| Product: |
Top 10 Singles |
| Date: |
08.02.07 (290 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: You might find something you never even knew you liked!
Disadvantages: Too many great tracks to choose from
Bit bored today, fancy a bit of a no-brainer after all my stories of Egypt (which dooyoo still haven't added yet)! So I thought I would take a bit of a break & do my top 10 songs ever, also I find it quite interesting to see who listens to what, it gives you quite an insight into what people are like!
Headings are arranged Artist, Track Title, Album so here goes, in no particular order:
~Terry Callier - Blues For Marcus - First Light (Chicago 1969-71)~
Who is Terry Callier?
Terry Callier is a childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield, he first started work in 1960's but disappeared into obscurity in the early 80's when he took on a job at the University of Chicago where he worked as a computer programmer. In the early 90's Giles Petterson "rediscovered" ol' Tezza and bought him to the UK, arguably one of the main founders of the acid jazz movement.
Last year I was privileged enough to see him perform live at the Jazz Cafe, unfortunately he did not perform this track.
What's so great about this track?
There are two versions of this track available, the one that most people will have heard is on his Occasional Rain album (June 1998) which is the studio version. My favourite version is the one on the First Light (Chicago 1969-1971). It is the original 8 track recording, and if you listen really carefully, you can hear a baby crying in the background and then someone's wife shouting up the stairs to come and see to the baby!
The track that you get on this album is beautiful, it is Terry singing in his deep soulful voice, only accompanied by a single guitar finger picking. The original version of this song is really sad & slow.
I need to leave you in the morning, good lovin'
Tryin' to straighten out my mind
Got my bag & my tickets baby
I'm movin' down the line
So basically, things seem to be going wrong and he needs to leave his lover and sort himself out and have a think, I think we have all been in this situation before. The song feels like the end of a massive row - you know the kind where you have been up all night and are just shattered, and reluctantly you do what's got to be done. Half way through the song, he sees his love again:
I passed you on the street last night
You didn't even know my name
Where you stoned girl?
You didn't even know my name
The version that eventually got released in 1999 is not one that I am at all keen on, there are a lot of strings, the original finger picking is still present, but overshadowed by the violins and Terry's voice sounds really studio polished so somewhat loosing the emotion that was there in the original. The released version is also quite fast and in a way quite angry, a sort of "up yours" to the girl that he is leaving, I am not sure who decided to take this track in this direction, but they have really made a huge mistake.
~The Knife - Heartbeats - Deep Cuts (2003)~
Who are the knife?
The Knife are an electronic, Swedish duo, known for their unwillingness to cooperate with the media, often appearing in promotional images wearing "Eyes Wide Shut" style masks.
The Knife are probably, & also, unfortunately most famous for their track Heartbeats, which Jose Gonzalez covered on his album (Veneer 2005), used on that TV ad, you know with all the balls bouncing down the road, think it was for Sony Bravia HD TV....This is a great track in its own right, but the original deserves a hell of a lot more recognition.
What's so great about this track?
It is really euro-poppy, and is everything that you would expect from European digital music. There is an element of the 80's in here, when music was interesting. A woman's voice takes the lead, which has, I think, actually I am not so sure, listening to the track, but I think it may have been digitally enhanced. There is something that sets it aside from other Euro-digtial releases, it is a beautiful track, soft in places, and strangely soothing, but at the same time there is a slight menace to it. I think this song could be about a variety of things and is open to interpretation, it could be about a couple, or it could be about drugs...I guess how you interpret it is who you are:
one night to be confused
one night to speed up truth
we had a promise made
four hands and then away
both under influense
we had demons in
to know what to say
mind is a razorblade
I'll leave it up to you to decide....
~Barefoot - White Lines - Tom Middleton's Cosmosonica: Crazy Covers~
Who are Barefoot?
I have no idea to be honest, I have tried searching them on the net and can not find anything for them, there is a band called Barefoot Band, but to be honest, I don't think that these are the same guys.
What's so great about this track?
Ok, so a lot of you have probably heard the original by Grand Master Flash, but this version is amazing & makes you take the song so much more seriously. A women is the lead and there is something really sultry about the track, it reminds me of a smoky bar back in the day, a piano, a trumpet, men in hats with watch chains sitting round small round tables silently puffing away on cigarettes...
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the track, as the name suggests it is a track warning about the dangers of cocaine, when you see Grand Master Flash's version, it is hard to take the song & message seriously, but listening to the barefoot version, you really feel what is being sung:
Ticket to ride, white line highway
Tell all your friends, they can go my way
Pay your toll, sell your soul
Pound for pound costs more than gold
The longer you stay, the more you pay
~Prince - Purple Rain - Purple Rain~
Who is Prince?
hmmm....where shall I start? Found stardom in the early to mid 80's one....actually you all know who he is...I'm getting lazy now!
What's so great about this track?
EVERYTHING! This track really chills me out, it is so timeless, the classic 80's sound , those drums at the beginning and the piano gently going in the background, it is so velvet suits & white frilly collars, it just encapsulates, the whole sound & feel of the 80's. I don't really care what anyone thinks about Prince, but you have to appreciate what a piece of true musical genius this track is, all the synthesised sounds and those electric guitars - one of the only ever tracks to make my hair stand on end.
For anyone that is interested a Danish, a cappella band called BaSix covered this track and it sounds pretty good, normally I would be mortified if anyone tried to cover this, but in my opinion they did ok!
~Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here - Wish You Were Here~
Who are Pink Floyd?
Er....another one I don't feel I need to explain to you...
What's so great about this track?
I love the opening, gently finger picking on the guitar, one of the first songs I ever learnt to play on a guitar. I love the original long version, just listening to the introduction, waiting for the everything to start and to hear those first words:
"So, so you think you can tell, Heaven from Hell"
There is just something so soothing about this track, this was also played at my cousins funeral recently, unfortunately he committed suicide. I think that it shows the struggle that we all go through, not really knowing where we are going, sometimes just going round and round in circles.
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls, swimming in a fish bowl
Year after Year
~Fleetwood Mac - What makes you think you're the one - Tusk~
Do I really need to explain who Fleetwood Mac are? let me know if you think I do!
What's so great about this track?
Well, Fleetwood Mac have done a whole load of excellent tracks, but this one in particular is definitely my favourite, with the heavy drum beats and uplifting tempo, it really makes you want to get up and do a little dance, also one of the first albums that I bought on vinyl, so a special place in my heart. Anyway, back to the song...
What makes you think I'm the one
Who will love you forever?
Well, I guess the lyrics are quite harsh, but they are true, we all question ourselves at times, and we are the only ones that really know who we are, am I the only one who sometimes wonders why people are with me?
~Dizzy Rascal - Fix up Look Sharp - Boy in Da Corner~
Dizzy who?
Dizzy Rascal! Ok, a bit of a step away from the other favourites, and yes, I have mentioned him in the same review as some really other great bands, some of you may actually be throwing your computers out of the window at this point, but his first album, Boy in Da Corner really was ground breaking for the UK hip hop scene. Born in 1983, he grew up in Bow on a council estate. He mixes grime with hip hop with garage with ragga (if you see what I am getting at!).
What's so great about this track?
Well starting off with a really big drum beat that goes the whole way through the song. In the breaks between the raps are high pitched "woo" noises and big drum rolls. My favorite lyrics being:
I like the big beats
I like the sound
You really have to get up and dance, also you need to appreciate how much influence this track has had on the music scene. The track ends with a lot of electronic mixing and in all seriousness is very clever and original. In this day and age it is hard to bring out something really different and ground breaking, as you can see from my track choices so far.
~Saian Supa Crew - Raz de Maree - KLR (1999)~
The Saian Supa Who?
A French hip-hop collective, made up of three groups. In 2002 their album X-raisons was awarded a Victoire de la musique (an annual awards ceremony, not unlike our Brit Awards). This album is named KLR, I am assuming in memory of one of the crew members who died in 1999, named KLR. Although a lot of us brits will not have heard of these trouble makers, their first album, KLR, sold 330,000 copies in France alone! This is not to say that they haven't played some massive dates here in the UK - Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds & Nottinghill carnival, to name a few!
Their music is quite unique and something for other rappers & those on the hip-hop scene to sit up and take notice of. Their lyrics are smooth and flow with ease, yet they are sarcastic, witty, satirical, and in some cases absolutely laugh out loud funny, but don't confuse them with some of our own "humorous" rap groups, such as Goldie Lookin' Chain, they are much more clever. Their lyrics, beat boxing and just general composition of tracks means that listeners that don't speak a word of French can relate to their music and appreciate what is going on.
The Raft have cleverly described their music as "The international language of half-crazed manga-warrior beatbox is a wonderful thing"
What's so great about this track?
It begins...with a weird bird type noise, then come in the synthesised noises, drum beat & start! The raps are not aggressive, but enough to stir some sort of feeling in you, make you get up and want to move, there is an anthem like feel to the song, but not in a sort of football chant way. The opening lines are humorous and really starts the feel of the whole track:
I have added a couple of lines, but they are quite tough to translate, and understanding the lyrics and what they are saying has no influence over whether or not someone would enjoy the track.
Vamos a la playa , sous les sunlights de Saļan Supa (do I really need to translate that?)
Obviously the reference of "Vamos a la playa" is a pretty famous Spanish track and they are referring to that, which I think sums up pretty well the feeling of the whole track!
Tu peux crier allelouļa, si l ' Saļan meurt, mais on mourra (you can scream halleleuja if the Saian die, but one's dead) - I have a feeling they are referencing KLR's recent death.
~Joy Division - Love will Tear us Apart - Single (1980), Substance (1988)~
I am sure a lot of you will have heard of Joy Division, the band was formed in 1976, but in 1980 the band split up, after lead singer, David Curtis' death. Curtis' death was a result of suicide, his wife Deborah Curtis found him in their kitchen. The words "Love will tear us apart" are engraved on Curtis' headstone.
After Joy Division disbanded, the remaining members formed New Order (who are still around today), Joy Division are important as they were there at the beginning of the Post Punk ("post punk yeah, post-f****** war - ohhh sorry got a bit carried away there), one quote by Thom Jurek goes "They left just a small bit of music and an echo that still rings"
What's so great about this track?
Well this is the track that put Joy Division on the radar, and this is not to say that I am jumping on a bandwagon, this song is truly great and deserves recognition, since being on Donnie Darko, everyone seems to know this track.
I think it is so great because it really takes music in a whole new direction, and in the end, starts a new era of music.
So it starts with that familiar guitar riff, then the synthesisers and the immediately you can see where a lot of these new bands draw their influences from, then in comes Ian Curtis with his strange voice, it is so slow and a little menacing, it is quite a dark track, but there is just something so captivating about it that makes it never get old or repetitive, no matter how many times you hear it.
Listening to the lyrics, I think that we can understand just what a dark place Ian Curtis is in:
When the routine bites hard
And ambitions are low
And the resentment rides high
But emotions wont grow
And Finally:-
~Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye - Grace (1994)~
Jeff Buckley only ever released one album, Grace due to his untimely death in 1997, at the age of 30. He went swimming in Wolf river and never came back. When his body was eventually recover, the coroner returned a verdict of accidental death, there were no drugs, or alcohol, or any evidence of suicide, but some like to believe that he just walked into the river to die, which is sort of romantic. He had recently admitted to close friends and family that he was bipolar.
Jeff could have been one of the greatest musicians of my time, but never made it, it sort of fits that most great musicians don't really ever make it into mid-life, take Ian Curtis, Joy Division or even Tim Buckley, Jeff's father (died after snorting heroin at the age of 22).
What's so great about this track?
It starts slowly with the strings and builds up to a slow riff in the background and then the drums come in, building up to the moment that Jeff's voice comes in. The song is sad, and about leaving. What I like about this song is that it is a finishing, and both parties are accepting that things won't work out and they need to just get one with life. The one thing I can't stand in life is people trying to make it work when they both know it won't and they end up hurting each other even more in the process.
This is our last goodbye
I hate to feel the love between us die.
But it's over
Just hear this and then I'll go:
You gave me more to live for,
More than you'll ever know.
This was actually tougher than I thought, there are so many great songs out there that I haven't mentioned....Thanks for reading guys, anyone that skimmed is forgiven :P xxx
Summary: What do you listen to?
|
|
