start and dominates the rest. I love bands who make liberal use of tambourine. Also here, I know this is cheating, but I'd like to say 8 Dead Boys is worth a nod. It's Hellishly angry, clearly a jibe at former bandmates of Peter Doherty, but the guitar licks are very well-played and the emotion in it is so wonderfully breakable.
The Stranglers - No More Heroes
Yes I've been raiding my mum's CDs again, and yes I liked it. No More Heroes is a synth-punk masterpiece damning idolisation - or is it the words of a dissolute young man who has found all his heroes to be fools? A young man whose heroes have failed him? Of course it is told from a disdainful third person view, making it even more sneeringly great.
Is there anything happier than a ditty driven along by typical chords and a metronome? It's one of the little things I can never pin down, why a happy song like this sounds so happy - is it the major chords, the lyrics about friendship, the unusually great singing for Pete Doherty, or the little drum solo at the end? I don't know, but it really is so uplifting, and if you like the Don't Look Back Into the Sun side of the Libs, really check this out. "I'm still lining them up and knocking them down with you." ♥
This is my soothing choice - a soft, eerie folk song with a twist, it starts calmly, slowly, with instruments humming and an inverted dialogue of whispering in the background. It's the bass and the fiddle which do it for me: they are at odds, spooky, and give the relatively regular melody of the song a real edge. Looking for a more upbeat, political Levellers song? No? Well I s'pose you should be. See Social Insecurity.
I had the audacity to put way more than 10 song references in there. Oh well. I love all of them. Take a look, as ever, they are all worth a listen or ten. Hope you're having a good 2009 so far, wherever you are.
10 Songs I Love Right Now - 23/12/08
This song is a Cribs B-side, and though I might be hearing the uninitiated screaming, how could the B-sides be any more underproduced than the albums?!, they manage it and it makes them even better. The raw, well-played guitar, especially in the soft chorus section, just knocks me out. On top of this, could Gary sound any more vulnerable with those lyrics and that voice?
Dirty Pretty Things - Deadwood
The little guitar solo that appears a few times in this song is an absolutely perfect thing to wake you up and cheer you up. With Dirty Pretty Things playing their last ever gig a few days ago in London, I felt it necessary to put a DPT track in here, and Hell, this is a VERY good track. It's hyper, well-written and you can't tell me it's not about a certain Mr Doherty in concept at least.
From the most recent of twenty albums (!), Rather Ripped, Reena floats along, carried by a brilliant dizzy riff and ambiguous lyrics about a new 'friend' who showed the breathy singer how to 'live in the end'. It's very beautiful, and it hits a chord with the dreamer in me. It is a very pretty, uplifting track.
No Emotion is a gorgeously melancholy and melodic track which you can play when you're happy or sad, because it spans such a huge range of emotions. The lyrics and some of the melodies are quite sad, but the playing is exuberant and aggressive and the vocals are often quite uplifting. Competing to get in here as well was In Competition for the Worst Time which is a brilliant song containing the lyric "In competition for the worst first line I could use in conversation for the first time". The internal rhymes in there are genius. ;)
This has to be one of the most uplifting of Janis Joplin's tracks. The version I've got is a live one, and that she could pull off that skill in her singing live quite bemuses me. It helps that the pretty conventional 60's backing with raucous guitars and jazzy bass is brilliantly played too.
Radiohead - Subterranean Homesick Alien
While the progressive giddiness of Paranoid Android is the most startlingly enthralling on OK Computer, I have recently been very impressed with this track. It's soft guitar entrance is just the most wonderful thing, and is followed by a witty but rather sad description of what humans would be like from the opinion of an alien (Think the Savage from Brave New World seeing humanity after he's let loose).
Robin Williamson - Black is the Colour
Suddenly this harp-endowed love song holds more meaning for me. I think you have to relate to love songs, but even if you don't, this masterpiece of harp playing and beautiful story about a lost love makes lovely listening. He was in The Incredible String Band...remember? Hmmm, maybe not.
I have been obsessed with this song for about 2 weeks. It's dark, sultry intro with cross-rhythms and raw guitar distortion sends a shiver down my spine. Then when the vocals enter, deep, angry and saying the most wonderfully paradoxical lyrics, I am just lost. I showed my friend and she said it was amazing how he managed to sound so hurt. "If you're ever feeling low down in the fractured sunshine, I'll help you feel the noise" is a very very atmospheric lyric indeed. In fact, 'atmospheric' sums up the song.
Ska passed me by a bit, probably because I wasn't born. This track sums up The Specials so simply - you can hear rock in the intro and then it breaks into goodtime reggae. It's also a great angry and mocking track; the chords in the intro are great, and then the nasty lyrics and shouting of 'ONE TWO!' and of course 'I know you know you're just a little bitch!' make the song.
This sounds like a lost Britney track: you know, the one which all the rockers secretly like but won't admit to it, dance around the bedroom to but turn it off when their parents come up the stairs. The best thing is that you don't have to turn it off because it's under the guise of being a nineties Britpop track. Get that hairbrush and start spinning round that room.
Thanks for reading...and please do have a little look at the songs, they are all very good. Have a great Christmas if you celebrate it, a great New Year too. Consume too much alcohol and listen to too much music - too loud. ;)