In middle school, I was feelin' the FUCK out of this album.
There are no words to describe the lyrics for the songs from this album, but I think the closest one is "random". Or maybe "incoherent". Either way they are unbelievably bad. How do bands like this get big? Is it because Gavin Rossdale is so dreamy? Well, I have a feeling that it was partly because of Gavin Rossdale. I don't think anyone ever thought his lyrics were actually good, but I think that post-Nirvana, his voice was like the middle of the progression of the popular rock singing trend that was preceded by Kurt Cobain and followed by that Puddle of Mudd douchebag. The record labels seem to love that shit. Or maybe it was because they had that awesome bald guy in the band? Anyway, back then (in middle school), it was definitely one of those albums where there were the singles, and they were the only listenable thing on the whole album. This seems to have become a common symptom of a major label product for the most part. HERE IS THE WHOLE THING. DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? DO YA? After listening, you should post your favorite lyrics in the comments! Yippee!!
NOTE: This is gonna be a new weekly post. I'll probably start out going through all of the awful stuff I listened to in high school and then move on from there. The choices are always going to be albums that I have spent time listening to at some point in my life.
The idea for this weekly spotlight came to me when this album came on my iPod when it was on shuffle the other day. Thats right I have it on my iPod. This is because I still like it despite the knowledge that www.thug.com(and if you ask me, Trick Daddy in general) really is pretty bad. The one thing that keeps drawing me back to this album, though, is his delivery on a handful of songs. There is a feeling of desperation and urgancy in the way he raps that I guess appeals to some part of my brain. But, don't get me wrong, everything about this album is pretty stupid. I would argue that the album cover (above) is one of the best of all time because it perfectly captures what the album sounds like, which I believe to be the job of the album cover. The bottom line is that I enjoy blasting it in my car, because its fun to both pretend you are into bad stuff, and to pretend you are still in high school, which I guess is kind of the same thing. At least it was for me.
HERE! SAMPLE THIS BEAUTY!
I guess that is all youtube has from this album, but if you are like me, and you have a soft spot for particular bad music, this is a "don't-miss", as they say.
My favorite thing about this video is that it shows that all you need for an effective video to a song is a feeling for the music, some footage, and some creativity.
A few days ago on April 17, 2010, it was Record Store Day. This means that independent record stores get a ton of special limited releases in the name of celebrating and supporting independent record store. My roommate and I did our parts by getting up at 7:30 am (on a saturday too) and rushing down to Everyday Music in downtown Portland. I usually prefer to go to other music stores in town (with my roommate and I being fans of Exiled Records, 4628 SE Hawthorne in Portland), as Everyday Music tends to employ assholes, but upon perusing the list of the releases each store was getting, they were the only store that was getting everything both my roommate and I wanted. He was after the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Song Vinyl Box Set, while I was after Pantera's "Vulgar Display of Power" and Tom Wait's "Mule Variations". A strange combination you might say? Well, whatever dude...
Anyway, we got there and it was a madhouse as expected. But the folks that were working there on Record Store Day were very friendly and helpful, so that was nice. They even had donuts from Voodoo Donuts! FOR FREE! I decided against buying the Pantera upon the realization that it wouldnt be money well spent (because of how I probably wouldnt actually listen to it on vinyl very often, not because of any issue with how good the album is, because its FUCKING AMAZING). Anyway, we got our stuff I ended up also picking up a Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings/Budos Band 45 and a Rodriguez 7" that comes with other cool stuff. Then we stopped by the Jackpot Records by our house on Hawthorne and I picked up the Queens of the Stone Age "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" 10" Picture disc.
Anyway, onto the main point of this post. "Mule Variations" is probably one of the most popular albums by Tom Waits. Its also on of my favorites. It was released in 1999. The album features plenty of guest musicians that dont take any spotlight, including every member of Primus at the time. Anyway, the wikipedia for it is here, but I wanted to post as much music as I could from it here so that if you are one of the unfortunate souls still a virgin to this lovely listening experience, you can now be enlightened. When possible I included live footage or audio as well and sometimes with little personal notes about each song from me, cuz you know, this is my blog. On a related note, the vinyl sounds great and came with a really nice picture of Tom taken by the always-awesome-besides-that-limits-of-control-bullshit Jim Jarmusch.
There is a video of him performing HOUSE WHERE NOBODY LIVES on the Tonight Show with a short interview afterward, but I FUCKING HATE Jay Leno, so you get this bootleg instead.
6. "Cold Water" No live footage on youtube unfortunately.
This is my favorite track on the album. I want to drink and shout this song from hilltops. The embedded video is an interesting early version of the song that didnt make it onto the Bone Machine album.
15. "Take It with Me" The piano tone in this one kills me. No live footage on youtube unfortunately.
As a special bonus for coming to my really cool blog, here is the HOLD ON EP that was released as a special limited promotional offer after the album was out. Its out-of-print so I dont feel bad about sharing it since its the only way to get your hands on it these days.
HOLD ON EP 1. "Hold On" 2. "Buzz Fledderjon" 3. "Big in Japan" 4. "Big Face Money"
Eric Wareheim, the "Eric" from "Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!", is putting together quite a portfolio of memorable music videos. I find that he is very talented at coming up with imagery that matches the sound, feel, and mood of a song, along with making it entertaining. The newest from him is "We Are Water" by one of my favorite newer bands, HEALTH. I really enjoyed this video when I first saw it, and it was only upon further viewings did I notice that Eric Wareheim directed it. It seems like a departure from what he usually does visually, with a far darker tone, but some dark humor thrown in. When do people like this sleep!?! So down below are my favorite videos of his. Here is his youtube channel if you would like to check out everything he has up.
"We Are Water" by HEALTH
"Dancefloor Dale", the video for Flying Lotus's "Parisian Goldfish". This is one of my favorite videos of all time. Its an edited version because youtube keeps ripping it down, but you can see the whole, amazing thing at dancefloordale.com
This is perfectly weird. Video for Major Lazer's "Keep It Getting Louder". On his youtube channel there is also an unembedable video for "Pon de Floor" by Major Lazer, that I highly recommend as well.
There is so much more on his youtube channel, just check it the hell out!
Ive always felt that listening to Brotha Lynch Hung was funny, because he tends to be gratuitously gross and "hardcore" with his lyrics, and people often call his type of rap "Crackhead Rap" because of the rawness of it.
I cant claim to be very knowledgable of his whole catalog, but I do have a couple albums and there are some gems on them. My favorite has always been this tune, which features some fantastic samples. And Ive always felt that even though the song is almost ten (!) minutes, it has never felt too long to me. Im not sure why, but it could have something to do with the sweet sample from the great Grover Washington Jr. song "Knucklehead", off of his "Feel So Good" album, which if you are even somewhat knowledgeable of 90's rap, you will see is the source for many rap samples upon even the first listen. Here is the song, "Knucklehead", and since I am full of useless information, it just so happens to be the song which plays over the end credits of the surprisingly watchable John Singleton directed film "Four Brothers"
And here is the Funkadelic song where the "For the Funk of it" part came from, "One Nation Under a Groove", from the album of the same name:
And for just a little bit of an autobiographical touch, the source for where I first gained an interest in Funkadelic, The song "Bop Gun" by Ice Cube, which also samples or sort of recreates the chorus of "One Nation Under a Groove". Its gonna be one sad day when George Clinton kicks the bucket, man.
I first heard this band when I had a radio show at Southern Oregon University's radio station. They had their debut album "Mono" (Buddyhead Records, buddyhead.com). I thought it was pretty cool at the time. A few months later I went to see Queens of the Stone Age in support of their Songs for the Deaf album (meaning Nick Oliveri was still their bass player, which was when they were best), and The Icarus Line were there as an unannounced opener (along with Dillinger Escape Plan, we also met EVERYONE from Mr. Show at the show as well. Needless to say that show was pretty epic all away around). The Icarus Line were fantastic even though their sound was all fucked up. Been a fan ever since. I will always recommend their second album "Penance Soiree". The CD and Vinyl versions of the album are different from one another! A few years later, I would be at another show in Portland, Oregon, this time seeing Big Business/Red Sparowes/Pelican and we would run into these LA dudes just hangin out in the crowd! Turns out the drummer of this band lives in Portland and is also in a pretty bitchin band called Black Elk.
This is a video for one of my favorite Icarus Line songs, "Slayer". The video is weak as fuck and it appears the director of it is a hack, but the song is great.
This is the video for the opening song off of my favorite Icarus Line album and one of my favorite albums of all time, "Penance Soiree"
This is a video for a song off of their pretty fierce debut LP "Mono".
I have just started to delve into this guy's back catalog. Its a real shame that the music world will be losing such a talented and strange musician at such a young age. He was much respected among both music-listeners and among his peers. He will be missed.
I feel like the above song is appropriate, and it is actually on my upcoming mixtape.
