(Will You) Find Me, Ruben Olivares (?)

With the addition of two more live albums that came out recently, Mark Kozelek has released more live records than red house painters released records. Well wait, pretty close. With the addition of these 2, we’re at 5 live albums of some sort. We’ve got Little Drummer Boy, White Christmas, 7 Songs Belfast, and now we add Lost Verses, and Find Me Ruben Olivares- Live in Spain to the list.

These live albums are nice, it serves as something to tie us over until the next Sun Kil Moon record. However, on Little Drummer Boy and White Christmas, they only serve small bits of goodness for me. On each record, I find there are a couple incredible instances captured. On Little Drummer Boy, we get a very bare, and lovely version of All Mixed Up, originally by the cars. If you listen with headphones, you can hear the pick foll against the strings on each strum of the chords, and it sounds like a sigh of relief on the ears. His voice is top notch, hitting all those louder parts on cue and definitely on point. Sometimes I still get bothered by the bore or drone of his low voice these days. He often winces at the thought of his voice during the days of Red House Painters, which was just over 15 years ago, but that could be him at his best. I mean, on an album like “Rollercoaster” we get a healthy dose on all accounts. “24″ was that first real instance of that drone, but it really came into effect on songs like Katy Song, or the piano version of Mistress or Strawberry Hill, but I digress. Another big moment on Little Drummer Boy is Carry Me Ohio, which sounds like it was done with a second guitarist (possibly Phil Carney? Yes.) Even though he draws away from hitting those higher notes on the “Carry Me Ohio” part, I’ll take it. The guitar line flows so nicely.

White Christmas contained some gems as well. A song called “Admiral Fell Promises”, a fine example of a love song by Kozelek. We don’t get many of those, so we need to cherish them. This one has some memorable lyrics that don’t come without some lingering memories of melancholy, such as “a thousand days have passed in this house she and i were sharing and i hate myself for it but i have stopped caring”. Simple yes, but haven’t we all felt that once before? I hope we see something come from this, even though its eight years later. Before we’re treated to the awkward A Capella’s of dragonflies and three legged cat, we’re treated to solo versions of Shadows and Evil. Shadows is executed almost flawlessly, but with the replacement of the word “sorry” for “stupid” just doesn’t jive with me. It sounds out of place. His voice suits this version well though, I’ll take it. Evil. Fuck. Evil. Just him and his guitar, and its still pulled off. It sounds haunting as ever before. His voice doesn’t hold back, and its perfect. Just perfect. When he sings the lines about looking evil, I feel it. He stays true to the original riffs of the song and that helps. He tends to re-work RHP songs when performing them now, but this one he just lets it be played the way it should be.

With that being said, I am just going to get to reviewing these two albums:

We’ll start with the Live in Spain album, “Find Me, Ruben Olivares”. The album opens with Heron Blue, A song from “April” that I couldn’t stand. When Kozelek released the “Nights” compilation with a different version, I was happy. The “Drum Version” was much better. This version isn’t too bad, very simple, very quiet. Simple, for a bit, then we’re treated to that triplet finger picking style we know from Trailways and Blue Orchids. This was a nice surprise while listening. It works well. Next we get “Finally”, a Kath Bloom cover. Its pretty good, but there’s too much echo on Kozelek’s voice, and its sort of a bother. Also, sometimes I don’t want to hear covers, I’d rather hear him play his own. Now I know how people don’t feel when I play live shows and more than half my set is Red House Painters songs. Next is Lucky Man. His version of Lucky Man. Its not him covering ELP. This track isn’t too hot, in my opinion. Sounds a little de-tuned, but I can’t do better so its still a good job. Next is “New Partner”, a Will Oldham cover. I like it, even though 50% of the first four songs have been covers, this song is probably best of the 4 so far. Blue Orchids up next. I’m not big on this song, overall so I’m just gonna skip it. Sorry. But! Next we get “Send in the Clowns” and its played in that triplet style and it sounds good! This is a sad song and he does it justice.

Okay, we’re about halfway through. So far, I like two of the covers, and I’m not totally sold on any of the originals. I hope we have a turn for the better soon. Lets continue:

Next we’re treated to an original, a personal favourite of mine when it comes to his solo stuff or post red house painters material. Find Me, Ruben Olivares was featured on his first solo EP, “Rock n Roll Singer”, which contained one original?, some AC/DC covers, and a John Denver cover. Something like that. The studio version is amazing, I’d recommend you check it out. This live cut is great. I was afraid he’d cheat it on the voice but he puts the effort forth and hits those high notes. You can tell a bit that its a bit of high demand for him, but an A for effort and an A for achievement. Yeah, this one is great. Next we get… Trailways! He does a great job with it too. Straying a bit from the album version, but I don’t blame him. There’s a bit of pause, almost as if he doesn’t remember when to come in or doesn’t remember what he is doing with it. But when he does start with the opening line about Carolyn, he’s got it down pat. Its a bit rushed, but it happens. He doesn’t fall behind. Exceptional vocals on this as well. I find I’m so critical with his vocal delivery, but it can make or break songs in a lot of cases in the world of music. Next is “Moorestown”. This version is much like the version from Little Drummer Boy. Before April came out, this version was nice, because it was something new, something to look forward to. Then we heard the studio version, which is one the highlights of Sun Kil Moon’s catalogue to date. The overdubs, the voice, the string accompaniment. Breathtaking to say the least. So to hear this again, kind of a buzz kill. Next is something very cool though, “San Geronimo”. I love love love this song. I have this version of him playing it on a radio broadcast, just him and his guitar and its so stark and beautiful and his voice would just soar over the guitar. This version is busy with its finger picking, sounds like 2 guitars, probably with Carney since he was there when this was originally recorded. Actually no, he showed up in 95, but isn’t on the album. Its great. Refreshing. Glad this happened. There is the problem that his voice gets a bit drowned out by the guitar, but this happens. Next is a reworking of Summer Dress. Again, this is really great stuff. Accompanied by one set of strings. The guitar work is higher on the neck, as compared to the original whole step down tuning of the studio version, still ends on a minor note. Maybe Phil Carney played the strings? Next is Tonight in Bilbao. This is one of my favourite songs from April. The ending turnaround part in the last couple minutes on the album version always suckered me in. Another double guitar effort, this is spot on. This song is almost hypnotic. Lastly, is “Mistress”. I don’t know how I feel about it. I’m not big on the rolling guitar line, though the help of the second strumming guitar makes it bottom heavy, which is nice. Kozelek makes sure that his voice stays low, but doesn’t drone too much. I don’t like on all live and radio versions of Mistress I’ve heard the lines “your praise…stuffed me with” sounds rushed. Also his voice stays pretty stagnant, and doesn’t venture much. The KCRW version from Red Perspective was definitive. Kozelek’s voice is almost chilling on that cut, and it always sticks in my head when I hear other takes from live sets as of recent or from RHP shows in the 90’s. I don’t know, its ok I guess. Its better than other versions I’ve heard so I’ll give it that. They speed up at the end when Mark does his “ahh’s”

So lets see:

Stand Out Tracks:
Blue Heron
New Partner
Find Me, Ruben Olivares
Trailways
San Geronimo
Summer Dress
Tonight in Bilbao

Thats a little bit over half the album, but on the strength of these songs and the fact that other songs aren’t total throw-aways, I’ll give this album a solid 7.8/10. I think that’s fair. Stay tuned and I’ll review Lost Verses.

Bonus Points for guessing the origin of the bracketed sections of the post title.

Gimmicks in Modern Rock Music, With a Focus on Immortal

I don’t visit my friends often. Once a week or twice if they’re lucky. I have a lot of free time on my hands when I’m not at work, so a nice way to watch time pass in between games of Donkey Kong is research! Whether it music, movies, literature, arcade history, its all quite fun. Lately, I’ve been trying to dig into the vast genre of Black Metal in hopes of finding bands that sound like a mess on tape. I can name you only 50 or 60 bands, and of those, maybe I like 15? If all black metal bands sounded like the second Darkthrone record or select songs by Mutiilation, then I’d be an obsessive, but they don’t. They toy with folk music, viking and norse mythology, and the quality of albums released by groups like every other genre gets worse and worse. Interestingly enough, sometimes we get lucky, and with the quality of music failing it corresponds with the degrading effort of album covers, that turn out to be hilarious.

Now I know most laugh at corpse paint. I think its fun, I mean Misfits and Samhain did it along with devilocks and leather clothes, and I don’t hear many people talk negatively about it. King Diamond looks bad-ass in his glory days, but I can’t really say he does now. Maybe its the same for whole genre. In the early stages of the second wave, it acted well as a gimmick. Here we had these bands writing some raw, cold, primitive metal often shouting pro-satanic lyrics, so an image that helped them look hellish would only seem proper. I mean, Kiss didn’t look hellish, but it had many middle aged women scared shitless. Imagery is key in all forms. I mean, do you think if Mayhem played early live shows, without impaled animal heads, throwing guts into the audience, without any makeup, and if they never had Dead smelling dead crows and wearing rotting clothes, do you think people would give them the cult status they have now? I don’t know, but I’d guess not to the degree. Alice Cooper was HUGE on theatrics. Beheading on stage! And the python and stuff. Theatrics is key. And I mean, same thing happened with him I suppose. In the 70’s, he released a few wicked albums such as Killer, Love it to Death, Welcome to My Nightmare, Billion Dollar Babies, and School’s Out, but not in that order. I remember being a kid and having a CD or 2 or 3. No Shame in my game. But look at him in Wayne’s World. Not Scary. An old man in leather with black around the eyes with a whip. I’m sure if your grandpa showed up in leather and had a whip, you’d rip your dick off, but only from guaranteed hilarity. I guess the only problem is that sometimes artists don’t know when the art they produce becomes stale. They most likely believe it to be good. Bolt Thrower released maybe 7 or 8 albums in their time, the last one being 4 years ago. I haven’t heard it, and I probably won’t listen to it. I like a bit of B.T every now and again but I’ll stick to the gems I’m familiar with, but there are people who like their stuff, and maybe they did an ok job at keeping things somewhat status-quo, but they planned to record one more record last year and decided not to. They realized they have nowhere to go but down so they called it quits. Why doesn’t this happen more often. I could live a happy person if Ragnarok only released their second LP, “Arising Realm” instead of trudging through a couple more and releasing an album that contains one of the dumbest album covers ever: Blackdoor Miracle

Guns and Black Metal don’t mix. If he had a sword, I’d get it but still think it stupid. I mean, their first 2 records, full of Pagan pride and setting Satan high on a pedestal and they refer to ancient beings or entities such as dragons. I don’t know why the gun bugs me so much but it does. Maybe they felt they had to step up their game with something new, because its not like Immortal released an LP holding Uzi’s. Can I talk about Immortal for a second?

Immortal were and are seen as a big player of the second wave. Rightfully so, I love their first two LP’s. The first one had a cool album cover. Someone breathing fire, while the other 2 members are visible but only in outline. Nice. The second, “Pure Holocaust” featured a black and white portrait shot, very clean, very crisp. Its neat in that if featured a band in full getup quite tastefully. And then they went downhill in quality, not only in music but in cover art. Their next album had two members in front of a white backdrop.

The end result is a very confusing cover. Here are these 2 guys, in leather and studs and white and black face paint, surrounded by white. I mean, I get the idea. Battles from the north, its snowy in the north, you can see their feet printing in the snow, but I mean, you can’t have some sort of blue sky. You took a cold, dark persona created by the first two records and ruined it. I’m sure if people were passing by this photo shoot, they’d laugh.

Blizzard Beasts is worst. They sort of watermarked a shot of them over a snowy passage, and they are making the most ridiculous power-metal/Butt-Rock style expressions, which furthers the cheeses into 5 year old cheddar territory. Skipping over one more release that didn’t feature them on the cover, we are treated with another for Damned in Black.

If someone see’s this and takes their tough or scary or wicked expressions (describing some left to right) for serious, and doesn’t see the joke, I’m sad. A similar cover would be featured on Sons of Northern Darkness with the exact same tough, scary, wicked expressions left to right. The poses and expressions differ a bit, and we see the middleman has a wicket goatee and someone did a bad job of putting blood on his arms but oh well. They have an album coming out later this month, but the cover doesn’t feature them. As you can guess, I’m bummed. Maybe I hate these covers, along with ones like it (like the Ragnarok one) but I don’t have anything else going on, so I need these things to have fun with.

Going back to an idea I presented before, stepping up a gimmick, if bands do this, it usually means they know their albums suck. I mean an average live show by KISS in the later part of the 70’s was extravagant. When they saw their art dwindling with giving the boot to Criss and Frehley, what did they do? Scrubbed off the makeup and embraced the sounds of 80’s hair rock. Kiss’s catalogue for the 1980’s/1990’s is pretty much a failure, and you can take it from me, a man who’s inner child is a die-hard Kiss fan. Maybe the 2 went hand in hand. People were drawn to the gimmick, but not to mention they had some pretty fun rock and roll songs. I had a sociology professor who said “Kiss is just a garage band but with costumes” and he isn’t far from the truth, their sound was very basic rock with guitar solo’s. I guess though, through the history of music to the bands we listen to today, some have relied on more than just their songs to get them to the level of success they have gained or are trying to attain.

Some bands have gimmicks that serve for certain people to never check them out. Shining from Sweden promotes suicide and self harm, with self mutilation being a key part in their on stage performance. The singer has gone on record claiming that their music has assisted in the aiding of people killing themselves, and that’s a triumph for him. I watched this stale documentary that featured them and he mentioned he hates life and hates living, so I can’t see why he continues to live. If you look down on everyone around you, and refer to women as whores minus 4 or 5 exceptions, why plague yourself with pain? He presents an idea, and old idea, which is what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. If you try to kill yourself and survive perhaps you will experience higher stages of enlightenment. The french movie Martyrs toyed with these ideas, the ideas of torturing someone to the point where they can transcend our time; Leave their body and experience something that is unworldly, maybe in a vision but with a total detachment from everything around you, and then being able to relay the experience afterward. Martyrs, while a tough movie to stomach from a visual perspective, is even tougher to bear from a psychological one with the ideas they provide. It had Joe and I thinking for days.

I don’t buy into it. But, from an outsider looking in, this is a sub-genre worth looking into just from an interest point of view. There’s a whole genre that goes under “Depressive Black Metal” and I don’t know where it started but the earliest artist I’m familiar with that played this style is Strid. Strid were from Norway, and they’re considered to be the first DSBM. They’re good. The idea behind this genre I suppose is slow-doomy black metal, but it seems it has to be accompanied with depressing or nihilistic lyrics. Their well known song, “End of Life” would probably help with that idea. I’d relay the lyrics, but I can’t find them anywhere on the net.

But look at a band with a silly name. “Make a Change…Kill Yourself”. They play DSBM, and the common theme throughout their songs is “Life on Earth is painful. Everyone around us is worthless. Lets kill them, and then kill ourselves”. The lyrical content shows them ultimately choosing death as a solution. Seems like we should be looking more at this stuff than Judas Priest 20 years ago.

(I still think this is awesome.)

But I will say, there’s a Canadian act from Quebec called “Sombres Forets” who play that style of slow black metal, and I likes it! It reminds me of the slower parts of Burzum building on atmosphere and shrieking vocals. Quebec has been good for Metal acts. Like Gorguts or Kataklysm or Cryptopsy and such. Also, Canada is home to one of the finest first wave Black Metal acts, BLASPHEMY.

I don’t know what I”m really trying to drive home with this. Something for Colin to read and giggle at excitedly. Its important to branch out and check out lots of stuff. Whether it be alt-rock or alt-country from the 90s, Drone or Sludge, or Goregrind (Impetigo and General Surgery are best, next to Carcass, Necrony is also good, Regurgitate is cute, Rottest Slag are fun) or just Grind (You only need Agathocles and Napalm Death along with a couple others [Terrorizer and others duh]), or Mambo like Tito Puente (I have an album I quite like, will be checking out this genre more in depth soon, so expect a full report), Finnish Death Metal (Better than most Swedish, Convulse is great), or Shoegaze, or Goth-rock, or Power Metal, or French Black Metal, or New Wave/Dark Wave, or whatever. Its fun to check stuff out. Last time I saw Colin he told me of an all girl hip hop record and I thought that was cool to hear. There’s definitely a couple great girl-hoppers out there.

Let me also take a minute, to thank Jason for my copy of Songs For a Blue Guitar. Plain records released this, for its first time on vinyl. The layout is great, gatefold and all. The notes are quick and to the point on the specifics of the record. The album is dedicated to Katy. Its nice to have this on vinyl. I’ll cook up a Red House post soon. Also, leave comments with suggestions for future posts.

Why 1984 Ruled #2: Frozen Heart

A super-group formed. Born from an idea originally intended for Modern English. This idea manifested itself into an underground force comprised of the best 4AD records had to offer that churned out 3 spectacular Dream Pop records. Or Goth records. Or Darkwave records, call it what you will, there is no denying its impact.

This Mortal Coil was the brainchild of the head of 4AD records, Ivo Watts-Russel. 4AD was quite the label in its heyday 1980-1994. Though the early 90’s were sort of weak on releases, Red House Painters alone makes up for any crap act they might have pressed. 4AD was responsible for releases from Goth-Rock heavyweights such as Bauhaus and The Birthday Party and would be home for The Cocteau Twins, Pixies, A.R Kane, Dead Can Dance, Pale Saints, Lush and many others. Originally, Ivo wanted Modern English to re-record “Sixteen Days” and “Gathering Dust” as a medley since they were ending their live shows with those two songs, but the declined. Ivo then recruited members of Cocteau Twins, Colorbox and Cindytalk to record it. The B-side was a Tim Buckley cover, “Song to the Siren”, performed by Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. The strength of this cover made its way on to the A-Side of the 7″ release, with a reprise of Sixteen Days being the B-Side. From the success and reception of this, Ivo made the right call to further pursue this idea and make an LP. The first LP, the subject of this entry, is “It’ll End in Tears”.

This album would set the trend for the other two LP’s that would follow. It consists of covers of a wide range of artists, from Singer-Songwriters to Post-Punk acts that only occurred a few years before this. This record preceded “Treasure” by Cocteau Twins by a month, a record that would become a staple in any fans collection, often in top 3’s of fans, yet dismissed quickly by the band. The Twins had released their Spangle Maker EP, a significant release because it would foreshadow the direction Cocteau Twins would take, hinting at their abandoning of goth/post punk roots and more processing pop sensibilities through ethereal means.

From start to finish this record is a few things, but all things solid. Its a sad tale, starting and ending with a whimper. Using the power of other people’s words, this album holds true to its title. This is not a record to be taken lightly. The first three tracks are enough to make you crawl into a ball and hide beneath the covers. Side One opens with a very much organized take on Kangaroo by Big Star. Its a perfect beginning to this 44 minute dream-like opus. The original version of this song is to say the least, a mess. It was from Third/Sister Lovers, which in itself is a mess on the whole. A good mess mind you, but this song was one of the weaker parts of the album, and This Mortal Coil breathed life into that was never there. Following this we have “Song to the Siren” which wouldn’t be anything new to already acquainted fans of this group, seeing as it was on the first release by this group. But touching on this song, hearing the original from “Starsailor” they play it very similarly but with much more space and atmosphere and Fraser’s angelic voice definitely suits it more than Buckley’s baritone bore. The second of the two Big Star covers follows, “Holocaust”, sung by Buzzcocks/Magazine front-man Howard Devoto. So far we’re 3 for 3. This piano-driven song is very pretty. The focus becomes on the voice while the piano sounds oh so distant, slowly making its way back to the forefront. The Piano line flows much nicer and doesn’t sound like a turtle struggling to keep moving forward. Another thing that makes some of these songs successful in execution is the orchestral aspect to them, using strings to thicken up the sound beautifully. The next song, the first original/instrumental on the record “FYT” is conceived by Ivo himself along with John Fryer, but performed by Mark Cox and Martyn Young and this resembles the 4AD sound fans would have come to know at this point in time. Drum Machine with samples creating a dark landscape drenched in synthesizer and other effects. One could argue these kind of songs to be some of the basic groundwork for what industrial would become. Maybe. I’d have to look more into it but I don’t want to. Flowing from one to another, Fond Affections is up next. This was originally by Rema Rema, which was only a few years before this. A group that released an EP on 4AD, the members would later go on to form The Wolfgang Press. Its sung by Gordon Sharp of Cindytalk, but it sounds like a woman. I don’t know what to tell you. We’re at the end of Side One, we close with Instrument and Incidental entitled “The Last Ray” performed by Robin Guthrie, and new member of Cocteau Twins, Simon Raymonde.

Side Two starts with a song that is drastically different from the original. Another Day, a somber folk song by Roy Harper turns into a Violin/Viola/Cello driven song topped with Elizabeth Fraser’s vocals. This is one of my favourite parts of the album. Its the strings that really gives this collective life of its own, and not making it a run of the mill goth rock project on a goth label. It gives it life and room to move around and not get buried beneath better things. Following this, we’re treated to the first of two songs by Lisa Gerrard. Its my understanding that this song was composed by her. Beneath the title “Waves Become Wings” in the LP, it only mentions her name and credits her as the only artist on the song. Lisa Gerrard was 1/2 of the band Dead Can Dance, a band that defines acquired taste if you ask me. They took elements of post punk and goth rock along with dream pop and channeled it through songs that would better be suited under the genre of World Music. A talented woman, with a powerful voice, that’s for sure but I’ve never been able to stomach her group. This song teeters more along the lines of ambiance with a minimal arrangement that sounds large. If i’m right, there are no proper lyrics to this song, in fact no words at all. Lisa Gerrard doesn’t go away, and stays on the next song by taking the role of just looped accordion on “Barramundi” with Simon Raymonde handling the duties on guitar and dx7. Another song that sort of foreshadows later Cocteau Twins circa Victorialand and their instrumental LP “The Moon and the Melodies”. This side deals less with constructing dream pop songs persay, and tends to blend together into movements. Up next, “Dreams Made Flesh” another song that credits Lisa Gerrard with yang t’chin (I believe to be some sort of cymbal, possibly Tibetan or perhaps Middle Eastern) and vocals. If this is a movement this is the 3rd part, the last part. After this we’re back to the dark wave sound most will be craving at this point with “Not Me” by Colin Newman, formerly of Wire but this song was taken from his solo career. This song sounds like something you would definitely hear on a new wave radio station at 1 in the morning. It features vocals by Robbie Grey of Modern English. This track is good, I might like it more than some of the Side One songs, but for me its the weakest part of Side Two. But with saying that, I prefer side two of this album. It feels much more original in its approach, branching out from the 4AD sound to more of a Brian Eno influenced ambient style, without being too bare or boring, and with a healthy dose of creativity. We end on “A Single Wish”, with a quick appearance by Gordon Sharp on vocals, this song seems like a nice way to end an overall sad album. This feels like that single ray of hope we’d expect to get after this assault of darkness created by this album. But listen closely to the small amount of lyrics sung: “You and I, alone here. You and I, It’ll end in tears.” No way are we going to get off easy. Perfect end to this album. There is nothing else I can really say about it, except its brilliant. Simply brilliant.

I recommend this album to anyone and everyone. If not for me, check this out because of the fantastic Patton Oswalt joke! Even after writing this Ebert-esque post about this album, I still prefer the second release, “Filigree and Shadow”. It was the first one I owned on vinyl, and I spent many nights listening to it with my Dad’s headphones, and each side plays like its own EP. Its like an album of four movements. Maybe I’ll write about it someday.

The Two of Us Forever

Lets clear the air…

I love Japanese movies! I love them. I also love Swedish films, but once you sift through the films of Ingmar “Boogerman” Bergman, there isn’t much movement left. Japan gave birth to more than a few brilliant directors that tend to have more than a few classic films under their belt. I started safe, with Kurosawa, and I made my way to the new wave from there. Its interesting that Japanese new wave is hardly discussed. I find it superior to the french new wave. There are probably some arty kids out there who would like to disagree, but I’m not too concerned. They still think their life can be breathless. I like french films, don’t get me wrong. I like Jean-Pierre Melville and I like Jean Cocteau. Uhh, a couple Godard films are OK? Tirez Sur La Pianiste is the best Truffaut/only good Truffaut movie? Anyways, I love Japanese movies! I watch whatever I can find available on DVD or on internet. Today I will talk about one I saw recently, that is the subject of some controversy, or at least was. I don’t think people care anymore, with the advancement of times and the loosening of censorship.

On Sunday night, I was with my girlfriend Kait, and my friend Joe. Sometimes in life we make decisions. I gave Joe a choice: We watch The Burmese Harp by Kon Ichikawa or we watch In the Realm of the Senses by Nagisa Oshima. He chose the latter. These things happen…

So we watch. It just received the criterion treatment, which is always a treat. This movie was a feast for the eyes I tell you. I usually dislike 1970’s film due to the way it translates on screen, but there are exceptions (Such as Days of Heaven, a perfect example of beauty in all its 70mm glory). The colour was striking, the sets almost looked expressive, as if constructed on a studio stage instead of using something outside which would probably be easier. The attention to detail definitely had me hooked, not to mention the movie itself.

The plot is based on the true events of Sada Abe and Kichizo Ishida. I will not recount the actual tale, but the one drawn from the film. I’m almost positive that not many liberties were taken from the source material. Sada Abe works in a restaurant as a maid, formerly a prostitute. The owner, Kichizo Ishida takes a liking to her and they enter into a sexual relationship, without his wife’s knowing. The sexual energy they draw from each other is strong. The feelings Sada Abe feels turns into an obsession and jealousy, while Kichizo concerns lie more in the realm of devotion to her. They take a trip to a restaurant hotel, where they arrange a marriage ceremony. The sex scenes we see up to this point are all real. Definitely unsimulated. While the scenes almost seem harmless, the consummation in front of the geisha’s is what takes this new wave film into some avant-garde territory. We see two of the geisha’s strip the other and start performing sexual acts to her, which ends in an orgy-like display involving all 5 of them (including our two lovers*).

I felt like there were many layers to this love story. Or at least, it was more than just what we saw. There is such a buildup through the second half of the movie leading to the end, which is the death of Kichizo Ishida. Sada Abe doesn’t allow for sleep or rest. She is constantly hungry for love from her partner. She can’t get enough of it. She refuses to have the room cleaned that they inhabit, because she loves the smell, even if others are offended by it. Its the smell they make, so its value goes beyond simply sentimental. The exhaustion Kichizo Ishida feels comes right off the screen and affects you. It was almost torture watching this man. Constantly yearning for rest but refusing to in order to please his partner. The practice of auto erotic asphyxiation doesn’t help. Leaving him in pain, he tells her if she does it again, to just keep going. He is willing to sacrifice his life for his lover’s pleasure, her need to climax. It was the ultimate conclusion to a man who just wants a peaceful sleep. With his death, Sada Abe commits what she made as earlier threats if he were to ever make love to his wife again. She castrates him, and places his penis and testicles inside her, suggesting that they be together forever. This lasted for about four days. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is. One of the most moving scenes is Sada Abe having Kichizo Ishida make love to a geisha in her late 60’s. To me, it was a little hazy as if we were supposed to take her reactions as jealousy or simple pleasure. The camera focuses on her mouth, biting her lips.

Nagisa Oshima does owe a lot to the french for this film, since it was a co-production, so I guess French cinema isn’t completely useless. They had lifted any restrictions on pornography, which helped in making this film possible. You should not be quick to dismiss the idea of Pornographic Film. In no way am I an authority on the subject, seeing that my experience with films containing legitimate sexual acts is limited. But movies like this, Thriller: A Cruel Picture, and Pink Flamingo take the taboo subject of explicit sexuality and incorporate them into film well. I can’t really understand why it would be frowned upon. Assuming the proper age bracket is viewing this, how is it different than what you do with someone of the opposite or same sex behind closed doors. This method is easily effective in the retelling of real events, and displaying the relationship that leads to the self destructive nature of Kichizo Ishida and Sada Abe’s love turned obsession that drives her to mad acts.

The political side of this story sort of went by me unquestioned or thought much about. Its sort of when I read Milan Kundera. I read to learn about these characters, more real than most people we know, and the political side is needed but not pursued by myself to the same degree. I guess this does go against what Japan government would approve of. A woman, formerly a hooker, becomes a waitress, soon to become a mistress who makes money for her and her lover by turning tricks once again. The army marches by Kichizo Ishida, as he walks by with almost a scowl. Their life together is in contradiction to everything around them. Insects eat, sleep, defecate, procreate. These two sort of just procreate and eat rarely. Now, I’m not saying the people around them are bugs. That would be mean, and mildly racist. The idea of working, living in a stable outfit, and properly socializing and integrating themselves into everyday society just doesn’t jive with these two. This movie is still banned in Japan.

I’m going to start adding movie entries to this blog. Also on a side note, I watched The Burmese Harp last night. Moving, sad ending.

Like Fucking Clockwork

If you’re going to set out and make a fast paced, action packed, crime drama in the early wake of when the 1980’s abandoned any hanging threads of the 70s and truly came into its own that would drive Michael Mann up the wall, you’re going to need a soundtrack that rivals Jan Hammer. Enter Wang Chung.

In 1985, director William Friedkin released To Live and Die in L.A, a fine piece of cinematic action, and one of the nicer slices of crime film in a time when originality started to wear thin in this genre. I would go as far to call it Neo-Noir. The plot is simple. A hard-boiled anti-hero secret service officer, Richard Chance (played by William Petersen) is out to bust counterfeiter/tortured artist Rick Masters (played by Willem Dafoe). This is driven by the death of his former partner, who died at the hands of Masters with only a few days left til retirement. Spare me the statement of the plot sounding run of the mill. This is 1985, not 2009 when studios are still churning this out but without much of any goodness to it. Richard Chance is easily one of the grittiest cops I’ve seen on the screen. He definitely brought a new meaning to playing by your own rules.

This came out during the first or second season of Miami Vice. A lot of similarites can be drawn, and I heard it royally pissed off Michael Mann. If you know me, you know I love Miami Vice. Well, the first two seasons. Miami Vice’s legacy should always be strong. It took the idea of sophisticated drama and without dumbing it down, made it an excellent exercise in style. The show takes more than enough time to enhance the setting, making montages of beaches, resorts, the clubs, and the streets of Dade County. The choice of colour on the screen is key. The rule “No Earth Tones” is definitely sworn by, and the payoff is priceless.

The direction in To Live and Die in L.A is exceptional, and there is a stark contrast from Vice when it comes to photography. Done on a low budget, this film just looks hot and bleak. The sky looks polluted, almost a constant orange or bright sky, that is reinforced from the beginning throughout. The houses are dank, save a few shots, the bars are dingy. Definitely far from the sleekness of Dade. Some similarities can be drawn between Richard Chance and Sonny Crockett. The main thread is that they are doing whatever its going to take, whether its by the book or not. The difference is the extremity to which they’ll go to abide by this belief. Richard Chance will do whatever, even kidnapping someone in order to come up money to go through with a sting operation. Crockett knows when to say no. Crockett has a sense of humor. Chance doesn’t have time for one. Chance is an asshole. Crockett can be nice.

I watched this movie with my friend Joe, and I was blown away. The following day I was talking with my Dad about it and he said, “Oh yeah, I have the soundtrack by Wang Chung”. This was so funny to me for a few reasons. First of all, my Dad hasn’t seen the movie, and secondly, Joe and I kept talking about how good the music is and how we needed the soundtrack for our I-pods. I went through my Dad’s records, pulled it out to see the cover was exactly what it should be, and went to my room and threw it on.

This brings me to the other main comparison of L.A and Vice. The music. Vice relies on Jan Hammer, one of a kind composer, and lots of new wave artists and other popular songs as part of its angle, since its geared towards the MTV generation. Wang Chung would seem like a good bet to counter both of these factors. Listening to the title track off of the soundtrack and looking at their catalogue of hits, Wang Chung have a good balance of being able to construct well-written songs and knowing how to write songs that will dominate the charts (Everybody Wang Chung tonight, and Dance Hall Days), and this soundtrack is effective in accompanying the movie with proper music that fits the time period as well.

On the back of the LP, there is a tiny essay by William Friedkin:

“It will come as no surprise to anyone who has listened to Points on the Curve that Jack Hues and Nick Feldman are two of the move innovative musicians around.
It might also come as no surprise to listeners of their music that while their sound is contemporary, their musical orientation is classical….Strauss, Wagner, Schoenberg, Stravinsky.
Their work stands out for me from the rest of contemporary music, which is why I asked them to create an original score for the film To Live and Die in L.A.
What they finally recorded has not only enhanced the film — it has given it a deeper, more powerful, dimension.
While mixing the sound track I was struck by the inseparable flow of one musical piece into another.
Listening to the album, just now I discovered, to my surprise, that each track also stands out on its own — and delivers its own statement.
For me this is not only an exciting film score, but a fine piece of modern music.”

This film is dated. So is Miami Vice. They’re both dated. Its why I love them. These will always represent a slice of the early 1980s. Some people love things for their timelessness, but I have always loved amazing representations of a moment in time. This movie hands you the whole cake.

“Let me tell you something, amigo. I’m gonna bag Masters, and I don’t give a shit how I do it”.

Why 1984 Ruled: From an Outsider looking in #1

In the 80s, metal was growing and new things were happening. Thrash was popping up on both coasts of the US, and over in Europe, mainly in Germany (refer to Teutonic Thrash and what it can do for you). Venom had already released their 2 Slop-drop craptastic classics, “Welcome to Hell” and “Black Metal” and people were scared. Now we know Venom was all make belief, but it helped pave the way for what would down the road become an established form of the extreme that we call Black Metal. Black Metal is good. If you block out the kids you see all over wearing Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir shirts, and you listen to A Blaze in the Northern Sky and not want to rip shit apart, then you should turn back now. While Venom was more of a gimmick that ended up having a lasting impact, there were bands such as Bathory, Celtic Frost, Tormentor, Sarcofago etc etc who were taking those ideas of playing sped up Discharge and Motorhead and adding the much needed touch of Satanism, Paganism, and other evil ism’s to it. While this tradition of raw and thrashydeath style black metal would be carried on in its early pioneering days in Norway in the early 90’s it would soon make a drastic shift towards incorporating melody and sympohnic and almost operatic elements into the music. Bands that pulled this off would be bands like Dissection, Emperor, and so on, along with a gradual increase of the importance of atmosphere, which one of the best BM bands, Burzum helped shape and lay down the groundwork for future bands. But when we look at the first wave of black metal and see a dirty and raw approach we wonder how did the idea of melody and structure really find its way into this genre? The answer, in my opinion lies in this 1984 album:

Don’t Break the Oath by Mercyful Fate. How awesome is that album cover? Hailing From Denmark, The Fate cut two full lengths before going on hiatus, or breaking up for the first time. Their sound was a mix of NWOBHM and elements of thrash. All depending on who I am talking to, I usually describe them as an “Extreme Metal” band. To Black Metal fans, I tell them they are the best BM band, usually to see them wince. To other’s I describe them as, “its like if Maiden and Judas Priest were satanic and didn’t suck”. I’m not sure which of their two LP’s is considered the better. I would like to think this one. Their first record, “Melissa” has some jams, but suffers too much from not sounding “Evil” enough. When King Diamond would record his vocals, he would have the lights off, and candles lit, with a shrine with his fractured skull “Melissa” before him. If you ask me, Mercyful Fate is one of the most challenging metal bands of the early 80s to listen to and fully appreciate and its due to King Diamonds talent. His voice is that makes or breaks fans. He can reach a register one thought was impossible, and can bring it back down in an instant.

The overall tempo of this record is midpaced. Its never “fast”, sometimes slow. No complaints here. The songs are well written, the solo’s are nice, not overblown, nor do they drag. The harmonic parts between Shermann and Denner are cooler than maiden or any other band that did this because they’ve abandoned the rushing aspect, and just let the notes take a nice slow course. Some of the riffs for the time definitely have an evil sound, such as the intro to desecration of souls, or the recurring riff through “Gypsy”. This album also contains the much needed acoustic interlude, which doesn’t take away at all but it comes near the end of the album, which I think works better. I almost forgot to mention, the opening track has one of the most catchy groovy mid paced guitar riffs. Such a crunch, totally moshable.

Also, the lyrics reflect satanism from a much more mature perspective. Instead of crude lyrics about Satan coming to either rape of brutalize virgins or people in general, theres more of an acceptance of Satan into your life and doing thy bidding. What do you think they mean by “Don’t Break the Oath”, Taking a snippet from the sort of title track “The Oath”, King Diamond projects:

I deny Jesus Christ, the deceiver
And I abjure the Christian faith
Holding in contempt all of it’s works

As a being now possessed of a human body
In this world I swear to give my full allegiance
To it’s lawful master, to worship him
Our Lord, oh Satan, and no other

In the name of Satan, the ruler of Earth
Open wide the gates of Hell and come forth from the abyss
By these names: Satan, Leviathan, Belial,
Lucifer
I will kiss the goat

This was a record where I first started listening to it, and thought “okay, I can’t get past the vocals”, but I couldn’t switch bands. I just had to keep listening, and soon enough it grew like an untreated infection to the point where I listen to them almost daily. If not a whole album, just choice cuts from either album. From an outsider looking in perspective, a lot of black metal bands are sped up versions of The Fate with shrieking vocals, and maybe slightly darker riffage. I’ve yet to check out any of the King Diamond albums, and I’m not in any real rush to. I think I can get my dad into them…

Is Sex Rap the Pornogrind of Hip Hop?

No. But let me back up first:

Skipping over the legacy known as Blowfly, during the golden age of hip hop, there was a group we’ve all come to know and love mainly for the hilarity they provide. We call this group 2 Live Crew. 2 Live Crew dropped a few half rate albums that are so well regarded due to fusing the miami party bass pumping flavour with sexual related lyrics, which we’ve come to call Sex Rap. There aren’t many sex rap groups that really matter here to talk about save two. Those two being 2 Live Crew and No Face. Both provide the humour that you’re guaranteed and definitely have tones of misogyny that we all appreciate in our music.

2 Live Crew have 3 albums that matter. Move Somethin’, As Nasty As They Wanna Be, and Banned in the USA. Each album is the same sort of deal. Well produced tracks with sexually explicit lyrics. Why am I even bothering to blog about this? Because my beef is some of these beats are great! I love the upbeat miami style packaged into a listenable group. Its not like listening to DJ Maggatron where we’ve just got 8 minute long songs of cut ups and multiple samples. My only beef is that the sex lyrics get a little tired after a while, and the novelty can wear off quick, but we can’t deny the influence. Just like gangsta rap of the east coast, this group definitely pushed the envelope in the right direction and came under fire and fought against censorship. This kind of music is the equivalent to Hustler or Penthouse magazines. Its the kind of thing that should be kept on the top shelf but it should be there nonetheless. Songs like Face Down Ass Up, Move Somethin’, C’mon Babe, you wish they could have erased the lyrics and had another group make these into more user friendly party jams, but I suppose thats part of the appeal. You want to hear all the different ways 2 Live Crew can talk about getting blown and getting it on.

It bums me out sometimes, but the production on the album “Wake Your Daughter Up” bums me out even more. That album has some of the best hip hop samples in my opinion from the time. The album is definitely well regarded across the board in the underground hip hop community. Its definitely more geared towards being a comedy record, almost a parody. It features 2 Live Crew on a song or two (or maybe just one, I can’t remember). The kind of beats on this LP are part of the appeal for me. I can legitimately listen to this record but sometimes the vocals get a bit under my skin. “Fake Hair Wearin’ Bitch” is a prime example of this. The rough gang vocals, and one of the members yelling his lyrics like he is quite ticked about girls giving him the run around. This kind of abrasive delivery is continued on the song “At the Movies”. I touched on this album a bit before in a post about slow jams. Musically, this slow jam could have been up there with the jams from the first two big daddy kane records, but as you can guess, the lyrics kill that potential. This is a kind of song that screams parody, which I get. I’m well aware of how cheesy slow hip hop songs, but I can still enjoy them secretly. The closest we get on this album to having a user friendly song is “Half”. Half is a jam, I think they might have made a music video for it. “Stole My Shit” is another example of a fine song. “Your System” is a refreshing kickback to the beats of early hip hop or NWA and the Posse. Lastly we get “Assit”, the much needed House/Club track. Thats the end of that. So in conclusion, listen to it merely for the production and cheap laughs it will provide.

So is sex rap the pornogrind (see Anal Cunt, Meat Shits etc etc) of Hip Hop? No, because Pornocore is the Pornogrind of Hip Hop.

Ok, Ok. I don’t know a whole lot about this sub-subgenre called Pornocore except it was invented by Kool Keith. Yes, Kool Keith. The same Kool Keith that fronted The Ultramagnetic MC’s, a hip hop group responsible for “Critical Beatdown”, one of the finest pieces of Golden Age history. Critical Beatdown is one of my favourite albums. The beats are tight, the lyrics are top notch and has one of the partiest party songs, “Travelling at the Speed of Thought”. Somehow from this he moved onto Dr.Octagon. I don’t know how you feel about Doc Oc, but I don’t like it. The album is some sort of concept album that would be one of the first instances of him moving into this sort of explicit sex-related lyrics with the character Dr. Octagon fronting as a woman gynecologist and having sex with his patients. After this record, he released “Sex Style”, which is when he started using the term Pornocore, I’m pretty sure. The title track covers all the sexual ground you could expect: Regular sex, anal sex, golden showers, BDSM, and other related sexual acts that might even be a bit too perverted for regular sex rap, hence the more hardcore title for the genre, pornocore.

Hey Kait, how are you?

Adam, watch out for a mega mix of hip hop. I’ll email you the link possibly tonight, whats the best address to get at you?

Backtracking: A Tracing of my Formative Years Vol. 1 (Cassette Edition)

So I thought it’d be fun to dig through the crates of my cranium and bring out 3 of my first cassettes that I owned. This would have been around 1993-1995. I can definitely recall listening to these tapes, and I think its sort of neat to look back on the content of them and how I haven’t really changed from these tastes, I’m just a bit more seasoned.

So here is the first tape I can recall having and thinking it was one of the coolest things:

He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. If I can recall, my Mom got this from a good friend of hers. The friends husband was way into hip hop, and maybe they had given me this since its a user-friendly curse-word free album. Not to mention, its awesome. I always loved Fresh Prince of Bel-Air growing up and I can still laugh my ass off at most episodes. So here I was, 6 or so years old, listening to this tape in my room, thinking it was so damn cool. This album was huge when it came out, and Parents Just Don’t Understand is still one of the best radio friendly joints that have been produced. Listening to this record now, it totally reeks of the phila flavour sound, which makes sense seeing as they were from there. You can definitely tell the influence that Will Smith exerts, such as Slick Rick, Kool Moe Dee, Heavy D, and Philadelphia acts such as Steady B, Cash Money and Marvelous, etc etc. Some of these songs still hold up, and its fun to hear Will Smith’s voice before it lowered the last bit (which can totally be heard on Homebase and whatnot). Its nice to hear records that are just fun, without sucking. They are one of the only acts to pull that off. As a kid I thought the Nightmare on Elm St. song was so dope, but now as a slightly Heavier D, I will pick the fat boys track over this one. Have you ever seen the video for the fat boys track? Not to mention I’m much more appreciative of DJ Jazzy Jeff’s tracks on this album. His slicin’ and dicin’ is tasty. As a kid, I had this one tape. Now I’m an adult and I have it on vinyl.
Stand Out Tracks: Time to Chill, Lets Get Busy Baby, Rhythm Trax-House Party Style, Charlie Mack

If you really want a treat, watch this video of one of their best songs from their catalogue, which was one a bit of a poor album. Appearances by Don King, Alfonso Ribeiro and the one and only, Iron Mike.

Next One is one I didn’t really recall until doing extensive search of the releases of Cold Chillin’ Records. I love Cold Chillin. The first real wave of their releases is almost untouchable. I find theres a common pattern in artists like MC Shan, Big Daddy Kane, and Biz Markie, where their second album is better than the first. That isn’t to say because artists like Kane and Markie started using Marley Marl sparingly, because I back Marley Marl to the very end, but I think with the growth of the overall hip hop sound the samples became much more well produced and explored for an overall full and more catchy sound. So while doing my extensive research in my spare time (I have lots of spare time), I came across some release that totally hit a fuse in my brain. The eponymous and only release by CANADIAN young pop rap group, TBTBT. Too Bad To Be True. I can’t remember exactly why I had this tape or where I got it. My mom sort of just came home with it. Maybe it has to do with the same friend as above. Here was another pop rap/new jack swing group that would be more geared towards someone like me. The kids in this group ranged between 12-15. I peeped the video for their single “One Track Mine” and thought “Man, this brings me back. Now I remember this”. There is no denying that one track mind is a banging hit. Its not great, but the production is stellar, and its fun to hear kids rap sometimes when its not the worst thing you’ve ever heard in your life. I can’t remember much else from this album, but I bet there were some def slow jams. Now I think about my taste and how I love rap geared towards a poppy new jack swingy sound like the 2nd and 3rd Heavy D record, and Cake and Eat it too, and being able to dig Keith Sweat but not telling anybody about it. Could this be why?

Lastly for today, we will talk about a compiltation. Well, more like a movie soundtrack. The Batman Forever soundtrack. When this came out, it was huge. Seal won three grammies for kiss from a rose. I never liked that song and always fast forwarded over it, but I still remember the video of him singing the song on a roof with the bat signal, and having some silk shirt blowing about. What happened to Seal? He is still around with his hot wife, he is still talented. Looking back on this tape, it had some great bands. It makes sense why I dug it then and how I dig some of these groups now. It had Massive Attack(Featuring Tracey Thorn from Everything but the Girl), Mazzy Star, Sunny Day Real Estate, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and some other decent acts. I remember not being huge on the U2 song. I’m still not. I never knew what I was really listening to, because I had lost the case, but I remember loving most of the songs by the artists I just mentioned. Kinda neat considering my ongoing admiration for said artists, and my near obsession with Nick Cave’s body of work. This movie is really terrible, but the soundtrack still has some hold up songs. Its sort of like the soundtrack to “The Saint”. The movie is garbage, but some of the songs are by artists of this similar vein. Its just weird to think when I was a kid, I knew a song by Sunny Day Real Estate. Do you remember the SNES game? Do you remember how bad it was?

There’s Fire in the Hole.

If I ever do heroin…

It will be to Steely Dan’s “Can’t Buy a Thrill”. Let me back up for a second. Never have I or will I do heroin. I have a definite anti-drug and alcohol stance, due to the caused loss of self control and it is one of the most fleeting ways to spend and lose money. But, if you know any heroin addicts, you should give them a copy of this album.

I guess it is safe to say I’m a Steely Dan fan. I’m a pretty stupid Steely Dan fan. I don’t like Pretzel Logic and find myself willing to skip over at least one or two tracks on every album I claim to love. What draws me to the Dan is their tight studio production, their passion for perfection and their overall smoothness. The songs that tend to “Rock” or sound booming are ones I can definitely do without. Starting off as a tight early 70s hybrid of rock and jazz, they made their way into the realm of smooth mainstream jazz, abandoning almost all rock elements. But we’re here to talk about their first record, the one you should have handy when you decide to become a junky. Can’t Buy a Thrill.

Taking the album name from a line from a Bob Dylan song (bummer), this album can be summed up in one word: Sleaze. Its the Married with Children of pop music. From the album cover to the opening track, “Do it Again”, you’re covered in it. You’re sucked in, and you hear a kind of sleaze that almost sounds unintentional. It makes sense that this is a great heroin record, because Fagen and Beckett were addicts. This is the kind of music Santana tried to make credible but failed. He is still alive playing the same solo for pop artist’s, its almost heartbreaking to watch him.

This album paints a perfect picture of Los Angeles and New York City in the early 70’s. This is the album that makes you think of those gritty 70s movies, whether they were well produced or just raw exploitation movies. Either way, I’m hooked. The lyrics to the opening track “Do It Again” accompany this image perfectly, with lines about murder, love and lust, and gambling. These ideas almost cover the whole theme of the album, theres a certain struggle within the lyrical content of these songs. A song like “Only a Fool Would Say That”, a statement about the cost of everything in life. “Dirty Work”, a song about falling back into the bad habit of loving a women you can have when her husband isn’t there. “Turn that Heartbeat Over Again”, a closing track on crime and drinking. This album makes me think of orange skies and grainy images.

The one flaw to this album is David Palmer and Jim Hodder. These two handle lead vocals on three songs and it just isn’t the same as Fagens unique voice. I can’t remember if Fagen thought he didn’t have what it takes or didn’t think he could do it live, but either way, its good he handled it for the rest of the band’s career.

The best way to listen to any Dan LP is with a pair of great headphones and the vinyl copy of whichever album you decide to pick. I’d say stray from The Royal Scam and focus on this record along with Katy Lied, Aja, Gaucho. I can’t think of any records that are produced as well as these ones. The massive attention to detail, the attention to placement of instruments in the mix, everything is boiled down and every little bit counts, and thats what makes this band probably the best studio band.

Steely Dan would never top the sleaze that they achieved on this record, but its because with each record they just keep reinventing and building on their already well established style and sound. But there is one shining moment on their second album “Countdown to Ecstasy” with their song “Gold Teeth”. Listen to that and not think of some B-Level Crime Flick from the 70’s. I think thats one of the keenest points of their sound, is that its timelessness yet it’s a great representation of the time in which is was written. It does a much better job than any 70s bad rock band you hear on Q107. If you like Doctor Wu from your minutemen double nickels album, then listen to the original by the Dan, featured on “Katy Lied”.

Now on to personal matters, I’ve been working a lot which is good because I need to finish paying my visa off which will be done with my next paycheque, and I’ll scoot up to see Kait on Monday which I can’t wait for. I miss her a bunch! She is not a believer when it comes to Steely Dan, but she listened to Gaucho, which is good but Katy Lied is overall better, same with Aja.

Similar Haircuts #3: Adult Alternative Edition

This is going to be a special Similar Haircuts. We’re gonna take a walk down memory lane with this one and take a sort of break from hip hop for this entry:

When I was in High School, I had a secret admiration for the Dave Matthews Band. It was something my friends knew about and surprisingly did not judge over. Even Joe sort of likes the song “Satellite”. It was something that I was almost forced to keep secret, due to his fan base when you’re a high school student. The other people that like him are bros. We all know about bros, we’ve all dealt with them, its not fun. Live shows consist of bros, and people above 30. Then me. There was just a lot to appreciate in his music I found. I enjoyed that he played cool things on guitar, and when everyone in the band can offer up a few heaping helpings of talent, you are usually in for a real treat. My liking of this group really came into fruition in my grade 12 year. For my birthday I received a ticket to see him in concert at the ACC. I went alone but didn’t mind. It was a good time, a handful of great jams, and a drunk mother with no ring on her finger kept bumping her hips into me. A 17 year old boy couldn’t ask for more. My girlfriend at the time had beef with his words because she thought they were too sexual, because of songs like “Rapunzel”, where the first chunk of lines is totally referring to cunnilingus, which I thought was fun. Clearly, my ex was a silly. I saw him a second time a few months later in the spring at the Molson Amphitheater and it was a nice time. Again, went by myself. After this, time went on and after noticing weight loss, I sort of fell out of listening to him on a regular basis. I still keep tabs, I still listen to the odd song here and there. Anyways, his latest album “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” dropped, and after listening through some of it, I’m not feeling it. Its getting great reviews, which is good for the band for sure. Listening to the first full song on the album I noticed something troubling which brings us to tonight’s Similar Haircut:

Shake Me Like a Monkey by Dave Matthews Band and…

Word Up by Cameo

Yes. You read right. Dave Matthews Band have ripped off Cameo. Now the whole song doesn’t rip off Word Up, but one of the main riffs, that is played through the chorus is Word Up without a doubt. Do you remember the first time you heard Word Up? I do. Let me tell you about it: When I was in Grade 4, I recieved some sort of Toronto Raptors mix CD that had songs picked by the teammates and that banging track by Cameo was on it. I won’t lie, I like it. I still like it. Its so goddamn catchy, but c’mon, do you think no one in the studio noticed the similarities. Even the horns make it sound even more like Word Up. The song by Dave Matthews isn’t even good. Its so “rock” sounding, and usually when Dave Matthews tries to rock out, it ends in tears.

So I guess if we have to declare a winner, the winner is Cameo. His came first which gives him an edge, not to mention his song is untouchable. There are instances when one hit wonders can be untouchable. I mean you can’t “U Can’t Touch This” by the Hammer, and you can’t mess with Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me” which probably got half its success from Michael Jackson doing Rockwell a favour and singing the main hook. Whatever happened to Cameo? Who cares, Word Up!

My Down Colorful Hill LP came today. It came after waiting for less than a week. No complaints from me, its great. Plays like a dream. I’ve listened to it twice today, and will probably end up spinning it once more.