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Guest post: My Top 5 Records That I’d Recommend To No One
18 months ago
in Guest posts, Videos
Audio Antihero label supremo Jamie takes us through five albums he owns that he simply couldn’t justify to anyone else…
All us real people have record collections. In these collections we have classics and then we have those other records. Not ‘guilty pleasures’ but records we can’t explain or justify – ones you wouldn’t play on the office stereo. Records that your friends just wouldn’t understand…
My Top 5 Records That I’d Recommend To No One
Ciccone Youth – The Whitey Album (Blast First Records, 1988)
Ciccone Youth were Sonic Youth and Mike Watt (Minutemen) plus a bit of Greg Ginn (Black Flag) and J.Mascis (Dinosaur Jr). Why wouldn’t you recommend that muscle to everyone? Because it’s frickin incomprehensible!
This album offers a couple of tracks of silence, some poetry, some ‘skits’ (‘Two Cool Rock Chicks Listening to Neu!”), a few instrumentals, a rap/yelp from Thurston Moore and three cover songs; ”Addicted To Love” (Kim Gordon in a Karaoke Booth) and “Burnin’ Up” and “Into The Groove” by Madonna.
Why did any of this happen? I don’t know.
One of the things on the Audio Antihero “To-Do List” is a re-working of this album featuring the entire AAH roster. As if to say “Dear Sonic Youth, I will see your senseless indulgence and raise you one faintly illegal re-working of your most forgotten album”. Suck on that, Renaldo!
Video: Ciccone Youth – Addicted To Love
Various Artists – Judgement Night Soundtrack (Immortal, 1993)
OH BABY! 1999 and 13 years old! Rap-Metal was my education but for some reason everyone’s a total grinch about it, except for all those ‘people’ who do actually like rap-metal but I wouldn’t want to talk to any of those losers.
Anyway, this was a soundtrack to a film only I liked and an experiment on the genre/money, pairing up rock/metal artists with rappers to create something pretty monolithic. There’s Slayer & Ice-T! Mudhoney & Mr. “I-Like-Big-Butts”! Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul! Helmet & House Of Pain! Pearl Jam & Cypress Hill! Even Therapy? are on here!
My favourite is “Another Body Murdered” by Faith No More & Boo-Yaa Tribe which is terrifyingly O.G. “I KEEP LOOKIN’ AND HUNTIN’ JUST LIKE A LION! LET THE SUCKA KNOW IT’S THEM THAT BE DYIN’!”. Fuuuuuuuuck.
If XOYO or Old Blue Last ever book me to DJ I’ll probably just pump this album on shuffle until hipsters crucify me on an upside down American Apparel ‘A’. I’ll be a Nu-Martyr. Fred Durst will write a rhyme about me. S.O.W.O.R.T.H.I.T.
Video: Faith No More & Boo-Yaa Tribe – Another Body Murdered
Type O Negative – The Origin Of Feces (Roadrunner, 1992)
Oh ‘90s major labels…you truly are the gift that keeps on giving! The sophomore effort from pseudo-goths Type O Negative was a fake live album where the band re-recorded and miss-titled songs from their debut and play intentionally badly whilst argue with a dubbed audience who loathe them. The ‘gig’ even gets interrupted by a bomb scare…It’s nonsense.
But in all the “what?” and “why?” it packs more punch that it ought. Plus, I never expected a song called “I Know You’re Fucking Someone Else” to carry any significance to me…but life has its twists!
RIP Peter Steele.
Video: Type O Negative – I Know You’re Fucking Someone Else
Tomahawk – Anonymous (Ipecac, 2007)
“Original arrangements inspired by Native American material from the late 19th century” from members of Faith No More, Jesus Lizard, Helmet, Battles & The Melvins. Supergroups-are-weird-you-guys!
This rhythmic, spooky and furious music is destined to confuse or irritate most people you know. It somehow found its way into my father’s life and he complained that it was ‘endless’.
I don’t know if I would play it backwards.
Video: Tomahawk – Song of Victory
Henrietta Collins & The Wife Beating Child Haters – Drive By Shooting EP (Texas Hotel, 1987)
Post-Black Flag, Henry Rollins came to England to start afresh. He recorded the seething “Hot Animal Machine” but all the rage and resentment that flowed couldn’t match the perversely illogical “Drive By Shooting EP” that followed.
It opens with a ‘60s pop parody about going out with “the gang” to embark on a killing spree (“it might be your sister or it might be you!”) but that’s relatively tame compared to what follows. ”Hey Henrietta” shows Rollins having an unnerving conversation with himself about murdering his racist father and raping a policewoman; “Can You Speak To This?” places him as the protagonist in a Sabbath-riffed tale of meeting a woman who produces her husband’s severed head and encourages him to speak to it; then a glimmer of relaxing familiarity comes and goes with “I Have Come To Kill You” a re-working of Queen’s (immeasurably tiresome) “We Will Rock You” in which Rollins offers us freedom and salvation…because he has come to kill us.
Next to the ‘gags’ about raping a policewoman (erk), “Men Are Pigs” is easily the most uncomfortable moment. He encourages women to thank and please their men by using their mouths – and then…
“CUT IT OFF! THE WHOLE THING! DO IT TONIGHT!
PUT IT IN AN ENVELOPE, SEND IT TO ME:
ROLLINS, P.O. BOX 2461 REDONDO BEACH CALIFORNIA 90278 USA!
MEN ARE PIGS, YEAH!
Ladies, no one understands you like I do.”
Video: Henry Rollins – Men Are Pigs
No sir, they don’t make them like this anymore. If you own no records that you’d recommend to no one then I feel sorry for you, son.
Jamie is the one man machine behind the mighty Audio Antihero label. You know, the place that put out the Nosferatu D2 record I go on and on and on about. Since then, the label has put out quality releases from Benjamin Shaw, Jack Hayter, Wartgore Hellsnicker and will release the new EP from Paul Hawkins and the Awkward Silences in the near future. To celebrate this, the label will be putting on a launch gig at the Brixton Windmill on July 1, featuring three of their acts and the lovely David Cronenberg’s Wife. You should come.
The Besties – Prison Song
03 years ago
in MP3s
It’s been a little while since we had any twee pop again, so today is the turn of The Besties, a band I have loved for a couple of years now but have never had the chance to write about properly. Coming from New York (what is it about the northeast and twee?), I always thought that the band was a three-piece, although the photographic evidence above appears to disagree.
The Besties describe themselves as “60s girl groups dry humping 90s pop punk”, which is something I think we can all agree that more bands should aspire to. They certainly pull it off too, the sweet female harmonies mixing perfectly with the often shambolic musical sound that supports it. Their last album, Singer, was full of pop gems, from Prison Song to Sweden Song to Pirate Song to Zombie Song. I think they really like the word ‘song’.
The Besties’ new album, Home Free, will be released on November 11.
The Thursday Politics: Like a bit of the old Ultraviolence?
64 years ago
in Politics
Probably best I don’t use an image for this one, or you’d probably go to jail.
A couple of weeks ago the government presented it’s latest Criminal Justice Bill to Parliament. This is a fairly common occurence, and is usually a time when the government gets to sort out little quirks in our criminal justice system in an attempt to make it more efficient. This is usually done by attempting to limit minor things like trial by jury, but that’s neither here nor there.
Most of the bill this year is pretty inoffensive stuff. It allows the use of more offenders to be dealt with in the community rather than prison, an easing on prostitution penalties and a set of small changes designed to simplify the system. However, buried within it is a very worrying piece of legislation outlawing the possession of extreme pornography. While I know many of you will probably switch off at this point by thinking that this is relevant to you, you’d be foolish to do so.
Campaigners against extreme pornography use the same argument that those against violent films or games do; that it influences behaviour and turns those that watch it into psychopaths. Of course, no one has yet to be able to present any evidence that this is the case both here or in the earlier cases, but why let the facts get in the way of a good crusade? Yet while most people will agree that it’s ludricrous that film will have such an impact on someone, most people (groups like Index on Censorship aside) are keeping quiet on this one. Even Liberty, while (rightly) campaigning for the right to protest and other free speech matters don’t seem to want to go near it.
As for the law itself, it’s so badly thought out that surely at least some MPs must have noticed. Granted, this lot aren’t the greatest when it comes to oversight, but you’d think someone would have thought “hey, did you notice this thing doesn’t even define what extreme pornography is?”. That’s right folks: Possession of extreme pornography will be banned by the government, but the government can’t tell you what extreme pornography is. The vague guidelines set out in the legislation make token references about “an act which threatens or appears to threaten a person’s life” and “an act which results in or appears to result (or be likely to result) in serious injury to a person’s anus, breasts or genitals”. Which may seem simple, but the use of “appears” in there is a very dangerous thing.
This legislation does not stop at pornography that obviously puts someone at risk. If it did, there would be much less wrong with it. Instead, it also goes after pornography that features two consenting adults acting out a violent sexual scenario. Most people will probably find that idea offensive in itself, but exactly who is harmed if a person does choose to watch such a thing acted out between consenting adults? This just creates yet another victimless crime in a system that is already overloaded.
It continues to get worse from this point. A BBFC classification provides no exemption from this law. While something like A Clockwork Orange or even Hostel should be fine as an entire product, keeping screencaps or sections of video from them on your computer would constitute possession. This may sound like I’m yelling about a worst case scenario here, and possibly I am, but all of this is covered under the legislation. Something that is all the more worrying when the penalty if convicted is a prison sentence of up to two years.
This is a law that will threaten thousands of people, from the most obvious cases in the BDSM community right up the guy keeping some clips of Hollywood films because he finds them kind of hot. Action against either group is entirely unacceptable and outside the realm of what a liberal society should represent.
I’ve argued against the smoking ban on a number occasions. It’s with us now, and while I’m still opposed to it, I can at least understand the basic health argument behind it. Lighting up in public against the ban will at worst get you a £50 fine, despite the health risks involved. Watching pornography in your own home will at worst get you two years in prison. Is any part of this system fair?
MP3 Brakes – Hold Me In The River (expired)
I woke up late and found my liberty lost, it had been written down in law as a security cost.
Andrej and Tim
15 years ago
in MP3s
I often say that I’m going to write more about the “local” scene here in Kent, but I never seem to get around to it. This is because I find most of the bands here wholly uninspiring. Every now and again though I come across one that is doing something different that gets me excited. With that in mind, I now present to you a band from the Sevenoaks/Tunbridge Wells area called Andrej and Tim. You may think that their name is a little dull, but I’ll allow the guys in the band to field that one:
Our band is called Andrej and Tim, because we consist of a drummer named Andrej and a pianist named Tim. It’s hard to find a band name that doesn’t expose yourself to ridicule. “The Boobies”, “Four Functions” and “Intellectual Plethora” all failed to make the grade. Inspired by a time we had dined out together Andrej suggested the name “The Cooks”, which we briefly entertained, only to realise some second rate indie group was masquerading under something very similar.
Now that’s settled, let me tell you about their music. This is simple, upbeat piano pop. I’m a big fan of the piano and don’t think it gets used enough in indie circles. It’s kind of unfortunate that those who do use it tend to be eternal blandsters like Keane and Coldplay. Anyway, Andrej and Tim bring back the piano in the way that it was used for groups like Ben Folds Five, while making the whole exercise even simpler. While that band had three members which included a bass, Andrej and Tim strip things down to just a piano and drums. Which may not sound all that thrilling but it’s amazing what they are able to do with it.
Both of the songs below are demos, but they show a new band with a lot of talent. These are catchy, literate songs that like to play around with time signatures, meaning you never really know where the songs are going to head next. ‘Iraq’ is the kind of politically aware yet entertaining song that seems to be sadly missing in music discourse these days while ‘Jontan’ is the kind of wonderous upbeat pop number that has a shade of Ben Folds Five at their peak. I know that’s twice I’ve come back to BFF, but it really is a testament to how good these guys are that it’s the obvious comparison.
MP3 Andrej and Tim – Jontan (expired)
MP3 Andrej and Tim – Iraq (expired)
Andrej and Tim: Myspace
–
So I had a good clean up of my Myspace friends list the other day. I removed all of the people who had seemingly been hijacked by spambots and all of the shitty bands that had made their way onto there. This means I’m back down to a ‘mere’ 250 friends now. Which may make me sound hugely popular, although at least 90% of those are bands. Still, without the spam and crappy bands messaging me about their crappy gigs, I don’t have a great deal to read on there now. If you’re in a band or just like my little blog in general, feel free to add me. I am fully aware that this may be the saddest paragraph that I have ever posted on this blog.
In more exciting news, the wonderful Indelicates will be playing The Command House in Chatham on Friday 26 January. Not only is this is great because it means a fantastic band is coming to this crudpit, it’s also the day before my birthday. Hurrah!
The Official God FAQ also just might be the most helpful webpage on the internet.
I’ve used “Hurrah!” twice in the past week. Should I be worried?
Top 49 Songs of 2006: #49-40
05 years ago
in Best of 2006, MP3s
Here we are at my first end of year listings as a blogger. It’s all very exciting and all, and I’d like to think I’m doing things a little differently. There will be absolutely no album list anywhere on this blog. This is because I don’t tend to listen to albums anymore. Yes, I know this makes me some kind of charlatan, but I may as well be honest about it. I’m all about the quick burst of the song these days. As such, over the next five days, we’ll be running down my favourite 49 songs of 2006. Now, I know this list isn’t perfect. There’s probably a bunch of songs from 2005 in here too, but if I only discovered them for whatever reason in 2006, they made the list anyway. Seeing as this is a lot of songs to write about, I’m only going to cover some of them. On others I will just use the original comments I posted earlier on in the year. Not that it really matters, as it’s the mp3s that people want, not my rambling comments. Anyway, I now present Another Form of Relief’s first annual Top 49 Songs of the year:
#49
The Victorian English Gentleman’s Club
‘My Son Spells Backwards’
Download MP3 (expired)
“Cumbersome name aside, this three-piece from Cardiff are putting out hyperactive music that falls somewhere in between new wave, punk and electro pop. Their music jumps all over the place, and yet it’s still all alarmingly melodic and catchy, the kind of thing that wouldn’t be out of place on a number of Pixies albums. ‘My Son Spells Backwards’ is so catchy and cheerful you probably won’t catch on at first that it’s all about a special needs kid. Clocking in at under two minutes, it’s an incredibly efficient little ditty, not wasting even a second of the song. It jangles, it rocks, and it features that favourite of mine, duelling vocals. This was included as a b-side on their last single, given an indication of how solid their material already is if this can be spared as a secondary song.” – originally posted April 10.
#48
Odeon Beatclub
‘Take It Off’
Download MP3 (expired)
Odeon Beatclub are another band to come off of the production line for great music that is Glasgow. Having spent time supporting the likes of Snow Patrol and Babyshambles, they are building quite a cult following in their native land, and if there’s any justice in this world, that will spread south of the border too. There’s nothing all that new to be heard here, but for solid, catchy songs, you don’t need to look any further than ‘Take It Off’, their single from earlier this year.
#47
The Foundry Field Recordings
‘Buried Beneath The Winter Frames’
Download MP3 (expired)
Isn’t it perfect that in the same year as Grandaddy decide to call it a day, their natural successor seems to appear out of nowhere? Of course, that is a little unfair on The Foundry Field Recordings, but there is certainly a hell of a lot of Grandaddy in their sound. Their album was full of the kind of randomness that made that band a joy, and while ‘Buried Beneath The Winter Frames’ may tone down the eccentricities, it’s probably their most catchy and accessible song.
#46
Pants Yell!
‘Your Feelings Don’t Show’
Download MP3 (expired)
I used the term “dorky charm” when I first wrote about Pants Yell!, and that term seems to sum the band up far more concisely than anything I’d be able to write in this paragraph. A delightfully simple tale about running into an ex-girlfriend and then wondering in the back of your mind whether the meeting was an accident or not, but being far too spineless to actually ask if that was the case. Pants Yell! have an entirely catalogue of songs like this, and singling one out for this list was pretty hard, but ‘Your Feelings Don’t Show’ just about manages to edge the others out.
#45
Beeches
‘Sin Nombre’
Download MP3 (expired)
I discovered Beeches earlier on in the year when they sent me some of their music, but it only really clicked with me how great they are once I saw them live a little while later. These guys know how to put on a hell of a show, giving their songs even more life than they already have on the recorded versions. I even had the honour of having them play at Another Form of Relief’s first promoted gig in December, where they put on a fantastic set, even if not many people were there to watch. Like a lot of great songs, ‘Sin Nombre’ didn’t really grab me immediately, and it was only after several listens to their CD that it won me over. I still couldn’t really tell you what it’s about, but it certainly sounds good.
#44
Battle
‘Tendency’
Download MP3 (expired)
“We may as well get the lame comparisons out of the way now, so yes, Battle do sound rather like Bloc Party, particularly on ‘Tendency’. Please don’t let that put you off though, as it sounds like one of those rare good Bloc Party songs. The guitars jerk all over the place, the bass drives and the drumming keeps it all in line. All this while Jason Bavanandan belts out words in such a manner that it sounds like it could actually be physically painful for him to do so. This adds to the urgency of the song though. As for the song itself, it’s a suitably downbeat tale about how crappy life can be at times. “I know I dance like a drunken arse / Every weekend, it’s my only vice / Let me drink myself to death / To forget about the rent” asks Bavanandan, sounding as if it’s what he really wants to do. Ultimately though it’s a love story about loving a girl, but knowing that it’s probably not going to work out as it only really goes one way. I like the whole realist point of view this gives the song, rather than the usual optimism or complete pessimism that usually appears in songs of this nature.” – originally posted June 27.
#43
Nathan Asher & The Infantry
‘Turn Up The Faders’
Download MP3 (expired)
“‘Turn Up The Faders’ is hands down one of the best songs that I have heard this year. It also confirmed exactly what the comparisons had promised: somehow this young, unsigned band had a sound that evokes both Bright Eyes and Springsteen. Asher’s vocals are very similiar to Oberst’s, partly shaking yet also full of power. He drives through the song with such urgency that you’d think that lives depended on it. This is supported ably by some excellent instrumentation, including a fantastic piano breakdown toward the end of the song that could have come straight off of ‘Born To Run’.” – originally posted May 19.
#42
The Amateurs
‘Things You Only Know If You Don’t Drive’
Download MP3 (expired)
Delightful twee pop from Edinburgh that would be far too easy to compare to Belle & Sebastian. With male-female vocals and a truckload of cute little references, it’s just a joy to see British bands actually trying this kind of thing. The song itself is exactly what it says in the title: all about how buses come in groups and what shoes to wear in the rain. It runs out of steam a little bit before the end, but it’s still so wonderfully catchy that it’s impossible to ignore.
#41
The Young Knives
‘She’s Attracted To’
Download MP3 (expired)
The Young Knives seem to get a lot of flack, but I think they are one of the best of the current crop of “popular” British bands. Of course, me being the unaware person that I am was entirely oblivious to them until I was dragged to see them at a festival in August. They won me over very quickly though, putting on a great high energy performance, which included this song. It’s probably not their most developed song, but it’s the one that I enjoy the most. A simple tale about liking a girl but hating her parents, it’s just a hell of a lot of fun.
#40
Math & Physics Club
‘Darling, Please Come Home’
Download MP3 (expired)
“‘Darling, Please Come Home’ builds on the promise of last year’s two EPs, bringing us a simple tale of a lost love. Nothing here will sound all that different if you’re already familiar with twee pop, but the point here is that MAPC are as good as, if not better, than any other band working in the genre at the moment. It’s percussion is steady, the guitar work gentle and Charles’ vocal manages to somehow be incredibly restrained and while still emotive. If this is an indication of the rest of the album, we could be looking at one of the best of the year.” – originally posted October 5.
Feel free to join me again in the coming days as we’ll be counting down ten songs each day with the final nine being revealed on December 30.
On liberty.. again.
6
The usual disclaimer: This is a political post, not a musical one. Politically apathetic people (aka the ignorant) need read no further.
Tony Blair in yesterday’s Telegraph:
The case for ID cards is a case not about liberty but about the modern world. .. I know this will outrage some people but, in a world in which we daily provide information to a whole host of companies and organisations and willingly carry a variety of cards to identify us, I don’t think the civil liberties argument carries much weight.
I’ve written about the threat the UK faces from ID cards in the past, but Blair’s commentary in yesterday’s Telegraph has made me far more afraid than I was previously. For Blair to argue that civil liberties are essentially a thing of the past that have no importance in the modern world just demonstrates how far removed from reality this man has become. There are a hundred other reasons why ID cards are a bad idea, but civil liberties are the most pressing. For a political leader to simply dismiss the concerns of anyone who believes they are a threat is at the very least patronising and at worst downright offensive.
“We” may also provide daily information to companies, but all of that is voluntary. I have never held a store loyalty card in my life, nor would I, because I’m concerned about the amount of data that can be collected on them. I’m not bothered about them though because of the key word: voluntary. I’m not forced to have a Tesco card to shop at Tesco. My wallet consists of two bank cards, a driving licence, a cinema pass and a card with my signature that allows me to access my postbox. None of these cards contain a fingerprint or iris scan. None of these cards are linked to giant cross-departmental databases where hundreds of different groups can access my information. The line of thinking that because someone gives their details to Tesco that the National Identity Register must be okay is almost too ridiculous for words.
Still, what more should we expect from this government?
This is the government that has outlawed protest anywhere within half a mile of Parliament.
This is the government that has banned protests anywhere near it’s party conference.
This is the government that will ban smoking in all public places from next year, including bus stops and railway station platforms.
This is the government that wants to ban “violent internet pornography” (for which it offers no definition), even though there is no logical case for it.
This is the government that has banned fox hunting, even though it had to use a loophole in Parliamentary law to do so.
This is the government that attempted to outlaw the “inciting of religious hatred”, again with offer any definition of what this would entail.
This is the government that has abolished free speech by introducing law that prohibits the “glorification” of terrorism, while once again offering no definition of what this means.
This is the government that wanted to detain people for up to 90 days without charge, and then accepted 28 days as a “comprimise” when it was rejected in Parliament.
This is the government that has introduced “control orders”, a way of sidestepping human rights legislation to allow the restrictions of people who have been charged with no crime.
They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security. – Benjamin Franklin
It’s a pretty pathetic situation when I have to look to the Conservatives to defend my civil liberties.
Yes, I’ll climb down off of my high horse for now. I’m going to keep coming back to this for as long as the threat of this ID cards legislation hangs over our heads though. It’s too important not to. But I’ll get to the music for a while again now. Here’s an (apt) mp3:
Pride in my country? No thanks
7
I’ve made no secret of my disliking of the World Cup and the hysteria that surrounds it. I don’t get any of it if I’m honest. I’ve mentioned my issue with the stupid flags that people have on their cars previously, as well as hundreds of other dumb things you see during tournaments like this. I’ve tried ignoring it, which doesn’t work too well. I’ve even tried to understand it, but no matter how much I try, it’s still 23 men chasing a ball around some grass for a couple of hours. It does absolutely nothing to me, and I fail to see why I should care.
I don’t have anything against football in itself. I find it pretty pointless, but I feel that about all sport. I guess my point is that I’m not singling out football because of the game itself. I don’t understand, but I’m okay with that. People want to play, that’s fine. People want to watch, that’s also fine. I do however take issue with how intellectually bankrupt a large portion of the fans are.
I could very easily sit here and rant about the rioters in Germany, but that’s just far too easy. I haven’t paid all that much attention, but I haven’t seen news reports about any other groups of fans rioting in the streets. It seems to be a wholly English thing to take football far too seriously. I quickly discovered this first hand when I found myself in a pub at the start of the England match against Ecudor yesterday afternoon.
Now I have a “problem” where I feel intellectually superior to nearly everyone around me. I use problem in that context because apparently it is one, even if I don’t see it as such. It’s not a particularly arrogant attitude, I just look at most people around me and know that I’m smarter. I also realise that somewhat contradicts the arrogance part. I can’t help it though. People are largely dumb. You can’t have an intelligent conversation with most people because they either don’t understand or don’t care. Try talking politics, culture or literature to people and they will stare at you blankly. Bring up the World Cup or Big Brother and they can engage with you for hours. Assuming you don’t mind turning your brain off of course.
Anyway, back to the pub, and the mentality of the people there actually scared me. Some people were bellowing “Come on England” at the television, as if magically these words would be transported to Germany and would help the team. Others seemed to bury their head in their hands at something even close to a goal, which I thought was the point, but they seemingly couldn’t bear to watch. Worse still were those trying to start chants in a pub. I mean, seriously, what is the reasoning there? Oh, and let’s not forget the way any objectivity goes flying straight out of the window. If an Ecudorian player committed a foul, outrage ensues, but if an England player does the same thing and gets caught, the referee is “having a fuckin’ laugh”. The whole exercise was so wilfully ignorant that I didn’t know whether I should be terrified or laughing.
I only made it until half time when I had to flee the place in search of some kind of intellectual stimulation as I could feel my brain cells wasting away while sitting in there. During the conversations I’ve had with people, I shouldn’t feel this way largely because I should “take pride in my country”. If this is what pride in my country represents, I’d rather not. Unless of course my country wants to return the favour by taking pride in something important. I think I might be waiting a long time for that one though.
MP3 Arctic Monkeys – Riot Van (expired)
Play Radio Play
55 years ago
in MP3s
My descent into the scary world of electro-pop continues. A couple of years I never would have gone near anything like this, but some Postal Service and Her Space Holiday later, and I can’t get enough of it. Play Radio Play is the one man project of Daniel Hunter, a kid from Fort Worth, Texas with a great ear for what makes a good song.
Anyone familiar with The Postal Service will know what to expect here, all time-shifting backing tracks that are largely basic with heartfelt sounding lyrics over the top. The only real problem is just how heartfelt these lyrics are. Reading about Daniel Hunter, he seems to be a straitedge Christian, so hearing him sing about things he probably hasn’t experienced seems a little strange. It isn’t a big deal as the songs are really good, but it can be jarring if you need complete honesty in your music.
Best of all, he makes all of his music available for free. As he puts it on his Myspace, “I do it for fun, not for money, not for girls, simply because I like putting stupid beats together with corny lyrics and dancing like a fool in front of groups of people”. Which sounds like a pretty damn good reason for making music to me.
MP3 Play Radio Play – Jello (expired)
MP3 Play Radio Play – Juice Box, Paper Hat, and a Line of Pixie Stix (expired)
MP3 Play Radio Play – Even Fairy Tale Characters Would Be Jealous (expired)
MP3 Play Radio Play – I’m Guessing There’s A Pill For That (expired)
