I knew this list would be tricky. How do I list the actors whose names I can't remember, when by definition I can't remember their names? Luckily I must be some kind of genius, because I've done it. Take that, logical paradox!
I had some strict conditions for this list: they had to be actors whose identities I honestly didn't know, but whose faces I definitely knew. I also wanted to avoid the big-time character actors whom I know well enough to almost remember the names of, like the great J. T. Walsh or Jeffrey Jones. So! The latest of my Top 10 Top 10 Lists That Don't Really Deserve To Be Top 10 Lists:
It's
The Top 10 Actors That I Can't Remember The Name Of, But Then When I See Their Faces I Go "Oh Yeah, I Know Them"!*
I almost never watch TV crime shows, but this guy has been a judge a bunch of times, hasn't he? Or maybe I'm just thinking of Ghostbusters II. (Loved that movie.)
It's really hard to find a distinctively recognisable image of her face, but I know who she is when I see her – and according to IMDb, she's had supporting roles in a ton of films that I've liked. Red Riding, Hotel Rwanda, Birth, Adaptation, American Psycho, Dancer In The Dark ...
With great credits like that, you'd think I would remember her name by now, huh?
Yeah, this guy! He was in Carnivale, and he had a small part on Lost, and he was in Starship Troopers? And some other things? And also he looks a bit like that other guy, the one who played that alien guy on The X-Files.
You remember, she was in that creepy-but-very-good Happiness film? I can almost remember her name, but not quite. And she always seems to be in things with that other guy.
You remember this guy? He's been in a whole bunch of things: gym teacher in Nightmare On Elm Street II, deformed freak in Total Recall. Bunch of tv shows, too. Ring any bells?
Oh, man. This guy. This poor guy. I feel like I've seen this guy playing a geeky "Loser Guy" in movies and on tv forever. I feel like I should be feeling sorry for him, and I don't even know who he is, let alone why. (Though, maybe I'm getting him slightly confused with somebody else who looks a bit like him?)
Man. How odd.
*PS: I know it would be better to say "actors that I can't remember the names of" rather than "name of", but for humour's sake that entire sentence is a clumsy and inelegant construction in the first place, so get off my back, grammar pedants! Settle down! :)
Okay, people. This one is personal. So personal, in fact, that anybody who reads this list will surely be able to figure out not only just how old I am, but also precisely which elements of pop culture I was most receptive to as a child. And yes, yes, it's a damnably geekish list. (Although, on the other hand – when you're talking about pop culture, what's not geeky?)
It's The Top 10 Pop Culture References That Will Make Me Feel Nostalgic For My Childhood, I Hope!
10. The Seven Cities of Gold! (It was actually called The Mysterious Cities of Gold, but that's not how I remember it.) They get this big golden boat, and later on they get this big golden bird-plane thing?
9. The theme from Inspector Gadget. And from the show itself, especially that story where they're in this big house and it gets completely flooded with water. But mostly just the theme.
8.Ulysses 3000. (It was actually called Ulysses 31, but that's not how I remember it.) The crew is frozen, hanging in space, unconscious and just floating up near the ceiling of this big metal room . . .
7. Hot jam donuts, sausage rolls, twisties, icy poles. And sunnyboys, even though I'm not sure I ever actually had one myself.
6. The Mac Plus. Especially when used to play the original Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? game. Especially the "typewriter" sound effects.
4.Doctor Who. Especially any Tom Baker story where someone slowly transforms into a hideous monster. (There are a bunch.)
3. The Super Nintendo. F-Zero, Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart. And NBA Jam, and Super Ghouls 'N' Ghosts, and StarFox. And Castlevania. And all that glorious 8-bit sound! And everything else. And the original NES console and various Segas, too, I guess . . . but most of all, the Super Nintendo, summer of 1990-91.
(video not entirely related, but you should probably watch it anyway.)
Liam Finn has produced some impressive music lately. His band Betchadupa (currently "on hiatus") never made a huge impact, but I'll Be Lightning (2007) – Liam's melancholy solo album – was a more substantial success. Now that his musical partnership with Eliza-Jane Barnes (daughter of Jimmy Barnes) has moved to equal-billing status, there's a new enthusiasm to the music that's seriously punchy.
Both Finn and Barnes are multi-instrumentalists, and it's clear they have a passion for unusual musical arrangements. To construct this tune they've surrounded a glam bass riff with 1960s psych organ, 1970s synth bleeps and modern drums. It's an odd blend, and the central riff is very simple – you might even say, "old-fashioned" – but the arrangement overall is crafty and energetic. The guitar solo buzzes and twists like a drunk wasp, the organ chords generate great texture and tension (especially in the bridge – check out the way the organ plays against the background vocal harmonies), and the "sshhhpp!" percussion effects remind you to dance. It's great stuff.
The video shows Finn and Barnes flashing rapidly in and out of existence on their various instruments in the recording studio, showing off their simultaneous multi-instrumentalism. It's an interesting visual effect, but it's probably more uncomfortable to watch than it should be – the flashes are so rapid, it's surprising the video doesn't come with an epilepsy warning. Enjoy!
Lots of songs begin with only piano and voice; it's an elegant combination that flatters a nice voice, so singers tend to enjoy it. Jessica Says's new single starts with only piano and voice, but then it does something unusual: it refuses to add a single extra instrument as it goes along. (Listen carefully and you might notice occasional background vocals from New Buffalo's Sally Seltmann, but that's it.) One instrument, no overdubs – as far as pop ballads go, that sort of approach is practically punk! Luckily, the vocals are strong enough for the song to work well with piano alone, and it creates a wonderfully pure and clear, "live" sound.
It's tempting to compare Jessica Says (a.k.a. Jessica Venables) to Kate Bush – they share a similar songwriting taste for sweet-and-sour melodies, and there's even a vocal resemblance – but it'd be unfair to mark this as any kind of rip-off. Venables possesses a unique edge of her own, and this is simply a great song; the musical craft and spirit on show are undeniable.
The video is interesting, too. It looks like a homage to 1960s European art films (dubious sexual politics included); production-wise it's obviously cheap, but it's adequate. A song this good really deserves something better, but Jessica Says will hopefully be successful enough to demand a bigger music video budget next time. Looking forward to it!
Winter rolls to its bitter close. (Okay, not that bitter. I had an okay time.) And it brings a swag of indie prog rock to listen to, oddly enough; I wasn't expecting that. Thanks again for all your lovely music videos, Rage!
I should point out, there's nothing here that really feels like 1970s-type prog rock; there's no definitive '70s stylings, no genuine '70s modes. And maybe these '00s tunes here, unlike '70s prog, aren't really trying to be 'experimental' or 'progressive'? They're just trying to be musical and interesting, I think. And besides that they're all too modest, too self-aware, too Gen Y. That's not prog! So. 'Prog-ish', let's say; or just, 'progressive'?
Aw heck, who cares. It's a vague word for a fuzzy genre, anyhow. Bring it on.
(You know what's awesome, by the way? This is awesome. Yes. Shut up.)
Quick, watch it before Sony notices! 'Embedding disabled by request', oh Sony you ridiculous fools, you . . .
These folks are Danish, apparently. That's nice. Anyhow, they've made a seriously beautiful video. The photography is gorgeously cool; the visuals are superb. Also, the subject matter: creepy floating alien laser cubes in a forest? Lovely! It's striking and evocative, and all the better for being unexplained.
More than the video, what really makes this worthwhile is the music. I'm always pleased when a song is not only (musically) unusual and interesting, but also clever enough to maintain a decent sense of dynamics. Far too many 'artsy' or 'intelligent' bands regress by default into dull, meandering mush, but not here. Listen to the spark in those rhythms, the barbed wire in the guitar! It's indie and intellectual but it's never boring, and it never collapses into wimp-rock. Fine, intriguing stuff.
Look, it's the unexpectedly epic new single from the Hungry Kids of Hungary (of Brisbane). Their earlier indieguitarpop singles had shown good songwriting chops (though, never quite good enough for me to include them in a Rage Roundup before;), but this is something else: they've taken an unexpected turn into Wings-ish, almost Queen-ish piano balladry. The hook at the tune's heart provokes an unusual song structure to hold things in place, but as a whole it actually works quite well. Solid piano chords and falsetto harmonies ride over a broken-leg momentum (almost Hey Jude–like) that's a real kick. It's familiar, but not overtly nostalgic; and it's never too familiar (occasional McCartneyisms notwithstanding). Addictive stuff, and it improves with multiple listens. I like it.
(With that in mind: if anything, the video is maybe a bit too mocking & cheap-jokey for its own good; the melody is strong enough that they could easily play the emotions straight and get away with it. It's the type of strong, catchy song that could honestly be a real crossover hit if given a bit of airplay, I think.)
I liked Blitzen Trapper's 2007 album, but despite several moments of brilliance it was honestly a little uneven . . . and worst of all, the production had this terrible, terribly modern-style mix that almost ruined it. The kind of mix where all the levels are balanced too high, so it sounds punchy and loud on a car radio but there's no clarity or depth. A mix like that is not necessarily a deal-breaker, but it was bad news for Blitzen Trapper; they tend to have a lot of subtlety in their arrangements, an unusual folk-rock vs electronica sound, and it's the kind of thing that needs precision and clarity to sound its best, I think. So although I've been curious, I've so far resisted getting their follow-up album, Furr. However: based on this single, I might have to stop resisting. This here music is A+.
The song is a bluesy ballad with a country-folk arrangement, which would be nice enough in itself, except, except – oh, it's much better than that. Listen! The fierce bursts of electric guitar punctuating the verse's turnaround chords – the tense musical restraint and laidback vocal, screaming to explode, that never does – the synth melody like a violin 21C, like an antique UFO – the spiralling chord progressions – the snare rippling its frustration – brilliant! Even the little turns of phrase in the lyrics, simple but smart: the best kind of balladry. And check out the excellent video, which perfectly matches the musical mood via clever effects editing and inventive, creepy imagery. (Not to mention the washed-out and dreamlike exposure of the film itself, which creates a great visual punchline when we get to the 'black river' of the finale.) There's also a great sense of menace implied by never showing the protagonist's face: it's simple, but very effective. Splendid.
And to top it all off, even the mix sounds pretty alright. Maybe I should go buy the whole album after all.
That was August. I'm tempted to include Calvin Harris's Ready For The Weekend as a Bonus (!) – that lad sure knows how to produce an effectively excellent pop song, alright – but you've probably heard that one already. Instead, how about some new-school old-school punk? Check out Hungry And Tired, by The Riot. That's pretty stupidly generic band name, but they are from Brisbane. It's also a pretty stupidly generic punk song, to be honest, but gosh I really do like the particular way that the singer sings 'I was hungry, and I was tired . . .' – what can I say? I enjoyed it.
Also, please pay attention to Golden Silvers and The Mint Chicks. Whole bunch of good things released by them, lately . . .
Gosh gosh gosh gosh! Musicamusicamusics!
Awesome. I reckon this must be the time for me to stop typing.
The sheer sonic variety in this is gorgeous, I think. Basement Jaxx have done some clever, inventive popsingles in the past, but the arrangement of this tune is just explosive. The promise of electronic music is that you'll never need to accept the limitations of a live performance – i.e. a consistent set of realisable instruments – but few musicians take full advantage of this idea. Modern music often uses different instrumental sounds for different musical sections within a song (e.g. the "quiet acoustic verse, loud electric chorus" mid-90s grunge template), but "Raindrops" uses different sounds from one note to the next. The drums carry a stable rhythm, but everything else is in flux; even the vocals are processed differently from word to word. This could easily be jarring or ridiculous, but it's not. The tonal mosaic always serves the music: as it progresses, the sonic texture continually rearranges itself to match the song's melodic whims. It's impressively intelligent stuff.
The other reason it all works is that it's simply a catchy, well-written tune. And the video is a great visual fit to the sound: a brilliant, decadent kaleidoscope of colour and rhythm. It's also full of near-naked dancing girls, which would usually be questionable... but the visuals are ultimately too bizarre and abstract to seem really exploitative, I think. Clever work, this. Splendid.
Lotsa buzz around these Dirty Projectors people, lately. Did they get a good review on Pitchfork, or something? (Why, yes they did.)
What I find really interesting about this is the way that it's clearly indie-hipster-indie in every appearance (e.g. the Pitchfork thing, the outfits that are MC Hammer via American Apparel, this album, etcetc) and yet it's also just so pop. Squint with your ears, and the music could easily be a Timbaland production; a lost Kelly Rowland single, with slightly less impressive vocals and unprofessional dancing in the video. It's like the wannabe-disco/80s-revivalism of 2009 indie has caught up to the abstraction of mid-00s avant-pop — although approaching from different directions, they're suddenly both in the same place. Isn't that something?
Anyhow, I probably wouldn't mention it if the song wasn't also catchy as heck. The structure of the melody is fractured and drawn out over several phrases before it resolves; it's a weirdly intellectual way to write a tune, almost like a doped-up bebop melody, but it certainly hooked my attention. I hardly ever remember lyrics, but "there is a higher mountain!" has been rolling around my head all day. Addictive listening, this stuff. Maybe I should go buy their album.
Not much in the way of full-on guitar musics released this month, sadly – "guitar groups are on the way out" – but there was this. (There was also something from The Dead Weather, I guess, but I really can't be bothered talking about that.) There's nothing especially groundbreaking about this song, but the arrangement is very good; the intertwining guitars are unusually effective, and the gasping rhythm of the chorus is excellent. The vocals in the first verse were dangerously close to something that I wouldn't like, but the singer's performance in the choruses carved up enough edge to win me over. It's hard to find anything that's superb, here, but all things are at least above average: simple, but effective. It's just a nice, tasty wedge of alt-rock. The lyrics are more interesting than the usual, too – "you don't need me" is not a common lyrical sentiment. I like it.
"Heartbreaker" is not an uncommonsongtitle, but then there are a lot of heartbreakers out there irl. (Am I right, folks, amirite?!)
This particular "Heartbreaker" is built around a piano riff. It's not easy to make a piano sound cool (you can't pitchbend* an ordinary piano, for one thing) but Mstrkrft's riff is impressively sharp. The chord progression is circular in a way that cleverly builds tension without losing energy; the vocals are quite decent, too. Mastercrafty music.
What happens in the video? A gang of ugly hooligans disregard the private property of a local storekeeper. The least ugly hooligan and the storekeeper's daughter totally don't make out. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
*Pitchbending being the easiest method by which an instrument might mimic the emotive qualities of a human voice; guitars and horns pitchbend to make cool sounds all the time...
This post is about finished, I think. For a Bonus (!) I'd like to mention Stone Cold Sober by Paloma Faith. It's an unusually interesting little soul-pop single, and I like how it has the guts to drop out the sound on the words "Stone! Cold!" – certainly an attention-grabbing move, that.
So: it's August now. Seriously. August, 2009. *pff!h*
Remember how for a while there, it seemed that every new group out there was a wolf? Wolfmother, Wolf & Cub, Wolf Parade, Patrick Wolf...
There's a new meme in the namehouse now, I think. Crystal Castles, Crystal Antlers, and now Crystal Stilts. Is it surprising that these Crystals are edgier, harsher and certainly way cooler than the Wolves? Wordwise, is "crystal" more punk than "wolf"? Maybe so, I guess...
Anyhow, these Crystals are as much fun as any of the others. The music is all very "I wish I was Ian Curtis, I wish I could live in 1978 forever" but for what it's doing, it's certainly convincing. And although it's derivative, it's derivative in a very specific (and elsewhere underexploited) fashion. The rhythm section produces a genuinely excellent and powerful momentum throughout. In fact, the music sounds – vocals aside – as if the entire band are trying to be the rhythm section. (That's not an insult. Musically, I think that what they're doing here really works.) Meanwhile, the video is made out of some interesting Spirit-of-'68 file footage, visually intriguing and nicely edited (albeit ideologically ambiguous, if you like).
A couple of other Crystals turned out to be well worth a bit of effort. Here's hoping that these Stilts have more than one trick up their sleeve. (Although, if they only have one trick, at least they're doing it well enough, huh?)
This is an interesting one. Do you think it's being kind of insensitive and flippant, domestic-violence-wise? Or is it just a fierce metaphor, evocative and poetically appropriate? The video itself is a visual showcase for the singer's superhuman legs (among other physicalities), her diction produces a passionate rhythm throughout... – so, sex and violence. Hm. If I watch it a few more times, will I come up with an answer?
I don't know. It's a good song otherwise, and you can't deny that it's punchy as hell, no matter what. A lot of the chord progression is a kind of rip, but not annoyingly so. Do we like it? Let's say we like it.
Hey, it's that synth sound from Kid A! I'm glad someone decided to pick that up. Don't worry, though, this is definitely not a Radiohead rip-off. If anything, it reminds me vaguely of Catcall (or maybe even Pikelet) in that it's an interesting electronic-based meld of (let's say) most of the non-mainstream genres of late-90s-mid-00s, swirled together? (The sound of the million daughters of Björk?) Electro, indiepop, alternative hip-hop... you could pick out a number of different elements in play here, but they're assembled in a package that sounds surprisingly original. And at the very least, this is certainly also a good song, good enough so that I don't care if some of the packaging may have been used previously. (The vocal sound is lovely, too.)
Another thing I like about this single is the video, which puts a nice new spin on the old animated-live-action-via-rotating-track-camera-stop-motion effect. (I can't think of the proper name for what I'm sort of talking about, but take a look at the video and you'll see what I mean.) It's a simple enough trick but it works well, and it's a very good visual metaphor to match the circular chord progression and the driving rhythm. Keep an eye out.
(Also, let me say for a PS: I think that "Watusii" is an excellent song title. There's at least two clever jokes hidden in that double-i.)
Hey, look at that! A Rage Roundup post finished and up on a Sunday! I may be down to only three and a half songs per fortnight, but I'm maintaining reasonable haste. For a Bonus (!) I'd like now to direct you to Postcard Guy by Lauren Horton. This looks like it's probably one of those no-budget homebrew releases, broadcast once at 4am and never heard from again, but I'll be very disappointed if that's all it ever is. It's a truly neat tune, charming as heck, and wrapped in some really eccentric production – not complicated, but never boring. Great stuff.
Okay. It's almost time for next week. We'll talk then.
A week late? Not exactly. I wasn't going to do a Rage post at all for this week, but then a few nice tunes stuck around and here they are. (Thanks again for your always delightful free-to-air broadcasts, Rage.)
This is a short song. Under two minutes. Now, under three minutes is a rarity in today's marketplace – pop songs really have been bloating since the '60s, yes? – which makes this as sharp as a slap. Should I be disappointed that it's so short?
The verse is marginally annoying indie singsong, but the chorus is where it's at: a wonderful, wistful, Wilsons-ish call over a Be-My-Baby backbeat. And then that's it, it's over! So – two verses, which I could leave or take, and two choruses, which are genuinely lovely. And an unremarkable video featuring the singer (who's so nerdy, he might be too much even for indie geek chic).
Vigo. Scourge of Carpathia, sorrow of Moldavia. Known as Vigo the Cruel, Vigo the Torturer, Vigo the Despised, and Vigo the Unholy. It's a nice enough song. Sounds a bit like Duffy without the speech impediment* or Missy Higgins without the real accent; there's nothing bad about it, but there's nothing spectacular. It's a vase of flowers on the kitchen table. Yes. But also I'm pretty sure that there was a copy of Ghostbusters II on VHS lying around my house when I was a kid, and I'm very, very happy for the opportunity.
*Note to self: stop teasing people from Wales, it's just not right
Oh, so this is why there's been so much buzz around these guys. Holy cow, this is one damn crafty slice of tune. But unfortunately, the video above isn't it. This here is actually an earlier version of the tune (from 2007, I think) – I'll post the new version as soon as I can find it on youtube. (So why isn't it there already, if the new video has already debuted on the teev? Must have a hole in the head.)
The differences between the two versions aren't drastic – 2009 has crisper production, tweaked arrangement, a more energetic solo at the two-minute mark (& more energy all around, really). But the arrangement is a frame for the song, and the song itself is bloody excellent. Criminy, what a sweet hook. I'm not sure if the polish shows thru so well on the earlier version – the 2009 arrangement is definitely a more effective delivery mechanism – but both versions are quite something.
Really – when was the last time you heard something quite like this from an indie band? It's Split Enz via Bryan Ferry. The video (not the earlier one, the new one) is simple but engaging, and also surprisingly charismatic; the bandmembers themselves, too. The frontman does an adequately Jaggeresque butch camp. The music makes it. Overall this is the kind of left field chance that pop deserves, I think. Here's hoping that these guys are, if nothing less, at least a shot at being the next Little Red.
And finally, for a Bonus (!) you could easily check out Fossil, I by Sky Larkin. More echoes of '90s grunge/alt revivalism, alright... but it's truly fine & modern guitarwork in its own right. Nice riffage. I think I need to hear more before I'm sure the songwriting is worth paying attention to, but either way: likely worth looking out for.
What a fortnight! What a week! What a minute! It's past midnight and I need to work. Good night.
The embedded clip is a live performance – you'll have to follow the headline link to get to the actual video clip, because EMI policy is conceived by drooling moronic dustcakes. (I mean come on, people! Music videos are advertisements, so why disable embedding? Is uncontrolled free publicity honestly worse than the possibility of being embedded in an unfavourable context, or whatever? Dustcakes.)
Anyhow, the video is pretty dull & unremarkable, so who cares.
As for the music: I can't tell if it's a ripoff of Rapture / !!! / etc-style dance-rock circa 2003-2008, or if... no, actually I can tell, the music is definitely a ripoff of that style. But the lyrics are weirdly ironic and enough to make me think twice. Singing "I'm just too fake for the world" in a tone which could be both bitter intensity or a completely breezy joke – it's a very unusual posture to listen to. I honestly can't tell if it's a clever statement or something completely empty, so I guess that's probably the point.
And I wouldn't have paid any attention at all if it wasn't a catchy chorus, too, so there's definitely something here. But then again – am I giving these guys too much credit? It's a catchy tune, but also too repetitive. Let's see what else they can do before we make rash decisions. Okay then.
"All I Want" is a terribly generic song title. That's about the most severe criticism I can come up with for this one.
It's a gorgeous video – beautiful dark light, and a weird sort of mystic-Victoria-Western visual vibe that's a great match to the music's Morricone-ish strings & whistles & drums. And then at the end (SPOILER) she destroys ghost gunfighters using magic smoke from her hands! Awesome.
Seriously, it's a beautiful piece of music. I wasn't thinking about Blasko's new album before, but I'm really looking forward to it now.
So a band from the '80s are reformed, and releasing a new album? The lead single isn't crap? Hm.
It's very unusual for a band that's been around so long to release music that sounds exactly like you remember them, but also feasibly new. On the other hand, Madness weren't much of a typical sound in the first place. Even so – it's unusual, right? There's an interesting & original melody here, it's a pleasant piece of music all over, this is nice stuff. But its existence is definitely unusual.
So why is it (usually) difficult for pop musicians to be productively creative past their first decade, then? Is it just a lifestyle thing, the difficulties of living music while also living life & family? Is it an industry thing, unwilling to finance old troupers when the new ones are prettier (and cheaper too)? Bob Dylan released another album the other day. AC/DC's* recent album was surprisingly good. And yet.
Aw, let's assume it doesn't even matter. There's enough room & time to listen to everyone. Yes?
*what's the html tag for 'lightning bolt'?
Okay, folks, I've got a big week ahead so I'll have to leave it here for now.
But in the meantime, if you like: for a Bonus (!) let's check out Eagle And Talon. Yes Yes '90s revival is GO, my friends, let's enjoy it where we can. I am an abominable snowman! Right on.
Something a little different, this time - for brevity & ease, I'm cutting the Roundup's pretty face down to a Three Most singles of the week.
Go for it.
Family Galaxy — Tim Exile Now this is fun! Electronic, synth-based songwriting that's not afraid to just be nuts. It might sound like the pursuit of unpredictability as an end in itself, but I think it always serves the song. (And the lyrics talk a lot about "always changing" and "never stay the same", so it makes sense to hear the musical form mirror this.) Maybe it reminds me of Devo: as weird as it gets, there's an underlying aesthetic of tuneful-pop that's never totally eclipsed. And they borrow another Devo gesture by spinning a nifty trick of disrhythmia, not once but at least thrice – it's kind of spectacular.
The computer graphics are fairly primitive, but the video works well enough anyhow. It's always pleasant to feel like you're moving at speed. I guess there's nothing going on here that's absolutely brilliant, but it's neat and nice all over.
I came to Phoenix a little late; I still haven't gotten around to hearing their 2006 album, but I love their firsttwo records. So I'm looking forward to this new album of theirs, but I'm kind of unsure about it too. The sound that made their first couple of albums so great is a fragile kind of thing; it's a balance of production and arrangement that's very easy to screw up. Without the right kind of songwriting to back it up, you end up with the worst kind of '70s-FM-pop-via-French-electro instead of the best. It's tricky...
Luckily this is a real neat tune, I think. Great title, for one thing. It's got a lot of momentum under a light touch, and there are a couple of nifty suspension bridges across the middle. (An interesting structure all over.) Vaguely wistful and melancholic, but it's upbeat even so. Reasons for optimism, I hope?
The music is a sort of indie electronica – it feels like it shares a zeitgeistish commonality with Animal Collective's recent stuff. (And you can tell it's coming out of indie rather than pop because the vocals are high-pitched, male and slightly distorted.) It's also a lot more inventive, songwriting- & arrangement-wise, than you'd expect from something that started in a club. The melody feels strong enough to carry any sort of instrumentation, and that's what really lets it kick. The more I listen to this, the more I like it: excellent.
Bonus (!) video, for the sake of Interest: check out Shoes — Tiga.
What's that sound? It's the sound of my shoes. I'm still not sure if it's really any good, but the video certainly holds my attention. But you know, maybe that means that I do like it? It's some fine fun either way, right?
Deadpan. It's very, very deadpan. (Also, apparently, Canadian.)
So, anyhow: no rocking out this week? No decent electric guitars, anywhere? Synths ahoy at every turn? What is this, freaking 1999? What the hells is wrong with music these days?
Ah, well... but things could be worse, I guess. Right? Things are not bad. Yes?
Quite a neat video, this one. It's shot with such magic-hour elegance and classy professionalism that it's always pleasant to look at. But if I feel sort of empty now, it's strange: in retrospect, the whole video feels weirdly insignificant to me. Images without affect. But that can't be entirely true, because the visuals match the music very well, and the melody has a definite kick of attention to it. It's a well-written song all over; the arrangement is clever, and the whole package is varied and dynamic enough to be compelling throughout. It's good. The chorus lyrics are a bit daft, maybe – "we are all the same, we are" – but I think they get away with it. Perhaps I'm distracted by the girls in tank tops? But even there, at least the presentation of the dancing girls is more inventive and less blatantly exploitative than usual.
Man, I just don't know. Is it the music's undeniably weird emotional tenor, irreparably infecting my mood, now? Damn. Ask me tomorrow.
Okay, so they've come to fame via an iPod commercial, but let's not hold that against them. These guys are actually pretty good, and they're certainly interesting. (I grabbed a song from theirspace a while back called "Planet Health," which has some hilariously wonderful lyrics – I almost want to use a word like bonzo, but that would probably be inappropriate.)
The video here is the most obviously interesting aspect: it's based around a visual effect that's disturbingly familiar, even though I'm sure I've never seen it before. I won't spoil the novelty by trying to describe it: just watch the video, it's fascinating.
Aside from the visuals, I think the music itself is quite intriguing. It's certainly another example of the late-'00s goldrush into '80s pop aesthetics, but it's playing with the synths and production here in a way that seems wilfully unusual. Each individual musical element is so retro it's almost hokey, it's almost clumsy, but the way the song is put together – it's like a ten-year-old kid builds a Transformer toy out of unrelated Lego blocks. The finished product seems terribly familiar and cheesy and obvious, at first: but the closer you look, the stranger and more unique it becomes. And it's still just as fun to play with, too. I think I like it.
This is the first I've heard of these guys (they're from Sydney, apparently?), but it's a cracking debut. When I first started watching this video, I was five seconds away from fast-forwarding through it to get to something else: but five seconds was enough to hook me for the next five seconds, and then the next, and in the end I watched the whole thing without a break. This is a great punchy rock tune, a good example of the current strain that's evolving out of post-punk angular riffage + grunge/emo melodic intensity.
Also compelling is the video. At first, I was hooked because it captures so well the geography of inner-suburban terrace-house parties I've known (damn my nostalgic heart). At second, the old music video trick of actors-mouthing-the-lyrics is exploited here more cleverly than I've seen before. Rather than singing along in a typical music video way, instead the actors' expressions and behaviours are exactly matched to the visuals' implied plot: it's like the characters are saying whatever they would actually be saying, except that their words happen to fit the song, instead. It's a clever surreal device that I've often seen attempted, but it almost always falls flat. However: here, I think it works really well.
Not only does this make me excited for more releases from these guys, it also reminds me a bit of Red Riders. Man, the debut album from Red Riders, a few years ago: absolutely killer. Have they been quiet since then because they imploded, or because they're crafting an awesome Album #2, or because they're crafting a crap & overblown Album #2? Wherever they are now, their return is relevant to my interests.
Wait, is that it? Only three singles worth talking about? What?
I guess it really has been a quiet couple of weeks, music-videos-wise. Ben Harper released a new single (though I can't find it on youtube), but I'm worried that I can't consider that one too closely without putting myself at risk of some kind of pathetic existential implosion. (I'm pretty sure that this would not be a risk for people who weren't impressionable teenagers in 1997.)
Oh wait, here's something else – actually a few weeks old, but I didn't mention it last time for want of space & time:
You have to admit that "Summarize" is a pretty neat name for a pop single, right? (Even if Little Birdy, notwithstanding their origins within a certain socio-linguistic environment, have caved to the lingering possibilities of America and spelled the word with a "z" instead of an "s.")
This is a real nice song. The production on their previous (i.e. second) album was kind of clumsy and over-commercialised, but in a very vague sort of way – disappointing, is what I'm saying, and also without the consolation of pop success. So this new single returns to a more natural Little Birdy sound: less obviously trendy, and probably more Australian, too. The tune has a number of nice '60s-soul-/-rhythm-&-blues influences (you'll know them when you hear them), but it's never a pastiche. It's not spectacular, but it has a couple of great moments in the chord progression and it's very easy to like.
The video is nice, too. The setting is a clever nod to '60s pop tv, and it makes a good match for the music. Clever editing stops the scene from looking too dorky or ridiculous – mostly – and the black-and-white filter casts an appropriately Mod sheen over the whole thing. Overall, this is a genuinely decent and promising return. Good luck to them.
Aw hecks now, let's just leave it at that. This morning, I finished reading Infinite Jest: I'm pretty sure I must be overdue for some kind of a nap.
I am absolutely basking here, up in the glory of the end of local daylight savings time. An extra hour of sleep! I finally got back the hour they took away! About time, about time...
Anyhow. Call me Well-Rested or call me Relieved, I guess. Here are a few of the music videos played on Rage last Friday night. More words to follow.
Man, this is one well-turned-out song. The guitars, the bursts of dissonance, the crisp drums, the balance of the arrangement altogether: the whole thing is so complete, so just so. I don't know how well it'll do as a single, given that the mood is so very 90s to a fault (or i.e. so typically PJ Harvey, I guess), but it's damn fine anyhow. Have we made it to the mid-90s-alternative revival, yet? I guess we still have to work our way out thru New Grunge, first...
I'm curious to figure out the exact influence of this John Parish guy – the song sounds just a lot like late-90s PJ Harvey, to me – but of course that doesn't matter. Whatever Parish is doing, he can keep it up. And I like what they've done with the video here, too: it's very slow and simple, but never not compelling. Good stuff.
You wouldn't guess what the song's really like based on that endless synth intro/outro, would you? Interesting strategy, that... but it's really there as a declaration of punk, I think. And that makes sense: despite the drum machine and synths, the streaming guitars are resolutely, punkishly thick and dominant. And with the emphatic vocals and 1977ish chorus, the whole thing comes on like an alt-universe Iggy Pop (or, even moreso: Suicide). I like it.
The video does a nice job in abject bodyhorror craziness, too (& that's also a bit of a punk move in itself, yeah?). The lamplit foggy darkness is suitably eerie and dreamlike; I thought of Winnipeg. The vomitous black goo motif is taken far enough into grotesquerie that it sidesteps the typical uninspiration of "oh look, vampire zombies or whatev" that you'd otherwise be bored with. If you want to shout "gross!" then it must be doing something right, right? Lovely.
Boy, that's some bad singing right there. I mean, I enjoy wayward antivocals, okay. I love Sonic Youth, Bob Dylan, the Meat Puppets, Tom Waits, etal. But this singing is seriously just bad, I think. Sorry, Nick. (It's that guy, one of the less glamorous Strokes.)
On the other hand: the music here is otherwise really good, I think. So, can you listen to the music and not be distracted by the vocals? (Also, the lyrics aren't good. "Brandy of the damned" –?)
Heck, maybe you'll like it after all, okay. Maybe the vocals aren't that bad. Think of it as a challenge.
It's a gutsy move, to style the entire video like a performance on The Porter Wagoner Show, oldstyle visual repetition & familiar slow dissolves & all. But then the music itself keeps to a surprisingly straightfaced country sound the whole way thru, so it makes sense.
Lyrically, it's not as gutsy as Allen's last single; but it's good. She's handling a topic that could easily become tacky, but her touch is too deft to let the mood collapse*. "I think you're really mean" – it's a response that feels honest and realistic, but it's wonderfully unexpected to hear as a lyric.
I know Allen still takes a lot of crap from the tabloids, but she's damn clever and canny, so far as I can tell. (And that's a sight more than she's typically credited for, okay.) I'm really loving her new stuff, actually; I should really go and purchase her entire album, I think. Yes.
Yo, puppets! Nice one. (And the torrents of bloodstring near the end are a lovely evocative visual, too...)
Mighty fine music, here. At first it seems like it'll be a simple funky dance tune, but then the organ starts to riff, and then the horn stabs are jazzier than usual (like, Mingus-like)... and now we're heading somewhere unexpected, somewhere a lot more interesting than "simple funky dance tune". And what's great is that it does all this without ever losing the essential, funky catchiness it started with. It's a really clever balance. Excellent.
Okay, no! Damn it, you know I really want to like these guys, honest I do. I hear the intro and I'm, like: could this be awesome? This could be awesome!
However. NO. The singer sings, the verse verses, the chorus choruses, and after all of this the answer is inescapably NO: yet again, the Galvatrons are NOT GOOD. I can't help feeling this way. I mean, at least The Darkness had some genuine songwriting talent, but this? To me, it's simply the same monotonous bullshit that made 80s hair metal horrible the first time around. There's no twist to it, there's no flair, it's not interesting or smart in any way. "I bought a ticket to your aeroplane" – that should be an awesome lyric, but it's not.
I'm still not sure exactly what I'm irked by, here. Maybe it's the singer's ridiculous fake accent? Or the synthesisers, or the traumatic drums? Maybe it's that the Galvatrons aren't serious enough to be properly ironic. I'm unsure. I guess I'll have to think about it.
And by contrast: here's something that's also completely aping a particular early-80s sound, but instead it's coming up with something actually quite good as a result. Here the oldtime flavour to the sound is just a means to a song, rather than the other way around. (And the musical 80s-isms wouldn't even be that obvious, without the retro visual cues of the video...)
Checking out theirspace, these Golden Silvers folks have definitely got some interesting stuff coming up. The songwriting is in a classically Beatlish mode, but they've got that England-after-post-punk organ & synth flavour to lend the sound an '00s retroism. This single makes me think of !!! doing a tribute to early Elvis Costello, or something, actually. By which I mean: good, interesting stuff. Grease up your stovepipes, for sure.
And on that note, I think it's time for me to leave it alone already.
Hey, you want to read something else? That I wrote? Because I wrote a draft of a novel the other day, too. Send me an email & I'll let you read it, I think. It's different. You might not like it. It has jokes, though. Also punctuation. Cheers :)
I almost never watch TV crime shows, but this guy has been a judge a bunch of times, hasn't he? Or maybe I'm just thinking of Ghostbusters II. (Loved that movie.)
Oh man, how the hell do I know her? She's so familiar, but I have no idea.
Oh yeah, it's that slightly-chubby-supporting-actor guy. Man, he's been in a ton of things.
It's really hard to find a distinctively recognisable image of her face, but I know who she is when I see her – and according to IMDb, she's had supporting roles in a ton of films that I've liked. Red Riding, Hotel Rwanda, Birth, Adaptation, American Psycho, Dancer In The Dark ...
Yeah, this guy! He was in Carnivale, and he had a small part on Lost, and he was in Starship Troopers? And some other things? And also he looks a bit like that other guy, the one who played that alien guy on The X-Files.
