Since I just started this journal on MB, I figured I'd transplant it over here.
A while back, I started a journal on MB about albums I felt were underappreciated. I've been wanting to go back to it, but haven't felt the spark yet to actually feel like writing enough to make it anything besides work. So, in lieu of that, I decided I'll do one of the these - the classic "what am I listening to" journals. This will serve hopefully as an outlet to exercise the linguistic part of my brain and perhaps even motivate me to start other journals I'd find worthwhile (like discography reviews) or return to my old underappreciated album journal.
Anyways, I'll provide a Youtube link to a track - or maybe an album, and give a brief explanation for what I like about it. Or, maybe I'll feel lazy and just provide a link. It'll depend on my mood. Let's begin.
Songs/albums discussed (albums, where they appear, are in italics):
Leftfield - This Is What We Do (2022) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=4177)
Rose Royce - Wishing On A Star (1977) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=4178)
Mono - Slimcea Girl (1997) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=4179)
The Horace Silver Quintet - Lonely Woman (1965) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=4180)
S.O.S. Band - No One's Gonna Love You (1984) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=4296)
UGK - One Day (1996) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=4340)
The Sound - Total Recall (1985) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=4698)
Bicep - Apricots (2020) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=4908)
A Flock of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song (1982) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=5239)
ABBA - The Visitors (1981) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=6227)
Massive Attack - The Spoils (2016) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=26151)
Pulp - Sylvia (1998) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=26437)
Cults - Always Forever (2013) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=45432)
Alice in Chains - Frogs (1995) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=45799)
Nobonoko - Music for Animal Cafés (2023) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=45855)
Vanessa Daou - Sunday Afternoons (1995) (https://scd.community/index.php?msg=45945)
The Chemical Brothers - Goodbye (2023) (https://scd.community/index.php?topic=244.msg46936#msg46936)
Leftfield - This Is What We DoLeftfield is widely known for their then innovative sounds in breakbeat and progressive house music on full display in their 1995 album
Leftism. Admittedly, I always liked Underworld more, but the album grew on me over time, as did their vastly underappreciated follow-up
Rhythm & Stealth (which has one of the all time coolest album covers). Anyways, 7 years ago or so they released a third album finally - it was okay, few good tracks - fast forward to late last year and they quietly (to not much fanfare) released a fourth album,
This Is What We Do.
It's good. That's about all. It isn't revolutionary or anything - in fact, it's more of the same really. Same old Leftfield sound that was established on their first two records - breakbeats, big beats, and hard, driving analogue synths with some clever and crafty vocal loops and vocal contributions thrown in to spice things up. Despite the lack of originality, I quite enjoyed the record. There's something comforting about an artist that doesn't really switch up their sound and releases one album every decade or so - it's sort of like seeing an old friend who you haven't talked to in a long time - and after the initial greetings are out of the way, it's like you've never spent any time apart. Comfort, yes, that's the word. It's not always what I want out of music, but when it is, and I'm in the mood, Leftfield is, and hopefully continues to be (i.e. I hope this isn't their final record) that friend. This is what they do indeed. And they're damn good at it.
Rose Royce - Wishing On A StarI've been listening to some 70s funk and soul recently - and besides their unforgettable "Car Wash", I'd never really listened to anything else by Rose Royce. Oddly, their first album was the soundtrack to the comedy film
Car Wash. So I figured, I'd check out their first album proper
In Full Bloom. It's a pretty damn good record - but I think their ballads are better than their exercises in funk. Case in point, the first track on the record, "Wishing on a Star" - which is unfortunately, the best song on the entire damn record.
The piano stabs, the deliberate percussion, the woozy strings, and most importantly, the crescendoes near the end and the absolutely beautiful vocals from Rose Norwalt (Gwen Dickey) - just wonderful. I love it. Again, it sucks that it's clearly the best song on the record. Peep it if you haven't heard it.
ALSO:
Hearing this track was a bit of a mindblower to me - as some of you know, I'm a big fan of house music. John Summit released a house track a couple years ago ("Forgotten One") that samples "Wishing on a Star". I should've done some more exploration at the time, because I've naively assumed that the vocals weren't a sample, but an original piece created specifically for that song. How wrong I was - but anyways, it was a great sample choice:
Mono - Slimcea GirlTrip hop as a relatively mainstream item seemed to disappear as quickly as it appeared - and there were several artists who made only one or two albums. One such group was Mono, a UK duo. Their big hit was "Life in Mono" - which is a great track, but I've always kind of liked "Slimcea Girl" better. Those beautiful piano notes are infectious, the bass licks are groovy - and the choral chorus is just *mwah* chef's kiss!
"Only memories remain...
OF THE WAY SHE USED TO BE! THE WAY SHE USED TO BE!"
Very jazzy, relaxing stuff. The album as a whole is even more relaxing - it's front-loaded, but still an enjoyable listen. Sometimes, you don't leave a long legacy, but a small imprint - and sometimes, that's good enough.
Oh, one other note - the title of the track came from this old TV advert for bread:
Slim-slim-slimcea girl!
The Horace Silver Quintet - Lonely WomanHorace Silver was one hell of a pianist. And of course, he released some great albums too. His most famous is probably his 1965 Blue Note hard bop classic,
Song for my Father, an album dedicated in tribute his dad, who was featured on the album's cover.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Song_for_My_Father_%28Horace_Silver_album_-_cover_art%29.jpg)
The album has rightfully garnered a lot of praise over the years - and while I wouldn't dare to begin to try and explain in technical terms why I love it, given my lack of knowledge in how to actually play jazz music, I can say that any lover of jazz music should check this album out. It's the perfect record to put on during a sunny Sunday morning when you're relaxing and trying to recharge for the challenges that next week will bring.
The title track is probably the most well known out of the bunch, a great, great song. But the closing track, "Lonely Woman" is perhaps my favorite. It's one of those mood pieces. Sparse drums, muted bass, and a dominant piano performance. It's just beautiful - the way the notes ascend and descend is like a massage for your brain. If you're not relaxed after hearing this track, I think therapy sessions might be in order for you.
S.O.S. Band - No One's Gonna Love YouOh yes, probably my favorite S.O.S. Band tune.
That phat rolling bassline, those gentle guitar plucks, driving drum machine claps, and Mary Davis's beautiful soulful vocals. This is a perfectly funky slow jam - addctive in its laid-back nature and perfect delivery.
"Rate my love....from one to ten....and I'm suuuuure you'd give it twelve...."
S.O.S. Band is massively underrated and underappreciated - and so are Mary Davis's vocals. Just great, great stuff. They regularly add a bit of brass to live performances of this song which always sounds great - it's kind of unfortunate that there wasn't a brass section on the original recording, even though I think it's perfect how it is. Here's a live performance that showcases the saxy rendition (there's no great sounding live recordings on Youtube, which is a bummer):
I'm still waiting on a great house remix of this track. Some artist must've sampled the vocals in a house tune, right?....missed opportunity if not.
Nice, SGR :) I'm enjoying your write-ups and like the diversity in the genres you cover.
I never heard that Horace Silver album (or much of him at all), but it seems like just the thing for me atm. Gonna check that out more thoroughly!
Quote from: Guybrush on Mar 23, 2023, 07:31 PMNice, SGR :) I'm enjoying your write-ups and like the diversity in the genres you cover.
I never heard that Horace Silver album (or much of him at all), but it seems like just the thing for me atm. Gonna check that out more thoroughly!
Thanks Guy! Definitely let me know what you think of the Horace Silver album! :)
UGK - One DayUGK (consisting of Bun B and Pimp C) - the southern rap duo that is unfortunately perhaps best known in popular consciousness for either their feature on Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin" or their late era masterstroke that featured Andre 3K, "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)":
Great tunes, both of them - but when I think of UGK, I'm not thinking of either of these songs.
I'm thinking of one of the all-time greatest rap tracks - I'm thinking of "One Day", the opening tune from their best album,
Ridin' Dirty. This isn't just glorification of drug dealing and partying as is the case with a lot of southern rap - it deals deftly with the consequences of living these lifestyles - it's emotionally charged and poignant as hell. This track paints a picture of a never-ending cycle of drug-dealing, incarceration, death, and sadness. The whole song is elevated to the level of classic with Ronnie Spencer putting in an amazingly soulful performance for the chorus and the woozy guitar that accompanies everything.
Lyric examples:
"Verse 2 - Bun B"
Down in Orange, my nigga Pots died on the corner
Behind a funky-ass dice game
I saw him once before he died, wish it was twice, man
I remember being eight deep off in Chucky crib
Lettin' us act bad, not givin' a fuck what we did
When we lost him, I knew the world was comin' to the end
And I had to quit lettin' that devil push me to a sin
My brother been in the pen for damn near ten
But now it look like when he come out, man, I'm goin' in
So, shit, I walk around with my mind blown in my own fuckin' zone
'Cause one day, you're here, the next day, you're gone
"Verse 3 - Pimp C"
My world a trip, you can ask Bun B, bitch, I ain't no liar
My man BoBo just lost his baby in a house fire (Oh yeah)
And when I got on my knees that night to pray, I asked God
"Why You let these killers live and take my homeboy's son away?"
Man if you got kids, show you love 'em 'cause God just might call 'em home
'Cause one day, they're here and, baby, the next day, they're gone
Oh yeah, one more thing: I think at their best, they were a better rap duo than Outkast were. Don't believe me? Check out "Murder", the third track on
Ridin' Dirty - Pimp C drops bombs on the track - and that's just the pre-game before Bun B goes absolutely nuclear:
So yeah - "One Day" is a masterpiece of a track - and
Ridin' Dirty is a certified rap classic. If you haven't heard it, you're missing out.
Man I love me some SOS Band and Atlantic Starr. Sands Of Time is one of the best R&B songs of the 80's.
Quote from: Nimbly9 on Mar 28, 2023, 10:29 PMMan I love me some SOS Band and Atlantic Starr. Sands Of Time is one of the best R&B songs of the 80's.
"Sands of Time" is another great tune! Don't think I've heard much Atlantic Starr though - do you have any song/album recommendations?
The Sound - Total RecallWhen it comes to post-punk, one of the more underappreciated bands in my eyes was The Sound. Their excellent debut album,
Jeopardy was released about a year and a half after
Unknown Pleasures - and their equally great follow-up
From the Lion's Mouth was released a year later. I love these two records. Both of them are close to my heart. They're both downright excellent exercises in dark, somewhat depressing, but yet ultimately triumphant post punk music. Politically charged ("Missiles") at times - while at other times just grasping for hope ("Sense of Purpose") - it's always a musical exorcism of something evil from within us. The Sound were the real deal, even if they weren't as experimental as some of their contemporaries (The Pop Group, Swell Maps, Public Image Ltd., etc.) - the quality of their music speaks for itself. For those that don't know, their lead singer commited suicide in a particularly disturbing way (threw himself under a train as onlookers watched in horror) - his music and his lyrics were genuine expressions of his feelings and his inner turmoil.
Their records never became poor or tiresome, but after their second record, they admittedly never released anything quite as excellent. Which isn't to say that they no longer made excellent songs - and to that end, one of their later tracks is what I'm listening to today - "Total Recall" from their fourth record
Heads and Hearts.
Beginning with a deliberate thumping bassline that soon sprouts into an excellently melodic guitar riff - Borland sings about love lost and the inevitable passing of time - tried and true lyrical subject matter - but boy do they make it work:
It's all such a blur when time goes so quickly
Trying to hang on to the way that you'd like things to stay
You trace back the seconds recall the details
From someone will, to someone does
To someone did, you know I did
Oh there must be a hole in your memory
But I can see
I can see, a distant victory
A time when you will be with meAnd when that soaring chorus hits, that's when the song wins you over. At least, it won me over. Despite not hailing from their best album, "Total Recall" is most certainly one of their greatest songs. Sometimes what pushes a song over the top is the delivery and the pacing, and that's the case here. A melodic and poppy post punk triumph:
RIP Adrian
Quote from: SGR on Mar 28, 2023, 11:36 PMQuote from: Nimbly9 on Mar 28, 2023, 10:29 PMMan I love me some SOS Band and Atlantic Starr. Sands Of Time is one of the best R&B songs of the 80's.
"Sands of Time" is another great tune! Don't think I've heard much Atlantic Starr though - do you have any song/album recommendations?
Silver Shadow is my favorite song by them. It's such a good song that when he first heard it, it galvanized DMX to start his music career.
Quote from: Nimbly9 on Mar 29, 2023, 01:16 AMQuote from: SGR on Mar 28, 2023, 11:36 PMQuote from: Nimbly9 on Mar 28, 2023, 10:29 PMMan I love me some SOS Band and Atlantic Starr. Sands Of Time is one of the best R&B songs of the 80's.
"Sands of Time" is another great tune! Don't think I've heard much Atlantic Starr though - do you have any song/album recommendations?
Silver Shadow is my favorite song by them. It's such a good song that when he first heard it, it galvanized DMX to start his music career.
Just listened to it, great song!! I'll have to listen to more! Are you serious though - did this song actually galvanize DMX's career? Possibly no Ruff Ryders Anthem without this tune?
QuoteRapper DMX's career was influenced by "Silver Shadow"; in an interview for Rolling Stone he explained: "I'd just finished doing a robbery, and I was walking into my building [...]. I stopped right in my tracks. If you hear the words to that song, you'd know how it predicted my life to me. I'd been doin' the beatbox before that, but that's when I started writin' seriously."
Just lurking and checking out the songs that get mentioned. I didn't really know either Sands of Time or Silver Shadow, but enjoy them both :)
Bicep - ApricotsPerhaps my favorite song from 2020, or at least my favorite single, was Bicep's beautiful and hypnotic trance, "Apricots". It's an ambient techno piece that just feels like a musical ritual. Incantations, powerful though they may be, are nothing without the powerful and ascending synth chords and drum breaks.
The vocal sample just repeats and repeats, no one knows what she's really saying (unless you happen to speak the language), but it doesn't matter what she's saying: it's about the feeling the listener gets while hearing her say it. There's on additional vocal sample that slowly gets introuced with a repetion of "Ay..Maka!" - just to further sell the idea of incantations.
The most incredible thing is how little it really does, and yet how powerful and intense it remains. And the feeling that the listener comes away with is probably different for everyone. Is this a cry for help? A reminiscence of times past? A call to arms? Or just an invocation of the spiritual heart of man? This very loose statement of intent and its variability is something that electronic music is finely suited for, but the genre rarely pulls it off quite as gracefully and effortlessly as it's done here - it has almost all of the ingredients in it that made Future Sound of London's "Papua New Guinea" a complete marvel to listen to.
The song will take you into its world with a warm embrace, if you're willing to let it.
If you're curious what the sampled vocals are from, here they are - obscure recordings to say the least - and the way they were used in the track once again highlights effective sampling/looping as a very unique talent in itself - the primary vocal sample from the track can be heard right at the start of this track:
The second vocal sample of the track can be heard here, about 37 seconds in:
And one last thing - I have to give credit to house DJ Sonny Fodera for putting me onto this track, as he opened one of his sets with it - a set that was performed during the Covid pandemic at the famous Printworks club in London (seeing the video with no crowds of people there is a bit jarring to say the least) - and what an opening track it is:
A Flock of Seagulls - Space Age Love SongI grew up in America, yeah? And I grew up with a dad who grew up in the '80s. The last truly culturally relevant band he was interested in listening to was Nirvana. But he had heard plenty of new wave music and metal music in his time on Earth before I was born. I remember riding around as a three year old in his F-150, as he put in Eurythmics tapes and Depeche Mode tapes. As I grew older, he showed me more - especially once he got his hands on a Sirius satellite radio and got access to their 1st Wave channel. One of the songs he really liked was A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran". I never really got the big deal with that track. Sure, it was okay - it was kinda catchy and unique, but it really didn't move me. This song was their only big hit in the US. I think he discovered it through MTV.
But anyways, I knew the band - and as a result I eventually discovered one of their singles that wasn't so big in America - "Space Age Love Song". What can be said about this song that hasn't been said before? This song transports me to a place like few others do - there's fewer songs more effective at making you feel like a lovelorn teenager staring out the bus window as this one. Dreamy arpeggios, a beautiful build-up, and absolutely perfect vocal delivery. This would easily make my top ten '80s songs list - there's beauty in simplicity:
I saw your eyes
And you made me smile
For a little while
I was falling in love
I saw your eyes
And you touched my mind
Although it took a while
I was falling in loveThey also did a great rendition of it with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra:
And who could forget the "unofficial" video with the one and only Jennifer Connelly?:
So thanks to my Dad for introducing me to older music, specifically new wave and this band. I may have never stumbled upon this absolute masterpiece of a track otherwise. It's an absolute beauty.
About A Flock of Seagulls, I remember watching a VH1 program about them where it seemed they'd ended kinda badly (?) and the program was about trying to get them together again amicably or something.
I think their guitarist was like 14 years or something when he joined the band.
Quote from: Guybrush on Apr 06, 2023, 05:53 AMAbout A Flock of Seagulls, I remember watching a VH1 program about them where it seemed they'd ended kinda badly (?) and the program was about trying to get them together again amicably or something.
I think their guitarist was like 14 years or something when he joined the band.
Interesting - I didn't know that about their guitarist. And I'd never seen that VH1 program, if you ever stumble upon it, I'd like to see it. I think they were only ever broken up for two years. They're still together and active today I think. :)
ABBA - The VisitorsNot their best track. Not their catchiest song. Not even their most brave musical statement. And yet, this is the ABBA song that always keeps me coming back; It's because of the ever-present tension, the energy, the build-up, Frida's incredible vocals, and the story it tells.
This is the opening track from what would, for a long time, be the last ABBA album. The title track of the album, "The Visitors". But these aren't friendly houseguests. On ABBA's last album, they became a little more nuanced, a little more reflective, and a bit more dark. This track tells the tale of a secret meeting of freedom fighters in an Eastern-European communist state during the Cold War. And on this fateful day, the government jackboots have finally found them and plan to snuff them out. If you were to read the lyrics without knowing, you'd hardly pin this as an ABBA song:
These walls have witnessed all the anguish of humiliation
And seen the hope of freedom glow in shining faces
And now they've come to take me, come to break me
And yet it isn't unexpected
I have been waiting for these visitors, help me
Now I hear them moving
Muffled noises coming through the door, I feel I'm
Crackin' upYeah...a pretty far shot from "Dancing Queen", that's for sure. But man, an excellent song nonetheless. Honestly, it might be my favorite ABBA album.
Quote from: SGR on Apr 21, 2023, 02:54 AMInteresting - I didn't know that about their guitarist. And I'd never seen that VH1 program, if you ever stumble upon it, I'd like to see it. I think they were only ever broken up for two years. They're still together and active today I think. :)
Did a quick search and seems it was aired in 2004. It looks like it's this one:
If they've largely been active all this time, maybe it was about them reuniting with their old guitarist? I can't quite remember, it's been so long!
Massive Attack - The SpoilsThis is the group that pioneered trip-hop - the mixture of downtempo electronic music, hip hop and breakbeats. This is also the group that crafted my favorite track of all time, if I were forced at gunpoint to choose - that being
Unfinished Sympathy:
But that's not the track I want to discuss now. I want to discuss
The Spoils. This 2016 track is, to date, the latest single the great Massive Attack has released. And even if they decided to hang it all up tomorrow, this would be a perfectly suitable track to go out on.
Featuring Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval on vocals, this track swells with emotion. As the slow and deliberate synths and machine-drums fill out the background, Hope takes the lead to guide us on a desperate emotional journey of someone who's deluded themselves into believing that the person they're in love with now is the same person they fell in love with initially - they're in love with an illusion of the past, clinging on to things that once were, but appear will never be again:
QuoteI got that feeling, that bad feeling that you don't know
I don't even know her but I hope that she comforts you tonight
Nobody here that keeps you in the shade, who ever owned you
Some sentimental tears or someone else's girl that drifts away
But I somehow slowly love you
And wanna keep you the same
Well, I somehow slowly know you
And wanna keep you away
As we watch the figure in the video slowly get more and more contorted and disfigured, it reminds us of the fragility of our relationships, and further, the precariousness of our own mortality.
The track not only reminds me of relationships frayed and destroyed in my past, but also of the inevitability that someone else close to me will eventually be thinking of me when they hear this song, after I've died.
Morbid, beautiful, and a testament to how great Massive Attack (and Hope Sandoval) truly is.
Unfinished Sympathy is really good!
---
I was really in love with this song by them back on myspace days.
Quote from: Mindy on Apr 13, 2024, 06:53 AMUnfinished Sympathy is really good!
---
I was really in love with this song by them back on myspace days.
"Teardrop" (and all of Mezzanine) are downright excellent - the only thing that draws my ire and rage is when someone calls it the "House song". :laughing:
Quote from: SGR on Apr 13, 2024, 10:39 PM"Teardrop" (and all of Mezzanine) are downright excellent - the only thing that draws my ire and rage is when someone calls it the "House song". :laughing:
Well yeah, it's a trip-hop song, not a house song. :laughing:
Pulp - Sylvia (1998)
Some say that Oasis's 1997 album
Be Here Now was the end of Britpop. I'd have to disagree and offer Pulp's 1998 album
This Is Hardcore as the true signal of the end to Britpop.
Unlike the former, this album is thoughtful, filled with longing, regret, introspection, lust, and hope. While
Be Here Now felt like the big explosive party that Britpop finally deserved - a recognition and affirmation of its continued success, one last big hoorah to send its relevance off on,
This Is Hardcore felt more like the drunken afterparty, and the inevitable hangover the morning after when you get pulled back into painful reality.
One of the tracks that I find most representative of the album as a whole is the wonderful "Sylvia". The meaning of the song is rather simple - our protagonist meets a girl who reminds him deeply of a childhood crush. A girl he lusted for deeply, and yet, in his adulthood, he realized the girl was very emotionally (and possibly more) damaged, despite her exterior. He sees the men this new woman hangs around with, and he pleads with her to recognize that these guys only want her as an accessory - but in doing this, he realizes his own lack of maturity when he was a child led him in some ways to want his childhood crush for similar reasons, it's only now he's recognizing the shallowness with which his emotions were attached to "Sylvia". He has no idea where "Sylvia" is now but this woman reminds him of his regrets - he wishes he could go back in time and comfort her, and bond with her on a deeper emotional level - and maybe he could've at least had a positive effect on her during a time of abuse and neglect. With both the woman he sees now and "Sylvia" in his mind, he pleads that they keep believing and moving forward, and impresses upon the need for hope - that we all know things will get better.
The absolutely soaring chorus almost single-handedly sells this song to me. I wish I could've seen them perform the track back in '98 and sing along (probably drunkenly):
Quote from: Pulp; "Sylvia"Who's this man you're talking to?
Can't you see what he wants to do?
He thinks if he stands near enough then he will look as good as you
Oh, he don't care about your problems
He just wants to show his friends
I guess I'm just the same as him
Oh, I just didn't know it then
I never understood you really
And I know it's too late now
You didn't ask to be that way
Oh, I'm sorry, Sylvia
So keep believing
And do what you do
I can't help you but I know things are gonna get better
And please stop asking what it's got to do with you
Oh, keep believing 'cause you know that you deserve better
The meditative guitar and bass plucks, drumless, allowing Jarvis to begin to tell the story - the drums slowly set in to provide the suspense and anticipation - Jarvis begins to pick up his pitch - and then:
"YEAH I REMEMBEEEEEEER SYLVIAAAAA!!!"
And that beautiful, soaring, hopeful chorus explodes. Wow.
It's so simple, and yet so gripping, captivating, and memorable.
Pulp was always the most smart and flamboyant Britpop band. The fact that this record sold so incredibly poorly compared to their previous record,
Different Class (which went 4xPlatinum), is a goddamn shame, because I think the record is better than that one was.
Quote from: 'Wikipedia'The album had first-week sales of just over 50,000, 62% fewer than Different Class first-week sales of 133,000. The album was certified gold by the BPI April 1998 for sales of 100,000. As of 2008, sales in the United States have exceeded 86,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
My message to Pulp's
This Is Hardcore:
"Oh, keep believing 'cause you know that you deserve better - oh it's truuuuuue, yeah!"
And I'd be remiss to not include this excellent live performance of the track from '98, remastered in 4K.
If you haven't heard this record, what are you waiting for? I'd highly,
highly recommend it, especially if you're into Oasis or Blur at all.
Quote from: Lexi Darling on Apr 13, 2024, 10:55 PMWell yeah, it's a trip-hop song, not a house song. :laughing:
:laughing:
I knew I should have italicized "House", and I'm guessing you know what I'm referring to, but just for those who don't:
Cults - Always Forever (2013)
I don't keep up with new music releases like I did when I was in my teens/early 20s. But I vividly remember when the album this song originated from (
Static) dropped. Their 2011 self-titled debut album certainly had picked up a lot of steam by that point, and some of their singles were already appearing frequently in adverts. I quite liked the singles from the first album ("Go Outside", "Oh My God", etc.), very catchy stuff, but didn't think the record particularly was greater than the sum of its parts. That was a little different with this follow-up record, which I felt was. It's a little more psychadelic, a little more woozy, a little less commercial - less slick and polished, as its namesake might lead you to believe. Brian Oblivion (Cults guitarist) said this on the album title:
QuoteThere's a feeling our generation has. The feeling there's always something better around the corner, that everyone is born to be a star. The feeling that life is waiting for you, and yet it's not happening. All of that is static.
The most vivid memories I have with this record, and this track, is listening to it on my headphones, as I took the long walk from the parking lot to my dormitory in the blistering cold of a frigid New England winter. Somehow, this largely irreverent indie-pop felt like the perfect soundtrack - and this track (and record more generally) is always around to pick me up when I'm feeling a bit cold, emotionally.
Somehow, "Always Forever", which to me stood out as pretty obviously the best track on the album was never properly released as a single - but it did get its own dedicated music video a couple years ago. It's a song about unrequited love, and it almost borders the creepy stalker territory a bit, but if so, I've never heard stalking sound so sugary-sweet. The feelings it evokes is probably closer to teenage puppy love.
QuoteOh, darling, it's alarming thing to think of us apart
You know you've got me in your pocket
You don't just have to wait around
You know I keep you in my locket
Just come here and we can settle down
You and me always forever
We could stay alone together
Musically, it's a rather simple track. But it's a gentle reminder that sometimes, pop music works best when you keep it simple.
And they do great live renditions of it too:
I must admit, until I started writing about this track, I had no idea Cults had released anything after
Static, much less that they'd released 3 albums after that. I'm guessing that, for better or worse, they didn't evolve much in terms of their sound/formula - but I should probably give them a spin. More Cults is not a bad thing.
Aware as I am, and I never stop whining about it, that few people comment even if they read, and that it's otherwise impossible for an author to know if their journal is being read, just wanted you to know I've been reading this and I like your idea of concentrating on one track rather than a full album. As I've said before, you're a hell of a writer.
Um, you do have a canary in this mine, don't you? What's that I smell, and why am I suddenly feeling fain....
Quote from: Trollheart on Apr 23, 2025, 12:36 AMAware as I am, and I never stop whining about it, that few people comment even if they read, and that it's otherwise impossible for an author to know if their journal is being read, just wanted you to know I've been reading this and I like your idea of concentrating on one track rather than a full album. As I've said before, you're a hell of a writer.
Um, you do have a canary in this mine, don't you? What's that I smell, and why am I suddenly feeling fain....
Thanks Trolls! If this journal sub-forum was the 'Dungeons & Dragons' of SCD, you'd indisputably be 'The Journalmaster', so I appreciate the kind words and readership! :)
The focus on one track is something I thought could help in terms of keeping things relatively brief (to avoid the tl;dr), but also to allow me the freedom to switch what I'm writing about relatively quickly. If you've read much of this, you can probably see I do tend to be unable to resist providing a little bit of broader context with the album as a whole (this is usually inevitable, as the format of the 'album' is typically how I consume music), but I think a little bit of that context isn't a bad thing if the reader/listener actually enjoys the track, as it gives them a clear direction of where to go if they'd like to hear more. :)
Alice In Chains - Frogs (1995)
It's no secret that Alice In Chains' lead singer Layne Staley had a serious drug problem. Poor guy was addicted to heroin, painkillers, and cocaine. He deteriorated rapidly, eventually causing the band to cancel an entire tour they had planned with Metallica - and eventually, the live shows they did were far and few between and making it all happen and go off without a hitch was like threading a needle.
In 1995, Alice In Chains would release their third album, which was self-titled, and it would become the last studio album they'd release with Layne Staley. As the third album, released three years after their previous album, with rumors of Layne Staley's death swirling at the time (his condition wasn't good, so the rumors were not completely unfounded), the album cover was one that you could derive multiple different symbolic meanings from:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/24/Alice_in_Chains_%28album%29.jpg)
As a kid, my Dad actually owned the CD - in the original nasty transparent yellow jewel case. It definitely had an allure for me as a child, and as a depressed and angsty teenager, it became something of a common companion. A look through the liner notes provided no respite from rather macabre nature of the cover art (flipping through liner notes to see the lyrics, credits, and pictures is something I always did as a young'n - always helped me better immerse myself in the album):
(https://i.discogs.com/7qhdJhEr68-XXhCWEDoDFIezovUXQPDOATcNBbtI2vs/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:596/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM2NzQx/OC0xNDU5ODk4Njg1/LTc2MjguanBlZw.jpeg)
(https://images.45worlds.com/f/cd/alice-in-chains-alice-in-chains-12-cd.jpg)
(https://i.discogs.com/MxY_0iOAJw6ILZNFwt3GlF4l0K3_Y1UjhXiO-7lBLYo/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:548/w:559/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM2NzQx/OC0xNDQ0MzU1MTQ2/LTIwODcuanBlZw.jpeg)
This track here though, "Frogs" (apparently titled after some loud frogs they heard in a nearby lake when they were doing some practice sessions in a barn - they recorded the sounds of these frogs which you can hear most clearly at the end of the studio recording), is somewhat of a culmination of all the dark demons and sadness that was a hallmark of this band. The lyrics are generally vague enough that you can't tell explicitly, with full confidence, what it's really about. There are lyrics with seeming reference to drug use, but also references to isolation, a friendship soured and lost (betrayal), and the inevitable ephemerality of childhood innocence:
QuoteWhat does friend mean to you?
A word so wrongfully abused
Are you like me, confused?
All included but you
Alone
The sounds of silence often soothe
Shapes and colors shift with mood
Pupils widen, change their hue
Rapid brown avoid clear blue
Flowers watched through wide eyes bloom
A child sings an unclaimed tune
Innocence spins cold cocoon
Grow to see the pain too soon
The track slowly lumbers along, punctuated and kept grounded by Sean Kinney's understated percussion - there's a lot of empty space in the mix, to really help you feel that isolation - and when we finally get to the "chorus", Layne repeats, rather pleadingly:
QuoteWhy's it have to be this way...?
It's powerful and saddening stuff. By the end of the track, the typical structure of the song in a vocal sense is lost - and Layne begins to have what sounds like a internal dialogue with himself:
QuoteAt 7:00 AM
On a Tuesday in August
Next week, I'll be 28
I'm still young, it'll be me
Off the wall, I scraped you
This is pretty loaded, but just to give you an idea of the meaning here - Layne would be turning 28 soon after the release of the album - this is somewhat meaningful as a reference to the 27 club, and how so many musicians die young, often due to drug abuse. "Off the wall, I scraped you" is somewhat inscrutable, unless you've heard Alice In Chains song "Dirt" (which this is a reference to), which more properly adds the horror of depression, drug addiction, and suicidal ideation:
Quote from: Alice in Chains, 'Dirt'I want to taste dirty, a stinging pistol
In my mouth, on my tongue
I want you to scrape me from the walls
And go crazy like you've made me
In the broader context of becoming 28, and making it clear he was the one doing the scraping, it seems like it's a reference to fellow musician Kurt Cobain, who died at 27 a year earlier. But, as Layne unfortunately prophetically adds:
QuoteI'm still young, it'll be me
And it would be him eventually. Not through a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but through an overdose of heroin and cocaine (2002). His state around the time was rather horrific, but I won't include much about that here.
Anyways, the studio track of course is great. But what's even more powerful is their live performance of the song for MTV Unplugged. This track, and really the entire performance, feels like attending a wake for someone who's still alive. You don't know when the funeral will be afterwards, but you won't have to wait long.
Even without looking at the lyrics too closely, it's a very spooky track. It feels like you're in a bog during the dead of night, in the middle of the summer heat, and as you try to wipe the sweat off your brow, biting and buzzing insects are making their way behind your ear - your shoes are getting soaked, the mud makes it incredibly difficult to walk, and then you start to smell those gross, often unindentifiable, but definitely putrid smells one would associate with a summer swamp - and the little light you have available from the moon just got snuffed out through cloud coverage. All alone. At this point, you don't even necessarily want to get out. You just accept this as your fate.
This song is, in my opinon, probably the darkest and bleakest track Alice In Chains ever did. The studio version is worth listening to as well of course.
Remember kids, you don't do smack, smack does you.
Nobonoko - Music for Animal Cafés (2023)
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1779438308_10.jpg)
Man, Alice In Chains is a little depressing - a real buzzkill - so this little gem I recently found is quite the refreshing palate cleanser.
As far as I know, nobonoko is a one-man show, and he's from Brazil. He's the kind of small indie artist who posts his full works on Youtube, and the only way you can purchase them is digitally via his bandcamp (linked here (https://nobonoko.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-animal-caf-s-2)).
In the original post, I reserved the right to post albums as well as just individual songs - so in this case, that's what I'll do - because I can't seem to find any Youtube uploads of any individual tracks from the album - but also because if you like any track you hear on this thing, I'm 99% confident you'll like the rest of the album too. Nothing diverges too much from the basic mood and formula here.
Look at that damn album cover! It's so colorful, expressive, unique and downright adorable. And really, that's how I'd describe most of the album too. The music is this sort of lounge-ish electronic chiptune kinda thing (no vocals or lyrics) - what it really sounds like, for a more relatable reference, is a soundtrack to a Nintendo Wii game from years ago. Sort of like what you might find in Animal Crossing, but much faster, bouncier, and more varied. Some of these tracks I could imagine featuring as the music for Mario Party minigames - yes, in a way, it reminds me of simpler times in my life, no worries in the world due to my age - just carefree fun and laughs with friends and family. I think my favorite selection is track 9, "Storm". It's one of the few moments in the album where the pace is slowed down to a relative crawl, and a synth-accordion is introduced to great effect - like I'm lounging in a digital Italy, calmly enjoying digital pastries with my digital animal buddies.
There's this element of banality to the album that is so completely irreverent that it makes it a joy to listen to. In fact, I could even see the exuberance and bubbliness as being a con for some (at least in album-length form) - so admittedly, you have to be in the right mood. But when you are in the right mood, this album does the job and more.
If nobonoko does a limited pressing of this on vinyl, I'd definitely shell out $20 - $30 for it. Not only because I really like it, but because seeing that album cover every day would be an easy and effortless way to bring a smile to my face.
:)
Vanessa Daou - Sunday Afternoons (1995)
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61dceWcC0xL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg)
What do you think about on Sunday afternoons? I think of you. Or at least, Vanessa Daou does. For her first solo album, Vanessa works with her husband Peter Daou to deliver a moody and absolutely sybaritic record full of hypnosis and sensuality. On some tracks, she utilizes more of a spoken vocal approach in an attempt to tempt, but it's her breathy, wispy, almost whispered vocals on the likes of "Sunday Afternoons" that I find the most appealing. Oh yeah, this whole record's lyrics are adopted from novelist/poet Erica Jong's book of poems called
Becoming Light. I guess she's related to Peter Daou somehow. He's her nephew, I think?
Peter Daou provides an absolutely excellent backing track, with a memorable and catchy bassline, fluttered forward with synths and...is that glockenspiel?...as Vanessa unfurls ephemeral epicurean memories of longing and lust:
QuoteYour sweet head would bow,
like a child somehow,
down to me
and your hair and your eyes were wild.
We would embrace on the floor
You see my back's still sore
You knew how easily I bruised,
It's a soreness I would never lose
I think of you
on Sunday afternoons
What genre is this track? It's sort of trip-hop/lounge - but the album as a whole definitely leans more into spoken word/ambient. That's not everyone's cup of tea, especially given how flagrantly erotic it usually is - but I'd highly recommend this track - which is simple, effective, and delightful.
File this under: "The singer is trying to seduce me!" and "Definitely should've been a big hit" :laughing:
^didn't know this artist, SGR. She sounds sweet. Liking those major seconds played over the root tone along with the chimes and bells. Will have to give the album a listen.
Quote from: Saulaac on May 01, 2025, 02:11 AM^didn't know this artist, SGR. She sounds sweet. Liking those major seconds played over the root tone along with the chimes and bells. Will have to give the album a listen.
She's definitely got a nice voice. And I loved the instrumental on the track too! Let me know your thoughts after you've had a chance to listen to the album. :)
The Chemical Brothers - Goodbye (2023)
(https://blackdogfilms.com/img/spots_eight_tiles/697/adam-smith-the-chemical-brothers-goodbye-960x540.jpg)
I've been listening to The Chemical Brothers and their infectious rhythms since I was a teenager. I remember blasting "Leave Home" as soon as I left home to commute to my first job. The brothers gonna work it out. I remember introducing them to my college roommate, who for a time, became my best friend. He had classes really early, much earlier than me, and I remember him coming back into our dorm room while I was still sleeping absolutely blasting Tom Rowlands' solo work through his headphones - probably woke up the whole fucking floor. God I hated that. We haven't spoken in years though. My god, how time flies. We started a radio show together. I snuck booze into a college campus building and got fairly drunk while we'd do our radio show. Who could blame me? It was scheduled for 11pm to 1am on Friday nights. We picked that slot so we wouldn't have to conform to any of the censorship rules of daytime radio. We'd go from playing Brotha Lynch Hung's most offensive tracks to playing the most depressing shit you can imagine by Low. What a time.
Anyways, The Chemical Brothers released a new album last year,
For That Beautiful Feeling. I gave it a few listens - I thought it was alright, but it didn't blow me away. One song that did stick with me was their first single from the album, "Live Again". But beyond that, nothing made a serious impression. A week or two ago, I went back to it and listened again, and this track, "Goodbye", just floored me. I guess it needed to marinate in my head a little while first before I could really see what they were going for. But man, what an absolutely excellent song.
An absolutely excellent vocal sample provides the flavor - from this track from 1980 - they pitch it down to great effect:
As for the instrumental, wow - it sounds like it could come out of the modern day house scene (almost "future house"), but those space born laser synths are absolutely fantastic. The somewhat muted drums for much of the track help build the tension until it really kicks into full fuckin' gear. Those ear (or maybe speaker) splitting synths actually remind me of the level of noise that Low went for on their final record.
But damn, the juxtaposition of beauty and ugliness, calm and excitement, love and hate - it feels like a rollercoaster for your ears. And I love it. The music video, as seizure-inducing as it might be, exemplifies this wonderfully. That beautiful feeling; a love one lost, and relationship frayed, the bad times may even outnumber the good - but yet, the memories will always remain. The human condition is ugly. The human condition is beautiful. Most importantly, the human condition is fleeting. That's the beautiful feeling. Thanks Chemical Bros.