My iPod #101: Guttermouth - Black Enforcers

Hi everybody.

I'm not a huge fan of Guttermouth, but it was their song in "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3" - which I'll dedicate a post to later on - that got me interested in them. Particularly the album "Covered with Ants", the album that song is on. I had good times with THPS3, burying the bully in Canada, being really excited when I managed to grind the molten bucket in Foundry, and the soundtrack is one of the best in any game ever. It's a must buy - even if it's for the PS2.

I was nine years old around the time and I really wanted to listen to that the track on my computer so I tried to search fo it in the Guide section on an old version of Windows Media Player. It wasn't there. This song was though. I liked it, it rocked. Even though it was only a minute and ten seconds long. But it just wasn't the same as "Destroying the World". The chorus didn't compare and it was probably too short for me to really get into it.

Do you know how hard it was to find songs to listen to on demand all those years ago? I didn't know what Napster or Limewire was, there was no YouTube or Spotify to go to. I had to deal with 30 second clips on random music sites, that was the closest I could listen to "Destroying the World". It was also the way I heard "Cram It Up Your Ass" for the first time, which is the funniest yet disturbingly creepiest song on the album.

Thanks to Spotify I was able to listen to "Covered with Ants" last year, and "Black Enforcers" stood out for me. It's the penultimate track on the album, and another song with a really angry sounding riff. Makes me want to punch a wall. And shout at something. You know that episode of The Simpsons when Homer joins that secret society "The Stonecutters" and he starts singing the theme song with Lenny and Carl and everyone else. Well, this is the theme song for the "Black Enforcers" where if you don't know the rules.... then you don't know the rules and the original members have 'got no pity on you'. The song absolutely rocks, the only problem I have with it is the bass. Where is the bass? It's like they completely mixed it down, you're not The White Stripes for goodness sake. I'm just saying the presence of a bass might have added an extra something.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #100: The Beatles - Birthday

HEY EVERYONE. IT'S JUST GONE PAST FIVE O'CLOCK, AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.

YES. IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE THE 100th POST OF "MY IPOD". YES.

I've really accomplished in life now.

And what a great way to commemorate it too, with one of the loudest songs on "The Beatles" where Paul celebrates your birthday... as well as his own. I never knew about "Birthday" until it appeared in a trailer for "The Beatles: Rock Band" in 2009. The 'dreamscape' for the song in the game is the video above. Although it was written at a time when relations between the band members were starting to deteriorate - It is the only song on "The Beatles" where Paul and John share lead vocals. John sings lower harmony. Paul still managed to come up with this hard rocker, belting out high notes at the top of his chest voice.

Along with "Helter Skelter", it's a song where Paul can't seem to control himself and goes all out on his performance. He takes charge of guitar while George plays bass and if you listen carefully during the drum break, you can here him screaming the measures in the background and he sings quietly during the instrumental break. But seeing as it is his song, one that he and John made up on the spot apparently, he should be allowed to do what he wants. The song also features Yoko Ono and George's first wife, Pattie Boyd on background vocals.

Enjoy the song, enjoy this momentous occassion. 100 posts, get in.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #99: They Might Be Giants - Birds Fly

"Birds Fly" is another They Might Be Giants song, penned by John Flansburgh, which is also found on the "Miscellaneous T" compilation - something I talked about only three days ago. For me, it has the same back story as "The Biggest One". I began to listen to their discography in 2011, found "Miscellaneous T" and downloaded the tracks.

"Birds Fly" is a jazzy number with a walking bassline, background vocals akin to a barbeshop quartet and blocks as the percussion. It makes the song sound very pleasant, light and very easy to listen to. It sounds like it's about someone who's arrested by the police for driving recklessly though. I guess you can say it's got that "Maxwell Silver Hammer" thing going on, with the happy music and the... more serious lyrics.

The song was originally going to be released as a B-side to the "Purple Toupee" single. That was never released though. But it does show that it recorded during the sessions for "Lincoln". It is very similar to "Lie Still, Little Bottle", in so many ways in fact that I think it would have been a shoe in on the album if the band thought "Lie Still" wasn't good enough.

Enjoy it.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #98: They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul

Here it is, They Might Be Giant's biggest song. Commercially anyway. This, "Istanbul" and "Boss of Me" were their only songs to chart in the UK. Shows how much we know about music. I'm only joking, we know quite a bit about music. It's a shame we just never appreciated this band as much.

I've just woken up from a nap so please excuse any spelling mistakes, or anything that clearly doesn't make any sense.

They Might Be Giants released "Birdhouse in Your Soul" as the first single from their major label debut, "Flood". The song, from the perspective a 'blue canary' night-light who 'watches over you' in your sleep. Not in any strange kind of way, but to guard you from the demons and monsters of the night. Like a guardian angel, it's always near.

Now I don't know what affect the song had on people when it was initially released in 1990. I still had another five years to go until I was born, but judging from the stats I see on Wikipedia and TMBW it helped the band gain a bigger following of fans after reaching top ten positions in the UK and in the US Modern Rock chart in the US.

When I was younger and started listening to They Might Be Giants, I knew that I'd heard the song from somewhere. Perhaps in an advert, or it played in the background of a TV show or something. But I didn't know it was the band who sung it. I watched the video on Yahoo's LAUNCHcast website, and it made me like the song even more. The weird zombie children, the random bike riding around the band, the choreography, it's nice to see the band in one of their music videos too.

If you want to listen to the demo from Dial-a-Song, here it is.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie

My iPod #97: Pezz (Billy Talent) - Bird in the Basement

"Bird in the Basement" is the title of this song by Billy Talent when they were in their Pezz phase, but the phrase doesn't appear at all. It's not sung by anyone, no one in the studio says it or anything. It's the same for the rest of the songs on the album. Maybe it's a phrase that only the members of the band are able to get. They probably won't play any of "Watoosh!" any time soon though, so we'll never know.

I mentioned how I came to own "Watoosh!" in my post for "Absorbed", the last track of the album. However, I knew about the album since I was about ten years old. A Billy Talent fan uploaded the songs on their fan site but they were in terrible quality, and were eitther in wma or wav files. I just didn't listen to this song until my sister bought the album for me in 2009. I think the link for it was broken.

As for the meaning of the song, it's quite hard to say. I'm thinking it's about a relationship where the couple feel that 'everything is fake' around them even though to other people, they are the problem. They are oblivious to the whole situation though, and look forward to sticking with one another when everything turns to crap.

This is my one hundredth post. Hooray! To anyone who reads this, thank you. You are the reason why I feel like I haven't been wasting my time since February, when I started this thing.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #96: They Might Be Giants - The Biggest One

A short and sharp one by They Might Be Giants.

This song was originally released on the "(She Was a) Hotel Detective EP" from 1988, but it was released again on the compilation "Miscellaneous T" - a collection of B-Sides recorded between 1986 and 1989 - released in 1991 after the band's success with "Flood". Now I assume that B-Sides are those songs that bands consider to be sub-par to material released on commercial albums, but "Miscellaneous T" is a mighty fine album and no one should underestimate the songs on it.

I first listened to the album in 2011 when I was revising for my GCSEs, and "The Biggest One" was a track that stood out, just because it's the most 'hard rock' song as it gets on the album, with blaring horns and a stomping drum pattern.

"The Biggest One" is sung by John Flansburgh, and is another track where he puts real gusto behind his voice. It's got a real throaty approach to it. It's described as an "unlikely song of self-pity" in the liner notes of "Then: The Earlier Years", maybe because the band weren't into writing a song about the subject matter. It is about a person who blames everything that happens around him on his 'fat self'. That's all there is to it, really. There's also a small Gloria Gaynor reference thrown in there to for a bit of humour.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #95: Foo Fighters - Big Me

Amongst the loud, strong, and energetic songs by Foo Fighters is  "Big Me" found on the debut album from 1994, one of the most softest and almost poppy songs released by the band. Look at how much fun the guys are having in the video, Dave Grohl even has pigtails for goodness sake!

I can't remember how I first came around the song, which is pretty crappy seeing as this is what this whole blog is about. I can only think that it was using the LAUNCHcast thing years ago that I've talked about many times in posts from before. It was probably the video that made me like it even more. It's funny as hell, the band clearly didn't give a shit about how they looked and they're all having a good time. That's what life is about isn't it?


It was released as the final single in 1996 from the band's first album, and by this time Dave had recruited a full band. He recorded the whole first album by himself, playing all instruments except for a lead guitar in one song.

What is the song about? Who knows? The video doesn't clear it up, for sure. What does it matter anyway?

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #94: Jimmy Eat World - Big Casino

Hey guys. I was at my friend's house for about eight hours yesterday, and when I came back I was too tired to do anything. I couldn't make a post, but I am awake enough today to make two.

I'm not a huge fan of Jimmy Eat World; I've never listened to any of their albums. Their singles are sufficient enough, they are very good. Songs like "Bleed American" aka "Salt Sweat Sugar", "The Middle", "Always Be" played on MTV2 when I was younger, and I liked those tracks but not enough to make me want to listen to more material the band made.

"Big Casino" was the first single from their sixth album "Chase This Light" in 2007, I was getting ready to start year 8 of secondary school. The music video was part of MTV2's "New Singles" segment, and that was the first time I heard the song. It played a few times, and then it barely played again. "Always Be" was probably played more than "Big Casino". I like the latter more, because it's a much happier song. It's got more oomph to it, the chorus is excellent too. I also like the triumphant guitar line that occurs at certain times during the song.

I've realised this 'B' series is going to be a long one. I've got almost 100 songs beginning with the letter. I am determined to get through this. Even if I may be in university still doing it.

Jamie.

My iPod #93: be your own PET - Bicycle, Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle

 Ah... the joys of riding a bicycle. Something I can't relate to seeing as I've never owned one. However, it's an activity that be your own PET profoundly express their fondness in this song, and in just over two minutes.

The band are a force that ought to be recognised according to the track. The sky will turn brown, they'll change the eye colour of every lady (which could only suggest that some violence may occur), the sleepyheads will wake up due to their presence, they'll fuck shit up too! All this because they are on their bicycles, because cars are for idiots.

I didn't even make that paragraph up, those are all lyrics in the song. These are backed up with a very aggressively shouted vocal by lead singer Jemina Pearl and the rest of the band, and a rapid guitar riff capturing the urgency of theme. The instrumental break fools you for a bit, starting off slow like a train pulling out of a station but it then gradually becomes faster and faster before returning back to its normal velocity and in regards to the song, the final verse and chorus.

They're on two wheels, baby.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #92: Lostprophets - A Better Nothing

This was originally going to be the fourth single from "The Betrayed", but "For He's a Jolly Good Felon" didn't do very well commercially. That's a shame; for me this song is a lot more satisfying and probably would have been a good single.

Unlike "Felon", there's no story to tell in "A Better Nothing". It's much more introspective, and sure to affect many a person who probably feel like Ian did when he wrote the song. I will take lyrics like "My chest tightens, it brightens the light of the stars, revealing the scars, all the times that were ours," over "Mikey, where'd you get the Nikes?" any day.

I don't what to make it a song vs. song post though. It's all about what's in the title. "A Better Nothing" is a highlight from "The Betrayed". It's not a happy song, and yet it's not a sad song either. It's one that's about determination and finding yourself. I'm no lyrical analyst, so I can't provide you with anything more than that and, like other songs on the album, the track is full with shrieking guitars and a vocal delivery to admire by Ian Watkins. Even the backing vocals, which I believe are done by him, are good too. Too bad he's not so good when singing live. That's always something that's puzzled me.

The song also seems right into the next song on the album "Streets of Nowhere", which is more of a Liberation Transmission outtake than anything. Too poppy and cheerful for this album.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

Ooh, and also congratulations to the Royal Family. Whatever the baby turns out to be.

My iPod #91: Radiohead - The Bends

Something I didn't mention in my last post is that I am currently in my cousin's house for a barbecue. The charcoal is not warming up at all however, and it may be a long time before I get anything to eat. I have only eaten breakfast, and I am quite hungry so something better be put in my belly soon.

Now to the song. A live performance of "The Bends" by Radiohead played on vh2 when I was younger. I can't remember if I liked the song at that moment, but the album (that takes its name from the song) contains some of Radiohead's most popular songs, including "My Iron Lung", "Just" and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" and I liked those songs when I saw their music videos on the TV. For that reason I asked for "The Bends" for one of my previous birthdays - I can't remember which one.

The song starts quietly with a thirteen second sample of a guy training some kids outside of a hotel where the band were staying. The song is also about 'knowing who you real friends are'. My favourite part is the last section when the instruments seem to raise in volume, an great guitar solo occurs and Thom starts wailing 'I wanna be part of the human race.' It sounds so uplifting.

I'm edging nearer to my hundredth post. Quite weird. I never thought I could keep this up for so long.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #90: They Might Be Giants - The Bells Are Ringing

Hey everyone.

Again, I didn't have time to make a post yesterday. Well I did, but I was too tired. I went paintballing you see. 'Twas my first time too. I knew it would be painful, and it was my first experience of being shot at with something. It wasn't too bad. It was much better than I thought it would be. The paint balls do sting upon contact, and I've got a few bruises here and there. I'm fine though. It was all good fun.

This is the first of the two I'll do today. So here's another by a favourite band of mine. Yeah, TMBG.

"The Bells Are Ringing" is the final track on the band's last album from Elektra Records. "Factory Showroom" is the album's name.

I first heard the song due to the LAUNCHcast radio/website that Yahoo! owned years ago, it came up randomly one of the genre-assorted radios that were available. I heard it that one time, and so forgot about it pretty quickly. YouTube didn't exist that time, so to listen to a song in full for free on the Internet was a pretty hard thing to do.

I'm not a Malcolm in the Middle fan - I've never really watched the show before - but this song also featured in one episode called 'Christmas'. For that, I just assumed that the song was a Christmas tune, but that's only because of the mentioning of bells. Bells are something that are common at Christmas time, right? It's doesn't have anything to do with Christmas though. The subject of the song, in my opinion, is about this fad that's caught on by everyone, with the fad being represented as the bells in the song. The bridge brings light upon 'a girl with cotton in her ears' who is oblivious to it, but people go on about it and then begins to appreciate it. It's got a real '1984' theme about it.

At the end of the song, everybody's happy and those 'bells' (which are sung) keep on ringing amongst an increasing volume in marching drums.

I think it's a happy song, but with They Might Be Giants I can never really be sure.

Coming back soon.

Jamie.

My iPod #89: The Who - Bell Boy

Nice. A song by "The Who" that's not on "Who's Next" for me to talk about.

"Quadrophenia" was the first Who album I downloaded in 2010. It was that year when I randomly started to listen to them when I started watching videos on YouTube.

I had briefly heard of it before when I was 13, when a member on YouTube - 'sxewill2' I think was the name of the channel - uploaded the album in sepearate parts. I can remember listening to "The Real Me" for a few seconds, but at that time I was a naive and foolish boy and went onto a different video. That person's account was later terminated from the website later that year.

"Quadrophenia" is another concept album written by Pete Townshend. The story of the album follows the protagonist "Jimmy", a Mod with multiple personality disorder. It's not just two personalities, or three, but four, with each one representing the personality of one member of "The Who". Now you see where the "Quad" comes in the album title.

In regards to the story, "Bell Boy" comes in after Jimmy goes to Brighton to remember the good old fights between the Mods and Rockers and sees a notable Mod that he looked up to back in the day. However, this Mod now works as a... you might have a guessed, a bell boy, and Jimmy is pissed off and dissappointed. What does he do next? You have to listen to the album.

Townshend also incoporates all these musical 'leitmotifs' which occur at different points during the album, depicting the clashes between the personalities. "Bell Boy" is Keith's theme, noted for being 'a bloody lunatic' in the liner notes of the album. "Bell Boy" was the first song I really got into when I listened to the album for the first time. I think the fact that it contained lead vocals by Keith himself played a large part, but also because for me, it was the easiest one to memorise and it's just got this thumping beat to it that doesn't quit. Especially in the verses and the instrumental breaks.

That's about it, guys. Hope you liked the post. Give me feedback, tell me whether you like the song, whether you like the blog or not. Anything really.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #88: The Beatles - Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!

John Lennon bought a poster one day in 1967, from an antiques shop whilst filming the video for "Strawberry Fields Forever" with the other three guys. This is a picture of the poster. This is a picture of John standing next to the poster which is the real deal and not edited by Photoshop at all. It actually isn't.

To put it simply, everything in the song is from the poster. The horse's name wasn't Henry though. It was actually "Zanthus". I don't think "Zanthus the horse dances the waltz" would have been as good of a lyric though. Mind you, if they had used that lyric it wouldn't have been banned on the BBC for supposed "drug references". Silly BBC.

If you own the vinyl version of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", this song closes the first side of the album. To emphasise the circus theme of the song, their renowned producer George Martin asked the engineer to chop up recordings of various faiground organs and calliope music, throw them in the air and reassemble them at random. These are the noises used for the instrumental break, and also during the outro of the song. It took five days for the band to make this, and is regarded to be one of the more complex songs on the album.

It's used in this epic mix on the LOVE album from 2006 too.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

Kings of Leon - "Supersoaker"

Alright! So Kings of Leon are back, and this is their new single "Supersoaker". There's the audio-video right up there.

It premiered yesterday on Zane Lowe's radio show on BBC Radio 1. I missed the first time it played.

But then it played again later..... and I was quite pleased! Only a few posts ago was I talking about how I didn't like the new sound that they were going for now and how I was dissappointed that they had sold out or whatever. But this song is like a mix of that sound and their "Aha Shake Heartbreak" material. Reminds me of "Taper Jean Girl" in particular. This is what I wanted. They've gone back to where they once belonged. You can hear their roots in the song. The only recent song I can think of when they have done this is "Back Down South", and that's not even a bad song. I find myself singing that from time to time. Stick to your roots, KOL.

It's a thumping four-on-the-floor western rocker with Caleb's crooning vocals over the relentless guitars and jumpy bassline in the verses and everything. Yeah... I can dig this. This is a good first single.

Their new album "Mechanical Bull" is released in September.

Bye!

My iPod #87: Nine Black Alps - Behind Your Eyes

There's no video for this song on YouTube. Click on this to listen to it.

Hmmm..... so Nine Black Alps. I briefly touched upon them on a previous post - one that was quite rushed, seeing as I had forgotten to do a post on it in the 'A' series.

I always go on about my favourite bands on here. There's They Might Be Giants, and Billy Talent too. Well, Nine Black Alps are another. Let me tell you why.

Why, I must have been ten years old or something when I first saw their video for "Unsatisfied" on MTV2. I always changed the channel when it came on, because the introduction sounded so depressing..... and the lead singer never smiled or anything. He just looked bored all the time. I didn't wanna watch that. They then released "Just Friends" as a single, and that was a song I didn't care for much either. For me, it was a much better song but it's 2 and a bit minutes long, and it goes by quickly. Nope. Nine Black Alps weren't the band for me

That was until the advert for their album "Everything Is" started airing on the television. It showed a few seconds of the two music videos for the songs I already mentioned. But it was the one for "Not Everyone" which really caught my attention. That's for another blog. Then their songs started showing up on every EA Sports releases. First, "Cosmopolitan" was part of the EA Trax in FIFA 06, and then another of their songs, "Shot Down" appeared on Burnout Revenge.

Long story short, I got the album as a present for my eleventh birthday. It's one of my favourites. "Behind Your Eyes" is a song from there.

"Behind Your Eyes" is one of the two acoustic songs on "Everything Is". It comes after five songs full to the brim with hard-hitting riffs, loud guitars and various lyrics about dying, obtaining weapons and other morbid subjects. The album as a whole has quite a war-like concept to it. I'm not sure whether it's a concept album or not. It could be.

Anyway, "Behind Your Eyes" introduces a sense of hope. A light, not quite at the end of the tunnel, but one  that shines for a few minutes until it flickers out. But you still manage to find a way through the darkness. That is until the light goes and then everything is dark again. I say that because as soon as "Behind Your Eyes" finishes, it's back to the guitars and dark lyrics.

Yeah, it's a pretty song amongst the madness.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #86: The Who - Behind Blue Eyes

Hi everyone. I'm feeling good. Each day just seems to go into the next so quickly, I don't know where the time is going.

This is the third song from this album that I've done a blog on, and I've only got five songs from Who's Next on my iPod. Oh, well.

For those of you who don't know, "Who's Next" is only a compilation of songs that were supposed to be used for a much bigger project that Pete Townshend had worked on. After they had finished "Tommy", Townshend began work on a rock-opera called "Lifehouse". However, when he explained the concept to his friends and the other band members they just didn't get what was going on. They couldn't handle it.

"Behind Blue Eyes" is sung from the perspective of the villain of the story, Jumbo. It was intended to be his 'theme song', but of course "Lifehouse" never happened. "Who's Next" is still considered to be the band's best album, even though it wasn't intended to be made. That's quite funny. You can listen to the album's intended tracklist, thanks to this playlist on YouTube.

"Behind Blue Eyes" is the penultimate song - before "Won't Get Fooled Again". It starts off with Roger singing alone over Pete's guitar, John later joins in with the bass and vocal harmonies are introduced. The song then changes into a full rock out when Keith and the electric guitars come in. Keith's drumming is brilliant on this, listen to them here. The song then ends with a reprise of the first sections. With three cymbal crashes on the last three words, the song fades to a close.

It's quite of a downer. But then the last track begins, and for the next nine minutes you'll feel great.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #85: The Futureheads - The Beginning of the Twist

Hi everyone.

I'm feeling good today. After about seven years, I have finally got around to taking my acoustic guitar to get fixed. I only need a new high e string, but it's taken so long. I never thought this day would come. I listened to 'Blow Away' by George Harrison - one of the happiest songs that I only listened to last Friday or so, on repeat on the way to the shop and back.The weather is incredibly sunny and very hot. It's a good time to be alive.

"This Is Not the World" is The Futureheads' third album released in 2008. They also hadn't released an album for quite a while. "The Beginning of the Twist" was the first single, and brought back that hard-hitting, punchy feeling that's present throughout most of their songs.

It was also the first time the band had released material on their independent label Nul Records, after leaving 679 Recordings for undisclosed reasons. It is the first song on the album, but in its own way it is announcement of their change and a message that things will not be the same. I don't think it's in any way autobiographical, I just thought of that. It's all up to interpretation.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #84: Green Day - Before the Lobotomy

To this day, I am still not sure what the concept of "21st Century Breakdown" is. I know that it includes two characters, Christian and Gloria, and I also believe that those are the same characters that are embracing on the album cover. So is it like a love story? Is it supposed to be some sort of survival of two lovers in a shitty period of time? That's really all I can deduce from it.

"21st Century Breakdown" was somewhat the "Relapse" for Green Day. It was released in 2009 - five years after releasing "American Idiot" in 2004. It was an exciting time for Green Day fans, including myself. I wasn't really impressed with "Know Your Enemy" though, it was a bit repetitive and it didn't strike me as much as "American Idiot" did as a first single.

That didn't stop me from eventually downloading the album though. It is a straight-forward punk rock album: Guitars in full force in both ears with the bass and drums in the centre, a few overdubs here and there and guitar solos. Yeah, it's good.

"Before the Lobotomy" starts off quietly for the first minute or so, describing how people feel down and how there seems to be no signs of hope, "Laughter, there is no more laughter. Songs of yesterday now live in the underground" But the song then picks up, turning into more of a rocker in the middle alternating between 7/4 and 4/4 in time signature. I can't remember the last time Green Day used that in a song. It's nice though, it keeps things going quickly. The end reprises the first verses of the song though, reminding everyone that society still sucks.

I like this song. Listen to it, you may like it too.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #83: Razorlight - Before I Fall to Pieces

Ah. The third single from Razorlight's second album from 2006.

I like this song, no matter how many people may not like Johnny Borrell's voice or as a person. The song was released as a single in December 2006, months way after the actual album was released.


I had actually heard the song before it was released as a single. In primary school, I had a friend and we were into the same music and we would talk about songs that were out and whatever. Baring in mind, we were about eleven at the time. He had this huge musical library on his computer, and I would always request songs for him to send to me through MSN. I don't know if that annoyed him or not, because I asked for a lot of music. I will just assume that he was cool with it. He invited me around his house one time, so he probably was.

The video always confused me though. I have no idea what's going on. It probably should have just been a perfomance video. It does feature Guy Pearce, and Scorpio from Gladiators though.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #82: Blur - Beetlebum

Beetlebum. What you done. She's a guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun. Now what you done. Beetlebum.

I can't remember how I came to like this song. Blur have been around for a long time, so it's pretty hard to pick out an exact time. It may just have been playing on MTV2, on one of the chart shows that the channel sometimes showed. I can remember being concerned about the censored Coca-Cola can, and the censored cigarette in Alex James' hand, and then going online to see if there was an uncensored version. There isn't one. It's not censored for a particular reason, it's just for effect.

It's good listening to the song by itself, but with the video it just seems so much cooler. Damon... stares deep into your soul. Some weird kaleidoscope effects occur. He starts making out with the microphone later on, and for the last minute or so the camera starts flying around the surrounding area. It's trippy, possibly a way of depicting the effects of drug taking. Which is what the song is about. You can see it on Wikipedia. It has references too, so it's obviously true. Obviously.

The song is the opener from their self titled album released in 1997. It was also released as the first single, and reached number one for a week until it was knocked off the top spot by LL Cool J. That's not too bad. Whatever LL Cool J's song was, it's probably better than anything in the chart today.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #81: They Might Be Giants - Bee of the Bird of the Moth

Oh, hello again! Nice to see you.

"Bee of the Bird of the Moth" is a track from They Might Be Giants' twelfth album "The Else" released in 2007. I didn't listen to it until very recently, only because I wasn't sure whether I wanted to listen to the album or not. It was released during the period when the band had developed their children's music albums, with "Here Come the ABCs" preceding it, and the two other "Here Comes..." coming afterward, so I had my doubts on whether the sound of the 'adult' album would appeal to me.

I was wrong to doubt. "This Might Be a Wiki", the information centre dedicated to the band allows its members to rate their songs out of 10, and out of 84 ratings it has an average of 8.83/10 which isn't band considering it's above songs like "You Probably Get That a Lot" and "Weep Day" which are just examples of two other songs that I like. I'm thinking that that's the actual reason why I listened to the song in the first place. It has a high rating in the TMBW song list. That sounds quite bad :(

I don't regret it though. If I hadn't done that, then there's the possibility that I may not have given "The Else" a chance. "The Else" is a great album. I'm biased though 'cause They Might Be Giants are one of my favourite artists, but it's proudly in my iTunes library where I can listen to the songs everyday.

In John Linnell's words: "This is a song about a hummingbird moth, which imitates another creature, which imitates yet another creature. It's completely fucked up and can only be explained in song!"

What more can you say?

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #80: Eminem - Beautiful

Hey everyone.

How's the new look? Do you like it? The whole blue and white thing was alright. But the 'simple' template was much more better than the 'dynamic' one. I hope you think it's cool. Now you can see the posts I've done before, all in the two or three clicks with a mouse.

Sorry I didn't do a post yesterday. I've done that about three times now. I'm on holiday, as you may or may not know. Finished exams and all that stuff. Yesterday I just went out bowling and chilled out at my friend's house for a while. It was nice. I realised I suck at bowling without the barriers on the side to stop the ball from going into the gutter. Yesterday was the first time I'd actually done ten-pin bowling without those barriers. I came last in one game. But I did come third in the final one we did. It was all fine in the end.

OK. So, this is the first post for today. Another one will come up, this counts as yesterday's one.

2009 was an alright year. I was in Year 9, and so really I still didn't have any important things going on academic wise. That was the final year of Key Stage 3 before GCSE work started the next year. 2009 was also the year Eminem came back into our lives after a four year absence. Sure, he featured on "Smack That" by Akon and released the compilation album "The Re-Up" in 2006, but of course that didn't count. That was more of a collaboration album with artists on Shady Records. The last we really heard from Eminem was in 2005, when he released "When I'm Gone" in a period when I remember that a lot of people thought he was retiring, and that was his "goodbye" song.

That all changed when he finally returned, firstly with "Crack a Bottle" and then 'officially' (you could say) with the single "We Made You" - the single which received the most airplay from "Relapse", and in typical fashion he was here with his wacky Slim Shady persona, making fun out of Lindsay Lohan, Ellen DeGeneres, Amy Winehouse, and all with funny accents too.

I will tell you another tale of my friends about my friends and I from school. If you read my last post you may get this. These are different friends this time, but me and two of my friends really liked Eminem and we were really happy when "Relapse" came out. Now, most people think that Relapse isn't that great of an album. Eminem describes it himself as "Ehhhh". But then, it was Eminem, it was Marshall, it was Slim Shady, it was a big deal. No one would have dared to say that it was bad.

It was one of those two friends who told me about "Beautiful". I hadn't heard the song. "Relapse" hadn't been released yet. But somehow my friend went on all these music websites where the latest R&B and hip-hop music was uploaded. He went on about how 'sick' it was, and how I should listen to it and memorise the first verse with the sample so we could sing it when we weren't paying attention in class. "Sick" is another way of saying amazing, if you don't slang.

So I went home. Listened to it. And it was sick. It is really serious stuff. "Relapse" isn't a very serious album at all, with lines such as "I was born with a dick in my brain, yeah fucked in the head" and "Bodies laying all over the floor, I don't remember how they got there but I guess I must have killed 'em". But "Beautiful" is a very introspective Eminem song. It's quite depressing. It's got a good message though, basically saying "Fuck whoever says you're not worth shit. Just be yourself." It was released as a single, as you can see the music video is above. The actual song is about 6:30 minutes, but the video cuts out a few sections for some reason.

I don't have "Relapse". I don't really want it. "Beautiful" is good enough.

Until some hours later.

Jamie.

My iPod #79: Late of the Pier - The Bears Are Coming

"The Bears Are Coming" is a song by the band Late of the Pier, a dance-punky quartet who have only released one album to this day called "Fantasy Black Channel". They haven't been around for quite some time, and in this duration their fans have yearned and pined for new material.

I don't know if I would call myself a fan of the band. If I am, it would be embarrassing to compare myself to others who actually keep up with whatever the members of the band do, whether it is "Late of the Pier" or side projects and stuff. But I like the album. It never has the same sound throughout each song. It's diverse, it's eclectic, it's whatever synonym there is that means "wide range in differences".

I remember talking to two of my friends about the music they listened to when I was in Year 8 or something. I had only vaguely heard something about the band, I think my sister liked them. Ben (one of them) talked about "Late of the Pier" and how he thought the name "Does It Offend You, Yeah?" was a cool name for a band. He also started singing "Space and the Woods" which was quite funny. Normally he just reads books all the time, and I never knew then that he listened to music very much.

"The Bears Are Coming" played for about ten seconds on a Virgin Media Music Videos preview on my TV. Virgin Media allows you to watch a large number of music videos for free as part of their "On Demand" option. The first line and part of the second were the only parts of the video that played, and I thought it sounded good.

I didn't watch the video though. It sounds odd that I didn't. It's pretty weird that I didn't if it was available for free. I don't think I actually listened to the full song until late last year.

It's a good song. It was released as a single too. Late of the Pier's singles are very good. If you haven't listened to it yet, watch the video above.

You might be confused by it. It's much less confusing than the video for "Focker" though. That video is something else.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #78: Billy Talent - Beach Balls

I've known this song for a long time, and it has never bored me once.

Billy Talent is one of my favourite bands ever. From the day when I first saw "River Below" on TV when I was eight, I needed to find more about them. I did. I never looked back.

"Beach Balls" is a song that was originally released on the "Try Honesty EP" in 2001 - I'm thinking this was the time when the band was looking for a label to sign to. It can also be found as a bonus track on some releases of "Billy Talent II" from 2006.

So when I became interested in Billy Talent in 2004, I wanted to find the lyrics to their songs so I could sing along to them. Letssingit was the first site to come up as a result on Google, and it was there that the lyrics to all their songs from the first album were listed. Furthermore, it was there that the lyrics for "Beach Balls" were listed; it wasn't on the album, and I didn't know Wikipedia existed at the time so I had no idea what this song was or how to find it. It could have been a song wrongly associated to the band for all I knew.

That was until I found a download link for the song on one of the many Billy Talent fansites that were around. As soon as the song started I knew that there was something different about the sound. Billy Talent's first album is very angry, there's a lot of screaming and hard rocking instrumentation. On "Beach Balls", the sound is much more peppy. You have a Spanish-sounding guitar riff that plays and carries on during the verses. There's no screaming on this song at all, which is something I really like the band for, but it's still a really cool track to listen to.

Then it only struck me recently how the structure of the song is very similar those found on the album "Watoosh!" when the band were called Pezz. (Which is a brilliant album, they should play those songs live some time). For those who haven't listened to songs on that album, the structure is basically:

Intro - Verse - Chorus - Verse - Chorus - Break - Sound of the song you've been listening to for the first half completely changes - One or two lines are sung which are then repeated until the song ends

So I can only assume that this song was performed when the band were still Pezz, but was released when the band changed their name.

The song is great though. Even if it's not Billy Talent, it still is. If you know what I mean.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #77: Kings of Leon - Be Somebody

Ah. The only one I really like from "Only by the Night".

I am, admittedly, a Kings of Leon fan who prefers their music prior to "Only by the Night". Sure, "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody" were major successes for them - and that's great. I just like it when they weren't aiming for this big, stadium filling sound that they seem to have been going for since the album's release in 2008. Ever since they cut their hair, which I first noticed in the video for "Charmer", things just started going downhill for me. I'm just saying. Don't hate me.

"Be Somebody" is the highlight from the album for me. That's only because the two songs I've mentioned above are repeated endlessly on the TV or radio. I can't get no satisfaction when I hearing them sung by contestants on the X Factor, or Britain's Got Talent, or other inane Saturday night ITV programmes that are on.

It sounds like a song that could have been on "Because of the Times", I don't get a sense of "Ooh, look at us we're this huge band now and you should listen to us" vibe that I get from other songs on the album. It's a haunting song, emphasised by the descending riff in the verses and the shrieking guitar in the breaks between the verses until you are suddenly lifted by an uplifting sounding chorus, where Caleb reaches the top of his lungs singing how he's going to be somebody.

To summarise, for me it's the only good song on the album. I'll stick to their tunes from when their hair was long.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

P.S. Congratulations to Andy Murray, who became the first Briton to win Wimbledon in 77 years. He's still Scottish.

My iPod #76: Fatman Scoop ft. The Crooklyn Clan - Be Faithful

Oh, man. One of the biggest of 2003 right here guys.

This song was the most contagious thing ever. I was only eight years old, but this song played almost every day. It got to number one in the UK and stayed there for two weeks.

You can't sit still to this song. As soon as the intro starts, the bass drop kicks in and "Scoop" starts yelling "OH, OH, OH, OH, OH, OH, OH". That's it. You're done. You're already jumping around the room and shouting along with him.

This is probably one of the most random songs I have on my iPod. I think it just brings back memories of when I was in primary school. It also played for about 30 seconds at my recent prom, so that was cool too.

As for Fatman Scoop, he's featured on a few songs here and there since the hit. But the success for him as a solo artist never reached the highs as it did for him with this track. He did release another song entitled "It Takes Scoop", which was a top ten entry in the UK. But I don't think anyone would think that is quite as memorable as "Be Faithful".

I'm sorry Fatman, but this is one for the 'one-hit wonder' chart countdowns on television.

I LOVE IT THOUGH, IT'S SO HYPE.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #75: Morning Runner - Be All You Want Me to Be

This is the first song I heard by Morning Runner.

I was watching music television one day. I think the channel was The Amp -which was a really good music channel; I don't know why it got removed - and I watched the video for it.

But you know how it goes. Time moves on, and songs get older and older until they eventually fade away and are hardly ever played again. I never forgot about the song though. I wasn't able to watch the video again until sometime in 2010. I downloaded the song, and I can have it on repeat whenever I want.

It's got that "Rush of Blood" Coldplay type vibe. Apparently it influenced Chris Martin to write songs with Coldplay for "X&Y", so obviously it must be good.

The song was released as the band's second single from their debut album "Wilderness Is Paradise Now". Their debut was also their last as the band then split in 2007. People may also know this band for "Gone Up in Flames", a song in FIFA 07 and the theme song for "The Inbetweeners".

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

P.S. I created a Twitter account, so if you want to follow me please do @JamieKManteaw.

Bye, bye.

My iPod #74: Nine Black Alps - Bay of Angels

Afternoon everyone.

Sorry there was no blog yesterday. I went to the cinema with my friends.

We also broke the law too. Originally, we were only meant to watch "This Is the End" (which is a hilarious movie, I recommend it) but we ended up watching "Now You See Me" too, for free. :D

It was cool. I thought we would get caught. We didn't. It was fine.

Don't break the law guys.

Another blog will come up later today. This is the song that would have been posted yesterday.

"Bay of Angels" is the fifth song of Nine Black Alps' third album "Locked Out from the Inside". It's one of the less heavier songs on the album, but is placed in between two of the more rocking tunes and therefore is a song to chill out to amongst the noise.

Although it may not be as fast and loud as the others, it is a great song creating an almost ethereal and dreamlike atmosphere with its slow pace, echoey vocals and soaring guitar work.

Until... later on.

Jamie.

My iPod #73: The Who - Bargain

Have you ever wanted something so much - so badly, that you would give up anything to win it?

Well then my friend, "Bargain" is the song for you. After "Baba O'Riley" on "Who's Next" is this gem, again penned by Pete Townshend about becoming closer to God.

It's another powerful song and is driven on by the force of the rhythm section and Daltrey's vocals, even more so than in the aforementioned album opener.

I don't think I can write anything else that isn't in its Wikipedia entry.

It's one of my favourites from the album though. It's good stuff.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #72: Bloc Party - Banquet

Demo version                                                                   Album version

What eventful hours I've just experienced. Let me tell you.

I had my prom yesterday. It was alright. It was a joint prom with my school (an all boys one) and our 'sister' school (an all girls one). It could have been much better. No one wants to arrive early to a prom, and my friends and I made sure we didn't. We made it to the hotel; the music was playing, people were inside, but no one was really ready to dance yet. So we stayed outside the hall and chilled for a bit. For about an hour or so. Which was a bit of a waste of time. We ate food prepared by the hotel. Then we danced the night away. The hotel is also near Tower Bridge and The Shard, and I never knew how nice they looked at night until yesterday. It's quite sad knowing that's one of the last times I'll see the friends I've made over the past seven years. I'll still remember them. I'll make sure of that.

Then today, my aunt only goes and calls the house saying that her flat was burned down. (It really wasn't, it was just a bit of smoke and damage to the extractor.) But the way my mum reacted, and according to her the way my aunt said it, made it seem like the whole place had gone. She had to go to hospital for a few hours for a check up, 'cause she was coughing and everything. It wasn't great. I'm glad she's okay though. She's fine.

Let's get started on the song then.

"Banquet" is a song by the band, Bloc Party. It's one of their most popular ones too, as it is on what is considered to be their best album "Silent Alarm". It was released as a single too, reaching 13 in the UK charts back in 2005. That was a good time for music in the UK.

It's about sex. That's from Kele himself too. So you can't argue. I'm not just saying that. I don't have a dirty mind.

I can't say much about this song. It's not the one that introduced me to the band. That song was "Helicopter". So you'll have to wait until then.

Here's an interesting fact. Kele Okereke, the lead singer, went to my school back in the nineties which is cool. My mum also spoke to his years ago when they worked in the same hospital. In a way, I know him very well.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #71: They Might Be Giants - Bangs

Hi everybody.

Got to type this one quickly 'cause I'm going to my friend's house soon.

They Might Be Giants are my favourite band. I've downloaded most of their albums. The only albums of theirs I own is "The Spine" and "A User's Guide..." which is a compilation, and so doesn't really count. So I only own one album.

"Mink Car" is the eighth studio album by the band. It was released on the same day as 9/11, so it may not have received as much attention as it could have.

I downloaded the album in 2011 because I had never heard the songs of it, and they weren't on YouTube so I uploaded them.

"Bangs" is the first song on the album. I've got to say when I first heard the song I mistook the title as a euphemism for another part of the female body. (Two other parts to be exact). But it's not. It's about a good haircut that a girl has which impresses the narrator. Shows you how I think.

"Bangs" is one of my favourites. Good melody and stuff. I hope you like it too.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.