They don't make 'em like they used to.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Mash It Up...
Nice little skim through some great songs from over the years. Hats off to the folk at 6Music.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/joyof6
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/joyof6
Sunday, 10 April 2011
The Comeback Kid...
Agent Provocateurs, there's a quite a few of them on God's green. People that incite debate, anger, frustration and a whole host of other emotions. Harry from The Only Way Is Essex, Jessie J, and Lucifer's own emissary of heated debate, Gary Neville. Individuals such as these are loved by some, reviled by others. Except for Jessie J, she's just a dick.
However, none of them lot hold a candle to Kanye West. The Chicago native incites all kinds of palavar, and every so often, downright encourages controversy. Sometimes it's humorous, "George Bush doesn't care about Black people", for example. In other cases, it leaves a sour taste in one's mouth. His hissy fit during the EMAs after he lost out to Justice in the Best Video category for instance. Ahhhhhhhh, you all thought I was going to harp on about poor Taylor Swift. Suckers.
"Yeezy's" taken a few hard hits of late, none moreso than his Mother's untimely death. Obama labelling him a "jackass", probably didn't help his Jupiter sized ego neither. Jay Leno more or less broke him when after his bumrushing of Taylor Swift, the chat show stalwart asked King Kanye how his mother would of reacted to the Hennessy fuelled sabotage?
Let's have it right, he's been a bit hit and miss since the stellar College Dropout, showing occasional flashes of brilliance with songs like 'Flashing Lights', 'We Major' and 'Crack Music'. Yet nothing has really floored you like 'All Falls Down', 'Never Let Me Down' and ultimately, the amazing 'Through The Wire'.
Kanye's always been a feller with an ear for a sample and often hilarious turns of phrase. Yet he seemed to lose his way a little with 808s and Heartbreaks, an ode to a stormy break-up with on off missus Amber Rose and his Mother's passing.
The haters thought they'd had their moment of triumph, writing Kanye's obituaries and celebrating the demise of the biggest selfdom in Hip-Hop since LL Cool J. Mistake. The worst error with an adversary, is to consider them unecessary. This will build a resentment in said foe, who, if they have anything about them, will turn that resentment into drive and use it as fuel to fuck you up.
Enter My Dark Twisted Fantasy.
It's an epic album, his biggest project yet. The music geeks over at Pitchfork drew similarities to Michael Jackson in relation to the scope of it all. They weren't wrong, really. Every song on the album is a haymaker, and it's difficult to really single out a favourite without getting in a twist. It's like trying to name your favourite character in The Wire (today it's Bunk, yesterday it was Body).
It's safe to say, Kanye is back. In the past two or three years, Wayne, T.I. and Big Boi have raised the bar that Kanye himself challenged them to equal with his hole-in-one first LP. Things appear to have come full circle as the Chicago rapper returns to the summit of rap with his fifth opus.
However, it'll all be irrelevant once the good doctor returns with Detox.
Until then, enjoy the video to 'All of The Lights'. And no, I haven't decided to post this one because Rihanna's side boob is draped all over it. Ahem.
Ta-ta for now.
However, none of them lot hold a candle to Kanye West. The Chicago native incites all kinds of palavar, and every so often, downright encourages controversy. Sometimes it's humorous, "George Bush doesn't care about Black people", for example. In other cases, it leaves a sour taste in one's mouth. His hissy fit during the EMAs after he lost out to Justice in the Best Video category for instance. Ahhhhhhhh, you all thought I was going to harp on about poor Taylor Swift. Suckers.
"Yeezy's" taken a few hard hits of late, none moreso than his Mother's untimely death. Obama labelling him a "jackass", probably didn't help his Jupiter sized ego neither. Jay Leno more or less broke him when after his bumrushing of Taylor Swift, the chat show stalwart asked King Kanye how his mother would of reacted to the Hennessy fuelled sabotage?
Let's have it right, he's been a bit hit and miss since the stellar College Dropout, showing occasional flashes of brilliance with songs like 'Flashing Lights', 'We Major' and 'Crack Music'. Yet nothing has really floored you like 'All Falls Down', 'Never Let Me Down' and ultimately, the amazing 'Through The Wire'.
Kanye's always been a feller with an ear for a sample and often hilarious turns of phrase. Yet he seemed to lose his way a little with 808s and Heartbreaks, an ode to a stormy break-up with on off missus Amber Rose and his Mother's passing.
The haters thought they'd had their moment of triumph, writing Kanye's obituaries and celebrating the demise of the biggest selfdom in Hip-Hop since LL Cool J. Mistake. The worst error with an adversary, is to consider them unecessary. This will build a resentment in said foe, who, if they have anything about them, will turn that resentment into drive and use it as fuel to fuck you up.
Enter My Dark Twisted Fantasy.
It's an epic album, his biggest project yet. The music geeks over at Pitchfork drew similarities to Michael Jackson in relation to the scope of it all. They weren't wrong, really. Every song on the album is a haymaker, and it's difficult to really single out a favourite without getting in a twist. It's like trying to name your favourite character in The Wire (today it's Bunk, yesterday it was Body).
It's safe to say, Kanye is back. In the past two or three years, Wayne, T.I. and Big Boi have raised the bar that Kanye himself challenged them to equal with his hole-in-one first LP. Things appear to have come full circle as the Chicago rapper returns to the summit of rap with his fifth opus.
However, it'll all be irrelevant once the good doctor returns with Detox.
Until then, enjoy the video to 'All of The Lights'. And no, I haven't decided to post this one because Rihanna's side boob is draped all over it. Ahem.
Ta-ta for now.
Friday, 25 March 2011
Music For The Sunshine...
Still don't think there's a better song to listen to when it's sunny.
One of the greatest social commentators music has ever been lucky enough to bare witness too.
Take care Joe.
One of the greatest social commentators music has ever been lucky enough to bare witness too.
Take care Joe.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Erm...YES!?
They're back. Actually back. Back for good. No silly, not Take That, The Strokes.
Yesterday I was watching Alexa Chung's new Gonzo (side note: mighty improvement on Zane Lowe) and the video for their new single 'Under Cover of Darkness' was on and for me this is where it sank in.
Seeing them assembled together in an official capacity, watching Casablancas look effortlessly cool in the video, this was The Strokes.
Yes, he's separate from the band for the most the video, and his wardrobe differs slightly making the band look like an ensemble session piece and Julian the solo musician. There's a point to all that though isn't there?
All the politics behind the third album, Albert Hammond Jnr. wanting to pitch in with the writing and Casablancas' subsequent rebuttal of his material leading Albert to pen two solo LPs. Frankly, neither First Impressions of Earth nor Yours to Keep were blinders, so to listen to 'UCoD' is a relief. Simply because it is.
Watching the video, listening to the lyrics, you'd hope the band have worked through their differences and will come back with Angles and remind everybody why, at one point, they were the best band going. There are still a couple of niggles though, one being not once do any of the band even look at Julian during the video, let alone make eye contact with him. Artistic direction or festering resentment? Who knows?
These things matter, with a band like The Strokes. To me anyway. In 2001 when Is This It was released, I was 15 and heavily into artists like Tupac and Biggie, so I didn't think an album with guitars would interest me. Incorrect. It provided a platform, shaping my tastes and preferences without me really noticing it. It crept up on me. To like this band meant something; I'd never witnessed a vested interest in music like this. I could relate to these guys. Well, I could relate to them, more so than I could a Black Panther activist who'd been shot five times.
Unfortunately, the band did lose their way a little. Casablancas did become a little too cool, which in turn seemed to exasperate the other band members. The 3rd album sounded discombobulated and strained.
From what I've heard of the new album so far, the band appears ready to be mates again. 'UCoD' is the flagship song of this reunion and that is no coincidence, seeing as it was penned by the band as a whole. Hopefully, The Strokes will take their past scrapes and use them to strengthen and rebuild a bond that gave us a truly classic album in Is This It.
"I'll wait for you,” sings Casablancas on 'UCoD', “will you wait for me too?”
All parties involved appear ready to do so now, which is comforting. As a collective, we want our band back. I don't think that's too much to ask is it? We have waited long enough.
(Editors Note: Fabrizio Moretti drumming in the video? Or Shia LeBeouf?)
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Odd Future T.V. Debut...
Heads are going apeshit for Tyler, The Creator at the minute. His 2010 debut solo album Radical put people onto him, with Pitchfork Media claiming it was the 32nd best album of 2010. The video for new single 'Yonkers' has people going mental on the interweb, and may spell the end for the "are they aren't they joking" guys from Die Antwoord.
Give them a listen, they're pretty good. By "pretty good" I mean they're brilliant.
Ta-ta for now.
Give them a listen, they're pretty good. By "pretty good" I mean they're brilliant.
Ta-ta for now.
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