Hall & Oates

In the late 70s and 80s, Darryl Hall and John Oates mined the intersections between funk, soul, pop, and rock and produced a string of really great songs. Here are two of my favorites:

"Adult Education" (1983) starts with a great guitar riff and then goes very atmospheric in an anthem about post high school life. The rhythm guitar is excellent and driving throughout. The keyboards are used sparingly for crechendo, much like brass is used in funk/soul. Creative use of echoing vocal cheers (evoking the cheerleader motif) punctuate the rhythms.



"Method of Modern Love" (1984) brings the keyboards more up front and farms a deep mid-tempo groove. This song features great chord progressions and Hall's beautiful smooth, high tenor vocals. The layering of the keyboards is also very pleasing. The best part is the rally starting about two thirds through where the vocal goes hyper-active and riffs off both the backing vocal and the rhythm track. 80s pop at its best.

some art

for your pleasure...

But If You Go - M.C. 900 Ft. Jesus

A low key groove for your Thursday afternoon by the multi-talented Mark Griffin...

Back when U2 was good

[sorry no image, blogger is being temperamental tonight...]

In my opinion, U2 went downhill after The Unforgettable Fire (1984). Their early stuff was very edgy and punky and then this album came out as a set of vibrant pop anthems, expanding their sound. Problem is, they indulged in both their popularity and the softer side of their sound too much after that and really lost something that, as far as I've heard, they've never regained.

Here is the title track from that album. (Couldn't embed; disabled)

Going Under - Devo

When I was coming of age in the early 80s out in the suburban hinterlands, Devo and other new wave bands were admired by many of us nerds. At the time I hadn't been aware of Devo's role in the late 70s innovating in the punk idiom. In retrospect (I know a little more about punk these days than I did then), you can hear basic punk in a lot of their songs. "Going Under" (1981; from the album New Traditionalists) is probably my favorite Devo song. It takes a pretty simple, rhythmic sequence, sort of a rooted monotone rockabilly composition, and layers it with vocals and synth, building energy throughout the song. The synthesizers are pretty vital for the sound. But the punk resides in the energy and sense of abandon you can hear in the vocals and lyrics.

(this is just audio; the video is apparently only available via purchase)



Interestingly, this song was also used in the first season of Miami Vice:

Kid - the Pretenders

I may have blogged about them before, but it bears repeating. The Pretenders took deceptively simple rootsy rock in made it beautiful. Here's one of their prettiest early songs, "Kid" from 1979:

The Guns of Brixton - the Clash

This song, from 1979, was about the social and economic resentment in the UK (particularly the Brixton area of South London, where Clash bassist Paul Simonon, who wrote and sang the song, grew up). Brixton erupted in riots in the 80s. The raw reggae nature of the song reflects a stripped-down urban existence. I really like the rough, shambling rhythm track, with its "doink doink" effects. It's a song about a makeshift existence in a hostile and crumbling world. The poetics of discontent and survival...

image fun

I was having fun with this radar image of the recent tornado that hit Atlanta (from one of my favorite sites), so I thought I would post it.

Woo Hoo!

Wigan defeats Bolton 1-0! They are now 6 points out of relegation, in 12th place in the Premier League.

I will hopefully be able to drink again soon. I look forward to having one of these and watching some soccer then.



Cheers!

Happy Birthday to Me!

41 years on this Earth. 10+ of them married to the cutest girl in the world!
Still rockin'!!

Strange maps

Bilbo Baggins loved maps and so do I. If you ever wanted to geographically visualize all of the area codes in which Ludacris claims to have hoes, and lots of other arcana, this site is the place for you:

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/

Little by Little - Robert Plant

Robert Plant's first three solo albums [Pictures at Eleven(1982), The Principle of Moments(1983), and Shaken 'n' Stirred (1985)] were masterpieces of atmospheric rock. They fused beautifully his strong vocals, Robbie Blunt's masterful lead guitars, mostly midtempo rhythms, and just enough hookage to get played on mainstream radio. He wasn't rehashing Zeppelin; he was exploring his own territory.

Shaken 'n' Stirred is probably the least appreciated of these albums but it has some great tracks. Here's the one that got the most airplay, "Little by Little":

latest band name idea

[idea from a discussion on atrios.blogspot.com quoting a right wing religious nut from somewhere...]

(semi) woo hoo!

Wigan played Arsenal today to a 0-0 draw! This was tough as Arsenal is currently on top of the Premier League. But they persevered through good defense and goalkeeping, with an assist from their gnarly home field. They gain another point to help them stave off relegation. There are now several teams between them and the bottom three (but only three points, so more points are definitely needed).

Since You're Gone - the Cars

The Cars brought new wave sensibility to mainstream American rock in the late 70s/early 80s. Their songs were simple, most following a standard pop formula, yet sophisticated, with an almost fragile fusion of synthesizer and guitar sounds, with understated rhythm tracks. The world Ric Ocasek and his bandmates portrayed in their songs was a hip, cynical, fast, plastic, suburban world, and, desolate as many of the songs made it seem, I wanted to live there.

"Since You're Gone" from Shake it Up (1981) perfectly exemplifies the Cars elegant songwriting. The video isn't much to look at, but the song takes a few uncomplicated parts, and weaves a complex, compelling pop song.

Fog

As many of my friends who visit this blog know, I'm taking a bunch of medications these days in an attempt to put a nasty autoimmune disease into remission. The good news is that things seem to be going well and I might be off most of the drugs in less than a month. But I have always been the kind of person who does not like taking drugs. In my adult life, I learned to appreciate Tylenol in taking the edge off of the pain of having colds/flu, but that's about it. Decongestants and other stuff I avoid. Some days in this medication regime I don't have a heck of a lot of energy and my head rather feels as if it is in a slight fog. Trying to work on these days is a bit of a chore but I've been laboring through it. I probably should do more personal research on my illness, as I am a biologist and should be able to understand it deeply. But to be honest I'm a little afraid of this. The disease is now something I have a personal relationship with, and it will be with me for the rest of my life. I'm not sure how much I want to demystify it at this point. Perhaps down the road when it seems like it is more behind me, if all goes well...

MSG

This article in today's NY Times points out that MSG not only has gotten a bad rap over the years (no medical evidence indicating that it is harmful to health in normal concentrations) but also that it has creeped into our food both at restaurants and in many processed foods under different names. I grew up eating Campbell's soups, which are delicious and have (probably lots of) MSG. Also, all kinds of chip snacks have it, including Doritos, which have one of the most addictive tastes in the universe. So I guess the bottom line is, don't worry about MSG: it makes food taste really good and it's not bad for us.

Unless of course you are talking about The Notorious MSG, who are dangerously funny:

more Morrissey

Thinking about this some more, I would even propose that Morrissey is the Elvis of our time. Notorious, iconic, decadent, controversial. Here's my absolute favorite of his: "Piccadilly Palare" (1990), an absolute genius pop song. It's apparently about male prostitution, but the lyrics (below) are fairly cryptic.



Off the rails I was and
Off the rails
I was happy to stay
GET OUT OF MY WAY
On the rack I was
Easy meat, and a reasonably good buy
A reasonably good buy

The Piccadilly palare
Was just silly slang
Between me and the boys in my gang
"So Bona to Vada. Oh you
You're lovely eek and
You're lovely riah"

We plied an ancient trade
Where we threw all life's
Instructions away
Exchanging lies and digs (my way)
Cause in a belted coat
Oh, I secretly knew
That I hadn't a clue

(No, no. No, no, no. You can't get there that way. Follow me...)

The Piccadilly palare
Was just silly slang
Between me and the boys in my gang
Exchanging palare
You wouldn't understand
Good sons like you
Never do.

So why do you smile
When you think about Earl's Court ?
But you cry when you think of all
The battles you've fought (and lost) ?
It may all end tomorrow
Or it could go on forever
In which case I'm doomed
It could go on forever
In which case I'm doomed

Some Morrissey

Last of the Famous International Playboys. One of my favorites. Great chord progressions and melodies, especially in the verse. Morrissey is over the top in a lot of ways (especially off stage) but musically he's an original.

Let's hear it for the Latics!

Wigan played Manchester City to a 0-0 draw! This gives them a point and puts them into 14th place in the Premier League. All points are good at this point to keep them away from relegation.