|
|
a Guildenstern (a.k.a. 'a stellar monument to loneliness') mixNov 02 '07 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Music
The Bottom Line I love him really.
It seems that Guildenstern and I keep butting heads musically (figuratively speaking of course, since we've never met and I imagine if we did my rock hard Scottish temple would shatter his puny skull into a million pieces). We've now exchanged two sets of mixes, and naturally there was also Simon's attempt to prove his masculinity to me in the form of a 'LOUD' mix. Since he's insecure about that sort of thing. Anyway, given that I've consumed a lot more music in the past two years, this swap was set to be more even than the last, where his mix blinded me with goodness and mine was a crushing failure with a few rough diamonds. I felt like I had a few tricks up my sleeve. I even tested out some new genres aside from the simpering indie moans our young Londoner is used to. Yet somehow, somehow, he managed to find quite a few things wrong yet again. Granted this was a better affair than last time, but I was still dissatisfied with the outcome and frustrated by my good friend's pickiness. If you want to (and you should) you can read what he thought about my mixes here. In the meantime, Simon was secretly brewing his own mix to send my way; it has since arrived and been consumed by me. Since young Guildy likes to consider himself the master of the mix, it might shock him to know that it's not just my mix that had its problems this time round! Plus, there's a lot more at stake for Simon here -- mixes are his life, and he gains satisfaction from making others weep softly as often as he likes to. Me, I can live with the fact that he finds slight niggling flaws in my musical tastes. I'm merely satisfied with the sheer amount of jibes I can volley against him in a review. Alas, onward! The usual whatever/5 rating scheme applies here. I'm sure you all know the rules of mix duelling. the Kills, "No Wow" Oh dear. Apparently Simon thought this track would be exactly my thing. I've heard good things about the Kills, but sadly the title of this track is very fitting. There certainly ain't no wow here. Sure, the purring crackly beat is sorta cool, and the fact that the guitars pick up in volume and force as the song goes on is certainly the sort of effect that I should lap right up, but there's no heart in this track. It's all cold, mainly due to the apathetic vocalist, who sounds a bit like PJ Harvey without the grisly life experience. And it leaves me feeling very empty, which is never a good thing. A disappointing start. 2/5 Everclear, "Heroin Girl" Ah! Now this is more like it, and should probably have kicked off the mix. This is the second Everclear track Simon's sent me, and as opposed to the first one which was cutesy and cuddly, this is just a bullying song through and through. The guitars cascade down in sheets, layers and layers of distortion dumbfounding the listener. They never stick to one chord for more than about 0.5 seconds, and the solo is played by malfunctioning robots, apparently. This is exactly the sort of blood, sweat 'n semen song I enjoy. And I need to get myself some Everclear. 5/5 the Delgados, "Everybody Come Down" I've been tempted by these guys for a loooong time, particularly since they supposedly come from Hamilton, a town not fifteen minutes from where I live. Guildy, is this correct? Anyway, it's perfectly pleasant indie pop, with a honey-sweet sing-along chorus. Harmless yet highly enjoyable, mainly due to the effortless vocal performance. 4/5 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "Stagger Lee" Another artist I've been intrigued by and, despite my withheld enjoyment of this track, I'm all the more intrigued for having heard it. The lyrics are downright hilarious, and unashamedly vulgar, the best example being 'I'd crawl over 50 good pussies just to get to one fat boy's asshole'. The song has an undeniable swagger, as the guitars cough and splutter behind Cave's slurred Tom Waits-esque vocals. But the structure is too linear and standard for the song to retain any long-term enjoyment after the lyrics' appeal has worn off. Plus, the gunshots at the end are unforgiveably cheesy. Still, I now have more impetus to pick up some Nick Cave. 3/5 Cowboy Junkies, "Cutting Board Blues" Just a really dirty, grungey blues track with yet another female vocalist. What's with the femininity? Meh, I don't have any problems with it when I think about it, actually. This one is pleasant when I'm listening to it but I can't say it's exactly been stuck in my head afterwards. It has some really good, greasy guitar soloing though. 3/5 Spoon, "Don't Make Me a Target" Oh my, it's all losing its edge a bit. Another unmemorable track from a band I was looking forward to hearing. It's nice to hear some odd and unexpected chord progressions in a song every now and again, but this one just doesn't do enough throughout its runtime for me to warrant giving it a high rating. It has a nice marching beat, and the way the guitars grind up to the choruses is quite cool... I'm trying to think of good things to say here. Again, the vocals sound rather uninterested for the most part, and there's something about that aura that irritates me. Also, the handclaps, while insanely easy to clap along with, make me cringe a little bit. 2/5 Grant Lee Buffalo, "Jupiter & Teardrop" A more chilled-out track, that is until the explosive choruses and soaring solos kick in. This is exactly the sort of fare I expected from this band, but with a bit more passion injected. It's good to see the singer ripping his vocal cords a little from time to time. Yes, things are looking up (a bit), but things have been rather middling so far, aside from a couple of cuts. I'm honestly not trying to be mean... 3/5 Dashboard Confessional, "The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most" Here we go! I was fully expecting to be unimpressed by this song, as I'd heard nothing but negative things about this guy. Thankfully, I was wrong. I love the pace of the frantically-strummed acoustic guitar, I love the lost little-boy vocals (particularly when they start to screech a bit in the third verse), I even like the lyrics, which are perhaps borderline 'emo'. Yes, I said it. I've had this one in my head for days. This is the exact type of music I imagine Simon listening to as his eyes well up with tears, but I digress. The important thing is that I enjoy it, and I'm not afraid to admit it. He's got a bit of Bright Eyes about him, this kid, though perhaps not quite as tortured and twisted. 5/5 Minus the Bear, "Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse" An oversight on the part of our dear Guildy, I'd actually received this track on a mix previously from another Epinionater, cryptosicko. That doesn't mean I can't still enjoy it though, and I'm not actually sadistic enough to dock marks based on the fact I've already heard it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm privileged to own two copies of this song: it's like a big psychedelic, spiralling beast, and it's wonderful. Though apparently they don't get any better than this. The mix is picking up a bit... 5/5 Catherine Wheel, "Here Comes the Fat Controller" ...only to be let down by another middling track! I hate to say it, but almost everything about this one annoys me: the slow build-up from low to high volume at the beginning, the forced attempts to be epic and all-consuming, the big blustery guitar chords that are supposed to stir up some sort of emotion in the listener, the overwrought soloing, the hook-heavy yet redundant choruses. Ugh. Sorry! 1/5 Rilo Kiley, "Portions for Foxes" A very saucy number, with a very sexy female lead singer. Or what sounds like a very sexy female lead singer. Apparently she's bad news. Oooooh. Actually, this one is a real winner -- in this case the choruses are soaringly perfect, and the rapid-fire piece of riffage at the end of them is heinously addictive. Yes, this song is heinous; it'll bury its way into your skull and never have the courtesy to leave again. I didn't even mention the bridge (oh my, the bridge!) or the slightly electronic start, or... ah, I couldn't sum up the pros of this song in a short paragraph anyway. 5/5 Jimmy Eat World, "Shame" I've always been of the opinion that JEW were nothing more than a slightly above-average rock band (even after buying and liking "Clarity"), and this song does nothing to prove me wrong. Typical Jimmy here: big power-chords and a droning chorus, with a repetitive solo after the second chorus. Simon loves this solo; I do too when it first kicks in, but not after about 25 seconds of it. 3/5 Powderfinger, "A Song Called Everything" Another band I've had two tracks by on Simon mixes, and again I've loved them both. This one has an absolutely stellar chorus, and the repetition of the word 'everything' has never been so addictive. So where's the best place to start with Powderfinger then? 5/5 Two Gallants, "The Hand That Held Me Down" I absolutely adore the dreamy guitar intro here, but disappointingly it all falls dramatically downhill from thereon in. Harmonicas have no place in at least 75% of songs, and here is no different; the addition of one is disorienting, and not in a good way. Plus, just when you think it's gone away it comes right back again. And I usually don't have a problem with singers, but this guy's balls need to drop... and quickly. A bit like someone closely associated with this review. 1/5 Azure Ray, "These White Lights Will Bend to Make Blue" Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. I knew this was coming; Simon snuck this one in there thinking I wouldn't notice, probably. It's a big puddle of depression, and it's wallowing in itself. I don't have a problem with slow songs (in fact, I often prefer them), but there's nothing a mildly interesting chorus can do to save this train wreck. I can only ponder what he was thinking. Or maybe I just don't get it. I'm listening to it right now, and I'm actually sinking ever lower in my chair as I type this. Let's just say the song gives me that sinking feeling. And the mix is in danger of imploding after a really good run. 1/5 the Faint, "I Disappear" Thankfully Simon's mix smarts guided him to place something a bit more energetic after that, and the Faint are always a band I've been curious about. Ever since he reviewed them, actually. I can see where Brit band the Klaxons took their inspiration from now; this is very 'new-rave', before the event. In other words, it's rock music with a dance edge to it. The guitars are amped up, there's a faint disco beat, and things are all very eclectic, complete with stutter-tastic grooves. There's several movements in the song, and more handclaps. I dig it. I'm down with the kids. And I might have to check out the Faint too. 4/5 Now It's Overhead, "Wait in Line" I've heard a song by this band before, and almost picked up an album by them once, and maybe this is the final push I need. Again, the song doesn't have a very certain beat, but that's something I always enjoy. There's a sense of reverb, and not-quite realised psychedelia throughout. It's also shoegazer-esque. It's genre-transcendent. And that's about the biggest compliment I can give it. Apart from saying that I find it thoroughly intriguing. They're exactly the kind of band I'd fall in love with. 4/5 the Twilight Singers, "Toward the Waves/ I'm Ready" This starts off by making the listener think it could be gospel, and then transforms into an all-out aural assualt a la "Vanishing Point"-era Primal Scream. There's a lot of fuzz, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it all. The energy is good, though, and it's a solid close to the mix. 3/5 So, as you can see, my developing musical tastes are not so easily impressed as they were a couple of years ago. Maybe Simon's losing his touch? Naaaah. Seriously, I loved listening to this mix, and I can see myself pulling it out quite a few times in years to come. Simon still knows how to make 'em. And I hope he's still my friend after all the jibes, snide remarks and slanderous observations on his tastes. It's all in good fun really. And I'm sure there could be many more mix trades to come between Guildy and I.  |
| Read all comments (13)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
by kiwifella
by George_Chabot
![Revelation [Digipak] by Journey Reviews](http://di1.shopping.com/images/pi/73/9c/e0/2046466476-100x100-0-0.jpg?p=p8.0874be2153705401bd50&a=2&c=1&l=8071320&t=120604124630&r=1)
