The Velvet Underground and Nico

What makes music important? Is it the number of albums sold? Singles in the Billboard Top 100? These can all be indicators of good music, but when I think of important music I think of art that inspired other people to make art. There is a famous quote that the record I am going to review today only sold 30,000 copies upon its initial release, but every single person who bought this album ran out and started a band. Can these old ghosts still breath life into cynical and disenchanted listeners today? Let’s find out and sample a few songs from “The Velvet Underground and Nico.”

The album kicks off with the lullaby sounding “Sunday Morning.” This sounds a bit like a mix between a Mommas and the Papas song and the vocal style of a Bob Dylan or an early Pink Floyd song. It’s very laid back and uses a selection of bells and fade effects to really give it a sleepy feel that forwards the warm milk lyrics. Do NOT use this song to party. It is what it is, and that’s a great song to listen to on Saturday morning. Oh wait, I mean…

“I’m Waiting for The Man” is a song that’s famous for being about getting drugs from a dealer in the shady part of town, but in sound it almost sounds like it would be at home in some poppy 1950’s album. With a few lyric changes, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to hear this on a Buddy Holly album. The fuzz of the guitar makes it feel a bit like a Dinosaur Jr. tune, but this is pure early-Beatles pop infused with a little bit of a live Doors performance.

Via Pop Matters

The first song on the album to utilize the unique vocal stylings of Nico is “Femme Fatale.” The entire feel of the song makes you feel like you’re in a French coffee shop hearing it. The vocals and electric instruments are all blaring out of the speakers a bit too much, especially the bass, and the back up vocals are really raw and unprofessional sounding, but it all comes together for a strangely appealing experience that sounds foreign in execution but comfortable in design. This is a great song to use to get a test of whether Nico’s vocals are going to be something you gravitate toward.

If you’re here for the psychedelic, you’re going to want to check out “Venus in Furs.” Layered and echoed guitars create a wavey dream-like canvas for this song. The vocals are delivered in a very dry semi-spoken word fashion and the entire song is a lot like “The End” by the Doors. It’s a ton of nonsensical words that sounds really cool together when you’re in the right mind set. *Pinches fingers together near mouth, raising eye brows up and down* Lots of weird stuff lives in the land of this song and it really rewards repeat listening because of its layers of sound. I’m pretty sure a lot of this stuff isn’t created with traditional instruments, so it can be a fun game of “What the hell am I listening to? Is that a bird?”

Via Bettylivin

The trippy sister song to Venus in Furs is the Nico sang song “All Tomorrow’s Parties,” which I personally prefer of the two. It doesn’t seem to work as hard to say “Look how weird I am!’ while still being bonkers and beautiful. Nico has such a unique sound that I think she could read the phone book and I would be like “What is that? Is she placing an Egyptian curse on me?” The momentum of this song is a real steady burn that makes you want to dance around a campfire. A lot of chaos coupled with some percussion that is just relentless without being overpowering. Some top notch balancing goes on in this song that could be a chore to listen to if created by lesser musicians, but the Velvet Underground absolutely kills it on every level here. A must listen. If you don’t like this song, this album probably isn’t going to be for you (as a whole piece anyway.)

Via mxdwn

The most important song off of this album was never released as a single and would never find a home on mainstream radio. “Heroin” is the song that launched a million bands. I suspect there are acts who only exist today because of this recording and they don’t even realize it.  When people talk about art rock, this is what they’re talking about. This song is alive and organic, and feels like a stream of consciousness that speeds up and slows down as the singer goes through the thoughts knocking around his head and the substances swimming in his veins. It has been said that this song makes you feel like you are on heroin,  from the heartbeat drums to the strung out guitar that twinkles in and out of focus. This song is more of an experience than just a jam you can snap your fingers to. If you like concept songs and coloring outside of the lines, you have to stop what you’re doing and listen to this song immediately.

Those songs are all primers for this album that should give you a feel for whether or not the Velvet Underground, and in some ways Lou Reed, will be right for you. If you like the Doors,  The Animals, and other acid trip art rock bands that prefer the wild side of music over more structured fair, you should definitely peruse this golden classic. And eat a banana.

Dinosaur Jr. “You’re Living All Over Me”

Dinosaur Jr. could be called the Velvet Underground of the 1980s. You might not be familiar with any of their songs, but you probably love a lot of the bands and artists they inspired. Beck, The Breeders, and Sound Garden all owe a debt of gratitude to these guys. Their music was not only a driving force for future musicians, it also holds up really well to the test of time and sounds just as fresh and electric today as it did back then, so let’s take a listen to a few songs off of one of their best albums “You’re Living All Over Me.”

This album kicks off with “Little Fury Things.” This song has a lot of successful ingredients to it, and it uses a very distorted guitar as the canvas that the vocals and additional instrumentation use to paint the picture. The fuzzy guitar is white noise for some wa-wa’ed guitar and melancholy vocals and in this jam it really works. Instead of the blurry background taking away any of the musical integrity, it really gives it clarity and life in a way silence wouldn’t, in the same way using some scotches as a palette cleanser when drinking beers can help a drinker to focus in on the tastes that are not immediately evident upon a naked sip. With that said, this is a thick bodied but approachable song that can fit in nicely with a Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins mix easily.

“Kracked” is a really good tune that sounds like someone took layers from completely different songs and mashed them up. The bass line is a dense chest beating mouth puncher while the guitar does a wonderful riff over the top of it that sounds like it would be more at home in a Sega Genesis video game. It’s playful and odd, but then takes a sharp turn into a more straightforward punk-rocky progression for the verse. This, if we’re going to keep the drink analogy for the moment, is a real palette cleanser of a song. Very short, very tasty, and yet completely ephemeral. You can throw this song into almost any alternative 90s collection you have and it will feel at home and be a nice complement to a lot of different sounds.

Via Last fm

If you are a fan of riff-driven power rock groups like Cream or Black Sabbath, “Sludgefeast” is a must listen. The vocals are very Neil Young-like, so it is an interesting complement to a song that demands the listener to head bang. The cymbals never get the chance to rest, the bass steps out shine from out behind the guitar, and the main chugging licks will drag you down the street and throw you in a gutter. This is an amazing fun song that throws in a couple guitar solos that are absolute love letters to bands from the 70s like Led Zeppelin. One minute it is a dark fist pumper and the next it is noodling like Van Halen. This is a good song to use as a gateway into the music of Dinosaur Jr. if you are not already familiar with bands such as Pearl Jam, who are the direct spiritual successors to the sound of this music scene.

If you want to trace the bloodline of an album like Weezer’s “Pinkerton,” you’ll find the early musical DNA in a song like “The Lung.” Very simple and light hearted riffs played over a wall of noise made of frantic drumming and bass strumming. Combine this with clever, catchy lyrics, a few change up guitar excursions that break up any possible monotony, and you’ve got a nice driving song that is very fluid and electric without ever being too dissonant.

via jagjaguwar

A really nice tune to add to a Violent Femmes music collection would be “In a Jar.” It has really odd, kind of whiney and herky jerky vocals that would sound right at home in a Beck album. It has a really loose rugged bass and the guitar is all over the place, just smearing layers of noise on everything. You probably won’t get this song stuck in your head, but like a lot of other songs off of this album it has enough common sounds in it that it can be a versatile player in your IPod on random.

I definitely recommend that you check out this album and see if any of these song shoes fit your ear feet. (I graduated from college and can tell you that was a smart awesome turn of phrase. Trust me on this one.) This isn’t an easy album to break into because it can be so over the place as far as genre and general sound, but therein lies its beauty as well. Most folks will be able to find at least one or two songs they like here, so take a shot and give it a listen today.

Donovan “Sunshine Superman”

Donovan is an artist who I feel has been a little lost to time because all of the things he does well, others have done better. He is a good folk singer, but he is no Bob Dylan. He can create some really fun, smart psychedelic music, but he is certainly a poor man’s Jim Morrison. By being really good at a bunch of things, but never being the best at anything, Donovan was pretty much the 1990’s Buffalo Bills of music for about a decade. Well, screws to letting his tunes turn to rust, because he made some really good music that is the perfect compliment to so many people’s music collection. Let’s today check out his 1966 album, “Sunshine Superman.”

The eponymous hit off of this album is the first track, “Sunshine Superman.” This is the song from Donovan you are probably most familiar with, though you may not now it by name because it doesn’t really have a recognizable chorus really, it more of the cartoony and off kilter cadence and off beat instrumentals of the song that stick with you.

It is supposedly a song about the time Donovan dosed his girlfriend with LSD. She was not pleased, but at least the rest of us got this fun little ditty out of it. Give me a crunchy groove and some dirty lyrics that reference superheros and you can just take my money, you jerk, Check out this verse:

– Superman or Green Lantern ain’t got a-nothin’ on me
I can make like a turtle and dive for your pearls in the sea, yeah! –

Ooooooook. I’m just going to quickly picture Donovan putting on a snorkel before…. never mind. Moving on.

Via The Guardian

If you are looking for something that is the audio version of a bowl of opium, you might want to give a proverbial puff on “Three King Fishers.” This song will put a party to sleep, but if you want to mix up your Peter, Paul and Mary play list, this will do the trick. Bongos, sitar, slow violin playing; Donovan scored an enlightened hippie hat trick here. Not for the casual listener, but there is definitely an audience for this.

For John Lennon fans, “Ferris Wheel” may be a good methadone if you are craving some more of that 1979 sound. It’s a song that never really goes anywhere, but you can really get lost in it’s quirky layers and subtle variations in its repetition. If you are going for a drive through the country or doing some homework, this song could be a nice compliment for your subconscious to chew on for a bit.

A drastic deviation from the first couple of songs on Sunshine is “Bert’s Blues.” If you want to avoid the music masturbation that is the sitar songs on this album and go right for the bluesy, dark and lush ass kickers, heck this song out. It sounds like a more subdued James Bond song. You will want to drink a dry martini during a wet rainy day. A great brooder with some clutch harpsichord and a real focus on vocal inflection in the vocals here by Donovan, which can be hit and miss on other songs.

Lyric sample:

– Would I, should I, could I be a stranger,
I shall walk right by and sigh goodbye.
Lucifer calls his legions from the hillside.
Sadly goes the wind on it’s way to Hades. –

The second big hit off of this album, and deservedly so, is “Season of the Witch.” This is a song that will fit in with any Doors or Guess Who play lists you have. It is a very raw, acoustically driven song that comes off as very subtle, smart and posh. It relies on some subdued instruments setting the cool creep stage for the mysterious and repetitive lyrics here. If you want to figure out if this album is for you, there is no better place to start.

A really rich and mystical sounding song from this album that really shines through as beautiful and focused without being boring or over wrought is “Guinevere.” This song sounds like it would fit right in at a ren fair somewhere and mixes Gaelic and Indian instrumental nods well. This could definitely find a home at some Lord of The Rings or Sword in the Stone parties. Yeah, Sword in the Stone parties. People have em. Don’t question me. I’m having one right now. MOM. More Hot Pockets, mom!

The last song on this album is “Celeste,” which is a song worth listening too if you are looking for a bridge song on a David Bowie/ Pink Floyd mix. It reminds me of the end of a stage musical, as it kind of touches on a lot of the music themes of the album and really works well as a farewell to Sunshine Superman. It is a sweet, light-hearted song that is kind of lullaby sounding in nature.

Via fanpop.com

Overall, this is an album that’s all over the board, and it makes sense that it never really caught on as a classic. However, the days of listening to albums from cover to cover have gone the way of the dinosaur for most people  and I strongly encourage you to mine old records like this for songs that compliment your own personal style and taste. I promise you it will be worth your while.

Bill Withers “Just As I Am”

Today’s album is “Just As I Am,” by Bill Withers. Even if you are not familiar with his name, I have no doubt that you have heard one or two of his songs. I always think it’s a great shame when someone can have such beloved music that permeates pop culture for decades and yet never really receives the individual praise they deserve, so I’m going to examine all of the hits and hidden treasures on this 1971 classic.

First and foremost, we need to talk about this album cover.

How awesome is that? It’s him in a plain white t-shirt holding a LUNCH PAIL. Get the heck out of here. It’s like Withers told the album producer “look, I’m really good at music, but I’m kind of afraid my grandpa is gonna think singing songs about broken hearts and stuff is fruity, so we have to take the blue collar ruggedness of this picture to the next damn level.” AND HE DID JUST THAT. I feel like an eagle flew in and perched on Bill’s shoulder 5 seconds after the photo was taken.

The first song off of “Just As I Am” is “Harlem,” which sounds like a remix of two songs that have been juxtaposed together by an artist such as Girltalk. It has a really chugging rustic push that shoves the song forward with a dirty acoustic guitar and driving guitar, but this song builds an amazing head of steam utilizing a symphony of strings that make it almost feel like Beethoven meets gospel.

This song features a lot of great soulful gibberish talk too, which is a personal favorite of mine. Uh huh, yeah yeah yeah, mmm hmm hmm. If you’ve listened to Aerosmith, you know Steven Tyler owes a huge debt of gratitude to guys like Withers for the vocal harmonizing and scatting that accompany many of his tracks.

via the New Yorker

The track off of this album you are most likely to already know is “Ain’t No Sunshine.” This is one of the most emotionally rich smooth songs you may ever hear in your life. Withers absolutely slays this song and wretches every bit of hurt in the lyrics out in his vocals like a bar rag full of a night’s dirty gin. The soulful play between the uber sharp percussion and the silky string instruments is breath taking.

A great force behind this song, and a lot of Withers’ tunes, is a methodical thudding bass that is deep and dull. It is almost like being in a drum circle. It makes you want to move and bob your head. A wonderful and overlooked mechanism that lays a canvas everything else in the song can draw on.

If you like Blackstreet’s “No Diggity,” you are familiar with the groove of the song “Grandma’s Hands.” This is a stripped song that highlights very minimalist drumming, a wonderfully timid and warm electric guitar, and Withers just telling a story. His voice is like melting butter in this song and it would work even if he was reading a phone book, but he pulls your heart strings with a sweet little song about his grandma.

Grandma’s hands used to hand me piece of candy.
Grandma’s hands picked me up each time I fell.
Grandma’s hands, boy they really came in handy
She’d say, “ Mattie don’t you whip that boy.
What you want to spank him for?
He didn’t drop no apple core,”
But I don’t have Grandma anymore,
If I get to heaven I’ll look for
Grandma’s hands.

Another song you may know off of this album is “Everybody’s Talking,” though you may better know it as sung by Fred Neil from the soundtrack to “Midnight Cowboy.” Withers makes this song his own but infusing it with his signature chugging percussion and soaring string section. It really becomes a much more hopeful song when Withers gets ahold of it, which may come as a surprise if you’re expecting another “Ain’t No Sunshine.” This song is turned into a ray of hopeful sunshine on “Just As I Am” and can be used to compliment any first kiss, good grade, or pay raise you may receive in life. Sometimes it’s good when everybody is talkin’ at you.

The second well-known cover song on this album is Withers’ cover of “Let it Be,” from the Beatles. It won’t really blow you away, but if you like electric organ gospel music with lots of tambourine, or you’re a Beatles fanatic, check it out.

“I’m Her Daddy” is a really laid back song that utilizes some nice bongo playing and blues bass and guitar. But like some many good songs off this album, you’re going to like this track about as much as you like Withers’ voice. He’s a great story teller who emotes these really fine hints of pain, curiosity, resigned anger, and hopefulness through very subtle but soulful singing that never goes over the top. If you want a sing-along song, this isn’t for you, but this would be a nice addition to a studying soundtrack or a relaxed apartment party.

The album finishes off with the crisp and harsh “Better Off Dead,” a song about a man who has lost everything due to his drinking problem. Instrumentally, this song has a top notch groove that hums with the energy from the keyboards and the constant fuzz of the guitar. Bill isn’t screwing around with the refrains of “I’m better off dead” either. The song, and by extension the entire album, ends with a sudden and shocking gun shot followed by only silence.

If you appreciate timeless albums that focus on human relationships and class A story telling, this is really a must have album. There are so many bands and artists that have borrowed so much from the R & B and soul music of this era, that becoming more familiar with “Just As I Am” will be a great gateway album to more music you might love and be currently missing out on. Don’t wait to hear your next Bill Withers song on a car commercial or a movie, go and check this classic collection of jams out.

The Cardigans “First Band on the Moon”

It’s hard to believe the Cardigans have been a band for 20 years now. Their signature dreamy, velvety sound has a very strong influence on a lot of 90’s pop and their six albums have brought this Swedish 5-piece a lot of attention world-wide, though many people only know them from their massive hit “Lovefool.” So, let’s take some time today to see how how many good songs we can find on their most popular album, “First Band on the Moon,” shall we?

“Your New Cuckoo” is a fun song that is just layered with hooks for the listener. The at-the-beach guitar especially stands out, as it will only dip in on occasion to tease a great riff or two before bopping out again. Everything in this song is really crisp and some understated but snappy drumming is a nice compliment to the subdued vocals.

Also, how fun is this video? A guy who looks like the wheelchair bound guy from Breaking Bad gets all hot and bothered by all these damn sexy Swedes doing sexy Swede stuff. If you can overlook the saccharine sweet “la la la’s” in this song, it’s worth your while.

The second song on this album is the killer “Been It.” It swings between choppy and smooth musically and is really benefited by a jolting bass that keeps this song grounded to edgy undertones that betray the softer touches that comprise the wall of sound, such as glass bottles and dreamy keyboards.

via birdsneedfeet.com

The lyrics of “Been it” are great if you’re feeling particularly pissed off at a failed relationship. If music can’t make us fall in love and then give us the strength to say “screw you” to our old lovers, what good is it? Sample lyrics:

I’ve tried to educate your childish heart
I made your bed
and I was in it when your faith was dead
poor Donee
what are you gonna try to be
where are you gonna go without me now

This is another song that is increased in memory value greatly by the kick ass music video. It’s a creepy “human or doll” flick that plays of the contrast of the beautiful Nordic musicians in the Cardigans and some creepy horror movie looking footage.

If you like a band like Portishead, that delivers a trippy sound that fluctuates between haunting, sexy and joyful, “Happy Meal 2” is a song you should take a listen to. It’s a very sonic experience that could probably find an easy place on any soundtrack to a Diablo Cody movie. The Cardigans never give you time to get bored with their songs, and never rely on a single riff or repetition to carry a song, and “Happy Meal 2” exemplifies the multiple personality magic the Cardigans can get away with when they’re honed in.

The sixth track off of this album, “Step on Me,” has some really cool country western elements that mix well with the delirious pop keyboards and vocal delivery. The verse has a real southern twang in the guitar and there is some cool whistling and echoed dark notes that blend into this semi-psychedelic song. If you like the stylings of a band like the Gorillaz, give this song a listen.

The song you are most likely to know off of this album is “Lovefool.” This is a very synthetic song that relies on keyboards and a very soft plodding bass, but the focus here is really the vocal delivery by lead singer Nina Persson who nails this really beautiful balance between melancholy and sweet. This song doesn’t really rely on big hits, but holds up well because it is just so smooth that it’s the musical equivalent of drinking a particularly well made martini. It evokes a kind of dreamy, wavey vibe that is really relaxing and wonderful. You probably already know if you like this song or not, but if you are uninitiated, you would do yourself a favor by checking it out. 

via fanart.tv

If you really like “Lovefool,” it’s sister song on this album is probably “Loser.” This is another very hallucinogenic song that will make you feel like you’ve been dosed with ketamine. It’s very soft and clear, with Nina Persson doing most of the heavy lifting with her silky vocals.

Finally, if you like cover songs that make not gosh darn sense at all, the Cardigans cover Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” I am not sure why they have done this thing, but if you can giggle over William Shatner covering Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” this is very much in the same vein. It is so subdued and unlike the original that it almost comedic. If you weren’t hearing the lyrics, this song sounds like what you would expect to hear played around a fire made at the beach. Truly a bizarre mix up, but I like it. Play it for your friends when you’re all drunk at a party and take joy from watching their heads explode as they realize that Persson is moaning “Oh, Iron Man,” when she isn’t kinda sorta scatting. Amazing. The video I attached to this song is also great, so be sure to check it out for some super old footage from an Iron Man cartoon.

via asitecalledfred.com

Overall, this album is cotton candy. Not a ton of substance, but there are a few jewels here that you can sprinkle into the playlist of any laid back get together or party you may have. Everything is smooth, sugary and polished; mighty fine music to lose yourself in during a nice relaxing outing.

Fugazi “In on the Kill Taker”

Fugazi is a band that pulls off artsy and weird without sacrificing the quality of their music. They are traditionally known as a “post-hardcore punk” band that had a ton of influence on the 80’s and 90’s alternative scene, and you can hear their influence in almost any genre. If you are a fan of bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, System of a Down, Tool, or Faith No More, you have listened to bands that have borrowed in some fashion from the Fugazi’s style.

With that having been said, Fugazi never really garnered much radio play on a national stage. Many attribute this lack of chart success to the band’s distaste for accumulating more money than they needed to live on, infamously going years without ever asking more than $5 for a ticket to see their show. A real band of the people, if you will.

Well, if the band won’t go to the people, than by golly, I will bring the people to the band. Let’s check out Fugazi’s 1993 album, “In on the Kill Taker.”

The song “Facet Squared” kicks off the album with a series of guitar manufactured bleeps and bloops (Think Tom Morello) and dive kicks right into some really tight guitar strumming, complimented by a some great drumming that features a tight stand-out snare. The vocals are a classic punk delivery that is half screaming, half singing, and 100% sounding like the lead singer has gone temporarily deaf. If you’re going to make good punk, it helps to push the tip of your tongue past your front teeth when you sing. Look, I don’t make the rules here.

“Public Witness Program” is a closed fist to the mouth song that has a great groove to it. It also shares some of the spacey and fast paced attributed of “Facet Squared” though the vocals are a lot more clear and invite better sing-along moments. The funky flow of the bass plays a game of chicken with the kill em all guitar and the resulting beat demands that you stiffen your arms and swing them in front of your for a while. If you can’t dance like an idiot to Fugazi, you can’t dance like an idiot ever.

If you like some of Les Claypol’s solo stuff, you might enjoy the slightly off-putting “Returning the Screw.” It takes its time heating up, and it really works off of the emoting of lead singer Ian MacKaye selling the story as the instruments all take a back stage to the creation of the atmosphere of the song until the dam breaks open a little over half way through and you get the big wall of sound pay off that comes rushing in like a flood of bricks. If you came to this album for fast punk, this might not be your jam, but fans of bands that like to keep you on the edge while waiting for the grenade to go off, think bands like Tool, this is a cool tune.

If you’re a fan of the Pixies, you should take a listen to “Rend It.” This song bounces back and forth from a kind of blurry, herky-jerky sound to a very vocals isolated spoken word kind of delivery, and it comes off as quirky, but unforced and organic. The chorus is more traditional than the verse set ups, and pays off the build up of the song really well with straightforward singing and a very fuzzy rocking guitar part.

via lastfm.com

If you’re a fan of instrumentals (think along the lines of Explosions in the Sky) you’ll probably be inclined to dig the groovy and kind of spacey “Sweet and Low.” It still crackles with the static guitar that is a hallmark of this album, but the drums and rhythm section really shine through here with some cool scales and riffs that can be thoroughly enjoyed by jam session lovers and appreciated by people who just came here for some good music.

If you wanna hear what happens when Fugazi says, screw it, we’re gonna be punk rock as hell right now, listen to “Great Cop.” This is the kind of song that would make the Circle Jerks proud. Blistering guitar, screamed vocals, everything is happening at 100 miles per hour, it’s an absolute car crash and it’s everything a mohawk owner could want.

I think if you can only listen to one song on this album, you should check out “Instrument.” It’s just so all over the place. It jumps from kind of funny, to gloom and doom, to angry. It’s got a great riff that just propels this bipolar and psychotic mess at your ear and it shouldn’t work but it does, while showcasing really everything you should expect from this album. Art rock, punk rock, metal, new age alternative; most rock fans should find something in this song that hints at a genre they appreciate, so if you are looking for a good bridge song into Fugazi, Instrument is the song for you.

This is a band I didn’t grow up with, and I really regret having not gotten into them earlier in my life. These guys are like a Rosetta stone for everything I listened to throughout high school and college. I really cannot recommend listening to a few songs off of this album any more than I do. At best, you’ll find a new great band with fun songs to add to your collection. At worst, you can have a sound reference that can act as the middle of a very large, late 80’s/early 90’s musical web.

Liz Phair “Exile in Guyville”

Liz Phair is known by a lot of folks for her hit song “Why Can’t I?” from her self titled album that she put out in 2003. I think she is the perfect artist to mine for early, under-appreciated hits. Fans of her later material will be able to fall in love again with the sounds she carried over into the 2000’s and at the same time get a taste of a 90’s musical scene that they may be otherwise unfamiliar with. Her self-titled album was a poppy, spiffily produced commercial piece of music for a FM radio audience, which is pretty dang different from the album I’m going to look at today: Exile in Guyville.

Exile is Liz Phair at her most somber and deadpan. She has a lovely voice, but in this album she utilizes an almost spoken word cadence that makes you hone in on her clever word play and heaving hitting lyrics that do all of the hard work over some muted and minimalist instrumental backgrounds.

This album focuses on the kinds of characters Liz met and interacted with in her early years in a male-dominated Chicago music scene, but it should appeal to anyone of any gender who grew up in a place where you felt like you had to assume a very specific role in social interactions. Liz makes poetry out of the internal frustrations that come from holding parts of yourself back to keep the peace or impress people you’re not sure you like anyway. This is a feminist album that moves from sly smiles to curled up fists to soft kiss deftly, and if you like stripped down indy music there are some tunes on this record you should check out.

Liz has a great knack for creating songs that have a really positive and upbeat feel and tempering them with a bit of a monotone sing style and fairly dark lyrics for anyone paying attention. The second song on this album is “Help Me, Mary” and it is a great example of Phair pulling a punch in a situation where a lot of artists would have just gone to the well. What do I mean by that? Well, “Help Me, Mary” could have easily taken the easy route and been about someone asking the “Mary” of the song to help them find love in some blah blah blah fashion. The lyrics of this song actually paint a picture of someone who has been beaten down and formed into someone they don’t like by the people they call “friend.” This whole album kind of exists in this imaginary small town filled with stories of the kind of angst and reality distortion that comes with the small town experience, and this song is a great way to get introduced to some overarching themes of the album.

Via Fan Pop

In keeping with the theme of being “stuck” or, as James Joyce might say, “paralyzed,” the song “Dance of the Seven Veils” seems to be about getting stuck with a terrible woman as a wife, because you know, screw it, you’re not going anywhere. When you don’t believe in your dreams enough to chase them, you may just end up with a life and woman that makes you miserable. Especially in Spring.

If you’re looking for shredding guitar, this will not be your album. But, if you’re looking for killer lyrics like “Now all we gotta do is get a preacher/ He can probably skip the “until death” part/ ‘Cause Johnny, my love, you’re already dead,” which is a line from Veils, this is probably an album you’re going to need on repeat. You’ll be hard-pressed to find another 18 song album this efficient and focused, with not a single word or strum of the guitar wasted.

“Never Said” is one of the more commercial songs off of this album, and features some upbeat guitar playing and some sing-along qualities. This is another song that kind of smirks at the listener in what is almost a conversation. Liz Phair doesn’t really separate herself from the songs she plays in that she rarely really takes on the role of narrator. It’s not “She never said nothing,” but rather this song professes that “I never said nothing,” and it really makes you feel like you’re having these chats with a variety of characters Liz is creating for you and it really works. This song never tells you what she may or may not have said, and you get the feeling that the coy young lady singing the song really is giving you a devil’s grin while sheepishly digging her hands in her pockets. This is both continuing to build the character world of the album and showing how much Phair can say about these people in short 2-4 minute bursts. Her lyrics are so to the point that they almost come closer to punk rock rather than a more traditional story telling medium like folk.

Via Concert Boom

These are all emotion driven stories. They aren’t really telling you anything within a traditional narrative where character A interacts with Character B and therefore C happens. These are character studies in a vacuum, like if you went to a small neighborhood and gave everyone in the local mall a “Saved By The Bell” style timeout to kind of sum up their immediate thoughts on their own being.

“Soap Star Joe” is one of the more rocking tunes on this album and features some robust isolated vocals from Phair and a killer harmonica just kind of killing it in the background. This song looks at that special kind of local yocal who is “famous” to about 50 people for being a ladies man, though it’s starting to get a little bit sad because of his age and thinning hair. And yes, for your protection, even if you only had two beers, ladies, he will walk you home for your own protection. Better safe than sorry, right? *wink* “He’s just a hero in a long line of heroes/ Looking for something attractive to save/ They say he rode in on the back of a pick-up/ And he won’t leave town till you remember his name.”

If you want to find a really good song not driven by the simple indy-style guitar playing that accompanies a lot of the tracks off of this album, “Canary” is a very simple beautiful song that is driven by an echoed piano and Phair’s relatively untouched vocals. Another song about being pushed into a role in life, this would be a song you can put into a sad rainy day song collection.

If you are more inclined to like some good electric guitar playing, “Mesmerizing” is a really good jam that kind of a channels a really, really laid back Counting Crows groove that incorporates some maracas and a couple riffs that give you something to shake your ass to. The electric guitar never takes over the song, and almost acts like a backing vocal that comes in to occasionally play off the vocals and it creates a nice groovy kind of rhythm late in the song after a few verses are laid down on more traditional acoustic playing.

via Rolling Stone

Another song that takes advantage of the music sound vs vocal delivery dynamic is “Girls! Girls! Girls!” The guitar in this song is strummed furiously and it gives the song a feeling that its swelling with some kind of emotion that needs to break, but the vocals never delivery the release, giving this song all the more tension to back up a song that is all about a girl getting away with what some would call… murder.

If you love finding the unusual song off an album, “Shatter” may be what you are looking for. The entire song hums with this weird throbbing sound that is really dissonant and troubling. It almost has a “Rooster” from Alice in Chains vibe. For her part, even though she downplays her vocals, Liz does sell this song pretty well and allows herself a few really nice lines of sung vocals.

The most sexual song on this album is “Flower.” This song just kind of floors you if you’re not ready for some pretty raunchy lyrics delivered in the most deadpan straightforward delivery possible.  This is another song that has a warbled distorted backing sound to it and it is really almost eerie. If you like a borderline monotone lady delivering lines like “I want to fuck you like a dog” or “I want to be your blowjob queen” this is definitely your pay dirt.

The most well rounded song on this album that really shows off all of Liz Phair’s vocal range and knack for great lyric writing, coupled with some very solid instrumental backing, is probably the very last track: “Strange Loop.” I would suggest listening to this song before anything else on here. It’s close enough to a lot of mainstream stuff that it is a good transition into the rest of the songs on here, and yet stays close enough to the feel of the album that it will give you a good indication whether mining many more songs from Guyville will be worth your time.

In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked Exile in Guyville the 327th greatest album of all-time and it’s easy to see why. The whole album really works well together conceptually and in the texture and flow of the music. Though there are some unique songs you should check out and see if they jive with your general style, this album really probably works best as a single piece of music. Guyville is definitely a musical place everyone should visit, even if some might not want to live there.

Dexys Midnight Runners “Too-Rye-Ay”

Dexys Midnight Runners is one of those bands I forget never really had more than one big hit. There are songs that I hear and I think, “Well that sounds like Dexys Midnight Runners!” But really, how the heck would I know? Like many people, I am only familiar with their biggest radio hit. (Note: From here on out, I’m calling these guys DMR.)

Most people know “Come on Eileen,” with its quirky vocals and instrumentation, but not really anything else from these folks. So let’s get to the bottom of what DMR’s real sound is like and see if there are any hidden hits to be found on their 1982 album “Too-Rye-Ay.”

“The Celtic Soul Brothers” is the opening track to this album and is very similar to “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in that it kicks everything off by inviting us the audience to meet a band that doesn’t really exist. It creates a kind of meta-narrative for what we’re hearing. It is cool construct that makes you feel like you’re listening to something closer to a musical than an album.

It kicks off with the lyrics “Introducing the Celtic Soul Brothers and featuring the strong Devoted/ Ladies and gentlemen, would you now please take your leave/ Because we’ve sat back looking and nearly been took/ Even been scared but now I don’t care and I’m telling anyone who’ll listen/ I’ve seen what’s on show and now there’s no more to know.”

This is a great classic folk-style start-up that basically says, hey, I’ve seen some wild stuff in my day. Grab something sudsy, cause you, my friend, are about to hear some country yarns that are gonna make you slap your knee.

I think that all good folk singers are first and foremost great story tellers. Tales of young lovers, passion lost, feelings betrayed, regrettable mistakes, and adventures of virtue all take on a woodsy, whimsical feel when scored by violins.

This a fun bouncy, boozey song that features some good mandolin and violin playing. The vocals are ecstatic, barely in control, and delivered like a secret that’s been held for a long time finally being gushed out.

If you want to hear a non-folksy DMR song, check out the second track off this album, “Let’s Make This Precious.” The horns take the lead in this song and turn into a fun swinging song that begs to be played on the dance floor.

This song is a good old-fashioned we-don’t-need-electric-to-rock anthem, featuring lyrics like “First, let’s hear somebody sing me a record/ That cries pure and true/ No not those guitars/ They’re too noisy and crude.” It really seems to sum up a lot of the ideals of DMR during this time period, and they wear their band-room rebel colors with pride in this jam.

via http://www.last.fm

If you are a fan of the band Queen, take a listen to “All in All (This One Last Wild Waltz).” The vocasl, the herky jerky song cadence, the woooOOOoooo-s in the background, the harmonizing, everything about this song reminds me of a Queen b-side.

A song you may already be familiar with off of this album is “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile).” I may be wrong, but I swear this was in a ton of crappy 90’s movies. Like, maybe in one of those awful Beethoven the dog movies? I can’t find any proof of this, though I know for a fact it was recently featured in The Five-Year Engagement. (That was some exhaustive research everyone! Take off your lab coats and go kiss your loved ones goodnight for a change!)

This is a Van Morrison cover you will probably know immediately by the “Do dah-do-do, dah-do do-do” refrain used throughout. It is a tune that is guaranteed to make you smile. If you’re having a bad day, you can turn this on quickly and let it warm you up like audio sunshine.

The last song on what used to be side one of this record is called “Old.” It is a very theatrical song that sounds like it should almost be on Broadway, but as it happens so many times on this album, the tune is held firmly to the ground with some expertly used violins that really bring a sense of real depth and emotion to everything. You can hear the places in this song that could have used synthesizers, but the use of string instruments and horns really make up the beating heart of this song and much of the album. If you listen to this alone, feel free to slowly wave your hands like a conductor. It’s been a tough week, you’ve earned it, champ.

via http://www.popmatters.com

If you are a fan of the rock-opera, side 2 kicks of with “Plan B,” which is like an acoustic “American Idiot” song. It starts off with piano and isolated vocals before kicking off into a fist shaking ass kicker of a song. It’s a song that could easily fit in with a play, and I can’t hear it without imaging people dancing and singing into broom handles. Do with that information what you will. This song changes its mind about what it wants to be about every 90 seconds in this five minute tune, so if you like fast balls with lots of movement take a swing at this one.

The last real change-up on this album is the penultimate song, “Until I Believe in my Soul.” This number sounds like what would happen if the lead singer of The Darkness joined a R&B/gospel group. Lots of emotional high-pitched vocals, lots of organ playing, and a ton of, well, soul. Believe it. This, I must warn you, will not be for everyone. It is the most “out there” song on the album, but it still would fit in with a Queen, Darkness, or David Bowie playlist. Oh,  and be mindful of the out-of-nowhere jazz interlude. Like I said, out there.

The traditional last song on this album is the well known, often karaoked “Come on Eileen.” It would be moved to the first song on the album for the U.S. release, but I chose to feature it as it was originally aligned.

It is easy to see why this song is a hit. It is bursting with energy and the string instruments really do a lot of hard lifting. Its sly electric is felt in every sing-along lyric and shut-up-and-dance break down. This song invites you in for a beer and you end up doing shots and jiving on the table. A reliable old rascal of a friend. If you haven’t heard it in a while, you owe it to yourself to get “Come on Eileen” on a playlist of yours, ASAP.

Dishwalla “Pet Your Friends”

Few songs sounded as “90’s” to me as “Counting Blue Cars,” which was the band Dishwalla’s featured hit off of the 1995 album “Pet Your Friends.”  It had smart lyrics, a sing-along chorus, and utilized the “loud quiet loud” song structure that was made popular by the Pixies and used in many of the more popular songs of the era.

The reason I decided to check this album out was because I wanted to know why I hadn’t heard anything else from these guys. Was I just missing out? Did they get lucky with one song that stuck with people? Well, let’s take a listen to “Pet Your Friends” and find out.

The first track off of this album is “Pretty Babies,” which is a good intro song. It has a hypnotic floating beginning that makes you feel like you’re falling into the world of the album. It sets the table for the general sound of this album and gets you into the tempo and groove that Dishwalla use for most of their songs.

The song then flips the switch and goes into an isolation of vocals for a bit before bringing back the guitar to work in harmony with lead singer J.R. Richards. “Pretty Babies” is all about how the commercialization of sex is distorting our treatment of children. Sometimes it hits a little bit to directly on the nose, and it’s kind of funny because you can just tell how edgy these guys thought this song was. One such lyric: “There is tension for a popular child and it doesn’t get much worse than that.” Hahaha, wow, so deep. Man, I bet the editors of Vogue couldn’t sleep after that skewering. Take away some of the too self-serious lyrics, and this is still a fun song with some worthwhile guitar parts.

The next song on the album is “Haze.” The is a song that opens on some “wah-wah” pedal playing and the rest of the song eventually comes in over top of it. It is very laid back coffee-shop-rock and lets the lyrics do all the hard punching here. This song is about suicide, so it’s another angst-driven song. The video for this song is fantastically 90’s. It’s a bunch of greasy upset people in ill-fitting clothing just kind of staring off into the ether. The girl looks a lot like Clueless era Alicia Silverstone, too. Man, being a middle class white kid was just the toughest in 1995. So much malaise.

“Counting Blue Cars” is the third track on this album. If you ever saw a commercial for a “Now That’s What I Call Music!” CD, you probably know this song from its chorus: “Tell me all your thoughts on god, ’cause I would really like to meet her.”

This song really doesn’t have much to tell as far as linear stories go, but I think the reason this tune stays with so many people is because of its great use of imagery. Children in dirty clothes running down the alley while their shoes squeak, just kind of making up in their mind what is real and not by the minute, really kind of warms your heart.

If you’re looking for a pick-me-up on this album, you should check out the fifth track “Charlie Brown’s Parents.” This is a groovy, catchy song that has some fun playful lyrics, such as “It would take the jaws of life to pry open your words.” An overall energetic song with no lull that avoids the quiet-loud-quiet song set-up, so if you’re looking for a jam that has no filler, seek this one out.

The seventh song on “Pet Your Friends” is “Miss Emma Peel.” Though this isn’t a real stand-out song musically, the lyrics are a nice cheesy love letter to 1960’s super spy Emma Peel from the British television show “The Avengers.” Like all love letters to fictional people, this song swings between humorous, sad and kind of creepy, but I can only support lyrics like “Black boots kick high at his face/ One last look at the grace of/ Miss Emma Peel.”

The song is kind of bland, but you will get that sometimes when you work as hard as these guys did to buff and polish this album. There isn’t a half second of unnecessary sound on this album and it comes off as very efficient and blue collar. No songs go over the 6 minute mark and they are all pretty conventionally structured and played. Sometimes it sounds like an American Idol tribute to Soundgarden, more than the cutting edge band you may have been expecting.

Also, someone did a Youtube video with this song that mashes up movie clips featuring Gerard Butler’s “Brunette Beauties.” Hahaha, man, I love you Youtube. I didn’t even remember how silly that Tomb Raider movie really was until I saw that clip of Angelina Jolie doing the barrel rolls on the jet ski. Marvelous.

Do a Barrel Roll!

The funkiest song on this album is probably “All She Can See.” This is a surprisingly great song for how deep it’s buried on the album. No one even did a Youtube mash-up to it! This is one of the few songs on PYF that allows the bassist Scot Alexander try some fun stuff and he absolutely kills it, especially in the intro. The opening line “I’ve never known such pure madness” sets the stage for a pretty cool song that incorporates a lot of interesting string instruments and subtle noise layers. It also has a very suitable guitar solo that really rocks over the dominating bass that’s allowed to shine. If you can find it anywhere, this song is a nice hidden gem.

A good rule of thumb when listening to this album is that any song co-written by producer Andy Kravitz is a real winner. He co-wrote “Pretty Babies,” “Counting Blue Cars,” “Charlie Brown’s Parents,” “Moisture,” and “All She Can See.” He definitely knows how to accentuate all of this band’s strengths and harness them into good tunes.

The last song we will review today is Dishwalla’s cover of the Carpenter’s “It’s Going to Take Some Time.” This song was not on this album in the US version, but I am sure you can easily find it on Itunes or something if you want to look for it.

This is a sweet simple song that diverges far enough away from Dishwalla’s normal sound that it really stands out on this album, while still holding onto their familiar guitar reverb and  overall song cadence. If nothing else, this song is cool because it is alike a musical dichotomy between this and Carol King’s version. I recommend you listen to both versions and pick out the differences. When a song has a change singer gender and musical style while trying to maintain middle ground and commonality, it can really open your ears to what it is that you are trying to find in the music you like.

So, there you go. A nice, very polished all-around decent album. I didn’t find anything world shattering, but there are definitely some songs here that deserve some more love and attention. Picking two or three of them to round out your personal music collection or 90’s playlist is well worth your time.

Hüsker Dü “Zen Arcade”

Today’s band is Hüsker Dü. Though they have never been radio darlings, later bands such as the Pixies and Nirvana have claimed this early hardcore punk group as being an integral influence to their sound. Finding the inspirations of your favorite musicians can be a great way to open yourself up to music you would have never heard otherwise, so let’s take a look at 1984’s Zen Arcade.

This album was originally released as a double album and it really feels like two or three entirely different projects stitched together. It swings abruptly back and forth between frothing at the mouth punk to melody driven reflections so fast it feels like listening to two different bands at some points.

Zen Arcade has an overarching story line of a young man who runs away from home to find a new life. Along the way he dabbles in drugs, relationships, religion, and all kinds of things that make him just as unhappy as he was at home. It’s not uplifting, but listening to an early 80’s punk album to feel warm and fuzzy is like going to a Klan meeting to learn more about compassion and diversity.

If you’re looking for bloody knuckles punk, start with tracks one, two and four. Track one is “Something I learned today.” This is a fast song that runs at just below a sprint pace. A tight snare drum beat, grizzly vocals, and 90 mph guitar argue with each other over the fuzzy static this song lives on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBTN0xEA05w

Track two is “Broken Home, Broken Heart.” The guitar part for this song is strummed so incessantly that, like a lot of good punkish music, it lets the bassist stand out and show off some comparably slower and catchier bouncy scales. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMoY5GKdols

Chartered Trips is the fourth track and it wraps up what I’ll call the taste test trilogy of straight forward punk you should check out on this album, if that’s the noise you’re in search of. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTaiiMAzKa8

A lot of these songs sound really sloppy, but after having listened to this album I think every little thing on these tracks is meaningful. Reportedly, all but two songs on this album (“Something I Learned Today” and “Newest Industry”) were run through only once during the recording process and it shows, but at the same time Zen Arcade wears its imperfections like badges of honor and it creates the effect of listening to a live show. The vocalists, Bob Mould and Grant Hart, sell every song almost as if they’re the character in the narrative of the album’s story, so if the kid is angry, drunk or sad, they’re going to sing like they’re angry, drunk or sad. Whether you think that’s a good thing or not will be the major factor in if you like this album at all.

The first major knuckle-ball of this album is Track 7, entitled “Hare Krsna.” This the first song on this album that you can probably sing along with after one or two tries. I don’t know if I’m the only person the only person who thinks this, but the singer sings “Hare Krsna” like the lady from “Bow Wow Wow” singing “I like Candy.” This isn’t a particularly good song, but it feels like aloe on your ears after the brutal punk beating you will have taken from the more hardcore songs that have been featured so far. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3iXCEhHdUM

“Hare Krsna” is one of the more trippy interludes on this album that break up the fierce pounding punk. The psychedelic songs on Zen Arcade make you feel like you’re about to pass out from dehydration. Nothing makes sense, some things stay super clear monetarily before slipping back into the abyss for some reason, and you get the distinct feeling that you’re missing important details.

Track eight is “Beyond the Threshold,” and it’s probably the most polished song on this album. If you like Motorhead, you should check this out. It has all the ingredients of your basic punk metal. Super-fast, lots of cymbal crashes, and a guitar player whose fingers just have to be bleeding. It’s also just fun to shout “BEYOND. THE THRESHOLD.” One thing they do on this song that comes up again and again on this album is they make it really hard to hear what they’re saying when it’s not the sing along chorus part. It’s almost like an apology that they even bothered to write a verse. *Muttermuttermutter* *whisperwhisperwhsiper* *blocky consonant, murky vowel* BEYONDTHETHRESHOLD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaeR-7USY9U

Track 12, “What’s Going On” starts off with a really nice intro built on the extremely poppy and sharp snare/ride combos of drummer Grant Hart. It builds itself into a really fun song that has some amazing guitar playing that goes all over the place, occasionally broken up by memorable lyrics. If you guessed it was going to be a ton of repeating “What’s going on (inside my head)” you would be right, but this also has verse that the band doesn’t seem to be ashamed by, so if the imperceptibility of vocals on previous tracks bummed you out, this should be a song to check out to decide if the Dü is right for you *dodges tomato, dragged off stage by the Sandman.* There’ s also some nice piano accompanying this track, which helps the overall catchiness of the tune by not trying to be just another thrashy bringer of noise. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdiZB-CSDP0

“Standing by the Sea” is the 14^th track on this album and represents another tonal shift and might be a good entry point to this album for people who aren’t accustomed to punk. It starts off with a great bass build accompanied by the sounds of the sea and transforms into a great trippy song. It sounds like it should be in a weird off-Broadway musical funded by drug money and trust funds. It almost has the sounds of an old mystery movie and would feel right at home as the end credits music for a grimy neo-noir movie. The lead singer takes efforts to enunciate his words (Boo! Punks Dead!) and it comes together for an emotionally riveting song that catches you off guard in an album that can sometimes pummel you into numbness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KYrYwQpBHI

The last of the trippy tunes that I will highlight off of this album is “Whatever.” This song is peppered with tight snare rolls, enunciated words, and an echoed guitar part that you can really get lost in. The lyrics really carry this song and hit the perfect middle ground between memorable, intelligent and relevant to the story. This was a song that seems perfectly engineered for an anxious 17-year-old who feels like a real screw up. If you’ve ever wanted to apologize to someone you were seriously upset with, you can feel this song. The apathy that people use to soothe their raw nerves during bad times is a subject that this song ties to the examination table. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RspniZh1ToA

The last song I will look at today is “Turn on the News.” A super fuzzy guitar fills this song with buzz and there’s some great call and response vocals. The singer actually sounds a bit like someone trying to sound like Paul Stanley from KISS. It’s definitely an anomaly on this record and is by no mistake by far the most radio-friendly song on this album.

It also has a really good guitar solo that invites you to sing “diggitydiggitydiggity” along with its almost heavy metal chugging. It even spiderwebs a bit near the end and really shows off the licks of guitarist Bob Mould. It will have you fist pumping and shouting “Turn On!” by the second playing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNdtMjkFsn4

This is definitely an album made to piss off parents. It is perfect background music for drinking warm beer as fast as you can in your uncle’s unfinished basement. If you like early punk, Motorhead, or are just interested in becoming more familiar with a very influential band, “Zen Arcade” is a great relic to check out.