music

Easy; Listening

Seth, , Leave a comment

Sometimes you just want to listen to something familiar to make it through your day.

I feel the strongest tug at nostalgia and remembrance today, but that may be due to abandoning FB/IG the day before my birthday.

C’est la vie!

Here, then, are the tunes rolling around in my head, unrolled onto the blog. Please enjoy them in the spirit in which they are offered.

That last one never fails. It always gets me in my soft, creamy center.

Many years ago he
Looked out through a glassless window
All that he could see was Babylon
Beautiful green fields and dreams
And learn to measure the stars
But there was a worry in his heart

He said
How could it come to this?
I’m really worried about living
How could it come to this?
Yeah, I really want to know about this

Is it like today?
Then there came a day
It moved out across the Mediterranean
Came to western isles and the Greek young men
And with their silver beards they laughed
At the unknown of the universe
They could just sit and guess God’s name

But they said
How could it come to this?
We’re really worried about living
How could it come to this?
Yeah, we really want to know about this

Is it like today?
Then there followed days of Kings, Empires and revolution
Blood just looks the same when you open the veins
But sometimes it was faith, power or reason as the cornerstone
But the furrowed brow has never left his face

He said
How could it come to this?
We’re living in a landslide
How could it come to this?
Yeah, we really want to know about this

Is it like today?
Then there came a day
Man packed up, flew off from the planet
He went to the moon, to the moon
Now he’s out in space
Hey, fixing all the problems
He comes face to face with God

He says
How could it come to this?
I’m really worried about my creation
How did it comes to this?
You’re really killing me, you know

It isn’t just today
Is it like today?
Is it like today?
Bang!

Many years ago he
Looked out through a glassless window
Didn’t understand much what he saw

Echoes of Familiarity

Seth, Leave a comment

Did you ever get a tune stuck in your head and you just can’t stop whistling or humming it to yourself? Happens to me all the time.

In college I used to actively try to get songs stuck in Jennifer’s head by singing them when she was around. Turns out she’s incredibly susceptible to suggestion (and I imagine most other folks are too).

A funny thing happened recently when I heard the new (to me) Urge Overkill album, I swore I’d heard one of the themes before. Listen to the guitar chord changes of “Thought Balloon” and tell me you don’t immediately think of the theme song to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

“Thought Balloon” by Urge Overkill

“Go” by Valley Lodge

Maybe it’s just more proof that there aren’t any new ideas, only new combinations and both artists simply got to similar sounds around the same time. Urge Overkill’s album is from 2011; Valley Lodge’s is from 2013.

Or maybe I’m just hearing them for the first time and imagining a correlation.

What do you hear?

Tame Impala: Currents

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I hadn’t pulled the trigger to buy Tame Impala’s latest album, Currents, until a couple of videos crossed my path this morning.

First, I watched the haunting & emotional video for the single “Let It Happen”. It might be a little heavy for a Tuesday, but there’s no denying that it left an impression.

Then I did a little clicking around to accompany my morning coffee and heard Haim’s cover of “‘Cause I’m A Man”. Billboard has a great little post about the versions of the song & video that are floating around the internet.

For my part, I’d only heard either single on SiriusXM, but hadn’t bought the album figuring it might go on sale soon. I did the same thing with Tame Impala’s previous album, Lonerism, which I love.

If you’re in to atmospheric pop music or psychedelic rock (something like a more melodic, less melancholy Pink Floyd) check them out.

The album artwork also reminds me of the cover to Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, which is always a good cultural, musical touchpoint.

You can listen to the album in its entirety on YouTube too.

Happy Tuesday!

Earworm: King Tuff

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Not sure whether I heard King Tuff‘s single Black Moon Spell, from the album of the same name, on AltNation or XMU but it was definitely one of those SiriusXM stations.

Either way, I’ve been wearing out the YouTube versions of his most recent two albums, Black Moon Spell & King Tuff.

Black Moon Spell has been out for a while now; long enough for King Tuff to make the rounds at KEXP & Conan, but it’s so terse that it feels fresh after a ton of listens. So many, in fact, that I ought to just buy both albums.

If fuzzy, guitar-driven punk-pop that dabbles in darkness like a middle schooler who’s just watched The Exorcist for the first time isn’t your thing, skip this one. Otherwise, enjoy the non-ironic rock-n-roll, black fingernail polish & turn off your brain.

Happy Tuesday!

Superdeformed: Matthew Sweet’s Altered Beast Demos

Seth, , , 2 Comments

This is not a music or mp3 blog, but I am a huge fan of Matthew Sweet. His Girlfriend album was one of the first CDs (not tapes) I bought with my own money and we named our youngest daughter Evangeline after the song of the same name on that album.

Needless to say, I like his music a little bit.

Now I come to find that he’s almost finished with a new album, Modern Art, which appears to feature album artwork of his cat sculptures. I can’t wait. But the thing that got me thinking about Matthew Sweet this week was listening to his unreleased demos for the Altered Beast album, code-named Superdeformed 1 & 2.

I’ve had his Son of Altered Beast EP for some time and I’m pretty sure I’ve had various mp3s of his copious demo albums for both Girlfriend and Altered Beast at some point but for whatever reason I’d nearly forgotten them.

This week I’ve re-discovered both Superdeformed 1 & Superdeformed 2 thanks to The Hype Machine.

Standout tracks (for me) are “Long Way To Go (Speed of Light)” and “Born in Sin” off the first CD.

So many of the other unreleased tracks are so good, you can see how they informed subsequent albums. “Bovine Connection” seems like “Cats vs. Dogs” off of Kimi Ga Suki Raifu, “It’s True” steals a riff from “Girlfriend”, “You’re Mean” could be a track off “Living Things” and “Girls” is a straight up tribute to Big Star’s “September Gurls”

The second CD has some more well-known tracks that weren’t on his full-length albums. Tracks like “Ultrasuede” and the eponymous “Superdeformed” are both good but I really enjoy the atmospheric trippiness of “Money” and the effects on “Eskimo”. Those latter songs really remind me of “In Reverse“.

Superdeformed 1 & 2 are really great additions to your music library if you’re a Matthew Sweet fan. They really show how prolific and experimental he was/is.

Here are track listings (courtesy of Jon Relph):

Superdeformed 1:

Superdeformed 1
Superdeformed 1

  1. Long Way to Go [Speed of Light]
  2. Dinosaur Act
  3. Devil with the Green Eyes
  4. Reaching Out
  5. Do It Again
  6. In Too Deep
  7. Evergreen
  8. Bovine Connection
  9. Time Capsule
  10. Born in Sin
  11. Put It Together [Finding Out]
  12. Fantasy World
  13. You’re Mean
  14. It’s True [Something’s Got to Give]
  15. Girls [Cobra Girls]

Superdeformed 2:

Superdeformed 2
Superdeformed 2

  1. Ugly Truth
  2. Falling
  3. Eskimo
  4. Ultrasuede
  5. Money [Marnie]
  6. Superdeformed
  7. Wait And See [Open Eyes]
  8. Idiot Child
  9. So Blue [Finally So Blue]
  10. Weekend Outlaw
  11. What Do You Know [What Do You Know?]
  12. The End
  13. Trace Of Love
  14. Drugs

Happy Listening!