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"Amnesia," "Drip Drip Drip," "Creepy Crawling" - Chumbawamba. These folks are being hailed as the latest in a long line of one-hit wonders, which is a damn shame because there's a lot of terrific stuff on Tubthumper. These three were the ones I kept on a mix tape after borrowing the CD from a buddy. (11/16/99)
"Take Me In" - Bryndle. From 1995. Bryndle is sort of a country-folk supergroup, featuring Karla Bonoff, Andrew Gold (who left the band after the 1995 album) Wendy Waldman, Kenny Edwards, among others. To me, the song has the feel of something from Bruce Hornsby's 1st or 2nd album, but with fewer electric guitars and with a female vocalist. (The male vocal sounds a lot like Hornsby, come to think of it.) And the coda "na-na-na"s recall the tight harmonies at the end of Journey's old song "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'". (8/13/99)
"Run" - Schtum. Cool band name! (Shtoom?) Not too complex, just an energetic alternative rock song. The singer has an upper-register tension in his delivery that reminds me of someone from the early 80's...wait...it'll come to me... (8/2/99)
"Last Stop: This Town" - Eels. Eels, man. If you want a slab of sinister gloom, Eels are your band. (Their battle with Morphine as "Band Whose Sound Is Most Influenced By Depression" came to an end when Morphine's singer and lyricist Marc Sandman died last month.) "Last Stop: This Town" is peppered with quirky instrumental textures. (7/21/99)
"Fortified Grapes" - Gordon. Quite poppy. You've heard most of it before I'd bet, EXCEPT for this very catchy harmonica lick you only get to hear once or twice toward the end. (At least I *think* it's a harmonica...) (7/21/99)
"Lantern" - Tanya Donnelly. Post-Belly Tanya is in FINE voice here, and her guitar has bulked up too! I like the way some of the line melodies in consecutive lines are identical except they go from quater notes the first line to eighth notes in the following line. (7/19/99)
"Across The Universe" - Fiona Apple. I know this is a Lennon-McCartney tune, and I've heard the Beatles' version of it (from "Let It Be", their final album), but for some reason I'd never paid as close attention to it as I have in recent days. And what else does she sing? (7/19/99)
"Free" - Phish. "In a minute I'll be free/and you'll be spashing in the sea..." Who they pissed at? No mata. Razor sharp harmonies abound. (7/19/99)
"Jack-Ass" - Beck. In my opinion, the best song on Beck's 1996 CD "Odelay," A CD loaded with terrific songs. "Jack-Ass" is light, trippy, airy...the watery background texture lasts throughout most of the song, and farm animals jump in toward the end. Delish! (7/19/99)
"All Washed Up" - The Urge. Fishbone meets 311. Tight guitar, tight beat, catchy melody. (7/18/99)
"On And On" and "She Said" - Longpigs. An unmistakable Beatles influence informs the Longpigs' style, and these two songs are from the same album ("The Sun Is Often Out"), and are good enough that I bought the CD. Maybe one or two other gems, but nothing quite as strong as these two remarkable tunes. VERY strong melodies, both. (7/17/99)
"L Train" - Shootyz Groove. Tasty blend of reggae, rap, and pop rock. (Pop rocks? WHERE? I'm starved!) (5/24/99)
"Ray Of Light" - Madonna. This song is the title cut of an album that's at least six months old, I realize, and my coming around to it only now is one observable result of my recent foray back into the realm of MTV and 'commercial alternative' radio. And I know this song only has two chords. And I know, it's not even C.A., it's dance. But I do like to dance, and Madonna's hitting notes she's not gotten near before, and what's more the two-chord diagnosis turns out to be misleading: there are so many grace notes and suspensions and what not keyboarded and guitarred into the arrangement, it simultaneously stands still AND maunders all over the map. And of course there's the video, which I have seen but once and will NEVER forget. What else can I say about this amazing woman? Somehow she manages to be playful AND take zero in the way of shit from anyone, not to mention that she's quite easy to look at. (5/27/99)
"Steal My Sunshine" - LEN. FINALLY! FINALLY. With the rampant sampling, someone FINALLY found "More More More" by Andrea True Connection and put that cool piano break on a loop. In fact, the entire arrangement of this song is nothing more than ATC's piano break with a little salt on it (keyboard flourishes, drum track, and c.) (5/24/99)
"Millennium" - Robbie Williams. He looks like James Bond As Class Clown in the video - quite endearing. "Millennium" is plushly orchestrated, VERY catchy. (5/23/99)
"Kiss Me" - Sixpence None The Richer. Cool band name, for starters. In my winter focus on college alternative I dismissed this as pap. Somehow, hearing it a few times recently, I've fallen HARD for this, to the point I'm actually playing the damn thing on my guitar and (gasp!) singing. Shudder To Think.(5/19/99)
"Jesus Ranch" - Tenacious D. Are they an alterna-folk duo, or are they a comedy team? In whatever heinous realm they may squat, they are two proficient singers, guitarists, and sketch comedians. This song is a gallimaufry of random imagery laid over a bed of energetic acousitc guitar, delivered with harmony I shall characterize, and not exaggeratedly, as sweet. Of course, this could describe almost any of Tenacious D's songs. (4/11/99)
"Word Made Flesh" - Todd Rundgren. Rundgren is one of those performers I feel I should like. I try. Most of the time though, I don't connect with his quality. Exceptions: His album "A Cappella" is brilliant start-to-finish, and if his work on XTC's 1986 album "Skylarking" isn't genius...well, they just fucking well better retire that word. "For The Want Of A Nail" is a consistent pleaser, as is this song. Todd got his start with his punk-pop band Nazz in the late 60s, but you just don't hear him this fervid all that often anymore. The guitar, the arena-rock drums....sure they're processed and produced up the ying--he is a producer, after all--but it still kicks. AND QUITE HARD, CAP'N. (9/3/93)
"Greenman" - XTC. The intro is reminescent of "Wake up" (on 1984's The Big Express) in that you're presented with a fine rhythm, and then the rest of the instrumentation kicks in and the rhythm you were conned into following shifts, what, an eighth of a beat? The result is a cooler beat than the original, IMHO. And, unlike most XTC songs, which tend to be aquired tastes, "Greenman" is catchy and regal and lush and plush right out of the chute. (3/11/99)
"Secret Service" - Kill Henry Sugar. This song has a headache THIS BIG, and it's got Julian Cope written all over it. And what's with these dead-air bridges? The song two spots below (Shoebox Blues) has a gaping hole in the middle just like this. LET'S GO PEOPLE! HAVE A LITTLE CONSIDERATION FOR YOUR FELLOW MAN'S CASSETTE SKIP/SEARCH. But that's beside the point. This song is a lazy -- perhaps even drunken -- weave through a tale about what it's like to be "the president's favorite #2." (As if knowing about his damn semen wasn't enough...ba dum bum.) (3/2/99)
"Gimme Some More" - Busta Rhymes. I was a HUGE fan of NWA and Ice Cube and Ice T when they first broke, but the "get whitey" slant to a lot of their songs (and to hip hop in general, so I perceived) began to wear on me, and I was fearing that rap and I were heading in opposite directions. Then Busta Rhymes was on SNL a few weeks back, along with The Roots. The Roots played violins, played them somewhat atonally, and Busta went a mile a minute with a tight little rhythm all his own and the drummer was all over it. (This was the first time I'd heard Busta; evidently he goes a mile a minute invariably.) Anyway, I couldn't make out half of what he was saying, but I grew up on hard rock: enunciation has never been a make-or-break for me. (2/14/99)
"Shoebox Blues" - Evan Olson . Don't know crap about him save for the fact that he's a local. This tune would have centrifuge rotation on MTV if it had a video, and I have no idea that it doesn't. (Do local acts make MTV-grade videos?) The song has a very tight white-rap over a "Cecilia" (as in Simon & Garfunkel) sort of hand-clappy shuffle rhythm. There's a way too long dead-air window in the middle of the song, so long that it might keep the thing off mainstream radio, which would be a mistake....for mainstream radio, anyway. Have a look at Evan's web page. (1/28/99)
"Baby" - Spy. British (he guesses) techno-pop of a fairly common stripe UNTIL, about halfway through there is a break during which an arresting and beautiful "Music Box Dancer"-esque major mode piano tinkle emerges overtop these reverbed-up-the-wazoo-and-eyebrow-raisingly-bombastic drums. The break, through my headphones at least, pines for some rhythm guitar, and it's there, but it's criminally soft in the mix. Sweeten that mix and you've got a wonderful one-hit on your hands. My favorite musical moment of this young year. (1/11/99)
"Buzzin'" - A. D. F. (Asian Dub Foundation) . Heard the tail-end of this song back in Oct. and had been restively waiting for it to come back around. Intriguing! Reggae lyrical style + mile-a-minute, all over the place brush-drumming = infectiously pell-mell, imminently dancable 2:40. As if that weren't enough, there's a very nice touch toward the end: some sort of "ooo-wee" or "wow-wow" sounding effect. (1/11/99, 10/28/98)
"Korean Bodega" - Fun Lovin' Criminals . Hip Hop meets hard rock meets...Bo Diddley! Man, I dig the way primary musical colors are bleeding together these days. All we need now is someone to fuse country, Hip Hop and orchestra! (1/4/99)
"Rescue Me" - Bell, Book & Candle . This is the song you wanted from the Cranberries after "Linger," but instead what you got of course was "Zombie." The chorus of this song just SOARS, particularly during an a capella break. (1/4/99)
"Unsent," "So Pure," and "Are You Still Mad" - Alanis Morissette. Three just UNBELIEVABLE songs from her CD "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie." OK, there was a time when I all but loathed the sound of this woman's voice, but this amazing CD has caused me to do a complete 180° re her music, and I now consider myself a fan. This album seems to me to be an almost perfect meld of pop and what some would call alternative but I wouldn't. (Well, not today, anyway.) (12/27/98)

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