Limp Bizkit - 'Rearranged'

Limp Bizkit is often minimized as self-indulgent: making music for the mere sake of mentioning their own name in their recordings.  Sure, they do utter the words “Limp Bizkit” in several of their songs.  And Fred Durst seemed pretty into himself during the band’s heyday.  

Nevertheless, the band produced some iconic songs and videos emblematic of the late-nineties.

Of course, everyone had ‘Nookie’ burned into their brains in 1999.  But Significant Other contained some other great gems.  Among them was ‘Rearranged,’ a seemingly mellow rap-rock track with an arc that travels from chill to raucous in the span of about four minutes. 

The video for ‘Rearranged’ follows the band’s faux arrest, referred to in the video for ‘Nookie.'   Interestingly, it featured Matt Pinfield, the former MTV VeeJay and Farmclub.com host.  He plays a judge who sentences the band to death.  Subsequent to that, the band rocks out with their cocks out in the death chamber, playing to the death as the room floods with milk and drowns them. 

The final scene shows the group in what is presumed to be Heaven, having been drowned, when Fred Durst says, “If this were Heaven, I’d be kicking it with Method Man.”  The video cuts to a “To be continued” title screen, setting the stage for the band’s following single, ‘N 2 Gether Now,’ which featured Method Man prominently. 

'Rearranged' was reportedly one of guitarist Wes Borland's favorite tunes of the band's to play.  Indeed, it is one of the undersigned's cherished tracks from the band as well.  

Watch the video to ‘Rearranged’ in the video player below:

My Favorite Strokes Tunes: 'First Impressions of Earth'

After Room on Fire was released, fans had to wait another three years before The Strokes released fresh material.  Unfortunately, First Impressions of Earth ended up being the band's weakest album.

Amidst rumors the band hated each other, First Impressions appeared to be the group's lazy attempt at phoning in one last album before finally calling it quits.  Of course, the band remained together, and First Impressions turned out to just be a cruddy album with not much of a rhyme or reason behind its horribleness.

While First Impressions, as a whole, lacked inspiration, the album did feature three high quality tracks.  Sure, the rest of the record may be garbage, but at least the opening three songs of the album are golden.  

Here they are:

1.  You Only Live Once

It seems every band has that one terrible album that just so happens to spawn one of the best tunes of the band's entire career.  "You Only Live Once" is just that song.  Lyrically, it's brilliant.  Melodically, it may be the most solidly fantastic track of the band's repertoire.  But then again, I suppose I'm biased.  "You Only Live Once" is, hands down, my favorite track by the band.  

[Video]

2.  Juicebox

By this time, the garage rock beast The Strokes had reawakened several years earlier had gone on to prompt bands like The Killers and The Bravery to use synth and bass to recreate the sounds of the eighties.  With a synthetic tinge, The Strokes created one of their most polished singles yet.  Despite its commercial appeal, "Juicebox" remained a healthy marriage of studio comfort with the rough and tumble the band was originally celebrated for.  Overall, this is a solid track.

[Video]  

3.  Heart in a Cage

This song barely makes my list because at times the band seems to be merely going through the motions--especially on the vocals.  But just when you want to give up, the guitar arppeggios make up for Julian's lackluster singing and impressively pull this song up by its bootstraps into impressive dimensions.

[Video]

Stay tuned for the final installment of my favorite Strokes tunes within the next few days.  To read the previous installments from the beginning, click here.  

My Favorite Strokes Tunes: 'Room On Fire'

Two years after The Strokes jarred the rock world with its impressive Is This It, the band followed up with Room on Fire.  Although this offering was slicker than it's preceding disc, Room on Fire nevertheless surfaced as a captivating anthology of greasy, vibrant rock.  While some fans were turned off by the high fidelity recordings contained on this sophomore album, Room on Fire remains one of my favorite albums of the aughts.  To be sure, I own a copy of this record on vinyl.  (Need I say more?)

Consistent with my last posting, this is my second installment of my favorite songs by The Strokes.  Here are the Room on Fire tunes I am especially partial to:


1.  "Whatever Happened?"

This opening track is uninspiring at first, but once the multiple bridges reveal themselves, you fetch your first taste of a delicious, well-crafted record.  The vocals plead.  The collective guitars venture into remote areas of sonic territory.  The drumming establishes rhythmic signature.   On the whole, it's a galvanizing start to a solid album

[Video]


2.  "Reptilia"

"Please don't slow me down if I'm going tooooooo faasssssssttttt!"  Telling words from a band that had been catapulted to Messiah status by the rock press two years earlier.  On this second album, The Strokes had moved way beyond the low-fi structure of Is This It, but some fans hadn't yet caught up.  This lyric was a friendly admonishment.

Substantively, "Reptilia" contains a terrific blend of diverse layers.  There's frolicking guitar on one level.  There's focused, intense vocals on another.

[Video]  


3.  "12:51"

With the exception of 'Last Nite,' this is perhaps one of The Strokes' most iconic recordings.  At the time of its initial release, the song contained cliches of indie rock yet to come:  Hand claps.  Tilting synth.  Guileless vocals.

To me, "12:51" is indelibly associated with my undergraduate experience.  When the song wasn't already playing on the radio, I'd solicit it myself by way of my MP3 player as background study music or as a tune to contemplate my newly founded adulthood to.  Some deep stuff.

[Video]


4.  "Under Control"

Strangely endearing, "Under Control" was the closest thing to a ballad The Strokes had to this point ever produced.  You can detect hints of Smokey Robinson all throughout.  And the band maintains a narrower latitude than some of their other freewheeling tracks.  This is another one of my favorite offerings from the band.

[Video]

Stay tuned for the remaining two installments of this series on The Strokes.  If you would like to read the previous installment, click here.

My Favorite Strokes Tunes: 'Is This It'

In the year 2001, an unknown band called The Strokes suddenly materialized and dropped a catchy, danceable single called 'Last Nite.'  The lead singer was dreamy, and the guitarist descended from a prominent seventies songwriting legend (See Albert Hammond).

In a time well before the first snarky post was ever published on a music blog, 'Last Nite,' and its corresponding album, Is This It, gained massive traction.  The music video for the record played non-stop on MTV.  Rock stations spun it incessantly.  And music fans were excited, with some proclaiming this new band from the Big Apple as the next Nirvana.

For better or for worse, The Strokes provided the soundtrack for my ensuing undergraduate years.  Moreover, the band's special brand of stripped down, lackadaisical garage punk emerged as a ubiquitous force that influenced countless indie bands and gave new hope to jaded music journalists and bloggers everywhere.  Indeed, you would never have heard about The Black Keys, Jet, Arctic Monkeys, The White Stripes, or The Hives without The Strokes.  Likewise, the music blogs that fawn over these class of  bands would not exist either.

In honor of the band's latest release and the legacy it has forged during the last decade, I present to you my all-time favorite Strokes tunes, broken down by album.  While this list is by no means all-inclusive, it serves as a survey of my impressionable Strokes experiences:

1.  "Last Nite"

Hear that?  Hear that buzz and hum?  That's the sound of simplicity.  That's the sound of passion.

As soon as Julian Casablancas launches into his lyrical tyrade, wailing "Laaaaaasssst Niiiiitttttteeee," you know something big is about to happen.  And it did.  "Last Nite" reintroduced the heart and soul of rock and roll to a generation that had previously been inundated with the meandering screaming of Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, and Slipknot.  For those of us yearning for a less angry side of rock, "Last Nite" was our answer.

[Video]


2.  "Take It or Leave It"

Also from the band's debut release, "Take It or Leave It" was one of The Strokes' most intense, most raw, most organic compositions.  The band gels as one cohesive, well-oiled, take no prisoners, rockin' machine in this single.  The band's performance of this song on David Letterman still resonates with fans and music critics today--much due to a balls-to-the-wall guitar solo by Albert Hammond, Jr. and a microphone slam by Julian Casablancas.  If you haven't seen it before, you owe it to yourself to watch the Letterman performance of "Take It or Leave It."

[Video (Letterman Performance)]


3. "Soma"

Julian Casablancas' trademark vocal style is to speak into the microphone as closely...as...possible.  This technique often provides the proper dosage of artist-to-listener intimacy many music connoisseurs crave.  "Soma" is no exception, and it was one of the band's first radio singles that displayed this VOX quality.

[Video]


4.  "Someday"

Just dudes being dudes.  That's what the music video for "Someday" depicts.  Each band member in this song has a chance to show off.  The drums are prominent.  There's a bass solo in the middle.  Slash makes a cameo at the pinball machine.  And the overall theme of this tune is jovial.

This is what The Strokes are all about.

[Video]

Stay tuned for the next installment of my favorite Strokes tunes in the forthcoming days.

Tae's Tracks for 2010 (Part 2 of 2)

As promised, here's Part II of my favorite songs of 2010! To link back to the first part of the list, click here.

(artist names link to official websites and song titles link to audio/video webpages)


Das Racist - "Who's That? Brooown!"
These hip-hop pranksters released two free mixtapes in 2010, chock full of goofy rhymes. One of my personal favorites is this opener from Shut Up, Dude. With lyrics like, "Brown Elvis, I can't help it, Brown Larry Birdie on the '97 Celtics" who can deny it?

Erykah Badu - "Window Seat"
Soulful. Intelligent. Funky. Erykah Badu's got it, and her latest was no exception. The video stirred controversy when it filmed Badu stripping naked in Dallas' Dealey Plaza and being mock assassinated near the site of the historic JFK shooting.

Rihanna - "What's My Name?"
Rihanna doesn't need my help getting her music out there. She's one of pop's biggest stars. My finger usually isn't on the Top 40 pulse, but this track did it for me. A guilty pleasure. Recorded as a duet with Drake, I much prefer Rihanna's solo takes on the song, such as this one from Saturday Night Live.

Ryan Bingham - "The Weary Kind"
The theme to Jeff Bridges' highly-acclaimed film, Crazy Heart. The movie worked, in part, because the music central to the plot was so well written. A heartfelt country western song that makes the list by showing you don't have to look and sound like Taylor Swift to have a mainstream crossover.

Local Natives - "Wide Eyes"
Multi-part folk harmonies complemented by thunderous percussion. Local Natives caught my attention early in the year and their album, Gorilla Manor has stayed with me after many spins.

Civil Twilight - "Letters from the Sky"
South African alt-rock trio hit their stride on this impassioned piano rocker. Could they be the Coldplay of Cape Town?

UNKLE feat. Sleepy Sun - "Follow Me Down"
UNKLE made some big strides on Where Did the Night Fall. Their brooding, trip-hop underpinnings grew into a more vibrant garage rock sound. The rhythms on "Follow Me Down" are intoxicating, dense and tribal. Dark and atmospheric. So is the video (though probably not safe for work).

The Roots w/ John Legend - "The Fire"
On top of being a wonderfully adaptable house band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, The Roots found enough time to put out a new record. This jam with John Legend has got some fire in its belly.

Kings Of Leon - "Pyro"
KOL hit the big time on their previous album. Even the band seemed stunned to find soccer moms and pre-teen daughters showing up to their concerts. But a single like "Use Somebody" was perfectly suited for that level of arena rock appeal. On their latest, the band tries to recognize their success without selling-out their roots.

M.I.A. feat. Jay-Z - "XXXO"
M.I.A.'s eclectic dancehall style created an internet buzz before she'd ever released an album. That said, I never really got into her music. Several years later, with a third LP under her belt, it was this collab with Jay-Z that finally snagged me.

Klaxons - "Echoes"
Heralded a few years back as the leaders of the U.K.'s "new rave" dance-rock movement, Klaxons eventually faded from my radar. After having an entire album scrapped for being too uncommercial, the band recorded Surfing The Void. The song "Echoes" is shouty and bold, like Mr. Bungle-meets-the Arctic Monkeys. A massive chorus brings accessibility the chaos.

Ray LaMontagne - "Beg, Steal, or Borrow"
LaMontagne's husky vocals on this rootsy folk song speak to the pains and angst of youth coming of age.

How To Destroy Angels - "Fur Lined"
Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor formed a band with his wife. The uptempo industrial beats sets this track somewhere between nihilistic and quite danceable.

Minus the Bear - "Into the Mirror"
This group's prickly prog atmospherics and knack for pensive pop melodies returned on this casual, yet complex tune.

Best Coast - "Boyfriend"
Sweetly melancholic, straightforward, no frills indie-pop from this duo. Simple - but simply well-done.

Caribou - "Odessa"
Caribou's latest is like electronic shoegaze for an introvert's dance party. On "Odessa", Dan Snaith takes his experiments to the club for a strangely invigorating jaunt.

The Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs" and "Ready to Start"
Expectations were understandably high for this Montreal band's third outing, due to the quality of their earlier work. On The Suburbs, Arcade Fire delivered, writing some of their most poignant, nostalgic material to-date. The opening two songs set the tone for a middle class crisis. On the outside, everything is fine, but its the tension growing underneath the surface that stays with you. It's best when digested in album form, but the songs stand up on their own, too.

____________


This concludes Tae's Tracks for 2010. I'm certain I've left some great ones out. So, now it's time to ask... What were some of your favorites?

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Tae's Tracks for 2010 (Part 1 of 2)

It's hard to believe it's already been a year since we compiled Our Favorite Albums of 2009. But, with the end of any year, it's good to reflect back on what you experienced.

What makes for a great song? Everyone's opinion differs on the subject. Music bloggers and critics are known for making lists of what you should have been listening to all year. When it comes down to it, a great song is a personal experience and sometimes there's no other way to explain the resonance.

Below (and in no particular order) are a few of the songs that stood out to me in 2010. Stay tuned for the second part of this list in the near future.

(the artist names link to official websites and song titles link to audio/video webpages)


Birds & Batteries - "The Villain"
California indie-pop group crafts an elusive, slow-burning mystery.

Nneka - "The Uncomfortable Truth"
Socially conscious neo-soul with Afro-beat rhythms and a hip-hop edge from this Nigerian-German songwriter.

Beach House - "Norway"
Dreamy layers of floating echoes and hushed vocals made this Baltimore duo's song one of my early picks from the year.

Yeasayer - "Ambling Alp"
Genre (and culture) bending indie worldbeat synth rock from the Brooklyn band's impressive sophomore album. Also one of the trippiest videos of the year.

Massive Attack - "Paradise Circus" and "Saturday Come Slow"
What can I say? I love me some Massive Attack. And with cameos from Hope Sandoval and Damon Albarn respectively, "Paradise Circus" and "Saturday Come Slow" were two of my most-rotated songs of the year. Moody, hypnotic and rather dystopian chill-out tracks from the pioneers of trip-hop.

Portico Quartet - "The Visitor"
British contemporary jazz that's atmospheric and cinematically noir. I just heard of the quartet this year from my sister, who's seen them perform in Paris and Boston. The use of an instrument called the "hang" lends an exotic steel drum-like element to the group's cool fusion.

Yelawolf - "Love is Not Enough" (explicit)
Southern rap coming from a white skateboarder in backwoods Alabama. Spitfire lyrics wax on smalltown America with some of the year's best beats to back it up. Yelawolf's "Love is Not Enough" is an underachiever's self-loathing rejection of heartbreak - crass but honest, with a chorus that will stick in your head.

Foals - "Spanish Sahara"
Brit math-rockers trade in their jitters on this powerfully restrained track. It builds from a whisper and breaks into the kind of unnerving, icy waves perfectly reflected in the subtly engaging video.

Janelle Monae - "Tightrope"
One of last year's biggest breakout artists, Monae's brand of funked-out soul and James Brown footwork earned her the respect of hip-hop moguls Big Boi and Diddy.

Blitzen Trapper - "Heaven and Earth"
Reverent piano ballad with a folksy alt-country bent. It's really quite lovely and hangs with you.

The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio"
A somber roadtrip through Americana with churning rhythms to drive home the nostalgia.

The Black Keys - "Tighten Up"
After a decade of groovus, gritty blues-rock, this Akron, Ohio duo may have finally gotten their due. A great hook and plenty of whistling was enough to get back to some old school rockin'. The music video is playfully entertaining as well.


For Part II of the list, please click here.

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Forgotten Gem: Ancient Grease - Women and Children First

Our personal music discoveries are very non-linear. One day we might be listening to a leaked single from an upcoming release, and the next, might stumble across a great album that's been covered in dust for half a century. The latter is true for me in this particular story.

While working a few weeks back, I met a man around my parents' age - an avid vinyl collector of many years. We discussed music for probably half an hour. He told me of an interesting record he'd pleasantly uncovered at a garage sale or flee market by some band called Ancient Grease.

The cover was a vibrant splash of psychedelia, and the wordplay of the moniker was enough for him to shell out a few dollars to give it a chance.

A little research of my own led me to the band's lone album, Women and Children First, dating back to 1970. As a name like Ancient Grease would imply, the record is sludgy and raw; full of gritty blues-rock, but also some wonderfully proggy pop ballads.

The opening track, "Freedom Train", sounds like it could have been a Howlin' Wolf-meets-Grand Funk Railroad collaboration. It even branches into riffing McCartney's squeals from "Hey Jude."

Other tracks like "Mother Grease the Cat" and "Eagle Song" are bluesy prog rockers in the vein of Zeppelin, while "Where the Snow Lies Forever" is a slow-burning keyboard beauty. "Mystic Mountain" could have almost been a hit for CSNY.

The songwriting is solid throughout, with some of the tightest moments found in the middle of the LP. The talent was definitely there, yet Ancient Grease never really caught on.

Further reading suggested the band's actual name was Strawberry Dust and got their start in South Wales as an engaging live cover band.

Another Welsh band, Eyes of Blue, had found success and helped Strawberry Dust write and record the album. When the record was picked up by Mercury Records in 1970, the band was apparently quite surprised to see it credited to the name Ancient Grease rather than Strawberry Dust.

Not only did the record company quietly change the band's name, it never really put any promotion behind the album -- instead choosing to focus all of its energy on Rod Stewart's debut, An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down.

Without support for the album, Strawberry Dust/Ancient Grease returned to playing local shows in Wales until disbanding.

The members went on to play in other groups for several years until singer Graham "Morty" Mortimer and lead guitarist Graham Williams reformed as Racing Cars. Racing Cars went on to become most well-known for its 1977 hit single, "They Shoot Horses Don't They?"

So there I found myself, listening to Ancient Grease's Women and Children First for the very first time, forty years after it was recorded... and really enjoying it.

I'm fascinated by the reasons some artists become famous while others toil in obscurity, so I found this group's history particularly engrossing.

(For an even further breakdown of the band's lengthy story, click here)

You can preview one of the album's highlights below:


Ancient Grease - "Mother Grease the Cat"

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