Tag Archives: down

#1205: Nine Black Alps – Shot Down

Leave a reply

2005’s the year I came to know Nine Black Alps. It’s a story I’ve told before, last time in the post for ‘Not Everyone’. But the summary is, couple videos appeared on MTV2, I wasn’t into them. ‘Not Everyone’ appeared on the radar. I really got into that. And then at Christmas, I got FIFA 06 and Burnout Revenge as presents. The band were on the soundtracks for both games. ‘Cosmopolitan’ on the former and today’s song, ‘Shot Down’, on the latter. Someone at EA Sports must have been a fan. And because of countless hours of playing both games on my part, singing along to either tune in the process, I eventually became one too. Still got my physical copy of Everything Is sitting on a shelf. One of my favourite albums, and I don’t think anyone knows about it.

To a ten-year-old, there’s not much more fun you can think of than crashing cars without having to consider the consequences. And that was essentially what Burnout Revenge was all about. The soundtrack was killer. You had the ‘Red Flag’ demo by Billy Talent which was always better than the final version. OK Go’s ‘Do What You Want’. ‘Helicopter’ by Bloc Party, which funnily enough was in FIFA 06 as well. I could go on. It was stacked. So many great hits. And it always felt so cathartic when you crashed into a car on a specific downbeat or emphatic moment in a tune. Oh, what a thrill. Those were the days, man. Getting choked up just thinking about it now. If ‘Shot Down’ appeared during a race or whatever, it never got a skip. It was another track that added to the pent-up energy the game already provided. I came to later find out that the song as it was in the soundtrack was censored by EA, with the mention of guns and killing sons being slightly altered. It’s funny to hear the EA version now. My mind was made up. I had to get the Nine Black Alps album that all these songs were on. And I did, wanna say a few months later.

‘Shot Down’ is the eighth track on Everything Is. The record up to that point is a whole heavy but melodic affair, bar for the one serene acoustic moment, and ‘Shot Down’ carries on the same feel. Some people listening to the track for the first time may get a sense of rhythmic displacement. Feeling like singer Sam Forrest begins singing too early or something. Explanation is, during the intro, the guitars are struck on the upbeat rather than the down. Knowing this, I can still lose the timing sometimes. Usual guitarist David Jones and then bassist Martin Cohen switched roles on this tune for whatever reason, but the results are still A1. References in the song regarding laying low, saving oneself, hiding guns and killing sons (like I said earlier) reinforce a feeling I’ve always had that the LP had a concept about living during wartime. There’s lots of other references of the like scattered in other songs on there too. So I’ve always thought ‘Shot Down’ is more or less part of that story. What that story is, I’m not sure. I could maybe tweet Sam Forrest about it one day. But I feel there’s a thread there. The music video for it, above, was also the first one the band ever made. So that’s a nice note.

#1203: The Stone Roses – Shoot You Down

Leave a reply

Hey, it’s a tune by the Stone Roses. It’s the first ever one I’ve covered in this whole series too, what do you know. Me and the Roses go way back. I was a small one when ‘Fools Gold’ appeared in the soundtrack of FIFA 2004. It was an oldie to appear in the game, alongside The Jam’s ‘Town Called Malice’, and I became a fan of both in the process. Years followed, and throughout them I’d usually see the Roses on various music channels. MTV2, VH2, Q, all those nice places. Though a lot of the times, it was either ‘Fools Gold’ or ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ that got a lot of the attention on them.

I got to listening to the band’s great, great self-titled debut album in full around 2013 or so. Then revisited it in about 2015. ‘Bye Bye Badman’ became a favourite of mine in that instance. Bit of a deeper cut, but it stood out to me nonetheless. Then maybe in about 2018/19, ‘Shoot You Down’ appeared on the Spotify Discover Weekly playlist. Hearing it on there, separate from the context within the album, I gained a newfound appreciation for it. And that brings me to where I am today. The track’s the ninth one on the LP, sandwiched between two popular ones in ‘Made of Stone’ and ‘This Is the One’, so it’s got a bit of a raw deal in terms of recognition. But I recognise it, so this is my post of appreciation.

This song’s another on the album where Ian Brown displays contempt for what/whoever he’s singing about. For a long time, I figured it was maybe about a girl or something. Now I think he may be singing about the crowds/fans that the bands were attracting. You know, it’s like they’re showing their love for the band, but Brown wants to disappoint them for the hell of it. I think it’s the latter more than anything now, but generally it could all be open-ended. I feel like the song may have begun out of some sort of jam initiated between drummer Reni and bassist Mani, because the music relies on the groove established by the two, while guitarist John Squire lays some sweet licks over the top. All very easy-going stuff, which makes the subtle change in intensity at 1:36 when the vocal harmonies all the more sweeter before settling down for the remainder of the track. A side note, but if anyone remembers The Twang and their song ‘Wide Awake’, I’m sure the Roses are due some credits on that one. The rhythm section is strikingly similar.

#940: John Lennon – Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down and Out)

1 Reply

In 1974, an advertisement was made to promote the release of John Lennon’s forthcoming album, Walls and Bridges. His former bandmate but good friend Ringo Starr provided the voiceover, and two of Lennon’s new tracks were previewed. One being ‘Whatever Gets You thru the Night’, his first number one in the US, and today’s song, ‘Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down and Out)’. Decades later, I came across the latter through seeing the advert on YouTube, and that small clip left me wanting to hear the whole thing. So, I guess that commercial fulfilled its job.

‘Nobody Loves You’ encapsulates Lennon’s feelings and cynical takes he had garnered during his “Lost Weekend” period, a time when he was separated from Yoko Ono and spending his days drinking and getting high with his buddies in Los Angeles. He was ultimately depressed and lonely, but also let down by the critical and public reception of his then-latest music. He had given the world hope with the Beatles. He’d been at the forefront spreading the message of peace and love. He’d laid his soul bare countless times in previous albums. But the indifference in return at the time left he feeling cheated and disillusioned with the music industry. Probably why he decided to retire for a bit not so long after.

Lennon said that the track was one that Frank Sinatra could have sung. Listening to it, you can kind of see why. The tense strings and the smoky-nightclub-esque horn section provide the music this grand cinematic feel, and its crawling tempo lend a feel that the best of those iconic crooners could belt out a note to. Though funnily in a way, Lennon doesn’t go the ‘My Way’ route and instead sings the lyrics in a hushed and rather casual manner. The restraint makes it all the more harder when, after a sweet slide-guitar solo, the music rises with tempo and urgency and Lennon lets everything out on the “Well, I get up in the morning” section. That doesn’t last too long though. The music returns to that of the verses, and after the now quite chilling line “Everybody loves you when you’re six foot in the ground”, Lennon sends us off with some happy-go-lucky whistling. To think, had he not come back with a new record in 1980, this could have been his last original song on an album. It’s not a song to feel happy to when you’re listening, but it’s certainly relatable. Not in the way that we could see it from Lennon’s point of view as an almighty mega-rich superstar. But it ultimately distils a sense of loneliness and cynicism that all of us feel from time to time.

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

Leave a reply

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.

#902: Nine Black Alps – Never Coming Down

Leave a reply

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.