#975: Eminem – On Fire

Leave a reply

Is it fair to say that Eminem’s Recovery was the last album in which he actually sounded natural over a beat? Sure, it’s filled with all these poppy choruses that sound like they belong in 2010. But otherwise when the rapping’s going on, there’s never a moment where I’m suddenly put off by how mechanical and static he enunciates some words. On ‘Rap God’ there’s a lyric about rapping like a computer, which is kind of ironic because he’s been sounding like a malfunctioning one on a lot of song since, and I think it started from The Marshall Mathers LP 2 onwards, an album I’ve never cared for, but from what I’ve seen has become known as one of Eminem’s best in his post-classic era. I’m digressing a bit here. If you do agree with what I asked in the very first sentence of this paragraph, then I think the track ‘On Fire’ is a great example of Eminem just rapping well and sounding good over the beat provided, even though he’s not saying anything of great importance.

Seguing into the mix right after the end of previous track ‘Talkin’ 2 Myself’, ‘On Fire’ is led by a hypnotizing boom-bap beat produced by Mr Porter, also known to many a fan as Kon Artis from D12, which very much stays the same throughout the whole track albeit with some pauses and removal of elements to allow Eminem’s voice to take more of the spotlight for brief moments. Speaking of Eminem, he flat out states that this track is no more than “a bullshit hook in between two long ass verses”. It sort of sounds like he’s making fun of the listener for putting any emotional investment into this track, which he’s no stranger to doing. But looking deeper into the lyrics, there’s nothing much that you really have to latch onto. He’s just flowing and rhyming really effortlessly, and not in that way like now where he seems to try and put an emphasis into every internal rhyme he does. He references Flo Rida and Brooke Hogan, throws a shout-out to the track’s producer, and sort of makes a witty remark about Michael Jackson, who at the point of the album’s release had only been dead for just under a year. The whole track is just him reminding us that he’s very good at what he does, culminating in the hooks where he tells us he’s on fire the way he’s able to rap so well.

Although I have written about album opener ‘Cold Wind Blows’ in the past, I can say that that track is no longer in my rotation. Hasn’t been for some time now. And ‘On Fire’ is really the only track from Recovery that I go back to regularly. Like Em says, it’s just a simple hook sandwiched by two long verses. But it’s executed so well that I’m never disappointed by the end of it. The rest of Recovery consists of the most radio-friendly choruses and songs that I’ve just generally grown out of. But there’s still a soft spot I have for the album all the say. It reminds me of being in Year 10 and talking about awesome Eminem was with my schoolmates. But yeah, definitely sounds like it was made for 2010.

#974: Kings of Leon – On Call

Leave a reply

Two and a bit years on from Aha Shake Heartbreak, the time had come around for a new Kings of Leon album. The music video for ‘On Call’ premiered in the UK on Channel 4. If anyone from the UK remembers when Channel 4 used to premiere brand new music videos, shout out to you. But they always showed them at the latest times of the day. I was 11 years old at the time, and didn’t have enough energy to stay up until 11:45pm or whenever time they were showing it. It was some ungodly time, for an 11-year-old at least. My sister, however, did. When I asked her how it was the next morning, though I can’t remember the specifics, I do recall her making a comment on how the camera zoomed on Caleb Followill’s face every time he sang, “Be there.” I asked, “Kinda like Kurt Cobain in the ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ video?” She said, “Something like that, sure.” It wasn’t too long until the video started regularly playing on MTV2. Followill isn’t as unhinged as Cobain was in that music video. But the similarity was there.

Gotta say, ‘On Call’ is quite a strange choice for a single. Especially the first one for an album that fans would have been eagerly anticipating. In a lot of ways, it shouldn’t work. There’s no guitar-led introduction like the other typical KoL singles. Instead, in came these slow ghostly keyboards, with which Caleb Followill joins in not too long after. Even he delivers his lines, one after the other, quite shyly with spaces in between to really make those keyboards heard. Then that ominous tape-echoed bassline comes in with that chugging guitar line on the right by Matthew Followill. All these elements make for quite the mysterious introduction to a song. Then Caleb really starts singing. The “I’m on call to BE THERE” line is one that has a melody that, again, should not work in any way. But then the band properly fall in at 1:18 and everything comes together, it all starts to make sense. Then by the time the guitar solo comes in, you’ve got yourself another classic KoL track.

Think I’ve made it clear in other posts concerning Kings of Leon, but after Because of the Times, things were just never the same. The video for ‘On Call’ sort of marked an end of an era. It was the last video of the band’s in which Caleb Followill had his long hair, something of a remainder from the Aha Shake era. The band released the track ‘Fans’ as a single, but the next music video they would make would be for ‘Charmer’, where those locks were chopped off. Amazing how he looked almost like a completely different person through that act. But I’m not afraid to say I’m one of those fans who think it all went wrong from ‘Sex on Fire’ onwards. I don’t cry and wish they’d go back to their old style though. No point. By this point I’ve made my peace with the matter. But for a while Kings of Leon had us all going.

#973: Nirvana – On a Plain

Leave a reply

You may be a frequent reader on this blog and think, “Hey, where are all the Nirvana songs around here?” And that’s fair. The last song of the band’s I’ve written a post for was ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ in 2015, when I was nearing the end of my second year of university. To tell you the truth, I’m not the most massive fan of Nirvana. Appreciate the songs the trio made for sure. But man, are their songs played a lot or what? Especially in the case of Nevermind. The first half of that album’s lost its effect on me just a little. Except for maybe ‘Breed’, but even then I don’t go to that too much. Nah, while people are fawning over the usual suspects, and I guess ‘Something in the Way’ now thanks to The Batman, I’ll be in the corner jamming to ‘On a Plain’. It’s my go-to song on Nevermind by a considerable distance.

There are some odd moments on Nevermind, and the beginning of ‘On a Plain’ is no exception. A mixture of guitar feedback and what I think is someone attempting to armpit fart in the microphone introduce things for a few seconds. After a brief silence where you’re left to wonder what could happen next, the track starts for real and turns out to be arguably the catchiest three minutes on the entire album. The band come in emphatically on the downbeat, Kurt Cobain immediately joins in with some low-key vocals before ramping things up on the “Love myself better than you” line, where he’s also joined by Dave Grohl on backing harmonies. You don’t really even need to understand what’s going on during the rest of those verses. Those deliveries on the “Love myself…” lines are always killer. If you do want to pay attention to the lyrics, you’ll find that you’ll most likely gain nothing from them, as Cobain makes clear in the track’s final verse. I think it’s one of those songs where the words were written to match the music, rather than to contain any sort of emotional depth. And a lot of times those types of songs are the best ones. Especially for someone like me who doesn’t place much importance in the words anyway.

Apart from wanting to make clear my appreciation for the “Hmm-hmm” harmonies and that killer chord progression during the choruses and Krist Novoselic’s bassline during the verses, I think everything I’ve said in the previous paragraphs is all I have to say on this composition. It’s a bit of a ‘see you ’round’ moment, something of a happier ending to leave you feeling good, before ‘Something in the Way’ comes in and takes that feeling away. And we all know how ‘Endless, Nameless’ goes. This is the only Nevermind track you’ll get from me on here. I know, I know. It’s a shame. I’m much more a fan of In Utero anyway.

#972: Sigur Rós – Olsen Olsen

1 Reply

August 2018 bank holiday weekend. Bit of a personal low point. Got absolutely shitfaced at Notting Hill Carnival, ended up heading to Acton in an almost vegetative state (which is the complete opposite direction of where I needed to go), somehow ordered an Uber with the remaining amount of battery on my phone, fell asleep in the front seat while my phone dropped out of my pocket, and when I woke up at the end of the journey I had no idea where it had went. For about two weeks that phone was in that Uber vehicle. I did get it back luckily, but because I thought it was long gone I had already bought a new one. I went straight back to work on the Tuesday, still feeling like absolute garbage, but luckily the office was a studio where no one really checked what you did. For a reason that I honestly can’t remember now, I decided to listen to Sigur Rós’ 1999 record, Ágætis byrjun, on Spotify. Though I didn’t have any idea what lead singer Jónsi Birgirsson was singing, the music within worked as the greatest hangover soundtrack.

The performances throughout the album sound truly expansive and enveloping in scope, and in the middle of all of them comes Jónsi’s angelic falsetto that brings a comforting tone to the proceedings. ‘Olsen Olsen’ is a prime example of this dynamic. It’s a track that slowly builds, introducing new elements as the track progresses before arriving to a almighty rousing finish. The journey to that climactic ending is well worth it though. Tempo-setting strikes on the ride cymbal are joined by the kick and snare drums. A hypnotizing bass riff then comes in, one that repeats its plucking pattern almost throughout, which is very much the melodic centerpoint of the entire composition. Jónsi and his cello-bowed guitar join the frame, though the latter doesn’t have as much of a presence here than in other songs on the album. A focus is put more on the double-tracked vocal of Jónsi, placed in the left and right channels, who sings in the gibberish language of Volenska. A shift in the melody of the bass occurs around two minutes in, lifting the track ever so slightly, until it all gives way to the introduction of a jaunty flute. Rinse and repeat that paragraph, add a triumphant piano and ‘gang’ vocals and you’ve got yourself eight minutes of some beautiful stuff. That time goes quick though, truly.

Thinking about it now, I think this track was the reason I chose to listen to Ágætis… on that day. A video of the band performing it live, from their 2006 DVD Heima, appeared on the side of another video I was watching on YouTube. It’ll be embedded below. This video had millions of views; it had to be good, surely. And it was. It’s one of those performances where I actually wasn’t sure if it was live, or just a music video where the album audio was being played over the top. It soon became clear that it was the former. Much like the audience in that video, I don’t think I did anything much but pay my full attention to it. Mostly because the music was good, but also likely because I didn’t have the energy to put anything into the work I was meant to be doing. It was a strange time made much better by the discovery of some fantastic music.

#971: The Fratellis – Ole Black ‘n’ Blue Eyes

Leave a reply

The Fratellis were quite a big thing back in 2006/07. At least in the UK. That period of time was one of transition for me as I was moving from primary school into secondary and in the full swing of watching MTV2 in the mornings to see what was going on in the rock music scene. Fratellis came about with ‘Creepin Up the Backstairs’. ‘Henrietta’ followed as the first official release from Costello Music. 11-year-old me thought that was one of the best tracks he’d heard in recent times. Didn’t know when that album was coming, but I knew I had to get it just to hear that song more than however much it appeared on TV. Then ‘Chelsea Dagger’ arrived and blew the walls open. Not particularly for me, never been that a big a fan of it. But its wordless chorus is one you’ll hear at any sporting event or potential drunken night out.

A couple other singles followed. And when ‘Baby Fratelli’ had had its day, it seemed that it would be all until anticipation for the next album got going. So it came as a surprise to me when I saw the video for ‘Ole Black ‘n’ Blue Eyes’ on the TV. I don’t think I ever saw that video played on the air again after that one time I saw it. Maybe the network realised they left it uncensored, the lyric “Just-get-me-fucked eyes” was broadcast as clear as day, and pulled the plug. But even then I can’t remember the track making a huge impression on me after I did the get Costello Music as a present. Or did I buy it myself… Not asking you, it’s hard to remember these things sometimes. It was in my possession at least in 2007. That it was even given a music video and recognised as a single made me revisit the song. Maybe I was missing out on something.

I was, it’s true. ‘Ole Black…’ is the closer on the band’s debut album. Not that the record’s a concept album or anything, but there are plenty of instances where track’s narrators are involved in different situations with women, relaying things they’ve done or said back to the listener. ‘Ole Black…’ is no different, the track concerns the titular character who seems to be down on her luck and the narrator wants to help her out even if he doesn’t really like her that much. But with its slow-rocking acoustic feel and reference to ‘Chelsea Dagger’ the song possesses a real conclusive tone to it. Plus, you gotta love that guitar riff during the outro. That might just be my favourite part of the whole thing. The music video is unlike anything the band were making visually during that time, though once you really understand what’s going on in there you’ll see it actually tells a story with a really heart-warming end.