Category Archives: Music

#647: Blur – It Could Be You

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I may have said this before but just to reinforce it again, I prefer The Great Escape to Parklife. I realise that the latter is recognised as Blur’s first classic album, it was immense for British culture during the time it was released. The former is mostly seen as Parklife‘s weaker follow-up nowadays. It also doesn’t help that none of the bandmembers don’t look on The Great Escape very fondly either. When it comes down to it, I enjoy a lot more songs from that album than I do its predecessor.

‘It Could Be You’ is a track from The Great Escape, released in 1995, and was also released as single – only in Japan – the following year. It is predominantly inspired by The National Lottery, which had recently become a thing around the time the album came out, with its title taken from the initial slogan that was used to promote the whole ordeal. Damon Albarn sings about what he could do if he were to win it, or at least sings from the perspective of someone who wishes to, alongside various phrases and observations on British society that he was prone to during those times.

Like a lot of songs on Parklife, the track is rich in melodies and general catchiness, pepped up with enthusiastic ‘doo-doo/ooh-ooh’ vocals here and there and quite the keen vocal take from Albarn. Actually, a lot of the vocals here seem almost camp in a way…. like it could be a musical number or something. Though it does help that they’re backed up by a relatively strong performance from Graham Coxon’s guitars and the rhythm section of Alex James and Dave Rowntree. Check out the fuzz bass that comes in for a brief moment during the chorus. It took me a while to realise that was even there.

#646: John Lennon – Isolation

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Completely forgot to do this yesterday, I don’t know what happened. Lapse in concentration I’ll put it down to. Hopefully what I go on to say was worth the grueling wait.

My passion for the Beatles truly came into fruition at the beginning of this decade. Come to think of it, I’ve been a Beatles fan for ten years almost exactly to the day. Though it was 2010 when I began venturing into the members’ solo ventures. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was the most shocking out of them to me. Not ‘shocking’ in that it scared me, though those screams at the end of ‘Mother’ made 15-year-old me quite uneasy, but here was John Lennon – the funny guy from the group with the sharpest wit and cheek – full of rage and singing about how much pain he was in….. It’s a great listen though. One of the best albums ever, in my opinion.

I remember ‘Isolation’ being one of the songs that I warmed to straight away. It’s a slow blues-type number with a swing-feel to it. Like the other tracks on the album, the production is very sparse and dry but the instrumentation fills up the soundscape, particularly those climbing notes from the piano. Lennon, who plays the keys, is accompanied only by Klaus Voorman on bass and Ringo Starr on drums.

Just my own thoughts here but I think the song’s greatest strength is its tempo. The rhythm is just so perfectly timed that when the bridge comes in via Lennon’s elongated note, it makes every pound on the piano and cymbal crash hit so much harder. I feel like punching a hole into a desk when the very final chord of the track suddenly brings things to a halt, it’s all very cathartic.

#645: Hot Hot Heat – Island of the Honest Man

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Does anyone else remember when Windows Media Player had this option where you could search for a song on the internet and add it to your own playlist after the program provided a link to the website where the file was hosted? I think it was called the ‘guide’? Something along those lines. It wasn’t such a great tool as the music was very scarce. Not always in great quality either. It wasn’t like now where you can virtually listen to anything now because of Spotify and the like. But to build on my initial question… I think that is how I came to hear today’s song for the very first time back in 2005, and it’s probably one of the better songs from the album it’s on.

‘Island of the Honest Man’ was the initial promo single from Hot Hot Heat’s second album Elevator, before ‘Goodnight Goodnight’ was released as the proper commercial track some time later. In 2005 I was ten, and I guess there was something about this track that I thought stood out from a lot of other things I was listening to around that time. The clangy guitar in the verses is very sharp and biting in its delivery. Its general fast tempo and the way the timing changes during the transition into the chorus. The chorus is fantastic too. There’s a very uplifting sense about it, something I’ve got from those fluid summery guitars that back it up. I don’t think the track excites me as much as it did way back when but I still get into its groove when its momentum gets going. Also recently I noticed that there’s a guitar part that harmonises with the lead vocals during the last choruses. That’s pretty cool.

I guess because I heard it at that young age I never considered what the lyrics are about. Though mainly from its chorus, it’s about finding this place where you can do whatever you want to do without being judged. Be yourself. All of that sentiment.

#644: Teenage Fanclub – Is This Music?

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‘Is This Music?’ is the instrumental that closes out Scottish power pop/alt rock band Teenage Fanclub’s album Bandwagonesque, released back in 1991. I remember listening to this album for the first time, in 2014 according to my computer, and… do you ever have those moments when you hear an album’s first few songs and think – ‘It feels like I’ve known this thing for years ‘cos there is no bad song on here so far’….. or something along those lines? Well, that’s how I felt with this one. Immensely inspired by the work of Big Star, the tracks on Bandwagonesque are quality – all characterised by a grand sense of melody, rhythm and generally great songwriting.

Like a few others on the album, ‘Is This Music?’ is written by the band’s (now former) bassist Gerard Love who actually plays the lead guitar refrain that repeats throughout the song. Norman Blake, another songwriter in the band and usual rhythm guitarist, takes the bass here. There’s nothing much I can say about the track as there’s no vocals nor message that needs to be deciphered or figured out. It’s a great piece of music that although repetitive doesn’t tread the line of annoyance because the licks on here are so memorable. It’s the final point on the album that says thanks for listening, we’re out of here.

Some may also know this as the backing music that played during the ‘goal of the month’ compilation for Match of the Day during the 90s.

#643: The Strokes – Is This It

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This is it. The title track and opener on The Strokes’ debut album from 2001. And a lot argue that it never got a lot better than this. I’ve said I’m more into Room on Fire in the past but ‘Is This It’ is definitely one of The Strokes’ best songs, in my opinion.

Everything about it sounds so simple, warm and cozy to the ears; it is a song that couldn’t see anyone not liking for any particular reason whatsoever. Two seconds of silence are interrupted by the sound of a tape reel rewinding, before the track’s slow drum rhythm comes in along with the first guitar and Julian Casablancas’ trademark croon. The verse transitions into the first chorus where the second guitar is introduced, but it’s when that bass line kicks in on the second verse that the track is complete. It’s the full package. If you don’t like the hop/skipping catchiness of the bass with basically everything else you hear…. The Strokes aren’t for you. The band gives you what they’re all about right here in the short duration of time the song lasts for.

Did you know that the sound at the beginning is actually a take of ‘Someday’ that’s been sped up to a crazy amount and progressively been slowed down? It’s interesting to hear, if you care that much.