Culture Greyhound

It’s Sunday, I’m lazy, and I have nothing pertinent to write about. So let’s celebrate the best decade ever.

For your viewing pleasure…

Two more after the jump.

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Watch John Belushi – With A Little Help From My Friend in Comedy |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
Classic.

Take ten minutes out of your life and listen to the best EP you’ll hear all spring – The Numerators‘ sprawling, six-track ride that is Human Blanket.  It’s available for free on the Lubbock trio’s blog, and you West-Coasters should pick up the cassette version when they come to your town this month.  The EP is a great introductory course to the band’s wild, colorful, frenetic live presence.  Before you know it, it’s over, and you’re not sure what exactly happened, but you know it was definitely fun.  The boys are like Half Japanese on ginseng…..and other substances.

The Numerators – That’s So Raiden

The Numerators – Rip It

Today I begin a new feature at Culture Greyhound.  Once every three months I will be listing the best of what I heard in albums/songs/remixes for the quarter.  I do this to personally keep up with all the awesome music I hear, as it ultimately helps me at the end of the year when I do my overall listing for the previous twelve months.  I also do it to introduce you cool cats to tunes you may have missed independently.

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Up until 1965, this quartet was merely known as the Four Seasons, but you can’t keep a trilling falsetto like that of Frankie Valli out of the shadows for too long.  Once he launched a solo career, the other guys were happy to follow the money trail.

I think, for most of my generation, we associate this group with the scene in Mrs. Doubtfire where Robin Williams walks in step, in old-lady attire, to “Walk Like a Man.”  Of course, our college rock and roll history classes briefly cover Valli and the gang when discussing the post-Elvis/pre-Beatles period of the early ’60s, featuring Spector’s girl groups, the surf-rock fad (featuring the Beach Boys peak), and, my favorite, the doo-wop style.  The Four Seasons were probably the most popular of the last category, churning out almost 40 singles and over 20 albums on the Billboard pop charts.

The group’s fame began to wane around the time Rubber Soul and Blonde on Blonde were being released, but the Four Seasons continued to deliver hits sporadically throughout the 70’s.  They are a treasure of oldies and rock’n’roll music, and their songs were usually pretty airtight and awesome.  While other vocal groups of their time dabbled in cheekiness, the charisma of the group – and strong leadership of the talented Valli – made them stand out as the best.

A sampling of classics can be found after the jump.

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One Wolf II: Secret of the Wolf by One Wolf (unsigned, 2010)

Two years ago, when Daniel Markham split from Waiting to Derail, he changed direction completely.  He formed One Wolf, making a remarkable transformation from Whiskeytown alt-country to REM-influenced, Western-tinged rock.  Much like the local peers in Thrift Store Cowboys, Markham had come into his own, producing what could only be described as the sound of Lubbock.  Markham’s skill in pop craftsmanship was honed, but the lyrics were more introspective, the songs slower, sadder, and slightly more rock and roll than country.  It was an audible representation of West Texas; Buddy Holly would’ve been proud.

And now, with One Wolf’s sophomore release, Markham and the boys have done a 180…..again.

I spoke with Markham many months ago during a podcast interview for the now-defunct KTXT-FM.  Some favorite influences of his at the time were Nirvana, REM, Deadsy, and Starflyer 59.  So what’s the new One Wolf record sound like?  All of the above, and more.  In a word, it’s a lot LOUDER.

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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).

I feel incomplete not posting something before I go to bed, so here is the trailer for the upcoming “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”  I just have one question: Is this real?  I mean, I know it’s far from accurate, but this can’t be an actual movie…can it?  It’s likely fake…but it shouldn’t be.

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.

Around the Fur by Deftones (Maverick, 1997)

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.

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