Category Archives: Music

My iPod #193: Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood

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Hi everybody.

Just came back from my presentation evening where all my former colleagues and I received our A-Level certificates. It was really nice. I was dreading going to my old school – just because, well…. it’s kinda crappy. But seeing all my friends and catching up was cool. All in all, a good night was had.

That is why today’s post has come quite later than usual. It’s “Clint Eastwood” by Gorillaz, their first…. let’s say ‘proper’ single ever. You may also know it as the ‘Sunshine in a Bag’ song? Ring a bell?

I can barely remember actually being five/six and seeing this on the TV. Just about. But it’s one of those tracks you’ve heard in an advert, or one which your friends mentions in passing and you instantly know what they are talking about.

The music video did leave me confused on whether Noodle was a boy or a girl. I later found out that she was indeed female, but I do not know how her design in this video was meant to show that.

The track also features Del the Funky Homosapien, the rapper with the song in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3. He and Damon Albarn collaborated quite a bit during the early years of the last decade.

My iPod #192: Eminem – Cleanin’ Out My Closet

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“Cleanin’ Out My Closet” was the bitter, and brutally blunt second single from “The Eminem Show” after the humorous chart-topper “Without Me” in 2002.

Up until the album’s release Eminem’s previous albums contained lyrics alluding to his mother’s incompetence as a parent and his crappy childhood, but this track is the culmination – basically a direct verbal attack at her. Do not worry though, it’s all for justifiable reasons which he makes very clear in the song.

He has now apologised for the song, and has confirmed that he won’t perform it at shows and cringes when it comes on the radio.

Every rapper really loves their mum.

My iPod #191: The Clash – Clash City Rockers

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British punk rock at its very finest. Not much should have to be said about The Clash. I will assume you already know what it is, who the members are/were, the importance of their music. If you don’t I can’t elaborate enough on how much you are missing.

“Clash City Rockers” is… obviously a track by The Clash. It came out as a single in 1978, but was not originally released on an album. The United States sorted that out by putting it as the opening track on the country’s version of the band’s debut album.

The first and numerous following times I heard it was when it played randomly whilst I was playing the DS version of “Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground”. That’s a good game. Very addictive. Got that for my 13th birthday. The DS version actually got better ratings then the previous gen consoles so don’t judge me.

I always think of the track as the band’s ‘theme tune’. Even though they grew out of the ‘simple’ punk and went on to explore further sounds and influences, it just captures the whole essence of what the band is.

My iPod #190: Arcade Fire – City with No Children

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“City with No Children” came at a point in my life where I had no idea what my future held in store for me. I’ll tell you more, I just have to state the basic information first.

Ahem… The song is on Arcade Fire’s third album “The Suburbs” from 2010, and was released as a single too.

So as I was saying earlier, “City” came at a time when I was… quite depressed actually. I hadn’t done so well in my AS levels but did well enough to get back into the second year of sixth form. Every day I went into school wanting to be somewhere else. It was not fun anymore. My friends were the only thing that made the sixth and three quarter hours bearable. I was always thinking towards the future because of uni and everything else. Times were bad.

I’d known the song was on “The Suburbs” and I downloaded the album right when it came out three years ago, but it was in September last year when I decided to listen to the album the whole way through again. The track was the one that caught me on that second listen, just because it was so calming and relaxing. It took me away from everything, you know? You know.

To a lesser extent, the song felt great as the seasons changed from autumn to winter. It seemed to fit the atmosphere perfectly.

My iPod #189: They Might Be Giants – Circular Karate Chop

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“Nanobots” is They Might Be Giants’ sixteenth studio album which the band released earlier this year in March. I was already hyped for its release due to being a massive TMBG fan, and due to the fact that the four songs that the band had revealed before its release date assured me that good things were to come.

The band then went on to stream the whole album their SoundCloud account a week before the album was officially released. How swell. My excitement could not be contained. I went onto that site as soon as I heard.

“Circular Karate Chop” is the second song penned by John Flansburgh to appear on the album after “Black Ops”. It is a real rocker in contrast to the latter, which goes for a more… ‘experimental’ approach. By ‘real rocker’, I mean it contains electric guitars, hard-hitting drums and keyboards which remind me of something I have heard in a cartoon before. Maybe Scooby-Doo, I can’t remember.

It is probably my favourite Flansburgh song off the album. Just a cool pop rock track. Sounds similar to something from the “Factory Showroom” album.