Thursday, January 9, 2014

now songs

The Fall "Rebellious Jukebox"
from Live at the Witch Trials

Probably one of the most straightforward Fall songs I've heard. Even the production is oddly polished. Catchy, a classic & silly chorus, simply enjoyable. Of course, it has its own unique touches: kiddie keyboard, laughably whiny guitar hook chorus, odd sounding drums, it's a song about a rebellious jukebox, Mark E. Smith, etc.


Talking Heads "Animals"
from Fear of Music

Wonderfully strange, funny and hard-hitting. Sinister verses, playful choruses, satirical human vs. animal-way-of-life lyrics with temper tantrum vocals that fit perfectly. I love the change up-part at 2:11 and the build up that follows, so awesome and well-done. Obviously, given the musicians involved with this album, all around excellent instrumentation and production.


Ferron "It Won't Take Long"
from Shadows on a Dime

Gotta thank my boi Christgau for this one. Nothin' like some good ol' fashioned folky female defiance with lengthy poetic verses aplenty. Killer violin and percussion. Epic heavy-handedness balanced with bouncy punk-esque fun, complete with a singalong chorus.


Public Enemy "She Watch Channel Zero?!"
from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

An attack on television/soap opera worshippers backed by a Slayer sample and a great chorus ("Shewatchshewatchshewatch…"), doesn't get much cooler than that. It also features some of Flavor Flav's best ad libs: "I'm gonna take all your soaps, and then I'm gonna hang 'em on the ropes!" "Look - don't nobody look like that! Nobody even look like that!" "Yo, why don't you back up from the TV - read a book or somethin'!"


Yo La Tengo "The Story of Yo La Tango"
from I am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass

Just in case you needed another 10+ minute track by Yo La Tengo. This one's an album ender of epic proportions. The lyrics could or could not be a vague autobiography of the band, but musically this represents them quite well. Classic drawn out structure that starts slow & sparse and leads to thick layers of everything you may expect and desire when listening to YLT - keyboards, squealing guitars, big chords, low-key vocals, etc.

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