Author Archives: The Music in My Ears (by Jamie Kyei)

Unknown's avatar

About The Music in My Ears (by Jamie Kyei)

Just one man who's making his way through life one day at a time writing about the songs he has on his phone. And other things at some points.

My iPod #154: Interpol – C’mere


For a long time I was unsure on how to pronounce this song’s name. I once thought it was the letter ‘C’ and then the word ‘mere’ which I knew didn’t make any sense. I thought it was a french term or something. That was until my sister told me that it’s simply “C’mere” as in “come here”.

Hi everyone. My iPod is back. For the third series. The Cs. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. But don’t be scared. Join me on this journey.

I believe this is the first Interpol song that I have “reviewed”, so let me just give you some details on how I started listening to them. You can find out about them for yourselves.

MTV2. That’s about it. I was nine/ten, and “Slow Hands” was playing. I had never heard anything like it before. Not just because it was the first time I had heard an Interpol song, but it sounded so mysterious and conveyed quite an eerie atmosphere. I would go on about how much I like it, but this is the post for “C’mere”; let’s talk about that.

“C’mere” was the last single to be released from Interpol’s second album “Antics” in 2004. I’ve never actually listened to the in full which is probably a major boo-boo, but I’ve always had the opinion that I never really have to because I already like the singles released from it. I’m digressing again.

“C’mere” is from the perspective of a man who has feelings for a girl already in a relationship, and basically figuring out how to get her for himself (Hence the term, ‘c’mere’). It’s a great track. In comparison to those like “Slow Hands” and “Evil” which are quite haunting, “C’mere” is one that you can just casually listen to, courtesy of Carlos Dengler’s wandering bass line and Paul Banks’ relaxing vocals.

Listen to it.

Jamie.

POTENTIAL COMEBACK.

Oh, bloody hell. It feels good to see this again.

Hi everybody! It’s me. I’m back. I hope you’re all doing well. I didn’t forget about my blog.

The last time I wrote I had just moved into my new home of Coventry to start university. It’s been really great. My flatmates are cool dudes, I’ve met a lot of nice people, my course is going well so far. I’ve started drinking (which is not a good thing, so don’t do it). I barely miss my family. Overall, uni life has been a life-changing experience. And I’ve only been here for a month and a bit.

Oh yeah, I have my own radio show too. Check it out. Wherever you see the title, “Sunday Mornings with Me” press on that.

That’s the personal stuff over and done with. So when is “My iPod” going to start again?

The answer to that is… I am not sure. Hopefully very soon. I need to start ‘writing’ these things in my spare time. Just so I have something else to do. Apparently I should be getting paid thanks to AdSense, so I should probably start.

I’ve been listening to a lot of music. I downloaded Eminem’s new album a few days ago. That’s a bit of a hit and miss. I actually like “Berzerk” a lot more than when I first heard it. His flow on “Rap God” is awesome; the beat lets it down though. It doesn’t sound like an album track though. It’s more of a song that you would find on a mixtape. But, whatever. “The Monster” is too mainstream. Toooooo mainstream. It’s unbelievable how much it screams ‘obvious single’ at you. Not just because it features Rihanna, but it just sounds so manufactured. I can’t handle it.

Arcade Fire released their new album “Reflektor” which will probably be number one in an ‘album of the year’ chart in a magazine. Everyone seems to like Arcade Fire (including myself) so I wouldn’t be surprised.

Sadly, Lou Reed died of liver disease. Which sucks. I only really started listening to The Velvet Underground around this time last year. I can’t write a tribute to him. A lot of people have done that already. But I know that without him and that band, a lot of the artists that I listen to and who are around today would not exist. So I thank you Mr. Reed. Thank you very much.

That’s just some of the most notable things that have happened recently in music that I can give my opinion on.

It’s good to be back on here. I’ll try and start the ‘C’ series.

Jamie.

My iPod #153: Red Hot Chili Peppers – By the Way

Well, here I am. The end of another letter. It’s the end of ‘B’. I’ve been doing this since the day I finished my A-Levels, and now I’m in university. That’s crazy. It’s weird to think about. It seems very fitting for it to end on this note.

When will ‘C’ start? God only knows. I wouldn’t say this is the end of “My iPod”, but I can’t see a point in the near future when I’ll start writing about my favourite songs in alphabetical order. It’s a shame. It will be back… soon. Hopefully.

———-

The video for this song is now censored when it plays on “MTV Rocks” in the UK. It takes out all the best scenes too. Why?! I don’t get it.

“By the Way” was the Chili Peppers’ first single and title track of the band’s eighth album in 2002. The song proved to be very popular in the USA and the UK reaching number one in the many charts they have in the former, and number two in the latter.

The music video features Dave Sheridan (Officer Doofy) who kidnaps Anthony Kiedis with his taxi, a lot of other shit happens, Anthony escapes and Sheridan picks up Chad Smith at the end. It’s action-packed to say the least. If you haven’t seen it, it’s probably one of the best videos that accompanies the tone and mood of the song.

The song initially trolls you with its quiet, Scar Tissue-esque introduction before launching into a pumping combat/style instrumental break driven by Flea’s bass and Anthony’s rapping before launching into the uprising chorus. It’s brilliant stuff to listen to.

I guess that’s it. I’ll see you when I see you. I hope you’ll be waiting for……… me.

Jamie.

My iPod #152: Nine Black Alps – Buy Nothing

I leave for university tomorrow, and I can’t wait. So many opportunities waiting for me…. But wait.

Where does this leave “The iPod Times”? Is this finished will I ever get back to this. You’ll have to wait for the last song of the ‘B’ series. Which is also tomorrow. I really don’t know what I’ll do.

——-

“Buy Nothing” was released as a free download from the band’s website, and was the first taste of new material in two years after their second album “Love/Hate”.

I wasn’t a huge fan of that album. The band had completely dumped their post-grunge/hard rock approach they had on “Everything Is” and replaced it with – what I think was supposed to be a more radio friendly sound – which just didn’t work for me. It’s an okay album, but that’s really it.

“Buy Nothing” was the sign that everything had gone back to normal. It has a hell of a riff which drives the song along as lead singer San Forrest tells us to forget about the government, advertising and consumerism are meaningless. BUY NOTHING.

That’s all there is to the song.  It’s one of the heavier songs on “Locked Out from the Inside”, it’s one of my favourite songs by the band too.

Jamie.

(Sorry for the late post. I’m packing, you see.)

My iPod #151: Weezer – Butterfly


“Butterfly” is the acoustic finisher to Weezer’s cult classic “Pinkerton”.

It’s a slow and solemn number which will make anyone become teary-eyed, especially after listening to the previous nine songs.

“Pinkerton” was written during a period of turmoil for the band’s lead singer Rivers Cuomo, and you will never hear anything that could detail the feelings and emotions that he felt as you do in this album.

You should really listen to the album as a whole before listening to the song. At least that may give you something to lean on. When you’re sad and feeling lonely, you might not want to listen to “Butterfly”. It might make you feel worse.

Jamie.