Today it is 20 years since the release of Nevermind
20 years ago I had my mind blown by this album.
I had heard Bleach, a friend had it, but I think it was a bit raw for my tastes.
I was into metal about then.
anyway, along came Nevermind - WOW.
This changed music for me and just about everyone else.
Very very special.
To think there are teens and adults getting around today who have no idea about Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, Nevermind and the way the world went absolutely fucking bonkers 20 years ago.
Anyway i cant say much more than has already been said, except that this album holds a special place in my heart.
This is the whole classic albums doco on this album.
Take the time - you wont be disappointed.
Stumbled across this awesome LA singer songwriter Hanni El Khatib.
Today he just might be favourite artist in the world. Perfect day for these tunes.
Explosions in the sky just announced a tour of Australia this December.
If you are regular reader here, no doubt you have probably heard them mentioned once.
or twice. or 427 times.
I don't think i have been this excited since the first time I saw Tool - about 1996.
Playing The Forum in Melbourne - I could not think of a better venue.
So whose coming?
Explosions In The Sky 2011 Australian Tour Dates
Thursday December 8 – Forum Theatre, Melbourne
Tickets: Ticketmaster – 1300 111 011 or ticketmaster.com.au
Sunday December 11 – The Metro, Sydney
Tickets: handsometours.com; Metro Box Office or (02) 9550 3666; ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Tuesday December 13 – The Hi Fi, Brisbane
Tickets: handsometours.com; thehifi.com.au
If you are regular reader here, no doubt you have probably heard them mentioned once.
or twice. or 427 times.
I don't think i have been this excited since the first time I saw Tool - about 1996.
Playing The Forum in Melbourne - I could not think of a better venue.
So whose coming?
Explosions In The Sky 2011 Australian Tour Dates
Thursday December 8 – Forum Theatre, Melbourne
Tickets: Ticketmaster – 1300 111 011 or ticketmaster.com.au
Sunday December 11 – The Metro, Sydney
Tickets: handsometours.com; Metro Box Office or (02) 9550 3666; ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Tuesday December 13 – The Hi Fi, Brisbane
Tickets: handsometours.com; thehifi.com.au
Not rage in me today.
Just blogging, listening, follow me......
Looking for new music, different music?
Just something?
A few ideas. This is where I started.
Loving this song more than anything else in the world right now.
Not new but none the less brilliant.
And old fave
and another
65daysofstatic
a classic that kicked off a genre
if thats not to your liking, looking to kick the weekend off with something more upbeat.
try
Why? I dont know?
That led me to this.
fuck i love this beat. You tube dont do it justice.
and i was talking about this during the week
which led me to this
then back to something with guitars
and iggy always leads to bowie....... but lets go via Lour Reed & the Velvet Underground
yeah! see what i did there?
and I might finish on this.
Any Ideas?
Hope so.
Open your mind.
Try something different.
Just blogging, listening, follow me......
Looking for new music, different music?
Just something?
A few ideas. This is where I started.
Loving this song more than anything else in the world right now.
Not new but none the less brilliant.
And old fave
and another
65daysofstatic
a classic that kicked off a genre
if thats not to your liking, looking to kick the weekend off with something more upbeat.
try
Why? I dont know?
That led me to this.
fuck i love this beat. You tube dont do it justice.
and i was talking about this during the week
which led me to this
then back to something with guitars
and iggy always leads to bowie....... but lets go via Lour Reed & the Velvet Underground
yeah! see what i did there?
and I might finish on this.
Any Ideas?
Hope so.
Open your mind.
Try something different.
Dear David / Dave / Bowie / Mr Jones / Ziggy / Most Noble Thin White Duke,
Please don’t retire. Not yet. It’s not your time. I know you’ve reached the pension period of your life, have been quiet of late, have a young daughter, have given us way more than pretty much any other artist since the mid sixties, and it’s your decision, but still. Don’t go just yet.
We need you more now than ever before. In the week Gaga unleashes her latest pop pastiche and the nation battens down the hatches and prepares for the four month twin onslaught of The X Factor and The X Factor US, having you around becomes even more pressingly important.
Plus also it’s just not fair. To paraphrase that great sage Lemar, if there’s any justice in the world you’d be still doing the rounds while other senior artists were calling it quits. We’d be jumping on to the Jubliee to see you at the O2 while some of your peers took a raincheck.
I first heard you when I got my hands on a generational hand-me-down of ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ and from that epic opening eight minutes onward I knew I'd need to go out and get a better stereo.
It blew a teenager’s tiny mind on impact and from then on, through the album’s ‘Black Country Rock’ and ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, to the previous year’s ‘Space Oddity’, the rest of your early 70s output, the plastic soul years, Berlin trilogy and the rest of your well-documented diverse and near-flawless career, I was all kinds of smitten.
It almost goes without saying how essential you’ve been over the last five decades, laughing at the notion of boundaries, turning your talents to glam, disco, soul, ambient, jazz and practically any other sound, showing us how pop can be truly transformational, giving us over 15 properly great albums, Labyrinth and Duncan Jones but most of all an escape from the humdrum. Even when you got it wrong you got it wrong for the right reasons – taking risks that usually paid off but could be forgiven when they didn’t.
One of your biographers reckons you'd only come back if you think you could deliver something that will be seismic. We have faith. Of all the performers operating near the twilight ends of their careers you’ve got the best form, right up to the last decade – as your work with Arcade Fire, Scarlett Johansson and TV On The Radio will attest.
And even if you came back with another ‘Reality’ or ‘Heathen’ – sturdy, reliable rock with a Bowie twist – that would be OK. As NME wrote of the latter back in 2002, “even at [your] most self-referential, you’re still a zillion times more inventive, brave and rocket-to-Mars brilliant than anyone who's been prodded by the ubiquitous genius stick, ever.”
As a man who missed the Led Zeppelin and Cream reunions but was lucky enough to see The Who while John Entwistle was still running through five minute bass solos halfway through the set, I know the value of the last chance saloon. And as someone who’s endured recent Pistols and Buzzcocks gigs, I know I should be careful what I wish for. Some nagging feeling tells me you’d pull it off though, avoiding the nostalgic pitfalls and tired rehashes others succumb to, coming across more Johnny Cash than Bob Dylan.
If nothing else, could we cheekily ask for one last greatest hits tour, for me and the likes of the guy who writes the awesome blog Down is The New up, who is yet to see you live, like innumerable other big Bowie fans.
Here’s hoping your retirement is as brief as this one, and we see you on a stage soon.
note - this was shamelessly stolen from NME and reproduced for my entertainment.
So Kanye and Jay-Z have released what the music media mega fawns say is the most anticipated album of the year. Originally it was going to be a 5 track EP, then they announce a full length album.
Released a few teasers.
Now I have it.......
Watch the Throne.
Yeah that's the cover. Its a bit in your face over the top glitz and glamour bling kind of thing. Trying too hard. Like it was designed by a fucking fashion designer or something. Oh wait. It was.
But I'm no fashion critic. I'm a music critic. Or am I?
This is the internet - I'm whatever I want to be. Today I wear two hats.
The album cover is shite. The name of the album. Shite.
Has not started well. Hope the music lives up to the hype
A bit of history.
So I'm a big Kanye fan. Or was. Well am again. Sort of.....
Once upon a time I apologised to Kanye for slagging off his My Beautiful Dark twisted Fantasy (apology / review - here) Anyway, crux is - I miss the young Kanye. The guy who produced his own songs, who broke new ground, who changed the game, fearless. The guy who used samples - not synthesisers on his first 2 albums. Then he went all synth on Graduation, then even worse on 808s with autotune & synths.
Then sort of redeemed himself on MBDTF.
Fuck I hate synthesisers. and autotune.
Jay-Z I really think is over rated. Sure he has the Platinum Albums, street cred and approximately $650 million more dollars than me, owns an NBA team, record labels and has 11 US number 1 albums. But im just not the biggest fan. Except some of the stuff that Kanye produced.
So......
with that in mind I' m thinking this could be good.
After a week of on and off listening, i locked myself away with the headphones for a few hours and this is what I got.
1. No Church in the Wild Featuring Frank Ocean
Cool riff opens, synth over the top (not too bad, i can handle it) Jay-Z does his thing, then the auto tune. Jeezus i hate autotune. Almost kills the song. Kanye comes in, tell us how a "line of coke on black skin is a stripe like a zebra", he "calls that jungle fever."
meh. Just a song.
2. Lift Off Featuring Beyonce.
Its a fucking Beyonce song! I hate Beyonce. I hate Autotune and I hate Synthesisers. And I hate Beyonce.
Fuck me. I thought Jay-Z sang about the "Death of Autotune" last year. wish it was the death of Beyonce. So Beyonce sings, the other two some shit rapping in between.
So anyway....... dont like this song.
3. Niggas in Paris.
Hmmm. Sounds like a Jay Z song. basic beats. Even the sample dialogue from Blades of Glory cant save this, except to explain the title -
"I dont even know what that means"Abd that sums it up - a waste of time.
"No one knows what it means, but its provocative"
4. Otis Featuring Otis Redding.
The first song on the Album produced by Kanye. And the first good song on the Album. Surprise? No!
Sampling a guy that died 45 years ago is NOT featuring. Its sampling.
Yeah but i like the beat, the sample, the lyric.
Good song. (finally!)
5. Gotta Have It.
Produced by the Neptunes and Kanye. A song that almost gets there. Sounds like a Jay Z song featuring Kanye West produced by the Neptunes and Kanye. Oh wait it is.
6. New Day.
Opens with autotune of Nina Simone singing "its a new day" - not a great start. So Kanye and Jay rap about what they would do say teach their kids. oh heart warming.
But ultimately a shite song.
7. Thats' my Bitch.
Apart from the overtly mysoginistic overtones here, I like this song. Not least because of the sample of Public Enemy's "Brothers gonna work it out." (well really its a James Brown sample but it sounds distinctly PE to me) Nice female vocal, good flow from both. Produced by Kanye.
8. Welcome to the Jungle.
God this is terrible. A bad Jay- Z song produced by Swizz Beatz Who? Mr Alicia Keys.Even name checks Axl Rose. Yeah just bad. Corny.
9. Whos Gon Stop me.
Christ it sounds like a Rick Astley remix with some distorted Jay Z shit over the top.
Now they are taking the piss.
10. Murder to Excellence.
Yeah - this starts good. real good. Good sample, good beats, good rapping from the two. Then it changes halfway. Oh thats 2 songs? Murder & excellence. How trite. But we get the 1st sample on a 45 speed. Hey wait! Thats Kanyes - he invented that shit and he is not even producing this song. Homage. I don't know.
A decent song.
11. Made in America featuring Frank Ocean.
What the fuck.
Sweet King Martin
Sweet Queen Coretta
Sweet Brother Malcolm
Sweet Queen Betty
Sweet Mother Mary
Sweet Father Joseph, Sweet Jesus
We made it in America
Sweet Baby Jesus, ooooh
oh sweet baby Jesus
We made it in America
Oh, Sweet Baby Jesus, We made it in America
Sweet Baby Jesus, ooooh
Oh, Sweet Baby Jesus, We made it in America
Yeah.
That is bad. real bad.
This album is now nothing more than a piss take designed to see which hangers on in the media will rate it.
12. Why I love You.
CLEARLY a Kanye West production. Sounds like a Jay Z song of course, but a reprieve. Maybe they thought if we put it last they will forget the other shit?
So then they decided to give us some bonus tracks.......
13. Illest Motherfucker Alive.
I does not start until 3 minutes in - thats annoying. And its just a song.
14. H.A.M
The single they released 6 months ago and it does not make it on the album. Says a lot! its fairly ordinary. Uptempo fast beat. oh who am i kidding. its bad.
15. Primetime
Starts well, like the beat and sample.but it ultimately does nothing........ just peters out...........
16. The Joy featuring Curtis Mayfield.
The last of the Bonus tracks. Bonus tracks on a shit album are you guessed it - shit.
In Summary.
Dont believe the hype.
I loved Kanye. He produces his own work. Jay Z - he doesn't I have no love for him.
So when you put the two together and hire a whole heap of producers and about 27 different writers?
You get a mish mash of shit. There are maybe 3 good songs on the album.
I genuinely like Curtis, Thats My Bitch and Why I love you.
Murder to Excellence & gotta Have it get a pass mark.
WAIT......
They were going to do a 5 track EP originally you say?
Shit - those 5 tracks I just said i liked - that would have been a killer EP.
But they got their egos involved and their wives and all of their friends and went and fucked it up for everyone.
A mark out of 10?
If we just take the 12 album tracks - And I like 3, dont mind 2 others, we get to 5 out of 12 which equates to 4.1 when scaled to 10. But that's simplistic.
Watch the Throne - 4.5 / 10
If you want to read more heaped on this - here is my favourite review - http://rapsandhustles.com/2011/08/11/ghostface-killah-watch-the-throne-album-review/
This beautiful song was the opening track from the only record by Mad Season, a collaboration between members of three big Seattle bands Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees.
Barrett Martin, Layne Staley, John Baker Saunders and Mike McCready produced a exemplary album in 1994 that is especially haunting given the subject matter and the subsequent deaths of Staley & Saunders.
I love this song.
enjoy.
Barrett Martin, Layne Staley, John Baker Saunders and Mike McCready produced a exemplary album in 1994 that is especially haunting given the subject matter and the subsequent deaths of Staley & Saunders.
I love this song.
enjoy.
Amy Winehouse dead at 27. No surprise there really, but sad none the less.
Beautiful voice. Crazy life.
I hope they remember her for her voice.
and we can remember back when she was fresh faced..........
Beautiful voice. Crazy life.
I hope they remember her for her voice.
and we can remember back when she was fresh faced..........
Jay-Z and Kanye West are back with another track from their much anticipated upcoming album Watch The Throne. "Otis" samples Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness"
Watch the Throne is out August 1
Watch the Throne is out August 1
Im not really feeling the the love here - Kanye is one of the greatest producers in the world, but this sounds like it was whipped up on the fly. Jay-Z tells us “I guess I got my swagger back… truth” - ah no. not with lines like that.
Let me know what you think, maybe you will think more of it than I do.
Then again it took 6 months for me to come around to "My beautiful dark twisted fantasy......"
Radiohead’s show at Glastonbury from June 24.
The band played a surprise show at the Glastonbury Festival on June 24. The show was not broadcast by the BBC, but 34 people shared their footage and James Clarke put it all together.
Radiohead – The King Of Limbs: Live From The Basement
We’ve been waiting for this one for quite some time, but here it is in full. Radiohead performing their latest album ‘The King Of Limbs’ in full.
This was Broadcast on Canal+ last week - you can see the band, including Clive Deamer and additional musicians, perform the 8 tracks from The King Of Limbs, as well as Staircase and The Daily Mail. Enjoy! Also, you can download all mp3′s via Soundcloud, Mediafire or Sendspace.
I just heard about the first ever official video by one of my favourite bands Explosions in the Sky. Brilliant song of their new Album "Take Care, Take Care, Take Care"
Love the video clip - and the song.
"Last Known Surroundings"
Written & Performed by Explosions in the Sky
Directed by Ptarmak
Illustration: Sissy Emmons
Animation: David Hobizal
Addt'l Artistry: JR Crosby, Luke Miller, Zach Ferguson
Ben Hansen, Christy Carroll, Annie Mayfield
Addt'l 3D: Josh Johnson
Last Known Surroundings from Explosions in the Sky on Vimeo.
Love the video clip - and the song.
"Last Known Surroundings"
Written & Performed by Explosions in the Sky
Directed by Ptarmak
Illustration: Sissy Emmons
Animation: David Hobizal
Addt'l Artistry: JR Crosby, Luke Miller, Zach Ferguson
Ben Hansen, Christy Carroll, Annie Mayfield
Addt'l 3D: Josh Johnson
Last Known Surroundings from Explosions in the Sky on Vimeo.
I love this photo. It is absolute gold.
Taken by Mick Rock in 1972.
Bowie, Iggy & Lou Reed.
Mick Ronson in the background as always.
Well things evolve and this blog aint about Albums alone anymore. The big long sprawling posts are not sustainable so I have moved to a more regular but none less thought out plan.
A music blog.
Simple huh?
Changes.
Made me think of Bowie. Ch ch ch Changes
Taken by Mick Rock in 1972.
Bowie, Iggy & Lou Reed.
Mick Ronson in the background as always.
Well things evolve and this blog aint about Albums alone anymore. The big long sprawling posts are not sustainable so I have moved to a more regular but none less thought out plan.
A music blog.
Simple huh?
Changes.
Made me think of Bowie. Ch ch ch Changes
I started this blog as a response to the ever growing degeneration of the album as an art form. Kids and their single song mp3 downloads. Artists responding by not making complete albums, just 3 singles and some filler.
That and getting asked all the time by others what I was listening to & what could i recommend.
Well things evolve and this blog aint about Albums alone anymore. The big long sprawling posts are not sustainable so I have moved to a more regular but none less thought out plan.
A music blog.
Simple huh?
So coming soon, a relaunch, with a new name.
Down is The New Up.
same shit - different package.
Details to follow
That and getting asked all the time by others what I was listening to & what could i recommend.
Well things evolve and this blog aint about Albums alone anymore. The big long sprawling posts are not sustainable so I have moved to a more regular but none less thought out plan.
A music blog.
Simple huh?
So coming soon, a relaunch, with a new name.
Down is The New Up.
same shit - different package.
Details to follow
Everyone owns Dark Side of the Moon. Well, everyone SHOULD own dark side of the moon. That is a dead set given. What music fan, of sane and rational mind, does not own Dark Side of the Moon? I guess what I am trying to say is that if you don't own Dark Side of the Moon - you are not a music fan. You probably should not read on. What are you doing here in the first place?? Music stores (traditional and online) should have the facility to check your back catalogue before letting you buy any new album.
Something like this:
'We see that you do not own Dark Side of the Moon''iTunes is sorry to inform you that your account will now be disabled''Alternatively click here to purchase Dark Side of the Moon now'
But they don't. - Unfortunately.
So if you dont own Dark Side of the Moon....GET *you can probably catch the drift of what i'm thinking. Alternatively, buy it, dedicate years of your life listening to it. Then come back. You will be a better person for it. You would think this is an entry for DSOTM. Well it sort of is, every entry is, everyone owes everything to DSOTM, every single thing that happened in the world post 1973, music or otherwise is becasue of, or in spite of Dark Side of The Moon. Everything.
Christ almighty, I have finally got that off my chest (small rant, sorry, happens sometimes).
Climbs down off my somewhat conceited moral ground. Hop off the high horse and begins....
Anyway I digress, every man woman, child and beast who has ears should (or i can assume by now does) own Dark Side of the Moon - but they may not own Meddle. Meddle seems to be the forgotten Pink Floyd masterpiece.
In 1971 Pink Floyd were somewhere between the psychedelia and madman musings of Sid Barrett of 'A Saucer Full of Secrets' and the critical acclaim, wealth and status brought about by 'Dark Side of the Moon'. (we discussed that above - remember?) They had been the darlings of the London psychedelic underground, expelled their singer and lyric writer (Barrett), composed a film score/soundtrack (More) released the experimental double album Ummagumma (one side a live recording, the other a composition by each member) that along with the brilliance of Astronomy Divine, Careful with Axe Eugene and Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun also included one of the best song titles of all time: 'Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict'. The album 'Atom Heart Mother' followed which was an experiment in quadraphonic sound before the band came to 1971 with no clear direction and nothing written. They entered the studio to write and record, experimented and came up with - Meddle - a masterpiece.
The artwork deserves a mention - The image on the cover represents an ear, underwater, collecting waves of sound represented by ripples in the water. Storm Thorgerson was the designer of course, along with 10 other Pink Floyd Album covers. Unfortunately you dont see anyone with this on T-Shirt. (I did have one once upon a time.)
One of these days opens. A pounding bass line - 2 bass guitars together, building, pulsing, engaging, frightening, and suspenseful. A massive instrumental aside from Nick Mason making his vocal debut with......
"One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces!!"..........which slams the song into overdrive. Pounding drums and stinging slide guitar dominate for the next two minutes until nothing but wind remains. It is an energising start but ends calmly and progresses into the gorgeous ballad, A Pillow Of Winds. Made up of acoustic guitars and sparse bass, this is a beautiful floating piece that takes advantage of Gilmour's tranquil vocals. It serves as a respite from the carnage of On of these days. Into "Fearless" is a mid-tempo track featuring David Gilmour playing an ascending riff which gives a slight symphonic atmosphere again, just well crafted & beautiful. That opening riff gets me dizzy, the vocals are heavenly, and the interpolated Rogers and Hammerstein is creepy in the best way. It was my favorite Floyd song for a while, and I get a grin whenever I hear it, especially the Liverpool FC chant at the end. (of course it is Roger and Hammerstein’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”) Onto "San Tropez" is a short, playful, elegant jazz-tinged track, with Roger Waters on lead vocals. It's quite interesting hearing Roger in a more playful mood, as opposed to the morbid tendencies found in the majority of his later writings. "Seamus" features dogs barking in the background to an otherwise bluesy track. Everyone hates this track. It probably did not need to go on, but im sure there is a good reason other than a platter full of mind altering substances.
Some people criticise this album on the strength of tracks 2,3,4,5. Not me. They are part of setting the album up. It an experiment, it starts heavy, it moves on through moods and builds - to the punch.
Echoes.
The glorious, majestic Echoes. If I could only listen to one song for the rest of my life, it might just be Echoes. It goes for 23 minutes. On the Vinyl LP it is the whole of side 2. I have probably listened to it 1000 times or more. That equates to 38 days of my life. On one song. But i don't regret it at all. Wasting my life on music? Nah spending my life with music.
Echoes is an epic, the staple of progressive music (epics, that is), and a great one at that. Probably the first truly great epic of modern music and certainly a track that defined the epic for many years. It features seven or so distinct parts, each with their own merits, and each amazing. The lyrics are simplistic, but stunning. The “official” meaning of the lyrics (as per Waters, the author) is that they are a look at humanity’s capacity for empathy. But it means so much more than that.
The first minute or so is interspersed with pinging and music in between. The pinging is created by Rick Wright plucking a de-tuned piano string. Between pings, the music starts to build, starting out as just keyboards, then with guitar coming in, then bass (only in the background), and then finally Nick Mason on drums. The intro is absolutely stunning, and one of my favorite intros to any song. This lasts for about 3 minutes, when the lyrics kick in. The Lyrical content of this song is fascinating. The song has several solo sections, which is where Gilmour’s guitar and Rick Wright’s keyboards shine. About eleven minutes into the song we are introduced to the strangest and most “boring” section of the track. The wind sounds of One of These Days re-occurs here, and are complemented with screeching noises. While this is the least enjoyable section of the song, the effect that is given off is brilliant, displaying that Pink Floyd is still not afraid to go out of the box. It becomes clear around the 17-minute mark that Echoes is building to a powerful and fitting climax as Gilmour utilizes a palm muted riff and Mason is quietly beating his drums senseless. Just as you expect the track to build to something greater, you are stunned when the track returns to the beginning once again, with Gilmour and Wright singing,
“Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes, inviting and inciting me to rise.”The lyrical effect cannot be undermined, for the message of the track is truly tragic. Gilmour and Wright's final phrase is incredible.
“And no-one sings me lullabies, And no-one makes me close my eyes, And so I throw the windows wide, And call to you across the sky.”As the wind sounds return and the track fades out, you can help but feel awed. The band for sure had to of felt a great sense of accomplishment, for this is arguably their most underappreciated work. “Meddle” deserves to be mentioned along with the other outstanding Pink Floyd records and really marks the beginning of the band’s prime.
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Wednesday, May 11, 2011
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