Category Archives: Music

#816: Mos Def – Mathematics

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You know, sometimes I wonder how things would be if Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) had only recorded the Black Star album and Black on Both Sides and just called it a day. After releasing what was his debut solo album in 1999, he took a five year break before returning with The New Danger. In that time, he invested more time in his acting career, which makes me think he may have at least been done with music for a while… Both Sides is an undeniable hip-hop classic. There’s something about it that makes me think if he had that album to his name, he would be even more legendary than he already is. But whatever. I would describe it as an album about being a Black man/artist in the 20th century, with the then-new millennium fast approaching, and how to cope with the struggles, but also look forward to the future.

‘Mathematics’ is the last track to feature vocals on the album, and what a way to close out what is already a lot to take in. In two verses, Mos Def goes all out. Everything from braggadocious lyrics to cultural references, to actual facts and social observations are in the two verses that are delivered on this track. Huge props should be given to DJ Premier who crafted the beat. It’s one that you could lie back and relax to, but it’s the samples and the scratching on top that’s just as manic and unpredictable as Mos Def’s energetic and sharp delivery. There’s so much to digest within each verse, but what I can say without giving it much justice is that numbers are important. If you want to rap, you’ve got to know some things about math. Statistics are on the news every day. And Mos Def makes a point that he doesn’t want to become a statistic himself. It’s just a whole breakdown on what he’s seen and things that he feels should be improved going into 2000 and onwards.

Followed by ‘May-December’, the instrumental that properly closes out the album, ‘Mathematics’ really feels like a drop the mic moment. There’s something very poignant and emphatic about it that I probably still haven’t managed to explain in this post. But it brings me back to my first point. If this was his last song, I probably wouldn’t be mad. It still applies today.

#815: Oasis – The Masterplan

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‘The Masterplan’ was originally released as a B-side to ‘Wonderwall’ when that song was a single back in the day. It, along with many other Oasis B-sides, has always left Oasis fans wondering how they weren’t singles in their own right or at least on their parent albums. Noel Gallagher has said that at the time, he didn’t write shit songs. Which is a fair enough answer. Something had to be a B-side, so he wrote this to fit the quota.

I had been on this earth for only a few months at the time of the ‘Wonderwall’ single. I was three when the The Masterplan B-side album was released. So I didn’t know this song existed for a long time. In 2006 the band released Stop the Clocks, and promotion videos were made for ‘Acquiesce’ and ‘The Masterplan’. Saw the video for the latter on MTV2 one day, and that was all it took, really. Better late than never. With its message that we’re all small things that a part of a bigger picture alongside its L.S. Lowry-inspired animated video which is a huge ode to Manchester, it just made for a memorable music experience. Still does now, but when I was 11 it was even more so.

It is a bit crazy that no one thought to tell Gallagher to save this one. I could think of a song or two on Morning Glory that it could have replaced. It was 25+ years ago, so obviously what’s done is done. It does truly show the quality of Noel Gallagher’s songwriting, particularly during that point from 1994-6 where it seemed that all he touched turned to gold. Good stuff.

#814: Parquet Courts – Master of My Craft

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Parquet Courts, Parquet Courts. Not the hugest fan of them, I have to admit. Not because they’re bad. They do make great songs, but I’ve never been able to fully enjoy their whole discography from front to back. I did a ‘review’ for Sunbathing Animal way back when. It’s not very good. But That was after I had heard Light Up Gold for the first few times and thought, “Wow! This is my new band.” I’ve not listened to that album for a while. If I had started this blog a bit later, ‘Bodies Made Of’ would’ve had its own post on here.

I’m digressing. Continuing on with the ‘songs from the perspective of someone we shouldn’t like’ theme established from yesterday’s post, this is ‘Master of My Craft’. It’s the first song on Light Up Gold, and it’s sung by co-lead vocalist Austin Brown. I think it’s all right to assume that this is from the POV of some sleazy, selfish, corporate business-oriented person who has no compassion whatsoever for other people. This person won’t even take a minute out of the day to talk to you. It’s madness. I’m exaggerating. Brown’s kind-of-distant vocal delivery suits the song’s message well, and I’ve personally liked the almost-monoaural mix the track has. Makes the performance sound all the more compact and tight.

With about fifty seconds to go, the vocals finish and the band jam on two chords with Brown providing a solo in each ear. Listening to the song by itself, you may think that it ends quite abruptly. You would be right. Some would tell you that the best way to listen to the song is when it’s then followed by the next track on the album, ‘Borrowed Time’. That would have had its own post too. That way you get a solid six minutes of some good rock music. You wouldn’t believe that one song ended and the other started the way this transition goes. The band perform the two songs live below.

#813: Supergrass – Mary

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‘Mary’ is a track on Supergrass’ self-titled album from 1999. The ‘X-Ray’ album as it’s usually referred to by fans. On it, guitarist Gaz Coombes and bassist Mick Quinn sing the vocal together, with Quinn taking the melody and Coombes on the lower harmony. The track evolved from a three chord piano riff created by then resident keyboardist Rob Coombes which pretty much repeats throughout the song’s entirety.

There is a threatening tone to this song. It has a very smooth groove to it, but Quinn and Coombes start singing about the things they’re going to do or meant to do to the listener, and how people have dark thoughts in their heads. The only thing revealed about Mary is that she has green teeth, and that she gets shocked/scared by the song’s narrator. It’s all from the perspective of someone that the listener is definitely not meant to like. And I think that’s what appeals to me the most about this song. It’s different in that way from many others by Supergrass.

Pre-YouTube days you really had to search for music videos online. I remember finding this one somewhere, and after reading that it was censored and was rarely shown during the day time… Well, it piqued my curiosity. And as you can see above, the video is quite creepy. The more scary scenes were hilariously replaced in the censored version with pictures of onions. I don’t know, either. They had to do something, I guess.

#812: The Beatles – Martha My Dear

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Not so long after John Lennon finishes wailing about happiness being a warm gun on The Beatles’ White Album comes ‘Martha My Dear’. The track is virtually a solo Paul McCartney venture. He plays all the instruments on there bar the violins, trumpets and all the other ‘classical’ instrumentation. Those were arranged by the band’s producer George Martin. The song is also notable for being about McCartney’s dog who he owned at the time. I’ve seen that a lot of people don’t take it seriously for that reason and jokingly categorise it under the ‘granny shit’ label that Lennon had reportedly said about some of McCartney’s material.

But really, I think it just goes under the list of great songs that the man wrote. Another great melody as per usual. And that piano run is hard to play. I’ve tried. There’s a lot of skipping and jumping from note to note while trying to maintain the timing. I’ve also liked how the song always keeps moving and changing. McCartney sings along with the piano and violins for the first verse/chorus(?), then the horns come in for the “hold your head up” section to add some oomph, and then takes off with the “take a good look” bridge. It’s hard to label the song’s parts. There’s not really a chorus because the piano lick is kind of the main refrain of it. It’s just one nice melody after the next, with a nice instrumental walk-in-the-park section.

So a guy just wanted to write a song about his dog. There’s no problem with that. Have you seen the pictures of Paul and Martha? It seems that they were very close. A lot of credit has to go to George Martin on this one too. His arrangement for the additional instruments make this track a lot more dramatic than it has any right to be. This would be the beginning of Side 2 if you were listening to it on vinyl. I think I’ve got to say that that side may be my favourite on the double album. The run from ‘Martha My Dear’ to about ‘Rocky Raccoon’ is one of their strangely gratifying moments on any of the band’s albums.