Brian Eno... Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)

Released: November 1974
Recorded: September 1974 at Island Studios, London
Length: 48:14
Label: Island
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Brian Eno… I’ve mentioned him before in a previous entry. But what can be said about the man that would do him justice? Not even in my opinion. The guy was always ahead of everything in music with his sounds and techniques that are still bizarre to this day.

Don’t remember where I first heard of Brian Eno, but it must’ve been many years ago from KCRW (I’m guessing) and it was probably something from one of his ambient projects, so I didn’t really pay much attention to it. When I finally sat and listened to bulk of his rock stuff I had to keep looking at the copy rights on the album because everything sounded like I heard it before during the 90’s. It was all a real mind fuck because everything that I loved in the 90’s was for the most part pioneered by Brian Eno.

I originally kept an idea of writing about his first album Here Come The Warm Jets, but while I was listening to the radio the other day China My China was playing in the background and it stuck with me during this last week. It sounds real playful and it kinda reminds me of something like Tripping Daisy (which in many ways became the Polyphonic Spree).  The guitars are addictive to me when it changes up from the simple stuff at the beginning, also very inspiring to me makes me want to write something light hearted (which is not in character for me).

Bauhaus does an awesome version of the song Third Uncle, which is also fucking awesome. It sounds a little fast and grimier but the respect for Brian Eno is there. The pace of the original is fast that makes me think of a Parkour chase scene in a movie with dudes flying around all over buildings, good times in my eyes.

The chorus of the True Wheel is pretty crazy I can hear allot of the newer bands use that trick. And when the guitars break down it reminds me of the kinda stuff Nirvana would do, but with more distortion. In Eno’s career has set the blueprint for most of rock music’s most memorable sounds with this album from the point  it started to now.

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1."Burning Airlines Give You So Much More" 3:18
2."Back in Judy's Jungle" 5:16
3."The Fat Lady of Limbourg" 5:03
4."Mother Whale Eyeless" 5:45
5."The Great Pretender" 5:11
6."Third Uncle" 4:48
7."Put a Straw Under Baby" 3:25
8."The True Wheel" 5:11
9."China My China" 4:44
10."Taking Tiger Mountain" 5:32

Think About Life... Family

Released: May 26, 2009
Recorded: Friendship Cove, Montreal, Quebec
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Thanks to Blalock’s Indie Rock Playlist (http://www.birp.fm/) I’ve been exposed to music that I’d ever hear anywhere else. When I first heard the song Sweet Sixteen that he choose for a past playlist I was amazed ,at how obscure the sound was but it was still very familiar like an Electro Funk song from the 80’s(BTW what ever happened to the whole Electro Funk scene).

As corny as it may seem Young Hearts make me nostalgic for days past all the way back in the 90’s, with lyrics like “I’m you high school lover, number one stunner, can you hear me calling down the tunnel”. The words make me think back to those days of waiting to get the hell away from that madness, and being infatuated with a girl who didn’t even see what I was about, till it was all over. High school was a strange time, because everyone then that was poised to take make big splashes didn’t do anything (be it the economy, drugs, or just life some people never did excel). I can see all that now, but in those days I knew it was simpler than what life would be but I wanted out anyways. Guess I got my wish in a way…


Set You on Fire is a great song to get pumped up to and start tearing things up. Yeah its kinda bubble gum but it’s got a beat that’s infectious, “The music’s playing but I can’t see you dance” is an anthem to get up and dance around. I can see this band in my head dancing around in the crowd and everyone singing this song with them.

Sofa Bed is almost like my life at the beginning of my 20’s just struggling to find my way, all the while being nomadic. It has some romantic overtones to it but that’s part of life, not everything is so cut and dry, everything mixes together even in the spots that shouldn’t (at least in your plan).

The Veldt continues the whole vibe of coming of age (I guess is the right term even though its cliché). “When lightning strikes” is a great way to talk about love at the point in your life when you to young to understand, it happens too quickly and disrupts everything about you Lol.

Truth is that I love this album, but I don't want critique every song because I want you to give the album and a chance and possibly be amazed like I was.
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1. "Johanna" 3:56
2. "Havin' My Baby" 3:29
3. "Sweet Sixteen" 3:44
4. "Young Hearts" 4:11
5. "Wizzzard" 3:51
6. "Set You On Fire" 3:38
7. "Sofa-bed" 3:11
8. "The Veldt" 4:44
9. "Nueva Nueva" 3:18
10. "Life Of Crime" 5:46

Funkadelic... Standing on the Verge of Getting It On

Released:July 1974
Length:37:48
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Legends where do they come from? Who knows… they just are, just like Funkadelic, speaking and singing in a language that isn’t heard for generations too late. The poetry of songs on a level ahead of conservatism of the time is just mind blowing.

Red Hot Mama is a great example of the words and sounds for the next generation (I can hear some Lenny Kravitz in this song, not as much heart in all his songs than this one track though). George Clinton always had a knack for finding great musicians to express his true funky soul and Red Hot Mama kicks you in the head from the start… I love this song, great energy, great funk…

Who else could keep the energy up in a next song but Funkadelic with Alice in my Fantasies. The feel of this song seems like psychedelia in the next generation like if Hendrix survived to live in the 70’s. Man how the world would be different if he lived to meet the funk revolution that came after him.

If you think that the too much of a good thing is too much, Funkadelic takes it easy with I’ll stay. The piano and the vocal are just sexy and soulful. This is where funk redeems the whole slow soul seen for the world that wouldn’t give it a chance.

Yeah I know these are only the first 3 tracks but they are soo worth it to listen to, and if you give the album a chance you’ll feel the funk in these tracks. And I know that most people have heard the funk on Parliament-Funkadelic and George Clinton but nobody in my generation has ever told me about what was be the radio friendly tracks. So this was a treat that I stumbled upon by accident and it deserves more respect for the new ground breaking fearless new sounds that every one tried to steal afterwards.
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1. "Red Hot Mama" (Bernie Worrell, George Clinton, Eddie Hazel) - 4:54
2. "Alice in My Fantasies" (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel) - 2:26
3. "I'll Stay" (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel) - 7:16
4. "Sexy Ways" (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel) - 3:05
5. "Standing on the Verge of Getting It On" (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel) - 5:07
6. "Jimmy's Got a Little Bit of Bitch in Him" (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel) - 2:33
7. "Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts" (George Clinton, Eddie Hazel) - 12:30

Bill Callahan... Apocalypse

Released: April 5, 2011
Length: 40:24
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This album really came out of nowhere… I only had Bill Callahan’s live alum Rough Travel for a rare thing for a few months, before I found this album. I first discovered Bill Callahan from Blalock’s Indie Rock Playlist (http://www.birp.fm/) back in 2009, since then I’ve been a fan.

Every time I get a new Bill Callahan album there’s always a song that really sticks, and Apocalypse didn’t disappoint with Drover to start the set. I get allot of images in my head when I hear this song, mostly of riding a horse across the U.S. before the states joined the union. It may seem like a lonely song but it gives me the feeling of persevering with the line “Yeah one thing about this wild, wild country, It takes a strong, strong, It breaks a strong, strong mind, Yeah one thing about this wild, wild country, It takes a strong, strong, It breaks a strong, strong mind” and it reflects the wild of America that has been lost in recent generations to gentrification (America is beautiful even some people are idiots).

To keep the strong lyrics comes Baby’s breath, this one may seem kind of obvious about the one that got away because of fear and mistrust and not realizing it, till it’s all over and done. The guitars remind me an old country song that Cash may have sung at one point. It’s a cleaver song anyway you look at.

Riding for the feeling needs no reason to explain how awesome this song is. Yeah it’s a slow song but it makes you really want go out on the road and see what’s in the next day or city. There’s always some story to be told and people to hear just for the feeling called living. These three songs that I’ve mentioned are the ones that always get played 3 or 4 times in a row when this album is playing throughout the day.
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1."Drover" - 5:24
2."Baby's Breath" - 5:30
3."America!" - 5:33
4."Universal Applicant" - 5:53
5."Riding for the Feeling" - 6:05
6."Free's" - 3:13
7."One Fine Morning" - 8:46

The Smiths... The Smiths

Released: February 20, 1984
Recorded: Spring – Autumn 1983
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Ok I grew up hating Morrissey and The Smiths, mostly because my older second cousin Joe, use to play them non-stop morning noon and night. Also I felt they didn't have much balls, too la la la sounding. But some of it ended up sticking in the nostalgic part of my brain, and because of that I get thrown back to the mid 90’s sitting in a garage, helping him work on his Chevy Nova while The Smiths tape was playing.

Pretty Girls Make Graves has had a deeper meaning with me in the past when I get all angsty after breaking up with a girl… we all get Emo at some point in time. Example “I'm not the man you think I am I'm not the man you think I am” and “I lost my faith in Womanhood” seem like a perfect example of being angry about things ending.

Good thing it doesn’t last forever, because This Charming Man comes on a few tracks later. Makes it seem like alright you’ve cried about nothing for a while, now get over it. Brings a better mood out of me when the guitar chimes in. makes me smile because I’ve said that a couple of times. (Ok this one isn’t on the original album but was an EP that predated this album. But it’s a good song and is on the copy of the album I have)

I don’t owe you anything makes me feel like where the night ends and everyone pairs off, last call song. Its how things cool down before people have to go back to being themselves after playing a part they aren’t always because that dance gets old and tiring.

I really like this album because it's mellow and it brings me back to being a kid. and its not because every Mexican kid loves Morrissey.

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1."Reel Around the Fountain" – 5:58
2."You've Got Everything Now" – 3:59
3."Miserable Lie" – 4:29
4."Pretty Girls Make Graves" – 3:42
5."The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" – 4:38
6."Still Ill" – 3:23
7."Hand in Glove" – 3:25
8."What Difference Does It Make?" – 3:51
9."I Don't Owe You Anything" – 4:05
10."Suffer Little Children" – 5:28

dynamite with a laser beam queen as heard through the meat grinder of three one g

Original Release Date: November 30, 2001
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OK I’m not big on compilations or greatest hits albums, but this one really knocks all those barriers out with the madness that gets spewed out of this one. Three One G has got a very talented roster; with the exceptions of 2 songs that are moronic, the rest of this compilation is ridiculously good.

I first found this one a few years ago while looking for Blood Brothers tracks in the Bit torrents, way back in 2004. I was really blown away by the audacity of them to do a cover of Under Pressure … all I gotta say about that track is Bloody Fucking Brilliant. I like the original but this take on the song makes me go back and enjoy the original more.

Weasel Walter Lol… I laughed my ass off when I heard this version of Bohemian Rhapsody, but in my opinion is better than the original because it gave the song some real balls and it got all crazy like at the end which hella awesome. It didn’t go in the same direction of the original of taking the subject too serious, good stuff.

 

Every so often when I’m digging through my collection of tracks and  I stumble upon Glass Candy again like if I’ve never heard of them before (go figure I guess I’m that kind of moron) I’m always surprised that I have this song because its soo good. Don’t think I’ve ever heard the original of The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke, I’ll just assume that its one of those b sides you’ve never heard for a reason.

I wanna wrap this up right now but I have to mention Melt Banana with their version of we will rock you, this song bumps loud. Thought I was gonna blow out the speakers on the work truck the other day. Yeah the people on the 10 freeway at 1:30 pm Friday didn’t really appreciate this song as much as I did, but fuck it I liked it

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1. Under Pressure                                                          Blood Brothers             3:03
2. Another One Bites the Dust                                        Get Hustle                    2:16
3. Ogre Battle                                                                Asterisk*                      1:50
4. We Are the Champions                                              Das Oath                       2:19
5. Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To...)                        Gogogoairheart             3:09
6. Bicycle Race                                                             Upsilon Acrux                2:51
7. Who Needs You                                                        Sinking Body                1:12
8. The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke                                Glass Candy                  2:29
9. Flash's Theme                                                            The Locust                    0:56
10. Bohemian Rhapsody                                                Weasel Walter              5:04
11. Vultan's Theme (Attack of the Hawk Men)               The Spacewürm            2:30
12. Crazy Little Thing Called Love                                 Fast Forward                 1:23
13. Get Down Make Love                                             The Convocation of...   4:02
14. Lilly of the Valley                                                      Bastard Noise              3:01
15. Killer Queen                                                             Tourettes Lautrec        4:18
16. We Will Rock You                                                    Melt-Banana                2:02









Couldn't find Glass Candy soo i decided to post this one instead soo shut up and enjoy

Beastie Boys... Ill Communication

Released: May 24, 1994
Recorded: 1993 - 1994
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Ok the 90's make a return, only because this album kicks ass and has been blowing out the speakers whenever I’m around recently (obviously been the other selections). Ill Communication is fucking awesome; The Beastie Boys really found something good in this album with the guest stars and strong beats.

I can’t talk about this album without mentioning the GREATEST MUSIC VIDEO OF ALL TIME Sabotage. Freaking awesome guitar, bass, and drums, all of which the Beastie Boys can really play. I love the last 20 seconds of this song when they all scream at the same time. Every time I hear this song I remember the cars driving all over town, the lame fake mustaches, and that kung fu guy that didn’t do anything in the video.

And the next song get it together is an another mind blowing song with Q-tip showing up and bring the song to a higher level. Every time I’m in the Cadillac blasting this song with my 7 year old cousin Ivin he always loves to sing the part “Ma-Bell got the Ill Communication”. I laugh my ass off every he sings it.

Futterman’s Rule… where did this one come from I didn’t know The Beastie Boys were soo funky and talented at playing their instruments. This song alone changed my whole perception of them being strictly MC’s and Musicians. Straight Tarantino movie Montague of a bunch of dudes in black suits and black glass comes to mind with the quick cuts in the video of them with guns… good stuff.

I’ll throw in a few more points that I like about this album before I sign off this week. Do it is one that needs to be played as loud as the speakers can go with the bass at a level that rattles your whole chest. The jazzier elements are cool for rainy days and they tend to cool things down when it gets too loud sometimes, the last few tracks with the chanting don’t really do it for me as much, but still hella interesting.
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1. "Sure Shot" (Beastie Boys/Caldato/DJ Hurricane) – 3:19
2. "Tough Guy" (AWOL/Beastie Boys) – 0:57
3. "B-Boys Makin' with the Freak Freak" (Beastie Boys) – 3:36
4. "Bobo on the Corner" (Beastie Boys/Bobo/Money Mark) – 1:13
5. "Root Down" (Beastie Boys) – 3:32
6. "Sabotage" (Beastie Boys) – 2:58
7. "Get It Together" (feat. Q-Tip) (Beastie Boys/Davis) – 4:05
8. "Sabrosa" (Beastie Boys/Bobo/Money Mark) – 3:29
9. "The Update" (Beastie Boys/Caldato/Money Mark) – 3:15
10. "Futterman's Rule" (Beastie Boys/Money Mark) – 3:42
11. "Alright Hear This" (Beastie Boys) – 3:06
12. "Eugene's Lament" (Beastie Boys/Bobo/Gore/Money Mark) – 2:12
13. "Flute Loop" (Beastie Boys/Caldato/Kooper) – 1:54
14. "Do It" (Beastie Boys/Biz Markie/Caldato/Money Mark) – 3:16
15. "Ricky's Theme" (Beastie Boys/Bobo/Money Mark) – 3:43
16. "Heart Attack Man" (AWOL/Beastie Boys) – 2:14
17. "The Scoop" (Beastie Boys/Caldato) – 3:36
18. "Shambala" (Beastie Boys/Bobo/Money Mark) – 3:40
19. "Bodhisattva Vow" (Beastie Boys/Caldato) – 3:08
20. "Transitions" (Beastie Boys/Money Mark) – 2:31









ah what the hell i'll throw in Sure Shot