My iPod #56: George Harrison - Awaiting on You All

Alright everyone, we've reached the end.

The end of the 'A' section that is. It's been a good two months.

When I first came onto Blogger, I didn't have anything in mind that I wanted to get off my chest. The first thing I had was just talking about things that were interesting to me, or events in my life that I had regrets about or whatever.

When I changed my mind and decided to focus on 'My iPod', I never thought I would be able to continuously talk about a song and why it meant so much to me for fifty-six days straight, and yet here I am about to post about another one.

I have exams. Those are very important, so I probably won't be posting on here as regularly. Maybe something will pop up here and there, but for the moment 'My iPod' won't be back until June.

And so, the song today is 'Awaiting on You All' by George Harrison, another one from his triple album, 'All Things Must Pass', in 1970.

Beatles fans will know that out of the four, George was the most religious. Or at least the one who most believed that there was an almighty, higher power who cared for the world and the people who inhabit it.

Any of you guys who also own 'All Things Must Pass' will definitely know the song, 'My Sweet Lord'. That song was George's first single as a solo artist, and topped the music charts worldwide upon release in 1970. It got to number one in the UK again after his death in 2001.

'My Sweet Lord' is a very religious song, for obvious reasons. But for those who haven't heard it, Harrison incorporates the use of the "Hare Krishna" mantra and chants of hallelujahs which build up as a countermelody whilst Harrison sings, building an epic climax which eventually fades out. With Phil Spector's 'Wall of Sound' production technique, there is this gigantic albeit very echoey atmosphere.

'Awaiting on You All' is quite religious too, and if 'My Sweet Lord' is the music that plays on the organ in church when the service is starting, everyone is sitting down and the pastor or whoever is up on the stage announcing what will take place, then the former is when the first hymn starts and everybody is up on the feet, yelling rejoice to the heavens, bellowing the lungs to the skies above and break dancing in the middle of the aisle. Maybe I'm thinking of The Blues Brothers, but that's what it reminds me of.

'Awaiting' has more of a political message to it than My Sweet Lord. Harrison desires to experience spirituality directly whilst rejecting organised religion as well as political and intellectal substitutes. That is basically what it says on the song's article on Wikipedia. He criticises the Pope, and includes jibes at John Lennon and Yoko Ono about their week in bed.

"THE LORD IS AWAITING ON YOU ALL TO AWAKEN AND SEE.
BY CHANTING THE NAMES... OF THE LORD.... YOU WILL BE FREE!"

HALLELUJAH, TESTIFY!

Come on, that sounds like something a guy would say in church, am I right? Or am I right?

Oh well. That's the end for now. You won't be hearing from me for some time. Got work to do.

'My iPod' will be back in June! When the 'B' series begins!

Until then.

Jamie.

My iPod #55: Queens of the Stone Age - Auto Pilot

Don't let the song title fool you. It is not about being at the controls of a plane and deciding to press a few buttons so that it flies by itself. That's what the band wants you to believe.

'Rated R' is the second album by Queens of the Stone Age, but was their first to be released on Interscope Records, the label with whom the band would go on to make 'Songs for the Deaf', 'Lullabies to Paralyze' and 'Era Vulgaris' under.

So in 2005, when there was nothing to do, my sister and I would buy music on CDs or through the use of MSN (remember that?) would receive mp3 files from our friends. One day, I saw this song called 'Feel Good Hit of the Summer' by Queens of the Stone Age. This is the opening track from the Rated R album. I had never heard of the song or the album, although I had watched the video for 'The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret' on the TV.

"Feel Good Hit of the Summer, huh?" I thought to myself, "I wonder why it's called that, must have been a really popular song."

You can probably say that it is. Not because it was a single or anything, but because of its subject matter.

That's how I was introduced to 'Rated R'. 2005 was the year that I took a particular interest in QotSA, for reasons I will explain another day.

However it was 4 years later in 2009, when I decided to download Rated R. I probably thought that it couldn't get better than 'Songs for the Deaf', but I didn't have another of their albums to compare it with.

I still don't think that 'Rated R' is better than 'Deaf', but it can vary from person to person. That's just my opinion.

One thing that most Queens fans probablu agree on is the significant contribution of former member Nick Oliveri. He is very controversial, and apparently Josh Homme doesn't like him too much, but the songwriting partnership between the two produced the majority of the material that makes up, what are arguably, the band's two most popular albums.

'Auto Pilot' is the fourth song listed on 'Rated R' and contains lead vocals by Oliveri and backing by Mark Lanegan and Josh Homme. It is the only one on 'Rated' with Oliveri at lead vocals, that does not have him screaming his vocals at the top of his lungs. Instead, he sings very smoothly with a little gravel under his voice. The song sets you in a very relaxing mood, you could just close your eyes and let it glide past you. The bridge where Josh sings, 'Ahhhhhhhhh..... auto pilot, no control', emphasises this even further.

The song is very ambiguous but the whole 'getting high in a plane' metaphor is not unusual to those who have listened to songs about taking drugs and the 'joys' of it.

Don't let that spoil it though. Listen to the song. Don't do drugs though.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #54: They Might Be Giants - Au Contraire

Hi everyone.

I'm a bit tired, and a little depressed at the moment. I can try and lighten up my mood in the post, and I'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow. I don't want to get into it.

At least the post today features a song by my favourite band. Yep.

Around the time that I discovered the music of They Might Be Giants, the album 'The Spine' was their most recent release. As time has gone on, that album is known as one of the band's least popular albums amongst fans. I like it though, it has some great tracks on it. This one is good too.

'Au Contraire' is sung by John Linnell, and makes references to David Bowie, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jodie Foster and Mahatma Gandhi. I don't know what the song is about but from what I hear, the famous people I mention ask a question or state something in the verses to which the narrator doesn't agree to, and in reply says 'Au contraire, mon frere.'

That is basically the whole song. There is a little dual guitar solo with a little flute part at the end of it. But, yeah, that is 'Au Contraire' from The Spine.

The ending is also quite random too. Random voices just start saying 'Right on', almost like some madness mantra. This then results in a crescendo of cheers and applause, everyone is shouting 'Right on'. Then 'Damn Good Times' starts. You should listen to this song and the aforementioned one together, it's pretty cool. I have a thing for songs which segue into one another, it seems really cool to me.

I'm feeling fine now. Thank you TMBG.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #53: 30 Seconds to Mars - Attack

So, 30 Seconds to Mars.

I don't like them so much, I am not a big fan.

Let me just tell you a bit about them.

In 1998 Jared Leto, known for his role as 'Angel Face' in Fight Club, and Harry Goldfarb in 'Requiem for a Dream' teamed up with his older brother Shannon. The bassist, Matt Wachter joined and the other guitarist Tomo Miličević auditioned to complete the line-up. The band released its eponymous first album in 2002, but it was the following album 'A Beautiful Lie' that rose the band's popularity.

Although it was originally released in 2005, no one in England knew who they were until it was released again in 2007. Attack was the first single, and is the opening track of the album.

My recollection of 'Attack' is quite hazy. I can't remember whether I saw it in a 30 Seconds to Mars advert, or whether the music video was on MTV2 at the time. Either way, there must have been something that got me liking it otherwise I wouldn't be typing this right now.

It's just a really energetic song. It starts off quietly with the keyboard, but after four repeats of that melody the song explodes into life. The chorus is my favourite part of the song, filled with abrasive guitars and a passionate vocal delivered with great conviction. You get the feeling Leto really does want to attack someone, particularly when he doesn't finish the last repeat of the phrase 'I'll attack' which ends up as 'I'll a-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA'.

It's one of three songs of theirs that I have.

To summarise, 30 Seconds are alright... their just not my kind of thing. They do have good songs though. Attack is one of them.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #52: Klaxons - Atlantis to Interzone

If Arctic Monkeys were the newest and biggest thing in 2006, then Klaxons can defintely take that title for 2007.

The band was immensly hyped up during the latter stages of the former year, and arguably the one that started the 'new rave' genre which a whole load of other bands were soon labelled as. That whole thing died out around 2008.

The video first appeared on MTV2 in 2006. It was released as the band's official single in June, and it was one of the reasons why I got excited over them, and understood what is was that made the NME express so much praise about them.

The flashing lights, the use of the samples from a standard Casio keyboard that I've used when I was doing music in Key Stage 3 and the calm, singalong verses that are contrasted with the shouted out chorus. The video is almost seizure-inducing, especially watching it with all the lights off in the house.

But that just made it so much cooler. My sister and I watched it whenever it came on, and she loved it too. You just want to dance and bust out the robot during the vereses, and then when the chorus comes just start doing whatever the fuck you want to do. It's great stuff.

The album it's on, 'Myths of the Near Future', was released in the first month of 2007, and loads of people liked it. I have it, so I can agree with them.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #51: The Who - Armenia City in the Sky

Hola todo el mundo. Como estás?

Muy bien.

I made another post about The Who a few days ago, so have a look at it if you want.

In that post I mentioned that Summer 2010 was when I began to listen to The Who, and recognised them for the ball of talent that they were back in the day.

However, I had only listened to a few songs by them. In order to get a sense of what their music was about, I would have to listen to one of their albums.

But which one? Where do I start?

Now, I knew that their 'magnum opus' was considered to be their album 'Who's Next'. It contains two of their most well known songs, and it is the one where each member had reached their peak at their positions. Together, there was no stopping them.

For me, there was something that prevented me from listening to it. I don't why. I think it's just because I had only heard of those two songs, and if people only liked the album for them then what was the point?

So what better way to start my Who experience.... than with their 1967 release, 'The Who Sell Out'? Seeing its article on Wikipedia, I saw the praise that it received (full marks by the ones listed), the whole radio concept thing amused me, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to listen to it.

It's probably their most under-appreciated album. It is their only release where a majority of songs are not written by Pete Townshend and not only sung by Roger Daltrey. Everybody gets to sing, I have the 1995 remastered version which features 'Jaguar' with lead vocals by Keith, and 'Girl's Eyes' which is written by him and sung with John Entwistle. It's really one of my favourite albums.

"DUUUUUH-DUH Monday........" is the first thing you hear when listening to 'Armenia City in the Sky', the first song of the album. The Who Sell Out incorporates radio adverts that were transmitted on a rogue radio station, 'Radio London', which would normally be broadcast from a boat in the middle of an ocean. This 'Days of the Week' interlude carries on until Sunday, which is when a weird backwards guitar fades in, and boom. The actual song begins.

Another unusual thing about the song is that it's not actually written by any members of the band. In fact Pete's chauffeur, Mr John Keen, wrote the song and is also singing it along with Roger Daltrey. Although it's hard to make it out, seeing as there is this weird pitch shifting effect that is used on the vocals. Maybe they didn't want people to know that someone who wasn't in the band was singing.

Listening to it with headphones is another weird experience. You basically have Keith and John playing the rhythm section in the left channel, whilst there are these backwards trumpets and hazey backwards guitars playing in the other. That along with the lyrics, for example:

'The sky is glass, the sea is brown, and everyone is upside down,'

makes this song one of the trippiest from the album.

I guess as it was 1967, this was supposed to a spoof of the psychedelic material that was coming out, only because this is the only song on the album that uses that sort of drugged-up-on-LSD sound. The others are solid songs that don't try to sound like it at all.

The solo is backwards too, so that screeching bird-call in the middle is still a guitar. After two repetitions of the title, the band maintain the pace and rhythm, a weird insect-sounding voices says 'Freak out, freak out' and the song ends with an explosion that echoes into the next radio transmission.

All in all, it's a perfect start to a perfect album.

This is how the backwards sounds in the song sound originally.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #50: Green Day - Armatage Shanks

 

 Good evening.

Today, it is Green Day again. This time, it's the opening track from their fourth album 'Insomniac.'

I listened to 'Armatage Shanks' quite a while ago on one of Green Day's fan sites. This was when I was Green Day crazy, 'American Idiot' was my favourite album and gradually I became more and more interested in the band.

I was probably about ten when I first heard 'Armatage', and I didn't think about it so much. It wasn't really a special song, the title is named after a company that makes bathroom sinks, man. Bathroom sinks. As a title of a song, it's really cool though. There is something really angst and sharp about it.

Anyone who owns 'Insomniac' will recognise the massive difference there is between it and its predecessor 'Dookie'. Whilst still containing two-three minutes of memorable tracks, 'Insomniac' took more of a darker and edgier approach. Look at the difference between the album covers, for goodness sake. The overdubbed guitars are more distorted and crunchy, Mike Dirnt really cranks it up on his bass playing on this album, Tré is as good as ever on the drums and Billie Joe is a lot more snotty in his vocal delivery.

All of that is really summed up in this track, and as the first one on the album it sets the tone that you will hear for the next thirteen songs straight away.

Can anyone tell me what is being said in the bridge, because I still have no clue.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #49: The Futureheads - Area

Hello everybody.

Today I went to Derby for an open day at its university. Derby is a nice place, it's far away from my family and the actual place was cool too. I may just consider going there.

So, I'm nearing the end of the 'A' series of 'My iPod'. Only nine more songs to go until all the songs beginning with that letter are covered. It has been a good run. It's given me something to do whilst revising. Exams are slightly beyond the horizon, so 'B' won't be up on here anytime soon.

Thanks to anyone who has viewed the blog, it's quite hard to know if anything on here is interesting if people don't comment. But I've got more than 1,000 views on here and I'm very grateful for your appreciation.

Today's song is another by The Futureheads, who were the band I covered in my first entry of the 'A' series. The video for this was linked in that post too, and now here it is.

'Area' was a non-album release in 2005. It was neither something recorded during their first album, nor was it something recorded during 'News and Tributes'. It was more of a single to show their progression in sound.

It was actually a favourite song of mine. I first saw it on the music channel, 'Q', which showed decent music from time to time. The 'derder-derderder-derderder' hook was instantly embedded into my head, and I would change from channel to channel hoping that the music video would be showing.

Before YouTube, artists would actually put their music videos on their official website, so you were able to download and watch it on Windows Media or RealPlayer. Yeah, I did that with 'Area'. I would have it on repeat. But you know when you play a song on repeat and it gradually gets quite annoying? That's what happened to me. I had listened to enough times. So I restrained myself.

That was in 2005, so finding a really good song at ten years old was a really big deal.

I think it's on the US version of 'News and Tributes', but I'm not sure.

Watch the video and see if you like the song.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #48: Maxïmo Park - Apply Some Pressure

Version 1                                                                    Version 2

In my opinion, Version 1 is the better video. The whole circus concept didn't really work for me.

Hi everyone.

Apparently I got 158 views on the blog today which is great! I think it's a bug though, so I won't get too emotional about it.

I'm quite late too, so I do apologise.

Today's song comes from Newcastle's finest, Maxïmo Park. The song's name? Well, you can see it in the title of the blog.

Maxïmo Park rose in popularity during the mid-noughties when the surge in post-punk revival and indie acts occurred. Bands such as Bloc Party, Editors, The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, you name it, most of them released their debuts during that golden era of 2004-2006.

Maxïmo released their debut, 'A Certain Trigger', in 2005. This song was released once as its second single, and then re-released in 2006, hence the two different music videos.

'Apply Some Pressure' is one of the band's most popular songs. You could probably say it's their signature song. It appeared on the soundtrack of Burnout Revenge, and possibly on another EA game that I haven't played. Burnout Revenge was the shit though. If you want a Burnout game, just get Revenge for PS2. Or Legends for PSP.

Personally, 'Apply Some Pressure' isn't my favourite Maxïmo song. That goes to another song that I will post in due time. Don't get me wrong, the song's fantastic. I think it's that when I'm listening to it, I don't feel anything as much as I do when I'm watching the music video for it. The band are known for their energy, especially from lead singer Paul Smith and keyboard player Lukas Wooller.

Those music videos are almost ten years old. They're very rarely played on MTV 'Rocks'. Particularly the first version.

Still, it's a brilliant song from a brilliant album, and it deserves its place on my iPod.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #47: Big Boi - Apple of My Eye

Yeeeah. Antwan André Patton (The Only One) aka Daddy Fat Sax aka Sir Lucious Left Foot aka Big Boi in the hizz-ouse.

I'm only joking.

You all know him as one half of the influential hip-hop group, OutKast, along with André 3000.

OutKast released their most recent album, 'Idlewild', in 2006 which received positive reviews. The film it was released alongside, however, did not fare so well. After enjoyable single releases such as 'Morris Brown' and 'Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me)', OutKast faded away but it was okay, because they only faded away to record their next album, right?

WRONG. Since 2006, no new material has been released under the OutKast name. André has featured on various songs here and there but hasn't released any solo albums. We still love him though. He's so classy. Have you seen that Gillette advert? Mmm-mmm-mmm.

Big Boi stepped up to the plate and unveiled his debut 'Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty' to the world in 2010, which got everybody worried because they were still waiting for the new OutKast album, but was eventually recognised to be one of the best hip hop albums of that year. Then My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy came out, and everyone was less hyped about Lucious.

I downloaded 'Left Foot' in summer last year, and I found it rather enjoyable. The beats were huge, Big Boi's lyrics and flow were on par, full to the brim with hubris. Big Boi was at the top of his game, and if he wasn't getting enough respect already I would assume that he only received more after such a confident debut.

The album became one of my favourites, hip-hop wise, and it got me wondering when he would release his sophomore. As I said, I listened to the full album two years after it was released so something would have been coming soon.

It came as a surprise to me. In December 2012, I go onto Spotify to listen to an album and there under 'WHAT'S NEW', I see it:

BIG BOI - VICIOUS LIES AND DANGEROUS RUMORS

I am British, so 'rumours' without the 'o' looks quite weird but it's fine.

"Ooh! Let's listen."

So I did. Annnnnd it was good. 'Apple of My Eye' was the song that really caught my attention. Booming bass, the lyrical delivery, the chorus is an ear worm if there ever was one. I know he released 'Mama Told Me' as the first official single, maybe just because of Kelly Rowland's appearance and because it is probably the song most suited for radio play from the album. Despite this, 'Apple of My Eye' could have been that first single. It's got everything you want, a great song with only Big Boi at the reins and the soulful chorus. I would have chosen it as my first single, I'm just saying.

Overall, 'Vicious Lies' wasn't as positively greeted as 'Left Foot' was upon its release. I feel the same way too. I don't know what it is. It's hard to explain. Maybe you can have a listen to both albums, and comment on how you feel about them.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #46: Dananananaykroyd - Apostrophe

Have to click on here again, sorry!

I have nothing much to say about this song, I didn't come with anything prepared.

Most of what I said about the album this song is on, can be found if you click here.

So.... it's a shame about Margaret Thatcher, eh?

I can't really say anything about her, I wasn't born when she was Prime Minister. From what I witness, a lot of people liked her and a lot of people hated her. She's Marmite.

Whatever though, she's still dead. She will always go down as being Britain's first female Prime Minister, and that's something. I think it would be a long time before another female was elected to be PM. You've got to respect the dead... surely.... right?

OK. This is boring.

'Apostrophe' is the eighth track on Danananananaykroyd's second album. It's actually one of the more slower songs at 140bpm. That sounds fast doesn't it? Not for Danana.... it isn't.

It's a pretty standard song for the band, it follows the verse-chorus-verse-bridge stuff that you would get in regular pop songs today, and for me it's one of the most radio-friendly songs that the band have ever done.

The duo lead vocals work off together perfecly yet again and it's hard not to sing along to the melodies. They are Scottish mind you, so it may be hard to understand what they are saying at first. It's all good though, you can figure it out.

The key changes during the instrumental break, adding a bit of change to the track. It makes you wonder where the song will end up next. Then the last section starts, the lyrics are belted out at the top of the two pairs of lungs, the overall tracks just picks up. It's one of those things where a crowd could just been seen shouting everything right back at them at a festival. Then the song finishes in a fade out of feedback, except for one guitar that just goes on and on, and leads into the next track 'Seven Days Late'. That song is crazy. I'll tell you about it soon.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #45: George Harrison - Any Road

Another George Harrison song.

'Any Road ' was released on George Harrison's posthumous album 'Brainwashed' almost a year after his death from cancer.

It was written during the making of the video for his song 'This Is Love' from 'Cloud Nine' in 1988, and continued to work on songs over the next decade.

On 30 December 1999, Harrison and his wife were attacked in their home. Harrison had to be hospitalized after being stabbed multiple times, and underwent treatment for his first bout of cancer in 2001. It was rough times for him. The cancer in his liver then spread to his brain, and after learning that it would be fatal he dedicated more time towards completing the album with his son Dhani and Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra.

He passed away whilst the album was still being made, but had left enough information for Jeff and Dhani to finish the job.

However bleak the history behind the album may seem, 'Any Road' provides a shining light in the tunnel. After a three second introduction by George, (Give me, uh, plenty of that guitar), the song bursts into life with a joyful ukelele and slide guitar licks that pop up here and there after the chorus.

The song is basically Harrison telling us his life story, the things he's witnessed before him, places he's been to and how he got there, and of course having such a life to the full like Harrison did you would have no idea whether you were coming or going. It has an 'Amazing Grace' type of message, I once was lost but now am found kind of thing, but it's no preachy thing. In fact, you can tell that Harrison wanted to make this a fun song whilst maintaining a serious and reflective message. Listen to those 'Arribas' during the last minute or so, it's quite heartwarming once you listen to it all.

Rest in peace George Harrison, you were a cool guy.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #44: Pink Floyd - Any Colour You Like

In 2009, I became a Pink Floyd fan.

I don't particularly know why or how. As a child I saw the video for 'Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)' on the TV. The band wasn't in it, and it only showed clips of children running around in a playground interspersed with the walking hammers that are seen in the film. Of course I had no idea what I had just witnessed, and was left quite confused by the whole thing.

I watched the movie for 'The Wall' when I was 13, and I guess I was just hooked from then. Bob Geldof was actually a good actor, the concept behind the album was enthralling and obviously the music played a big part. I ended up getting the double album for my fourteenth birthday.

'The Wall' is up there for being one of Pink Floyd's most popular albums. However, 'The Dark Side of the Moon' is the one that most people agree on for being their finest piece of work and one of the greatest albums ever.

'Any Colour You Like' starts rather abruptly; the song before it named 'Us and Them' segues right into it. There are no lyrics as it is an instrumental, but it's really funky and upbeat. David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright wrote the song, making it one out of three tracks that Waters did not contribute on.

The first minute or so is a synthesiser played by Wright, panning and echoing from one channel to the other. That then segues into a guitar solo, and the whole band joins in with additional scat singing.

I would think that most people would skip this song, but please reconsider. If you have this album, where the songs segue into each other (except one time), and you don't have this song... Well then, that just messes everything up doesn't it? It's also very important in the album's overall concept. Pink Floyd had a thing for concept albums.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #43: Hyper - Ant Music

Oh my god. Year 8 was one of the best school years of my life.

You didn't care about anything, I wasn't in the youngest year anymore, we had no real exams to worry about, I turned thirteen years old. I have so many things I could list; I wouldn't want to bore you with all my sentimental crap though. It was good times. Some gooood times.

Another thing that was great around the time was the freedom I had to play my PS2 for hours on end. I am a FIFA fanatic, I'm not like KSI or any of those gamers online, but I've been buying EA Sports' yearly release since I was seven.

In 2005 EA Sports BIG, known for SSX, released its own FIFA game, 'FIFA Street'. It was nothing like I ever played before. You could make your own team in the 'career mode' and recruit professional players to be on your team. This was when people like Zidane, the original Ronaldo.... All those legends were still playing. It was the best.

In fact it was so good that they released the sequel two years later, 'FIFA Street 2'. The sequel had improved vastly from the first. The first game wasn't even that bad, but the second was out of this world. The locations, the players, the music! The music!

That's where this song comes in. 'Ant Music' is a cover of the song by Adam and the Ants. I have no idea what else I can say to you about Hyper. I probably won't like their stuff, but this song became one of my favourites from the game.

The best thing was some of my friends also owned FIFA Street 2, so we would start bursting into song in lessons, at break, at lunch, when we were going home. All the time.

FIFA Street 2, I love you. Thank you for those memories.

Whatever you do, don't buy FIFA Street 3 or the one that came out last year because those flopped like hell. Seriously. Don't.

The playlist on this game has real quality, so I'm going to list my favourites. Me and my friends sang these everyday.

Highlights
The Flaming Lips - The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Lethal Bizzle - Kickback
The Subways - Rock and Roll Queen
Coldcut ft. Roots Manuva - True Skool
Sway - Flo Fashion
Killa Kela (I think that's right) - Jawbreaker
Art Brut - Formed a Band
Pendulum - Hold Your Colour (Bi-Polar Mix)
End of Fashion - O Yeah
Editors - Munich
British Beef - Without Me
Swingfly - Something's Got Me Started

Yep, that's about it. Have fun listening to them!

Until next time.

Jamie.

My Post #42: The Who - Another Tricky Day

The Whooooooooooooo.

Oh man. Summer 2010 was the moment when I began to actually start listening to the band. Best decision I've made.

I could start a whole story about how I started listening to them and everything, but 'Another Tricky Day; doesn't really fit in with that, so I'll leave that for another day.

Firstly, my new found love for The Who made me want to search for music videos on the YouTubes, and after coming across songs like 'Happy Jack' and 'Substitute' I realised that they were experts at everything they did. Townshend is a great guitar player, Moon, well, you know he's crazy but a beast on the drums, Entwistle the best bass player of all time and Daltrey with his soaring vocals combined produced a wall of melodic noise to great effect.

Then I watched the video for this song; initially I didn't think much of it. Keith wasn't there, he had passed away, and it all sounded very tame. All the energy was lost, but Entwistle made it up with his bass. Townshend was still recuperating after Keith's death, he was drinking and thinking he was going to go next, his family had left him. Life got hard.

It's a pretty sad song. I feel sad listening to it sometimes. I was going to school recently with my iPod playing in my ears. It was raining, this song started playing, and I began to feel useless. The weather was bad, I didn't want to go in, everything was just so boring and repetitive. I don't feel like working anymore, I will for my exams but school is just so pointless.

"It's just another tricky day for you."

Yeah, I know Roger thank you.

All in all, I never feel really happy when I hear this song. Thoughts of dread and despair build up, and it isn't great.

We shall have a happier post tomorrow.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #41: The Beatles - Another Girl

Alright. So, if you read my post yesterday, you know that I am 18 years old! Woot woot.

I still feel the same though. Does everyone else wake up when it's their birthday and just think, 'well, what now?' I thought that by turning eighteen I would feel some sense of freedom or intellectual gain, that hasn't happened so far. Meh. Life goes on.

Yeah yeah, The Beatles were great blah blah blah.

'Another Girl' is a bright and peppy song of the band's album 'Help!'. Paul McCartney takes the lead on this, also filling the role as the lead guitarist. He's the one doing all the random licks during the verses and chorus.

The band also play along with the song in a kind of music video, this can be seen in their movie also named 'Help!'. It's all fun and games with the Fab Four. The guys are in the Bahamas fooling around, John starts playing the drums and Ringo tries to the play the guitar, George starts throwing rocks at the other members, Paul almost touches a girl's noob whilst 'strumming' her like a bass. It's all good times in 1965.

'Help!' won't be that album that The Beatles are most known for, but it's still got some good tunes. This is a highlight.

Happy birthday to me and Pharrell Williams.

RIP Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #40: The Rutles - Another Day

Hi everyone.

It's my birthday tomorrow. Yaaaaaaaaaaay. I am getting older. I will no longer be seventeen in a few hours.

How will I celebrate this day? Probably revising. I will do something with friends though, that's a guarantee. I'm not socially awkward or anything.

Where does the time go? I remember turning seventeen like it was two days ago. Oh well, here's to another healthy year on this earth, and may good tidings come my way in the future.

Back to the music.

Lately when I watched a Rutles video on YouTube, some idiot posted 'Oh my god, these guys are trying to hard to be The Beatles. They make the same kind of music and everything', or something along those lines.

Well no shit, Sherlock.

The Rutles are a parody of the band, created by Eric Idle of Monty Python fame, and Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. The band was originally part of a sketch in the show 'Rutland Weekend Television', however the 'Pre-Fab Four' gained fame in the television film, 'All You Need Is Cash'. A must-watch, it's very funny. John Lennon and George Harrison liked it, so.... you know. Witness it.

'Another Day' isn't featured in the film, but can be found on the soundtrack album. It's an obvious parody on 'Martha My Dear' from The White Album, with 'Dirk McQuickly' on lead vocals. Really it's sung by Ollie Halsall, a left-handed guitar player who provided lead vocals on all the 'Paul' songs of the album. If you want to find out more about him there won't be anything recent, he passed away in 1992.

I've pretty much summed it up right there. Neil Innes wrote all the songs for The Rutles, and his songs sounded so much like The Beatles that, apparently, he was taken to court by owners of The Beatles' catalogue. The song 'Cheese and Onions' even appeared on a John Lennon bootleg because it sounded so much like him.

Innes' lyrics are very clever too. I didn't even know the word 'pusillanimous' existed until I heard this song.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #39: Green Day - Android

One for the hardcore Green Days fans out there.

Those fans who see the album artwork and think "Ooh, what's this?' Well, it's a song from Green Day's second album, Kerplunk.

"Kerplunk? That sounds stupid, I don't want to listen."

Yes, I felt the same way. American Idiot was my first Green Day album, I really liked 'Holiday' when I was younger, I thought it was one of the best songs around. And Dookie, well that's breakthrough album isn't it? The major label debut, the dogs in the planes and the monkey with the poop in its hand thinking 'Throw?', Basket Case.

"Exactly! What makes Kerplunk so good, or even... 39/Smooth?'

I can't really answer that. They were recorded when the band were on the independent label 'Lookout! Records.' Nobody knew who they were at the scale that they are recognised now, but people still 'knew' about them, you know? Like, people heard they were good stuff so they wanted to find out more about them.

".... OK. I'll have a listen."

Away from that scenario, Kerplunk was one of the last Green Day albums I downloaded. Only for the reason that Green Day: Rock Band came out, and I thought I should download all their stuff for the hell of it. I got 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours' in 2004/05 but after getting it I realised that I had no clue about the songs on the compilation.

Kerplunk has grown on me as time has gone by, and this song is one of the reasons why. It's just a really punk, four chord sequence song with great playing by all three members.

Another song by them about time and ageing, Billie Joe asks the questions that we all want to know about our lives:

"Will I grow that old, will I still be around?

The world will carry on, I'll end up six feet underground.

Waste away."

The song carries on at this fast pace for the first few verses and choruses, then it all slows down (with a weird sample placed in, I don't know where it's from), everything starts to sound quite sad and introspective especially when Billie Joe is backed up with the child-like sounding vocal during the bridge:

"It seems so frightening, time passes by like lightning.
Before you know it you're struck down."

But then the music picks up again, and you're head banging to the instruments again.

It's pretty much a sad lyrics but confident music song, and it's executed brilliantly.

So check out the first two albums by GD, and I don't mean Dookie and Insomniac.

Until next time.

Jamie.

My iPod #38: The Beatles - And Your Bird Can Sing

1966 was a good year for England. The football team won the World Cup, Tony Adams was born, and The Beatles unveiled their seventh album to the world. Except for the USA, who wouldn't hear the album in its original form until the remastered CD in 1987.

Revolver. My favourite album by The Beatles. One of my favourite albums by any band.

Where can I start? I think that everything I would say about it has been said by almost every reviewer there is. I'll leave it to you lot to find out what they say.



Upon seeing the Beatles light in 2009, I went on any site where I could download their whole discography. 'Revolver' was one of their first albums I downloaded, and then I didn't know what to think of it. I've said many times that it takes a few listens to appreciate each song individually, resulting in an accumulated appreciation for the album as a whole. This was another of those times.

I think the fact that the songs were so short was something that made the album seem really quick to me. I would be listening to a song, and then it would finish and it was onto the next one. It was hard to get into something when the last chord faded out before your ears.

'And Your Bird Can Sing' was one example. Barely over two minutes, it's one of the shortest songs.

Listening to it again and again though, I finally understood why the song was so sick. Sick is good. Now, it's come to a point that when I see the cover, I either think of the fake countdown at the beginning of 'Taxman' or the introduction of this song.

It's actually one of the more 'basic?' pieces of the album. A straight-forward rocker written by Lennon, with dual-guitar solos by both George Harrison AND Paul McCartney, Ringo doing his stuff on the drums. It;s just a really cheerful song, with hubris at its finest in the lyrics:

'You tell me that you've heard every sound there is
And your bird can swing, but you can't hear me
You can't hear- MEEEEEEE.'

It's just a huge 'You suck. I'm great' message. It's brilliant. It's everything you want musically and lyrically, and it's only done in a short amount of time.

Then 'For No One' starts. Then you need to get the tissues. For drying your eyes.

It was clear that the band was a world away from their mop-top mania stage and had already embraced their dive into the unknown. That's why they're so great you know? They changed their sound on every album and they still sounded good! JESUS.

Revolver forever.

Until next time.

Jamie.