Tuesday, July 30, 2002
ok, back to 'phat disc july 2002 II,' picking up with athlete, one of a myriad of hot!! new!! uk bands championed by the weeklies (actually, nme's the only one left, innit?) for about a month apiece, before the inevitable backlash ("they're too fookin' pop," "sellouts!," "I reckon I liked 'em better when no-one else did," ad infinitum). the track is their recent single "you got the style," and it's got an almost-vaguely-baggy-cum-madchester-in-the-'00s feel to it (anyone remember what the farm were like before all the beat-beat-beats, like on their one song which did not suck [and I don't mean fookin' "groovy train," neither]?). it's a lovely shuffle of a song. on to cassius featuring jocelyn brown, then. "i'm a woman" begins, in its single edit, with an absurd, squealing blast of electric guitar (as if to say, take that, daft punk!) before moving into a more expected spitting beat with some jazzy piano on top, and of course the ever-reliable vocals of ms. brown, a true diva and giant(ess?). as far as the vocals go, they're typically dance music-vapid: think a slightly retweaked version of helen reddy. yes, not so good. but the music is perky enough.
in case I didn't mention it, this disc was sequenced entirely at random. which means that cassius is followed by dixie chicks' "long time gone," one of the best singles of '02, hands down. and before you going on about them hopping on the 'o brother' bandwagon, remember that these chicks have always been country to the core. hell, they got fiddles back on country radio, didn't they? in fast songs, no less. but anyhow, this song (and reportedly, the entirety of 'home,' out 8/27) is completely acoustic, which is so refreshing (can't wait to hear what they do with the mac's "landslide" -- betcha it's better than what billy c. did with it, and I like his version); the lyrics are all about making it in nashville, and how country kinda sucks these days ("they sound tired but they don't sound Haggard/they've got money but they don't have Cash," get it?). so, so good. and there's an accordian on it! what more do you people want? another dolt bootleg follows: "without glamour," which is the inimitable (and endlessly, gloriously flexible) "without me" over top of sheila e's "the glamorous life." it works a trick. it doesn't hurt that no acapella is better-suited to boots and mashups than mr. shady's, and that "glamorous" is my #11 song of the '80s, either. yum. "sweetheart," by franke and the knockouts, is a simple, sweet slice of radio-ready one-hitdom from '81. and then it's another "without me" bootie, this one by jjrob, which I've titled "aerodynamic me," seeing as how it's mashed with daft punk. I think nearly any acapella would sound good on top of "aerodynamic." eminem just sounds better than most there.
kelly osbourne is a novelty, so get over it. the vocoder tricks on "papa don't preach" are sloppier than cher's on "believe," and not nearly so amusing: here, they just seem to attempt to cover for a not-so-strong singing voice (did anyone else notice that she was lip-synching with a live band at the mtv movie awards?). at least she's cheeky, and not the churl her bro jack seems to be. "addictive," by truth hurts, almost got lost for me, since I'm going through a voluntary blackout of r-and-b radio. no, I don't need to hear another song by ja rule, or p. diddy, or please-god-tell-me-it's-not-another-ashanti-song. if that means I catch less of the diamonds in the proverbial rough than usual, ah well. luckily, I caught "addictive" while channel-surfing one day, and it really is truth in advertising. I find the production (by dj fucking quik of all people!) better than most of dre's work in the last year (that hindi groove gets me every time), and truth hurts' singing just sounds dirty, lascivious, nasty-but-not-filthy. rakim is always a welcome addition, of course.
where are we, track 16? oh, yes, noah paley. this guy is a find-and-a-half. I discovered him vis-a-vis a website for a fiddle combo on ocracoke island, nc, and then via efolk.com (highly recommended if that's your sort of thing). he's as simple as they come, a singer-songwriter largely accompanied by his own acoustic guitar, but his songs are so genuine, so interesting (the love songs not so much, the story songs even better than good). "into the west" is from his latest album, the title of which escapes me at the moment. look for him on efolk.com. underworld's "two months off" follows, and is nothing but a fucking corker. as pete tong says, it goes off. a return to the more chugging, tubthumping sound of 'second toughest in the infants' and "born slippy (nuxx)" to these ears, and darren emerson's absence isn't even noticed. quality tech-house just like you like it. "miss lucifer" is primal scream singing about sex and politics, which is better than you might think; the sound isn't all that far evolved from that of 'xtrmntr,' which means it rips your head off. the world is better for having bobby gillespie in it, even if he is a dick. I close the disc with two softy slowies, norah jones first off. if you like sultry, diana krall-esque vocals and tinkly pianos and brushed snares, you'll love it. if not, you might be surprised anyway, as seductive as "don't know why" comes across. not to mention that it's nice to see whiteys not named eminem on bet. the willie/lee ann duet "mendocino county line" is soaring, graceful, strong, sturdy, and everything a good country song should be, complete with a stunning b-and-w vid by mark seliger ('member "jeremy"?). twangy w/o being western swing, tangy w/o being nasty, heartfelt w/o goo, this is the real deal, and still my favorite single of 2002 thus far. who's gonna step up and beat it?
in case I didn't mention it, this disc was sequenced entirely at random. which means that cassius is followed by dixie chicks' "long time gone," one of the best singles of '02, hands down. and before you going on about them hopping on the 'o brother' bandwagon, remember that these chicks have always been country to the core. hell, they got fiddles back on country radio, didn't they? in fast songs, no less. but anyhow, this song (and reportedly, the entirety of 'home,' out 8/27) is completely acoustic, which is so refreshing (can't wait to hear what they do with the mac's "landslide" -- betcha it's better than what billy c. did with it, and I like his version); the lyrics are all about making it in nashville, and how country kinda sucks these days ("they sound tired but they don't sound Haggard/they've got money but they don't have Cash," get it?). so, so good. and there's an accordian on it! what more do you people want? another dolt bootleg follows: "without glamour," which is the inimitable (and endlessly, gloriously flexible) "without me" over top of sheila e's "the glamorous life." it works a trick. it doesn't hurt that no acapella is better-suited to boots and mashups than mr. shady's, and that "glamorous" is my #11 song of the '80s, either. yum. "sweetheart," by franke and the knockouts, is a simple, sweet slice of radio-ready one-hitdom from '81. and then it's another "without me" bootie, this one by jjrob, which I've titled "aerodynamic me," seeing as how it's mashed with daft punk. I think nearly any acapella would sound good on top of "aerodynamic." eminem just sounds better than most there.
kelly osbourne is a novelty, so get over it. the vocoder tricks on "papa don't preach" are sloppier than cher's on "believe," and not nearly so amusing: here, they just seem to attempt to cover for a not-so-strong singing voice (did anyone else notice that she was lip-synching with a live band at the mtv movie awards?). at least she's cheeky, and not the churl her bro jack seems to be. "addictive," by truth hurts, almost got lost for me, since I'm going through a voluntary blackout of r-and-b radio. no, I don't need to hear another song by ja rule, or p. diddy, or please-god-tell-me-it's-not-another-ashanti-song. if that means I catch less of the diamonds in the proverbial rough than usual, ah well. luckily, I caught "addictive" while channel-surfing one day, and it really is truth in advertising. I find the production (by dj fucking quik of all people!) better than most of dre's work in the last year (that hindi groove gets me every time), and truth hurts' singing just sounds dirty, lascivious, nasty-but-not-filthy. rakim is always a welcome addition, of course.
where are we, track 16? oh, yes, noah paley. this guy is a find-and-a-half. I discovered him vis-a-vis a website for a fiddle combo on ocracoke island, nc, and then via efolk.com (highly recommended if that's your sort of thing). he's as simple as they come, a singer-songwriter largely accompanied by his own acoustic guitar, but his songs are so genuine, so interesting (the love songs not so much, the story songs even better than good). "into the west" is from his latest album, the title of which escapes me at the moment. look for him on efolk.com. underworld's "two months off" follows, and is nothing but a fucking corker. as pete tong says, it goes off. a return to the more chugging, tubthumping sound of 'second toughest in the infants' and "born slippy (nuxx)" to these ears, and darren emerson's absence isn't even noticed. quality tech-house just like you like it. "miss lucifer" is primal scream singing about sex and politics, which is better than you might think; the sound isn't all that far evolved from that of 'xtrmntr,' which means it rips your head off. the world is better for having bobby gillespie in it, even if he is a dick. I close the disc with two softy slowies, norah jones first off. if you like sultry, diana krall-esque vocals and tinkly pianos and brushed snares, you'll love it. if not, you might be surprised anyway, as seductive as "don't know why" comes across. not to mention that it's nice to see whiteys not named eminem on bet. the willie/lee ann duet "mendocino county line" is soaring, graceful, strong, sturdy, and everything a good country song should be, complete with a stunning b-and-w vid by mark seliger ('member "jeremy"?). twangy w/o being western swing, tangy w/o being nasty, heartfelt w/o goo, this is the real deal, and still my favorite single of 2002 thus far. who's gonna step up and beat it?
# posted by Thomas : 10:36 AM
