Wednesday, July 31, 2002
yesterday I went over 'phat disc july 2002 II'; today it's volume I's turn. same premise applies: it's a collection of what-I'm-listening-to-right-now. shall we begin?
oasis kicks off the disc with "stop crying your heart out," a/k/a "the best similarly string-laden ballad we've done since wonderwall." not quite epic, but still nice and big. oasis, of course, got the kind of reviews in '94 that flaming lips get nowadays. I don't think the lips are worth all the accolades they're incessantly showered with, but they're awfully damn good, especially in the way(s) they mix psychedelia with electronic touches and pure pop melodies. "one more robot" is a prime example; I'd argue it's 'yoshimi''s "race for the prize" (though not quite on the same level). and wayne coyne has a bizarrely beautiful voice. the segue from the lips into tweet's "call me" is surprisingly good, as is tweet's full-length, 'southern hummingbird.' I don't get all the unfair comparisons with the dreadfully bland ashanti; think india.arie produced by missy and timbaland. and let's hear it for r-and-b on acoustic guitars! "call me" is somewhat akin to "oops (oh my)" in that it's not all that representative of the album, but clearly a more radio-friendly track (if "smoking cigarettes" is a hit, I might just eat a Camel). delightfully smutty, all about being a chick on the side, and my favorite line is the one where tweet croons "I'll be sure to meet you with no panties on" -- because it would take too long to remove them?!
in the vast landscape that is WinMX, my roomie recently found something called the "kinky disco mix" of culture club's "do you really want to hurt me?" I don't think it's the same as the quivver white-label mix that circulated a couple years back; doesn't sound that crap-trancey. in fact, it's a nice, subtle mix, with some keyboard squiggles and gentle chords, nothing too thumpa-thumpa. winmx, btw, is the rockingest file-sharing network. fuck the riaa, rip the system, download and burn as much as you can until it's illegal. and then keep doing it.but I digress. track 5 is another one of those I've-been-listening-to-(and enjoying, natch)-the-"adult standards"-station-too-much songs: eddie rabbitt's "suspicions." I cannot defend it in any way. I have a a problem, and I need help. "my name is thomas, and I like eddie rabbitt songs..."
sonic youth's new lp, 'murray street,' is worthy of any accolade you can throw at it (and please read one of the most idiotic pieces of steaming poo ever passed off as music journalism and the letters which came in response to said article, from the 'voice'). it reminds these ears of nothing so much as 'daydream nation' (of course, I've been a fan since '86, so what do I know?) in its textures and forms: "karen revisited" is a longer, spacier "teenage riot," and that's a good thing. how is it that lee usually gets one song per album, and it's damned near always a really good one?
"where would you be," martina mcbride's latest single, got its first airing during cmt's flameworth video music awards, and martina gave a bravura performance, all soaring vocals and grand orchestration, without sounding even close to celine-ish. divine balladry from one of country's purest singers. "rock the party" is the other pink boot I'm in love with (mentioned below); ultra 396 mashed pink's "party" with, wait for it, "rock the casbah."
the best film I've seen in '02 is unquestionably 'y tu mama tambien.' the soundtrack to this sexy, witty mexican teenage road movie (kinda like bill & ted meet proust) is gorgeously eclectic, containing everything from zappa to eagle-eye fucking cherry. the real gem, though, is cafe' tacuba's "insomnio." I don't understand the words, and I don't care, when the music is this splendid a spew of latin rock-edged pop. this is, absurdly, followed by the best non-geto boys single scarface has made this side of "i never seen a man cry, but i seen a man die": his comeback attempt (I say attempt since it stiffed), "guess who's back." featuring jay-z and beanie siegel, it sounds like 'face is cameoing on his own single! so non-southern he should give up his presidency of defjam south immediately, this is the best jay-z track of '02, and it sounds like it.
"weak become heroes" is uk garage wonderboy mike skinner's ode to clubland. known professionally as the streets, he's made the first low-fi garage album (c'mon, it totally sounds like lou barlow with a sampler!), and it's become one of those records that rock crits who don't like dance music like. don't let that scare you off. skinner's poetry is damned fine, and the music ain't too bad either, but it's ashely beedle's remix which expands and liberates "weak" to become the club anthem it aches to be. all plush surfaces where only skittery beats snaked before, a triumph. climie fisher is more mid-to-late-'80s british pop (not britpop), chewy and taffy-like.
I wish, I wish, I wish someone would explain to me why sophie ellis-bextor isn't as big as kylie minogue. maybe she just needs time. sophie, formerly in a crap uk indie band and the singer on spiller's incandescent "groovejet" 2 summers ago, went solo late last night with the 'murder on the dancefloor' lp. like kylie's 'fever,' it's near-perfect, and perfectly vapid, dance-pop of the highest order. "get over you" is another typically perky-yet-slyly-snide single. moony might be as big as sophie in a few years' time; "dove" certainly makes a good case for her abilities to be the next massive dance-pop queen. not to mention it's loaded with little surprises (chord and time changes, vocal swoops and dips) you don't expect to find therein. ace. "tight connection to my heart" = one of dylan's most underrated songs ever. yeah, it's on a fair-to-middling album from 1985, but it's the lead track, fer petesake! great opening like, too: "I said I'd move fast/but I couldn't with you around my neck." produced, not too heavy-handedly, by david a. stewart. which brings us to track 17, monica's comeback single, "all eyez on me," a "p.y.t."-sampling piece of standard r-and-b that worsens upon each listen. I'm now sorry I added it to this disc, and I like monica's sass, but she just can't survive the gloopy production of the increasingly vile jermaine dupri.
and that's that disc. questions, comments, concerns, complaints? you know what to do.
oasis kicks off the disc with "stop crying your heart out," a/k/a "the best similarly string-laden ballad we've done since wonderwall." not quite epic, but still nice and big. oasis, of course, got the kind of reviews in '94 that flaming lips get nowadays. I don't think the lips are worth all the accolades they're incessantly showered with, but they're awfully damn good, especially in the way(s) they mix psychedelia with electronic touches and pure pop melodies. "one more robot" is a prime example; I'd argue it's 'yoshimi''s "race for the prize" (though not quite on the same level). and wayne coyne has a bizarrely beautiful voice. the segue from the lips into tweet's "call me" is surprisingly good, as is tweet's full-length, 'southern hummingbird.' I don't get all the unfair comparisons with the dreadfully bland ashanti; think india.arie produced by missy and timbaland. and let's hear it for r-and-b on acoustic guitars! "call me" is somewhat akin to "oops (oh my)" in that it's not all that representative of the album, but clearly a more radio-friendly track (if "smoking cigarettes" is a hit, I might just eat a Camel). delightfully smutty, all about being a chick on the side, and my favorite line is the one where tweet croons "I'll be sure to meet you with no panties on" -- because it would take too long to remove them?!
in the vast landscape that is WinMX, my roomie recently found something called the "kinky disco mix" of culture club's "do you really want to hurt me?" I don't think it's the same as the quivver white-label mix that circulated a couple years back; doesn't sound that crap-trancey. in fact, it's a nice, subtle mix, with some keyboard squiggles and gentle chords, nothing too thumpa-thumpa. winmx, btw, is the rockingest file-sharing network. fuck the riaa, rip the system, download and burn as much as you can until it's illegal. and then keep doing it.but I digress. track 5 is another one of those I've-been-listening-to-(and enjoying, natch)-the-"adult standards"-station-too-much songs: eddie rabbitt's "suspicions." I cannot defend it in any way. I have a a problem, and I need help. "my name is thomas, and I like eddie rabbitt songs..."
sonic youth's new lp, 'murray street,' is worthy of any accolade you can throw at it (and please read one of the most idiotic pieces of steaming poo ever passed off as music journalism and the letters which came in response to said article, from the 'voice'). it reminds these ears of nothing so much as 'daydream nation' (of course, I've been a fan since '86, so what do I know?) in its textures and forms: "karen revisited" is a longer, spacier "teenage riot," and that's a good thing. how is it that lee usually gets one song per album, and it's damned near always a really good one?
"where would you be," martina mcbride's latest single, got its first airing during cmt's flameworth video music awards, and martina gave a bravura performance, all soaring vocals and grand orchestration, without sounding even close to celine-ish. divine balladry from one of country's purest singers. "rock the party" is the other pink boot I'm in love with (mentioned below); ultra 396 mashed pink's "party" with, wait for it, "rock the casbah."
the best film I've seen in '02 is unquestionably 'y tu mama tambien.' the soundtrack to this sexy, witty mexican teenage road movie (kinda like bill & ted meet proust) is gorgeously eclectic, containing everything from zappa to eagle-eye fucking cherry. the real gem, though, is cafe' tacuba's "insomnio." I don't understand the words, and I don't care, when the music is this splendid a spew of latin rock-edged pop. this is, absurdly, followed by the best non-geto boys single scarface has made this side of "i never seen a man cry, but i seen a man die": his comeback attempt (I say attempt since it stiffed), "guess who's back." featuring jay-z and beanie siegel, it sounds like 'face is cameoing on his own single! so non-southern he should give up his presidency of defjam south immediately, this is the best jay-z track of '02, and it sounds like it.
"weak become heroes" is uk garage wonderboy mike skinner's ode to clubland. known professionally as the streets, he's made the first low-fi garage album (c'mon, it totally sounds like lou barlow with a sampler!), and it's become one of those records that rock crits who don't like dance music like. don't let that scare you off. skinner's poetry is damned fine, and the music ain't too bad either, but it's ashely beedle's remix which expands and liberates "weak" to become the club anthem it aches to be. all plush surfaces where only skittery beats snaked before, a triumph. climie fisher is more mid-to-late-'80s british pop (not britpop), chewy and taffy-like.
I wish, I wish, I wish someone would explain to me why sophie ellis-bextor isn't as big as kylie minogue. maybe she just needs time. sophie, formerly in a crap uk indie band and the singer on spiller's incandescent "groovejet" 2 summers ago, went solo late last night with the 'murder on the dancefloor' lp. like kylie's 'fever,' it's near-perfect, and perfectly vapid, dance-pop of the highest order. "get over you" is another typically perky-yet-slyly-snide single. moony might be as big as sophie in a few years' time; "dove" certainly makes a good case for her abilities to be the next massive dance-pop queen. not to mention it's loaded with little surprises (chord and time changes, vocal swoops and dips) you don't expect to find therein. ace. "tight connection to my heart" = one of dylan's most underrated songs ever. yeah, it's on a fair-to-middling album from 1985, but it's the lead track, fer petesake! great opening like, too: "I said I'd move fast/but I couldn't with you around my neck." produced, not too heavy-handedly, by david a. stewart. which brings us to track 17, monica's comeback single, "all eyez on me," a "p.y.t."-sampling piece of standard r-and-b that worsens upon each listen. I'm now sorry I added it to this disc, and I like monica's sass, but she just can't survive the gloopy production of the increasingly vile jermaine dupri.
and that's that disc. questions, comments, concerns, complaints? you know what to do.
# posted by Thomas : 8:23 AM
