Random Rules, Just Married Edition

1. Morrissey-Alma Matters

Probably the best track off of Moz’s somewhat average 1997 Maladjusted album. That being said, there are still a lot of excellent tunes on it—it’s just that the filler tracks are reallly filler-y.

2. Britney Spears-Gimme More

It’s Britney, bitch!  I don’t think Brit has put out a stone-cold solid album yet, but that’s not the sort of “artist” she is. She’s a cipher really, merely a conduit for the songs and production work of genuinely creative people. Kind of like how a steak is a really lame piece of meat without a sauce of some kind.

3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Softshock

This latest YYY’s album was a nice surprise. Each successive album they release is more and more cohesive, and I was struck by the similarities between this one and concurrent Metric release Fantasies. It’s difficult to articulate why, but the two albums really have a Beatles vs. Stones, Blur vs. Oasis kind of vibe, not in a rivalry sense, but in how these two relatively evenly-matched groups sysnthesize their influences and interpret their chosen sub-genre’s musical conventions. The YYY’s are fuzzier, grittier, and rougher around the edges while retaining enough of a pop sensibility to get on radio and be popular with the kids (a la the Stones), and Metric is all about the gloss, even when they stretch out into more avant-garde territory in terms of song construction (a la the Beatles).

4. The Verve-The Drugs Don’t Work

The further away 1997 appears in the rear view mirror of my life, the more saccharine the production of  Urban Hymns becomes. Still a nice tune, just a bit cloying if you’re not in the right frame of mind to hear it.

5. INXS-I Need You Tonight

Hahaha, OK, so, this song, for whatever reason, has become completely intertwined with the word “striptease” in my mind. There’s something very sexy about it, but in that very superficial, plastic sense that 80s sexuality possessed within the mainstream. Once grunge (and subsequently “modern rock”) entered into the equation in the early 1990’s, you had an altogether dirtier well of musical “inspiration” to draw from as a sex worker. Less Patrick Nagel, more Michael Turner. Compared contextually, ‘I Need You Tonight’ is positively oozing with innocence!

6. Speed McQueen-I’m In Love With

One drawback of the alternative boom of the early to mid 90s (there were many, but that’s a long discussion for another post) was the glut of indie labels that sprung up, were bought out my majors, and then shat out in the form of a tax write-off. A lot of promising bands couldn’t survive the constant upheaval, which is a shame, and everyone’s loss. One such group was New York’s Speed McQueen, who put out one very solid full-length before getting got by the powers-that-be. Protect ya neck, little bands that could!

7. Blur-On The Way To The Club

A stand-out cut from Blur’s underrated Think Tank, this is a weird song, because the band basically sabotage what could have been a really odd-but-beautiful single by only going through the “chorus” only twice, and then fading out into a strange dub coda. It reminds me a lot of their song “Death of a Party”, but without the sinister overtones.

8. The Jam-Every Little Bit Hurts

A nice, if lightweight, rarity from the band who built a career on mining 60s R&B and soul music and running it through a punk blender. Paul Weller’s voice isn’t quite up to the task of matching the nuance of the Brenda Holloway original, but he gets some points for feeling (he was totally closing his eyes when he recorded this.)

9. Portastatic-I Wanna Know Girls

Perfect. Pop. Song.

10. Tom Petty-You Wreck Me

Such a great driving song, off Tom’s second solo joint. So many people I’ve met over the years usually have two Tom Petty CD’s: The 1993 Greatest Hits compilation, and Wildflowers. Which stands to reason, as those are unequivocally his two strongest discs, top to bottom.

Random Rules, PGE Edition

(This idea was totally stolen from my good buddy Jarrett over at the Dude Weekend blog, which he in turn had pilfered from The Onion’s A/V Club website.)

From Jarrett: “For those not familiar with it, The Onion A/V Club has a feature called “Random Rules” where they get a musician or celebrity to set their mp3 players on random, play a bunch of tracks, and comment on whatever pops up. It’s an interesting insight into their artistry, so in an attempt to feign both insight and artistry I propose we all do the same.”

Duly noted.

1. The Radio Dept.-Deliverance

Clearly a holdover from the Pet Grief sessions, this cut appeared on last year’s This Past Week e.p. There’s something so utterly simplistic, effortless and derivative yet engaging about The Radio Dept.’s aesthetic. They’re Swedish, and are on Labrador Records, featuring, pound for pound, one of the strongest label rosters in indie music. They’re like the Rays this season; doing lots of little things right, playing small ball with the best of them, and occasionally juicing one out of the park.

2. Pulp-This Is Hardcore

File under “Sleaziest Songs Ever Written”. Without doubt the most Scott Walker-indebted song Jarvis ever wrote. I have to be in a certain frame of mind to sit through the whole song, but when I do, all I can think about is how critics always bad-mouthed Jarvis’s singing. He never utilized much range before this song, because most of Pulp’s tunes didn’t require it. But his vocals on This Is Hardcore are easily some of the most impassioned and expressive ever laid down on tape/hard disk during the Britpop era.

3. Mixtapes & Cellmates-Something Less Than Last Time

I don’t recall how I found out about these guys. Popmatters, maybe? Anyway, my first exposure to them was their song ‘Quiet’, which has a weird Bright Eyes-meets-Dntel/Postal Service vibe. While unfortunately none of their albums have made it onto American record store racks, eMusic does have them available for download, and I highly recommend everything you can get your grubby little digital paws on.

4. The Charlatans (UK)-I Can’t Even Be Bothered

Before they became fixtures of Cool Britannia-era Britpop known for epic keyboard-led jams, these guys were all about early-90s dance-rock. My abiding memory of this song in particular was how I let my friend Tom borrow a mix-tape of Charlatans tracks one Summer while we were in college, and how utterly sick he got of them as a result of only having that one tape in his car. Oh well. He can just consider it preemptive payback for making me eat at CiCi’s pizza buffet over his bachelor party weekend.

5. Division of Laura Lee-The Truth Is Fucked

I’m not sure exactly what DOLL’s politics are. My memory of this song and its parent album is sort of lost in the haze of that stretch back in the early 2000s when it seemed like everyone I knew (and myself) were in the thrall of garage-rock. I’m glad I held onto this one, though. While the vitriol of those bands is pretty much an interchangeable affectation, DOLL sort of presaged the mid-2000s trend of new new wave by infusing their garage-y inclinations with a darker, sinister post-punk edge. ‘The Truth Is Fucked’ has a killer groove that wouldn’t sound out of place on the first Black Rebel Motorcycle Club album.

6. The Cardigans-Rise & Shine

There’s not much to say about this one. Catchy pop tune sung by a frostily beautiful Swede? Sign me up. I will say this, though: I would not mind being lost in a strange country and running into Nina Persson, even if she sang to me instead of providing good directions.

7. Wye Oak-Regret

I just found out about this great duo from right here in Baltimore a couple months ago. Sort of a sunnier version of Giant Drag without all the grunge-y mid-90s-isms. ‘Regret’ is actually a gentle little folk ditty sung by drummer/keyboardist Andy Stack on Wye Oak’s debut, If Children. The whole album is sort of a cross-section of all the best parts of indie-rock from the last 20 years. Pick it up!

My Mistakes Were Made For You-The Last Shadow Puppets

I never bought into the hype surrounding The Arctic Monkeys when they hit a couple years ago. Something about them just really rubbed me the wrong way, and I could never put my finger on it. Until I realized that that was the problem precisely. The Monkeys sounded like they were putting ten totally disparate influences into a blender, and the sounds that they created from that just never seemed to jell properly or complement each other. Some Libertines here, some Specials there, a dash of Oasis, and a healthy sprinkling of Pulp, all filtered through an oddly dance-punk lens. In theory, I should love Arctic Monkeys. But it’s just a case of too many cooks in the kitchen.

But when I heard about Arctic Monkeys front man Alex Turner’s new project The Last Shadow Puppets, it sounded right up my alley. Grandiose chamber pop in the vein of Scott Walker’s first four solo joints? Sign me up!

By and large, the album doesn’t disappoint. There’s a clearly identifiable aesthetic tying the songs together, but they’re not what I’d call same-y. They’re hyper-melodic, and each songs features a propulsive, anecdotal narrative. I’m always impressed by songwriters that can pull off story-songs with aplomb, and Turner certainly does so here.

The Age of the Understatement’s ‘My Mistakes Were Made For You’ is easily my favorite track on the record. From the rich orchestration to the biting surf guitar leads, the suave delivery of the scrumptious minor-key melody…there’s nothing here not to love. And perhaps most impressive of all is the fact that the album as a whole is so good that it has me reconsidering my stance on the Arctic Monkeys. Not too shabby for a side-project.