On this site I will rant incoherently about songs that have utterly consumed me for extended periods of time. There will be an embedded Youtube video at the bottom of each post where you can easily check out the song. This is not a review site, and I am not a musician, so let's set the bar really low, shall we? If you would like to weather the extended rationale for this wholly irrational site, it’s in the first post.
It's hard for me to write this post without mentioning Kraftwerk. So I will mention Kraftwerk. Kraftwerk! Anyways, Boards of Canada is one of the one best electronic acts out there today. But Boards of Canada is actually the name of a Scottish show. Tricky! That''s the name of another electronic artist. Autechre! Uggh... that doesn't work.
Whenever I hear this song I think of Darth Vader's family on a summer vacation. Mechanical and angular, but beautiful and joyful at the same time. You can just see little Darth Junior splashing in the waves!
This is one of the bands that directly influenced Radiohead when they moved into their "electronic" phase. I love Radiohead, but if it wasn't for Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, and the like, Johnny Greenwood wouldn't be twisting near as many knobs.
There's so much mythology attached to Joy Division, and absolutely none of it matters. It's a cliche, but the only thing that matters is this music. Every instrument in this song absolutely blasts its way into the track. The bass enters like a monster poking its head around my closet door at three in the morning. The drums land like steel-gloved jabs, jarring at first, then keeping the nervous energy up throughout the song. The guitar comes in like a buzzsaw, scalping the song like a Nazi in Inglorious Basterds. Finally, Ian Curtis' voice booms down more malevolent and assured than ever before: "I travelled far and wide through many different times, What did you see there?"
It always seems like the focus with this band is on Ian Curtis' suicide, or the Manchester mythology, or poring over some hidden meaning in the dark lyrics. All of this is just window dressing for a band that needs none. Their playing on the entire album is so ridiculously tight, and that's what really stands out. You don't need to be sitting huddled in a darkened room, having an adolescent existential crisis and cursing the heavens, to worship this record. Nestle it in between your copy of Abba's Greatest Hits and Madonna's Immaculate Collection.
Contrary to complaints from countless musical curmudgeons, there are many bands attempting to make interesting music nowadays. Some of them fall under the category of "indie bands that sound like extremely precocious twelve year olds putting on a school play." Think Rushmore on mp3. One example that springs to mind is Sufjan Stevens. I once fell in love with his song "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders." It was so jubilant! So different sounding! Yay Sufjan! Then I listened to it in my car two weeks later and it sounded like really over the top circus music. I couldn't even relate to the person who had once blared this song in his car, rising and falling with every bassoon flare and kazoo splort. (I don't know if those instruments are in the song or if splort is a word, but I'm sticking with it. I decree that splort is now a word!)
Fortunately, I don't think I'll ever hate myself for loving this song, or this album. Sure the lead singer's voice is a bit out there, but it's GOOD, and the trills and quivers fit perfectly with the music. The female backing vocals are really great, especially when they come in at 3:10 after he yells "Bitte Orca, Orca Bitte!" (these lyrics toe the line of willful indie obtuseness, but he's forgiven because he picked the words cause he liked how they sound [how Eno-ish], and they actually kinda sound great).
This band is so interesting musically! I love how each instrument (including voices) comes in separately, each element adding something new and beautiful to the song. The soft-loud alternations make the loud guitar parts sound more badass, and the vocals and soft acoustic sound prettier. Love this song, love this album, can't wait to explore more music by this band!
Missy and Timbaland are definitely the greatest thing to happen to hip hop since the Wu Tang Clan. Timbaland's beats are ridiculous. Off-kilter, urgent-sounding, totally creative and unique. 99% of all other producers must be embarrassed at themselves when a Timbaland song comes out.
Missy's songs have gotten even more complex and crazy since this album, but I still hold a special place in my heart for "Supa Dupa Fly". My friends and I always loved making strange noises and speaking nonsensically, so when Missy busted out with the "I'll hit you with the BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!", and the "vroooooooooooooom," and the "reeeeeeeeer," I connected with it on a very deep level.
The beats in this song stutter, sputter, and slide like a madman, with that awesome little whinny whinny whinny whinny whistle sound in the background. Missy can rap, sing, write great songs (she was a songwriter before she was a solo artist), and she has more charisma and personality than basically anyone. And then there's the videos! Totally twisted and visually arresting. I love how glossy, exaggerated, and tweeked out they all look. Like Alice in Wonderland with two 10s in the back.
On a completely unrelated note, I hope she's losing all this weight for the right reasons. She's the perfect example of TALENT trumping music industry superficiality and BS. Who cares what she looks like. She owns the industry.
My thoughts on the Friday and Sunday Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco:
Ween: AMAZING. I've liked them for a while now, but this was the first time I truly realized how great they are. Every time I'd say, "It'd be great if they played _______________," they immediately played "__________________"! They even played the So-So Def Jermaine Dupris "_________________" remix! Their set included Bananas and Blow, Mutilated Lips, Exactly Where I'm At, Johnny on the Spot, Take Me Away, and my favorite song of theirs, Flutes of Chi. They had great energy and musicianship, and the humor on their records translated perfectly onto the stage. The horrendous mistake we made was leaving their set early because we were intrigued to see the next artist...
MIA: AWFUL. Ugggh. I've read the articles where everyone gives Diplo and her other producers all the credit for her success, and she freaks out and screams about sexism, racism, supply-side economics, and the poor quality of the new Happy Meal. I was on her side before I was actually subjected to her live show. Of course the beats were good, they have computers for that. But her vocals were so bad. At first I didn't understand why she was passing out all these silly plastic horns to people in the audience. Then as the show went on I realized she was probably hoping that they would make enough noise to drown out her alley-cat-being-strangled vocals.
Tom Jones: Somehow inertia kept us at this stage when he performed. To me he sounds like a drunken child molester. He totally freaks me out. I needed a cold shower after this. Very traumatic.
Built to Spill: I love this band, but they kinda seemed to be going through the motions. I heard that their lead singer Doug Martsch said they were basically a nostalgia act at this point, and that lack of excitement and expectations came through. Worth seeing, but not inspired.
Band of Horses: Not spectacular, but really good! Unfortunately the lead singer kept yelling, "Woooooo!" between songs. Sounded like a frat boy after a particularly exhilarating keg stand.
The National: See above. Nothing mind-bending, but good songs and a solid performance. Thumbs up.
Modest Mouse: Used to really like this band, saw them live once before, was kinda bored. But the fact that I hadn't listened to them in so long made this a fun performance to watch. Dramamine sounded really great.
Pearl Jam: We meant to go see Thievery Corporation, but once again inertia won out. This was a more exaggerated instance of not having listened to a band's music in eons, and having fun reminiscing with some pretty good songs. One song I still love is Corduroy. Unfortunately, old Eddie's voice is shot to hell. I mean it kinda was to begin with, that's his shtick, but there's gravelly voice, and then there's no voice. He's closer to the latter.
We missed Dead Weather, Jack White's new band. I can't keep up with this dude's side projects. He's an amazing guitar player, but apparently he's developing serious commitment issues. Poor Meg is probably all by her lonesome now, still taking drum lessons from Bamm-Bamm. Anyway, I heard from a bunch of people that Dead Weather was great.
About Flutes of Chi: it isn't really indicative of Ween's sound. Most of their other songs are stranger and less polished-sounding (but equally great). To me this song just shows that this band can do absolutely anything they want to. They can play country, hard rock, prog, calypso, Irish folk songs, easy listening, and in this case they can do a Beatles song just about as good as the Beatles could.
It's hard for me to write this post without mentioning Kraftwerk. So I will mention Kraftwerk. Kraftwerk! Anyways, Boards of Canada is one of the one best electronic acts out there today. But Boards of Canada is actually the name of a Scottish show. Tricky! That''s the name of another electronic artist. Autechre! Uggh... that doesn't work. 
