Category Archives: Music

#904: Kanye West ft. Jay-Z & J.Ivy – Never Let Me Down

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Early memories I have of this track are hearing it play from my old computer’s speakers loudly as my sister ran through The College Dropout album. Would have been back in 2004 when the album was fresh and new, I think she got it for a birthday or something. But while she was watching MTV Base and into hip-hop and R&B, I was into bands and watching MTV2 and other channels of the like. As a result, ‘Never Let Me Down’ was never on my radar. It was always cool when Kanye came out with a new music video or something though.

Nah, it wasn’t until years later that I sat down and properly gave it a listen. I once had a YouTube channel where I would upload albums, back when copyright on there was a lot less strict. The College Dropout was one I put on there, and that allowed to revisit the tracks with new ears. I was 13 at that point, and when it came to ‘Never Let Me Down’ its hook came back to me straight away from those times I heard my sister singing it. Taking ‘Maybe It’s the Power of Love’ by 80s rock band Blackjack and pitch-shifting it to that iconic chipmunk tone that he was all over at the time, Kanye alongside Jay-Z and J.Ivy shift that song’s general message of ‘love conquers all’ to focus on their own respective personal perspectives on things they are thankful for and that have never let them down.

Now I could go all Genius on you and break down every line or whatever. But that’s what Genius is for. I’ll just make known some personal highlights for me from the track. I believe it’s said that when it comes to Kanye, he likes to use vocals as instruments. This isn’t just a new thing that’s arrived. He’s been doing it from the start. It’s clear on here yet again. There’s autotuned vocals, church choir vocals, ‘ooh’ backing vocals that follow the chord progression. It’s a vocal showcase. Then there’s spoken-word poet J.Ivy’s verse that he apparently got on the second take. Quite possibly the emotional centerpiece of the whole track. And although it was recorded for The Blueprint 2, the track was released after Jay-Z had “retired” from the music business, so I think people got excited when he appeared on here with not just one, but two verses. Years have gone on and I’ve seen that fans don’t really rates Hov’s verses ’cause they don’t match the overall tone of the track. I think they’re fine. The way he closes out the track with the sample looping fading out is cold stuff. And Kanye… well, he has a pretty heavy verse too. Pharrell Williams thought so too, judging by his reaction from the video below.

#903: Fleetwood Mac – Never Going Back Again

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I’ve had Rumours in my library since about 2013. Until about last year, maybe even earlier this year, I always thought of ‘Never Going Back Again’ as that nice little acoustic ditty near the start of the album that didn’t amount to much. Just kept the flow of the album moving, you know? But that all changed when I came across a video of Lindsey Buckingham performing the track live at the University of Southern California. I’ll embed the video below, it’s a stunning take. Honestly, I probably prefer that version of the song over what appears on the album. It’s the same song all in all. But through it, I gained a new appreciation.

Like the other Buckingham-penned numbers on Rumours, it’s most likely about Stevie Nicks in some way. But really, the main message Buckingham’s putting out there is he’s been put into these uncomfortable situations in relationships. Been messed around, tossed aside, all those cliché things. He’s been let down and dumped two times (probably more, but that’s how the song goes), and he’s determined not to be put into that position again. Not for a while at least. All this is sung to some very delicate and intricate finger-picking from Buckingham. It’s a style of playing that, judging from the video below, looks very difficult to master. There are plenty of comments online that state the pain and cramps they’ve suffered just trying to get the guitar work right.

In the video below, Buckingham plays the track at a slower tempo and a lower key. Looking at other live takes, that seems to be the way he does it when he’s on the road. Like I said earlier, I may even prefer it that way. It lets the notes ring out for a little longer. But even in the video below, he’s hunched over the guitar fretboard and I want to say is probably concentrating on not trying to mess it up. So I think it’s a testament to his playing that he just does goes through it like it’s nothing on the album. Although I would take a guess that it took a ton of practice.

#902: Nine Black Alps – Never Coming Down

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Nine Black Alps released their debut album Everything Is back in 2005. As you fellow music listeners know, singles have to be released from albums to create a buzz and get people interested. In the band’s case, they had a few to pick from. When they released ‘Just Friends’ as one of those singles, ‘Never Coming Down’ was one of its B-sides – found on seven inch vinyl copies. Once they got all the singles out of their system, the band released something of a post-album release, the Glitter Gulch EP in 2006, which included a small number of B-sides plus a live number recorded for a French radio station. ‘Never Coming Down’ is on there too and was now available to a wider audience because back in the 2000s it’s fair to say that vinyl was not on people’s minds.

The track differs from the majority of those that made it onto Everything Is in that it’s a slow burner mainly led by acoustic guitars. It begins with a drum pattern that remains the same throughout the four minutes the song lasts for. A melodic bassline joins in before those acoustic guitars come in together to fill out the soundscape. The use of the acoustics provide a warm feeling to the ears. They certainly have a relaxing element to them. I particularly like it when that bass slide occurs during the choruses alongside those “ooh” backing vocals. It’s some sweet stuff. The music’s mellow overall, but it’s paired with lyrics about feeling empty, lonely and needing someone to talk to. It’s a conflicting dynamic that’s been done many a time before, but I’m definitely not complaining ‘cos it’s done so well here. You think it’s a comfortable listen, but then you hear Sam Forrest singing about the dread people can feel when they’ve let a friend down. Then it turns into a sad listen. One that makes you ponder. Then the song fades out with the bassline and drums from the start into silence, leaving nothing behind. It’s actually quite a heavy track thinking about it now.

The band had all of their B-sides available to play on their official website about a decade ago. Even the very rare ones that were only available on vinyl. That’s where I heard this track for the first time. I downloaded them from there using a program called Freecorder, which required listening to all of the tracks from front to back while the application simultaneously recorded and saved them onto my computer. It worked, I still have the programme today. Was well worth the time spent. Good thing I did because those songs aren’t up there anymore. You can find ’em on YouTube though.

#901: Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

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With all that I said a couple days ago about ‘Neighborhood #2’, ‘Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)’ is a complete banger, for lack of a better word. Was the first Arcade Fire song I ever heard. Though it was with some hesitance. There was some time in 2005 when its video was playing almost every day on MTV2, and me being nine/ten at the time would usually change the channel whenever that first shot of the video came on the screen and the music started playing. I’d usually try and find other videos to watch instead. But a day came when I decided to see what ‘Power Out’ was all about and why it was taking so much airtime. I pretty much understood after that.

The animated music video shows a bunch of hooded youths cutting the power lines in a city, who are then chased by a group of smartly dressed men. One by one, the men are taken out by the youths culminating in the final man who dies quite brutally by electrocution. The movement of the characters and shot changes match the rhythm of the track, which made the experience of both watching and listening all the more thrilling. But overall, the music just sounded so dramatic and forceful. It begins with all the momentum of a freight train on the tracks and doesn’t really let up until its final chord. Win Butler’s vocals are off the wall. I’ve always liked his delivery in this one. I had no idea what he looked like because the band don’t appear in the video, but it sounded like someone who knew how to put their all into a vocal performance. Funeral had been out for months by that point, so I’m sure a lot of people figured out how good the band were already. But as the introduction to the band that it was for me, it did more than enough to show that the music required attention.

The track’s lyrics were inspired by an actual ice storm in Montreal that left the city out of power for weeks, and the verses depict these of people worrying, celebrating or not caring so much while in this situation. But it brings it down to this real human, emotional level with the “something wrong in the heart of man” sections. I couldn’t tell you what those sections are referring to, but they always make me feel a bit sad inside. Like a lot of songs that I was introduced to around that age, I’ve never gone out of the way to look too deep into the meaning of it. It’s been one of those songs that’s just always been there and existing. I’m very sure though that the core meaning of this track comes in those sections, where it’s all meant to come together. It’s beautiful stuff.

#900: Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)

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As a casual Arcade Fire fan and something of a follower of reception to indie albums, I think I’ve picked up the general feelings about the four “Neighborhood” songs that are on the group’s Funeral album. A record that I think I read changed the shape of indie upon its arrival in 2004. ‘#4 (7 Kettles)‘ is the one no one talks about that much. Many people may like it, but it’s not seen as the best. ‘#1 (Tunnels)‘ and ‘#3 (Power Out)‘ are the classics, with the former generally regarded as the better of the two. So that leaves ‘#2 (Laïka)’ as something of the middle child. The dark horse. It’s appreciated, but probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves. In my case, it’s my personal favourite out of all four.

The track tells a story of Alexander, the oldest brother in a family who leaves home, goes out into the world and purposefully erases his memories of his loved ones who still wish him the best out of that unconditional love that comes with being a family. From the perspective of the younger sibling who acts as the narrative voice compares their brother’s disappearance to that of Laika, the dog that was sent into space by the Russians and died while own its own great adventure. It carries on the themes of family and the idea of ‘the neighborhood’ introduced in ‘Tunnels’, but takes a darker turn from that by touching upon abandonment too.

There are just a lot of musical moments that happen here that draw me to it more compared to the other three ‘Neighborhoods’. Coming straight after ‘Tunnels’ which ends on a beautiful, somewhat strident note, ‘Laïka’ sets the tone with an omninous tom-tom driven drum pattern that’s then joined by jangly guitars, I want to say a xylophone (it’s one of those percussive instruments), and that short melody on the accordion that’s pretty much the anchor of the whole song. A double-tracked Win Butler sounds like he’s singing through a megaphone, like he’s some big announcer telling this story to us. The violins in the choruses add this tense urgency and add to the chaos when the vocals become more intense in the “Older brother, bit by a vampire” verse and culminate in a yelling delivery from Régine Chassagne. Overall, it’s one of those tracks where you can pick out new things each time you listen to it. Like those whistles during the ‘police disco lights’ section. What are those all about? Didn’t need to be there, yet I can’t imagine the song without ’em. A non-‘Neighborhood’ track follows this one on the album, and probably for good reason. Those first two really take it out of you.