Lost Classics
Lost Classic: The Avalances – Since I Left You
Sep 1st
I had to triple check that I hadn’t already blogged about The Avalanches, can’t believe it has taken me this long. Not enough people have heard this album, a lost gem of DJ mastery mixing hundreds and hundreds of samples. The Avalanches, based out of Melbourne, Australia, first released this album in 2000. Not much has been heard of them in the way of formal albums since 2001 when they were actively touring and supporting that album, opening for acts like the Beastie Boys, Beck, Stereolab, and Public Enemy. Looks like they have been making remixing and maybe hosting DJ sets in Australia according to their site, and possibly clearing samples for a new album!!
Since I Left You is a magnificent menagerie of sounds, loops, samples, and beats – everything I love about DJ/sampled music. It’s a tricky art using so many samples without overdoing it or allowing the sound to become too cloudy, or worse, clash. The Avalances pull it off with perfection, and were way, way ahead of their time. It’s tough to pick sample songs to share with you because this is one of those albums that just flows seamlessly from track to track, so you kind of have to pick up in the middle of an unfinished thought just hearing random tracks, but I’ve tried to include a few of my favorites.
There’s a bunch of cool stuff to do on their website, check out some of their mixes, and maybe some of the previews for their new album? Not really sure where all the content comes from on there, but it’s definitely worth digging through. You can stream a song called Brains Teazer that sounds like something you might hear at a pool bar at an all inclusive Caribbean resort. Maybe they are heading in a new direction.
There are rumors that a followup album is to be released sometime this year, based on snippits from the news section of the website. It’s a damn shame this record didn’t reach the mass public, and that there hasn’t been anything more from them for so long, but maybe that will soon all be a thing of the past. If you are a fan of J Dilla or DJ Shadow I can promise you this is a record you will be playing at parties, on never ending red eye flights, and everywhere in between for a long time to come.
The Avalanches – Two Hearts In 3/4 Time
Download Since I Left You here
The Avalanches on the web
Lost Classics: Tower of Power – Bump City
Aug 11th
Let’s get one thing straight, The Giant Panther doesn’t know how to dance, but there is one particular genre of music that I can’t ever sit still for. I don’t have an ounce of funk running through my veins, the closest I get to funky is the odor coming from my running sneakers, but I can never get enough of the the killer combination of funk/soul/jazz. Some of my favorites to get my funk fix from include The Godfather, The Meters, The J.B.’s (Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker etc), more recent acts like Soulive, and of course, the unmistakable Tower of Power. It occurred to me that T.O.P. might not be as well known as James Brown to the casual music fan, I have to admit I only came across them after my roomates in college introduced me to T.O.P. and the Meters. I’m by no means a funk expert, but I know good, soulful, ass shaking music when I hear it.
I recently was really enjoying the show Treme on HBO, which is a drama focusing on the music scene in New Orleans after Katrina, but does so through the incredible jazz/funk/soul music flowing through the clubs and streets. Incredible soundtrack on that show including some cameos from some of the legends themselves. Unfortunately cable pulled it off on demand before I got a chance to watch the last three, hoping I can catch them on DVD. But I digress.
Tower of Power was formed in the late 60s/early 70s in Oakland, featuring soulful vocals, a funky drummer and bass, and one of the tightest horn sections to ever play. Over the years they have varied between funk, to soul, and even into “Jazz Disco” in the late 70s which you can feel free to skip right over. I think their most popular single was “So Very Hard To Go”, which is a much more laid back soul track from their self titled album in 1973. Almost all of their albums include a few laid back soul tracks sandwiched in between the straight up funk, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the casual music listener assumed Tower Of Power was a soul/R&B band based only on their hit single. Their early albums like East bay Grease, Bump City, Tower Of Power, and Back To Oakland, are a perfect combination of raw funk, soul, and jazz. They even made a brief stint into “Jazz Disco” which you can feel free to skip right over.
The original lineup was founded by Detroit native saxophone player Emilio Castillo, and according to Wikipedia included drums from David Garibaldi, bass from Rocco Prestia, guitars from Willy Fulton, horn section including Castillo, Greg Adams, Steve Kupka, Skip Mesquite, David Padron, Mic Gillet Ken Balzell, and vocals from Rufus Miller. By the second album vocalist Rick Stevens took over lead vocals, before they settled in with Lenny Williams handling the lead singing duties. For me all three vocalists worked with with T.O.P. the real magic happened with the grooves – bass lines and drums, and tight horn parts. When I say tight though, their early sound was still very raw in a good way. I really could have picked any of the four albums I mentioned, they are all awesome. If you’re new to Tower of Power, do yourself a favor and walk through the 70s albums one by one, you won’t be sorry you did. If your an old school funkateer hopefully reading this will give you a good excuse to dust off a few of their classics for yourself.
Tower Of Power is still touring today, never seen them live but it’s on my to do list. I think they are coming to Mohegan Sun in CT this October.
Tower Of Power – Down to the Nightclub
Tower Of Power – You Got to Funkifize
Download Bump City here
Tower of Power on the web
Lost Classic: Sun Kil Moon – Ghosts Of The Great Highway
Jun 10th
It’s hard not to like Sun Kil Moon if you liked Red House Painters, or anything else Mark Kozelek has been involved in musically. Kozelek makes heart-breakingly beautiful folk ballads. Folk is probaly the wrong word, this isn’t Woody Guthrie, Kozelek has plenty of electric guitars, and makes that apparent in his songs from time to time. Ghosts Of The Great Highway was the debut album for Sun Kil Moon in 2003, after the breakup of Kozelek’s former band Red House Painters. According to Wikipedia, Sun Kill Moon is based on the name of a Korean boxer Sung-Kil Moon. Several boxers are named in the opening track Glenn Tipton, and several later tracks are named after other boxers. To add to the confusion, Glenn Tipton isn’t a boxer at all, but a guitarist for Judas Priest. Neither are the point of the song.
Kozelek has always had a way with words. Simple lines that if not strung together, or sung differently might not mean all that much. But they hit home so perfectly when delivered in song and verse by him. It’s not the boxer references, character story lines, or comparisons on which Judas Priest guitarist people liked better that grabsme in the opening track. It’s lines like “Just like my dad did when he was home, staying up late, staying up alone. Just Like my dad did when he was thinking, oh how fast the years go by”. Absolutely perfect. I would kill to have written just one line that good. It needs no further analysis but I can truly relate to that sentiment.
This album is full of songwriting like this. Reminds me of Desire-era Dylan in terms of lyricism. Don’t hate me for saying that, just a comparison. To me Kozelek is one of the most talented modern day songwriters around. Tinges of the peaceful side of Neil Young, aforementioned-Dylan, and even at times quieter like Nick Drake. The acoustic and electric guitar melodies are more complex than simple G chords, always bringing a unique beauty to the songs, along with very subtle backing instrumentation on drums, bass, and strings, that never distract, instead always enhance the pictures Kozelek is painting in these songs. He’s always had a way to include the fuzziest of electric guitars that somehow still sound peaceful even though they are as distorted as the hardest Smashing Pumpkins songs (well, almost always, I seem to remember a few songs that may have gone a bit over the top on the fuzz dial). I had a hard time picking which two tracks to share from this album, they are all gems.
Pick this album up if you like any of the artists I mentioned above. You’d be hard pressed to find a better soundtrack to a perfect day.
Looks like Sun Kil Moon has a new album coming out this July, I also really enjoyed their 2008 release April. Looking forward to checking out the new album.
Play these two songs in order, they are really one song split into two tracks:
Download Ghosts Of The Great Highway here
Sun Kil Moon on the web
Lost Classic: The Beta Band – Hot Shots II
Jun 8th
No, not the cinematic classic “Hot Shots Part Deux”. This is the musical classic, Hot Shots II. Yes, you probably have already heard about the Beta Band thanks to John Cusack’s record store music snob character in the movie High Fidelity back in 2000. They featured the classic song “Dry The Rain” from the Beta Band’s 3 EPs album. If you loved the song, you most likely bought the 3 EPs, but did you then buy the debut self titled Beta Band album and swear them off for good? It really wasn’t a great album. The followup however, 2001′s Hot Shots II was.
The Beta Band was a UK based band (though I believe most of the band members are Scottish) that featured lead singer/guitar player Steve Mason, Robin Jones on drums, John Maclean playing samples, DJ, keyboards etc, and bass player Richard Greentree. Their 3-Eps was relatively ground breaking for music. I think the most defining characteristic was the use of samples/loops/hip hop style beats providing the backing for real instrumentation and great song writing. Take the most famous song Dry The Rain for example, without the hip hop beat or sample, it wouldn’t necessarily stand out as much as it did. The other key element for the unique style of the Beta Band is their looped style of writing. The songs, verses, and rhytmic delivery almost always follow a very repeated, mantra theme.
After their previously mentioned debut LP flop, they brought on UK producer C-Swing, who really helped craft the sound for their second album Hot Shots II. Which, though released back in 2001, is still in my very regular album rotation. It takes their sound to the next level, integrating more advanced samples, synths, and loops, and combining Mason’s haunting vocal delivery. The vocals are tough to describe, almost like a melodic rap. Not monotone in nature, but there is some level of over-consistency in timbre that adds to the dramatic effect. There is also a psychedelic vibe to a lot of these songs, (see the over the top breakdown in track “Quiet” for example). Some eager reviewers got a little to over-excited when this album was released and started billing it the next “Sgt Peppers”. That comparison is illegal to use in any case in my book, but the Beta Band certainly found a solid gold formula with this album. I’d almost say if we were going to start making sacrilegious comparisons, they might have been going for more of a Dark Side Of The Moon vibe. It’s unfortunate that it didn’t hit the masses as much as it could have, but at least the High Fidelity exposure significantly helped in the US. I’ll be honest, I probably never would have heard them if it wasn’t for that movie.
The only other band that comes to mind that was on this level of ground breaking sound back in 2001 would be Radiohead. Though very different in sound and nature, they were both pushing the envelope of what music should sound like back at the beginning of the last decade. It will be interesting when we look back on the 010′s to see who we consider to be ground breaking. It’s tough to predict, when you hear a completely new sound that shocks you into re-thinking the way music should sound, you wonder if you’ll look back and think it was silly, or look back and say it started a new movement in music. Take Sleigh Bells for example, is this a new way to make sound, by pushing the dB needle way into the red on purpose, over the top attack mode sound mixed with laid back Tom Tom Club style vocals? Or will it fade into the back pages of musical history as a blatant attempt just to be different. So far their sound hasn’t worn on me and I’m still digging it. I’m getting way off track here.
Sadly, like many of my lost classic posts, the artists in question are either no longer among the living, or no longer making music together. For the Beta Band it’s the latter, they broke up in 2004, right after releasing their last record, Heroes to Zeroes. There were some great songs on there, but in my personal opinion none stack up to Hot Shots II. Stand out tracks on this album for me are “Squares”, “Al Sharp”, “Dragon”, and “Broke”. You can however, still check out new music from lead singer/guitar player Steve Mason. I just found out he released a solo album this year, which I will hopefully soon be checking out. He also had a side project called King Biscuit Time, more from the Giant Panther on that project here.
Download Hot Shots II here
The Beta Band on the web
Lost Classic: Peter Gabriel – Security
May 18th
I’ve always loved Peter Gabriel records. He’s had quite a productive career post-Genesis, and it’s tough to pick a favorite with all the great albums to choose from. My favorites include Peter Gabriel 3 and Us, but my absolute favorite is his fourth LP, released in 1982, Security that stands above the rest. It’s probably one of his more under-appreciated albums, released after the three self titled albums, lovingly referred to by confused record store employees and critics alike as either Peter Gabriel 1, 2 and 3, or simply Car, Scratch, and Face. He even released this album as self titled, but Geffen insisted it have a name for the US release and it was named Security. More recently Crystal Castles have adopted this strategy of eponymous album labeling just to mess with everyone. I can imagine this could throw my co-author John into a small frenzy due to his love of all things labeled and organized.
Like most of Gabriel’s work, the album is full of commentary on society and culturally diverse. For example, San Jacinto and it’s commentary on white man’s treatment of Native Americans. Important to this discussion and interesting to note, this was one of the earliest albums to be recorded in an all digital format (as opposed to tape analog recording equipment). It was also extremely sample heavy, using digital samplers and synths through much of the album. There had been some traces of the general sound of Security on Peter Gabriel 3, like the song Biko, building on an ethnic rhythm or pattern. It was a sign of things to come for Gabriel, mixing in that digital feel, along with some of the World music elements that would become more frequent in his work. To enhance the digital feel, even the album cover itself looks like it was grabbed as a video still from somewhere, much like Adam Ant’s famous cover Kings of The Wild Frontier.
There ain’t a bad song on this album in my opinion. Some Gabriel fans found the last two tracks Wallflower and Kiss of Life to be too close to his former band mate Phil Collins in terms of mushiness and style. I won’t pretend to hate Phil Collins and his 80′s solo work. It may have to be labeled a guilty pleasure by some that think it was too cheesy or soft, but for me it was still good music, and I personally think In The Air Tonight is one of the most powerful songs of all time. Collins actually played drums on much of Peter Gabriel 3, creating that cymbal-less gated reverbed drum sound that made In The Air so notable.
Enjoy the songs. Feel free to sing along “tac tac a-tac-contact!”
Peter Gabriel – I Have The Touch
Buy or Download Security from Amazon here.
Radiohead – Kid A
Apr 15th
Ask pretty much anyone with a pulse if they know/like Radiohead. I can’t think of another band formed within the last 25 years that could appeal to so many different listeners, and on top of that, record music that still sounds as cutting edge 10 years after the year it was created. Most would probably cite OK Computer or The Bends as their favorite Radiohead album. I listened to both of those albums obsessively, but for The Giant Panther, it’s 2000′s release Kid A that no matter how many times I listen I never tire of. Some Radiohead fans were disapointed with the “new sound” Kid A and the album that followed, Amnesiac brought on. For me, it was the perfect progression, and a sign that Radiohead would never fall victim to doing the same old thing for the rest of their career.
I still remember the day I bought Kid A, I hadn’t heard any of the singles on the radio or anything, and I guess I was the only person who didn’t grab it months early on Napster. This was my very first experience with the album. I put the CD into my car stereo, then the organ riff came on from “Everything in its Right Place”. The sounds in the background that sounded like they had taken apart a CD player and just moved the CD back an forth on one sound like scratching a record, the pulsing and building of the song had me believing I was in for something spectacular. I was absolutely blown away. The drum beat in the title track Kid A, and the realization that sometimes words really don’t matter to make a great sounding song. Sigur Ros has made an entire career off of this theory. The bass riff on National Anthem. The loneliness of How To Disappear Completely, with the beautiful scale changes at the end. Here we reach the first question mark of the album in Treefingers, just under four minutes of synth. It does serve as a good bridge between the darkest track of the album to the most radio friendly cut in Optimistic, which is followed by In Limbo, these two songs to me come closest to Kid A’s predecessor OK Computer, in that they are mainly traditional instruments and lack the glitchy, electronic feel the rest of the album has. Next is Idioteque, which could be my favorite Radiohead song of all time. The beat is undeniable, the dark chord progression sets the tone for the song with perfection. Then Morning Bell (they also did a slower version of this on Amnesiac), with the beautiful hook “Release Me” following the minor verses. The album is capped off by the epic “Motion Picture Soundtrack”, with flowing harps and cellos.
I remember hearing a radio DJ not long after trashing the album, and wondering what the hell he was smoking (or maybe not smoking enough of). For me this was light years ahead of its time, and still is today. Sometimes 3 or 4 months will go by and I will find Kid A again on my Ipod or something, and get so excited to listen to this album again. There are very few albums that I can’t make myself sick of. Believe me I have put Kid A to the test, and I never get sick of it.
Amnesiac was released the year after, which contained other recordings from the Kid A sessions. Some though this was a cop out and not a “true album”, but there are plenty of Radiohead songs on Amnesiac I couldn’t live without, like I Might Be Wrong and Packt Like Sardines In A Crushed Tin Box to name a few.
Any fan of Radiohead or good music in general should own Kid A.
MP3: Radiohead – Everything in its Right Place
Download Kid A here
Radiohead on MySpace
Lost Classic: A Tribe Called Quest – Beats, Rhymes & Life
Mar 23rd
Hip Hop fans everywhere and even most that aren’t hardcore lovers of hip-hop already know A Tribe Called Quest. For me, and for a huge collection of hip hop fans, A Tribe Called Quest are regarding as the best hip hop group of all time, and for good reason. They represent everything good about hip hop. A Tribe called quest takes the smooth delivery of Q-Tip, with the upbeat style of Phife Dawg and combines them with positive vibes, head bobbing beats over jazz cuts, and hardly a mention of violence or any of the other crap that turns some people off from the entire genre of “rap”.
Beats, Rhymes & Life, released in 1996, came after what some consider Tribe’s best output, Midnight Marauders, released in 1993. Before Marauders, came another classic in 1991, The Low End Theory, which was way ahead of its time. If you asked a Tribe fan to point you to the best album they made I think the majority would chose Midnight Marauders, it was their best selling, and fastest selling album, going platinum in 1995. I can’t argue, Midnight Marauders is one of my favorite hip hop albums of all time, and an extremely close second to my favorite hip hop album of all time, Tribe’s Beats Rhymes & Life.
For “Beats”, Tribe brought on a young producer Q-Tip was introduced to named Jay Dee, who would later be known as J Dilla. He is credited for most of his Tribe work as The Ummah, and produced most if not all of Beats, Rhymes & Life. Bringing on Jay Dee to produce these beats was the number one factor in creating their best album in my opinion. These beats had that classic Dilla feel, laid back, mellow sounds over head bobbing beats, perfect production and sampling. I’ve been long overdue to do a write up on J Dilla, maybe now that the cobwebs have started to clear from my keyboard I’ll get around to it.
For me this album reminds me of the summer I graduated from High School. Every pool party and “my parents are out of town, let’s wreck my house” party that summer, I brought along Beats, Rhymes & Life with me, and crammed it into every CD player I could gain access to. It worked then for the same reason it works today. Anybody with a soul, and a sense of rhythm finds it immediately appealing, and it doesn’t offend the masses with a bunch of guns and pimpin garbage.
I thought about listing all my favorite tracks from this album, but that would basically be just an album track list. There are maybe 1 or 2 tracks on this entire album I wouldn’t consider classics. Tough to pick just a few, but I hope if you don’t own this record after hearing these samples you will grab it.
Tribe announced during the release of The Love Movement in 1999 that it would be their final album together. While The Love Movement didn’t hold up to the high bar set by the other Tribe albums, it was still a good listen, and contained more Dilla beats. Long story short Beats, Rhymes & Life, Midnight Marauders, and The Low End Theory are essential listens for any fan of real hip hop. They may be approaching labels like old school hip hop as the years go on, but these albums will always sound fresh to me. I promise you this will come as a refreshing change from what they are blasting you with in clubs and on the radio.
MP3: A Tribe Called Quest – Get a Hold
MP3: A Tribe Called Quest – The Hop
Bonus Remix: A Tribe Called Quest – Stressed Out (Björk’s Say Dip Mix)
PS: One of my favorite CD singles was Tribe’s “Stressed Out” CD single. It included remixes from Raphael Saadiq and Bjork. One of the things I miss most about physical albums vs. MP3 downloads is bonus mixes you would find on CD singles and Cassingles (if you are younger than 20 you’re probably asking yourself what the hell is a Cassingle?). Cover art has also become a lost art in most respects. John and I have often talked about the the last breaths of album art when vinyl died, and then the final curtain after CDs were replaced by MP3s.
Download A Tribe Called Quest – Beats, Rhymes & Life here
Lost Classics: Percy Hill – Color In Bloom
Mar 15th
It’s a shame that so many bands exist, explode on the local scene, and eventually fade without ever reaching the general public. Makes one wonder about all the great music you can miss in your travels. Percy Hill was, and will always be one of my favorite live shows, and no matter how many times I play their self released album Color In Bloom it never gets tired or loses its energy and appeal like some of my other favorites from the late 90s and early 2000s have. I remember the first time a friend took me to a Percy Hill Show at the Paradise in Allston. I couldn’t believe my ears. Instantly lovable. Takes elements from so many of my favorites, at times I hear Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Paul Simon, George Benson. Jazz, soul, jam band, at times disco backbeats, perfection. These songs build and build until they overflow with energy and amazing hooks, and even the worst dancers in the world (ahem yours truly) can’t help but start moving their feet. As a DJ at a local bar I sometimes sneak in a Percy Hill tune. At times somebody comes up to shake my hand because they are so happy they heard it, but even if nobody knows who it is, they always enjoy it. It would be easy for Percy Hill to over-do it with the catchy hooks, but that’s the true magic of these compositions. They never over-do it. I’ve always hoped for a Percy Hill reunion tour so I can stop telling so many people what they missed out on.
Percy Hill was founded at UNH in the early 90s. They went through several lineup changes, but the one I came to know and love consisted of Aaron Katz on drums/vocals, John Leccese on bass, and original members Nate Wilson on keys, and Joe Farrell on guitars (I know he sings a few of my favorite songs not sure if he got writing credit). Color In Bloom won Percy Hill a Jammy Award in 2000.
Years later after Percy Hill had faded into the sunset I went to see the “Percy Hill Trio” at the Paradise Lounge. They replaced they keys with a harmonica. I took all my friends who I’d been annoying with Percy Hill stories to show them what they’d been missing. It wasn’t the Percy Hill I had come to know and love, but it was nice to see them again. I don’t know where all the members are current day. Aaron Katz has done some solo work, I think Nate Wilson toured with Assembly of Dust but I could be wrong. If I was anything but a lazy blogger I’d track them down for you.
I dare someone to listen to these songs and not like them. You’d have to be a soggy weather skunk to not like Percy Hill. Leave me a comment if you remember Percy Hill or have any updates on what they are up to these days.
Buy or download Color In Bloom at Amazon here
Percy Hill on Myspace
Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Feb 23rd
OK, it’s kind of cheating to file this under “Lost Classics”, Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea is regarded by many music fans as one of the most important indie/lo-fi/folk albums of all time. As a side note, it also happens to be one of Mrs. Giant Panther’s favorites of all time as well. Some may be turned off initially by the sound, but most will quickly realize what a jaw dropping experience it can be to listen to this album front to back.
Originally released in 1998, this album was way ahead of it’s time, and one could hear now just how many bands this album must have influenced, The Decemberists come to mind, Sufjan Stevens.
Not many can argue with the absolute beauty of this album, and the real trick is winning the beauty contest while being the ugliest contestant in the pageant. Most would not label band leader and mastermind behind NHM Jeff Magnum’s voice as one of the technically great of our generation. Some would even go so far as to label his voice something just short of “shouldn’t be singing”. But for others, this is one of the finely cut puzzle pieces that make this album a true masterpiece. I could go on all day about all the little nuances that make this album tick, the overdriven guitar that if misplaced, could go horribly wrong, or the musical saws in harmony, the horn sections, the list goes on and on.
Like most masterpieces, the creator himself would never be able to go back and do it again. That’s part of the magic, that brings a series of intentional moves, unplanned mistakes, and inspired improvisations together to form something near perfection. That’s not meant to discount the genius it took to make this album, the songwriting, especially the lyricism is pure genius.
There are songs on this album that strike a chord differently with every listener. For me, it’s “The King of Carrot Flowers”, leading into the title track “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”. It brings me back to when I was a young, only child, sitting under my favorite tree and asking so many questions, wondering what the hell I was here for, when were my parents going to split, what was happening to my grandparents, what happens when you die. Then to the first time I started learning about some of the things I had to look forward to between my time under my tree and my last few breaths, realizing these are the things that make up for the cruel fate I often dreaded. Like the face of the first girl you kiss, learning how amazing sex was, before we took it for granted, the time you realize you’re looking at the face of the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Realizing the only true way to enjoy life is not to look back or to look forward, but just to look at the exact moment your in and enjoy the hell out of it.
OK I’m starting to trail off, the beauty of this album is it does just that for so many, evokes for each listener a very specific memory or emotion, or new appreciation for the painful beauty of life.
If you’ve never heard this album, or maybe it’s been a few years since you sat down and just listened, I hope you enjoy as much as I do every time you put it on. I’ll leave you with my favorite line from the album.
“And one day we will die, and our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea. But for now we are young, let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see.”
MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel – The King Of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1
Album Review: Talking Heads – Speaking In Tongues
Dec 3rd
The great debate. What is the best Talking Heads album of all time? Everybody who loves music has one -- More Songs About Buildings and Food, Remain in Light, 77, Fear of Music, all classics to choose from. For me, it gets no better than 1983′s Speaking In Tongues. If you have never done it, take a cruise through the Talking Heads albums, first to last (feel free to stop around Little Creatures/True Stories if you are short on time). It’s quite a trip to listen to this band progress and shift styles from album to album, the changes are quite noticeable and dramatic. From their punk roots 77, slowly moving into funk influences with More Songs, pushing the barriers of modern production style with Remain in Light, and landing, at the end, towards what some consider more pop/radio friendly, and finally the world music influences that would shape much of band leader David Byrne’s later solo career.
Let me pause for station identification. John usually does the throwback writeups, and does a great job putting down in words what so many of us love about the questions music asks us. Where were you when you heard a song/album. Who were you kissing. What car were you driving. What was going on in with the world around you at the time this song was coming out of your radio and into your ears. What did they close with the first time you saw the band play live. It’s one of the truly great things about music, it’s like our sense of smell, it can always trigger an exact point in the catacombs of your mind, even if it’s buried in an area you were sure you had mostly killed off all but a few of the brain cells.
I’m at a slight disadvanage. When Talking Heads 77 came out, I was -2 years old. I can’t vouch for CBGBs. I tend to learn about bands through great friends like John, or by chance in my never ending quest to keep finding great music. Forgive me if I butcher history or speak out of turn! Someday I will be lecturing some young whipper snapper on how to properly discuss the merits of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic.
I still remember the first time I heard the Talking Heads, it blew my mind. I knew of them from obvious radio hits -- “Once in a Lifetime”, “Burning Down The House”, “And She Was”, but that was pretty much it. I have the local “classic rock” radio station and their 25 song set rotation to thank for that. Reminds me of a great argument John and I often have. I “hate” many songs, but there are two kinds of hate -- 1. I hate this song because it’s terrible, and 2. I hate this song because I’ve heard it five thousand times. But I didn’t know the real Talking Heads. I started with Remain in Light. Blew my mind. Brian Eno produced the album, it had a fresh, innovative sound, even for me, a listener who was hearing it for the first time probably 15 years after it was pressed to vinyl. Then I dug deeper… 77, More Songs (my runner up), Fear of Music. Before I knew it the Talking Heads had become my favorite band.
But for me, the true pinnacle and the best of the Talking Heads progression came with 1983′s Speaking In Tongues. Some may disagree, but for me this tops it. Making Flippy Floppy, Girlfriend is Better, Slippery People, unstoppable classics. Disjointed rhythms while simultaneously being extremely tight. Verses building tension that finally burst and spill into amazing hooks (see Making Flippy Floppy for example). And last but not least, literally my favorite song of all time, This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody). I will butcher any interpretation/analysis of this song, it just is what it is, the beauty of it is what you take from it. I will never tire of this song, every time I play it DJing it never fails to bring one like minded music lover up to the DJ station to thank me and tell me it’s their favorite song, yet I would wager the general public has never heard it. Raw, exposed, fragile, while still a driving force. This song kills me, so many unforgettable lines…. “Love me til my heart stops, love me til I’m dead”. Classic. There is a great live version of it on Stop Making Sense, which also happens to be in my opinion the greatest concert film of all time.
I loved Speaking In Tongues so much, I even bought the limited edition Robert Rauschenberg vinyl LP on ebay. I keep it displayed at my house and am too nervous to play it. It’s clear vinyl (though slightly yellow after all the years, with three rotating clear discs in the sleeve that change the image displayed on the record. I was lucky enough to catch David Byrne playing the music of Byrne and Eno live last year, what a great show. He was in an all white suit, still rocks and his voice is still perfect.
Drop us a comment, what’s your favorite Talking Heads album? It’s always great bar conversation because there are so many different answers.
MP3: Talking Heads -- Making Flippy Floppy
Alt Link YSI: Talking Heads -- Making Flippy Floppy
MP3: Talking Heads -- This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
Alt Link YSI: Talking Heads -- This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Download/Buy Speaking In Tongues
Added bonus: Check out Byrne on Letterman talking about this album, he looks insanely nervous. I love how Letterman struggles to get him to give more than one word answers. Best line on the words not making sense “Well they do, but not if you try and figure them out”
To read John Jay’s earlier post on this same band go here.
