10 Songs That Define Radiohead (For Me)

Creep

Would I have paid any attention to the subsequent work by Radiohead without this song? As much as the band may hate my answer, no. I probably would not have cared (at least until OK Computer).

I still remember the chills this song created. Absolutely thrilling. It may have lost the lustre over the years but this is the song that put Radiohead on the map. It’s their legacy and they cannot escape it as much as they might want to.

Paranoid Android

Please could you stop the noise
I’m trying to get some rest
From all the unborn chicken voices in my head

And with this song, Radiohead elevated themselves, in my eyes, to rock gods.

The way the song maneuvers in and out various segments going from a hard rock to a soft melody and then back to a hard rock is done with the finesse of a painter delicately painting a masterpiece.

 

Everything In It’s Right Place

The switch in the music for a band that is at the top of it’s game is very very risky. Only bands like Beatles or Pink Floyd have come out of this transition with flying colours. And we can add Radiohead to that list.

The first time I heard this song it was jarring. “This can’t be Radiohead!!!”. “Are they selling out?”

But the haunting sounds of their record Kid A starting from “Everything….” were too addictive to ignore for long.

 

Street Spirit (Fade Out)

 
Cracked eggs, dead birds
Scream as they fight for life
I can feel death, can see its beady eyes

I think of this song that began the transition of Radiohead from a run of the mill rock band to mega stars.

 

There There

After Kid A and Amnesiac, it was refreshing to hear Radiohead pick up their guitars. Very very hard not to air drum to this song.

 

True Love Waits

Some sage advice from these poets.

And true love waits
In haunted attics
And true love lives
On lollipops and crisps

Just don’t leave
Don’t leave

 

Bodysnatchers

The song builds and builds to the point where it seems even the band wants to take a break and soothes the music to a beautiful bridge.

 https://youtu.be/OvLQnTDad1E

Reckoner

 This song was never going to be in my list. Only after listening to it again a few days ago, it but me, this is one of the most “perfect” songs by Radiohead. 

House Of Cards

 If you want to listen to a beautiful song that is both visually and sonically mesmerizing, this is it.

A Wolf At The Door

 Took me forever to decide the final song for this list.

Lyrically this song is meaningless. 

But the play of the words and the music and Thom’s voice is so intricate and yet so beautiful that you can do nothing but admire the band that came up with the song. 
 

 

03November2014 : Top 5 Albums Of The Week

This week’s top 5 albums are :

1) Jessica Lea Mayfield (Make My Heart Sing)

You in the mood for minimalist sound mixed with brash guitar work all show casing one of the sweetest voice? Then give this album a try. Stunning comes to mind. From the crunching “Oblivious” to the beautiful “Standing in The Sun” to the emotional “Party Drugs”. This is one musician I will definitely see live!

2) Foxygen (…. And Star Power)

Their 2013 “We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic” was a masterpiece and I assumed that everything they did after that would be an ode to that album. Boy, was I wrong! “….. And Star Power”. Even though the first thought that came to my mind after listening to 82 minutes of eclectic, vintage, jumbled sounds was “Ostentatious”, the album is brilliant. There are numerous riffs and tunes to keep you satisfied. Moreover, the weirdness of the album is what I really love. You never know what you are going to get in the next 10 seconds. A totally un-formulaic album. Highly recommended!

3) Library Voices (For John)

This is a band that really surprised me. The last album was ho hum affair so I switched on this album thinking it will be the same like last one. The first song ” Some Mezcal Morning” proved to me otherwise. A slow, lush, bluesy and a melodious song that opens an album which proves that the group had gone through a radical change. I remember the previous album was some pop sounding, bouncy piece of work which one forgets after one listen. But this one is a wonderful album.

Unfortunately this is the only link I found. Hope you have Google Music

Some Mezcal Morning

4) Alvvays (Alvvays)

In an alternate universe this album would be at the top of the charts. Brilliant!!

5) Allo Darlin’ (We Come from the Same Place)

Another sophisticated pop album from the band that seems not want to change a winning formula. Either way.  Excellent album.

 

 

 

10Oct2014 : Top 5 Songs/albums For The Week

1) Jeff Tweedy is back with a new album “Sukierae”. I downloaded the album a few days ago and have not been able to digest the 20 songs on it. However, what I have heard so far, makes me love the guy even more! Beautiful sonic tunes. Urgent guitars on one song and then soft melodies on another. 4 out of 5 stars, so far. Here is the best one. It’s a live performance but the sound is really good :

2) Mounties. A Canadian band (of course!) that surfaced in my “to listen” list recently. Honestly, I had been ignoring them for a while but once I listened to Tokyo Summer on a whim, I was hooked. The band features the biggies of Canadian Indie rock scene (Hawksley Workman, Hot Hot Heat’s Steve Bays and Limblifter’s Ryan Dahle). The album is heavy on Synth which really is not my scene unless accompanied with a heavy dose of guitar and drums. And this one delivers! Here is my favourite song from the album which so personifies my attitude towards headphones :

3) Elephant Stone. A Quebec band that is into Sitar and rock. I have always liked that combination. A little too sweet and sugary for me but I really like the sound.

4) Interested in something soothing, lush folk rock? Especially from someone who specialises in blazing guitar work with lots of feedback? Then look no further than the new album by J Mascis. Tied To A Star. Wonderful album!

5) The New Pornographers have returned!! With an OK album :( I guess the expectation is usually very high when you are an institution in Canada. Anyway, I really like the album. Just thought it would be much better than it turned out.

Top 5 Songs/Albums I Am Listening These Days

1) Lana Del Rey – Shades Of Cool

Am very impressed by the new album by Lana. I think she finally found the sweet spot between sadness, violence and a desire to abandon it all. And it is all encased in lush melodies that make you sad and yet makes you want to get to the end of the album.

 

2) Evil – Interpol

Interpol is band that I love to hate. They put out killer songs like Evil, Next Exit and Not Even Jail in on one album and the rest of the album is….meh. Why, Interpol? Why do you do this? They did this again on their third album Our Love To Admire.

 

3) Pink Floyd – Interstellar Overdrive

Bought the vinyl recently and cannot stop listening to this album. Love it!

 

4) Fanfarlo – Myth To Myself

The voice, the sound and the synergy from this band is astounding! Good to see this band has consistently produced great music!

Heard this band is a amazing live : This video sure does prove it

 

5) Lou Reed – The Raven

I have not heard all of Lou’s solo work but this album has always stood numero uno for me. Disturbing, haunting and yet riveting. Just like the man himself.

And this reading by William DaFoe on the album will give you chills down your spine.

 

My Top 10 Albums Of 2013

Everyone is doing it so why not me.

10. Said The Whale

Album: Hawaii
Stand Out Song : I Love You.

9. Hebronix

Album : Unreal
Stand Out Song : Wild Whim

8. Tricky

Album : False Idols
Stand out song : Nothing Matters

7. Atoms For Peace

Album : Amok
Stand out song: Such Together Pieces

6. Hanni El Khatib

Album : Head In The Dirt
Stand Out Song : Family

5. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds

Album: Push The Sky Away
Stand out Song: Higgs Boson Blues

4. Foxygen

Album : We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And Magic
Stand out song : On Blue Mountain

3. The Liminanas

Album : Costa Blanca
Stand out song : Liverpool

2. Phosphorescent

Album : Muchacho
Stand out song : Song For Zula

1. Tamikrest

Album : Chatma
Stand out song : Tisnant

Pearl Jam : 20

Longish video here but well worth it

 

Top 5 Atheist Songs On My iPod

Here are what I consider top 5 atheist songs in rotation on my iPod. Yes. I still use an iPod because my Nexus 4 is not expandable beyond 16GB. Go figure!

1) Head Rolls Off – Frightened Rabbit

How can you not like these lyrics?

When my blood stops,
Someone else’s will not.
When my head rolls off,
Someone else’s will turn.
And while I’m alive, I’ll make tiny changes to earth

2) Heresy – Nine Inch Nails

Leave it to NIN to come up with a simple chorus :

God Is Dead And No One Cares

3) Heathen Child – Grinderman

She don’t care about Allah
She is the Allah
Don’t care about Buddha
She is the Buddha

Coz, she’s a heathen child

4) Marker In The Sand – Pearl Jam

Those undecided needn’t have faith to be free
And those misguided, there was a plan for them to be
Now you got both sides claiming killing in God’s name
But god is nowhere to be found, conveniently

What goes on?

5) Science Of Silence – Richard Ashcroft

Is it my genes that have made me?

Is it the things I took, is it the things I said
Does karma rule?
Well if there’s a God well can you hear me now?

I am crying out, hoping you know
And in my baby’s arms I need no faith
I need no words to define myself
And when I’m holding you, light rushing through

5 Top Songs Of The Day

1) Man, cannot get this song out of my head. Just beautiful!

 

2) Mo Kenny….just a beautiful voice and powerful lyrics. One to watch out for.

 

3) Rilo Kiley released a whole album worth of songs. No they are not back. Just left over songs from eons ago and some different version of their popular songs. Oh well, I will take it.

 

4) Veronica Falls : This is how pop music should be but I guess we are stuck with Justin Bieber for the moment.

 

5) Pixies : Just bought the vinyl for Surfer Rosa. Playing this song over and over.

 

 

 

5 Top Songs Of Week 2 March 2013

1) They are out with their new album!! And it is much, much better than the last one.

2) More weird dancing by Thom Yorke. More scintilating music from him and Nigel.

3) The sheer staying power of this musician is astounding! And the fact that he is so good is just an icing on the cake. From David Bowie’s new album.

4) JK Wedding video (music by C. Brown). This never ever gets old.

5) How To Destroy Angels. This is one of the songs I am using constantly during my long runs. Just bought their new vinyl. Can’t wait!!

 

Review : m b v My Bloody Valentine

When I first heard them, it was on the soundtrack of Lost In Translation. Because I found the movie sublime and the music haunting, naturally I had to discover more about this band.

The fact that they had released only 2 albums so far kind of put me off. That is until I started listening to their music.

I have never really understood why their music attracts me so much. The distortions, the wall of sound, the repetitions that have just a little bit of hallucinatory effect. Not really sure what. When I saw them live a few years ago, the whole experience was emotionally draining. The music was loud despite the ear plugs and each song an assault on  all your senses. My friend actually made me walk out of there before the end of the show because she was feeling sick.

Over the years, I have been listening to Loveless and Isn’t Anything with a fondness only reserved for the biggies (like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin)

And now m b v has been released.

The moment I played the first song, it was like “Soon” had just ended on Loveless. The beginning “She Found Now”, “Only Tomorrow” and “Who Sees You” are an extension of the signature sound of the band. It’s quite curious to know that a lot of bands have come close to producing the My Bloody Valentine sound but none have achieved it. Even after 22 years! Anyway, upon hearing these songs I was thankful. The band is back and I did not have to break anything in frustration :)

The first three songs kind of lull the listener into thinking that this is another Loveless. Nope, this is where Shield’s changes direction. The next three songs are, surprisingly, pop oriented. One can actually “groove” to the music here. And just as the listener settles down to this new upbeat sound, Shield changes direction again.

This time to an aggressiveness that I have not seen from the band. The sound is largely repetitive (especially on “nothing is”) but unrelenting. I can just imagine being at a concert when this part of the album is played. People would be cringing and holding on to their ears for their dear life.

The album closer “wonder 2” is like being in a blender. Incoherent, no clue where the song is going and just like a blender is switched off to “calmness”, so does this song. It is not a closure like the one in Loveless with “Soon” but rather ends the album with a lack of cohesiveness that is endearing and can be a tad annoying.

But that encapsulates My Bloody Valentine’s  music. It can also generate a loathing and disdain for the pop oriented crowd. But for a lucky few it can generate love and a fanaticism for the band that is rare these days.

When?

When are Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross going to stop producing amazing music? I hope never.

This is a bad ass video!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2013/01/30/170687806/trent-reznor-new-band-new-song-new-video-still-terrifying

Top 5 Songs For Today.

Slow day. So here is what I have been listening to :

1) Haunting! Love this guy!

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2) I saw this group live with my best friend and till date I have termed the show as the best I have ever seen.

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3) Golden voice and golden lyrics. Salute to this genius

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4) This album deserve far more credit than it got. I guess you have to be a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe to like this musical opera. I thought the album was dynamite!

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5) I have always admired rap artist who are social commentators. It all started (for me) with Lupe Fiasco.

Sinead O’ Connor (How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?)

Sometimes a singer or a band on whom I have given up comes back to slap on my head and remind me why I fell in love with their songs in the first place.

This time it was Sinead O’ Connor.

Her new album How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? is a forceful reminder that the the singer is anything but out. Never really knew her numerous personal problems. It was only after hearing the album littered with heartfelt confessions about lost love and her  having a baby with a married man that I found that she has had a colourful (for tabloid readers although I am sure that they were painful for her) years.

The album starts, surprisingly, with a happy and a peppy song (4th & Vine). This catchy, hip-hop type song will win you over right away! Song is about falling in love and being very, very happy! The song kinda lets the listener let down her/his guard and then starts the emotional onslaught starting with “Reason With Me” a song about making wrong decisions in life. She continues to play the person in love with “Old Lady” and then takes a swipe at religious pedophiles in “Take Off Your Shoes“.

All songs here made me sympathise with her even though her personal life seems to indicate someone who does not fully grasp the  consequences of her actions. I guess in the end, the heart gets what the heart wants. All said and done, her tumultuous life means music that feeds your soul! And you should be eternally thankful for that.

Highly recommended!

Spotify Comes To Canada (Sort Of)

Update (11Jun2014) : Everyone, try Google Music. It is now live in Canada and is absolutely amazing! There are differences between Google Music Canada and Google Music USA but it is still worth the $8 / month.

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Finally! All I have been hearing from Will Band Of The Week and other music sites is “Spotify this” or “Spotify that”! And then when we click on Spotify we here in the Great White North, get – “This service is unavailable in Canada”. Frustrating! Just like Google Voice. And Hulu. And Amazon music. And the great content on netflix.com (and not the crappy version netflix.ca)

So when I casually clicked on the site last night to check what the status is….imagine my surprise when Spotify allowed me to download the software and within a few minutes, I was listening to the Liminanas! Wow! And I randomly searched some other bands on Spotify : Interpol, Japandroids, Great Lake Swimmers….they were all there. Now I can sample all the songs I want without any issues.

But let’s a step back for a minute. What is so great about Spotify? I mean, all the music I want to listen to is available at :

– CBC Radio 3
– Groove Shark
– You Tube
– Songza

Why should I be so happy that Spotify has come to town? Well, one thing the mobile versions of the above listed apps sucks! I mean:

– CBC Radio 3 : Just has a stream. You can’t really search for the music you want to listen to, except on the full site.

– Grroveshark. : The mobile version is really, really bad. The full site is great but the mobile version….really?

– You tube. Again, all songs are there to sample but you don’t have it streamlined for music. It it mostly – search and then you might get lucky with related videos. And where is Google Music for Canada?

– Songza has awesome curated stations (just like 8tracks). But not a dedicated music site for those who want to sample new albums.

Which is why Spotify is really high up on my list of preferred music sites.

But, why “sort of”?

Because they are refusing to accept my credit card to pay for upgraded version since it has not been officially launched here in Canada! I want to pay but…”not right now”, says Spotify!!

Of well, I will continue listening and sampling music from Spotify. For example, just listened to Sinead O’Connor’s new album. Bam! She is back with a vengeance! (Will review it soon.)

Top 5 Songs To Get Me Through Today

Today is one of those days.

Wife off today and constantly complaining about her staff. Man, if I had a dime for every time she needs to rant about her clinic, I would have paid off her debts!

Daughter just being opinionated. She woke me up this morning to let me know that she will not be wearing her snow pants. I don’t what it is with not wearing snow pants. Her argument boils down to “the key word is snow. Where is it?” Even though it is -10C outside!

Work is a pain! So much to do. And the fact that the teams are spread over China, Malaysia, India, USA and Canada does not help.

So what is one supposed to do?

MUSIC!!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

My Baby’s New Song

Well she is now singing and composing her own songs. Could not have been prouder of my little girl.

 

Wooooosh…

….that is the sound of my respect going up for Lupe Fiasco.

 

Bob Dylan Tempest

Needless to say Bob Dylan has had a remarkable career. The kind of career he has had is something people aspire to and consider themselves successful once they achieve 1/4th of what Bob Dylan has achieved.

I have been a fan of his for the last 10 years or so. I went through his catalog from his folk era (which was remarkable), his electric era (which was outstanding), his lost years era in the 80s (which I thought were plain awful) & his 90s/00 era. Which is where my love for Bob Dylan went exponentially huge!

Starting from his 1997 album Love & Theft to his latest, Tempest, I believe that (at least in my mind) Bob Dylan has gone from legend to immortal.

His latest is a spiraling work of murder, suicide, regret, the Titanic sinking and  death of his peers (John Lennon features prominently in this album). His music in the album  is outstanding and going further away from regular blues and rock. His lyrics swing from whimsical to out right psychopathic.

All in all, a fantastic album from the maestro!

Music I Am Listenning To These Days

Holy cow…..music everywhere so little time!! Anyway here are some of my favourites for the moment :

Downloaded this album on a whim. Emusic sampling sounded good so thought I give it a try. Wow! Talk about doom and gloom! Love it!

And what’s a year without another Bob Dylan album. Is it just me or he has consistently got better and better since “Time Out Of Mind (1997)”. I first listened to his album on today’s early morning run. Despite the fact that it was depressing for early morning (his album is more suited for 10pm listen after a shot of whiskey), I was again, blown away.

Where do you go when you want rock and roll? You go to The Heavy.

dEus. Following sea. Why do I like this album? Punchy, groovy music and lyrics alternate between anti war & love sick lover. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I adore this album.

The Black Keys!

Been a big fan of The Black Keys for a while now. I had thought that they had lost a little direction with their previous album Brother but they proved me wrong. Their latest album came out in December. Since I had put ordered it (yes i’m one of those fans), I was able to form an opinion on the album on the first day. This is the best album from the Keys to date. Even better than their earlier catalog.

So when I was offered the chance to see them live, I jumped at it. And the opening act was The Arctic Monkeys!!! What could’ve better than the combination. I was really looking forward to a fun evening of fantastic music. And then I see the seats at the ACC. That’s when I remembered the reason why I stopped going to large venues. I was wedged tightly between a woman making out heavily with her boyfriend and a guy who seemed to be having a competition with treat of the crowd. As in he was trying to prove he could drink more than 10 people put together.

The Monkeys were outstanding but the sound system was horrible! i’m surprised no one really complained about it. Since I was alone and wedged between the make out couple and the drunk, I kept quiet.

The enthusiasm I had for the show was dying by the minute. The worst was the time between the opening act and the feature act. Drunk got himself three beers, people behind me lite up a joint and the make out couple would not stop taking cute pictures of themselves, with the flash.

The moment The Keys came on, everything changed! From they opening song (Howling for you) till the end, they were outstanding. The art work on the screen was amazing but quite distracting. The music was good and the band was tight. I still had issues with the sound but the songs were good enough to tide over that short coming.

Overall it was a good experience but I have decided no more large venues. Young people are fun to around but sometimes they are too much. And with that statement I have officially become old!

btw, this is my first post on the Samsung Galaxy. Tried it several times on the iPod and the iPad but I was never able to finish a post on those devices.