Forget Michael Jackon's 'Thriller' or the 'Monster Mash' this is bearmusic's top 5 tracks you have to listen to on old hallow's eve, especially tailored for people who actually like music...
No#5: Scarecrow
Narrowly ousting many brilliant tracks including British Sea Power's 'No Lucifer', the Dead Weather's 'Hang me from the heavens', ACDC 'Highway to Hell' and Jamie T 'Hocus Pocus'; its Beck's haunting harmonica that wins though. Taken from his classic 2005 album 'Guero' that includes one of the best guitar riffs of the millennium 'E-Pro' its the lesser known track 'Scarecrow' that gets the nod to start off the top 5
No#4: Poltergeist
No Halloween chart would be complete without a track from the awesome Mars Volta; from there debut album following atthedrivein split when guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala began there prog rock/ jazz fusion outfit they have become infamous for their ryhtmic math rock complexity. The debut album features RHCP's Flea on bass and was produced by the legendry Rick Rubin. 'De-Loused in the Comatorium' is a unified work of speculative fiction telling the 1st person story of a drug-induced coma, battling the evil side of the mind. Although lyrically obscure the debut single 'Inertiatic ESP' (and its intro track 'Son et Lumiere') the title mixes the physical state of inertia and a short Ectopic Shapeshfting Penance-propulsion...spooky stuff
No#3: Zombies
From the band that, in my eyes can literally do no wrong, number 3 on the countdown is the high tempo 'Bodysnatchers' taken from one of the greatest albums of the millennium, 'In Rainbows' (probably the best album since their own masterworks of 'the Bends' and 'OK Computer'...to read my thoughts on the band click here). Anyway Radiohead rimming aside, this track is beautifully haunting and was used as a promo for the album...
No#2: Satan
The penultimate track isn't just a Halloween song but the devil's own anthem, both epic and haunting in its lyrical depth and musical arrangement of the full orchestral strings over the raw Biffy Clyro energy with rising choir vocals this track is truly awesome and the intro is one of the best of this millennium. Taken from Biffy's commercial breakthrough album 'Puzzle' this is 'Living is a Problem (Because everything dies)'...
No#1: Vampires
Not only does this song qualify as the ultimate Halloween tune for the sheer brilliance of the track itself but the bands name as well conjures up all of what the day represents. I was lucky enough to see the Smashing Pumpkins at Reading festival a few years back and can confirm front man Billy Corgan's still got it, developing into somewhat of a comic book bad guy over the years which only adds to the bands live show appeal.
Taken from their best known album 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' that also features the huge '1979', 'Zero' and 'Tonight'; the chosen track is easily my favorite by the band - 'Bullet with Butterfly wings'. From the opening acapella line "The world is vampire, set to draiiiiiiiiiin" its grips you and the song takes flight...
A lot of brilliant music has originated from the south of the US over the years. From Blues thru Tamla Motown then in more recent years modern exports include massive acts who tap into this source such as awesome the Black Keys and the White Stripes. The later was the birth of the genius that is Jack White who went on to work on other projects such as the Raconteurs and the brilliant Dead Weather with Alison Mosshart from the Kills...
Something Old...
The Dirty South is these days a term given to describe the modern drudge of awefully bad hip hop from comes from that region of the world that has spawned one of the worst music to ever be made Crunk...somewere between EuroPop and Trance on the crap list. However, it must be noted the reason the genre took off was on the back of one the last great hip hop acts. By the late 90s Atlanta had become a controlling city in the hip hop movement spawning the utterly brilliant OutKast. The duo of Big Boi and Andre 3000 became the first southerners to record album sales like the powerhouse rappers on the East and West Coasts winning six Grammies for their album 'Speakerboxx/Love Below' and they will forever be credited/ blamed with playing an enormous part in bringing Southern hip hop to the popularity level it has reached today. The group's original musical style was a mixture of funk, soul, rock, blues and spoken word elements of the musical palette. For me their best work came in the form of the pair's fourth album, 2000's 'Stankonia'; spawning the brilliant tracks 'Ms. Jackson' that combined a pop hook with lyrics about divorce and relationship breakups, particularly André's breakup with singer Erykah Badu, the title "Ms. Jackson" character being a doppelganger for her mother. Their finest track has got to be track 'B.O.B (Bombs Over Baghdad)', a high-tempo jungle-influenced with brilliant anti-war undertones... Something New...
As suggested by 'finger on the pulse' DJ mate of mine @yourlastrolo this weeks 'Something New' comes from P Money. Touted by many as the next Dizzee Rascal he is a grime MC from the 'Dirty South' London, well known on the dubstep scene for his style of MCing which is centered around reload bars. Anyway, I'm not really not that cool and I'd be lying if I said I understood this scene but I when I heard him in Rolo's car his fresh vocals over a raw industrial grime beat got me. This is 'Originator' and I'm assured "its gonna go off", whatever that means...
Something Borrowed...
As suggested by regular contributor to the 'Something Borrowed' feature, my mate and resident remix DJ @N_C_R; this weeks brilliant cover is by The Civil Wars. The singer songwriter duo otherwise known as Joy Williams and John Paul White are not only beautiful to eyes but also to the ears. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee their debut album 'Barton Hollow' is a fantastic listen, selling 25,000 copies in its first week. The album debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard Digital Album Chart and No. 12 on the h'actual top 100 chart, definitely worth a purchase. Taken from Later this is a truely beautiful and raw version of Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'....Something Blue...
Now the British weather has seemingly begun to take its evil grip on the nation its officially time to cuddle up with your loved one in front of a log fire (or in my case a radiator and a duvet) to enjoy a DVD or a boxset. With Halloween only a week away we see the return of the epic The Walking Dead. The graphic novel inspired drama’s second season aired last Sunday in the US.
Me and the other half have taken the most of the wait and finally got round to watching True Blood for the 1st time. Originally we had it put off as it sounded like another terrible Twilight clone (not that I can even stand that anyway...real vampires should be more like Blade) but its actually brilliant; filled with sex, murder and adult content...yea I know this is a music blog not a DVD box set review but its cold outside ok and I’m rambling!
Tedious a link as ever; as heavily featured in the 1st series of the brilliant True Blood southern rocks finest Lynyrd Skynyrd. Originating from Florida in 64 the band became prominent in the south US by 73 and rose to worldwide recognition with a back catalogue that now included ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and ‘Free Bird’.
The track of choice, however, is ‘That Smell’ taken from the album ‘Street Survivors’. At the time the song was written, the band had been drinking and doing many different drugs. Front man, Van Zant had said that he started drinking heavily to relieve the pressure of performing in front of large audiences and he said, "I had a creepy feeling things were going against us, so I thought I'd write a morbid song (as a warning).” The lyrics cautioned that "tomorrow might not be here for you", and that "the smell of death surrounds you". Three days after the album was released, the band was devastated by a plane crash killing several members including Van Zant...
With the nights growing colder and darker all we are left with on the TV is X-Factor dominating prime time weekend viewing amongst the plethora of other terrible throw away reality shows on the box. Whilst the radio waves are brimming with awful disposable satanic pop (with added key change) from the reality offspring such as Matt Cardel, One Direction and other equally diabolic noise that makes you want towrap yourself around a lamppost on the daily commute...Its time to remind the world of dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip.
The hip-hop duo that combine electronic beats with spoken word and intelligent catchy sung chorus. With a name inspired by an intentional misspelling of the Edward Lear poem Scroob and Le Sac take a very wide spectrum of influence from Gil Scott Heron thru to Mogwai. The pair shot to fame in 2008 with their genius debut single ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ and the brilliant album ‘Angles’ before they followed up there debut album with their last single ‘Get Better’ and the album ‘The Logic of Chance’ in 2010.
The debut album includes many brilliant tracks other than ‘Thou Shalt...’, including the moving title track ‘Angles’, the catchy ‘The Beat that my heart skipped’, ‘Look for the woman’ and the track ‘Fixed’ which samples Dizee Rascal and takes a satirical view on the modern hip hop. The track that makes this weeks cut is another track from the debut album. In 2007, still unsigned, they used self promo and the duo created and posted a spoof video on YouTube auditioning for X Factor in front of Simon Cowell et al. The montage of clips of judges' comments are added to their profanity-laden performance of ‘It Ain't No Fun’ by Snoop Dogg. The duo then used this hype as springboard and released a free download of the genius ‘Letter From God To Man’ which includes a sample of Radiohead’s ‘Planet Telex’...
Something New…
“From the mystical, unGoogleable beyond comes a brand new collaboration in the form of Pyyramids”, the duo of OK Go’s Tim Nordwind and singer Drea Smith. “Living in the dark, atmospheric grotto midway between the dance floor and the mopey teenage bedroom of the mind”, their six-song debut ‘Human Beings’ will be available on October 31st The band is a reinvention for both players and steps into new, wild territory. For the guy with the bass, beard, and glasses in OK Go, the new expansive textures find him far from the bright indie pop and all-inclusive videos that have made them one of the most recognizable of the digital age. Whilst for Smith, formerly the saucy half of the electro-pop duo He Say She Say - and a stint with Lupe Fiasco - it brings her songwriting into a place of bold new maturity without sacrificing the force of her singular presence. For both, it is an unlikely partnership entirely befitting of the new age.
If you enjoy the alt-rock tension of ‘That Ain’t Right’ you will buy into the promise from the official website that their future is “an inviting one indeed, a long-promised map back to the buried valley of the dance-rock hook”, unfortunately they are so f f fresh their first gig isn't until next week and thus no YouTube vids are available yet so this will have to suffice...
Bell X1 have in the last 3 years become one of favourite bands in the world after being introduced to them by better half @I_Blame_Kate. The Irish band from Kildare formed from the ashes of Damien Rice’s 90’s band Juniper have since gone on to release five critically acclaimed albums, including there latest work my album of the year ‘Bloodless Coup’ that includes the tracks the smash hit single ‘Velcro’ the moving ‘Nightwatchman’ and probably my favourite track by the band ‘4 Minute Mile’.
Paul Noonan, drummer turned front man is up there on my list of musical heroes and this week he posted a cover onto the bands facebook. ‘Manic Monday’ was originally written by Prince in 1984 and recorded by the Bangles in 1987, in dedication to my beautiful other half and her ear for brilliant ear for music....
Something Blue...
In homage to the sad news that former Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh was found dead this week after tweeting in September "dreamt i died in chicago next weekend...”, I take a quick look back through another one of the bands that shaped my youth and were pivotal in making geek chic cool again.
Led by the king of geeks Rivers Cuomo, who famously got one over on king of goths Marilyn Manson back in 90s by stealing his girlfriend, the band had a very humble beginning opening for Keanu Reeves’ band ‘Dogstar’...9 albums later they are one of the most influential and successful groups on the planet.
They are probably best known for their successful singles ‘Buddy Holly’, ‘Say It Ain’t So’ and ‘Undone (the sweater song)’ from the absolutely brilliant self titled debut ‘(the Blue)’ album that also carries the brilliant ‘My Name is Jonas’, ‘Holiday’, ‘No One else’ and the epic ‘Only in Dreams’.
Weezer's second album weighed heavy on their shoulders and ‘Pinkerton’ inevitably, buckled to the weight of critical and commercial pressure and became a cult success, spawning tracks such as ‘El Scorcho’ and ‘Pink Triangle’ before the band went on a hiatus that would take them to the next millenium.
It was following this hiatus in which the band would find Mikey Welsh and recruited him as their new bassist. In 2001 they were back to their best form again and produced their 3rd yet again self titled ‘(the Green)’ album that includes the brilliant ‘Hash Pipe’ and ‘Island in the Sun’. Following the albums release, Welsh left the band and was checked into a psychiatric hospital before being replaced.
The band took an experimental approach for the recording process of their fourth album by listening to fans feedback, this process was something of a failure, as the fans did not supply them with coherent, constructive advice. Highlights from ‘Maladroit’ however do include ‘Dope Nose’ and the catchy ‘Keep Fishin’. The bands 5th album ‘Make Believe’ was more of a push back to bands traditional sound and includes the smash hit ‘Beverley Hills’ and my favourite track by the band ‘We Are All on Drugs’.
The band then released there 6th album in 2008, again self titled, ‘(the Red)’ album is, as far as I’m concerned their last album worth buying. Much more experimental sounding it includes the brilliant upbeat tracks ‘Pork and Beans’ and ‘Troublemaker’. Following this Weezer released 3 rather poor excuses for albums in ‘Raditude’, ‘Hurley’ (named after a character from Lost) and a compilation of rare and unreleased songs ‘Death to False Metal’.
Anyway in honour of the late Mikey Welsh this is ‘Hash Pipe’, “wooaoooooh”...
This weeks ‘Something Blue’ was a last minute change of plan due to the sad death of a legendry musician Bert Jansch, thus the news that Bloc Party are auditioning for a new singer following (an alleged) fallout that pushes the band into the ‘Something Old’ category.
The 4 piece made up of genius lyricist and front man Kele Okereke, guitarist Russell Lissack, bassist Gordon Moakes and the phenomenal drummer Matt Tong draw influence from three of my favourite bands the Cure, the Smiths and Radiohead amongst others. Formed in 1999 after meeting at Reading festival it wasn’t until 2005 when they released the absolutely brilliant debut, platinum selling, critically acclaimed album ‘Silent Alarm’.
Kele supplied the vocals for the Chemical Brothers ‘Believe’ and the band released a follow up track ‘Two more years’ that bridged the gap before they built on this success in 2007 with the release of ‘A Weekend in the City’. The 2nd album features the brilliant tracks ‘Song for clay’, ‘the Prayer’, ‘I Still Remember’, ‘Hunting for witches’ and a step into electronic with ‘Flux’.
Their 3rd work ‘Intimicy’ followed the next year in which they worked with producer Jacknife Lee and the features the awesome ‘Mercury’, ‘Talons’ and ‘Ares’ the band have been on hiatus ever since 2009 to focus on side projects.
For me though the bands defining album is their debut, along with the Cribs and the Black Keys they filled my soul with the riffs I needed in the wake of the Libertines split. The album is and always will be one of favourite ever made, every track faultless and includes the quite frankly genius ‘Banquet’, ‘Helicopter’, ‘This modern love’, ‘Pioneers’, ‘Price of Gasoline’, ‘Shes Hearing Voices’ and my favourite track ‘Like Eating Glass’...
Something New...
This probably isn’t Something New to most of you but I don’t watch that much TV so it was for me until it they were pushed my way by @Bowerthe5thKing. The Heavy are a British neo soul/ indie outfit from Bath that you may not be aware of and are made up of two core members guitarist Dan Taylor and vocalist Kelvin Swaby.
They released their debut single ‘That Kind of Man’ in 2007 before signing to the Ninja Tune label and releasing there debut album ‘Great Vengeance and Furious Fire’. Not having much success in the UK they are quite the opposite in the US. Their 2nd, last and best known album is 2009’s ‘the House that Dirt Built’ and features the tracks ‘No Time’ and ‘How You Like Me Now?’ which you’ll recognise from a TV advert, various series and movie soundtracks, US readers as it was 2010’s Superbowl theme. Despite this its another track from the album that I’m choosing this week, ‘Short Change Hero’ as used for various games, movies, promo ads and a credits for various US series, enjoy...
Something Borrowed...
The original is taken from the bands biggest album, known as the black album which has now sold over 22 million worldwide and is credited as the bands springboard for success. Also containg the tracks ‘The Unforgiven’, ‘Sad but True’ and ‘Nothing else Matters’
This probably isn’t what you expected when I said last week that I would get back to my metal roots but nerveless, as suggested by regular contributor @N_C_R a brilliant cover of Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ by a load of 8 year olds...
Something Blue...
This weeks Something Blue is in memory of a true genius that passed away yesterday, the man who to one many “made put down my plectrum and use my fingers like a real man” R.I.P Bert Jansch, a true musical hero. The Glasgow born, 68 year old was a legend on the folk circuit and is reknown as the leading figure in the folk revival, he may not be very well known to the main stream but his influence goes deep.He came to prominence in the 60’s as an innovative and accomplished acoustic guitarist, but also as a singer and songwriter. He recorded 25 studio albums and has toured extensively, even up until this year. His work influenced so many artists that I class as my heroes including Paul Simon, Johnny Marr, Bernard Butler, Jimmy Page, Nick Drake and Graham Coxon amongst many, many more
His best known work is his 3rd album ‘Jack Orion’ which quickly followed his 1st two albums and contains the 1st recording of the track ‘Blackwaterside’, which would later be taken up by Jimmy Page and recorded as a Led Zepplin’s ‘Black Mountain Side’, Jansch was never credited but its clear for anyone with ears that its an identical arrangement...
