Monthly Archives: July 2014

My iPod #339: Radiohead – Everything in Its Right Place

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“Everything in Its Right Place” is the opening track on Radiohead’s “Kid A” album, one where the band completely diverted away from their heavy guitar-driven music to warmer, electronic material. Fans waited for three years after “OK Computer”, full of anticipation with what Radiohead could deliver. Apparently, “Kid A” polarized many. Either people loved it ‘cos of the new musical direction, or hated because of the same reason. Whether the band made the change to make people not like it as much, I’m not sure. The members, especially Thom Yorke, were burnt out from the success that “OK Computer” gained. “Kid A” made them a lot more successful anyway.

I was five when the album was released, and so have no recollection of anything Radiohead did. Who were Radiohead? I didn’t know; I was in Year 1. But I eventually got round to listening to “Kid A” (and “Amnesiac” for the hell of it) in 2012. Why did it take me so long? Well…. I think I used to label those years as the period where Radiohead went a bit weird. The first song I remember liking from them was on “Hail to the Thief”, and their singles I usually saw on the TV were “Creep – OK Computer” era. It wasn’t until I actually researched that both albums were very much appreciated, that I thought I would listen to them.

And so “Everything in Its Right Place” started playing, and it was then that I realised I might have been missing out on something. Everything about it is just so peaceful, calm and tranquil even though the lyrics are from the perspective of a person going through some problems of their own. Got a steady 4/4 beat playing against a 10/4 time signature, unconventional yet wouldn’t sound out of place in any dance/house party. And the song’s only made up of four phrases which are repeated in many different and memorable ways, that when you think one will be repeated again the track begins to fade out. And then it’s gone.

I’ve seen comments from people saying that Radiohead should start playing guitars again but they did do this song, cut them some slack.

My iPod #338: Kanye West ft. DJ Premiere – Everything I Am

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“Everything I Am” was a song that was made for Common that was passed on, something Kanye West mentions early in the song.

It was composed using only a Rhodes piano, a vocal sample, and some scratching, this song stands as the album’s most stripped down production. West marries a down-tempo beat to gentle piano chords that are accentuated by soulful cooing sampled from “If We Can’t Be Lovers” by Prince Phillip Mitchell.

This is soulful and mellow beat is complemented with Kanye’s very introspective lyrics about topics such as self-examination, personal troubles, his own flaws and made up gangsters.

The track features a scratched hook by DJ Premier on the vocal sample: “here we go again,” from Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noise”. After West had played an early version of this record for Premier and asked him his thoughts on it. DJ Premier answered he liked the lyrics and the beat and offered to put scratches on it.

……. OK, that was a definite cop out. That’s all from RapGenius, I’m sorry.

I couldn’t put a description of the song in better words myself. Mostly because I didn’t know most of the information that is there.

“Everything I Am” is chill, man. I like it just because of its modesty and humour (something you probably wouldn’t say about him today) and because of the cool, laid back beat which you only have to nod your head to and really focus on what the man has to say.

I miss old Kanye maaaaaaan, bring him back, this is what I waaaaant.

Seriously.

My iPod #337: The Beatles – Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey

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Hey what’s up how’s it going?

Today’s first song is from disc two (or side four for all you vinyl people) of The Beatles self-titled album from 1968. Or “The White Album” as almost everyone refers to it. That year was when John, Paul, George and Ringo started to dislike each other a bit. Why? Well there’s one word that the latter three, and a lot of fans would answer that question with. Yoko. John Lennon and Yoko Ono were hardly ever apart, even during recording sessions, and this aggravated George, Paul, and Ringo quite a bit. How did John answer this? Possibly by many ways which would have gone on behind closed doors, but for us he wrote “Me and My Monkey”.

“Monkey” should be played very loudly out of speakers. It gets me in the mood to party. It sounds like the band had a very fun time recording it, what with the random howls and screams which appear after almost every “Come on” that John yells, that incessant bell that never seems to end and when John also appears to start becoming a sheep right when the song begins to fade out.

It may be about heroin use and there may be some sexual connotations thrown in too, but those are just interpretations.

Dunno about you, but has anyone else noticed during the breakdown near when only the guitars and bass are playing that the bass plays a sharper note than the guitar chords? Just irks me a bit. But still, it’s cool. Very good hard rock song.

My iPod #336: The Pigeon Detectives – Everybody Wants Me

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Turns out The Pigeon Detectives released their fourth album just a few months ago. Their fourth. I did not know the band were still together. It is a shame how the indie band from Leeds seemed to fade away after they got so many people excited with their debut album “Wait for Me” released back in 2007. That album, filled with anthems about relationships, got very popular managing to peak at number three in the charts. How could they follow it up? Quite quickly, ‘cos a year later came the second album “Emergency“. People liked that too. Not as much as the first though. Got to number five. And the singles released from it didn’t grab people’s attention like those from the debut too.

“Everybody Wants Me” was the second single from “Emergency” which, I think, is unusual for a track that closes out an album. It is a very easy song to play. Before typing this, I literally learned how to play the track on the guitar because it only consists of four chords (A-B-D-E if you want to know, A-B-D for the verses and E-D-A-D for the bridge in that order).

Overall, “Everybody Wants Me” is a nice song to listen to. Just a standard verse-chorus-verse-bridge (etc etc.) structured track, where the singer moans about all the girls wanting him now he’s famous. He doesn’t want them though. He wants a certain someone. Who that someone is is not told.

My iPod #335: Nine Black Alps – Everybody Is

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Here’s another one by Nine Black Alps. Just when you started to think they were never coming, you get two on the trot.

This time though, it’s the almost-title-track “Everybody Is” from the band’s debut album “Everything Is“. I believe that it is not available on some editions of the 2005 release, maybe it wasn’t on the American edition or something, but I was lucky enough to get the limited edition which did have it. It is also on the “Shot Down” single if anyone has that.

The track arrives near the back end of the album coming after you have experienced the pulsating energy that pours into your ears from listening to “Just Friends”. Looking back now, I don’t think it took me that long to get into “Everybody Is”. There’s something that’s very reassuring and comforting about it. Even though the song clearly states that people are liars and hypocrites, the track is the expression of someone’s acceptance of this situation. It’s probably one of the most happier songs on the album, actually.

Like every other song on “Everything Is” (bar two), it’s loud. Very big sounding guitars, and quite a busy bass line too.

If you have the version of the album that doesn’t have this, you’re missing out bruh.