Thursday, March 4, 2010
Song of the Day: The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
I first tried The Smiths in high school with a greatest hits collection, but it didn't take. I was probably more interested in grunge or alt-rock or whatever, and Morrissey's croon just did not resonate with me. It wasn't until after college that I gave them another try, buying The Queen Is Dead based on reviews from allmusic.com and Rolling Stone.
What struck me immediately with the eponymous first song was...wait a minute, this kind of rocks (well, I mean if you discount the "take me back to dear old Blighty" part). And Morrissey's voice, which I originally found whiny, is actually quite pleasant, for lack of a better word. It amazes me that this is a band to which people gravitate in high school, because what I like about The Smiths - and particularly Morrissey - now is that the lyrics are often quite hilarious and self-deprecating, and my teenage self just didn't understand it. Take this passage from "The Queen Is Dead":
She said, 'I know you and you cannot sing'
I said, 'That's nothing, you should hear me play piano'
These are details I overlooked the first time through (and what Smiths/Morrissey detractors are also missing), and the lyrics are one of the many reasons The Queen Is Dead is now one of my top 10 albums of all time.
What struck me immediately with the eponymous first song was...wait a minute, this kind of rocks (well, I mean if you discount the "take me back to dear old Blighty" part). And Morrissey's voice, which I originally found whiny, is actually quite pleasant, for lack of a better word. It amazes me that this is a band to which people gravitate in high school, because what I like about The Smiths - and particularly Morrissey - now is that the lyrics are often quite hilarious and self-deprecating, and my teenage self just didn't understand it. Take this passage from "The Queen Is Dead":
She said, 'I know you and you cannot sing'
I said, 'That's nothing, you should hear me play piano'
These are details I overlooked the first time through (and what Smiths/Morrissey detractors are also missing), and the lyrics are one of the many reasons The Queen Is Dead is now one of my top 10 albums of all time.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Song of the Day: Midlake - Roscoe
In honor of them playing the El Rey tonight, today's song of the day is "Roscoe," off of Midlake's 2006 The Trials of Van Occupanther album. I'm not sure how I came across Midlake, but I believe this song was available as a free (and hopefully legal) download on a lot of blogs at the time of the album's release.
It usually takes a few listens for a song to ingratiate itself into my brain, but this one stuck with me from the getgo. I particularly like the way the vocals are double-tracked, and the keyboard solo is surprisingly awesome. If I were to compile a list, this would likely end up as one of my 10 favorite songs of the 2000s.
In fact, as I mentioned in my Yeasayer - 2080 post, I had the pleasure of being a guest DJ at Indie 103.1 a couple of years ago, and this song led off my hour on the air. Within about 10 seconds of it playing, the phone in the booth rang. TK, the DJ who was actually playing the songs from my playlist (and their best DJ not named Jonesy), picked up and chatted with the caller for a few seconds. He then turned to me and said it was Danny Masterson, and he wanted to talk to me.
I knew he had a show on Indie, but evidently he loved the station as much as I did, because he happened to be listening at the time. We chatted for a minute - he told me he was friends with the guys in the band, they were working on a new album, etc. - and that was it. Really nice guy, and I thought it was cool of him to call in - the dude must really love Midlake.
Side note (as if this whole post isn't one big side note) - I love this album so much, I ordered a signed vinyl copy from Midlake's UK record label. Unsigned copies tend to go for triple digits on eBay, but there's no way in hell I would part with this - it's one of my favorite albums of the 2000s.
It usually takes a few listens for a song to ingratiate itself into my brain, but this one stuck with me from the getgo. I particularly like the way the vocals are double-tracked, and the keyboard solo is surprisingly awesome. If I were to compile a list, this would likely end up as one of my 10 favorite songs of the 2000s.
In fact, as I mentioned in my Yeasayer - 2080 post, I had the pleasure of being a guest DJ at Indie 103.1 a couple of years ago, and this song led off my hour on the air. Within about 10 seconds of it playing, the phone in the booth rang. TK, the DJ who was actually playing the songs from my playlist (and their best DJ not named Jonesy), picked up and chatted with the caller for a few seconds. He then turned to me and said it was Danny Masterson, and he wanted to talk to me.
I knew he had a show on Indie, but evidently he loved the station as much as I did, because he happened to be listening at the time. We chatted for a minute - he told me he was friends with the guys in the band, they were working on a new album, etc. - and that was it. Really nice guy, and I thought it was cool of him to call in - the dude must really love Midlake.
Side note (as if this whole post isn't one big side note) - I love this album so much, I ordered a signed vinyl copy from Midlake's UK record label. Unsigned copies tend to go for triple digits on eBay, but there's no way in hell I would part with this - it's one of my favorite albums of the 2000s.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Song of the Day: Deerhunter - Never Stops
I bought Deerhunter's Cryptograms (debut) album based on its review in Pitchfork, but I never really spent that much time with it. Microcastle, on the other hand, affected me immediately and has become one of my favorite albums of the last few years. It also confirms that I need to reassess their first album. The first side is a murderer's row of quality songs, but "Never Stops" is probably my favorite. The main guitar line wouldn't have been out of place on a Police album, and the chorus sounds like a catchier version of My Bloody Valentine. Also love the way the song starts and stops (hence the title?)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Broken Bells album stream
KCRW is streaming the new album from James Mercer and Danger Mouse. Haven't even had a chance to listen myself, though I'm happy to report I got tix to the show at the Troubadour in a couple weeks.
http://newmedia.kcrw.com/musicnews/2010/03/kcrw-album-preview-broken-bells/
http://newmedia.kcrw.com/musicnews/2010/03/kcrw-album-preview-broken-bells/
Song of the Day: Happy Mondays - Kinky Afro
Like the Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays were part of Britain's "Madchester" scene, which I will hereby pejoratively call "indie-dance" music. I started with the Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches album, which begins with this gem. I love the way the lead singer slurs through the song, and like "I Wanna Be Adored," the bassline in this one is incredible.
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