Songs to get slightly too tight hugs to...

Artist: Human Highway
Song: The Sound
Album: Moody Motorcycle

Solitude can do strange things to a person. Even if it is not forced upon you, lack of communication with human beings invariably alters your thought patterns. Sometimes this can be in a positive manner such as giving you a new found appreciation for a song that you had previously ignored or sometimes negatively in that your sleep pattern becomes so erratic that the sunlight creeping through the slits in your blind conditionally makes you yawn and yearn for sleep.

So in a completely original, non-cliché’d move, the misanthrope turns their attention to music. To those blissful melodies which allow you to displace your burden giving you a gentle pat on the back and whispering to you “Don’t worry. It’ll be ok.” In some respects that’s what The Sound is to me. It’s those narcotic-like songs that remove you from reality and make you believe that the ‘cold death knell’ might not be so bad after all.

The haunting Beach Boys-esque harmonies combined with the light and jingly melody give a quite simple song the ability to be listened to over and over. You could imagine this song being played at the end of the film depicted your life, as you greet death like a old friend the camera pans out and the raspy opening chords kick in, letting the audience feel sad but ultimately assured that it was worth the time and effort.

Songs to get close to...

Artist: Architecture in Helsinki
Song: Contact High (listen)
Album: Moment Bends (buy)

You look up the definition of a ‘Contact High’ and it references the high experienced when a person comes into contact with those under the influence of a drug or illegal substance. This is a trivialising definition, as it in no way acknowledges the contact high of a gig or the contact high of a shared experience. Those situations that you get a high from, but only due to the fact that those around you are experiencing similar intense emotions due to the collective consciousness of that moment.

But hey, none of what I just said has anything to do with the actual song but it is partly an explanation as to why I fell in love with it. First listen was enjoyable, I was taken by surprise when I stumbled across it on One Track Mind, the intense beat pounding in the background with the warm and gentle vocals laid over the top. Hmmmm, maybe this is worth another listen? Even just the second time round I found myself craving the chorus, finding the introduction taunting me as it stretched out blissfully while I like a junkie yearned for the ‘Contact High’ to kick in. Before I knew it, it was downloaded and the repeat button was highlighted.

The song creates a bizarre feeling of claustrophobia. Much like the man in the video, phantom hands reach out, caressing your senses. It seems pathetic to object after all you’re enjoying it but...the sense of powerlessness...is unnerving. ‘Walls’, ‘vision gone’, ‘silent down here’ create a feeling of self-imposed helplessness. But the song makes it all seem alright, it may be hopeless but my ‘strange infatuation’ will keep me safe, as will the fact that whenever I listen I get that contact high.

Yours not here man,

JoewMo

Songs for the end of an era (of a sort)

Band: Nevermore
Song: The River Dragon Has Come (Listen)
Album: Dead Heart in a Dead World (2003) (Buy)

A word of warning: this post is going to be very metal. I try and avoid this when I can, but I feel given recent events it’s appropriate.

“What recent events?” I hear you cry. Nearly two weeks ago, metalheads around the world were given cause for concern when the Seattle-based heavy metal band Nevermore announced the cancellation of their North American tour. Many feared the worst, and for several days this cancellation remained conspicuously unexplained. Finally on the 21st the band released a statement, and while fortunately no band members had died as some were thinking, it was announced that guitar virtuoso Jeff Loomis and high-grade skinsman Van Williams were leaving. While it has not been specifically stated that the band are breaking up, leaving room for speculation that the remaining members will attempt to continue, for many it isn’t Nevermore without Jeff Loomis. Only time will tell what direction they will go in, but in light of these events and as a huge fan of the band I’m going to write about a song that has stuck in my head pretty consistently since I first listened to it several years ago.

The song in question is The River Dragon Has Come, off of their fourth album Dead Heart in a Dead World. I consider this to be their best song, a debatable choice given the quality of the rest of their catalogue. However I feel out of all of all their songs, this one best encapsulates and showcases the greatest aspects of the band; the strong and underrated rhythm section provided by bassist Jim Sheppard and drummer Williams, the incredible and versatile vocals of Warrel Dane and the absolutely sublime guitar work of Loomis, easily one of the best shredders if not all round guitarist around at the moment. This is made possible thanks to the song’s simplicity, its greatest strength and a trait that I find is uncommon to the genre as whole.

I could quite easily write a whole essay on this song so I’m going to have to hold back a little. The song begins with a brief yet instantly memorable clean intro before storming into the opening riff and the first verse. The simple rhythm allows Warrel Dane’s soaring vocals to take the spotlight, with Jeff Loomis eventually complimenting this with an awesome harmonic-laden lead riff. The song begins to pick up a bit of pace with the epic pre-chorus and chorus before jumping back down to the slower main riff. Jeff Loomis then teases you with some brief but blistering licks before the song continues, growing in intensity as it builds up to Loomis’ amazing solo, no doubt one of his best and most recognisable. He starts with an ascending tapping riff as he builds up to the climax of the song, where he unleashes an amazing sweeping riff. This is punctuated by the thunderous rhythm, which this time allows Loomis to take centre stage, his playing made as clear as Dane’s singing in the verses by the supportive drums and bass.  He caps this off with a couple of expert licks before launching into the final chorus, where the lead melody of Loomis’ guitar is replaced by Dane’s singing for a climactic finale.

As I said before, this songs strength is in its simplicity, which allows band’s talent to be perfectly showcased. The rhythm section is as solid, pounding and catchy as in any of their songs, whilst Dane and Loomis are at their best as they switch lead positions throughout the song. Often in metal, some of the best and most impressive parts of the song are lost on most listeners by being overly-complex or sometimes just too damn fast. Before you can actually decipher what the musician’s playing, the songs blistering speed brings you to the next section. This song, on the other hand, is so cleanly played and so clearly presented you can’t help but hear each individual section in all their glory, and therein lies its brilliance.

Jeff Loomis will no doubt carry on to equally great things, especially if his solo album is anything to go by, but hopefully my ramblings do a worthy job of commemorating his time in a sadly under-appreciated but truly unique band. Regardless, this is one of those songs that I doubt I will ever get bored off, no matter how much I listen to it, and that’s as much a reason to write about it as any.

PS: If you listen to the song and like it, here are some kickass videos:

Performed live, with Chris Broderick of Megadeth harmonising on the solo perfectly note for note:


For any guitarists out there, a video of Jeff Loomis playing the solo (in case you haven't got it yet, I really like this solo):

Songs to move to

Band: Junior Senior
Song: Move Your Feet (Listen)
Album: D-D-Don't Don't Stop The Beat (2003) (Buy)

Hey again. Long time no see, how's that thing that you do working out for you? Ah, good to hear!

Anyway, it's certainly been a while since this blog saw any new content. To start things up again, I've chosen to write about a song which in all honestly I've had stuck in my head since I stopped writing back in October. I probably should have written about it sooner, but you know how it is. Us students lead such busy lives. Anyway, the fact that it's stuck around this long is a testament to its brilliance.

As a group, my friends and I have gotten into the habit in recent months of revisiting the classics of our childhoods. This exercise in nostalgia, often fueled by alcohol, has re-introduced some truly amazing pieces of music into our playlists. For most of them, we soon remembered why we stopped listening to them in the first place and they were swiftly forgotten again. Some stuck however, and for me none more so than Move Your Feet by Junior Senior.

It's a pop song of the like you simply don't hear nowadays. In fact, as much as I like to hate all pop music (whatever that exactly means in regards to genre), songs like this remind me that it can actually be done right. It of course helps that the song was released before autotuning became the horrible beast of an editing tool that it is today, but there is of course more to it than that. The song is incorruptibly happy and joyful through and through, from it's childishly simple lyrical content to it's ridiculously catchy melody. It's one of the few pop songs I can think of off the top of my head that is entirely innocent without being entirely nonsensical (I'm looking at you Duck Sauce). The wonderfully bizarre video isn't quite so innocent, but let's ignore that. All Junior Senior do is gleefully invite you to dance away with them, and it sounds like they're having so much fun doing so you don't want to say no. There are no sexual overtones like much of the music that dominates the charts. There is no anger, no sadness, nor any other negative emotion I can think of to be found in it. It's simply pure ecstatic joy in musical form, and if you can listen to this song and feel unhappy in any way, I genuinely feel for you. You must have some serious shit going down.

Ever since I rediscovered this amazing song, nothing has got me more in the mood for a good night. This song can cure a foul mood so well I am positive that playing it could calm any riot or end any war. I've been able to play it more or less every day for the past 5 months and its effect has not diminished one bit. I think if anything I like it more the second time around. I guess as my general cynicism and unreasonable anger towards all things mainstream has grown with age, to hear something so pure and happy has hit such a chord with my inner child as to cause me to regress around 10 years and start acting like a blissfully innocent and unaware kid again. Obviously, the song can only undo so much of the damage the Internet has done, but it's a start.

Songs to get all Summer-y to...

Artist: The Beach Boys
Song: God Only Knows (listen)
Album: Pet Sounds (buy)

Alright now don’t get ideas from this song review, for the most part I do think The Beach Boys are rubbish but this song caught me off guard. Maybe the fact that we finally have a hint of sunshine in England has somehow over romanticised this song for me or maybe it has made the idea of a band calling themselves ‘Beach Boys” not entirely ridiculous. No I take that back. It’s still a terrible name. NEVERTHELESS, this blog is about championing all amazing musical things, no matter how much of a guilty pleasure they may be.

I even have things that I plain just don’t like about this song. I massively dislike the fact that every time I hear the intro I expect to see the rolling hills of English countryside at the beginning of some Emmerdale-esque soap opera. Then there’s the fact that the opening verse seems to just contradict itself by first saying ‘I may not always love you’, but then later saying ‘You’ll never need to doubt it’. C’mon Carl (or whoever’s singing the version you’re listening to), if you really are as devoted to this girl as you’re claiming to be, you better stop giving her those kind of bizarre mixed signals.

Anyway...I do actually like this song I swear. I think the summer air has helped because it has dispelled enough of the misanthrope in me that would brush this off a mushy crap and instead made me appreciate the beautiful simplicity of it. In this song the harmonies of the 4 guys compliment perfectly to truly project the emotions being felt in a way that is sometimes lost when others attempt to romanticise their music. It’s something that everyone can identify with as well, the feeling that you are at a complete loss without a certain person in your life. I think it’s when you can relate this song to a particular person that you can develop a whole new appreciation.

It’s also a perfect relaxation song. Put it on when you’re restless or hungover and it’ll sooth your cares away. Close your eyes and let the gentleness of song really get to you and it momentarily makes you forget your head is spinning and your mouth tastes of sick. See? Well probably not since I imagine you’re not reading this hungover.

Listen to it, try to ignore the fact it’s the Beach Boys, try to ignore how overly soppy it is and just appreciate it as one of the truly great romantic melodies.

Yours blissfully,
JoewMo


p.s. What’s with the title? “God Only Knows”, if God does exist I doubt he’s wasting his omniscience purely contemplating how important some girl is to you. Shouldn’t it be “Only God Knows”, but then from a non-grammar nazi perspective that does sound a bit God-y. Always bugged me.

Songs to get nostalgic to

Artist: The Coral
Song: Dreaming of You (listen)
Album: The Coral (buy)

This is a bit of a cheap choice for me. This hasn’t been stuck in my head for the last week, I don’t find myself unconsciously singing it and neither do I imagine that my life is a music video of the song when I listen to it walking down the street (of course I never do that for any song, that’d be crazy). I know what you’re thinking, “JoewMo you may be god-like in many ways but not even you can disregard the closely held beliefs of this blog so callously.” Don’t worry, I am not so drunk on my own awesomeness that I would do such a thing because this song may not be THAT song currently for me but it was the first one to ever truly get under my skin and into my veins.

I liked music before this, mainly 70s and 80s rock that my dad listened to and I had begun to pick up on stuff that wasn’t 30 years old but then something strange began to happen. Suddenly there was this song that followed me everywhere I went, that seemed to be playing on the radio every time I turned it on or just seemed to be on every T.V. show. Nostalgia may have exacerbated the prevalence of this song in my life but at the time it just seemed like it was stalking me.

Despite the fact it was unerringly following me from place to place, I didn’t mind, in fact I wanted more. I wanted to put it on repeat and have it playing all the time in my life. There was something intoxicating about it, as soon as the throbbing bass line kicked in my life went momentarily into stasis and revolved around the music. It’s a very provocative song, managing to be very light and mellifluous while still getting forcing images to spiral into your head and tugging at the strings of your heart. I remember thinking every time I heard thing song, ‘This is an important song, it has some sort of significance in my life’. Still yet to figure out what it is.

Yours Autobiographically,
JoewMo

Songs to jam to

Band: Bob Marley & The Wailers
Song: Buffalo Soldier (Listen)
Album: Confrontation (1983) (Buy)

The fantastic weather we Englishmen and women have had has disappeared as quickly as it arrived. Typical really, but for an all too brief week the summer of 2010 had graced us with its presence. Hopefully it will be back before too long. Anyway, for this one glorious week the general population was out in force getting tanned or hilariously burned on various patches of grass the country over, and all the summer songs were on full blast as a soundtrack to their roasting. For me, nothing says summer more than Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley, and it has been on repeat once the sun came out and the mercury began hitting 25°C.

I guess I’m stepping out of my comfort zone a little with this one. Of all the genres of music I listen to, reggae is one of the ones I know least about. Bob Marley aside, I’d have trouble naming two other reggae artists. Not that this is a surprise to anyone; after all, he is pretty much the standard when it comes to the genre, and perhaps the token reggae artist that everyone has listened to a little bit. I mean, everyone loves a little bit of Bob, right? Not that this mainstream appeal detracts from his genius at all...

Regardless, I’ve always been aware of his music, existing somewhere just beyond my periphery so that I never actually listened to him properly. It was only last summer that he truly entered my musical conscience, when wherever I seemed to go someone was jamming along to Bob. Starbucks seemed to have Legend on constant play, and he turned up continuously on whatever speakers we had during our numerous cotches in Hyde Park. It was at this point in time, relaxing in the summer sun, that I properly started to get into his music. Now that the good weather is sort of starting to come back, Bob's songs have been seriously stuck in my head, and Buffalo Soldier the most of all of them.

Simply put, listening to this song just makes my head scream “YEAAAAAH SUMMER!!!” The slow tempo just makes me think of chilling in the park, and the bright chords make me think of a blue sky and vibrant green grass. The lyrical content may be somewhat more serious, but it’s certainly sung in a positive light, with the idea that the fight for survival that the song depicts will eventually be won. Regardless of the content, Bob’s vocals, especially the ‘woy yoy yoy’ later in the song, just make me think of happy times free of worry or concern, completely unaided by any variety of smoke-able plant. Honestly.