Heard a track on the radio that included sampled bits of "Street Dance" by Break Machine. I remember that my then 2 year old little brother used to "break" to it.
For some reason I came to think about Fatboy Slim. Brilliant Friday stuff.
Just in case you haven't taken the time to listen to Foo Fighter's latest contribution to the ever growing collection of rock classics, here's a quick reminder.
This second single from the album Waisting Light, "White Limo" reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age, and if you find it too "hard" I still think you should listen to the album as this track isn't typical of a majority of the material on the album.
I think I need to review all the different acts I have launched as "the next big thing" over the past year or so. So far all have failed to make any sort of impression on the world.
Can it get any better? One of my favourite bands of present times covering one of my favorite artists of past times. (Sorry about the adverts - Muse have dissalowed the embedding of the YouTube clip).
I started this list with a punkrocker covering a jazz classic. Only fitting that I end it with a rock version of another jazz classic.
Many might not even know it's a cover, but legend has it that Chas Chandler of the Animals was looking for somebody to cover "Hey Joe" with when he stumbled upon Jimmy Hendrix in NYC.
The exact origins of the song are disputed, but the earliest known recording is from 1965 with the Leaves. I never heard any other versions of the song other than Hendrix's, so I would be lying if I said that the interesting thing about Hendrix's version is how it in some or other fashion adds something new to the song.
It just rocks.
Now that actually I have heard an earlier version of the song I must say that Jimi's feels just slightly more interesting.
In my previous post I wrote that listing "Hurt" as one of my great covers would be slightly obvious.
To prove I'm human I now give you an even more obvious choice:
There's somthing about Buckley's interpretation that adds a divine sense to the song, something that gives the song a different direction - from a sense of sarcasm to a sense of total devotion.
Listing covers without touching upon Cash's "American IV: The man comes around" would be a little silly.
Listing "Hurt" would be a little obvious.
Besides, I don't like that cover as much as many others seem to do, probably because I like the original version which I will assume hasn't been played as loud as it deserves in most homes.
One cover on that album that I prefer to "Hurt" is this:
As you may have noticed, I like covers that move a song out of its original context by changing something. Like adding Iggy's attitude to a jazz song, or transforming a synthezised pop arrangement into an accoustic guitar. Turning fast songs into slow songs may seem like an easy trick, but it isn't always as successful as this.
I think I first heard Gary Jules' cover of "Mad World" in the movie Donny Darko, and was convinced that R.E.M. or Michael Stype were responsible for this rather pleasant interpretation of the song. I still think the vocals are incredibly typical of Stype, but the effect was even bigger and more confusing before understanding that it actually wasn't Stype. (I couldn't find anything on the internet when searching for "mad world stype".)
My father and I spent an evening trying to convince my younger brother of 12 years that jazz once was what punk came to be many years later: a combination of new sonic landscapes and a "FUCK YOU" attitude.
Iggy Pop seems to have made that connection. This is his and Francois Hardy's interpretation of jazz classic "I'll be seeing you".
The song was originally written for a musical, but came to a wider audience through Bing Crosby in 1944. It can be downloaded here, but isn't available on YouTube. Instead, I give you Billy Holiday.
The Amen Break has been sampled more than 400 times since the 80's, mostly in hip-hop, jungle and drum & bass. You may have hummed, danced or even rapped to it thousands of times, but neither the drummer or composer ever got a dime.
Could be that this a good thing. Sharing is a powerful force and a prerequisite for innovation.
PS Thanks, Eyvind.
PPS Even though I agree with the arguments in this film, I still think end consumers should pay for the music they consume.
It's taken a while for me to write this post. Partly, I've been busy. But mostly, I think it has to do with the emotions I associate with growing up in Manila and some of the friends I had at the time.
When I came to the International School of Manila (ISM) as a 14 year old I was very into music, and very much into pop. I liked some alternative pop, but I wasn't a big fan of rock. In fact, I remember how some "bad boys" hanging around a juke box with torn jeans jackets (with Rolling Stones markings) had hassled me in Geneva before leaving for Manila. (I think they stared at me when I went in to a café to buy gum.) Obviously, rock was for bad people.
At ISM, I quickly became friends with Jerome, a Dutch chap in my home room who also shared a few of my classes. At ISM (and many other schools I attended), your identity was to a certain extent based upon where you came from. Jerome's gang was made up of a few Germans, two Norwegians, one Australian, a few Filipinos and a hand full of Americans. In this gang there was a continuous battle between the Europeans and the Americans about politics, cars, food, history and - music.
I hardly need to point out that European music was better than American music...
I realize now that Jerome was into quite advanced music for his (our) age. Apart from introducing me to the Smiths and the Cult I remember him playing Anne Clark:
Jerome also shared my interest for lyrics and we could spend a lot of time (mostly during our Economics class) discussing the angst in Morrissey's lyrics or imagery in Bono's. I may have missed out on the exact explanation behind the kinked demand curve but excelled att text analysis... Also, we thought we were very cool.
One big step I took holding Jeromes hand was towards guitars. U2 and the Cult were big steps, and when the Cult released their third album Electric they moved from alternative rock to more 70's inspired hard rock, a step I initially was uncomfortable with. But the lyrics helped me find my footing and soon I was singing along to Peace Dog and Lil' Devil.
I haven't met Jerome since 1988. I wonder if he still listens to music. I do, partly thanks to him.
Listening to the radio last night I all of a sudden found myself singing along to a song I couldn't remember ever having heard, even though I knew parts of the lyrics by heart.
Turns out the song was a hit by An Emotional Fish - "Celebrate".
Great song by a band that either couldn't handle living in the shadow of U2, or were set up in some kind of a scandal with the BBC - my googling didn't bring much clarity.
When I get home I'm going to have to dig through my old singles and see what worms I find.
