Today I continue my ten-part series showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of last year.
90. IYAZ – Replay
Usually in December of every year, I go home for Christmas. The indie world is dead at the end of the year, so I usually do research on the pop charts, listening to songs I have missed for most of the year. Nearly all of the songs I am happy to have avoided, but there are always a few candidates that make the cut. I’m a sucker for well-crafted pop music, as everyone knows, and IYAZ’s first single had my head bobbing enough for it to make my year-end list. It’s charming, super-infectious, and it name-drops a common household item that no one owned ten years ago (that would be the iPod).
One of my favorite bands, the Sacramento-based Deftones, are preparing the release of their sixth full-length album, Diamond Eyes, on May 18. In light of this, I am going back, re-listening to, and analyzing their previous albums to gain a perspective of the band’s past while waiting in anticipation of the band’s future.
Adrenaline had given the boys enough clout, along with incessant touring, that by the time Around the Fur came around about two years later, they were receiving minor airplay on radio and MTV. The most prominent tracks from this album are “My Own Summer (Shove It)” and “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away).” Both are signature songs from the group, giving the listener a more polished sheen to the quiet moans and squeals from Chino Moreno backed up by the metal prod of drummer Abe Cunningham and drop-D riffs from Stephen Carpenter.
Overall, that’s what Around the Fur is: a more focused, polished sound from the band, and a step forward in songwriting and structure for the group. It isn’t a total departure from Adrenaline: the same aggressive plod is heard throughout (and at times a little “samey,” but not too much) and the album is definitely loud, but there are shining moments of maturity from the band that, at this point, the world had not heard.
Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
290. Les Claypool – Iowan Gal
Where do I begin? Les is one of my all-time favorites, and his past decade work will be represented well on this list through his Oysterhead project, solo work, and songs from his main band Primus. Needless to say, I’m a die-hard fan; I first discovered Les and Primus back in 1996 when my cousin Joe brought Pork Soda to my house during a Christmas visit.
Claypool’s solo work is weirder and leans toward jam-band noodling sometimes, but “Iowan Gal” is good ol’ Les, mostly just him and his mighty bass guitar slapping, popping, and showing off. It’s funky, humorous, and a return to form from the great weird one.
Free Energy are a five-piece band from Philadelphia, PA, who specialize in kicking your ass with feel-good 70’s-lifted rock and roll. Their new album, Stuck On Nothing, is ten tracks of pure easy-going fun. If you don’t like having fun, you won’t like Free Energy.
I first saw the band live in New York during my CMJ escapades back in October 2009, and I saw them again last week at SXSW 2010. Needless to say, they put on a hell of a good show. The lead singer has a Julian Casablancas-like swagger, while the backing band delivers punchy, catchy bass lines and squealing guitar solos the Knack wish they wrote.
A sampling of rocking tunes from the group can be found after the jump. Crank ’em up, pump your fist, and shake your ass.
I learned how to use my dad’s now-primitive CD player by age 3, and I proceeded to go through his somewhat modest collection, picking out my early favorites, music that would end up sticking with me for the rest of my life. I first discovered my personal favorites Dwight Yoakam and the Beatles doing this activity, and that is how I discovered Robert Palmer.
Turns out Palmer was quite a talent, a diverse songwriter and performer who is more known for his 80’s pop stint than his interesting back catalog, consisting of everything from jazz-influenced music to standards to straight-up 80’s electronic tunes. And let’s not forget the great hits he penned for Power Station.
Of course, at age 3, I didn’t really care about any of this; all I was into was his two biggest albums, the ones my dad had a copy of. I’m, of course, referring to Riptide (1985) and Heavy Nova (1988).
Check a sampling of tunes from both albums after the jump, and enjoy expert 80’s pop craftmanship from a gifted, multi-talented, and, today, under-appreciated, musician.
Yes, indeed. Spring is upon us, and with it comes spring break, usually the best week of the entire year. This year, for me, will be spent the same way I have spent every spring break for the past three years – at SXSW. Posting on the blog will probably be a little spotty, so in lieu of that, I have compiled a small compilation of mostly new, mostly upbeat tracks to get you into the best season of the year. Here’s to Spring Break 2010: may yours be as awesome as mine will be.
Yesterday’s post got me all riled up, and since I love lists, I figured I’d go ahead and start yet another analysis I should have posted months ago – this one won’t take as long. Today is the first post in a ten-part series looking at my personal favorite tracks of last year.
100. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll
I wasn’t a huge fan of It’s Blitz – definitely my least favorite from this group. I saw them at Monolith 2009, and, to say the least, they were disappointing. Turns out I’m not as big a fan of Karen O and her “animated” stage antics as I thought. Pretention is something I can’t get past, no matter how rocking the music behind her is….but since they were playing mostly ballads from their latest effort, that wasn’t the case. All this being said, this track is pretty damn catchy. Karen’s try at Blondie was hit or miss for me, but the highlight of Blitz is three and a half minutes of complete dancing hysteria.
Today I begin a project that will take awhile, and one I should have started a few months ago, near the end of this past decade, like most respectable blogs/zines did: I will be showcasing and analyzing my Top 300 Songs of the 2000s – that is, the top 300 songs of the past decade. I will do so in intervals of ten per post. Let’s do this!
300. Cat Power – He War
I didn’t think much of this song when I first heard it on WOXY FM (then known best as 97X – BAM!) back in, I’m guessing, 2003. It didn’t really have a catchy chorus, and it was incredibly unconventional compared to the rest of the modern rock radio dreck I was listening to at a high school. Then again, 97X opened my eyes to a lot of great music. “He War” really grew on me thanks to heavy rotation and a certain burned CD I blared from my shitty yellow 1978 Ford Fairmont. I don’t really have another favorite Cat Power song; her work has never resonated well with me – but this track has stuck with me throughout the years, and earns a spot as one of the decade’s best.
There are many reasons why MC Hammer’s attempt at a gangsta-rap comeback with The Funky Headhunter failed miserably. For one thing, the man was already overexposed and ridiculed ad nauseum by the time the album dropped. Another point is the pure and simple fact that the whole act seemed (and was) forced; Hammer wasn’t a thug, he was a talented dancer and composer. The first single, “Pumps and a Bump,” featured two music videos, both of which feel artificial compared to the classic Hammer strutting and crabwalking that littered the video for his hit “U Can’t Touch This.”
Of course, by this time, that was 4 or 5 years past, and Hammer was dated. He had to redesign his image to pay for the now-multiplying debt and support his family. He also needed a break back into the spotlight. Death Row and Tupac were huge, so a move to the gangsta genre seemed reasonable. But he didn’t fit in, and everyone knew it.
That’s not to say that Hammer isn’t in top form with “Pumps and a Bump.” Quite the opposite, in fact. Sure, the first video, filmed at Hammer’s stupid-expensive mansion, is overtly sexual and, at times, disgusting. But the second is prime Hammer, making love to the camera with smooth lip-synching charisma and a new badass dance made for the song. The track alone is a bumping club jam that probably would have been a radio hit with any other Death Row labelmate at the time; Hammer’s name had been dragged through the mud too much at this point.
He may have been aimless, lost, and on his way out at this point, but even then, when you let him have the stage, Hammer shined.
I saw these guys open for Ted Leo at CMJ in October, and it was a pretty enjoyable show overall. I remember thinking that there are a lot of bands that are trying this indie-electro/tribal music in the vein of MIA, et al, but few manage to deliver with such irresistible swagger and inescapable melody.
Today the duo releases a new EP titled Settings (pictured above) and they have a slew of SXSW dates planned, so I definitely plan on seeing them again to observe their progression. In the meantime, I’m jamming this track, “Real Life,” featuring a dominant drum beat that feels like it’s about to collapse but keeps coming back on rhythm, speeding up to catch up with the rest of the song. And it succeeds, everytime.
