Take it back a decade or three......

Have you ever heard a song, gone on to iTunes, Amazon, etc. to buy it and, to your surprise, found out that it was over 3 decades old?

That is what critics mean by "ahead of their time". Iggy Pop was ahead of his time. Case in point, Nightclubbing from the album The Idiot. The song oozes sexuality in an eerie way you can only relate to on a drug-induced night on the town at 3 in the morning. Slow, pulsating bass with a tempo associated with the walk of a prostitute on the seedy part of town backed with the ominous lyrics of Pop and a slow-waltzing piano. For Bowie fans, you'll hear the influence as this album was cowritten with Mr. Stardust in 1977.

Get a glass, fill it with hard liquor and sit back for a treat. It is the soundtrack to the the darkest parts of the human psyche when heading out for a night of hedonism with a tinge of eroticism.

Are you F*cking kidding me?

So I came across something truly spectacular today. It was an accident. I had already done my post for the week (LCD Soundsystem's Dance Yrself Clean ) when I happened across Sleigh Bells. And I mean, goddamn this group has something unique and intriguing. Upon further investigation the genre that seems to best describe them is Noise Pop; I guess I can go along with that.

The album is Treats and it has a high school cheer squad quality to it backed by driving bass beats and electric guitar; think Gwen Stefani's Holla Back Girl, but more of a punk feel with liberal amounts of distortion. Fuck Yeah, right? Right.

Check out Crown on the Ground, Infinity Guitars and the song I started with, Rill Rill. This shit is fucking Rock and Roll genius for the new generation: Emotion, intensity and genuine melodic goodness.

Take it to 11........

A different kind of therapy..........

LCD Soundsystem has been around for some time now making considerable contributions to underground electronic pop music. I first heard the song "Daft Punk is Playing at My House" and liked it instantly. But as I researched the band and explored more of their material I found that one of the reasons I liked them so much is that their style, while incredibly likeable, is so erratic. As many bands are crossing over into different genres (and have been for years) you'll find LCD SS going from 80's New Wave inspired tracks to Punk, Disco and all out electronic. And there is that discernable similarity to David Byrne's Talking Heads when listening to tracks like Losing My Edge or even to a larger degree, today's entry.

My track of choice to rave about is Dance Yrself Clean from the new album This Is Happening. You can't help but love this track. It is an absolute celebration of all that is electronic pop music. It is long and gratuitous, just the way good electro should be. At 3:06 into the jam it really comes alive. A post on youtube for the track had someone describe the moment as "a cumshot from Jesus Christ himself". Errr, ummm, yeah. While disturbing on several levels I have to say it's hard to disagree with the observation. Like the Music Genome Project (think Pandora) has proven, there is a formula that causes different musical arrangements to affect people the way it does and LCD Soundsystem has tapped into the feel good aspect of it all.

Put it on, open the curtains and let the neighbors see you dance to it. They'll be so pissed your in such a great mood.

............and turn it up to 11.

Blues Pt. 2

So I've decided to do another post regarding Blues music. Get over it, it's where I'm at right now............

Warren Zevon didn't get much recognition from mainstream radio other than Werewolves of London; and that song surely ain't bad. But it's more of a song with tongue-in-cheek repartee and obvious satire; long considered a genuine good-time bar song.

But Zevon had a cynical side allowing him a view of life and situations that most people don't care to talk much about, much less express in song. Come to think of it, not much wonder why Top 40 radio didn't pick up a lot of his solo work for rotation. Now, there are plenty of artists that express their take on the darker side of life but few do it in such a macabre manner as Zevon.

Case in point, My Shit's Fucked Up.

Now, before you say "Thanks, but no thanks." and click away, just try it. It's a very poignant and genuine look at the deterioration that happens to your body along the way in life. Ironically, this song was available on the album Life'll Kill Ya, released in 2000 a full 2 years before being diagnosed with Cancer. Yeah, two years.

Maybe you won't appreciate it where you're at in life right now, but there will come a day where inevitably, you will.

First Post - The Blues

I guess it's time to kick this blog off....or something to that effect.

I was hesitant to begin, in part because I have a tendency not to finish nearly anything I start. You name it - I quit it; school, relationships, jobs, etc. I've quit everything except being a quitter. Goddamnit.

So how fitting that the first (only?) post has to do with the Blues genre. Every good quitter/loser/underdog needs to embrace the Blues. I, myself never really embraced Blues as a genre; I've liked several songs from Clapton to John Lee Hooker but never really got it until I got a little older and had enough (bad) experiences to appreciate the Blues sound. Let me just state for the record that I love the Blues. I seek it out when I have the time. They are a good and necessary thing from time to time; and when that time comes you need the right music to get you through.

Enter Perry Keyes.

I am writing this as I listen to his album The Last Ghost Train Home for the first time. The song In Ancient Rome caught my ear on the Showtime series Californication (not enough time to discuss how much or why I like this series). His style is reminiscent of Warren Zevon or Tom Petty and very easy to listen to. It leans more to the Rock side of the Blues which I personally like.

Put it in, lay back and have a beer, a cry or just a great night wrapped in a cathartic blanket of warmth that is...... The Blues.