Monthly Archives: October 2014

My iPod #368: The Shins – Fighting in a Sack

Leave a reply

While looking for more music to listen to I stumbled across “Chutes Too Narrow“, the second album released by indie rock band The Shins in 2003. The group had been one that I had heard of before; I watched their music videos for their singles “Phantom Limb” and “Australia” when they were due to release “Wincing the Night Away”. Though I didn’t become a fan of their stuff straight away, I did like the sound of those two songs and even if I wasn’t left awestruck or anything their melodies still popped in my head at the most random of times.

There are a lot of those cheerful, memorable melodies on each track of “Chutes Too Narrow”, and “Fighting in a Sack” was the one that I liked the most out of all of them. It’s a sprightly two-and-a-half-minute number questioning death, how we as human beings feel about this inevitability and the possibility that the topic wouldn’t be so heavy if we all enjoyed living in the moment and making most of the time we have.

Filled with little keyboard licks, a leaping vocal performance by James Mercer, a harmonica solo and a bright “woo” chant before it are included, and it never fails to make me that bit happier when listening to it.

My iPod #367: The Flaming Lips – Fight Test

1 Reply

Honestly, I only listened to this once and I liked the melody enough that I thought it would be nice to hear it whenever I wanted to. Even though the vocal melody was taken from a Cat Stevens song, something that The Flaming Lips have admitted to and felt regret over. But it’s fiiiine, the song still exists so it’s all good.

“Fight Test” begins Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips first album of the 21st century and their first after their success gained with The Soft Bulletin. Appropriately introduced by a sample (“The test begins….. NOW”) the track is led by a fuzzy bassline which all the other instruments seem to revolve around and Wayne Coyne sings to you about how life is a struggle and that when a time comes we must be ready to face it head on and, well, fight.

Good stuff.

My iPod #366: Blink-182 – Feeling This

Leave a reply

“Feeling This” was the first single released from Blink-182’s self-titled album from 2003. The track was the first thing to show the pop-punk group’s new serious direction the three members decided to pursue, instead of being seen as those toilet-humour rascals who ran around naked in their music videos.

The track is about being in love and the endless feelings and possibilities that arise when in the situation. Tom and Mark have a call and response thing going on in the verses and their vocals come together through the majority of the track with the two having a duet as the song reaches its ending, making it one of the more collaborative songs on the album.

It’s a great way to start things off – placed anywhere else on the tracklist it wouldn’t have the same effect and would probably be considered as filler – and it provides that sweet energy that a listener wants when hearing an album for the first time.

My iPod #365: Muse – Feeling Good

Leave a reply

Muse’s take on the Anthony Newley and Lesley Briscusse original was released on the band’s second album “Origin of Symmetry” thirteen years ago. As well as being the second to last track on that, it was released as a single alongside another album track “Hyper Music”. As a result, both videos made for the tracks are set in the same location albeit there are a few differences in the colour palette here and there. The three members perform in front of their fans who have had their faces digitally altered in order to look like freaks, petals fall slowly from the sky, and Matt Bellamy fiddles around with a megaphone during a verse.

“Feeling Good” is recognised for being an actually very good cover of an old track. Probably one of the best covers of the 21st century. Why? Not really sure. I guess that it’s because it was the first modern rock cover that had been done for the track, and Matt, Chris and Dom pulled it off very well. It is a cover that is so, so simple but still rocks. And you can’t blame someone who, listening to it for the first time, would think it was their own original song because they adapt it to their own style so easily.

I rate it.

My iPod #364: Dinosaur Jr. – Feel the Pain

1 Reply

“Feel the Pain” is a track I swear I’d heard in an advert somewhere, way before I actually saw its music video on the television one day. As I witnessed J Mascis and Mike Johnson play golf using what appears to be the whole of Lower Manhattan as their golf course, the guitar phrases between each verse sounded very familiar. Wherever I had heard it before – which I’m starting to think I didn’t as time goes on – at least I knew who the music was performed by.

The track is the opener to Dinosaur Jr.’s 1994 album “Without a Sound”, one where Mascis handled most of the instrumentation after the drummer and bassist left. He does a good job though. After a few seconds of what sounds like something being plugged in (or sucked out?) of something else, the actual track starts slowly with the main riff panning from one ear to the other. Mascis lazily slurs out the song’s main refrain during the quiet parts, and volume rises during the breaks where the guitars go wild. In the last few lines, a guitar solo begins under J Mascis waiting for the correct time to leap in and really get to work. The last line finishes, and straight after he bursts one out that I can only nod my head to in appreciation. And whip out some air guitar.