Journal sielwolf's Journal: When I was a Young Boy 7
I would go down to this corner deli in my home town. Now this was an Italian deli but not in the traditional sense: it was actually run by a first-generation Italian which is a big difference. Consider massive immigration almost like a product fork: a new isolated sub population autonomous from the main root. With the primary influx of Italian Americans coming in the late 19th/early 20th, there's a definite difference from later Italian nationals. So he had this deli, and to decorate it he had a collection of racing fine art prints. Beautiful pieces of work and nothing like you would usually see. All the slick curves in 80's F1 and motorcycle design. To assist the atmosphere, there were three televisions, all tucked away and silent, with a constant stream of satellite racing. In the place of engine noise was a constant cycle of roots dub reggae. Slow blunted out jams of delay and crooning. Me eating a Sicilian Gyro (which they no longer serve).
I think it had an effect.
An early memory of music, one of the first. A definite impression. Of course being from NE OH the default musical flavor was obviously Rock. Shit, the subcultures all seemed to be various basic subcategories from that base R&B strain: you had the metal/hardcore/industrial high school radio station, the current mainstream, 70's and 60's classic. Of these too I have a list of the first few memorable songs. That whole "New Wave" of rock that isn't what we really consider New Wave now. Not Human League or Frankie Goes to Hollywood. But the Pretenders, Tom Petty.
And the Cars. I dug the Cars. They were like that other New Wave but more substantial. They were definitive rock from the early 80's. Surely they had none of Punk's ideology but they were obviously post-Glam. That chorus in "Good Times Roll" just hits and like a Queen single. But there's none of the anthemic qualities. It was more quintisentially Rock in the 50's/early 60's sense. A slight doo-wop "hey hey hey" quality. Old rock was all slightly unpolished, like it was done all in some dive or juke at the corner where the boys met, drank and checked out skirts. It just so happened that Big Money came up and dropped these kids on stage. Shit, watch music shows from the 60's, what were the kids doing? Dancing. The music was off in the back, the heartbeat of a group experience. As the 70's came your fucking Rock Band was now dead center; the audience's fixed gaze on them.
And these New Wave cats, though not punk or hardcore, still seemed too to break and 180 on that aesthetic. It was that roots fundamental shit that made rock and roll slay in the first place. And the Cars take on it, driven by Ocasek's writing, was strangely mesmerizing. The songs were vaguely sexual, alienated, trapped, social and brazen. The blitzed headtossing of "Let's Go". Or just think how ambiguous "You're All I've Got Tonight" is. Shit, its almost cold what he's saying. Yet he never let's on either this way or that. The whole time he's fucking with you. Or the social clarity of "Drive". The unspoken pathology that will lead to some inevitable destruction.
But there was a joy there too. Like Orr's superfluous "yeah"'s on the second and third chorus in "Just What I Needed". It's like the song is revving up and out and it's like totally breaking his cool and he's starting to sweat it but this chick totally digs that about him and says so. So he gives a stupid grin and his eyes dash around as he frantically tries to keep his cool.
Yeah... it's like that. So that Cars Complete Greatest Hits is the shit. Don't get that earlier one. Missing some vital cuts like "Moving in Stereo".
The best part is if you're in Ballmer you can go up to the Sound Garden and they're selling the disc for 9.99. Shit, for their uneven selection, one must respect a store who puts classic fucking albums up every week for 9.99. Of course sneaking in Nas Illmatic which is 9.99 besides smells of trickery. But it's all in the business of getting people to buy some basic fucking shit. Like James Brown In a Jungle Groove.
And such deals help that bitter pill of the very expensive cd go down much better. Yes, I threw back 26+ on a single disc that I bought on a lark. Radioactive Man's selftitled. At work I stream radio and switch stations every few weeks. One, System Sistum, plays a lot of basic IDM which is good in conversing and coding without it being a bother to the 3+ people working in there. Can't stand working in headphones so those are the breaks. Like Tigersushi it benefits from finding those little nuggets that you would never hear. Like a little album from a vanity label in the UK. Radioactive Man is not just a Simpsons' character but a persona of Keith Tenniswood. Along with Andy Wetherall he smokes out and rolls beats.
His solo work here grabbed me originally for the sound of the thick bass track on "Radio Eins". It just burbles right the fuck at you. I'm always a sucker for a good bassline. I've always thought that music should shoot right for your ankles and get you on your knees begging for mercy (or on your back if that's your preferred method of reception). Now this wasn't the darkest lowend I've heard, but it mixes it off a pretty uptempo 100 or so BPM. I liked the track's directness. It didn't break out with heavy pressing on a Moog. If it wasn't for this aversion to big selling hooks, I'd say this was very vintage 1990 sounding.
But how does the rest of the album fair? Hmmm. Well its a nice standard mix (which I guess counts as a strike against it). The nice part is the tools which Keithboy brings to bear. "Do the Radioactive" is a very gritty electro track that sounds like it came straight out of the Amiga Demoscene (you know, those psychos who use the primitive components of their Amiga machines to create cuts straight out of Contra and Phantasy Star). I'm almost positive he took the UFO sound effect from Asteroids and looped it in the background.
And then there's "Uranium". After an introductory Marie Curie sample, you get a straight template snare/hi-hat break. "Nothing to write home about" as it slowly winds in basic ambient tones... until 1:50 hits and then you think your fucking speakers are about to blow out.
You know that sound shitty car speakers make when you play bass waaaay to loud and the damn paper is about to origami it's ass out the window? Well imagine that and then a steel grate sitting on it. It sounds like the fucking rebar in the wall is about to snap.
Well shit. Gotta appreciate the boy's inventiveness. Sure, the other moments show a steady hand. Like "The Mezz" or "Goodnight Morton". The problem is when you start to think "wow, that sounds exactly like Noise Unit or any other industrial electronic outfit" (like I did with "The Mezz"). Or then there's the very obvious Quake 2 intro samples in "Tresspasser". Maybe I was ashamed I recognized them immediately (including "the bridge is down" followed by the noise of the grenade launcher firing). Or maybe because it seemed like such a rookie move straight outta '94. Instead of being a very adroit and accomplished midtempo release, it has one wishing "if you were so inventive on those songs, why not this one?" And it isn't bad per se, its just that standard electronic music problem: too be mediocre is to be ignorable and infinitely forgettable. There's little worse than that. This disc definitely has its moments. But one or two too many valleys.
Those can be disasterous on albums with expectations. I was worried about Madvillain Madvillainy since I was scoping for it so much. Really, taking the flippant MC/beatsmith MF Doom and combine him with mad jazz DJ/MC Madlib and you have a surefire top 5 right? The problem was last year's Jay Dee/Madlib collabo that was the classic "well it sounded good on paper". The benefit was that with Madlib (who's MC abilities are adequate at best) handling the Madvillain beats and MF Doom (who's beats can scatter too quickly into the abstract) primary on the mic, they would should be a gestalt right?
Well the disc does demonstrate the strengths of both. The crazed Ghostface Killah rhyme schemes of MF Doom and the Blue Notes scavaged breaks of Madlib. Really, how many hip-hop producers out there are baking beats where the the only real sound is the slow pull of an accordion? Not only that but how many MCs are crafty enough with the notepad to take that as a jumpoff and craft a song like "Accordion"? Sinister crooning leading to a therimin saucer hustle in "Meat Grinder" as Doom gives a breathy hushed presence. The album balances well between the artistic uniqueness of the underground while giving infinitely quotable lines like "It's a damn shame/just remember, ALL CAPS when you spell the man's name" It's hip-hop bravado without the guntalk the mainstream has taken on. Shit, how many MCs would ramble off a track called "Rhinestone Cowboy"? Or make an utterly goofy drug ode ala "America's Most Blunted"? Great, right?
Well...
*sigh* my current favorite track off of this album is "Strange Ways". It's got this thick reverse-engineered 70's folk rock sample and vicious downstrokes on strings. So why the fuck did they make it only 1:50 long?!? God! This album shares the same ADHD both MF Doom and Madlib's projects are known for. Tracks rarely break the 2 minute mark. Shit, I think the above list might be the limit. Maybe that's a bit harsh but of 22 tracks, I doubt half are over 2 minutes long. With that you get this "shit, this track is AWE- shit. It's over" sensation.
At some points you get the sinking suspicion it's a sampler or a demo. Left half unfinished. Of course we know that isn't true because the demo was leaked months ago and this was the ONE thing not improved. Really, unless you are working with the Minutemen's efficiency of working a standard 4 minute song into 1:20, give me at least 2:40. Fuck, that's what last year's Vaudeville Villain accomplished and I just took that out of my car. Now I have an album that's only seekable in parts and only appreciable in large chunks. And it annoys me to know fucking end. Because I know Madlib and Doom can make music. It's just the art of writing a SONG seems to escape them. Combine that with Get-in-the-way skits (like the two that appear within the first four tracks) and you get a disc you wish you could rebuild tighter. Of course you'd then have about 22 minutes and little more than an EP.
Finally it seems to lack the all-inclusive effort of Vaudeville Villain. Each song is disjoint, regardless of how hard they try to push the supervillain angle. Villain is great track, great track, great track. Madvillainy is Superb track, interlude, skit, good but too short track, interlude, skit...
I dunno, maybe I'm being too harsh. It is quite possible that this album will grow on me and I'll soon appreciate it as much as the Viktor Vaughn release. But, shit, give me a tight 9~14 track album with no fucking filler. That's what a boy likes best.
The Cars The Complete Greatest Hits *****
Radioactive Man s/t ***1/2
Madvillain Madvillainy ***1/2
Re: (Score:2)
sigh (Score:2)
As time goes on, I realize more and more that there is far far more music out there than I will ever be able to listen to. I need a goddamned time machine.
The Cars... (Score:2)
Y'know, I never really thought about how much they were a fusion of different trends. They were a lot more unique than I gave them credit for.
Who says 80s pop was a dead zone? ;-)
Especially as opposed to '00 pop... :-P
Cheers,
Ethelred
Re:The Cars... (Score:2)
Especially as opposed to '00 pop...
It was all the 90's alterno backlash. The fact that the 80's was pretty nonserious up and down the board really erks people who only want to wear a concentrated look all the time. 80's hip-hop was inclusive, wacky (Beastie Boys, De La, Run DMC) yet party first and political. Hardcore and underground rock and some non-serious elements (some of Black Flag's wackier work, the Minutemen, the Replacements).
In response to the 70's
Re:The Cars... (Score:1)
Yup, rap used to be fun. And while everybody was bitching about 'Cop Killer', they missed out on some incredible stuff from Public Enemy.
They had a great line on South Park last night: "I'm so non-conformist, I'm not going to conform to you non-conformists."
Today while d
Re:The Cars... (Score:2)
Re:The Cars... (Score:2)