Wednesday, November 18, 2009

2004 singles #s 37, 36 and 35

37. “First of the Gang to Die” - Morrissey. Sour and wistful nostalgia (did you really expect Morrissey to celebrate any sort of simple feeling?) about an old friend who was always a bit out in front of his cohort. "We are the pretty petty thieves" may be an off-puttingly fey line, but that's the only one, and the music is far from fey.


36. “Pow!” - Lethal Bizzle. Beats you about the head and shouts in your face until you like it. Guest after guest, there is no let up in its intensity.


35. “Chosen One” - Riko and Target. This British rap leaves so much ammo on the floor it is a wonder they can two-step to their sequencers to programme the next level of beat.

Song of the day, 18 November 2009

"Have a Nice Day" by Roxanne Shante

The main themes for today were

  • another full on day
  • success!
  • Waters of Mars!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

2004 singles #s 40, 39 and 38

40. “Redneck Woman” - Gretchen Wilson. Sure its identity politics are gimmicky, but it is just so catchy in its trashiness.


39. “Rock and Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) Part 2” - Handsome Boy Modelling School. A multi-part tour de force, sometimes silly, sometimes seeing history through an interesting prism, sometimes boypop, sometimes rockin' the classics.


38. “Puttin' People on the Moon” - Drive By Truckers. A life story told from underfoot. As history this may be pretty loose, but f**k it, that's the way desperate folk that don't stay with school, and who live next door to NASA, may see things. And Mary Alice's short battle with cancer could be the basis of a health care reform advert.

The main themes for today were

  • mad, crazy, stupid but we got thru
  • the library feels different in the evening
  • Rumpole of the Bailey

Beenie Man

On Scoop today, Gordon Campbell has an article up about the controversy surrounding the now withdrawn invitation for the Jamaican Dancehall musician Beenie Man to perform at the Big Day Out this year.

By in large I think the right result has been reached. While Beenie Man appears to have promised to not perform homophobic material in his shows, I really have no problem with the organisers of the Big Day Out deciding that he isn't really worth the trouble.

However, I do want to respond to the comparison Gordon Campbell makes between this controversey and the situations of Eminem and Ice T, who stirred up comparable controverseys.

Campbell suggests that the latter two have received a pass where Beenie Man hasn't. He implies that the reason may be that Eminem and Ice T are more successful, and that the likes of Elton John, a gay man who defended Eminem, don't want to appear uncool.

However, there is a simpler explanation. While the situations between these three artists appear similar, the reality is that Ice T and Eminem are complex artists that use characterisation and mask play to make wider political or satirical points, whereas Beenie Man's hate lyrics appear to be heartfelt, and use a religious basis as an appeal to authority.

Consider the Eminem quote that Campbell uses, and compare it to the Beenie man quotes given. The difference between them is that the Eminem quote is about language, whereas Beenie Man's is presented as his opinion, however exaggerated. Throughout the entire album the Eminem quote is taken from, everything said turns in on itself and disappears down a trap door of self referentiality. If you are asked to take that quote straight, you are also forced to accept that Slim Shady (Eminem's alter ego) intends to personally kill you, me, and every other member of his potential audience, as he says he will at the start.

I have plenty of sympathy for people who would prefer not to listen to these lyrics and others of Eminem's (or Ice T's "Cop Killer"). But to state that either Eminem or Ice T advocate what their songs portray is factually wrong.

So let's give Elton John a bit more credit. His stated reason for supporting Eminem at the time was that he was a fan of British comedy and knew satire when he heard it. Rare among critics at the time, he understood that Eminem is (or was at the time) a comic artist, black, complex, disturbing but exceptionall clever and more than he appeared to his critics.

Whereas, as far as I can tell, Beenie Man and his ilk justify their homophobia because they come from a religious culture that frowns upon homosexuality. It isn't satire but reactionary agitprop.

Monday, November 16, 2009

2004 singles #s 43, 42 and 41

43. “American Idiot” - Green Day. Well timed, and they're right - the media has made America stupid. Well, some of it, anyway… a significant proportion that in 2004 saw Bush re-elected on the back of obvious lies about Iraq that over 50% of the country believed well beyond the point at which they were exposed.


42. “Yeah” - LCD Soundsystem. Shameless in their exploitation of disco, they not only talk about it, they even aim to get things done, especially as their chants gather mass after a year or several.


41. “Sex Love and Money” - Mos Def. The flute meets The Untouchables meets Mos Def's sensual, carefully crafted flow. This struggles slightly to push out beyond the bounds of a singular album, but like the best sex (and love) (but not money) it doesn't need to come on to you directly to have its way with you.

Song of the day, 16 November 2009

"Bloodnok's Rock 'n' Roll Call" by The Goons

The main themes for today were

  • all on, all the time
  • hoarse voices following the football
  • Mornington Crescent

Thursday, November 12, 2009

2004 singles #s 46, 45 and 44

46. “Don't Look Back into the Sun” - The Libertines. Is Pete Docherty giving sage advice to someone who wants to make a change or a break, or is he complaining about an infamous tabloid known to hound him a bit? Doesn't really matter because the band rocks both hard and light at the same time.


45. “Bloody Mother F***ing A**hole” - Martha Wainwright. Loudon Wainwright III was always honest about his personal failings. I'm not certain that Martha is the daughter he first met on her first birthday (according to one of his songs), but this confessional folk-song widely thought to be addressed to him certainly makes it seem possible.


44. “Chewing Gum” - Annie. The thing about bubblegum is that its great in just the right amount. Beyond that you start to get lockjaw.

The main themes for today were

  • Attended a seminar
  • kept ending up at the railway station
  • nice dinner out

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

2004 singles #s 49, 48 and 47

49. “Ballad of the Kingsmen” - Todd Snider. Not so much about “Louie Louie”, although the remarkable story of that song is at the centre of this tale. It is the social phenomenon that that story exemplifies that catches Snider's particular interest. So this liberal country-folkie comes out against moral panic and for the kids' judgement vis a vis Marilyn Manson and Eminem, both recent hot topics. And then caps it by pointing out tensions between Christian and wider American values.


48. “Destruction VIP” - Jammer feat. Wiley, D Double E, Kano and Durrty Doogz. I'm less interested in which generic micro-distinction of UK rap this belongs to than the fact that the artists fill up every available space with fast voice and harsh or dramatic sounds. Busy busy busy.


47. “The Adventures of the Lactating Man” - Infinite Livez. You'll laugh and you'll squirm at this tale of a very unusual fellow and its sound effects.

Song of the day, 11 November 2009

"Big Bizang" by MC Hawking. The good professor drops science.



The main themes for today were

  • Insufficient sleep
  • Engagement at the office!
  • Excellent bubbles

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

2004 singles #s 52, 51 and 50

52. “You are the Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve” - Johnny Boy. That glassy post-Psychocandy indie-pop sound can sure be pretty, almost floating away on the breeze at times. Thank goodness then for the piling-on in the song's second half, which gives it some musical heft. The title promises much more than the slightly vague lyrics can deliver, but perhaps that is what the generation that was raised by the Cocteau Twins deserve.


51. “Banquet” - Bloc Party. The early 80s return (yet again!) with lithe, hard charging guitar lines and lyrics about some creep or possibly confused person exploiting an innocent young thing. Judge for yourself whether they can handle that theme; the music is real nice.


50. “The Rat” - The Walkmen. They emote fiercely and sure do get really serious in their terrible isolation, reflected in the studied thrash of their indie rock guitars and the non-cheesy (well, okay, only a bit cheesy) fake organ beneath.

Song of the day, 10 November 2009

"Casmir Pulaski Day" by Sufjan Stevens

The main themes for today were

  • What's the hurry? day
  • Cracked open the light jacket so summer must be just around the corner
  • lots of traffic in town

What's in yr changer? part 33

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band – Trout Mask Replica. Legendary for being willfully alienating, with none of the bits of each song seeming to fit any other bits (and recorded so the musicians had to guess what the rest of the band was up to), against the odds it is worth sticking to. I started getting off on Zoot Horn Rollo's galvanizing guitar parts after a while, and Beefheart's ever so free sax blowing also gave me a charge. Then you realise that it starts to jam in its inexplicable way, and that Beefheart's ever so free poetry and Delta blues is among the funniest stuff you have ever heard. Except for the one about Dachau, which is a risk to say the least.

The Band – The Band. The concept is realised so fully that you can almost believe they were playing honky tonks with plugged in instruments within living memory of the civil war.

Bob Dylan – Nashville Skyline. His songs here are perversely simple, sometimes almost childlike, but sound lovely. Best trick: the new, orthodox, comfortably in-tune tenor.

Bootsy Collins – Back in the Day: The Best of Bootsy Collins. Although he has a tonne of bounce to the ounce, I can't help wishing many of these tracks were songs rather than pieces.

The Mekons – Punk Rock. The Mekons present: From their 25th Anniversary Spectacular.

The Baseball Project – Vol 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails. Some indie rock pals and an REM guy make a concept album about America's Favorite Pastime. Such things risk embarrassment unless they have good songs performed with some zest, which is rare enough. But these guys pitch such a near perfect game they create a bit of a miracle.

Monday, November 9, 2009

2004 singles #s 55, 54 and 53

55. “Float On” - Modest Mouse. Isaac Brock seems to have had a very good day – sometimes things are just okay no matter what actually happens to you. Can we infer therefore that he's had some not so good days in his recent past, that explain the passion in his voice? Anyway, that's not why this is here; it is in because it's the catchiest piece of indie rock fluff in the vicinity.


54. “Take Me Out” - Franz Ferdinand. It is nice to have a short, sharp, pointed rock song come along every now and again, with a chorus and a sense that there is a world beyond the band's bedroom. I still say that the reason these guys were a sensation (this was placed number one single of the year in several polls) had more to do with the design aesthetics of their image, though.


53. “Tipsy” - J-Kwon. Don't let's breakdance, let's stumble around like we've had a couple too many and need to satisfy the munchies but don't quite have the wherewithal to find a local MacDonald's but might irritate the heck out of several people as we try.

Song of the day, 9 November 2009

"Every Sperm is Sacred" by Monty Python. Full-on production number!

The main themes for today were

  • Library at lunch
  • Cold snap
  • Surveys and then charities

Saturday, November 7, 2009

2004 singles #s 58,57 and 56

58. “Terrorist Song” - Muscular Christians. Let's start off with a simple, happy folk tune that simply lists some facts about, and the names of, some of America's bogeymen.


57. “Hounds of Love” - The Futureheads. It has always been a great tune, so why shouldn't a young rock band want to sing it? Because it is physically, intellectually and spiritually impossible for them to ever be Kate Bush, they settle upon a novel and quite sensible approach: they play it dead straight in their new rock and roll way.


56. “Frontline (Creepy Crawler Mix)” - Big E.D. A troubled sonic environment that is filled with disconcerting sounds, like an aural representation of the bottom of your garden at root level. Slow and writhing, like a centipede or a big big spider. Shudder.

2004 fits into this nutshell here

2004 was a troubled year and one that didn't feel like it had a particular shape, musically. The war and the US election were major themes, although they were mostly left to reactionary country singers and more obscure figures when they went against the incumbent and his defenders.

There was a few good new rock bands, and quite a lot of good music by people we'll certainly encounter again as we move backward in time. There was some good American hip hop, although not as much as in other years that valued beats more than grandiose soundtracks. There was even some excellent country, including one of the best vocal performances I've ever heard. And the best middle of the road band since Fleetwood Mac features a female singer songwriter of quite uncommon depth and economy.

There also was quite a lot of British rap, a possibly inaccurate umbrella term for a set of genres I can't entirely distinguish between (UK Garage, Grime, 2-step etc). I don't care - I don't really think genres are very important. I think the motor of the music is, and although it has different sounds that may effect me slightly differently, it often gives me the same type of euphoria when it revs up just right. And sometimes there was enough melodic and thematic smarts going on that I got the message even when the car was just idling.

I found 58 remarkable records that I was happy to call singles, and happy to call fine records, and that can't be bad. Toward the top they started to feel great indeed.

58 remarkable singles of 2004, only two the same single...

I can count back almost the whole way, by which I mean I could probably find a few dozen remarkable songs each year back until sometime in the 1920s. So, why not, I'm going to countdown another year here.

Why? This blog was partly to give me some structure for my hobby, which is discovering music and understanding its shape a little bit. Counting down a list of remarkable records for each year, going backwards, may give me some real insights into what has happened. It already has, in fact - those boogie woogie piano players in the late 1920s could almost sound like rock and roll, and did you know that John Lee Hooker invented hard rock in the late 1940s?

It takes a bit of effort to make up one of these lists - ensure I've heard at least the obvious candidates, develop a way to put them in order, find something that isn't completely boring to say about each of them. So I don't know how far I will get. But hey, each step is a record I like listening to, and thanks to the power of youtube, you could learn to love a few things here too.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Song of the day, 4 November 2009

"Democracy" by Leonard Cohen