SCD Mixtape 2 (Feb 21)

[Saulaac]

Gallopbury just sort of came to me, and I had a good chuckle after writing it, which was reinforced by Lisna and yourself 

More to the point, I can't understand what I've just heard ^ above. It's very funky and mixes almost everything I know, or at least used to know. That was wonderful 

[Trollheart]

Ah it's a classic. Ask almost anyone about Charlie Daniels, and they'll tell you about that song.

Either that, or they'll wax lyrical about what a great striker he was for Spurs and Bournemouth! 

Here's Futurama's take on it.

[Saulaac]

How the Devil did he do that?

I think we need to re-examine the Winner Takes It All 

[Saulaac]

With all the banter going on yesterday, I forgot to get back to you TH, regarding the bass solo in Gilmour's "Murder" track. It does sound fretless but it depends which version one listens to. Palladino (who was probably a Jaco student) sounds like fretless on the album version, but Mickey Feat looks like he has a fretted bass on the live version. That was a good spot on your part and only goes to strengthen my initial inkling that you were a member of the bassinati all along, and the fretless bassinati at that!

[Trollheart]

Thanks but I have little musical knowledge. I do think just about anyone can tell a bass from a fretless though. It has a much more smooth, sliding (?) feel. Anyway if I remember from something I read about him, Palladino does tend to use the fretless ones, so it might be him all right.

[Lisnaholic]

Getting Away With Murder by Papa Roach
I thought this song was ok, but unexceptional: a good rocker with a hookline (i.e. the title) that was quite catchy, but overall I didn't like the rough, throaty sound from the vocalist. Having said that, I also thought the whispered sections were unnecessary too: there's just no pleasing some people! A whisper, even in a song, usually suggests something being said in secret, in confidence or of a confessional nature; none of that applied to the whispering affected in this song, so why do it? As for the video (which is not the song, of course) : TH liked it, but to me it was just too easy a target, to contrast rebellious rockers with brokers on the Stock Exchange - especially as the lyrics themselves are so light on any real social-protest substance.
3 stars

Killing Loneliness by HIM
This song benefits from its position in the playlist, as the beautiful piano intro is in stark contrast to Papa Roach. The song builds nicely with some distorted guitar and a brief bit in the middle that has a melodramatic, Beethovenian touch to it, which, I'm assuming is what Saulaac is describing more accurately:- 

Probably my favourite bit was the bridge-type section on 2 and a half minutes where the bass and guitar step it up a gear and shred some even heavier riffs. That was an uplifting 30 seconds. It was like a ZZ Top moment.

After that section, I thought the song was rather short on surprises and I found myself in a race: which will finish first, the song or my interest in it ?
3.75 stars

Murder by David Gilmour
Nice strumming start to this song and it's difficult to criticize DG's singing, except that I am just too familiar with it, after listening so often to a bunch of mid-career Floyd classics. When I heard DG's opening lines, "Some of them standing, some are waiting in line...", it felt very much like a diluted version of a song from Final Cut: like Roger, Watered down. After that, I didn't pay much attention to what DG was singing about, but luckily he has plenty to say with his guitars: he has a couple of quick, faultless solos, then, best part of the song, imo, a long instrumental outro.
4 stars

Deep Red Bells by Neko Case
I keep meaning to check out Necko Case but never do. I really like her voice and this track has a moody sound, with a nice mellow guitar break before the song briefly, but agreeably,  picks up speed.
3.5 stars

Good Guys Bad Guys (Jean-Luc Ponty) by Jean-Luc Ponty
I expected to like this one in advance, and it bore out my opinion of JLP, as an artist who has a remarkably consistent sound. This track is up to his usual standard, but not outstanding. Unlike many instrumentals that just fade away, JLP brings this song to an abrupt but satisfying stop, which I guess says something about his compositional skills.
3.25 stars
 
"Killers" (Iron Maiden)
A good start to this song, with the mounting tension of the guitar, which, one min in, suddenly kranks up in intensity, and while I enjoyed the really fast guitar interludes that came later, this song was spoiled for me by vocalist's tone of hectic passion. Sometimes it feels like every male rock singer belts out his lyrics with the same generic, un-nuanced anguish: I'm not very interested in that tbh. Sorry, Trolls.
3 stars

Ballad of Brother Lew by Mu
I really love this song, with it's slinky, sinister rhythm and (maybe slide?) guitar working away throughout. The vocalist tells his story at a leisurely pace, but he conveys plenty of menace and unease. Also there are the weird, cryptic details,(for e.g.,"Blue cloudy Lew in the moonlight; a pink charade in my mind") so you are encouraged to listen again to see if you can work out why the galoshes are being mentioned. I also love the fade-out and sudden return which allows us, in effect, to enjoy two delicious intro variations.

[Trollheart]

Can we get the comments of
@Lexi Darling
@Guybrush
and
@DJChameleon

so as we can move on please?

[Lexi Darling]

Can we get the comments of
@Lexi Darling
@Guybrush
and
@DJChameleon

so as we can move on please?

Sure, I've been busy but I can type something up after dinner.

[Lexi Darling]

Papa Roach - Getting Away with Murder
I remember when this track and album came out, I was a big P-Roach fan at the time so I'm already intimately familiar with the song. It's not one of my personal favorites of theirs but it's a good rocker.
4

HIM - Killing Loneliness
Not reviewing my own track so I'll just say the singer in this band, Ville Valo, was one of my first musician crushes, hehe.

Mmm...

David Gilmour - Murder
This was alright, though mostly it kinda resembles the parts of Pink Floyd that were always less interesting to me. The fretless bass part is lovely, though.
3

Neko Case - Deep Red Bells
I liked this a lot, she has a lovely voice and I especially enjoyed the tempo change toward the end.
4

Jean-Luc Ponty - Good Guys Bad Guys
This was a fun bouncy little piece. I like the electric violin sound and how it's clearly a violin yet doesn't sound at all like classical violin or country fiddling in either timbre or playing style.
4

Iron Maiden - Killers
This was good! I feel like I can detect a lot of punk DNA here, like it's clearly metal guitar work but the urgency and attitude wouldn't feel too out of place in early 80s hardcore.
4.5

Mu - Ballad of Brother Lew
Not my usual type of music but I liked the subtle ominous atmosphere in this track, gives it a mysterious vibe like walking into some dusty old saloon.
3.5

Thanks for the submissions, everyone!

[Buckeye Randy]

My murder faves...

Death in general...

[DJChameleon]

Sorry for holding up the process.

Getting Away with Murder" (Papa Roach) submitted by DJ Chameleon
Gonna skip my own

2. "Killing Loneliness" (HIM) submitted by Lexi Darling

Holdyoualways from MB introduced me to HIM back in like 09 or so. Not my fave from HIM but it fits the theme and I do like them overall.


3. "Murder" (David Gilmour) submitted by Guybrush
The first half of the song did nothing for me but the second half when it starts to pick up and the instrumentation on the bridge brought it home and I ended up enjoying it more than I initially did in the beginning. I started out at a 2 stars but ended on 3.5.




4. "Deep Red Bells" (Neko Case) submitted by degrassi_knoll
I always associated Neko Case with indie music but this track was giving me country folk vibes. Shes has a wonderful voice. I docked a star just because I'm picky about my country and also have to be in the mood for it.




5. "Good Guys Bad Guys" (Jean-Luc Ponty) submitted by Saulaac (welcome to the mixtape!)

This funky tune was right up my alley with the violin doing some heavy lifting it was a pleasant instrumentation overall.




6. "Killers" (Iron Maiden) submitted by some cunt

I'm familiar with Maiden but I couldn't list off all their albums to save my life. I only know them off of specific tracks. This was quite enjoyable I like the urgency of the track and how it feels like he's stalking the victim.


7. "Ballad of Brother Lew" (Mu) submitted by Lisnaholic

Sad story about going to find his brother only to learn that he got killed in a knife fight and the body is just floating in the pool. Not something I would listen to normally but I did it enjoy it somewhat.

[Lisnaholic]

Thanks to everyone who wrote their song reviews - I always find them to be a very interesting read, especially people's verdicts on the song I selected.


@ Buckeye Randy: why don't you join us for Mixtape #3 ? There's a thread for it already, but you should read this simple explanation first:-

Spoiler

Basically, for those who don't know, everyone submits ONE track for the mixtape - any artist, any genre - and the mixtape is compiled. Could have six tracks, could have ten, depends on who's interested. Over the course of two weeks/a month/whatever is decided everyone listens to all the tracks and then gives a brief review/impression of them.

Tracks used to be sent by PM to whomever was assembling the mixtape, so if anyone's interested I guess that would be me. I would imagine YouTube links would be fine, and it could be compiled into a YouTube playlist.

[close]

So a Mixtape thread is not the same as a "Songs on the topic of..." thread, but as you have put some of your favourite death songs here, I don't see why it shouldn't serve that purpose once the proper Mixtaping is done. In that spirit, here are a few "death" tracks that Trollheart and my fellow Mixtapers narrowly escaped from:-

Spoiler

Careful with that Axe, Eugene from Ummagumma
Blood On The Floor by Thobbing Gristle
Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts by Bob Dylan
The Black Plague by Eric Burdon and The Animals
American Pie by Don McLean
Hangman by Tia Blake
Cursed Neck by Strawfoot

Those last two especially are just the tip of the iceberg from the Traditional Folk and Dark Country genres, where every other song is about death, or so it seems.

[close]

[Guybrush]

Where is @jimmy jazz with his Sophie Ellis-Bextor track?

I'll give my answers very soon! Thanks for the reminder, Trolls 👍

[jimmy jazz]

Where is @jimmy jazz with his Sophie Ellis-Bextor track?

I'll give my answers very soon! Thanks for the reminder, Trolls 👍

Is this a request for me to join this, or do you want the name of that track? 

[Trollheart]

The former I would think. You'd certainly be welcome to join our sometimes merry little band, JJ!

Thanks to @Lexi Darling and @DJChameleon : don't forget to check out the new thread and submit your choices for themes. I'll keep it open till the weekend, say Sunday, then we can get going on the tape itself.