Hi everybody. The first week of school has been very hectic for me. I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off, one that is going to meetings and interviews anyway. Even decapitated chickens need jobs. So this week’s post will be rather succinct.
Everyone has heard of the Gorillaz song “Feel Good Inc.” right? Just in case you haven’t, here it is.
The song is an amazing rock, hip-hop fusion which become incredibly famous and rightfully so. The song flows so naturally from rapping to acoustic guitars that it actually allows rap haters to appreciate the art (yes me). Also, being the first band to really try something like this successfully has helped them become famous.
Now, I want you to compare the original version of the song to this cover, performed by a girl named Josie Charlwood.
The first thing you have to realize is that this entire song is done real-time with a couple of loop pedals and other hardware. Not only is this girl musically talented, but she is also technologically savvy. I am almost convinced by now that the cover is better than the original. The sound of her guitar mixed with her voice creates a milky sweet sound which does the original justice. The rap line blows me away with ending slur and the “hahaha’s”. There’s something incredibly attractive about a girl who can do that.
Let’s travel back in time and explore some pre-British Invasion American rock n’ roll. For the past few installments of this category, I have featured a good amount of late 60s psychedelic/progressive acts and I do believe it is necessary to diversify. It is difficult for many who did not live during the 60s (or are familiar with the decade’s music) to believe that there was popular American music in the decade prior to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The “British Invasion” is known to have started in 1964 (even though you can put that date two years earlier when The Tornados had a huge hit in the US with “Telstar – let’s just keep it at 1964). There was a solid four years of rock n’ roll prior to this date.
The music was heavily influenced by 50’s rock n’ roll – poppy, bubbly, danceable, melodious. It’s fun, innocent, and clean-cut music. The musicians fit the bill as well. I think there is a charm to early 60’s music and I enjoy listening to vocalists sing about love, dating, and loss (there was a brief obsession with death pop – we will get into that another time). One such band that had success during this time was New Mexico’s The Fireballs, and their lead singer Jimmy Gilmer.
A lot of people just went, “OH! I remember this song.” Not surprising. This was a HUGE hit in 1963. Before we delve into Gilmer’s stylings, let’s look a bit at the band’s history. Like I said, they originated in New Mexico. George Tomsco (lead guitar), Chuck Tharp (vocals), Stan Lark (bass), Eric Budd (drums), and Dan Trammell (rhythm guitar), formed an instrumental band in the late 50s. They recorded and released a few semi-popular hits. After Budd, Trammell, and Tharp left the group in the early 1960s, the group added Doug Roberts on drums and vocalist Jimmy Gilmer, a Texas-raised singer.
That line-up recorded the group’s most well known songs. “Quite a Party,” which peaked at #29 in the UK charts in 1961, was the band’s first true hit. In 1963, the band released “Sugar Shack” which saw a meteoric rise in popularity going to #1 for five weeks in the U.S.A., with 15 weeks in Billboard hot 100. The Fireballs became the first New Mexico band to ever have a #1 vocal song with “Sugar Shack.”
“Sugar Shack” is your classic ditty. It comes and goes with precision. The light-hearted keyboard riff is infectious and Gilmer’s voice, featuring a little Buddy Holly twang (Holly recorded in the same studio as the Fireballs, by the way), works well in the song.
Before I leave you, here is another song by the Fireballs from 1960. Notice the laid-back harmony and George Tomsco’s underrated, skillful rock n’ roll guitar. I hope it makes you smile!
I do not have much time to get a post in today. It has been one of those packed, busy days, but soon enough I will be on the road home. The “on the road” portion of this fact caught my attention for a brief song of the day. There are several options for “on the road,” but, since I would like to add some existential flavoring to my day, I’m choosing “Road to Nowhere” by David Byrne and his Talking Heads from their 1985 album Little Creatures.
The video above (so 80s) features constant movement and entrapment, eventually ending on a long stretch of seemingly endless highway. The video was directed by Byrne and Stephen R. Johnson, who also directed episodes of “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.” Also, just if you are interested in useless trivia, some of the shots were filmed at Stephen Tobolowsky’s house – who was Ned Ryerson in “Groundhogs Day” and, if you are a 14-year-old girl, Sandy Ryerson in “Glee.”
Not much else to say about the song besides that it is one of my favorites by the Talking Heads. Hope you enjoy the listen!
There are two things that throughout my life have remained constant about the Super Bowl. If you are an alien, the Super Bowl is a debaucherous culmination to the National Football League (just Wikipedia that) season where hordes of individuals gather around televisions and view gargantuan, physically freakish men, attempt to get an oblong-shaped, prickled ball into the opposing team’s endzone (a small section at the end of a 100-yard field), all while gormandizing and drinking large quantities of a fermented beverage that often makes you say/do stupid things.
First, this massive event always comes quickly – even though the football season is several months long. Secondly, my beloved New York Jets are not a part of the event and instead are Super Bowl viewers like the rest of us.
This year’s Superbowl features the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Can you tell that I’m a little bitter? The New York Giants, the Jets’ cross-conference counterpart, play in the same stadium as the Jets and share a fan-base of downstate New Yorkers. The Jets, like the Mets in baseball, are the new kids on the block, and often have the reputation as the gritty, hard-nosed younger brother of the classic, old-school Yankees and Giants. The rivalry between the Jets and Giants is not as heated as it is with the Yankees. More Mets fans and Yankees fans dislike their cross-town rivals than Jets and Giants fans. Why is this case? I’ll leave that to those who would like to think on the matter. It doesn’t really matter to me. I do possess a strong dislike of the Yankees, though, but many of my good friends are Yankees fans and we get along just fine. I am often jealous of their success, though, and I find myself in the same situation with the Giants. They deserve the accolades for getting into the “Big Game” and I only hope the Jets find a way to win the Superbowl during my lifetime – and preferably before I am in diapers again.
That is my spiel about football. On to the music. Since we are in the Superbowl eve week, I thought I’d try for a creative Superbowl-inspired post. As you can probably deduce from the title, we are going to compare some sort of music from New Jersey (Giants) and New England (Patriots). While the Giants have New York in their title they play in New Jersey so we are going to use the state they play in for our selection. The New England region encompasses several states. The Patriots play in Foxborough, MA, a little south of Boston so we will pick from Boston because it is a major city with deep musical roots. New Jersey vs. Boston, MA. What are we comparing?
Well, we are going to compare the best rock musical artist/band to come out of the area and then put them back-to-back in a one-on-one match-up for superiority. Who is the better band? Who will win our Music Court Superartist?
The best musician to come out of both areas ever (despite genre classification) is Frank Sinatra (from Hoboken, NJ) – but that’s just my opinion. He wasn’t a rocker though.
I will post up a poll at the end of this article and the voting will end on Saturday with the results revealed prior to gametime!
New Jersey
Boston
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band vs. Aerosmith. Who is it going to be? The troubadour from the swamps of Jersey or the Demon of Screamin’? Before anyone cries foul, yes, Steven Tyler is originally from New York City and was brought up there, but, Aerosmith was formed after Tyler (originally Tallarico) moved into an apartment with friends Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton, and Ray Tabano (replaced by Brad Whitford in 1971). They are known as the ‘Bad Boys of Boston.’
I chose “Born to Run” and “Dream On” to represent the bands because they were voted as the top hits from each band on www.the-top-tens.com. The songs were both released in the early-mid 70s and the musicians are of a similar age. It’s a good battle. So, folks, who wins. Bruce and the Giants or Aerosmith and the Pats?
Also, let us know in the comments who you are rooting for to win the Superbowl?
Hi there everyone. My last semester at Binghamton University is coming up and I’m slowly preparing to be pushed out into the working world in an attempt to make a living. My time at this school has been very interesting to say the least. It was kind of like a personal social experiment. I would subject myself to various humiliating or mentally trying situations in order to see my own reaction. And of course I was only aware of it in hindsight, so as to obviously not upset the delicate nature of the experiments. I must say that some of the results were quite informative.
Actually, all that I really learned is to not mix large quantities of alcohol and magic. Weird things happen then. My results are also slightly inconclusive on that, because my notes become a bit fuzzy, so actually never mind.
To kick off this final semester I have but one amazing song. This time it is a song by Mono/Poly entitled “Forest Dark” off of his Manifestations – EP. Signed to Brainfeeder (Flying Lotus’ label), this LA based artist shook the foundation of the experimental trip-hop scene with this 2011 release.
The song begins in some rainforest with a deft synthesizer riff that sets a sort of neutral -1 mood. An outstanding setup for what is to follow: a dark explosion of hip-hop madness. Deep pulsating bass lines envelop your brain like slow vibrating tendrils while the main melody of a slowly stuttering synth distracts you.
This furious break skyrockets the mood to +8, pretty much right on the cusp of inciting riots. But Mono/Poly realizes this and in order to maintain the mellowness he initiates a sort of descent which creates an entirely unheard effect in the face of hip-hop. Basically the synths from the beginning make a miraculous return to calm everyone down, forgetting that all they really do is just set up another drop.
This time it’s even better, with a +9 to face-melting, the retriggering of the different instruments display the advanced level of beat making that this artist is on. Like some giant monster crawling out forest, this song is trying to eat you, but only to regurgitate you so that it can eat you again.
The last part is basically one giant softening and a return to neutrality. The monster threw you up a second time and has left you on the forest floor to ponder what just happened. It actually becomes very ambient and trippy towards the end proving that Mono/Poly has many different tricks up his sleeve. I recommend listening to the rest of this album and gazing at the pretty cover art:
Wish me luck as I try to find a job. I think I’m going to actually have to start going to company information meetings. I always thought those were some kind of jokes.
The Music Court 