Tag Archives: disco

#1315: Beastie Boys – Super Disco Breakin’

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On 4th May 2012, Adam Yauch, known to you and me as “MCA”, passed away after succumbing to parotid cancer. It didn’t come out of the blue. He had revealed that he found a cancerous lump in 2009, but then there was hope that all would be okay. Everyone wanted it to be. I know I did. So it was sad and definitely a shock when I saw the headline on Ceefax, of all things, that he died. Before then, I hadn’t listened through a full Beastie Boys album. So one of the first things I did to commemorate the man who was MCA, was listen to Hello Nasty. I then uploaded the album, in sections, to YouTube. Just felt like the right thing to do. Why Hello Nasty? Well, I think I had ‘Intergalactic’ as a song by itself in my iTunes library, and I knew ‘Body Movin” and ‘Three MC’s and One DJ’ from seeing their videos on the TV. All three are on the LP. So I thought, “Might as well listen to the whole set.”

‘Super Disco Breakin” is the first song on Hello Nasty. To get things off to a grand opening, there’s what I think is a nod to the Beatles’‘Back in the U.S.S.R.’ nod, with the first sound the listener hears being one of an airplane taking off. The instrumental hook, a synth or sample – I’m not sure, gets going amidst some random record scratches. In the background, MCA utters the words, “Yeah… Get down,” before the kick drum starts thumping and Ad-Rock properly gets things rolling with the great first line, “Well, it’s 50 cups of coffee and you know it’s on”, accompanied by Mike D and MCA on certain words for added effect. When Hello Nasty was released in July 1998, it had been four years of waiting for a new studio Beastie Boys album. And I think the only way to think of ‘Super Disco Breakin” is as the introduction to this new offering to show that they were back. Almost half a decade as passed since their last LP, the three members were solidly in their 30s (well, Ad-Rock was 31), but they still had their infectious energy, their interplay, the respectively distinct vocals… the things we know and love the Beastie Boys for.

And those aspects are all showcased in the two short minutes of the song’s duration. The trio are completing each other’s lines within the first few moments, going back and forth between words, while a hectic, bustling beat carries on in the background. The way the lyrics bounce from one rapper to the next, panning around the stereo setup in the process, you never know which way to look or where things are going to end up. But what counts is the immense sense of fun you can tell the trio are having just by performing. In addition, there are little vocal samples and splices added in to fill in the emptier spaces which are very cool. One notable example is the split-second Run-D.M.C. vocal from that group’s tune ‘Sucker MC’s’. After the second and final iteration of the chorus, more samples enter the mix shouting out the city of Manhattan – one from a Kool Moe Dee and Busy Bee tape, and another unconfirmed. It’s just cool the way the word ‘Manhattan’ is blurred and mixed in with the record scratches. Someone asks “What’s up?” at the song’s very end, a straight cut to silence occurs. A great statement to start an album off with.

My iPod #64: The Wombats – Backfire at the Disco

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Evening again.

“Backfire at the Disco” was released as a single from The Wombats’ first album “A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation” in 2007. It reached #67 in the charts.

At that time no one really knew who the band were, and so they re-released it in 2008. It reached #40 in the charts.

The band was another that played on MTV2 when they first came about on the scene, and so there wasn’t a day when this song wasn’t playing on the channel.

I didn’t really like the song back then. The song that really got me into them was “Kill the Director”, which will be coming up later many years from now.

The song includes a trademark vocal that the band used throughout their first album and then abandoned in their second. You know how on “Employment” by Kaiser Chiefs, almost every song (or single, I haven’t listened to all of that album) included a part where a build up in tension was signified by an “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh *breath* oooooohhhhhhhhh woooooooahhhh ooooooooooooooh”?

Well, on “A Guide to Love” almost every song (I can say that this time as I own the album, and have listened to it) includes a “woo” or an “ooh” section, either as back up vocals or as a break between a verse and a chorus or something.

Both bands are similar in that when they both abandoned those vocals, their second albums didn’t do as well. I haven’t listened to “This Modern Glitch”, and probably won’t. I would stick to their first if I was you.

The song is about a person who goes out on a date, and it almost goes well until they go to the disco and everything goes wrong. I’m sure many people have been through this before. I guess.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #18: Brakes – All Night Disco Party

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This one’s for all the Catholics out there. Pope Francis all the way.

Got MTV2 to thank for this song again. You guys might not know a lot about Brakes. So I’ll probably just give you the gist.

Brakes are another British band, from Brighton this time, who formed in 2003. They released their first single, ‘Pick Up the Phone‘ (song starts at 0:21), and followed that up with the song above. Those two singles can be found on their first album ‘Give Blood’ which got quite good reviews, even from Robert Christgau and Pitchfork. They also go by the name BrakesBrakesBrakes in the US.

This song is so hypnotic. The bass groove, the descending guitar riff in the verses…. The repetition of the song title just sets a tone of anticipation, you’re walking with your mates down the street to the biggest party that has been hyped for months. You find the door, you hear the thumping music, and then you walk inside. That’s when the chorus comes in.

EAST WEST. NORTH SOUTH. LEFT RIGHT. CROQUE-MONSIEUR, CROQUE MADAME.

Yes, the chorus doesn’t make any sense at all. When I first heard the song, I thought that the lead singer was speaking in a different language/from a different country altogether. I think Brakes are known for their nonsensical lyrics, I mean listen to ‘Porcupine or Pineapple‘, or ‘Hey Hey‘ for example. Don’t let that take away from the song’s message though, who cares about anything when you’re at an awesome party? You don’t listen to the lyrics in the music, you just dance around and hopefully get some.

This song would be suitable to play at any party. At least an indie disco party anyway.

Also, for more information on a croque-monsieur and croque-madame, click here.

Until next time.

Jamie.