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Halloween is by far my favorite holiday - it’s the only one that’s all about fun and no work. No stressful shopping, no huge feast to prepare, no giving thanks. Carving a pumpkin? Awesome. Buying and eating candy? Mmmm. Wearing a costume? Always fun. And - the best part - watching crappy slasher flicks where a quiet and very focused masked man butchers a small town’s delinquent teenagers as a twisted form of revenge for a wrong done to him as a child? Excellent. Halloween is all about enjoying the cheesiest guilty pleasures and there’s nothing better. Happy Halloween, old friends!
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Is it common knowledge that Jerry Garcia plays Harry the homeless guy’s banjo bits in Philip Kaufman’s Invasion Of The Body Snatchers? I had no idea. I was watching the movie earlier today and I really liked Harry’s songs and his dog - NOT the alien doggy pod clone that wears Harry’s face … yuck. But I digress, I looked up the actor, because I thought he might have been a musician. It turns out that though the actor who plays the banjo man is called Joe Bellan, Jerry Garcia is the one who plays over Joe’s ass kicking faux-finger picking. I also learned that it is impossible to find a sample, a name, or even a clip of the banjo song played in the movie. So I’m calling on all you movie buffs and Deadheads out there, if anybody knows anything about it, please do share your awesome smarts.
Here’s a great song that shows off Jerry’s banjo skillz:
Jerry Garcia - Catfish John
Next month another version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers comes out starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, called The Invasion. I’m curious what it will be like, because the original movie from the fifties was influenced by the communist witch hunts at the time, and the first remake from the seventies was set against the background of the post-Vietnam, post-Watergate paranoia of (political) conspiracies. I wonder if the current political climate is also somehow represented in this new version. Other than what’s on the IMDB, I don’t know anything else about The Invasion, but they’re gonna have a really hard time trying to top the 1978 one.
Nine Inch Nails - Survivalism
Back in the day, grunge was the shiznit. Ah, to think of those times again. When it was acceptable to look like a bum. When plaid flannel was de rigour. Good times. Good times, indeed. Actually, good grunge and much about that scene is still the shiznit.
Most probably think of Nirvana and Pearl Jam when they harken back to those days of yore. For me, though, among the flood of great, good, and downright upsetting groups coming out of Seattle between 1990-1994, Alice In Chains really stands out. Dark and introspective lyrics over heavy metal-esque instrumentals. They really left an impression on that time in my life.
And, when I think about Alice In Chains I always think of “Rooster”, off the 1992 release Dirt. It might not be their best song or even my favorite (that’d be “Man In The Box”). But, the track got significant videoplay and I watched MTV a lot back then (before MTV become less Music Television and more Moron Television). The rooster pecked and crowed its way permanently into the recesses of my brain, where it still lurks today.
Alice in Chains - Rooster
If you’re just a casual fan and don’t already know, check out the Wikipedia write-up about the song’s background and meaning.
Interested in what Alice In Chains is up to now? Visit the official Alice In Chains site.
Back in high school, The Cardigans’ Life was one of my favorite albums. I didn’t know anyone else that listened to it at the time so I don’t know where I first heard about them, but from the moment I took that album home, I fell in love. The swingin’ 60s melodies and Nina Persson’s wonderfully soft yet semi-saucy voice made for an album that I would listen to for years. 12 years later, Life is still a fantastic album. Although I was also very fond of First Band On The Moon, I’ve never been as much of as a Cardigans fan as much as I was back in 1995. I got to see them live in Amsterdam, around about the time Gran Turismo came out, but it was still those early songs that I wanted to hear.
The Cardigans - Tomorrow
The Cardigans - Fine
With Nina Sky due to release their delayed second non-mixtape album (The Musical) later this summer, I thought I’d make public that the duo is one of my guilty pleasures. Yes, the soundtrack of my life features groups and artists of the softer, female-based variety. Of course, I make this confession in confidence, so you shouldn’t spread it around.
There’s something about their simple harmonization that’s just plain ol’ catchy and easy to listen to. Oh, and they have the obligatory ’sex appeal’. That helps, too. To prove it on the harmonization front, I’ve dug around in my bucket-of-fun for some collaborations they’ve done. Tell me you aren’t mesmerized. Of course, if you’re not a hip hop fan - and the samples below are pulled from my hip hop collection instead of their more R&B solo tracks - then definitely pick up their self-titled debut while waiting to buy the second album.
The Alchemist - Hold You Down (ft Prodigy, Nina Sky, Illa Ghee)
Garcia - Let Me Hear You Say (ft Pitbull, Nina Sky, NORE)(Hood Remix)
Pitbull - Turnin Me On (ft Nina Sky)(Remix)
Sean Paul - Connection (ft Nina Sky)
Visit the Nina SkySpace to have a listen to other tracks and, even better, the Official Nina Sky site, at which you can download a few 100% free mixtapes.
I thought doing Soundtrack Day this week would be easy. But as it turns out, spending many weeks unpacking, sorting, organizing, re-organizing, and sleeping while listening to barely any music (sad but true) doesn’t make for really good music-related anecdotes. Hmm.
However, I have managed to pick up a bunch of albums that I’d been looking forward to. That little stack is seriously all I’ve listened to for ages. It goes without saying that Icky Thump is my favorite recent release. Taking that whole album out of the running, here’s my favorite tracks from the stack so far:
Ryan Adams - Pearls On A String
Blanche - I Can’t Sit Down
Interpol - All Fired Up
Following a suggestion from the Bean, my run-in with Soundtrack Day today recalls the first album I can remember buying. Well, actually, the first album I can remember asking my parents to buy for me and and another album I recall listening to an awful lot for an 11- and 12-year-old.
First, Quiet Riot’s history-making 1983 mega-album Metal Health. History-making because it was the first metal album to top the Billboard Album Chart and first to have a single in the Top 5 of the Singles Chart (the “Cum On Feel The Noize” Slade cover). Mega-album because it was multi-platinum and really marked the launch of metal in the early-1980s. Dude, it’s a classic and a number of the tracks still rock hard to this day! (Devil Horns! Yeah!)
And, second, oh, yes, 1983 was a good year for rock. Udo Dirkschneider’s Accept - a dark and vaguely absurd Teutonic bridge between early speed metal songs by various groups and the later speed metal genre. I hadn’t listened to Balls To The Wall in yonks and (Devil Horns!) “Balls To The Wall” really throbs (weak pun intended). Heavy, grinding, weird. Excellent.
The soundtrack of 1983 and 1984! (Devil Horns!)
Quiet Riot - Cum On Feel The Noize
Quiet Riot - Metal Health (Bang Your Head)
Accept - Balls To The Wall
The other day I felt like listening to some poppy tunes so I turned on the radio. I had a blast at first, I sang along with Christina and Justin, but then Avril Lavine ruined it with the line ‘She’s like so whatever’. Seriously?!? Good god, she’s become the Cher Horowitz of Pop. That totally ruined my pop appetite, so I turned off the radio and browsed through the free mp3s of newly added bands on 7Digital’s Indiestore instead. Before all the merriment starts I want to make clear that I am in no way affiliated with 7digital, but I would accept money from 7digital … from anyone really.
I had to wade through a pool of some scary homemade gothic rap acts, but I was surprised to come across some nice new bands too. If some of these songs sound a bit sucky, please do not adjust your set, it’s probably because they were recorded in Bobby The Bassplayer’s basement.
Dakar Rally - Confidence Trick
These guys have a really fun London-ish Indie pop sound. That’s code for they’re most likely inspired by the likes of The Libertines and Bloc Party, but on uppers. This song is great, it makes me want to bust a move and that’s never a bad thing.
The Operation - Sing For The People
These guys compare themselves with The Magic Numbers, but I don’t hear it … not in this song anyway. It’s a very catchy rile up the masses type of song reminiscent of Kasabian.
The Steeples - Samples
This a medley of samples of a few of The Steeples surprisingly good songs. Geez, I tried but they make it impossible to buy full songs from them. Anyway, if you mourned the demise of Larrikin Love earlier this year and you’re in love with The Kooks and Mystery Jets, The Steeples are your band.
The Bedroom Orchestra - Walls (Bedroom Version)
Folksy crooner with a pleasant voice in the vein of James Morrison and John Mayer. This was my favorite of the three songs he had up for free.
The Hornblower Brothers - Courtship Prior To Coïtus
Aw, these guys sound so sweet! Can I keep them, can I? Great lyrics and a swinging, summery melody. My favoritest line is ‘It’s scary that there are really twats that read the Daily Mail and believe Pete Doherty drank from the Holy Grail’. Hee. This band is my favorite of the bunch, just for being the most adorable thing ever. They even managed to make the words ‘Al Qaeda’ sound cute!
An international move is in the works and for the past week I’ve been sitting in my empty apartment and sleeping on an air mattress, eating take out, sandwiches, cookies, various chip-type foods, watching weak television on a small, old set, and surfing the Internet when a public wireless connection allows. I’ve completely lost track of time and days, despite the television and Internet.
Here’s an illustration of what being in this empty apartment and rarely leaving is doing to me.
I participate in a simulation baseball league and run the games every Wednesday, almost like clockwork unless I warn everyone in advance. The Swiss might be able to set their clocks using me instead of some secret alien atomic clock. Not this week. I woke up Tuesday thinking it was Wednesday. Seeing the wireless connection was working I decided to run the games and upload them. I only realized it wasn’t game day when I checked later and a few people pointed out - with justifiable indignation if you know competitive simulation baseball - I’d run the games 30 hours early and could have given them a bit of notice. Of course, I felt like a dumbass because we don’t re-run games. History is history, come what may. Anyway, someone in the forum said it sounded like I could be having a Captain Benjamin Willard Apocalypse Now experience.
I think that strikes the right chord.
So, to complete my point (finally), I lost track of the days again yesterday, not realizing a) it was Wednesday and b) I was scheduled for Soundtrack Day. I think I’m losing my mind. This is probably a time warp, days are jumping around and getting lost. Definitely a case for “Mulder And Scully” from Catatonia’s International Velvet (1998).
Catatonia - Mulder And Scully
I’m normally not a quiz taking kinda girl but so many bloggers have done this one and I wanted to be one of the cool kids too! Plus I got bored with playing digital Sudoku, so here it goes:
Directions: If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?
1. Open your mp3 library
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press Play.
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the Next button.
6. No skipping to up your cool.
My Movie:
1. Opening credits: White Stripes - God Makes No Mistakes
2. Waking up: Poor Boy Johnson - Ain’t Doing Too Much Talking
3. First day of school: The Boy Least Likely To - I See Spiders When I Close My Eyes
4. Falling In Love: Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
5. Breaking up: Band Marino - Every Time I Make A Girl Cry I Know I’ve Done My Job
6. Prom: The Coup - Underdogs
7. Life’s okay: Goran Gora - Slow Down
8. Mental breakdown: Good Shoes - Photos On My Wall
9. Driving: Oh Brother Where Art Thou - Didn’t leave Nobody But The Baby
10. Flashback: The Maccabees - About Your Dress
11. Getting back together: Jesus H Christ &The Four Hornsmen Of The Apocalypse - She’s A Six
12. Wedding song: Tapes n Tapes - Ten Gallon Ascots
13. Birth of first child: The Most Serene Repubic - Content Always Was My Favorite Color
14. Final battle scene: The Mountain Goats - Woke Up New
15. Death scene: Ima Robot - STD Dance
16. Funeral song: New York Dolls - Pills
17. End credits: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Satan Said Dance
Some of them are a bit mean, like my Breaking Up and Getting Back Together tracks. First of all, if that Band Marino song wasn’t so damn good I would boycot it, because that hurts. Second of all, my mom says I’m a TEN, dang nabbit! There also seems to be some confusion as to how I died, was it an STD or all the pill poppin’? Or a happy combination of the two? I do love the fact that my movie soundtrack starts with God and ends with Satan … just like real life.
No person or group left an early hip hop impression on me like the uncompromising Carlton Ridenhour (bka Chuck D) and the crew of Public Enemy. The first PE album I bought was the 1988 It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back around the time of its release. There was no turning back.
I must have listened to It Takes A Nation Of Millions … a sonnuvabitchin lot back because I can still hear it banging in my head. You know, back in the day, when we used tapes? And we listened to them so often the track listings and information would rub right off? And how you’d pop it into your Walkman and it’d be the wrong side and you’d have to pop it out again to get to Side A. Unless, of course, you had one of them fancier Walkmans that let you switch directions on the fly to listen to the other side.
Sweet.
As one of the most influential and historic hip hop albums of all time - and, more importantly, one of my favorites - the album features prominently on the soundtrack of my life.
Then rock these bells.
Public Enemy - Night Of The Living Baseheads
Public Enemy - Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos
Finally, close the circle by picking up your own copy of the album.
It’s worth it.
I could name at least a dozen bands/artists or albums that turn out not to be as great as it first seemed. You know what I’m talking about - you get an album and think it’s great, but then the excitement kind of fizzles out and you notice a month later that you’d forgotten you even had it. The Shins, so far, have followed the exact opposite pattern, as you can see in the graph below.
If the orange line represents Chutes Too Narrow and the blue line is Wincing The Night Away, you can see an estimate of the frequency with which I’ve listened to these two albums since their releases. (A few notes about the graph: 1. I’ve not included Oh, Inverted World because I didn’t buy that until well after I’d already fallen in love with Chutes Too Narrow, which therefore excludes it from this study. 2. Time Passing data for Chutes Too Narrow is not proportionally correct on this graph, as including the appropriate space between the release of the two albums would have made it far wider than your browser window and totally messed up our column layout.)
Let’s have a look at the data, shall we?
Like every album ever listened to by man, The Shins do take dips in my listening habits. This usually starts with new releases that dominate my stereo for a while, which lead to other albums being played, etc. The interesting thing to notice is that, once The Shins get into my stereo, the Listening Frequency always climbs steadily. They don’t get played once here and there and then get put away again. I attribute this phenomenon to those things that make The Shins unique. Their lyrics are one of the few current bands (that I know of) that could just as well be read on paper as poetry - there’s no rhyming love and dove, they write about the world as they know it with a mastery of the English language that most bands could only dream of. James Mercer’s phrasing inspires compulsive listening - his voice never quite does what you expect it to, which you only really notice the more you hear him sing and makes him fascinating to listen to. Their combination of country, pop, and indie sounds make them suitable for any listening occasion - while working or reading, traveling, dancing, singing out loud and proud, nursing heartbreak, or quiet contemplation.
Although it’s not clear (see note 2 above) from the graph, Chutes Too Narrow’s Frequency climb was relatively gradual. But by the time Wincing The Night Away was released, I knew to expect greatness and, as a result, its rise to the top was much more rapid. In addition, the release of the newer album caused a bump in the Listening Frequency of the older one.
So what have we learned? Listening to The Shins just makes me want to listen to them more. Which makes them a very special (and rarely found) band indeed.
The Shins - Turn On Me
The last few days the Bean and I went to see three cool bands and one band with a whole lotta attitude play in the Melkweg. Wednesday was Good Shoes and The Rakes night. We always have so much fun at The Rakes’ gigs, part of that is due to the crowd’s crazy energy and the singer Alan’s excellent moves. They may not have taken Holland by storm yet, but the fans they do have here are hardcore. I thought I loved their music, but the audience, including the Bean, LOVES them. And deservedly so, their new songs sound even better live and for a smallish band they put up an amazing show.
Check out The Bean’s review of their latest album Ten New Messages.
Watch the concert in full over on Fabchannel.
We were so lucky to have Good Shoes support The Rakes, as they are a 100b New Band Day favorite. It’s nice to see a band who is still genuinely surprised to see people singing their songs back at them, but they seemed way more comfortable being on stage now than the first time we saw them last year. I’m still amazed at how these boys manage to create a new exciting, poppy but arty sound that’ll have you dancing on the ceiling like a bad Lionel Richie flashback.
Good Shoes - We Are Not The Same
Yesterday it was Maxïmo Park’s turn to dazzle us, but first we had to get through the support act, Hasselhoff. We always support the support even when their music is not our thing at all. We actually thought that the band was good at what they do, so it wouldn’t have been so bad if they didn’t have more bravado and hubris than ten Howlin’ Pelles combined, except without the irony and good music. They came off so contrived, it got a bit painful to look at them.
Maxïmo Park more than made up for the support. They’re the kind of band that’s great on record, but really blows your mind live. Their energy and enthusiasm is contagious and they always make us feel like it’s the first time anyone has ever appreciated their music the way we do. The audience sang, danced and screamed along with Paul Smith like he was their cult leader. We’ve seen them play a couple of times now and they’re always a concert highlight for us. Here is a new and an older favorite of mine:
Maxïmo Park - Nosebleed
Maxïmo Park - Fear Of Falling
When Tam and I go to concerts, there’s always at least one song that the DJ plays that we know but can’t figure out where from. Sometimes one of us will remember and blurt it out, but we usually have to give up so as to not drive ourselves insane. Earlier this week, I listened to The Spinto Band’s Nice And Nicely Done for the first time in months. I got that album not long after it came out but, as much as I enjoy it, I’ve only listened to it a few times. I kind of forgot I had it. So I was pretty surprised to find that at least half of those songs that Tam and I puzzle over are Spinto Band songs! I didn’t realize exactly how many great, catchy songs they’ve got on there. This is one I definitely knew without having any idea who sang it and, as my punishment for being so ignorant, I’ve had it stuck in my head on and off all week.
The Spinto Band - Japan Is An Island
The Bean and I went to see The Shins play at the Paradiso yesterday and it was excellent. We were expecting them to be great, but their support band Viva Voce, was the surprise of the evening. They easily won over the crowd with their big noise and sweet voices.
I have to admit I don’t own any of their three albums (yet), because I only knew one song and though I loved it, it soon got buried under a pile of new music yet to be listened to. Now that I’ve seen them live I want everything they’ve ever touched. Anita Robinson is my new hero, she is a guitar fiend!! She could make her instrument sing with the best of em and was very serious, whereas Kevin Robinson obviously loved entertaining the crowd. His super cool headband was not just a nice accessory, it was also sweat absorbent and Bean remarked that it had the added bonus of making him look like Richie Tenenbaum. On top of being a keen dresser, he is the first person I’ve ever seen play the guitar and drums at the same time. Last night they definitely made a believer out of me.
Viva Voce - Alive With Pleasure
Sure, sometimes having so much new music on the Internets clogs up the tubes, but if you’re patient, there’s some great stuff to preview out there this week.
1. Stream the entire new Kings of Leon album, Because Of The Times, on their myspace page. It’s so different from their previous stuff, it’s kind of freaking me out a little. It’s a little less boogie, a little more stadium. But I like it. A lot. “Black Thumbnail” and “Ragoo” are definite highlights already, and “Fans” seems like it combines the best of their older, more southern stuff and this new bigger sound. I only listened to about a minute of each song (I’m one of those freaks that likes my albums to be new and exciting when I get them, but I couldn’t stop myself from a little preview), so this is in no way an actual review. I heard just enough to know that I definitely want the album as soon as humanly possible.
Update: The Man wasn’t kidding about it being a limited preview, most of the album tracks have already been taken down. “On Call” and “Fans” are still there so, if you can’t wait until the album is released tomorrow, at least you can still listen to those two tracks.
2. The mighty Black Wire, as I like to call them, still have no record deal (which is just pathetic - is there no justice in this world? If I had some money or, you know, knowledge of that stuff, I would start my own label just to sign Black Wire.) but they do have a new human drummer. They’ve got some demos up on their myspace, as well as a new single coming out. No word yet on how to get this single for my own grubby self but I’m not too proud to accept a handout if someone wants to send me one.
3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have made their upcoming single, “Weapon Of Choice”, available at (yup, you guessed it) theirspace for your listening pleasure. It sounds like the BRMC that we were used to pre-Howl.
4. Maximo Park … oh, I can’t even be stuffed to type the sentence another time. Maximospace, new songs, etc. Our Earthly Pleasures comes out on Monday - from the songs available for preview listening, it doesn’t sound like a huge departure from A Certain Trigger but that’s fine by me. “Girls Who Play Guitars” is very catchy and makes me want to do a little dance.
So have fun previewing that stuff. I hope the tubes don’t get too jammed for you.
The 100b Crüe is going to see Bright Eyes play next weekend and I am beyond excited. His latest EP Four Winds is yet again exquisite. The way he’s not just able to pull, but drag the hearstrings up and down is amazing. Those of you who thought Digital Ash In A Digital Urn was a bit too ehm, synthy or poppy or something or … Ok I don’t actually know what you could have against Digital Ash other than that it sounds more experimental and different from anything he had done before, which to me makes it all the more phenomenal that he can excel at something that seems far removed from his previous work.
Anyway, I was saying that the six songs on Four Winds sound more country and familiar at first listen, but he wouldn’t be Conor Oberst if it wasn’t thrilling and new at the same time. The simplicity of the twangy guitars, harmonica, fiddle and other seemingly traditional instruments soon reveal a complicated layer of Bright Eyes-ness. I don’t know what else to call it. It has that unmistakable pessimistic beauty that we know and love so well, but totally reinvented. I can’t wait for the new album to come out if this is any indication of what it’s gonna sound like.
Listen to “Four Winds” from Saddle Creek.
Today is, as everyone in and around the UK already knows, Red Nose Day. Yes, it’s a little corny but I love it just the same. Donate some money here, you know you want to. Enjoy the fun cheesiness on BBC1 tonight and if you’ve been watching Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, vote for Tricia because she’s lovely. (And laugh at Rupert Everett for being such a wuss he couldn’t stick The Apprentice out for two whole days.)
Here’s 2005’s Comic Relief single but be warned - if you listen to it once, you’ll have it stuck in your head for the rest of your life.
Tony Christie Feat. Peter Kay - (Is This The Way To) Amarillo
I was curious about where the Parental Advisory warning came from and who the people who thought it up were in the first place. Well here they are, don’t they look like a wholesome bunch? These are the women who want to shield their children from images and songs about sex and violence even though they all look like Alexis from Dynasty’s regular bitch slappin’ partners.
People are built to covet that which has been labeled as forbidden. There are examples of that going all the way back to the day that Eve was walking around Paradise basking in the light of eternal bliss and God’s everlasting approval and thought “yeah this is all great, but what I really want is a bellyful of that mangy looking forbidden fruit”. So if you want one surefire way to get kids to listen to certain songs that might not have even been a blip on their radars put them on a Big Bad List Of Naughty, which is exactly what Tipper Gore, better half of Al “Global Warming is bad” Gore, and her band of merry wives of politicians did. In 1985 they started The Parent Music Resource Center (PMRC) and put out a list of songs, known as the Fitlhy Fifteen that made them clutch their pearls and weep for the brutal attack on their delicate chidren’s angelic innocence and purity. They are also the ones who introduced the idea of a Parental Advisory: Explicit Content sticker, giving most Hip Hop and Heavy Metal artists something to strive for.
I don’t have anything against the Parental Advisory warning, because the artists don’t seem to mind, some even wear them as a badge of honor. I guess as long as parents still buy their younger children’s CDs they can decide whether they risk exposing their children to “the filth”. The thing that I can’t wrap my head around is the fact that these women actually believe that the sources of evil in their precious offspring’s life come from the music they listen to.
The PMRC are of the opinion that the increase in rape, drug use, teen suicide and pregnancy is due to the explicit nature of music. Ah, when in doubt turn to the usual suspects. We don’t need no stinkin’ scientific back up, by the powers of deduction we can clearly see that the culprit has to be music. It cannot be crappy parenting, bad education, an all consuming fear of Bin Laden and his minions, poverty, abuse, neglect, or any other of the numerous possible factors, it has to be music, cuz it’s right there in their rooms and all we have to do is throw it out and all is right in the world. If all the kids listened to the Carpenters there would be no crimes and we would live in harmony. Following their reasoning they’d all end up Boulimic but, oh well, at least they’re not pregnant and snorting speed with their raping biker boyfriends.
Here’s the list from 1985. Doesn’t it look like the ultimate great songs of the 80’s mix? I love the fact that they gave us the categories after the songs for our convenience:
1 Prince “Darling Nikki” Sex/Masturbation
2 Sheena Easton “Sugar Walls” Sex
3 Judas Priest “Eat Me Alive” Sex
4 Vanity “Strap on Robbie Baby” Sex
5 Mötley Crüe “Bastard” Violence
6 AC/DC “Let Me Put My Love into You” Sex
7 Twisted Sister “We’re Not Gonna Take It” Violence
8 Madonna “Dress You Up” Sex
9 W.A.S.P. “Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)” Sex/Language
10 Def Leppard “High ‘n’ Dry (Saturday Night)” Drug and Alcohol Use
11 Mercyful Fate “Into the Coven” Occult
12 Black Sabbath “Trashed” Drug and Alcohol Use
13 Mary Jane Girls “In My House” Sex
14 Venom “Possessed” Occult
15 Cyndi Lauper “She Bop” Sex/Masturbation
I didn’t even know that “We’re Not Gonna Take It” was that violent, I just thought it was about rebellious teens. Neither had I ever thought about the fact that Madonna’s “Dress You Up” was about sex. Songs that used to be just pretty ditties with a catchy chorus, are now scanned and scrutinzed for the dirty parts, so thank you PMRC for unlocking the inner perv in kids everywhere.
One of the concerned mothers of PMRC claims that “Much has changed since Elvis’ seemingly innocent times. Subtleties, suggestions, and innuendo have given way to overt expressions and descriptions of often violent sexual acts, drug taking, and flirtations with the occult.” There is absolutely no truth in this claim, there have always been songs that were clearly about sex, or violence and even drugs. Johnny Cash alone covered most of the things on the PMRC’s taboo list and The Dominoes 1950’s hit “Sixty Minute Man” is all but subtle about sex:
There’ll be fifteen minutes of kissin’
Then you’ll holler “Please don’t stop” (Don’t stop!)
There’ll be fifteen minutes of teasin’
Fifteen minutes of squeezin’
And fifteen minutes of blowin’ my top…
Elvis himself sang on “Baby Let’s Play House”: I’d rather see you dead little girl than to be with another man. It’s beautiful how innocent the delicate hint about jealousy driven murder in that good old song is, isn’t it?
Which makes me wonder if these women ever did listen to Rock ‘n Roll, the very term derived from an old slang term for sex. They probably had to divert their eyes when Elvis provocatively jiggled his pelvis and turn the channel when Little Richard sang about how Good Golly Miss Molly liked to ball. I shudder to think what the soundtrack of their lives must be like, Engelbert Humperdink is probably about as edgy as they can handle. Though he sang the song - made famous by Beavis and Butthead, called “Lesbian Seagull” and his last name is a bit racy, so we can scratch him off their soundtrack too. Poor Engelbert.
There are some crazy people out there who claim that they aren’t musically influenced by The Beatles. I’m here to set those people straight. I’ve been mulling this over all week and I honestly can’t think of anything that’s considered innovative in music that The Beatles didn’t do first. Covering generally unknown artists and bringing them to the attention of younger fans? They did that way back at the beginning of their career. Unexpected gigs in odd places? Let It Be, anyone? Trying out unusual instruments and experimenting with foreign sounds? They incorporated sitars and orchestral elements and pretty much anything else that they found interesting into their music, during a time when pop music was pretty formulaic. In fact, you could argue that The Beatles’ ability and willingness to mix sounds and take risks is the very reason that pop music (not chart music specifically) is so diverse now. You might think it’s a stretch, but even hip-hop might owe something to the Fab Four - they messed with recording techniques and looping and playing things backwards and layering sounds before most people even knew you could do those things.
I’m sure there are some people who really don’t listen to The Beatles, as crazy as that seems to me. And I can’t say that they were the first people ever to do some of these things - Buddy Holly experimented with recording equipment to get new effects before The Beatles even thought about getting together to make some music. But you better have some good arguments ready if you try to claim that they aren’t a musical influence, whether it’s come directly from their records or trickled down through pop music history.
The Beatles - Every Little Thing
Ever seen that horror movie starring Peter Weller as Bart Hughes and a giant rat? It’s awesome. It’s called Of Unknown Origin, but they might as well have just called it Big Killer Rat In An Appartment, like with Snakes on A Plane you’ll at least know what you’re getting before the movie even starts. Check out the excellent trailer here. I like the line “If it doesn’t kill them, it will scare them to death.” I get this image of a rat jumping out of a closet yelling BOO.
Peter’s character is obsessed with an unusually big and crafty rat in his appartment like it’s the Moby Dick to his Ahab. I was thinking about this movie while we were having a verbal smack down with the helpdesk people of a certain shitty provider, I was internetless and pissed and I remember thinking ‘now i know how Bart Hughes felt’. Anyway, he thrashes the appartment completely trying to get to the gigantic rodent. In the end his wife comes home and he’s sitting in the middle of a war zone, so she asks him what the hell happened, and he says “I had a party”. Classic.
I always thought this movie would make a great low-budget play; all you need is one set, Peter Weller and a well trained dog wearing a rat costume. Sadly, the rat bites the big one in the end. I’m sorry I spoiled the ending for you, but the movie is really about the battle not the outcome. If the big rat in the movie had won, this is the song he would play with his rat friends while he was bragging about how he snuffed out that punk from Robocop. Which makes me wonder how a rat would kill a guy, other then giving him a bad case of the plague …
The Rats - Rat’s Revenge part 2
Only five days to go!
The Decemberists - My Mother Was A Chinese Trapeze Artist
A few days ago, Tam and I went to the most amazing concert we’ve been to in a very, very long time. I know I say that kind of thing all the time, so this may be a little like the girl who cried awesome, but this really was incredible: Elvis Perkins and Dearland, Cold War Kids, AND Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. It was a huge event in our heads even before it happened and it ended up being the kind of evening that we’ll talk about for years.
Of course, it started off with panic and rushing - that’s how these things always go, isn’t it? I live about an hour away from Amsterdam and rely on public transportation to get me anywhere. But that morning, before I had even had any coffee, the Dutch newspapers were already reporting that half of all trains were pre-emptively cancelled due to severe snow warnings. I started having flashbacks of that day back in 2005 when a freak snowstorm in March kept us from seeing Adam Green. So I grabbed my stuff and left hours earlier than I’d normally need to, just to be sure I wouldn’t be stranded in my concert-less house.
We actually missed the very beginning of Elvis Perkins’ set, which was disappointing, because I enjoyed so much what we did get to hear. Perkins is a charming performer, and his slightly madcap band Dearland made everything just a little zany and exciting. Being joined by Alec Ounsworth didn’t hurt anything, either. “While You Were Sleeping” is my favorite Elvis Perkins song, at least until his album is released later this month, but, sadly, we must’ve missed it on the night.
Elvis Perkins - While You Were Sleeping
We’ve written about Cold War Kids so many times, there’s probably not much more to say. They were the main reason this show was so exciting for us, as much as we love the other two bands, and they didn’t let us down. I had actually worried that I’d built it up too much beforehand and that it wouldn’t be able to live up to my expectations. I understand that some people have to hate Cold War Kids (but that’s for another post) but that’s fine - more for me. CWK are most definitely my favorite of the recent batch of new bands, and in my opinion they beat out a lot of the ones who came before. Twice we’ve seen them play to audiences who didn’t know them, and both times they started out with a lukewarm response and left the stage to deafening applause. In all the concerts we’ve gone to, I’ve never seen any other band win over a crowd the way they do, with no fancy tricks or witty remarks - just their music. The real highlight of the whole evening was CWK joined by Elvis Perkins and members of Dearland playing Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”, one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. I hope they release it as a b-side one day, but until then, here’s another (from their “We Used To Vacation” EP) which closed their set.
Cold War Kids - Quiet, Please!
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were, of course, as fantastic and fun as you’d expect. We’d seen them before so we knew we wouldn’t be let down. It seemed that a lot of the audience didn’t have Some Loud Thunder yet, and to say they appreciated the band playing songs from their debut album would be a serious understatement. But to me, the best part of their set was “Satan Said Dance”, during which little pockets of people all over the room shouted “Said Dance!” when needed, which made me (and the band, I think) very happy indeed.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Satan Said Dance
Someone mentioned that this tour was about halfway over, so if you still have a chance to get tickets for a show near you, grab some while you can. You’ll have a wonderful time, I promise.
Oh, and the snow turned out to be a big fat nothing. It had stopped by time we got to the venue and melted by the time we went home. Of course.
Sometimes you know you’re going to have one of the those days or weeks the equivalent of a Championship Fight or shady warehouse bareknuckle brawl. When those times roll around (and they will if they haven’t yet), you need to be on your game. Pumped up. Ready to roll, rough and ready. That’s when you need a Boxing Anthem.
Boxing Anthems mentally prepare you for the challenge. Imagine walking into the arena. The cheers for you or jeers against that will focus your energy, calm the nerves, feed the fire down in your belly.
For me, Earl Simmons, aka DMX, fits the bill. While I enjoy DMX, own three of his six albums, and plan on eventually rounding out the catalogue, he never really challenges standard Slangin-n-Cappin-n-Bitches hip-hop. Which is fine. I’m not making a judgement. I don’t think music always has to have a mission or purpose. Sometimes it’s just about the feeling it gives you. And for this reason a few DMX songs are on my Boxing Anthems soundtrack.
And for me, at least, when I close the door on the way to work and need to know I just gotta school these punks ass cheetos nothing feeds that fire like the heavy bass, horns, and growl of “X Gon Give It To Ya” off Grand Champ.
If the only thing you cats did was came out to play, stay out my way. Muthafu … Hit it with full strength … You against me. Me against you. Whatever. Whenever. What the fuck you gonna do?
That what I’m talking about. Grrr.
DMX - X Gon Give It To Ya
(I originally tried to post this over at Blogger, but it wouldn’t let me publish it. So I’m sticking in and changing the timestamp to when it was meant to be posted, so it doesn’t mess with the order of things too much.)
Like I said the other day, this week has been Music Week for me - an attempt to catch up on all the goings-on that I’ve missed by being all busy and stuff. Here’s a few great things I found this week, just in case you haven’t already seen them.
1. This is old news, but I’m still bummed that I can’t get Willy Mason to play a show in my house. I have all those things he needs, except for the house in the UK. You know, Willy once cancelled a show on us, so long ago I can’t even remember when, here in Amsterdam. I’m still a little hurt about that, but he can totally make it up to me by playing just a wee little gig in my living room. Just a few songs, I don’t expect a Grateful Dead show or anything.
2. Jesus has a fantastic post about what Tapes n Tapes might be singing about. Jesus totally likes Tapes n Tapes, as do I, but I listened to the song and read along with his lyrics and I think He’s definitely got a point.
3. Speaking of Jesus, He also has also developed a Shins Album Review Drinking Game, which was inspired by The Pitchfork Media Drinking Game. And who doesn’t love to make fun of pompous reviews and/or Pitchfork?
4. The new Bloc Party single (out this week!). Awesome. People seem to be really divided over this one, but I’m definitely pro-”The Prayer”. Just listen to that stomp in the beginning - damn! If you’re not sure or haven’t heard it yet, you can listen to it on their myspace page or download it from emusic.
5. The new Arcade Fire single. Also awesome. I might be the only person on earth who hasn’t already heard this or blogged about it. Better late than never. Listen on their myspace page.
6. The beautiful combination of Modest Mouse and Johnny Marr. I’ve been reading about this for ages but hadn’t actually heard any results until I came across “Dashboard” this week. I nearly peed my pants. I’ve (of course) accidentally deleted the blog link I had been saving to put here, but if you search The Hype Machine for Modest Mouse or “Dashboard”, you should be able to find plenty of stuff to listen to.
I’m going to have to keep this short because, well, blogger won’t let me write anything long. I’ve been having serious problems getting posts published recently and Tam’s just been having internet trouble in general. We’re sorry we missed New Band Day this week - we’re looking into how to solve these problems.
So, we’ve all noticed that the sister put lime in the coconut, which made her sick, so the doctor told her to put the lime in the coconut to make her feel better. That’s just some crazy medical advice. But I only just noticed that the brother paid a dime for his coconut, but the sister paid a lime for hers. Or at least, that’s what I think that means. That’s weird - does she just carry limes around with her? And who accepts limes as currency?
Anyways, here’s a demo version of a classic that I’ve had stuck in my head on and off for the last three days. The demo version somehow makes the song even weirder.
Harry Nilsson - Coconut
The Bean and I recently had a superb back to back Wizard Of Oz / The Wiz fest. That’s about four hours of following and easing on down the yellow brick road! We learned that the original cowardly lion had a magic tail that seems to move on itself and that special effects hadn’t really improved much between 1939 and 1978. This song was one of our favorites from The Wiz. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard this scarecrow put so much soul into a song.
Tam and I are hard at work on our Best Of 2006 lists, which set me to thinking about my list of 2005’s best releases. Looking over it now, there are a few things that were missing (most notably, The Decemberists’ Picaresque, which I didn’t start listening to until this year) and some albums probably should have been higher up (especially Maximo Park). I still love each and every one of them, but I was curious about which albums I still listen to regularly. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah somehow makes its way into my stereo pretty often. I’ll probably never go very long without listening to something by The White Stripes or Ryan Adams. Both of last year’s Bright Eyes albums are still up there with my favorites.
But the thing that surprised even me is that the 2005 album I probably listen to most often is The Magic Numbers. It’s no secret that I absolutely adore those guys, but there’s some really amazing albums on that there list. But nope, it’s not the Arcade Fire or Franz Ferdinand that I just keep loving more and more, it’s those lovely Magic Numbers. Here’s my favorite from their debut album.
The Magic Numbers - I See You, You See Me
What time is it? It’s Monk Time! The Monks was a unique band made up out of American soldiers who were stationed in Germany in 1965. They only made one album which is a shame, because you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything that rocks harder than Black Monk Time. They may sound like some of the pre-punk bands around that time, but they were actually one of the first of the bunch to cut an album.
I think they weren’t very popular back then, because it’s hard to sing along with them. Rhythm is king in the world of The Monks and their lyrics balance between absurd and criticical of the world. One of their songs, “Blast Off!”, is a psychedelic surf ditty that has them counting down and blasting off.
Here’s “Monk Time”, it criticizes the army, the war in Vietnam, a-bombs and ehm James Bond? It’s amazing.
The Monks - Monk Time
I’ve been looking through my ridiculous CD collection, reminding myself what came out this year in preparation for the big year end lists. I had totally forgotten about The Futureheads’ News And Tributes! The Futureheads are absolutely fantastic and that’s all I have to say about that. This is one of my favorites from the album.
The Futureheads - Favours For Favours
* The super sexy Long Blondes at the Paradiso, including their surprisingly good support act De Nieuwe Vrolijkheid.
* I got awesome presents from Bean and it wasn’t even my birthday! She should be worshipped.
* I got to use the term “asstastic” for the first time.
* There was a nice guy behind the counter at the usually miserable local supermarket. We had a wonderful chat about sausages.
* I made myself a pretty scarf that looks like it’s on fire.
* And finally the songs that helped make the week suck as little as possible:
* I got awesome presents from Bean and it wasn’t even my birthday! She should be worshipped.
* I got to use the term “asstastic” for the first time.
* There was a nice guy behind the counter at the usually miserable local supermarket. We had a wonderful chat about sausages.
* I made myself a pretty scarf that looks like it’s on fire.
* And finally the songs that helped make the week suck as little as possible:
Hot Club De Paris - Bonded By Blood
The Rogers Sisters - Freight Elevator
Menomena - Muscle ‘n Flo via one of my favorite blogs You Ain’t No Picasso.
I’ve spent most of the week working on crap with Upstairs Downstairs on in the background. Every time the lovely Mrs. Bridges serves her famous jam roly poly for the servants’ dessert, I think of this incredible song from the fantastic Sympathetic Sounds Of Toe-Rag Studios compilation. Mr. Liam Watson is kind enough to provide a brief description of each song in the liner notes, and here’s what he has to say about “Puddings And Pies”:
Gustav Temple is the man behind British literary publication The Chap. Although not normally associated with popular music, Mr. Temple had teamed up with Scottish entertainers, The Blades, for an enthusiastic and celebratory number concerning the pleasures to be found in the average British larder.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
I’m willing to bet that this is the only song in the history of popular music that makes tapioca sound like something to dance about.
Gustav Temple & The Blades - Puddings And Pies
This was a darn fine concert week for 100b. All the bands we saw this past week were amazing in their own way. We went to the Two Gallants show in the Paradiso’s Small Hall last weekend who were supported by the Cold War Kids - it’s very rare that we get so excited about a support band. And with good reason, because they knocked our socks off! “Saint John” was the highlight for me because I was wondering how they were going to perform the organized chaos that comes together so beautifully into the most funky soul song ever. Even though I saw it, I still wonder how they came up with it in the first place. They’re coming back in February with Elvis Perkins and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and you knows we do not want to miss that partay, baby.
Two Gallants were very serious about their craft and made me hope I’ll find something that I’m as passionate about as they are about making music. They obviously love to perform and get the crowd itching for the next song like they’ve been living in a musical desert. They managed to give the audience a glimpse of an America at a time when the West was wild and the outlaws were heroes. Billy the Kid woulda been proud. Together the two bands gave us the perfect concert experience and we were surprised to see Alec CYHSY Ounsworth in the crowd. For just a split second I actually thought, but we’re in Amsterdam, aren’t we? Afterwards we found that it’s impossible to compare the two bands. They’re both so different but equally, stupendously good.
Cold War Kids - Saint John
Two days ago we also went to see Tapes n Tapes. They seem like four regular guys who just happened to have figured out the formula to amazingly beautiful songs. And thank Moses they did. It was their bass player’s birthday and the last gig of their European tour so it turned into a fun celebration. They seemed genuinely happy and surprised that the Small Hall was packed with some almost scary, intense fans. They didn’t have a support band and they came on really fast, so everything went by in a flash, which is not a comment on their skills. On the contrary, afterwards we were left wanting much, much more. They have only had one album out, so I was just being a greedy little fangirl. Oh yeah, it was a goooood week for 100b.
My favorite song was also my highlight of the night:
I want to add a little shoutout to aDawgg for his first excellent post. Bow-wow, aDawgg, bow-wow.
Back in high school and my first few years at university, I mostly listened to hip-hop and very little else. At the time, there was no other music that even came close to someone like Missy Elliott, or at least not that I knew about. Man, she just blew my mind. I definitely wanted to be her when I grew up.
I haven’t listened to her in ages, but she still kicks all your asses. It was harder than I thought to pick out just one song to post here. The only trouble with Missy is that none of her albums, as great as they are, are really perfect as a whole. I once saw a list in NME of great artists who’d never made a great album and they had her on there, something the NME actually got right for once. But, dude, I could make a bad-ass Best Of full of some of the best hip-hop songs of the last ten years. This one with Timbaland (from Miss E … So Addictive) wasn’t one of Missy’s fabulous singles, but it’s one of my favorites.
Missy Elliott - Whatcha Gon’ Do
The Bean has inspired me to listen to The Kills when I need to feel invincible. This song never fails to get me pumped and I had to turn to it twice this week. If I was a boxer this song would be played while I step into the ring.
We saw them play last year and the title song from their album No Wow comes really close to sounding as sensual and dangerous as they look in concert. This is not the band to go see when you’re just out for a laugh, but if you love them they more than live up to their recordings. VV paces the stage like a caged panther and her bandmate Hotel seems to be the only one who can come close to her without losing a limb. At one point, I felt like I was looking in on a very private moment between them. They create such an intimate and dark world on stage that I cannot imagine them ever hanging out on the couch enjoying an episode of Seinfeld, but they sure can put up a great and memorable show.
Here it is for all of you who need to feel like you can take on the world.
The Kills - No Wow
I just got a big fat pile of new albums and there’s more on the way, so I really wanted to post something from one of them. But we’ve already posted and gushed about most of the bands in that pile: The Decemberists, The Blood Arm, Jeremy Warmsley, Hot Club De Paris, Cold War Kids… I haven’t yet posted about Peter, Bjorn And John. (I may actually be the only blogger on God’s green earth that hasn’t, but I caught on to them a little late.)
So I finally did catch up with the rest of the cool kids and I love them now too. And they’ve got this song called “Amsterdam”. And I live in (well, nearish) Amsterdam and spend most of my not-home time there. Sometimes I love Amsterdam, usually in the summer when it’s all nice out and the people of Amsterdam forget for just a little while that they hate everyone else in the city. In the winter, it just rains constantly (pretty much from October to May, nothing but rain) and it’s grey and dismal and the people go back to being grumpy and rude. There’s a never-ending list of bands coming through here, so we’ve got that on our side, and that’s a giant plus. But other than that and getting wasted and rowdy, there’s not all that much else to do. There’s ok shopping, but not great. I guess I have a love-hate relationship with the city itself - sometimes it seems so pretty with all the lovely old buildings and stuff and sometimes it’s just a regular dirty city with pee-stink alleys like everywhere else.
Anyway, my feelings about the city may be mixed, but I sure do like this.
Peter, Bjorn And John - Amsterdam
I’m very fortunate that my brother, sister and I get along the way we do, but our tastes are so different, especially when it comes to music, it’s hard to find songs one of us doesn’t hate. It’s always pretty exciting when we find something we all three agree does not suck.
My brother has been listening to this song by the Teriyaki Boyz almost everyday at least once. It’s from one of those fast and furious car movies that I hate and he loves, but this song is pretty awesome.
Teriyaki Boyz - Tokyo Drift
I asked my fifteen year old sister what she wanted her input to be for this post and she made me listen to a bunch of songs that I hope to God are just a phase, like that year Ace Of Base ruled my world. Ah well, she considers it a compliment when I ask her what on earth she’s listening to, she thinks the music I listen to stinks of sweaty socks. So I went through her list thinking Ace Of Base wasn’t that bad after all, when I came across a really great Beyonce song from her new album B-Day. Beyonce’s latest singles haven’t been as anthemic as her last album’s, but “Suga Mama” reminds me of my favorite Beyoncé song “Work It Out”. It is such a celebration of the days of swinging soul it’s impossible to sit still.
Beyonce - Suga Mama
Sometimes you just can’t keep up with all the fantastic music in the world and you need a friend to watch your back, to make sure you’re not missing out on something big. Tam does that for me when I need it and it’s because of her that I’ve finally realized how awesome Two Gallants are. I knew they were good, but not this good. Tam is partial to What The Toll Tells but I’m a The Throes girl myself. It’s just too good.
So, in honor of how much we’re looking forward to seeing Two Gallants next month, and in tribute to their recent trouble with The Man (more links on Two Gallants’ official site), here’s my very favorite, the one I’ve listened to so much I think my beautiful new iPod is actually sick of it.
Two Gallants - Drive My Car
The change in weather must be messing with my moods. I’m not happy, not exactly sad, just blah. So I’ve been in need of some serious joy. The Bean told me that I should definitely buy The Fratellis’ CD, because it’s so much fun, so I did. She was very very right, it did cheer me up lots. It’s funny, I’ve written about them twice but the release of their CD totally slipped my mind. I also bought the new Decemberists and The Rapture albums, all in all I’ve had the best time shopping for happy.
I’ve been told that retail therapy doesn’t really work and that it’ll just leave you with an empty wallet and a closet full of stuff you didn’t really need in the first place, so I always go for books and CDs. It’s impossible to have too much of either. There’s definitely no buyer’s remorse this time. I love every single CD I bought yesterday and I listened to them over and over. Then it was time to walk away from those bands, because I listened to them non-stop, so I put on this random mix I made myself. It’s full of old songs that have no other purpose then to cheer you up and make you want to dance like you live in a small town where dancing is strictly verboten and you’re the new guy in town about to shake the establishment aka John Lithgow with your awesome big city moves.
ANYway, speaking of the wonderfully corny things from the eighties: One of the songs that made sure I wouldn’t slip back into a funk was “Go” by Tones On Tail (right after The Sweet’s “Little Willy” and followed by Devo’s “Gut Feeling”). I always forget the band’s name and I don’t know anything about them, but sometimes I’ll just be standing in line somewhere and all of a sudden I can hear the bass and the clapping in my head and it’ll just have me grinning like a madman. Best therapy ever.
Tones On Tail - Go
100b went along to the Melkweg on Monday night to see The Datsuns celebrate the release of their new album, Smoke & Mirrors, which came out a week earlier here than in the UK. I hate to say it out loud - I always want to believe the best about the bands I love - but their second album, Outta Sight/Outta Mind didn’t have the same just-been-kicked-in-the-face quality as their debut. It wasn’t bad, just a little powerless. So I was glad for the chance to hear some of the new stuff before I decided whether to buy the new album or not.
I wasn’t disappointed. The Datsuns do what they do so very well, and it sounds like this album is a return to that ability that made us love them in the first place. “System Overload” (the first single, which you can listen to on their official site) is a Datsuns classic already, but the real standout song from Monday night was “Stuck Here For Days”. Who ever thought you’d hear your favorite classic rock/metal band make use of the slide guitar? Sadly, I do not yet possess the album, so you’ll have to take my recommendation and go seek out “Stuck Here For Days” yourself. Trust me, you don’t want to miss it.
I think the spirit of a Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie has possessed me. And apparently his favorite song is “Free Bird”. You might think, well at least it’s not “Sweet Home Alabama”. But everywhere I went to today I could hear it ringing in my ear, everywhere! I didn’t even know I knew the words, but I do. How does that happen?? I can’t even remember the last time I heard the song, I don’t listen to classic rock radio. But there it was today: Free Bird in the shower, Free Bird on my way to class, Free Bird while I was trying on an ugly shirt and you’ll NEVER guess what song they were playing at that particular clothes store … “Sweet Home Alabama”! I kid you not.
So I’m trying this new therapy I came up with myself to exorcise the spirit: I’m listening to the song over and over and then maybe I’ll be so saturated by all the Lynyrds and Skynyrds that Mr.Roadie’s ghost thinks ‘Ah my work here is done’. Sounds almost scientific right?
Ok I’m listening to it right now. Alright it’s a bit corny, but I forgot how dreamy and how exciting and how, ehm long it was. I’m kinda glad that most bands don’t do the epic three guitar solos anymore. It sounds exhausting to play and to listen to, to be honest. Well I must say, it is nice to hear again after all this time.
I wonder who the very first person was who called out Free Bird at a non-Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. He musta gotten a lot of laughs, because it’s one of the longest running jokes in music history and it’s spoiled many a live recording from all kinds of bands. There’s always that one joker in the audience … Hmm maybe all these years it’s been that same guy. Anyway here it is, the full ten minute version. Now play that a thousand times in a row and that was my day.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
I guess Tam told you all that I’ve been sick. I’m not sure what I have can really be called the ‘common’ cold. I think it was more like a cold sent to me by Satan, punishment for some evil I’ve done in my past, po