Monthly Archives: October 2014

My iPod #353: Arctic Monkeys – Fake Tales of San Francisco

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Let me just specify that the “Fake Tales of San Francisco” that I regularly listen to that is the version on Arctic Monkeys’ first EP “Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys”, an EP that is apparently very rare and released before the band had a record deal. The version of the song on that is basically the same as the one on the band’s debut album, except for a change of words in one particular line, but I generally prefer this version. It was the first song I heard by Arctic Monkeys when its video played on MTV2, it was good new music (in 2005) which was nice to see, but I don’t think I expect them to achieve the great success that was coming their way very soon. A few months later, I think.

The song is Alex Turner observing all these things going on around him, possibly at a gig he is attending, but the emphasis of the track is on the band who chat shit and tell stories that are very hard to believe. Alex is not having any of it, and coins phrases that are probably used on a daily basis by many other people who find themselves in the same situation. How many of you have always wanted to call someone out on their bullshit by saying something along the lines of “You’re not from New York City, you’re from Rotherham”. Some very clever lyrics on this track that’s for sure.

Seems to me that Turner would like to be from New York City with that accent he’s got on nowadays. “AM”‘s alright, but I’ll stick with the band’s early material.

My iPod #352: Radiohead – Fake Plastic Trees

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Sorry for the late post. I don’t feel well today. I wasn’t sure whether this would come out. The probability that this won’t be a very good read is high. But I will still do it instead of saving it for tomorrow, just because I feel that it is my duty.

So this is “Fake Plastic Trees”, a song and single from “The Bends” – Radiohead’s second album. A nice thing about this one is that it isn’t like any other single I’ve heard before. It’s slow-paced, contains weird futuristic keyboard sounds and is, for the most part, very subdued. That is until about halfway through when a note sung by Thom Yorke transforms into a snarl, the rest of the band come in, a guitar solo buried in the mix arrives a little late which results in a section which reminds me of the elevator breaking through the ceiling at the end of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. That section ends almost as soon as it starts, and goes quiet again. Thom sings the last few lines, the keyboards fade out…. a glorious song is over.

My iPod #351: Pezz (Billy Talent) – Fairytale

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For those of you who don’t know, Billy Talent used to be known as Pezz and produced a complete style of music under the moniker. Instead of the heavy, hard punk, post-hardcore rock they are recognised for their music went down a completely different route taking influences from ska, indie rock and a bit of hip-hop too.

Under that name they released one album labelled “Watoosh!” (a name which I can only think is the onomatopoeia of the noise a whip makes when used) in 1999. “Fairytale” is the second track on this album, and was one of the first four songs I heard when I found about Billy Talent’s past (albeit in very low quality). The other three being “M&M”, “Nita” and the Tragically Hip cover of “New Orleans Is Sinking”. Was the music different? Of course it was. But in a good way. In fact, at that point I was amazed that even when they weren’t Billy Talent, I still liked every song that they made. This was at a time when the first album was the only thing the band had to show.

I really liked “Fairytale” when I heard it for the first time. It was less angry and more brighter than Billy Talent material. Ian was still a maniac on guitar, Jon and Aaron still owned the rhythm and Ben had a bouncy rapid-fire vocal delivery that you would rarely hear today. Overall, it’s a very positive and energetic track about wanting to be in a relationship, but only being able to dream about it or something. Which probably sums up the title. Billy Talent used to be of those bands where the song titles never appeared in the song, you see.

My iPod #350: Linkin Park – Faint

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As the epic “Easier to Run” on “Meteora” fades out to silence “Faint”‘s one note ‘violin’ fades in from out of nowhere, the dramatic ‘strings’ introduction begins and just when you thought you would be able to take a breather, this track starts.

We all know “Faint”. It’s one of those standard Linkin Park songs that everyone knows the words to. Mike Shinoda raps in the verses, Chester Bennington doesn’t sing as much in this. This is his shouting/yelling/screaming song of “Meteora”. He does it again in “From the Inside”, but this is the track where all of that takes place.

It’s fast. It’s loud. Pretty much takes your breath away the first time you hear it. It probably wouldn’t be wrong to say that Bennington could barely breathe after recording the vocal for this.

To tell you straight, I can’t remember the first time I heard it. I have no nostalgia or sentimentality linked with this track whatsoever. It actually might have been on the speakers in a shop somewhere when I was forced to go out with my family when I was younger. I have never really cared about what it means too. It’s not my favourite on the album either. But it’s damn good. And it’s from their best album. Yes, I said that.

 

My iPod #349: Franz Ferdinand – Fade Together

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Nearing the end of Franz Ferdinand’s second album comes “Fade Together”, a forlorn piano-led track about the end of a relationship. You regularly get the ’emotional’ track near the end of any album, and this song is definitely one of those.

A single-tracked Alex Kapranos in the verses sighs into the microphone about plans to ‘get away’ with somebody which all seemed so real, until something of a flash-forward in time in the next verse reveals that those dreams are long gone. Now Kapranos only wishes to get over this person, no matter how hard it actually is to do so. In hope of ending this feeling he, along with himself as the haunting double-tracked vocal comes in for the chorus, calls out to all to ‘fade together/forever’.

A very good album track. One where the time signature is quite weird during the verses (goes from 3/4 to 5/4 and then switches back to 3/4), and includes great use of a piano, which has its own little solo for the last 30 seconds when the singing finishes and the bass and acoustic guitars disappear and you may also hear the sounds of bird tweeting throughout, adding to the track’s lonely atmosphere.

It’s all a bit of a downer. But at least the next track ends the album on more of a confident note.