Bill Monroe and Doc Watson -- "East Tennessee Blues"
Some of the recently departed (and already sainted) Doc Watson's studio recordings are a little overproduced, but this song, from a Smithsonian collection of live duet recordings featuring Watson, one of the greatest and most authentic purveyors of old time, playing alongside Bill Monroe, the founder of bluegrass, brings out the best in both musicians. Monroe tends to skew a little closer to the spotlight on most of the recordings the two did together, but this particular track allows Watson a chance to toss off a pretty astounding lead as though it were simply second nature. Even Watson's rhythms are more complicated than most players' leads. Legend has it that Watson, blind since a very young age, used to diagnose and repair automobile and tractor engines by listening to them. Listen to this track, and you won't find that to be too unbelievable.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
5/30/2012
Howlin' Wolf -- "How Many More Years"
In my opinion, Howlin' Wolf's second best track ever. Recorded by Sam Phillips when Wolf was still in Memphis, this track features Wolf's usual back-up band: Willie Johnson on a razor-sharp overdriven guitar and Willie Steele on a very powerful sounding drum kit. Add to that a young Ike Turner playing a slightly out-of-tune piano, and you've got yourself an eternal classic. Wolf's voice takes Charley Patton's as a frame of reference, then adds a matchless versatility to it.
In my opinion, Howlin' Wolf's second best track ever. Recorded by Sam Phillips when Wolf was still in Memphis, this track features Wolf's usual back-up band: Willie Johnson on a razor-sharp overdriven guitar and Willie Steele on a very powerful sounding drum kit. Add to that a young Ike Turner playing a slightly out-of-tune piano, and you've got yourself an eternal classic. Wolf's voice takes Charley Patton's as a frame of reference, then adds a matchless versatility to it.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
5/29/2012
Bob Dylan -- "Idiot Wind"
I've never quite seen the allure of Blood on the Tracks -- my favorite Dylan period is the early electric era, from Bringing It All Back Home to Blonde on Blonde, and I could pretty much leave the rest, to be honest. But this is undeniably a great track. It's got the acerbic tone and the deadpan irony that I so admire from the earlier recordings.
I've never quite seen the allure of Blood on the Tracks -- my favorite Dylan period is the early electric era, from Bringing It All Back Home to Blonde on Blonde, and I could pretty much leave the rest, to be honest. But this is undeniably a great track. It's got the acerbic tone and the deadpan irony that I so admire from the earlier recordings.
Monday, May 28, 2012
5/28/2012
Blondie -- "Dreaming"
One of Clem Burke's best drumming performances. I did see Blondie play live many years ago -- with a drum machine. It wasn't the same.
One of Clem Burke's best drumming performances. I did see Blondie play live many years ago -- with a drum machine. It wasn't the same.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
5/27/2012
The Clash -- "Overpowered by Funk"
It took me a long time to develop an appreciation for this song; I used to take it as a good sign that Combat Rock was the band's last album proper. The song has grown on me over the years, though.
Still, I find the synthesizers to be somewhat regrettable, a feeling that was all the more enhanced when I heard a short two-minute instrumental version of this song (guitar, bass, drums) on the soundtrack to Joe Strummer's short film Hell W10. You can find the instrumental version, which is raw, tight, and, I think, live in the studio, on youtube or on the Clash on Broadway 4 bootleg.
It took me a long time to develop an appreciation for this song; I used to take it as a good sign that Combat Rock was the band's last album proper. The song has grown on me over the years, though.
Still, I find the synthesizers to be somewhat regrettable, a feeling that was all the more enhanced when I heard a short two-minute instrumental version of this song (guitar, bass, drums) on the soundtrack to Joe Strummer's short film Hell W10. You can find the instrumental version, which is raw, tight, and, I think, live in the studio, on youtube or on the Clash on Broadway 4 bootleg.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
5/26/2012
The Kinks -- "Milk Cow Blues"
Aside from the lyrics, The Kinks' version of this song has little in common with earlier songs with the same (or almost the same) title. The Kinks' approach here snarls and growls, with a sound that would do Link Wray proud, and a beat that is hard and insistent. Rock and roll music at its finest.
Aside from the lyrics, The Kinks' version of this song has little in common with earlier songs with the same (or almost the same) title. The Kinks' approach here snarls and growls, with a sound that would do Link Wray proud, and a beat that is hard and insistent. Rock and roll music at its finest.
Friday, May 25, 2012
5/25/2012
Link Wray and the Wraymen -- "Deuces Wild"
One of my favorite Link Wray tracks -- according to legend, this was made up on the spot in the studio: Link started playing, the band jumped in, and the tape happened to be rolling. While it's true that there's nothing spectacularly complex going on here, still, this is the kind of thing that only a well-practiced band, one seasoned with plenty of innovation and improvisation, can pull off. As usual, Link's guitar sound is completely bad-ass. He was the first to sound like this.
One of my favorite Link Wray tracks -- according to legend, this was made up on the spot in the studio: Link started playing, the band jumped in, and the tape happened to be rolling. While it's true that there's nothing spectacularly complex going on here, still, this is the kind of thing that only a well-practiced band, one seasoned with plenty of innovation and improvisation, can pull off. As usual, Link's guitar sound is completely bad-ass. He was the first to sound like this.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
5/24/2012
Warren Smith -- "Black Jack David"
Why does the fair-haired lady run off with the rootless gypsy? We'll never know, but the real shock of the song is when she refuses to come back home.
This is my favorite version of this traditional ballad. By adding a modest and restrained rockabilly beat to the song, Smith succeeds (inadvertently, perhaps) in making a creepy old song even creepier. It's a strange hybrid, but it works.
Why does the fair-haired lady run off with the rootless gypsy? We'll never know, but the real shock of the song is when she refuses to come back home.
This is my favorite version of this traditional ballad. By adding a modest and restrained rockabilly beat to the song, Smith succeeds (inadvertently, perhaps) in making a creepy old song even creepier. It's a strange hybrid, but it works.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
5/23/2012
Twin Shadow -- "Five Seconds"
Just recently heard this new single from Twin Shadow, thanks to a former student who sent me a copy. Once again, there is not only skill but an artistic vision in the way George Lewis, Jr., captures the sounds of an earlier era.
Just recently heard this new single from Twin Shadow, thanks to a former student who sent me a copy. Once again, there is not only skill but an artistic vision in the way George Lewis, Jr., captures the sounds of an earlier era.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
5/22/2012
The Velvet Underground -- "Stephanie Says"
Although the post-John Cale VU is great, this song makes clear exactly what it was they lost when he exited the band. The glockenspiel is a nice touch, as well.
Although the post-John Cale VU is great, this song makes clear exactly what it was they lost when he exited the band. The glockenspiel is a nice touch, as well.
Monday, May 21, 2012
5/21/2012
38 Special -- "Caught Up in You"
Overheard while waiting in line at a liquor store to buy a bottle of wine to take to a friend's house. Stuck in my head.
Though I was born in the 70s, I am really a child of the 1980s, and the pop culture of this era follows me around wherever I go, whether I like it or not.
Overheard while waiting in line at a liquor store to buy a bottle of wine to take to a friend's house. Stuck in my head.
Though I was born in the 70s, I am really a child of the 1980s, and the pop culture of this era follows me around wherever I go, whether I like it or not.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
5/20/2012
The Velvet Underground --"Ride Into the Sun"
One of my favorite instrumental tracks by the VU. I love the lead guitar but also the sound of the rhythm guitar: maybe it's the tempo, or maybe it's the amp, but for some reason the rhythm guitar just sounds perfect. Lou Reed's later version of the song (with lyrics), from his first solo album, is good, as well, but it just doesn't have the same essence that the VU's version has.
One of my favorite instrumental tracks by the VU. I love the lead guitar but also the sound of the rhythm guitar: maybe it's the tempo, or maybe it's the amp, but for some reason the rhythm guitar just sounds perfect. Lou Reed's later version of the song (with lyrics), from his first solo album, is good, as well, but it just doesn't have the same essence that the VU's version has.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
5/19/2012
Talking Heads -- "Burning Down the House"
One of my students (of the type who prides himself on his Pitchfork-inspired musical tastes) once said that the Talking Heads sold out after their first couple of albums. If this song is what constitutes selling out, I don't think I have any need for authenticity. This is oddness, quirkiness, idiosyncracy embodied in sound. The fact that the public happened to buy it is still mystifying to me, but it's circumstantial and not a defining quality of the music itself.
One of my students (of the type who prides himself on his Pitchfork-inspired musical tastes) once said that the Talking Heads sold out after their first couple of albums. If this song is what constitutes selling out, I don't think I have any need for authenticity. This is oddness, quirkiness, idiosyncracy embodied in sound. The fact that the public happened to buy it is still mystifying to me, but it's circumstantial and not a defining quality of the music itself.
Friday, May 18, 2012
5/18/2012
Neil Young - "Cortez the Killer"
This could have been a song so full of hippie-dippie sentiment as to make it unbearable. Instead, the minor-key melancholy is matched by the angst (and even anger) of the guitar lines. The result is that this is one of Neil Young's best songs. Crazy Horse's new rhythm guitarist, Frank Sampedro, proves himself worthy of taking the place of the late Danny Whitten. There's some technique to his rhythm guitar that is worthy of attention.
This could have been a song so full of hippie-dippie sentiment as to make it unbearable. Instead, the minor-key melancholy is matched by the angst (and even anger) of the guitar lines. The result is that this is one of Neil Young's best songs. Crazy Horse's new rhythm guitarist, Frank Sampedro, proves himself worthy of taking the place of the late Danny Whitten. There's some technique to his rhythm guitar that is worthy of attention.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
5/17/2012
The Clean -- "Point That Thing Somewhere Else"
In their early years, this band had several sounds -- the retro garage beat of songs like "Tally-Ho" and "Beatnik," the punk squall of "Scrap Music" and "Oddity," and then the Joy Division-esque post-punk of this song. They did all of it quite well, too, and had some songs that didn't fit into any of these categories. David Kilgour manages somehow to make a lot of noise on the guitar here, mostly on just one or two strings. Hamish Kilgour keeps a lean beat. At 5:28, this is one of The Clean's longer tracks, but it's well worth the investment of your time.
In their early years, this band had several sounds -- the retro garage beat of songs like "Tally-Ho" and "Beatnik," the punk squall of "Scrap Music" and "Oddity," and then the Joy Division-esque post-punk of this song. They did all of it quite well, too, and had some songs that didn't fit into any of these categories. David Kilgour manages somehow to make a lot of noise on the guitar here, mostly on just one or two strings. Hamish Kilgour keeps a lean beat. At 5:28, this is one of The Clean's longer tracks, but it's well worth the investment of your time.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
5/16/2012
The Clean -- "Beatnik"
This song is tossed off with a casual insouciance that cannot be studied, imitated, or faked, and no matter how hard you try you will never be as cool as this band was back in the day. Classic indie/alternative from well south of the equator.
I believe that this is a genuine Farfisa organ you are hearing in this song.
This song is tossed off with a casual insouciance that cannot be studied, imitated, or faked, and no matter how hard you try you will never be as cool as this band was back in the day. Classic indie/alternative from well south of the equator.
I believe that this is a genuine Farfisa organ you are hearing in this song.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
515/2012
Booker T. and the MGs -- "Mo' Onions"
In honor of the recently departed Donald "Duck" Dunn -- and because we didn't get enough "Green Onions" the first time around.
In honor of the recently departed Donald "Duck" Dunn -- and because we didn't get enough "Green Onions" the first time around.
Monday, May 14, 2012
5/14/2012
Bright Light Quartet -- "Po' Lazarus"
Four-part vocals expertly rendered -- this is one of the best versions you'll hear of this traditional folk song: refined but still authentic.
This track, from the Alan Lomax Southern Journey series released by Rounder, makes a great companion peace to the James Carter chain-gang version, also in the Lomax collection.
Four-part vocals expertly rendered -- this is one of the best versions you'll hear of this traditional folk song: refined but still authentic.
This track, from the Alan Lomax Southern Journey series released by Rounder, makes a great companion peace to the James Carter chain-gang version, also in the Lomax collection.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
5/13/2012
Bob Dylan -- "Just Like Tom Thumb Blues"
Two haikus about this song:
Dylan in confessional
mode: sounds like it was
a real rough night in Juarez.
World weary and cynical:
Dylan, you are right:
You belong in N-Y-C.
Two haikus about this song:
Dylan in confessional
mode: sounds like it was
a real rough night in Juarez.
World weary and cynical:
Dylan, you are right:
You belong in N-Y-C.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
5/12/2012
Blondie -- "Atomic"
Blondie always split the difference between the cool, streetwise swagger of New York's underground scene and the shameless whoredom of whatever was popular at the time. This was precisely what made them great.
Consider "Atomic": a pulsating beat that is more than just a little bit disco, a great guitar line that carries the song, a vocal performance -- isolated to the middle of the song, instead of following the traditional structure of verses and choruses throughout the song -- that makes up in personality what it lacks in technical proficiency. As with most great bands, Blondie would have gone nowhere without an impeccable drummer -- Clem Burke, one of the best drummers of his era.
Blondie always split the difference between the cool, streetwise swagger of New York's underground scene and the shameless whoredom of whatever was popular at the time. This was precisely what made them great.
Consider "Atomic": a pulsating beat that is more than just a little bit disco, a great guitar line that carries the song, a vocal performance -- isolated to the middle of the song, instead of following the traditional structure of verses and choruses throughout the song -- that makes up in personality what it lacks in technical proficiency. As with most great bands, Blondie would have gone nowhere without an impeccable drummer -- Clem Burke, one of the best drummers of his era.
Friday, May 11, 2012
5/11/2012
Neko Case -- "This Tornado Love You"
Neko Case makes music for people like me: people who tried for a long time to be cool but gave up on it as we settled into maturity. If this is the equivalent of easy listening for my demographic, I accept my fate willingly.
The songs on Middle Cyclone are characterized in part by a sense of the singer's growing maturity, but an even larger feature of the album is the theme displayed prominently in this, the album's opening track: the relationship between human beings and nature. Case explores this theme in a bit of an unconventional way: more Wallace Stevens observing nature on his walk to work than Henry Thoreau isolating himself by going out into the woods alone. Case seems to be questioning the expectations we have of nature. The inspiration for this song, I imagine, is the kind of comment one is likely to hear after a destructive bout of tornadic activity: I guess it was just God's will. The tornado has to happen for a reason. We look for meaning in the natural phenomena around us as though we are unwilling to admit that things like this just happen, for no apparent reason that is sensible to us. To admit that would mean that we are not the center of creation. People are baffled when nature doesn't seem to love us.
The fact is, though, that nature is quite content to go about its business without any special regard for us, which is what Case seems to be saying elsewhere (consider the album's final track -- crickets and frogs for 31:39). I can only suppose then that this song is a farce, a satire of the way the human mind tends to think that everything around us is ordered according to our own conception of things.
Maybe I'm taking the song in the wrong direction. Maybe the tornado really does love you. Then the song is simply about the two most destructive forces in all of creation: love and tornadoes.
Either way, the song works.
Neko Case makes music for people like me: people who tried for a long time to be cool but gave up on it as we settled into maturity. If this is the equivalent of easy listening for my demographic, I accept my fate willingly.
The songs on Middle Cyclone are characterized in part by a sense of the singer's growing maturity, but an even larger feature of the album is the theme displayed prominently in this, the album's opening track: the relationship between human beings and nature. Case explores this theme in a bit of an unconventional way: more Wallace Stevens observing nature on his walk to work than Henry Thoreau isolating himself by going out into the woods alone. Case seems to be questioning the expectations we have of nature. The inspiration for this song, I imagine, is the kind of comment one is likely to hear after a destructive bout of tornadic activity: I guess it was just God's will. The tornado has to happen for a reason. We look for meaning in the natural phenomena around us as though we are unwilling to admit that things like this just happen, for no apparent reason that is sensible to us. To admit that would mean that we are not the center of creation. People are baffled when nature doesn't seem to love us.
The fact is, though, that nature is quite content to go about its business without any special regard for us, which is what Case seems to be saying elsewhere (consider the album's final track -- crickets and frogs for 31:39). I can only suppose then that this song is a farce, a satire of the way the human mind tends to think that everything around us is ordered according to our own conception of things.
Maybe I'm taking the song in the wrong direction. Maybe the tornado really does love you. Then the song is simply about the two most destructive forces in all of creation: love and tornadoes.
Either way, the song works.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
5/10/2012
The Lively Ones -- "Surf Rider"
I was just starting to get into surf music at the time that Pulp Fiction came out. I had a Rhino collection of surf classics, a Dick Dale collection, and a great collection of tunes by The Shadows. This track, though, from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, is probably my all-time favorite surf instrumental.
A good surf instrumental has that classic minor-key melancholy*, some honkin' sax, and maybe some organ or electric piano to complete the sound. Of course, the guitar echoes through waves of reverb, an evocation of the pipeline: it's the perfect complement to the experience of a lone surfer at odds with nature and physics, an existential drama.
What distinguishes this track from other surf classics? All I can really say is that it just captures exactly the right mood.
------------------------------------
*Because, as the Anglo-Saxon warriors in Beowulf know, there's always another monster out there to be defeated -- always another wave -- and one of these days the killer is going to get you.
I was just starting to get into surf music at the time that Pulp Fiction came out. I had a Rhino collection of surf classics, a Dick Dale collection, and a great collection of tunes by The Shadows. This track, though, from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, is probably my all-time favorite surf instrumental.
A good surf instrumental has that classic minor-key melancholy*, some honkin' sax, and maybe some organ or electric piano to complete the sound. Of course, the guitar echoes through waves of reverb, an evocation of the pipeline: it's the perfect complement to the experience of a lone surfer at odds with nature and physics, an existential drama.
What distinguishes this track from other surf classics? All I can really say is that it just captures exactly the right mood.
------------------------------------
*Because, as the Anglo-Saxon warriors in Beowulf know, there's always another monster out there to be defeated -- always another wave -- and one of these days the killer is going to get you.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
5/9/2012
Shoes -- Side B of Eccentric Breaks and Beats
More of the same great stuff you'll find on side A.
More of the same great stuff you'll find on side A.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
5/8/2012
Big Star -- "O My Soul"
"I can't get a license to drive-a my car, but I don't really need it cause I'm a big star."
Wishful thinking, perhaps, but it seems like the whole idea of Big Star was to have fun pretending to be just that -- big stars.
I can't bring myself to take this song too seriously, but maybe I should. Drink till you drop, stay up all night: rock and roll cliches. The band was on the verge of collapse, but it sounds like they're having a good time. What matters is the sound of Alex Chilton's guitar: a sound he did not have dialled in yet on Big Star's first album. I'm guessing that he's playing through a Vox AC30, but I could be wrong. Any which way, it sounds great.
"I can't get a license to drive-a my car, but I don't really need it cause I'm a big star."
Wishful thinking, perhaps, but it seems like the whole idea of Big Star was to have fun pretending to be just that -- big stars.
I can't bring myself to take this song too seriously, but maybe I should. Drink till you drop, stay up all night: rock and roll cliches. The band was on the verge of collapse, but it sounds like they're having a good time. What matters is the sound of Alex Chilton's guitar: a sound he did not have dialled in yet on Big Star's first album. I'm guessing that he's playing through a Vox AC30, but I could be wrong. Any which way, it sounds great.
Monday, May 7, 2012
5/7/2012
Big Star -- "Dony"
I often find the brilliance of Big Star hard to explain, but I do think it's here to be found in this song, from the late Alex Chilton's lukewarmly-received 2005 resurrection of the band. If nothing else, I'd have to say that the sound coming from Chilton's amp is just right: a crunchy pop crackle, not so much distortion that it drowns out the sound of the vacuum tubes, but enough to make the edges just a little fuzzy, a little jagged. It fills up a little more space that way. The simple guitar break is classic Big Star.
The sound of Big Star always teetered between that of the Stones and that of the Beatles, and here they are mostly in Stones terrain. Derivative, perhaps, but that's one of the things we love about rock music. Past their prime, but who isn't these days? I think that Radio City was their best work, but for power-pop fans this still does the trick.
I often find the brilliance of Big Star hard to explain, but I do think it's here to be found in this song, from the late Alex Chilton's lukewarmly-received 2005 resurrection of the band. If nothing else, I'd have to say that the sound coming from Chilton's amp is just right: a crunchy pop crackle, not so much distortion that it drowns out the sound of the vacuum tubes, but enough to make the edges just a little fuzzy, a little jagged. It fills up a little more space that way. The simple guitar break is classic Big Star.
The sound of Big Star always teetered between that of the Stones and that of the Beatles, and here they are mostly in Stones terrain. Derivative, perhaps, but that's one of the things we love about rock music. Past their prime, but who isn't these days? I think that Radio City was their best work, but for power-pop fans this still does the trick.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
5/6/2012
Television Personalities -- "This Angry Silence"
There's the attitude -- the irreverence and the vicious rock minimalism -- of punk here, but the real antecedents of this song might be The Kinks and The Who. At the same time, this song is in line with what we now call post-punk, pushing toward a new way of understanding music. Each movement that comes along in the history of popular music is a kind of music criticism, making statements about how to interpret and reinterpret the music of those who came before you, making statements about what to value in what we listen to. By reasserting some long neglected rock basics here, Television Personalities was doing something new.
There's the attitude -- the irreverence and the vicious rock minimalism -- of punk here, but the real antecedents of this song might be The Kinks and The Who. At the same time, this song is in line with what we now call post-punk, pushing toward a new way of understanding music. Each movement that comes along in the history of popular music is a kind of music criticism, making statements about how to interpret and reinterpret the music of those who came before you, making statements about what to value in what we listen to. By reasserting some long neglected rock basics here, Television Personalities was doing something new.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
5/5/2012
Shoes -- Side A from Eccentric Breaks and Beats
Genius interpretations of lost classics from Eccentric Soul.
Genius interpretations of lost classics from Eccentric Soul.
Friday, May 4, 2012
5/4/2012
The Band -- "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
In honor of the late Levon Helm, the only drummer who could make Joan Baez cry.
The thing that always surprises me about this song is simply that it's so great. Though I love the traditional music of the American South -- old time, New Orleans jazz, Delta blues, honky tonk -- I have always hesitated at the celebration of Southern culture. I find songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" to be cloying and even offensive: I'm on Neil Young's side.
What this track does, though, is to go beyond a celebration of the South and its culture. It enters into a perspective: it's a story-song. Helm is channeling a voice from the past. The pathos in the song comes from Helm's vocal (and, sure, his drumming, if drums can be emotional). The sense of nostalgia that the song evokes is not cheap. The details of the story being told are a bit ambiguous, but the sense of feeling is clear enough. History sweeps on inevitably, and individuals are caught in the midst of it.
In honor of the late Levon Helm, the only drummer who could make Joan Baez cry.
The thing that always surprises me about this song is simply that it's so great. Though I love the traditional music of the American South -- old time, New Orleans jazz, Delta blues, honky tonk -- I have always hesitated at the celebration of Southern culture. I find songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" to be cloying and even offensive: I'm on Neil Young's side.
What this track does, though, is to go beyond a celebration of the South and its culture. It enters into a perspective: it's a story-song. Helm is channeling a voice from the past. The pathos in the song comes from Helm's vocal (and, sure, his drumming, if drums can be emotional). The sense of nostalgia that the song evokes is not cheap. The details of the story being told are a bit ambiguous, but the sense of feeling is clear enough. History sweeps on inevitably, and individuals are caught in the midst of it.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
5/3/2012
Tennessee Ernie Ford -- "Sixteen Tons"
Not your typical country song, this track musically explores the outer limits of what might be considered country music, eschewing the typical steel guitar and fiddle for the jazzier sound of finger snaps and clarinet, while the lyrics cut to the heart of the frustration and violence that can mar the rugged life of a miner. Ford's arrangement was probably not what Merle Travis had in mind when he wrote the song, but it works.
Not your typical country song, this track musically explores the outer limits of what might be considered country music, eschewing the typical steel guitar and fiddle for the jazzier sound of finger snaps and clarinet, while the lyrics cut to the heart of the frustration and violence that can mar the rugged life of a miner. Ford's arrangement was probably not what Merle Travis had in mind when he wrote the song, but it works.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
5/2/2012
Iceage -- "White Rune"
I have generally determined that you young people have your music and I have mine, but this song breaks the generational barrier. These Swedes may still be teenagers, but they have old souls. The sound of this track is pretty familiar -- this kind of riffing always hearkens back to Black Sabbath in these ears of mine, even if it's been filtered through hardcore and newer strains of metal -- but it's also fresh. There's something new about it, but it's also old, like it came out of Norse saga -- out of the last ice age.
Even though the vocals are in English, I still can't understand a damned thing. But no matter.
I have generally determined that you young people have your music and I have mine, but this song breaks the generational barrier. These Swedes may still be teenagers, but they have old souls. The sound of this track is pretty familiar -- this kind of riffing always hearkens back to Black Sabbath in these ears of mine, even if it's been filtered through hardcore and newer strains of metal -- but it's also fresh. There's something new about it, but it's also old, like it came out of Norse saga -- out of the last ice age.
Even though the vocals are in English, I still can't understand a damned thing. But no matter.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
5/1/2012
Ames Harris Desert Water Bag Co -- "People"
Another Eccentric Soul track, the single best recording of the series that I have yet heard. Why this was not a number one hit in 1971, I do not know.
Straight out of East St. Louis: the wah-wah rhythm guitar that holds the song together, the horn section that keeps it moving forward, the interplay between the lead call and the choral response, the spoken word social commentary -- the first time you hear it, this seems like a soul classic you could have been hearing all your life, and you wish you had.
Another Eccentric Soul track, the single best recording of the series that I have yet heard. Why this was not a number one hit in 1971, I do not know.
Straight out of East St. Louis: the wah-wah rhythm guitar that holds the song together, the horn section that keeps it moving forward, the interplay between the lead call and the choral response, the spoken word social commentary -- the first time you hear it, this seems like a soul classic you could have been hearing all your life, and you wish you had.
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