Category Archives: Music

#806: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Manic Depression

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The Jimi Hendrix estate is usually very stringent on what songs it allows on YouTube. At the time I’m writing this, you can listen to the song through the player above, but that may be taken by the time I actually publish this. We’ll see how it goes. But there it is anyway, ‘Manic Depression’ by the Jimi Hendrix Experience from the band’s debut album Are You Experienced?.

Really, the groove of this track is the best part. Right from the start and throughout, the guitar and bass play the same climbing, triple-time lines with Mitch Mitchell swinging drum pattern as clanging on those ride cymbals and striking the tom-toms. It’s a track that’s at full force and never lets up until that final strike of the last guitar chord. Jimi Hendrix doesn’t sing too badly either. He does song from the gut, and with a lot of feeling. There’s soul to his voice.

‘Manic depression’ was an old name for what is known today as bipolar disorder, but this song’s not about the condition. It’s a story about a man who wants to make love to music instead of women. Hendrix said so when introducing the number to a live audience. Not quite the way I’ve worded it, he said it in a more slick 60s man-of-the-times style.

#805: Jamie T – The Man’s Machine

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‘The Man’s Machine’ was the third and final single from Jamie T’s second album, Kings & Queens. It was the last commercial release of his for a while. After promotion for that album died down, he sort of disappeared for a few years before returning with a new album in 2014. Admittedly, after really liking his debut album, I didn’t feel the same about ‘Sticks ‘n’ Stones’ or ‘Chaka Demus’ that much, so I didn’t give Kings & Queens that much chance. Maybe I’ll listen to it in full one day. The video for ‘The Man’s Machine’ started showing on MTV2 though. And after hearing that many times in the morning while getting ready for school, I couldn’t forget about the song very easily.

So what’s this one about? I think it’s one of those travelling man songs. One where the narrator talks about a person who’s walked the land, seen many things and encountered situations and problems that he’s learned from in order to make themselves a better person. I can’t think of an example of those types of songs, but I’m sure there’s one out there somewhere. I think the track also touches upon the fragility of life and how there are always better times ahead. Jamie T flows nicely over the top of the instrumental track which is a cool hybrid of hip-hop, punk rock and reggae. It’s just a good marriage of vocals and production.

The version used for the music video was cut down just a bit to make it suitable for the radio. The album includes a longer introduction. Taking samples of ‘Kids on the Street’ and ‘You’re Nicked’ from Angelic Upstarts Live, the song’s given this ‘live onstage banter’ effect to set the mood before it actually begins. In fact, if you listen to that whole Upstarts album you’ll hear a lot of noises that appear in ‘The Man’s Machine’. Anyway, both versions are on this page so you can witness the differences.

#804: Gorillaz – Man Research (Clapper)

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Gotta say I miss the times when Gorillaz made music like this. Damon Albarn’s taken his virtual band into quite poppy territory, but there’ll always be those featured guests that still give the material a bit of its edge. I prefer the Gorillaz tunes where Albarn never sounded the same on each track. Where he would barely enunicate any of the words he would say against a strange experimental soundscape, or use some production effect to make his voice sound different. A prime example of the former occurs in today’s track, ‘Man Research (Clapper)’ from the band’s debut album from 2001. Now you’ll either just get your standard Albarn vocal with that effect that makes it sound like he’s talking from a loudspeaker. But anyway, let’s talk more about the song.

What is ‘Man Research (Clapper)’ about? I don’t think anyone truly knows. You can search up the lyrics online. I’ve seen them and, though they somewhat resemble what Albarn could be saying in this song, I don’t think they’re correct. The song samples ‘In the Hall of the Mountain Queen’ by Raymond Scott, which is on his album Manhattan Research Inc. That is where the Gorillaz song takes its name from. That still doesn’t get us any closer to the song’s message. I could only say that I think ‘Man Research’ is connected to ‘Clint Eastwood’ because both songs include the lyric ‘I got sunshine’. It also comes straight after ‘Eastwood’ on the album. And I’ve always thought that song was about drugs. So, I guess that’s what it boils down to, everybody. ‘Man Research’ is about drugs. See you and good night.

I’m just kidding. I’ve never thought about the song’s meaning that much. I need something to discuss on here. Anything with a strong melody’s alright with me. Although Damon Albarn sounds a bit far gone on this one – if that was his intention, he succeeded – the way he ‘sings’ alongside that incessant kick drum always sounded good to me. That ‘yea yea yea’ chorus is very memorable, whether you like it or not. For the last minute and twenty seconds, Albarn become slightly unhinged with every ‘yea yea yea’ repetition to the point where it sounds like he’s either in pain while delivering his vocal or even crying. It’s a bit of a freakout. And it’s those types of strange moments from Gorillaz that I miss. They’re not so strange anymore.

#803: Blink-182 – Man Overboard

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Blink-182 fans know that ‘Man Overboard’ could have been on Enema of the State, the 1999 album that essentially propelled the band to the masses and provided pop-punk anthems like ‘All the Small Things’ and ‘What’s My Age Again?’ It didn’t make it though. The band worked on the song, they made a demo and everything, but couldn’t get the lyrics down so left it on the shelf. A year later, the group released a live album to keep fans happy while they waited for a new studio release, and there ‘Man Overboard’ was in its final form as the ‘last’ track. It precedes a large number of hidden tracks of fart and sex jokes.

The song’s about the band’s original drummer, Scott Raynor, who left/was fired because of his alcoholic tendencies. Well, it hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s more or less what it’s commonly agreed to be about. The song’s title compares the whole departure issue to the moment when a person calls the titular phrase after falling off a ship. Because it doesn’t appear on a ‘true’ Blink album, I think the track is overlooked in a way. Bit of a shame because it’s a really good one. It’s a great show of alternating Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge vocals with Travis Barker going mad on the drums, as was the usual for a long time in the band’s initial run. Fast-paced pop punk with an almost child-like taunting tone to it is how I would describe it in short.

The music video caps off the Enema era humorously. It parodies the videos of that album’s singles, but in the place of the band members are little people. A great way to look at the recent success, and I guess ring in what was then the new millennium.

#802: R.E.M. – Man on the Moon

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I downloaded the Automatic for the People album years ago. A website said that it was a very good record. I didn’t really pay much attention to it though. 2018 was the year I really got into R.E.M., and I went through the band’s whole discography in about two weeks. Automatic was an obvious standout. ‘Man on the Moon’ is the tenth track on there.

Drummer Bill Berry came up with the main chord progression of the verses (a slide from C to D) while strumming a guitar alongside the band’s usual guitarist, Peter Buck. The story goes that Berry reached for something and inadvertently changed the chord he was playing. Buck went ahead and developed upon the idea. Singer and lyricist Michael Stipe heard the music they had come up with, and for a long time had some trouble coming up with words to accompany it. In the end, he chose to write about comedian Andy Kaufman, his career highlights and compares those conspiracies about his death with those about the moon landing. The word ‘yeah’ also appears a lot in there because Stipe was inspired by Kurt Cobain’s use of it in Nirvana songs.

Notable highlights in this song for me are the three way harmonies of Stipe, bassist Mike Mills, and Berry. Those vocals were a staple in the R.E.M. catalogue from the band’s first album. After Automatic they weren’t utilised as much. Whenever that ‘Andy did you hear about this one’ pre-chorus starts with Berry on the lower harmony and Mills on the high with Stipe in the middle, it always feels like this huge change in motion from the preceding verses. Peter Buck’s slide guitar during these parts are quite nice too. Released as the second single from the album in 1992, it was part of a run that cemented the hold that R.E.M. had on the alternative world on the time. I’ll never really know how big the band were then. I hadn’t been born. But from what I’ve read, they were a huge deal.