Monthly Archives: August 2021

#881: Muse – Muscle Museum

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Muse. Muse, Muse, Muse. I’ve written about a few songs of the band’s in the past. A couple of those that I’ve linked to, I don’t listen to them as enthusiastically as I once did. I’ll let you guess which two they are. Why don’t I listen to them anymore? Just the way Matt Bellamy sings sometimes, I guess. It’s too much for me to listen to now. A bit melodramatic. Doesn’t seem as cool as I thought it was when I was a teenager. I really did like Muse for a while back in those times, and then I think I found the Beatles and went in a totally different direction. Although my interest for Muse may have waned, whenever ‘Muscle Museum’ comes on I can’t help but think that it might just be my favourite song by them. And you’ll probably think, “Well, this song is just as dramatic as any of their other stuff”. And to that I’ll say that’s fair enough, but this one hits harder to me.

It’s likely that the first time I was introduced to this track was back in 2006, when Black Holes and Revelations was about to be released and MTV2 dedicated various slots of their programming to Muse. The track’s music video features a lot of people crying, and not like sobbing or sniffles, I mean ugly crying, sweat glistening on their faces, while they’re brushing teeth, washing the car, or getting a hair cut. The music to ‘Muscle Museum’ is heavy, sounds like something really sad has happened/is going to happen, and its whole minor key, tension-building delivery perfectly accompanied the visuals of its video. It kind of creeped me out, especially back then when I was 11, but I knew then that it was definitely a good song. 15 years on, the music video makes me laugh a bit. And if there was only one Muse song that existed, I would probably want it to be this one. It packs a punch like many others, but there aren’t any crazy guitar riffs or over the top vocalizations. It just seems a lot more subtle. But it’s still so heavy. It rules.

Again, never thought about the meaning of the track that much. I thought it was about the ending of a relationship. It very well could be. But I also read that it’s meant to be a kind of commentary on the band’s lack of success when they were starting out, and how they were giving their all in their live performances to people who frankly didn’t care. The ‘muscle museum’ title comes from the fact that they are the two words that respectively precede and follow the word ‘muse’ in the dictionary. At least, at the time the song was written. And that is meant to signify the past and future of the band. That also may be the case. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter that much. I just know that I always feel a huge weight when I hear this song. Puts me in that screwing face, head nodding mood.

#880: Dananananaykroyd – Muscle Memory

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Ten years ago, Scottish band Dananananaykroyd released their second album, There Is a Way. The day it was released was the beginning of the final week of my GCSE exams. But I didn’t even know that the band were even making any new music until the video for ‘Muscle Memory’ – as you can see up there – was shown on Channel 4’s breakfast music show Freshly Squeezed about a week later, I want to say. It might have even been on the last day of my final exam. Anyone remember that show? Freshly Squeezed? Anyway, I thought the track was great from the moment I saw it. Helped that the band looked like they were all having some good times in the video too. Right before it got into the shouty bridge, the video cut out and the show presenters moved on to something else. But I was left with enough. The knowledge that D’Kroyd were back with a new album. And an urge to see how the track actually ended.

By the time I saw that video, I was now a free 16-year-old who didn’t have to go to school for three months. The world was my damn oyster. So I watched the rest of that video on YouTube and downloaded There Is a Way as soon as I could. And I loved that album too. It was probably my album of the summer. And ‘Muscle Memory’ was always one of the highlights from there. The ascending riff that starts it off just sets everything in motion, and when all the other instruments join in the track is given this extra bounce that always gets my foot tapping. Vocalists Calum Gunn and John Bailie Jnr sing in unison, harmonise and alternate the lines they sing. It’s all generally a very fun listen. And what is about? Well, after some consideration in the past few weeks, I think it’s a song that’s meant to explore the relationship of a band/artist and its fans. How fans want to get closer to a band by trying to decipher their lyrics, reading their reviews, or playing along to their songs by learning them on the guitar. Dang, I think this tune’s so great. Hasn’t lost its energy ten years on.

So taking you back to 2011. There Is a Way had been out for a few months. There I was, excited for any new music videos from the band if they decided to release any more singles from it. And then out of the blue, they announced that they were to split up after their UK tour. Have to say, I was just a bit bummed out. But then again, listening to the last song on that album, the clues were there. The band had felt that they’d done their part, and from some articles I’ve seen they didn’t think they could go on with a band name as strange as theirs anyway. I miss ’em. But they have two albums that captured that essence of pure energy and joyous noise that the band were all about. And for that, I can’t be too sad.

#879: Mos Def – Ms. Fat Booty

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Another “M” titled track from Yasiin Bey’s Black on Both Sides album. Wasn’t too long ago that I was writing about another, and this time round is no disappointment either. ‘Ms. Fat Booty’ was the first single released from Mos Def’s album, and one of the best hip-hop tracks I know. From its Aretha Franklin-sampling beat to the rapper’s storytelling skills, delivering on all fronts with humour, cultural references, rhyme schemes, visuals, you name it, ‘Ms. Fat Booty’ is a true highlight of its genre.

What’s it about? Well, it’s better coming from Mos’ mouth, but I’ll lay down the story. He sees ‘Ms. Fat Booty’ on a night out who’s is something of a familiar face around his area. (We later find out her name is Sharice, but this is besides the point.) She catches him staring. He tries to chat her up, but she leaves him hanging. Some time later, by coincidence, they meet again at a mutual friend’s party. This time round they hit it off pretty sweetly and a relation ship blossoms. After weeks of dating, they have sex at his place. After this, she pretty much disappears. It’s apparent that Mos truly caught feelings for this woman, and after one last meeting where she tells him that she’s not cut out for commitment, she leaves. He’s heartbroken. Then out of the blue, he gets a call from one of his friends saying that he’s seen Sharice at the strip club dancing with a hot Asian lady. And just when Mos reacts with incredulity to this revelation, the track ends and goes straight into the next one on the album.

I told you, it’s not so great when you’re just reading it. Again, it all comes down to Mos Def’s delivery. In the Aretha intro, you’ll hear him reminiscing about how much he was in love with this woman and what could have been. Then the beat switches, and boom he just starts telling the story straight to you. The way that each verse or situation is preceded by “Scene 2” or “Scene 3” is a fantastic way to properly layout everything that’s happening. There’s no way as a listener that you can get lost in the narrative. He breaks out in song for some few seconds at some points before carrying on as if nothing happened. All of this while that Aretha Franklin beat is going on in the background. I’m telling you, this is one of those tracks that just showcases everything that’s good about hip-hop.

#878: The Byrds – Mr. Tambourine Man

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Yes, the same song. I did tell you. And here it is. The post today is dedicated to the Byrds’ take on ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’, originally written by Bob Dylan. Instead of the going down the more-or-less strictly acoustic route, the band decided to give the track a full rock band treatment with the use of jangling 12-string electric guitars and beautiful vocal harmonies – a combination of which, at the time, was very much unheard of at the time. Fair to say a lot of people were attracted to this new sound, and it set a foundation that many band followed during the 60s. The track itself did so well that they named their first album after it, so there you go.

I recall hearing it many, many years ago on one of those “Call in and get your double CD set of these great 60s songs” adverts on the television, and there was this 10 second clip of the band singing the song. But it wasn’t until about 2011 that I thought it was a really great song, when it appeared on an Internet radio station. You’ve just got to admire the three-way vocal harmonies of Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark and David Crosby here. Just perfect. It was this track and its lyrics that gave the ‘jangle pop’ genre its name. And that bass riff that opens and closes it out is memorable in itself. Because the producer didn’t have faith in the band’s musicianship, the famous “Wrecking Crew” cast of musicians were brought in to provide a rhythm section to McGuinn’s vocal and 12-string guitar. This was probably a good move. But no one was to really know as the band ‘performed’ it on US television many a time.

So if you were to ask me which I prefer between Dylan’s original and the Byrds’ cover… I mean, the Byrds’ take is the one I’m usually singing in the shower out of the blue. So it may be that. Helps that they shortened the track to only include the chorus and one verse out of the four from Dylan’s take. But overall, it’s such a comfortable listen. There’s a real warmth to it. Ten years ago, this track really took me to a peaceful place. Still does today really. And having Dylan’s original to get lost in makes it all the better.

#877: Bob Dylan – Mr. Tambourine Man

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The original. ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ was released as a track on Bob Dylan’s fifth album Bringing It All Back Home, the first of two records he would release in 1965. Three weeks after its release, the track gained a ton of popularity when it was covered by The Byrds. The band’s cover was a number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and essentially launched folk rock as this huge movement in music, going on to influence a large number of their peers and bands in the years to come.

I’ll say it now, The Byrds’ cover will get its own post in a couple days. Might as well get that admission out of the way. I like both takes of the song quite a bit. Though while I probably sing along to the Byrds, I pretty much just listen to Dylan’s original. There are only four verses in it, but they contain a lot of words – the majority of which I haven’t memorised. But sometimes all you can do is listen to Dylan here. You have to remember this guy was 23 years old when he wrote this, and yet there’s so much imagery and poetry in his lyricism. His rhyming patterns just remind of all those poems I had to read when studying English back in the day. There’s so much to unpack, and yet it’s all just about this character who Dylan seems to admire for their musical abilities. Well, that’s one way of looking at it anyway.

It’s kept quite simple musically. Bob Dylan plays the acoustic guitar and the harmonica during those instrumental breaks alongside an electric guitar countermelody supplied by folk musician Bruce Langhorne. It is said that he was the inspiration behind ‘Tambourine Man’, as he would play a Turkish frame drum during performances. Keeping things stark and light on the ears really allows Dylan’s voice to come through, and it’s difficult to not get lost in the words. You may make fun of the way he sings it all, but who doesn’t when it comes to Bob Dylan songs. I know it’s something I’m prone to do. Can’t help it. But again, it’s all about the feeling rather than the quality of his singing. There’s plenty of that here.