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Great summertime pop music. Incredibly catchy songs. I haven't listened to this collection in awhile, but a few years ago I used to listen to a lot. Definitely a product of it's time, but some of the absolute best guitar/folk/sunshine pop of its kind.New Jersey's Critters have earned a reputation as a bubblegum pop group, but they really had a lot more going for them than that. For starters, founding members Jim Ryan and Don Ciccone were both gifted songwriters, singers, and arrangers, and if they had a sort of soft, sunshine approach to things, well, they did it as well as anyone. This anthology collects their Kapp recordings (which essentially means their one album for Kama Sutra and a handful of singles and B-sides) from 1965 to 1967, and it shows a versatile band that was much more than a sort of precursor to Bread. Their first single, a folk-rock cover of Jackie DeShannon's "Children and Flowers," leads things off here, and yes, it's sappy, but wonderfully so, and once you accept the lyrics, it emerges as a bit of a lost treasure. The next two tracks are also striking, the Beatlesque "He'll Make You Cry" and the equally impressive "Little Girl," both of which could have -- and should have -- been AM radio hits. "Mr. Dieingly Sad," a group original that out-associates the Association, is another highlight, and the set closes with a surprisingly bright, joyous, and breezy version of the Motown classic "Dancing in the Street." Leaving Kama Sutra at the end of 1967, the band recorded a second album on the Project 3 label before calling it quits. The Critters, like Chicago's Cryan' Shames, might have gone on to bigger and better things if the military draft, label snafus, and public perception hadn't short-circuited the creative life span of the group. As it is, they'll make you smile on a rainy day. There's something really valuable in that. - Steve Legget, AMG
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Making two mixes for my girlfriend and her roommate for their mini roadtrip to Santa Fe this weekend. Fun stuff. This is a more pop themed mix, songs to sing along to, songs to have fun with, blah blah. A decent celebration of the summer to be. No real theme other than that. Just songs I like from different time periods, whatever. I think that it turned out really well. I used Mixmeister to edit a handful of tracks as well as blend/mix the tracks. So if you download you basically have to listen in order or else you'll hear fades that don't make sense. Just makes sense with this type of mix. Title comes from the first line in the Animal Collective song, pretty silly. Anyway, tracklist follows. Enjoy.
1. juana molina - un dia
2. freestyle fellowship - inner city boundaries
3. kleerup - until we bleed (ft. lykke li)
4. kelis - millionaire (ft. andre 3000)
5. the-dream - walkin on the moon (ft. kanye west)
6. common - new wave
7. abstract rude - thynk eye can (ft. haiku d'etat)
8. animal collective - summertime clothes
9. phoenix - 1901
10. robin thicke - lazy bones
11. private - my secret lover
12. michael jackson - p.y.t.
13. solange - i decided (part 1)
14. mayer hawthorne & the county - maybe so, maybe no
15. erykah badu - honey
16. pete rock - it's a love thing (ft. cl smooth & denosha)
17. zapp & roger - be alright
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Always get kind of nervous posting new music but whatever. I'm gonna post up a few albums that I've uploaded for other reasons in the last couple weeks and just forgot to post here. But yeah, this is the new Lindsey Buckingham. It's great. Whereas 2006's "Under The Skin" was bizarre and artsy and stuff, this is just a great pop records. Of course it features Lindsey's signature finger-picking guitar style and his classic vocals. Definitely one of my favorite releases of the year.
Two studio albums in three years may not seem to be a breakneck pace for anybody else, but for Lindsey Buckingham it is no less than pure acceleration. Indeed if we include the live album that came out in 2007 between the two, it's like three outings in as many years -- warp speed for an artist like Buckingham who has been known to go more than a decade between his own offerings outside of Fleetwood Mac. On 2006's Under the Skin, Buckingham issued a soft-spoken songwriter's disc. It was all acoustic, deeply reflective, poignant, profound, and drenched in beauty. It was also criminally under-noticed. Somewhere he promised he'd release an electric rock record in the future. Gift of Screws (referencing the poetry of Emily Dickinson) may not be all the way there, but more often than not it offers the kind of rocking, heady electric pop he's known for, as well as some glorious, lyrically sophisticated, acoustic singer/songwriter fare that bears his signature alone. Some of these tracks were written for an aborted session begun in the 1990s. Still others made it onto the Mac's Say You Will, and still others are brand-spanking new.
The set opens with "Great Day," a pulsing, urgent, minor-key rocker that blends electric and acoustic guitars, organic and electronic percussion, and some hushed keyboards. It explodes near the end with a scorching, burn-up-the-wire guitar solo he usually only plays live. "Did You Miss Me?," written with wife Kristen Buckingham and featuring drums by Walfredo Reyes, could have appeared on any of Fleetwood Mac's blissed-out, bittersweet '70s recordings. The weave of guitars, layered backing vocals, and drop-dead catchy chorus is pure Buckingham. Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are the rhythm section on the rumbling multi-dimensional blues-winder "Wait for Me," which also offers more evidence of the guitar slinger emerging from the shadows to take place center stage before giving way to a dense multi-textured chorus that transcends the blues without leaving them for dead. Fleetwood also adds drums to "The Right Place to Fade," with bassist John Pierce. Acoustic guitars meld enormous power chords and stinging lead fills in a frenetically paced pop song. Along the way, there are hesitant, confessional, acoustically orchestrated songs where the darkness almost swallows the light as in "Bel Air Rain." The wall of strings fingerpicking style adds to the emotional heft of songs like "Time Precious Time," especially as the vocal effects give the sound a nearly three-dimensional quality. The title track is a balls-out rocker that places '60s rave-up garage rock up against '70s glam in a storm of guitars and clattering drums. The closer, "Treason," is a dignified near-anthemic pop song with a gospel chorus that is unlike any song Buckingham's written before and sends the set out in a very elegant and deeply moving way.
What it all means is simple: that Buckingham is not only still relevant, but he's also a pioneer in terms of craft, execution, and production, and has plenty to teach the current generation about making excellent records and never resting on your laurels. Gift of Screws is a standout even in his catalog.
-AMG (Thom Jurek)
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Released in 2005, "You Need Pop!" is the first actual full length release from a band that began playing power pop gigs in New York 25 years prior. This album is a collection of 10 songs: their best from their original singles as well as a reworking of the title track. I don't know that much about the history of the band or the awesome power pop seen of the late 70s in general, but I do know that this is a great compilation. Fast, catchy, and a lot of fun. Definitely a record to listen to if you are already upset about summer being over. The sound changes throughout the record. Some stuff sounds like Cheap Trick (and then subsequent bands like The Exploding Hearts), but some songs almost sound like The Fall and have a much more Post Punk feel. But throughout, the songs remain pop, as obvious from the title of of the compilation (and song). It's a blast.
It all started in Brooklyn in the mid 1970's. Eric Hoffert and Gregory Crewdson met each other for the first time at Brooklyn Friends School, working together to understand global patterns of climate for a homework assignment. At the time they were 11 years old. Around the same timeframe, Allen Hurkin-Torres and Eric Hoffert met each other while studying for their Bar Mitzvahs. Greg and Eric took their next steps by learning to play the guitar and visiting CBGBs at the age of 14 to see the Ramones. Allen picked up the drums quickly and was ready to take the stage. Their lives were now changed forever. One thing Eric, Greg, and Allen all had in common as young kids - a love of fast, pure, and catchy pop songs – but with an edge.
The popular music at the time was heavy metal and disco; but these young budding popsters had something completely different in mind. They called it power pop and they loved it with a passion. Fast forward to 1978 and Eric, Greg, and Allen just had to start the best power pop band imaginable. At the young age of just 16 years, they started practicing in the top floor of the brownstone building in Cobble Hill in Brooklyn where Allen lived with his parents and two sisters. No song could be longer than three minutes, songs had to be fast and catchy and they could only be about school, girls, and pop perfection.
In need of a singer, they went out for a walk around the block a met a fan of the Sex Pistols and David Bowie with a wild haircut – John Marino. John was invited upstairs for an audition and the magic of the band was instantly undeniable. With their first three minute pop song ready to play, the Speedies were born. Their first song was “You Need Pop”. Big things were soon to come, but first a word on musical influences.
The Speedies trace their roots to a number of key inspirations – starting with Saturday morning TV cartoon theme songs, the Jetsons, the Flintstones, and the Banana Splits. From this pure pop culture starting point the band moved on to the pop music of the Monkees, the Who, and the Beatles. The Speedies then jumped into a love for the hard edged bands of the early 70’s that created the best glitter rock that could be heard - David Bowie, Mott the Hoople, T-Rex, The New York Dolls, and the Sweet. Just prior to the birth of the Speedies, the band members were deeply inspired by fast and hard pop from the UK by the Buzzcocks, the Sex Pistols, the Jam, Generation-X, and the Undertones.
In fact it was this last wave of bands that convinced the Speedies that it was time for an International Power Pop Overthrow. But the Speedies were different than any of these bands – they crafted their own sound which combined the best of all of them with a vision that power pop could take over the world. Power pop wasn’t just music; it was a way to look at the world. The Speedies were also celebrating pop culture – including a love for breakfast cereals like Cap’n Crunch and the cool prizes inside.
The Speedies’ first show took place on a cold winter night - December 26, 1978 at Max’s Kansas City. It may have been cold outside, but it sure was hot inside, where the Speedies sold out the show and had more people attend Max’s on a Tuesday night than ever before. The packed crowd went wild and the band had its first glowing and major review in Variety magazine. In addition to ragingly fast pop, the band had boxes of cereal all over the stage which they poured onto their fans when they played “We Wanna Be Your Breakfast Cereal”. And the fans threw cereal back. With the band jumping up and down, people dancing and thrashing around, cereal in the air, and loud pop, it was a scene of beautiful but controlled chaos. NYC would never be the same.
Soon after the bands debut, five of the best Speedies songs were recorded in Toronto, Canada by Paul Hoffert – an award winning composer, producer, and musician with Top 100 pop hits of his own. After playing for awhile to an ever growing base of avid fans, the Speedies realized that in their haste to form the band they had neglected to include a bass player. So they brought in a fifth band member, John Carlucci, a talented and high energy bass player, who at the age of 22 was the elder statesman; John also introduced the band to the practice of wearing spiky toed Beatle Boots. To perfect the band experience everyone changed their name to suitably poppy pseudonyms including Eric Pop, Greg Zap, Allen Zane, Buckwheat, and the new member too – John Carl.
Before long, the Speedies were all of the rage in NYC with long lines around the block for their shows, riots with hundreds of Speedies fans, non-stop demand for more shows at clubs everywhere, and a move to put out the band’s first single “Let Me Take Your Foto”. The single was an instant hit and sold out of its first run almost immediately. Power pop songs like “Math Teacher”, “Urban Mania”, “Ready for the Countdown”, “360 Sound”, and “Fashion Free” became big hits for the Speedies with fans memorizing every word and singing along...
A big event at the time was the Speedies playing at the now historic Bottom Line in Greenwich Village which was also broadcast live on the radio; the Speedies were still so young that the club insisted that their parents supervise them for the evening and no cereal was permitted to be thrown into the audience. Indeed, some of the Speedies could often be seen doing their homework backstage just before the shows.
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It is slim pickins' when you get to album titles that start with "X".
So I thought, well, why the hell not? Sure most people who come to this blog (which is what, 4 people?) have this album or heard it sometime when it was released and disregard it, maybe they love it. Who knows. It is sort of a staple of indie fans in the 90s and early 00's and a definite introduction to everyone who watched the Royal Tenenbaums as a teenager and loved the music.
It's probably my favorite Elliott Smith album and though it is sort of cool to hate on his music now, I won't. He was a great songwriter and I still love most of his songs, even if I don't listen to him nearly as much as 6 or so years ago. So, download it if you have somehow not heard it before or maybe go back through your cds or itunes and relisten to it if it has been awhile. It's a pop record that holds up.
A year before his major-label debut, XO, was released, it seemed unlikely that Elliott Smith would even be on a major, let alone having his record be one of the more anticipated releases of 1998. He had certainly earned a great deal of critical respect with his low-key, acoustic indie records and was emerging as a respected songwriter, but he hadn't made much of an impression outside of journalists, record collectors, and indie rockers. An Oscar nomination can change things, however. "Miss Misery," one of Smith's elegantly elegiac songs for Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting, unexpectedly earned an Academy Award nomination, and he was immediately thrust into the spotlight. He was reluctant to embrace instant celebrity, yet he didn't refuse a contract with DreamWorks, and he didn't shy away from turning XO into a glorious fruition of his talents. Smith's songs remain intensely introspective, yet the lush, Beatlesque production provides a terrifically charming counterpoint. His sweetly dark melodies are vividly brought to life with the detailed arrangements, and they sell Smith's tormented songs -- it's easy to get caught up in the tunes and the sound of the record, then realize later what the songs are actually about. That's a sign of a good craftsman, and XO proves that not only can Elliott Smith craft a song, but he knows how to make an alluring pop record as well.
-Allmusicguide
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An unjustly overlooked Prince "album" released in 2002, One Nite Alone was released by him in 2002, by special order and features The Purple One by himself, swooning listeners with just his voice and a piano.
It's pretty weird to hear Prince in this way, but fuck it is sexy.
An NPG Music Club exclusive release, One Nite Alone… features Prince mostly alone at the piano performing 10 songs. One Nite Alone… was the first album delivered to NPG Music Club members after the club changed its format from monthly downloads to actual album releases. The release date, May 14th, refers to when shpping to fans began (the first reports from fans having received the album occurred on May 15th). Five of the tracks had previously been released to members of the music club. “Pearls B4 The Swine” was included in the “Ahdio Show” released on September 18th 2001. “A Case Of U,” “One Nite Alone…,” “U’re Gonna C Me,” and “Here On Earth” were released in the last instalment, January 17th 2002. Thus, NPGMC members had already heard half of the album before receiving the CD.
Subtitled “Solo piano and voice by Prince,” One Nite Alone… was produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince. John Blackwell is credited as drummer on two tracks, “Here On Earth” and “A Case Of U.” While piano is the primary accompaniment, many tracks also include synth embellishments. “Here On Earth” and “A Case Of U” feature bass in addition to Blackwell’s drums. “Pearls B4 The Swine” has an even fuller arrangement, consisting of piano, synth, percussion, and semi-acoustic guitar and bass.
The album was recorded some time in the spring of 2001, apparently during the mastering of The Rainbow Children. It is clear that many of the songs were recorded in sequence, much like Prince has been known to do many times in the past. However, it is quite likely that Prince also added a couple of tracks from other sessions. “Pearls B4 The Swine” has a different sound and arrangement, indicating that it might have been tracked on another occasion. Possibly, “Here On Earth” and “A Case Of U,” both featuring Blackwell, were also part of a separate session. The remaining seven songs were recorded with Prince at the piano, with synth overdubs added afterwards. Despite some differences in the instrumentation, most of the songs seem to merge into each other, like movements in a classical suite.
Not unlike the primarily acoustic guitar-based The Truth, One Nite Alone… is a subdued and intimate-sounding album. In many ways, piano is Prince’s most personal “voice,” as indicated by piano-based songs of the past, including “The Beautiful Ones,” “Old Friends 4 Sale,” “Condition Of The Heart,” and “Anna Stesia” to name but a few. Many fans commented on the NPG Music Club website that the album was “extremely intimate and personal” and that Prince “speaks from the soul” and is “sharing intimate details of his life.” Certainly, one can hear every note and nuance, including when Prince lightly pounds his boots to keep the beat or is drawing a breath. Thus, the intimate atmosphere creates a feeling of actually experiencing one night along with Prince. Still, One Nite Alone… does not express more heartfelt emotion than an average Prince album. Indeed, most of the songs cover highly familiar Prince themes, dealing mostly with relationships.
The title track concerns a love affair, described as a “little secret.” Prince asks his lover, “Tell me now, what’s your name?”, indicating an anonymous one-night stand. Recalling “The Ride,” Prince wants to know, “Do you like it fast, or do you like it slow?” “U’re Gonna C Me” finds Prince longing desperately for an ex-lover. He admits, “There’s never a minute that I find that you don’t ever cross my mind.” He would stare into the sun if she were his, because “it’s not so great a leap since to all others [he is] blind,” a line which brings to mind “Adore” on Sign O’ The Times (“If God one day struck me blind, your beauty I’d still see”). “Young And Beautiful” offers moral advise to a young, carefree girl, the type that populated so many of the songs in the first half of Prince’s career. Acting as a guardian of morality, Prince tells her that she doesn’t “have to do what the other ones do,” and he warns her that “they only want your virginity.” Thus, the message is at the other end of the scale of a song like “One Nite Alone…,” revealing the dual nature of Prince’s personality.
Two songs express romantic bliss. “Here On Earth” depicts a “young woman running for her very life,” trying to escape from her partner. However, it turns out to be a dream and Prince leans over and kisses his woman, realising that “here on earth, with you, it’s not so bad.” Oddly enough, the chorus is written from a first person narrative, but the rest of the song is written from the point of view of Prince as an observer. In “Objects In The Mirror,” Prince reveals that his favourite time with his woman is the time they share in the bathroom, brushing their teeth and posing in the mirror, after making a movie, “The kind that requires the title ‘Parental Advisory.’” He sings of how much they can share since they are “the same height, weight, and body fluid.” The title of the song alludes to the closeness Prince feels with his partner, as “the objects” are closer than what they appear to be in the mirror.
“Pearls B4 The Swine” concerns an affair that is over. Prince asks why they had go their separate ways, hoping for a reconciliation. In the end, he realises that his hopes and words are futile, being “pearls before the swine.” Similarly, “Have A Heart” portrays a failed relationship, with Prince hearing from a mutual friend that he broke his ex-partner’s heart. Prince doesn’t take the blame, instead asking rhetorically, “Don’t you have to have a heart first before you get it broken?” He argues that “everybody has had a heartbreak” and implies that she was the reason for the break-up, mentioning the “things you put me through” without specifying what happened or why they broke up. Prince delivers the words in a soft, tender voice (not his falsetto), revealing little of the bitterness evident in the lyrics. One of the songs digresses thematically.
“Avalanche” is an angry protest against the poor treatment of Afro-American people in the US. The first verse accuses USA’s first President Abraham Lincoln of being a racist because “he was not or never had been in favour of setting our people free.” The second verse names John Hammond, one of the most venerated figures in the history of American popular music. He recorded Benny Goodman, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. Later, he signed Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen to CBS. Prince’s disdain for music industry moguls and managers is well known and he depicts Hammond as someone lurking in the shadows where Afro-American musicians play, “With his pen in hand, sayin’, “Sign your kingdom over to me and be known throughout the land!’” The title of the song comes from Prince’s analogy of individual snowflakes, which cannot be blamed for an avalanche, and people who do not want to take responsibility for their actions. The song is far more serious than the other songs. Prince has been hesitant to include songs that take a stand on racial issues, possibly fearing that it will alienate some of his WASP audience.
The album includes a version of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case Of U” (originally titled “A Case Of You”), a song which Prince has performed many times over the years, beginning with the 1983 First Avenue concert where he premiered much of the Purple Rain material. This is his first known recording of the song. The song was originally released in 1971 on Mitchell’s highly acclaimed Blue album, which is also one of her best-selling albums (it sold over a million copies at a time when such feats were exceptional). Prince dedicates his rendition to the memory of his father, John L. Nelson. The topic of the song has been much debated. Brian Hinton speculates in his Mitchell biography Both Sides Now that the song could be about ex-lovers Graham Nash or Leonard Cohen. However, he also believes it could be a message to Mitchell’s abandoned daughter, who is being bid goodbye to. The lyrics imply that love is never lost, but can be recreated in memory, as if new born. Prince sings the first verse of the song, which portrays her as a “lonely painter,” something which Prince clearly could identify with. The allusion to his father is also obvious with the lyric, “Part of you pours out of me from time to time in these lines, you’re in my blood like holy wine.”
The piano medleys of Prince’s concerts, from the Lovesexy tour and onwards, have always been amongst the fans’ favourite part of the show, so an entire album of piano-based material seemed like an excellent idea. However, the One Nite Alone… material cannot be compared to such extraordinary songs as “Starfish And Coffee,” “Strange Relationship,” “Venus De Milo,” and “Raspberry Beret,” to name a few piano medley regulars. The songs on One Nite Alone… lack the distinctive, memorable melodies and assertive choruses of Prince’s pop/rock material, being more gentle and subdued, leaning more towards complex jazzy melodies and harmonies. The material is calm and relaxing. Prince sings most songs using his sensitive falsetto vocal, adding to the tranquil atmosphere.
Much of the songwriting of One Nite Alone… is sketchy and unfocused, with several of the songs sounding tentative, giving the impression that Prince didn’t spend much time on the songwriting. The obvious highlight of the album is “Avalanche,” a melancholy-tinged bluesy number which is deeply felt and touchingly sung by Prince. His falsetto voice cracks with emotion at times. In a clever musical illustration of the title of the song, the chorus comes rolling in over the end of the first verse, very much like an avalanche. Starting off with some Chinese-flavoured piano, “Young And Beautiful” is the album’s most lively, pop-oriented number, with a chorus that has a slight hint of “Little Red Corvette.” The tempo is faster than the other songs on the album and Prince’s piano playing is more chord-based and rhythmic. “Have A Heart” has a more defined melody than most of the other tracks, to the extent that Prince recycled the melody line in “Objects In The Mirror.”
One of the most fully developed songs on the album, “Pearls B4 The Swine” seems slightly out of place as it doesn’t feature piano as the main instrument, instead boasting a much fuller sound of piano, synth touches, light percussion, and semi-acoustic bass and guitar. In fact, the song has more in common with the primarily acoustic guitar-based The Truth. The song is a gentle number with jazz-tinged harmonies, although it is not particularly engaging. “Here On Earth” also has a fuller arrangement, featuring a bass line, light brush drumming by Blackwell, and a high-pitched synth line á la some of Prince’s “silky smooth” songs and remixes (including “18 And Over,” the “Mustang Mix” of “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World,” and the “Remix by Shock G.” of “Love Sign”).
The closing “Arboretum” is an instrumental. It starts off with an arpeggio piano part, sounding like a clichéd classical piece, but Prince changes gear after a few seconds, delivering a soothing, laidback piece that is more decorative ear-candy than engaging listening. The album ends with the sound of Prince getting up from the piano and walking to a door, which he closes behind him after having spent “one night alone” with his listeners.
Ultimately, One Nite Alone… wasn’t intended for mass consumption or to compete with Prince’s more mainstream-oriented pop, rock, funk and R&B music. Still, the album is a pleasant experience, showcasing another facet of Prince’s musical vocabulary.
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One Nite Alone
