5 Songs In A Row

#3

The British are coming! The British are coming!

“This Is Hardcore” – Pulp

I decided instead of just being stagnant listening to this issue’s 5 songs that I would be active in doing something. For instance, cooking breakfast, and I have to say that the title track from Pulp’s dark and seedy album This Is Hardcore is the perfect song to make sausage and eggs to. Well, almost perfect. I almost burned the sausage, and I definitely burned the egg. Still, they were both edible.

I think it’s the intro to the song that does it for me. The steady 4/4 drum beat, the horns, the piano, and then eventually the strings. I honestly felt like I was in a movie, which is kind of what the song is about, but not really. That is unless you consider porn to be actual cinema. I don’t know. I did however picture an entire scene in my head of me cooking breakfast and in walks the lady I slept with the night before with nothing on but the clichéd half-buttoned shirt and giving me a look like, “Stop cooking and just come back to bed.” I could go further with this scene, but I don’t write porn. Is there even screenwriting for porno?

This Is Hardcore is a must listen and must have. It’s one of those Brit-pop albums that will remain timeless. Yes, it’s kind of depressing, but you have to understand that this album was released later on in Pulp’s career which means that they were already dealing with the cocaine addiction and relationship break-ups that coincide with being in a popular band. And, of course, like most of the popular Brit-pop bands of the early to mid-nineties, Pulp is on hiatus. There is some light at the end of the tunnel though. Blur have reunited. This is already old news though, but I wanted to mention at least one working Brit-pop band that’s still great. And not, you know, *cough cough* Oasis.

“I’m Sticking With You” – The Decemberists

I love The Decemberists. Yes, even post-Crane Wife Decemberists. Just because an indie band is signed to a major label doesn’t mean I’m going to stick my nose in the air at them. Honestly, there are no lines between indie and mainstream anymore. The internet has pretty much wiped those lines from the sand. The Decemberists are a good example of semi-well known indie label band reaching very-well known major label greatness without losing their indie sensibility. I will admit that I didn’t enjoy The Crane Wife as much as their previous works, and I also didn't enjoy the singles collection that was recently released titled Always A Bridesmaid, which is where “I’m Sticking With You” comes from.

Bands go through changes in their music, I get this. They want to expand their horizons to hopefully gain new listeners and to not do the same thing that they have been doing for the past few albums over again. At first glance The Decemberists appear to have done it without losing too much of the original formula that made me want to listen to them in the first place. It was mostly the stories within the lyrics that Colin Meloy would put to the music that garnered such an attraction to them. Castaways & Cutouts was great, as was Her Majesty, and Picaresque. I could picture each story that was being told in my head. Meloy was vivid with his words without being extravagant and overbearing. Along came The Crane Wife and Always A Bridesmaid though and I was shocked to find that those songs weren’t as lyrically fulfilling as their predecessors. Was this because of them being signed to the major label Capitol? I don’t want to assume that at all, but it’s hard not to. It’s been happening a lot lately.

Their new album The Hazards of Love will be released in a few weeks. I’ve heard the few tracks that have been on the internet for a while now and I’m looking forward to hearing the rest, but I remain skeptical. I may have lost a little faith, but I will never write off The Decemberists no matter what happens down the road.

“Irish Blood, English Heart” – Morrissey

My knowledge on this music icon is limited, so forgive me. This brings me to the suggestion a friend made to me a few days ago about having guest writers. It doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Just because an artist like Morrissey is on my ipod doesn’t mean I know a lot about him, but I should. He’s only been one of the most influential singer/songwriters for, what, almost 30 years now? Still, I have only recently gotten into his catalog (sounds dirty) which includes The Smiths and all his solo albums. Being a music lover you have to listen to Morrissey at least once in your life, right?

Because I am still not very familiar with what this guy is about I’m going to let some Morrissey experts explain why you should listen to him. Take it away guys.

Edward-

“Morrissey's songs sum up the isolation and loneliness inherent in the human condition, and especially the male human condition. It's his standard theme, and one he's milked successfully for over two decades. His critics will say that there's nothing in his songs beyond just the gloom and doom, but what they are missing, the most important thing they are missing, is the hope that is also offered within. He may be singing about despair and sadness and loneliness, about fear and loss, but he's also telling you, that for the most part, it will all be okay in the end.”

Mary-

"Ah... Morrissey. We heart him. Why? Could it be his dry sarcasm? His blatant distaste for humanity? His pessimism? His asexuality? His ambiguous nature? Perhaps it's all of these things. Contrary to the beliefs of some people who have criticized me for loving "such depressing music," much of his music is actually upbeat. In fact, if you don't listen to the lyrics you might even go as far as to categorize it as happy music. Especially his stuff with The Smiths. It has that twangy '60s style coupled with complex melodies interlaced through an independent twist of the '80s pop sound that manages to stand out amongst bands who were popular at the time The Smiths were."

So the consensus is that Morrissey isn't all doom and gloom. There is some happiness to his music. It's all in how you perceive it. I was in my car not too long ago with my younger brother and his girlfriend and a Morrissey song came on my ipod. She complained about listening to it and proceeded to put her headphones on to listen to something else. I asked her, "What could you possibly be listening to that's better than Morrissey?" She replied, "Motion City Soundtrack." Sigh. Kids these days.

"All I Need" - Radiohead

The Brits are taking over this post. They are also taking over my ipod. Browsing through the artist list on it I notice that a lot of them are British. I'm not complaining though, so don't think I am. Just stating a fact. It's hard to say no to them all. Hell, my first favorite band when I was 6 was Tears For Fears. Fast forward ten years and I discover another band from the UK that's all the rave at the time. A friend handed me a copy of The Bends on cassette, and, well, the rest is of course history.

I still remember the day In Rainbows was released on the internet. I was skeptical considering that Hail To The Thief wasn't exactly on par with the usual tag of greatness that goes along with Radiohead. The band had tried something new, something that a lot of other bands have adopted themselves as well- cutting out the middle man and self-releasing their latest album on the internet before putting it in stores. What was more interesting was that Radiohead introduced the "pay what you want" scheme. You could get the album for free, or you could pay any amount you deemed necessary. Most people didn't approve of this, namely the record companies considering that if the scheme caught on (which it did) they would not be making the money anymore, the band would, which is how it should be anyway.

Business models aside, In Rainbows is a fantastic album. Worthy of the great reviews it received. The music of Radiohead has brought me a wealth of other music to branch off and listen to as well as new friendships with other people just talking about Radiohead. People have asked me which albums I would choose to be on my top 10 all-time favorite albums. This is harder than it sounds, but the one album and band that always crosses my mind first is, of course, without a doubt Radiohead's OK Computer. Like so many bands before them I feel Radiohead has defined a generation of music.

"Northern Whale" - The Good, The Bad, & The Queen

We're at the end of this post and the red coat's bayonets are almost at my throat. Jarvis Cocker, Morrissey, Thom Yorke, and now Damon Albarn all have made their point. The stars and stripes of my ipod have been replaced by the Union Jack and Colin Meloy is trembling madly in a foxhole somewhere waiting for the canons to stop firing. I wave a small white handkerchief and declare surrender. I'm hoping her majesty will have some pity on this poor wretched soul of mine.

The Good, The Bad, & The Queen was originally intended to be Albarn's solo album but instead turned into a concept album played by a supergroup Albarn put together composed of former members of The Clash, The Verve, and that one guy Damon worked with to make that Afrobeat album. The album is pretty good and is described as "a song cycle that's also a mystery play about London." I would expect nothing less from the frontman of Blur and half the brain behind Gorillaz. When I'm listening to TG,TB,& TQ I can honestly say that I feel like I'm walking down a London street at night. Hazy. Dark. Gloomy. Jack the Ripper right around the corner with his latest victim. I gotta hand it to Albarn and his cohorts, they certainly know how to set a mood.

As stated earlier in this post Blur has reunited to play some shows. Will there be a new album? One can only hope. Gorillaz is also slated to release something new this year too. I'm anxious to see what kind of new art Jamie Hewlett has done to go along with the effort. That's another thing that excites me about music. The visual art that goes along with it. The artist gives us the opportunity to not only hear the music, but see it as well. I don't know about any of you, but I always feel kind of bummed when a band or solo-artist releases an album with sub-par cover artwork. It just makes the music a little less appealing. Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment after you read and let me know.

The Brits may have me, but I'm plotting my escape as we speak.