thevoid99's Life Top Ten List: May 2003May 31 '03 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line The top ten things in music that shaped thevoid99's life for the month of May. Another month is coming to an end. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really a lot of new music to find in May of this year, which is why after three out of four reviews released for Kristinafh’s May Music Madness W/O; I decided to throw in the towel on that W/O. I’ve become too cautious lately and decided to focus my attention to a new monthly list that I plan to do at the end of every month. Inspired by Greil Marcus’ book that I recently reviewed, I decided to make my very own life top ten list. This list is basically ten favorite things that happened in pop music including singles, albums, old songs, and music videos. Being a music advisor and top reviewer for some time now, I decided it’s time to reveal my loves in the form of a top ten list. Here is the list right now. 1. The Stone Roses-Turn Into Stone With my current obsession about this great late 80s/early 90s Brit-pop band, I have immediately fell in love with the band’s B-sides from 1988 to 1990 at a time when they really did rule Britain. “Turn Into Stone” is probably one of the best B-sides, rarities collection ever assembled in the past fifteen years with other notable albums like Nirvana’s “Insecticide” and Oasis’ “The Masterplan”. My current favorites from “Turn Into Stone” is “Standing Here” with its great, Zeppelin-guitar opening solo by John Squire, the melodic-jangle of “Mersey Paradise”, and the seven-minute, infectious non-LP single for “One Love” with its propelling drumbeats from Reni. I even posted a black-white picture of John Squire from the “One Love” video shoot as my profile picture just to promote my upcoming review of the band’s 1994 sophomore disaster, “Second Coming”. Squire, who looks like a young Jeff Beck, looks very cool and that picture is priceless, and his paintings are cool too. Turn Into Stone: http://www.epinions.com/content_99081752196 2. Leonard Cohen-“I’m Your Man” After seeing the movie “Secretary”, the Cohen song for “I’m Your Man”, from the 1988 album of the same name, has now become a sexual masterpiece. The scene where Maggie Gyllenhaal crawls on all fours carrying a file with her mouth, being cuffed on S&M gadgets, and getting spanked relentlessly by James Spader gives the song some creepy yet arousing sexual vibes. The swooning, eerie synthesizers, smooth hi-hat cymbal rhythms, and Cohen’s growling vocals is the centerpiece to sexual vibe of “Secretary” as it makes Leonard Cohen more of a legend than he already has. If I ever meet Maggie Gyllenhaal and play that song, I wonder if she would give me a spanking. That would be nice. Secretary: http://www.epinions.com/content_101047570052 Leonard Cohen-The More Best of: http://www.epinions.com/content_62413442692 3. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Fever To Tell Although the sequencing on the last third of the album is its biggest flaw, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs full-length debut is still one of the most exciting records of the year. With great songs like “Y Control”, “Tick”, “Black Tongue”, “Date With The Night” and “Maps”, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are sure to become one of the year’s best new bands. While the drumming power of Brian Chase and the vibrato guitar work of Nick Zinner are amazing, it’s Karen O that’s the star of the band. Her arousing vocals and raw, sexual performance that amazes, as she will become the new rock goddess of the year. The only thing left for me to do now is get the band’s two EPs from last year and if the album is excellent, then the EPs must have some brilliance as well. Fever To Tell: http://www.epinions.com/content_98296761988 4. Queens of the Stone Age-“Go With The Flow” video There hasn’t been a lot of exciting music videos this year but don’t tell that to Queens of the Stone Age. Their video for “Go With The Flow” that is directed by the British animation team Shynola (also responsible for the Radiohead video for “Pyramid Song”) is one trippy, colorful video filled with mind-blowing images. The band featuring Mark Lanegan and new drummer Joey Castillo driving Josh Hommes, Nick Oliveri, and Troy Van Leuwenn in the desert all painted up like cartoons as they go head to head against a truck driven by two clowns. The video also features a chick dancing around, waving her hair in this trippy, psychedelic scene as she squirts motor oil on herself as Hommes starts to get it on with her. This is already, the second best video of the year, next to Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” video. Queens of the Stone Age-Songs for the Deaf: http://www.epinions.com/content_78388301444 5. Deftones-“Minerva” With nu-metal in decline and people already complaining about how weak the new Staind album is, it is very clear that nu-metal is on its way out. Deftones seem more likely to stay but don’t call them a nu-metal band. The band is already too smart to repeat themselves and go into some trendy mold. The song “Minerva” seems like a new step for the group as singer Chino Moreno sings with more melody and emotions supported by the sonic, stratospheric guitar work of Abe Cunningham whose guitar playing harkens back to the guitar-rock sounds of Nine Inch Nails’ “The Fragile” and My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless”. The sonic production for “Minerva” is brilliant and if the band continues to bring out more of that sonic sound in the future, they’ll be great for life. 6. Led Zeppelin-“Over The Hills & Far Away” (live) A long time ago, someone said that if there was one act that ruled the 70s, it was John Denver. Well, personally, I think that’s bullsh*t. The real star of the 70s wasn’t a man, it was a band and they were called Led Zeppelin. What the Beatles were in the 1960s, Zeppelin was to the 70s and they’re still one of the top 5 greatest bands of all-time with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and the Ramones. Now someone couldn’t think Zeppelin couldn’t make more surprises. Boy, were they wrong. After hearing the new live version of “Over The Hills & Far Away” from the upcoming “How The West was Won” live album recorded in 1972-1973, f*ck, it was loud as hell and brilliant. Robert Plant hits the high notes with his wailing vocals, Jimmy Page’s guitar was loud and blistering supported by John Paul Jones’ thumping bass lines and the visceral drum fills of the late John Bohnam. It’s even better than the studio version and the sound quality blows away the 1976 live album for “The Song Remains the Same”. I plan to buy it later along with the DVD; it’s one live collection any fan of hard rock must own. 7. Radiohead-“There There” video The best band in the world is ready to return with a new album titled “Hail to the Thief”. While fans did download demos to the album more than a month before it’s coming out, the demos did get Radiohead fans excited about the new album. Already, the new single for “There There” has been released along with a brilliant video directed by Chris Hopewell. The video shows singer Thom Yorke walking in a forest, looking at squirrels having dinner and cats getting married, as black birds and all creepy things are following him. He finds a new pair of shoes and jacket as the black birds and turns later chase him into a tree and such. The song’s new mix doesn’t sound different to the one in the demos version but the video does enhance the song’s intensity, as it is likely that Radiohead has another winner on its belt. Radiohead-Hail to the Thief (Demos): http://www.epinions.com/content_3271925892 8. Uncut/NME Presents Madchester The British music magazines Uncut and the New Musical Express recently have been presenting special issues on bands and scenes ranging from Nirvana, Pink Floyd, and the Manic Street Preachers. Now, they released an issue on the Madchester music scene of the late 80s/early 90s of Manchester bands like the Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays, Charlatans UK, and the Inspiral Carpets. The issue, featuring many archived articles from the NME, shows the rise of bands like the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, through their peak in 1990/1991, and the downfall beginning in 1992 when the Happy Mondays succumbed to heavy drug addiction leading to the downfall of Factory Records. The issue is a must-have for any fan of British music, especially since the article chronicle the rise and falls of those bands including the Charlatans UK, who end up becoming the scene’s sole survivor as they continue to thrive in the U.K. rock scene. 9. The Durutti Column-“Otis” One of the best tracks on the film soundtrack to "24 Hour Party People”, the track “Otis” is a milestone piece of the late 80s/early 90s rave scene. Led by the brilliant guitar work of Vini Reilly, “Otis” is filled with bouncing sequencers and dance beats that are followed by the haunting, jazz-like guitar riffs of Vini Reilly. Though his character in the movie was small, Factory Records co-founder Tony Wilson always acknowledged Reilly for his attention and felt “Otis” was one of his greatest songs. Even in the liner notes on the album, Wilson felt the music of Reilly and his Durutti Column moniker was some of the best music that came out of Manchester. God probably agrees also as he says that Vini Reilly’s stuff is the best music to chill out too, and he’s right as usual. 24 Hour Party People Soundtrack: http://www.epinions.com/content_75443179140 10. MTV2’s Subterraneans With 120 Minutes now moved to 1 AM on Sundays, it seems like there is no way for underground or alternative rock music fans to find new, exciting music. That was until a few weeks ago when the show Subterraneans appeared with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. While it doesn’t show some great old-school videos like on 120 Minutes, the show does bring in some new fresh sounds. Ranging from bands like the White Stripes to the Sounds, it’s one of the best new shows to come out. So far, with guests like Jesse Malin and the Sounds, it looks promising. They just better not go into more mainstream affairs by bringing in groups like New Found Glory or Unseen. Well, that’s the list for May. Expect more to come at the end of every month. It’s not music news or anything. It’s just my own personal top ten list of what is cool in music today. So at the end of next month, expect another list to arrive with fresh new ideas.  |
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