December 24, 2004: Utopia Burns

Sorry for the interrupted service yesterday. Please check below for what was supposed to be the post: a collection of the best mash-ups of 2004.

Have a happy holiday all, we’ll see you back here on January 3rd with more tunes and commentary.

The genre’s been around for years, but 2004 feels like the year that the mashup really became a common part of the music world. The year started with Danger Mouse’s heavily-circulated Jay-Z meets the Beatles work, The Grey Album; continued with London Booted, a 25th Anniversary tribute to the Clash’s London Calling; and closed down with the Kleptone’s take on Queen and rap, A Night at the Hip Hopera. Here are three of my favorite discoveries from the past year.

Aldo� I’m Sorry Mr. Smith, [OutKast v. The Cure]

This song reveals the artistry possible in a mashup. Aldo uses each song to pull further meaning out of the other. “Lullaby” suddenly gets a layer of remorse, turning the spiderman into a sleepless night’s knives of guilt. OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson” had that feeling to start with, but the Cure music adds a new level of seriousness to it. After too many listens to The Love Below, it’s hard to get back to the earnestness present in this song. In blending these tracks, Aldo makes a new statement on guilt, seeking to be both honest and frightening.

Lazy Tramp� Happy Birthday Jealous Lover, [The Beatles v. the Rapture v. the Cardigans]

“Happy Birthday Jealous Lover” is mashup as novelty act. It’s a great canonical hook, filled out by an recent indie fave’s screaming. The resulting music is ridiculous, and very fun, and that’s part of what mashups should be doing�the DJ version of a Weird Al show. What you might miss amid the silliness is the clever use of the Cardigans’ “Lovefool.” Lazy Tramp has fit the group’s harmonies in perfectly where you’d expect the Beatles to do their parts. It’s as tight a fit as I’ve heard, and quite suprising given the general feel of the song.

TiM G� Voodoo Problems, [Jay-Z v. Jimi Hendrix]

This track lies somewhere between the first two. It’s definitely meant to be fun, but it succeeds as more than a novelty. Using Jay-Z’s yelps in place of Hendrix’s guitar chunks in the opening riff sets up the song as a goofy little ditty, but the original “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” guitar is too powerful to be a throway. TiM G (unlike in the Danger Mouse version) has left in most of Rick Rubin’s production from “99 Problems,” putting this piece into overdrive. With Jay-Z and Jimi taking turns on great vocal sets, the song gets carried away until the solo guitar sounds fresh again. Here the mashup’s success stems not from art (though it’s artfully made) so much as from guts, but with the intensity kept in check by a high level of fun.

Chris Smith is a sometimes-contributor to Stylus Magazine, but not nearly often enough for management’s tastes.

Final Exam, MUSC 3090: “Ethnomusicological Perspectives in Contemporary
Anti-Hegemonic Discourse: International Hardcore”

Well, class, it’s been a great semester and I want you all to know I enjoyed teaching our little seminar as much as you enjoyed coming to class. I’ll never forget our field trip to the DSB show at ABC No Rio, as well as our stimulating and contentious in-class discussions on the Marxist/New Leftist implications of colored vinyl. Choose one of the following essay questions and answer it to the best of your ability after downloading the song (no plagiarism from back issues of MRR, please!). Please use Times New Roman, font size 12, double-spacing. You can slip the completed final under my office door, but I will warn you that the toilet is leaky and has destroyed papers in the past. Perhaps it would be best to visit me at my usual office hours held at the Philadelphia Record Exchange, second floor, or the kosher vegan Chinese place next door. Thanks, and happy holidays!

G.I.S.M.� Endless Blockades for the Pussyfooter, [Detestation]

We have here a mid-eighties nugget of Japanese thrash that veers into the low-budget trash psychedelia vein also mined by guitar-effects-happy oddballs like Confuse. Consider its status as a warped reconstruction of the western slag-metal (itself a reconstruction haunted by ’70s hard rock) of later Black Flag. What do you think of the implications of its Maiden-esque dueling lead guitars, given the degree to which they dominated the band’s later work? Is this an earnest homage or a parodic commentary on the degree to which Japan (cf. Gauze’s lyrics “Distort to Japan”: “Good at war / Good at losing war!”) is perceived by the West as copyists of our pop-culture, our exported top-ten glam metal? For that matter, do you see Sakevi’s grunted, deranged English vocals as imitative of the Rollins/Negative Approach school of male angst or their own unique construction? What would Walter Benjamin make of the seemingly off-the-cuff remarks that periodically appear in the vocal performance, akin to an artist’s foregrounding of the visual text as palimpsest?

[visit an unofficial website here, buy G.I.S.M. stuff here]

Anti-Cimex� Victims of a Bomb Raid, [Made in Sweden]

Recall our earlier unit on thrash and D-Beat, the school of anti-war peace punk that dominated the early eighties and is currently again quite chic in hardcore thrash-revivalist circles who felt alienated once emo dominated the marketplace after the demise of power-violence. D-Beat’s musical blueprint is found in the galloping doop-chick-doop-dap beats of Discharge and Motorhead, and Anti-Cimex’s Swedish take on the “Realities of War” formula is no exception. But consider the way they have built on the foundation of the brisk percussive crush and brash lyrical depictions of charred remains: what does the queasy yet triumphant chord progression say to you, as a listener? What commentary is offered here on the political responsibility of the artist and its output qua the gold standard of art? Is the uplifting yet crushing musical attack depicted here altogether appropriate to its subject matter? Is some ambivalence on display here or is imperialist violence as endless artistic font being celebrated in a similar manner to what Terry Eagleton would say about postmodernism’s stance on hydrahead capitalism? How do you feel about these comments in light of a statement from our next band’s leader, Martin of Los Crudos, that moshing insults oppressed Third World peoples who do not have the privilege to do so? (To say nothing of its response, that the moshers are doing it in their honor?)

[get some more information here, buy Anti-Cimex stuff here]

Los Crudos� 500 Anos, [Discografia]

You may choose a topic of your liking to respond to this song; think of this as the “free writing” option. Please, though, avoid reference to personal experiences as the white object of “reverse descrimination [sic],” your ultimate disgust with the Kerry campaign, your love of music since birth, this 1992 track’s status as celebration of America’s discovery (I think its meaning is obvious to us all, less of which could be said of other songs on this band’s 72-track discography cassette), your inability to understand the language the lyrics are spoken in, and, most importantly of all, to Jimi Hendrix’s recontextualization of the national anthem in discussing this slice of thrash, which bears, in my mind, more of a direct relationship to the skull-cracking assault of early Born Against, before they got entangled in their own self-destructive ambivalence of belief. For additional reference that may prove helpful, see Los Crudos’ Mexican tour diary, “Error” 102, 1995.

[read an interview with the band here, buy Los Crudos stuff here]

31 and still adoring music? Why not try growing the fuck up. Even with mortgages, qualifications, conversational skills, real life sexual partners and your own roller blinds it can be difficult to persuade a lot of other grown ups that you are missing something in your mind. Why can�t I enjoy using my Dyson and salivate over ludicrously priced Nurse with Wound LPs on Ebay? Still unable to kick the habit and officially in my 30s (first single bought Monkey theme TV tune, last CD bought The Holy Bible reissue), here are three songs that make me feel good, young and old. If you though 21 to 24 went fast, wait till you get to 28.

Fatima Mansions� Angels Delight, [Viva Dead Ponies]

Opening your second album with a song about killing authority figures (�I got a word for you: dead�), specifically Cops in 1990 took a fair pair of balls even for a man as angry as lead singer Cathal Coughlan. Swerving between warmly crooned verses and spitting bellowing choruses filled with just coherent hate. The sound of such intense anger in a man old enough to know right from testosterone still beats the shit out of your top o�the NME download charts unruly tearaways. That kind of rowdy swing your guitar around like an At the Drive-In gig aimless fury or energizer Bunny style de la Rocha antics is for the kids.

[visit an unofficial website here, buy Viva Dead Ponies here]

Silverginger5� Sonic Shake, [Black Leather Mojo]

Speaking of kids, this tracks features an awesome chorus of shouting snotty nosed kids. Hard to really go wrong with that kind of chorus especially as the rest of the lyrics features a cast of youthful of burnouts, freaks and loons. A much ignored Wildhearts side-project of bouncy chunky glam rock which places melody and riffs over posturing (although they have been known to set off a few pyros) for this opener from their hard to find album. Energetic shout-along fun without being McFly; you don�t need to take the hoodie, gel and trainers option to get your rock on.

[buy Black Leather Mojo here]

Adem� These Are Your Friends, [These Are Your Friends EP]

This is more like it, a nice piece of spindly but affectionate folksy stuff to chill with. Sit back with your memories, longings, regrets and unspoken lumps in your chest with something musically reminiscent of some of those incredible acoustic Pumpkins outings. Filling out as it progresses with percussive touches, plucking strings and bells. Moving steadily along the song picks up sounds and instruments as it moves, keeping some discarding others. �With a Little Help from my Friends� without the friends, �All You Need is Love� looking for love.

[visit Adem�s website here, buy These Are Your Friends EP here]

Stylus contributor Nirav Soni claimed that �there�s a great pleasure in getting all wrapped up in� Daniel Menche�s Skadha. And it�s to clear why when listening to nearly any of Menche�s enveloping noise releases. Menche�s brand of noise is a varied one: he�s just as likely to pummel as he is to crush. But what does he listen to for pleasure? Stylus decided to find out.

Roosevelt Charles� Let My People Go, [Angola Prison Spirituals]

Whooaa! That voice! HOLY MOSES! Did the earth crack open and started to speak? Or is it Roosevelt Charles. What an amazing deep voice. Very little is known about this poor soul singing while in prison and recorded sometime in the 50s. Not even sure what got him in prison but Oh Lordy what emotion within that voice. This is the voice of total isolation. This song is from the Angola Prison recordings and I do highly recommend all of these recordings. It doesn’t get any heavier than this, folks.

Recommended environment to listen to this: Lying on your back in a open grass field and gazing into the sky.

[visit Arhoolie Records� website here, buy Angola Prison Spirituals here]

Geinoh Yamashirogumi� Shoumyou, [Symphonic Suite AKIRA]

There are two different soundtracks to this film available but this symphonic suite version has rarely been heard and it�s the only version I can recommend. There’s a lot of very strange vocal sounds and arrangements on the entire recording that build up into a epic sound storm. This track is a good example of that, but the rest of the album is amazing as well. The recording production must have been massive, I would love to see making of this recording.

Recommended environment while listening to this: Walking and running up a
long flight of stairs.

[buy Symphonic Suite AKIRA here]

Cliff Burton� (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth, [Kill �Em All]

“Cliff Burton bass solo take one” Amazing! there wasn’t a take 2 or take 3. It was just fucking perfect the first time. This track is from the Kill �Em All album. And it does just kill.

Recommended environment while listening to this: A perfect iPod track to listen to while walking the streets at night giving strangers the thousand mile stare. Try it and maybe you’ll feel bad-ass-evil as Cliff was (Just don’t air guitar to it in public�tempting yes, but not very evil looking).

[buy Kill �Em All here]

Todd Burns and Michael F. Gill- Kompakt (The Year In Review), [Utopia Burns]

In our continuing series of podcasts on Friday, today we bring a slight twist on the format that we�ve presented so far. Stylus writer Michael F. Gill and I worked out the technical difficulties of recording off the phone and had an hour plus long coversation about one of our favorite record labels of the year. As one of our first conversations ever, I think it went pretty well after the first few minutes of general nervousness, etc., although my heavy breathing is kind of annoying (perhaps only to my sensitive ears).

Michael was kind enough to play DJ, providing samples from each and every release that the label put out this year and we both weighed in. While I think Michael and I would both agree that this wasn�t the best year in the label�s history, the sheer breadth of material released and quality maintained made it a worthy subject of discussion. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

[visit and buy things from Kompakt�s website here]

The object of ridicule for many years among the percussion-minded community and often something they give the singer (or some attractive female) to play so they feel like they are part of the band (as opposed to the token focal point and/or simply the one of the gang who can’t play a proper instrument), the tambourine has long been neglected as a true icon of sound. Well, I come to correct the many years of music snobs looking down their noses at it. I am here to elevate it to its proper place by sharing three of my favorite tambourine-driven tracks, though there are many more to choose from (feel free to use the comment section to share some of your own�you know you have one!) They might not be explicitly written for the tambourine, but the fabled circle of wood with the finger cymbals sewn in are integral pieces of each one nonetheless. Respect is due, as they say…

A Certain Ratio� Do the Du

Classic early Factory single wherein these funky white boys from Manchester really get their punk-funk groove on in earnest. The track is almost entirely rhythm, with the slashing guitar figure to the propulsive snare sound and the thundering bass all locked in place and swinging like a mother. But it’s that relentlessly shimmering tambourine that really keeps it all in constant motion. In a perfect world, this track would have been twice as long and contained a really sinister sounding analogue synth solo at the end, but it is damn near perfect as it is. Fun activity: play this really loud, close your eyes, and see which part of your body starts to involuntarily move first. For me, it is usually my head, nodding in time to that tambourine.

[visit A Certain Ratio�s website here, buy A Certain Ratio music here, read Todd Hutlock�s Stylus review of Sextet here]

Billy Bragg� Levi Stubbs� Tears, [Talking With The Taxman About Poetry]

For those of you unfamiliar with Billy Bragg’s early career, the first minute or so of this track (from his third album, Talking With The Taxman About Poetry) is pretty much what it sounded like�Billy, his accent and his amplified guitar. So when the tambourine break in the middle of this track breaks the mold, the effect was truly staggering to those used to hearing the same musical palate from song to song for a few years at that point. It was as if Billy’s charming little black and white world suddenly exploded into Technicolor. Followed by a stunning trumpet solo and even some bongos, “Levi Stubbs’ Tears” brought Bragg that much closer to embracing technology.

For those of you unfamiliar with Levi Stubbs, he was the lead singer of the Four Tops, whose music the tragic housewife in the story turns to for comfort and solace. Extra synchronicity points to Bragg for dropping the very Motown-sounding tambourine break behind the lines about Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and Holland/Dozier/Holland as well. Still gives me chills all these years later.

[visit Billy Bragg�s website here, buy Talking With The Taxman About Poetry here, read Colin Beckett�s Stylus review of Bragg�s England, Half English here]

Gary Numan� Cars, [The Pleasure Principle]

Come on, there’s even a giant superimposed tambourine in the video! I love the fact that this track (which was all super-futuristic and Brave New World at the time, mind you) still manages to get a good old fashioned tambourine break in there. It’s timeless!

[visit Gary Numan�s website here, buy The Pleasure Principle here]

BORROWED NOSTALGIA FROM AN UNREMEMBERED ’80s

Jason Pettigrew is Editor In Chief at Alternative Press magazine, which will be celebrating its 20th birthday this summer. He firmly believes the Duke Ellington/Kurt Weill tenet that there are only two types of music (�good and bad�), and frequently daydreams that Rough Trade will open an �ber-store near his Cleveland home. His two Oriental Shorthair cats are down with his taste in music; his wife and his Shetland Sheepdog are not.

The Screaming Blue Messiahs� Good and Gone, [Good and Gone EP]

I have fond memories of seeing Screaming Blue Messiahs guitarist Bill Carter conduct himself like a hybrid mutant of classic British six-string abuser Wilko Johnson (who vertically karate-chopped his strings in lieu of actual strumming) and freakish wrestler George “The Animal” Steele (who liked to chew up turnbuckles in the ring). While shored up by bassist Chris Thompson and tireeless drummer Kenny Harris, Carter would beat the living shit out of his collection of Telecasters, as well as himself (I once saw him slice his thumb meat on an A-string at a gig), while spitting out crazy non sequiturs, seemingly one step ahead of state hospital orderlies. The Messiahs� stock-in-trade was delivering a brand of jagged, chewed-up roots rock, spat back in the face of Americans over the course of three albums on Elektra. Their unhinged ferocity is the biggest reason why I�ve never cared for much of anything in the vein of insurgent country/y�allternative, or whatever they�re calling it in NYC and Nashville these days. (I do know that NO DEPRESSION magazine majordomo Grant Alden is a huge SBM fan.) This track, from their UK-only 1984 debut mini-LP of the same name, is a blast of angular, pub-rockin� roots fury, approximating the Gun Club jamming with Captain Beefheart and Gang Of Four�s Andy Gill in one of those wide, gurney-accommodating hospital elevators. To slightly paraphrase Jim Thirlwell: if you�re gonna get down, get down and prey�

[visit The Screaming Blue Messiah�s website here, buy Screaming Blue Messiahs music here]

World Domination Enterprises� Look Out Jack, [Let�s Play Domination]

Much like the late Lester Bangs owned multiple copies of Raw Power, I pathologically hoard World Domination Enterprises� 1988 debut, Let�s Play Domination (14, since you asked). WDE were a British trio made up of Digger Metters� a furious yet exasperatingly precise drummer; Steve Jameson, a 20,000-leagues-under-the-sea bassist (the kind of tone that would make Jah Wobble put on a necktie and kick the chair); and singer/guitarist Keith Dobson, whose idiosyncratic playing was in �D�: as in detuned, deranged and ready for defenestration. Legend has it that Dobson used an old drawer handle wound with copper for a pickup on his battered guitar in order to get that one-of-a-kind, ear-stabbing tone. WDE�s blip on the radar came via their first single, “Asbestos Lead Asbestos”, which you can hear on the Rough Trade shop�s 2003 Post Punk box set. I�ve chosen “Look Out Jack” from their debut, because it epitomizes everything I love in music: velocity, acceleration and straight-up fucking noise. If anybody reading this knows the whereabouts of the members of WDE, please notify Captain Hutlock at Stylus, so he may hand the info off to me. And if you have a version of their live video, Love From Lead City, well, we really need to talk. I ask that everyone else listen to this and ponder why anybody would ever need a Shellac album.

[visit The Trouser Press entry for the band here, buy World Domination Enterprises music here]

The Three Johns� Never and Always

I know, I know, it�s close to eight minutes long, but why else would you get DSL? (Besides, the other two tracks were less than two minutes each.) The Three Johns were a fixture in Britain�s indie scene in the mid to late �80s, dealing in twisted guitar tones, acerbic wit, wry political observations and a drummer slightly better than the ones in the Sisters Of Mercy and Big Black. This Adrian Sherwood-produced 12-inch single (from 1987, I think) lies in the area of a Venn Diagram that incorporates hipster college rock, antisocial guitar attacks (cf. early discographies of Touch And Go, Amphetamine Reptile) and full-on death disco. The kick drum pounds you in the chest, the guitars bite like a school of snakeheads, and Jon Hyatt�s vocals sound like a drunken poli-sci student pissed out of his mind, yet somehow sounding remarkably strident. The jarring tape murder at the end clinches the whole deal for me. One of the Johns, Mekons CEO Jon Langford, has launched a new Internet-only label, Buried Treasure. Tell him he really needs to reissue this track, ASAP, because you deserve better than the Rapture.

[visit The Trouser Press entry for the band here, buy The Three Johns music here]

At the end of last year, Stylus’ UK Top 40 round-up got a main article all of its own to get embarrassingly incoherent about its favourite singles of 2003. In anticipation of the 2004 edition of this article (worldwide premiere December 27th, book now to avoid disappointment), here’s a handful of songs that should have featured in the 2003 list, yet for one reason or another� didn’t.

Blondie� Good Boys, [charted at #12, 12th October 2003]

Blondie had another little comeback last year but it got ignored for some reason: perhaps because it was only after a four-year absence, or perhaps because people remembered how dredge �Maria� was. In any case, they really shouldn’t have ended up sounding quite this good. Debbie Harry’s voice has aged wonderfully, still sounding every inch the queen bee as she out-sarkies even That McKay Girl: “What a pity for you�” She’s surrounded by big, sheeny American synth music that’s not only not embarrassing, but actually quite good. It’s all about Debbie Harry still being the coolest, though, not trading on the past glories but rather embellishing them. People still have posters of this woman
on their walls, and they’re going to for a very long time to come.

[visit Blondie�s website here, buy The Curse of Blondie here, read Dom Passantino�s Stylus review of The Curse of Blondie here]

Saffron Hill ft. Ben Onono� My Love Is Always, [charted at #28, 5th May 2003]

I consciously chose not to include this one, and I have no idea why. Because I thought 57 was a nice number? God knows. This would have been a lot higher than #58, though. It’s a peculiarly ethereal thumping house track, bassline low and pumping, snares on the top, all fairly so-so, but it’s the vocals that make it all work. Ben Onono’s voice just sounds� weird. In a very lovely way. Incredibly high-pitched but not squeaky, not quite dreamy either, but very unique�I’d swear it had been filtered to bits, but something suggests otherwise. It’s a big, cosseting, warm song, loving and giving and yet quite banging at the same time.

[visit Saffron Hill�s discogs page here, buy �My Love Is Always� here]

Carina Round� Into My Blood, [did not chart, released 29th September 2003]

�Into My Blood� is the sound of things smashing into walls that really, really shouldn’t be. The song flails and writhes all over everywhere, and yet somehow her voice manages to outdo it. You have the feeling you won’t like where she’s heading but are somehow irresistibly drawn there, the energy such that you can’t help it, as she howls, wails and screams, guitars thrash about, a piano has a very loud nervous disintegration, and there’s this nagging voice going “LALALALALALALALALA” as the drums lurch towards you, but somehow you just cannot take your eyes off her� I’ve just realised why I’m not that bothered by �What You Waiting For?� This got there first.

[visit Carina Round�s website here, buy The Disconnection here]

Jeremy deVine is the owner/operator of Temporary Residence Ltd.. While the label began as strictly a post-rock label, lately it has branched out to a variety of different sounds, including hip-hop (Cex) and metal (Nightfist). That being said, the label�s reputation has been built on acts such as Explosions in the Sky, Tarentel and Eluvium; each known for their expansion of the definition of the post-rock genre. The label will go into self-imposed exile during the opening months of 2005, but there are good things on the horizon: watch out for the newest album by The Anomoanon (out now), a new LP from Eluvium and EPs from Howard Hello, Parlour and Tarentel coming in 2005. Oh, and don�t forget Jeremy�s musical exploits in Sonna. Without further ado:

ISIS� Wills Dissolve, [Panopticon]

There was a point a few years back where I more or less had the opportunity to sign this band, but ultimately they decided they might be too metal for Temporary Residence Ltd, and I foolishly agreed. Now I spend every day listening to their new album and wishing it had our logo on the back so bad. I also just saw them for the first time live and haven’t been that transfixed since seeing Joanna Newsom. This track bears a pretty striking resemblance to more recent Tool, which is a very good thing if you like your metal pretty, progressive and powerful. If these guys make a better album than this, I’m gonna drown in my own sea of regret.

[visit ISIS� website here, buy Panopticon here]

BARR� Untitled

Elementally I shouldn’t really enjoy BARR as much as I do. Somewhere between the first listen and the second I went from liking it because it’s my friend Brendan to loving it because it’s the most unique shit I’ve heard all year. Pointed, rambling motivational speeches that occasionally rhyme, backed with lop-sided live drum samples and cheap keyboard chimes. If this was really hi-fi it would be too goofy and if it was no-fi, it would be annoying. As it is it sounds like accidental awesome-ness, but it’s very intentional.

[visit BARR�s website here, buy What Would The Second BARR here]

Eminem� Like Toy Soldiers, [Encore]

On his last album, Eminem jumped into the rock-rap co-op with a slightly flawed but ultimately successful marriage with Aerosmith’s singular masterpiece, “Dream On.” This time around he flirts with disaster by appropriating the all-but-forgotten one-hit wonder “Toy Soldiers” by Martika. Truthfully I don’t even remember this song, but I suspect Eminem’s use of it infuses a dark, thoughtful tone likely missing from the original. In spite of the song waving a white flag to call for peace between bitterly opposing crews, the unspooling lyrical delivery dances in a kind of escalating euphoria where many similarly-paced tracks fall flat. It’s triumphant, smart and very addictive. This is why he’s the biggest pop star in the world for yet another year.

[visit Eminem�s website here, buy Encore here]