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.
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: