il Buono, il Brutto, il AlbumArto: The Moody Blues

il Buono, il Brutto, il AlbumArto
Take a band. Take its album cover highlights. Take its album cover lowlights.
Swish it all around in your mouth. Comment.


The Moody Blues

This is a 2001 compilation of the Moody Blues' pre-Justin Hayward days, before they got all epic and grandiose. In the early-to-mid 1960's the band was riding the English Merseybeat wave, though here they look like Dutch Reservoir Dogs. This is a cool picture made cooler by the sleek silhouettes, the empty sky space, and just the right amount of windmill. I also like the throwback label at the top, and even the name of the album works in a Meet the Beatles sort of way.


This is the cover to The Other Side of Life, released in 1986. OF COURSE it was released in 1986. Look at it. Xeroxed head shots of the band floating around a chemistry lab in space. The other side of life doesn't make any sense. And even though these glamor shots are floating around in zero gravity, somehow the beakers and crap remain affixed to the tables, which themselves somehow remain affixed to the floor. Also, nice spacelab wall trim.


Again, back to the pre-Hayward days. In fact this is the band's debut album, The Magnificent Moodies, released in 1965. I don't know if this picture came from the same photo shoot as the image that appears on the cover of An Introduction to the Moody Blues, but it very well could have. It would be a great cover too were it not for the goofy Rocky & Bullwinkle-fonted text spilling all over everywhere. I like that the horizon is hard to discern. I like the guy on the right straddling the water. I don't like the gigantic letter E balancing on that one guy's head.

The Letter R

In this series I spotlight five bands and/or artists whose names begin with the same letter. I try to feature active (or recently active... it's hard to keep current with all the break-ups) performers so as to reflect who I'm listening to and enjoying at the moment.


Röyksopp
Norwegians excel in two things: metal and electro-pop. (They also do the Americana thing better than Americans, but that doesn't fit into the point I'm trying to make.) There's something about the frigid and isolated country that instills itself into its citizen's songwriting. This might seem at odds with the POP in electro-pop (or techno-pop or whatever other -pop we're dealing with), but pop, when you think about it, really is a cold and removed sort of thing. Enter Röyksopp, an electro duo from Tromsø, who plug together the most magnificent and chill beats ever conceived. There is an iciness to their music, but there's an underlying warmth to it as well. Norwegians, see, are passionate about whatever it is they do, and "cold" as their music might be there's still that human passion that weaves itself in and out of each song's DNA. I don't know if any of that makes sense, and I know I'm making wide generalizations about Norwegians (for all I know they could all actually be robots, a nation of Johnny 5s), but these are the impressions I get.
Whatever. Let the music speak for itself. And instead of linking .mp3 files I'm going to post their music videos which, in addition to perfectly matching the music, are mindboinks.
"Remind Me"

"What Else is There?" (featuring Karin Dreijer Andersson from The Knife, though that's not her floating around in the video [though that IS her sitting at the dinner table])

"Poor Leno"



Red Sparowes
Epic wordless landscape-ish music in the same vein as Explosions in the Sky and all those other epic wordless landscape-ish bands. What sets these guys apart? Two things, at least. One, a couple of the guys are also members of the doom-core band Isis, which certainly influences some aspects of their sound. One-and-a-half, one of the Red Sparowes was also in Neurosis, but he's no longer a Red Sparowe. Two, slide guitar! Two-and-a-half, their song titles, as you'll see below, are absolutely ridiculous.
Two .mp3s via their Neurot Recordings page:
"Like the Howling Glory of the Darkest Winds, This Voice Was Thunderous And the Words Holy, Tangling Their Way Around Our Hearts And Clutching Our Innocent Awe" (10:08)
"Alone and Unaware, the Landscape Was Transformed in Front of Our Eyes" (8:27)
"A Brief Moment of Clarity Broke Through the Deafening Hum, But it Was Too Late" via Stop Okay Go.


The Rapture
Not to be confused with the Finnish metal band or Jesus' triumphant return, The Rapture are a electro-punky-dance-rock band from New York. Their songs are beat heavy, but there's definitely a rock 'n' roll edge in there. On their first full-length album, Echoes, they follow up songs fit for clubbin' with songs fit for punching you in the face. Their last full-lengther, Pieces of the People We Love, was released in 2006, so they're probably about due for something new.
Check out their MYSPACE and enjoy a handful of their sweet sweet music, including the funkin' little ditty found on the GTA IV soundtrack.
Also, and I don't remember where I got this (though YOU can find it on their The Chair That Squeaks 7-inch released in 1998), here's a cover of the agitated Psychedelic Furs song "Dumb Waiters."
"Dumb Waiters"


Radiohead
Obviously.
Instead of waxing poetic, and instead of dropping tracks you've already heard, I'll link up some fun remixes.
"Videotape (Amplive Remix Feat Del The Funky Homosapien)"
"Street Spirit (Funkagenda Remix)"
"Nude (Let's up the Beat of them Blues, TAET Remix)"
"Unravel {Pocket Mix}"


Rogue Wave
You know a band is popular when it appears on the soundtracks of every hip new movie and TV show. I don't actually know much else about Rogue Wave except that they used to be on Sub Pop. Now they're not. By definition a rogue wave is something that could potentially do a lot of damage, especially if you're having an adventure on a boat named Poseidon, but this Rogue Wave is fairly non-threatening. A nice easy listen-to. A bit of The Shins, a bit of Belle and Sebastian. A lot of good.
"The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight" via Stereogum's Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic for the People.
"Lake Michigan" via Insound.com.
"Publish My Love" via me, because I want you to hear it.

2003

It's hard to believe that 2003 occurred five years ago. I was ending my third/beginning my fourth year of college, thankful to be nearly done with school yet hesitant to face what lay beyond. Twenty-aught-three was a good year for music and it provided a great soundtrack for this soon-to-be transitional phase of my life. The music was so great that it killed me to only choose five tracks. Killed me. I'm dead now.

Suffering & the Hideous Thieves - "St. Elizabeth"
In the 1990's Jeff Suffering was best known for heading the spazzpunk outfit 90lb Wuss. As the 90's progressed so too did Suffering's freedom to experiment, and Wuss's sound evolved from (and I use these terms loosely and probably inappropriately) skate-punk to grind-punk to some sort of hard-to-define pseudo-space-core punk-ish. All through these incarnations the band's sound remained gritty and aggressive. So it came as a surprise when Suffering organized his Hideous Thieves and released Real Panic Formed in 2002. Clean vocals! Slow tempos! Strings! And the moodiest music ever recorded. It was brilliant. It still is brilliant. The following year, the year we're actually focusing on, S&tHT did a split with an ether-ish pixie-voiced band called The Hush Hush. The Hush Hush songs are good, but the Hideous Thieves songs are absolutely glorious. Listen here as St. Elizabeth starts in a romantic-but-melancholy way, beautiful strings bending around lyrics about writing desperate notes in blood. But from these depressing depths the song moves backwards, reminiscing about happier times, adding layers, eventually exploding like a moment of passion, then tailing off again (as those moments of passion inevitably do) until we're right back to where we started. This is a song that resonates long after its over, and even though I can't personally relate to the lyrics they (hand-in-hand with the music) still somehow strike a familiar chord within.


...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - "Intelligence"
The concept behind the EP The Secret of Elena's Tomb is as interesting as the songs themselves. Read about it HERE and be thoroughly grossed out. The songs on the EP seem to be loosely inspired by the story (as opposed to being directly about it), and as far as I can tell "Intelligence," the final song on the disc, doesn't have much to do with necrophilia. It DOES have much to do with freakin' awesomeness, and listening to this song makes me want to run through a brick wall. It starts of mellowly, even casually, but then the drum machine kicks in, and the rhythm follows, and suddenly you're listening to a metronome made of rock 'n' roll. Three-and-a-half minutes in things suddenly fall apart for no reason, but as if nothing happened at all it quickly reassembles before eventually squealing to a halt. The song is a sub-electronic departure for the band but no less an awesome one. The kids are hopped up now, indeed.


Cat Power - "He War"
According to ye olde Wikipedia Chan Marshall is dissatisfied with the recording of this song. Whatever. It does sound hastily mixed, but it's totally to the song's benefit as it adds a brittle edge to the manic lyrics. There are actually a lot of little things that make this song great. The tinkly intro keys, the "hey hey hey," the double vox, the processed vocals in verse #2, and when the song picks up near the beginning it doesn't let up until the end. Lulls are for suckers. That's Dave Grohl boom-tappin' the drums, by the way.


Beloved - "Defect From Decay"
For a few short years Beloved (the North Carolinian Beloved) was the greatest thing to happen to music. The music was all at once beautiful and aggressive, much like early Hopesfall. What differentiated Beloved from Hopesfall (as well as most other "melodic-core" bands) were Josh Moore's clean vocals. Not only was he on-key (which already gave him the advantage over other singers in the genre), but he was also a very good singer. Naturally there had to be screaming too, and anybody can scream into a microphone. But Beloved's screamer, drummer Joe Musten, had a voice that could wipe out armies. Somehow he found the strength to beat the crap out of his set while bellowing mightily at the same time. And as if the vocal tandem wasn't enough the band also had a fantastic sense of melody. The pretty parts were indeed very pretty, but even while they were throwing down and being all XcoreX the THREE guitars continued to paint rich sweeping musical pictures. I chose this song from Failure On because listening to it is like getting punched in the face over and over. We could all use a punch in the face.


Viva Voce - "Brightest Part of Everyone"
Viva Voce's 1998 debut full-length release, Hooray For Now, was good, full of straight-ahead pretty-voiced rock, but it only hinted at things to come. For a long time, actually, it seemed there would be no follow up. Their record company folded soon after the album's release and though they released an independent EP in 2000 they weren't heard from again (by me anyway) until a 2002 split with Soul Junk. At this point their sound had wildly diverged from that initial release and 2003's Lovers Lead the Way, full of creative and crafty sounds, shows it. A husband and wife duo, Anita Robinson usually takes the vocal lead, but here she does the angelic background thing while Kevin Robinson croons away. The music is murky but rhythmic (clap along!) until the chorus where everything, save for an acoustic guitar and the vocals, drops out. Then the bouncy fuzz comes right back and takes us to the next chorus which happens to be at the very end of the song. It's all at once positive and moody. It's also completely enjoyable.

You're Up

Again, lack of posting not due to disinterest. It's due to excessive busyness. And I'll mention this every time until updates become daily.

Anyway, I made a mix cd for somebody going to Europe. Each song had something to do with her destinations either by subject, song title, band name, band origin, or language. By the way, do you know how hard it is to find songs about Liechtenstein? (Fortunately [or UN-, depending on whether or not you listened to the song] the "Liechtensteiner Polka" saved the day.)

Things I learned while compiling the playlist:
- Nearly every song by Beirut could qualify for this particular mix.
- Greek pop sucks.
- Czech pop does not.
- Francophonic songs are much more abundant than Belgian-phonic ones.

Here are the highlights:
St. Vincent - Paris is Burning
Tim Buckley - Moulin Rouge
Peter Bjorn and John - Amsterdam
Bloc Party - Kreuzberg
Waldemar Matuska & Eva Pilarova - Tam Za Vodou V Rakosi
Ultravox - Vienna
Beirut - Postcards From Italy
Roxy Music - A Song For Europe

Apology + NY

I apologize for the severe lack of recent postings. Life has been hectic.
Heck. Tick.
And I do what I can.

If you, sick of these lengthy non-content gaps, would like to contribute to the Bipedal blog (either regularly, semi-regularly, bi-annually, etc.) then let me know. Pay is zero. Readership is minimal. Credit is full.

Anyway, this one's just to tide. Recently I visited New York City. To celebrate this event here are a handful of New Yorky songs.

Death Cab for Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan
Mason Jennings - New York City
Beastie Boys - Open Letter to NYC
Leonard Cohen - First We Take Manhattan
Interpol - NYC

1984

It's funny how you can just tell whether or not a song came from the mid-80s just by listening to it. Sometimes "the 80's sound" makes that particular tune more endearing. Sometimes it just makes it sound dated. And then there are those other songs that don't seem to age at all, that if they were released today would garner just as much attention as they did twenty-four years ago. Listen and decided for yourself which tunes sound classically quaint, good as new, or anything otherwise.

The Smiths - "How Soon is Now"
I recently read where a critic declared that this was THE song of the 80s, and I can't really argue. It's epic, searing, mournful, groovy, the soundtrack to virtually any given situation. There are a hundred little "favorite parts" in this song. Here are a few:
- the introductory "wugga-wugga"
- son, heir/sun, air... get it?
- the spookadelic guitar that wangs in every so often like an oscillating fan made of razors
- the vitriol spewed when Morrissey says "in particular"
- the fact that the song is long enough to appreciate while you're still listening to it
- whistling at 4:30
- everything dropping out at 5:00
- the last chorus, even though it's sung no differently than the others
It's interesting how this is the tune most people associate with the Smiths even though the rest of their songs sound nothing like this. Regardless, listen to it a thousand more times while continuing to not get sick of it.

The Cars - "Drive"
I know this song reeks of 80s, like, in a bad way. Blatant synth abuse, drums that plug into an outlet, wispy background vocals, etc. You've probably also heard this one a thousand times at your JC Penneys and on your local Lite-FM. I don't even want to look at the music video. But for all its zillions of faults, I STILL REALLY LIKE THIS SONG AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. I can't honestly tell you why. It's not a so-bad-it's-good thing because it really is good. It's not a guilty pleasure thing because it's by the Cars, and the Cars are awesome. Maybe it's because the lyrics are so dang down. Maybe it's because Benjamin Orr (or, as I like to call him, NotRicOcasek) does such a convincing job singing those downed lyrics. Anyway, I felt like I was the only one in the theater who appreciated the fact that the dumb car in "Transformers" used this song to try to hook up Shia LaBeouf with the girl.

Bruce Spingsteen - "I'm On Fire"
This wasn't released as a single until 1985, but it's found in the middle of Born in the U.S.A. which came out in '84, and that's good enough for me.
When you think about the songs of Springsteen (including the ones found on BitUSA) you think of the swarthy Jersey boy crankin' out tunes about glory days or dancing in the dark or something hand-clappingly rockin'. Maybe you don't. Maybe you already know he's a folky at heart and often hangs his hat on darker themes. This song qualifies as one with "a darker theme." In fact it bothers me when I pry apart the lyrics to find out what "I'm On Fire" is really about. Instead I nod along to Max Weinberg's boom-taps and listen to that marvelously subtle guitar-pickin'. Everything about this song is subtle, actually. The lyrics, the guitar work, the (for once in its existance) UNobtrusive synthesizers. Before you know it Bruce is howling for reasons I don't want to contemplate and the song is over.

Cocteau Twins - "Beatrix"
The Cocteau Twins are the only UK band I can think of whose accent permeates their singing voices enough to make it more difficult to understand what they're saying (as opposed to trying to decipher what they're saying when they merely speak). When I say "they" I guess I'm just really talking about vocalist Elizabeth Fraser. I can understand everything that comes out of KT Tunstall's mouth, but why can't I discern a stinkin' thing Fraser sings? Her vowels are too warped or something. But you know what? I like it better this way. Her words sound more magical and fanciful (instead of, y'know, just being rugged English). Couple her unique approach to singing with the glassy musicianship of the othe two guys and you end up with something that sounds like a lake of frozen pink lemonade. Drums don't kick in until the song is 2/3 over. That last 1/3 will twist your head right off.

Die Kreuzen - "All White"
Are you ready for some Milwaukee hardcore? This is actually one of their slower songs (at least until the last few seconds) from their '84 self-titled cassette, all the songs of which can now be found on October File, which was released a couple years later. In addition to being a relatively slow song, this one is also three times longer than most of the other tracks on that aforementioned self-titled, clocking in at a whopping three-and-a-half minutes. I chose this one because while those other minute-long speed demons are sweet-tastic, "All White" is at least more accessible. Enjoy this, get a frame of reference, then check out the rest of their early songs. Their later material (including the first half of October File, which is really album #2) chugs rather than skates, but it's still pretty good. Gotta love those Cobra Commander vocals.
Anyway, I thought "All White" was going to be a commentary on race a la Minor Threat's "Guilty of Being White." Instead it's about isolation and dispair and blah blah blah whine whine whine.

il Buono, il Brutto, il AlbumArto: Michael Jackson

il Buono, il Brutto, il AlbumArto
Take a band. Take its album cover highlights. Take its album cover lowlights.
Swish it all around in your mouth. Comment.

Obviously I chose to feature a very specific point in Michael Jackson's career. If I wanted to I could also feature album art from his adolescent years (including time spent with The 5) or album art from his latter bleachier years. But these images here reflect the Michael Jackson I know and love.

This is the cover to the "She's Out of My Life" single released in 1980, though the song itself is found on Off the Wall released in August of 1979 (see below). I don't know who gets credit for taking this picture, but it's raw and awesome. Here we see a tuxedoed Jackson channeling his inner Marvin Gaye during some life performance somewhere. According to Wikipedia (the source for all things absolute truth), Jackson couldn't get through the recording of this song without crying. I don't know if he was singing this song while the picture was being snapped, but look at the way he's pouring himself into that performance. He's belting out SOME kind of ultra-emotional ballad. It's also worth pointing out that I like a good concert shot where musicians play to the crowd instead of to the camera.

Here's the, uh, "brutto" of our set, the aforementioned Off the Wall. We have photographer Steve Harvey to thank for this (though cover "designer" Mike Salisbury should share part of the blame). Obviously there's the tux theme, which is fine. I don't mind a well-dressed performer. And I suppose it could be sort of clever to contrast the ritzy duds against a butt-ugly brick wall. But clever or not (not) it just looks dumb. Add to the dumbness the chalk-scrawl font. Add to the dumbness Michael Jackson trying to do the robot with his thumbs in his pockets. Multiply to the dumbness some sort of uncontextualized window or painting. It's possible this image continues around to the inside of the album (I believe the back is just a picture of his feet), but that doesn't matter unless these things were sold in stores inside-out.

Now we jump ahead a couple years to 1982 to gawk at the "The Girl is Mine" single. Thriller may have made Michael Jackson the king of the world, but here he looks as unkingly as possible. It's not a bad picture, and there are certainly many endearing qualities to it, but it's just overshadowed by a lot of awkwardness. See Paul McCartney. See him wearing three layers of clothing, all of which are too tight. See that charming-but-goofy smile only Brits can do. See him rubbing literal elbows with a coy Michael Jackson (who appears to have just gotten back from a Cubs game). See how Jackson was never able to remove his thumbs from his pockets. They're arguing about who gets a girl in the song, but does SHE have any say in the matter?