Slumberlord
As much as I'm an enthusiastic
Brian Eno fan, I have to say I listen to
Roxy Music's post-Eno singles ("Love is the Drug," "Dance Away," "More Than This") as much as I listen to the early albums they did with him ("Roxy Music" and "For Your Pleasure" of course).
The standard critical line is that the tension between Eno and singer
Bryan Ferry helped create the great music on those first two albums, and that's probably true; but there's something really great about the shameless art-pop of Roxy "Stranded" through "Avalon" and the freedom Eno had through the '70s on "Another Green World" and "Discreet Music" in particular. So it might be better that they split when they did.
Another question - would the
Velvet Underground have been better or worse if
John Cale and
Lou Reed had stuck together for another few albums?
Bubba Sparxxx - "Deliverance"
Rapping: 8.2. Production: 9.4.
Organized Noise and
Timbaland outdo themselves. This could be a top 20 contender for the album list; "Comin' Round" could be a top 10 single for the year.
The Rapture - "Echoes"
The
Stylus review had a point, didn't they - by the time this was released it really seemed like the whole thing was over and done with already. As is, a good album, hopefully it will build some bridges... if that's the biggest contribution electroclash makes it would be worthwhile right?
Basement Jaxx - "Kish Kash"
"Lucky Star" and "Living Room" are clear standouts. "Supersonic" and "Right Here's the Spot" are not as great. Why does
Me'shell get two spots on the record? There must be a line halfway around the block for guesting on a Jaxx track.
But seriously, they need to bring in more rappers.
Dizzee's addition definitely makes them alter their sound which is positive because tracks like "Good Luck," while good songs, are so formulaic for them. Get
Roots Manuva, get
Clipse, get somebody on those tracks.
It seems 2003 is the year for white rappers to open up and admit they like indie rock! The
Non-Prophets, on their single "Damage," bust out with "I go to
Fugazi shows and request
Minor Threat songs" which would be lame in practice but sounds great in a rap track. On a similar bent,
Aesop Rock counts off "1-2-3 repeater" in one of the many, extremely wordy tracks on his new album. And supporting-the-scene points to
Atmosphere, who rock it with this one: "You kiss like you already came/ and that's a
Lifter Puller line for those who don't got game."
For 2004:
Tim Kinsella guesting on an
Eminem single?
"...it seems people who have only superficially sampled the genre..."
Seriously, no pun intended. I just read that back.
So I saw yet another post from someone explaining why he didn't like hip-hop, and he basically was saying he didn't like how hip-hop acts lifted old soul samples and such for their hooks, although he did like some groups who he said did it tunefully or something (he was fond of
The Fugees' "The Score," which, I'm sorry, has a pretty direct lift).
Now I'll be the first to agree that there are some sad and villainous examples of sampling (Then-
Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You" leaps immediately to mind and kicks the listener in the teeth) but it seems people who have only superficially sampled the genre seem to ignore all the wonderful, subtle uses of sampling. What's more, they think that sampling is not "real" music making, like strumming a guitar (even if you just have a more talented session player strumming the guitar for you, or even if you just cover a song rather than writing your own).
The other day I was just reading an interview with
Kid Koala (who, by the way, looks like he's about 12). He was talking about the work he put into "Basin Street Blues," the single off his new album, "Some of My Best Friends Are DJs." He had to individually listen to a whole lot of songs with horns in them to find all these disparate parts, then somehow combine them, then listen to all these solo bass records to find the right bass notes, then add that, then find the right vocal samples, etc. He even wrote a melody for the horns (horns he was
sampling, mind you). He could have brought in session musicians and done the same horn parts in a few weeks, he said - the sampling took him almost five months.
The rocker would scoff and say it would have been quicker and better if he had just recorded the part with horn players, and the rocker wouldn't care for the song; but the song sounds
nothing like anything that could have been produced by live interpretation, and it has qualities that are purely it's own, even if it is made from borrowed parts.
ABBA – Dancing Queen
Dudley Perkins – Flowers
Cocteau Twins – Cherry Colored Funk (live)
The Rapture – Sister Savior
So Solid Crew – 21 Seconds
Pretty Girls Make Graves – Something Bigger, Something Brighter
Justin Timberlake – Rock Your Body
90 Day Men – Eyes In the Road
N.E.R.D. – Run to the Sun (original version)
Pharrell ft. Jay-Z – Frontin’
Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
Rocketship – Get On The Floor (And Move It)
Rachel’s – A French Galleasse
Otis Reading – These Arms of Mine
Natacha Atlas – Man’s World
RJD2 – I Really Like Your Def Jux Baby Tee
Maurice Ravel – Gaspard de la Nuit (Le Gibet)
Beyonce – Keep Giving Your Love To Me
The Dismemberment Plan – The Ice of Boston
The Lilys – Ginger
Donna Summer – I Feel Love
Art Ensemble of Chicago – Theme De Yo Yo
Gabriel Rene – Don’t You Cry
Dizzee Rascal – I Luv You
New Colony Six – Mister, You’re A Better Man Than I
Scarface – In Cold Blood
Ward 21 – Pum Pum Party
The Strokes – 12:51
Beth Orton - "The Other Side of Daybreak"
Folk is the original coffee shop music. But in the mid-'90s, it suddenly had a competitor; trip-hop. Led by
Tricky and
Portishead, the since-maligned genre lit up hip 30somethings latte hours with chill, jazz-influenced grooves.
So Beth Orton, one might suggest, is the natural combination of the two; a folky guitarist who has paid her dues to the genre's past but came to light with heavy duty production help from acid guru
Andrew Weatherall (you know, the guy who made
Primal Scream cool).
But her three albums have gone progressively further and further from the electronic tones that made her popular in the first place, and perhaps in an attempt to retain or recapture that audience, she has now released "The Other Side of Daybreak," which mixes five electronic remixes with a handfull of miscellaneous alternative takes.
Two Lone Swordsmen and
ipg both turn in quality mixes, but both are rather predictable.
Four Tet, coming off an incredibly hot streak from his jaw-dropping 2003 album "Rounds," provides two remixes here, giving a reedy, icy beat to "Daybreaker" and drenching "Carmella" in a sun-shiney stompin' beat.
The real standout here is a surprise, though - it's
Roots Manuva's remix of "Daybreaker." All of the other remixers, even the fantastic Four Tet, sound a bit cautious, as if they're afraid to tamper with Orton's sound. They sound like they're just visiting the song for a few minutes before taking off.
Manuva isn't visiting; he's crashing on the couch and staying for a few weeks. He starts by adding a truly bizarre, hiccuping glitch beat, then adds
rap verses to the song, alternating with Orton. It's bizarre to say the least, but of all the songs on here, it's the only one that wouldn't fit in on a coffee shop P.A., and for Orton, who has traded ingenuity for consistency from release to release, that's a good thing right now.
Hm some time since my last post. I have been very busy. Anyway, I've cooled off a bit on "Hey Ya" but I still like it. I think S/TLB could end up on my top 10 of the year.
I saw
Calexico on Oct. 1 and they were great. They did a salsafied version of
Love's "Alone Again Or" and their live version of "Crystal Frontier" was bliss. Great band.
More soon I think.
