Here are six mostly stream-of-consciousness song reviews culled from the depths of my iTunes playlist. And to make it even better, these songs are all available on iTunes, so in case you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, go download 'em, why don't you? Or you could just go steal them from somewhere. Whichever works best for you.
The Black Heart Procession - "Only One Way"
This track opens with a simple drum beat, quickly augmented by a slightly out-of-phase guitar line. When the second guitar joins in, the song kicks into full gear, launching straight into the song's chorus without even a first verse to bog us down! This song chugs along nicely for a good three minutes. Vocalist Pall Jenkins sounds a bit like Sting, I think. The guitar riffs here are wonderful as well, providing some nice muscle to this rocker. A nice departure from the band's generally mopey sound.
Moment of Truth: I don't know what to call this bit compositionally, but it sounds really cool, and it's not a verse or a chorus or a bridge, I don't think. Post-chorus, maybe? Whatever, I like the guitar stabs. (1:13-1:21, it happens two more times, too, I think, but the first one is the coolest and most unadulterated moment of rock)
Broken Social Scene - "Cause = Time"
Five minutes and thirty seconds of pure musical bliss. The lyrics make absolutely no sense, as far as I can tell, but does it really matter? They sound good, and really when it comes down to it that's probably all that matters. And the instrumental sections are fabulous. The slightly overdriven bass riff creates a wonderfully driving and powerful feeling. And there's even a sweet violin solo! And did I mention the lyrics really don't make all too much sense. But it doesn't matter, because the phrase "fornication crimes" just sounds damn cool. At least I think that's what he's singing about.
Moment of Truth: The fucking violin solo, duh. (2:26-2:52)
British Sea Power - "The Lonely"
The vocals are a little Bowie-esque. In fact, they sound a lot like David Bowie. But don't worry, this song is most certainly not some Bowie clone. The arrangements are creative and original and frankly don't sound derivative of anything I can think of, although I'm sure they're derivative of something, everything is, right? Okay, so maybe there are a few Joy Division/Echo and the Bunnymen influences, but this band is recycling them into something new and exciting! I haven't really put too much thought into these lyrics, but when vocalist Yan sings "I will return to haunt you with peculiar piano riffs" in his Bowie-esque quiver, you can't help but think that these guys are great. This one is a bit of a rocker, but it's also beautifully melodic and sonically interesting. There is a lot more going on here than you might think upon first listen.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
very nice Bryan, very good idea and execution
2 - Bryan McKay
Thanks, I wrote it rather late last night and only briefly edited it this morning, so I was worried my ranting might have been a little incoherent!
3 - Distorted Angel
Your ranting is pretty much always incoherent, Bry :-)
4 - Eric Olsen
maternal love is the most unconditional of all
5 - Mark Edward Manning
Re: the Police's "Behind My Camel." I always wondered how those guys could come up with a "song" like this too. Eventually, I grew to like the song, accepted it as inevitable, packaged between "De Do Do Do ..." and "Man in a Suitcase" as it was. And the drumming is terrific. Maybe Copeland doesn't do a fill anywhere on it, but there is a point, just before the song enters its third phase, where he goes, "TWACK...TWACK...TWACK!" on the snare. Magic. But the song does seem rather pointless as it isn't livened up by pace or chord change or even a decent ending.
6 - Bryan McKay
The little "TWACK...TWACK...TWACK!" part is pretty cool. I think as far as his drumming goes, he plays a pretty mean (if simple) hi-hat pattern here as well. It sounds almost like a reggae beat to me. I think perhaps the most inspired part of the song is derived from Sting's most uncreative bassline ever. Man, does he really kill those two notes. Plodding aimlessly across the song, he manages to sound more like a series of very regular, slightly musical farts as opposed to a bass guitar.