Tag Archives: little

#755: Bloc Party – Little Thoughts

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‘Little Thoughts’ by Bloc Party was released as a split single with fellow track ‘Tulips’ in July 2004, about half a year before debut album Silent Alarm. The song is very similar in style to the songs that eventually made it onto that album – characterised by a fast tempo, interesting guitar lines by both Kele Okereke and Russell Lissack, and the frantic drumming by former member Matt Tong – but it didn’t make the cut on initial releases of the album, though did appear on re-releases and editions released in the United States.

I didn’t know about this song’s existence until way after Silent Alarm‘s release. ‘Helicopter’ was the first song of theirs that I’d heard/saw and, for a young black nine year old as I was at that time, it was cool seeing a fellow black person being the frontman of an indie band. It was very rare at that time. I wasn’t seeking out albums to listen to at that age and everything I did hear was mainly through the television; whenever a Bloc Party video showed, the music within was usually great and that was more or less how I felt seeing the video for ‘Little Thoughts’. It’s a simple band performance in front of a green screen, but sometimes those are the best kinds of visuals.

Again, like many other songs I discovered at that age, I don’t know much about its subject matter. In the time of writing this, I’ve found one interpretation that the narrator is in love with someone who is of a younger age and wishes that they could go back in time so there would be less of a gap. That sounds fair. Whatever it’s about, it sounds good. And a bit sad, simultaneously.

#754: Queens of the Stone Age – Little Sister

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Hi there, followers. If you read this whole post until the end you will see a picture of the album that this track can be found on. That will then take you to an Amazon link where you will be able to buy that record, should you feel compelled to do so. I’m going to try and update every post on here so this can be done. I’m not sure whether I should direct them to vinyls, CDs, or MP3 downloads. I mean who listens to CDs nowadays? Please, to anyone reading who would be potentially interested, comment below and tell me which format you would prefer me to link to. Want to try and make this blog more interactive, you know? Thanks for your time. Now onto the song.*

For me, ‘Little Sister’ by Queens of the Stone Age is a song that’s always just been there, do you know what I mean? Their music videos would show on MTV2 a lot of the time when that channel mattered and when I saw this one for the first time on there, well, it was clear that the track was very good. And the video just helped to emphasise the track’s atmosphere. I usually associate the song with its video whenever I hear it. The lighting, particularly that deep blue that comes in on the first chorus, and Josh Homme’s Hwoarang from Tekken 3 hairstyle that was never seen again after this video.

The track was released as the first single from the band’s fourth album Lullabies to Paralyze but had been in the works since the Songs for the Deaf sessions. There is a demo take of just the guitar track and Dave Grohl on drums that you can hear online and I will embed that below. Though that has a mind of its own, I think it’s fair to say that what ended up on Lullabies trumps it. What I admire about it is that as soon as it starts with that jam block and the guitar riff, it never lets up. There’s no point where the song slows down and takes a moment to regain composure. I also like that part where guitarist Troy van Leeuwen harmonises on the ‘slowly dancing cheek to cheek’ line. That’s only a split second in what’s an almost three minute song but I think that’s the only other line that gets any harmony on there, apart from the ‘baby’ that leads into the choruses. I don’t know that moment always sticks out to me. And obviously the solo that closes the track out is great too. You can never beat a song ending guitar solo, especially when they’re pulled off well.

And this was all recorded in one single take! I guess there was some overdubbing put on afterwards. But the guitars, bass and drums were at least done live in one go. Always magical when that sort of stuff happens. Definitely deserves to be one of Queen’s signature songs.

*25/08/2020 – I changed my mind about this quite quickly. You’ll find no album cover down here, but you can buy the song from Amazon via a click on the song’s title in the post.**

**15/06/2020 – Forget that footnote too.

#753: The Hives – A Little More for Little You

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Hi there, followers. If you read this whole post until the end you will see a picture of the album that this track can be found on. That will then take you to an Amazon link where you will be able to buy that record, should you feel compelled to do so. I’m going to try and update every post on here so this can be done. I’m not sure whether I should direct them to vinyls, CDs, or MP3 downloads. I mean who listens to CDs nowadays? Please, to anyone reading who would be potentially interested, comment below and tell me which format you would prefer me to link to. Want to try and make this blog more interactive, you know? Thanks for your time. Now onto the song.*

In 2005, ‘A Little More for Little You’ was released as a single from The Hives’ third album Tyrannosaurus Hives. By that time the record had been out for more than a year, and I remember seeing the video for ‘Walk Idiot Walk’ when it was making its first wave on the television and not liking the song very much. So when ‘Little More’ arrived, I was surprised at how catchy and melodic the song was in comparison. (I do like ‘Walk Idiot Walk’ a lot now. A post on that will be done in the far future). The video for ‘Little More’, seen above, was shown quite regularly on MTV2. I wasn’t sure if it was a live performance or a studio recording; further ‘investigation’ showed that it was a mix of both, the banter and audience is live while the song is not.

I always liked ‘Howlin” Pelle Almqvist’s vocals on here. He’s always loose and wild in his delivery and it shows a lot throughout. What also got me into the track at that younger age was the dynamic between the busy verses and the strident choruses. In the verses, one guitar plays on the downbeat while the other plays on the upbeat which creates this jerky rhythm before coming together and playing the same chords in unison when the chorus comes in. I don’t know what it’s about. I’ve always like it sound and always sang along but never thought to look out for its meaning. That goes for a lot of songs that I first saw on TV fifteen years ago which I still listen to now. I don’t see any problem with it, though.

It turns out that The Hives filmed another video for the song. Whether it was before or after the one above, I’m not sure, but the big difference is the audio used was the track as it was first released on the album. I guess, at some point, the band members thought the track didn’t sound as good and could be made a lot better so they re-recorded it. I have to say I do prefer the single version a lot more, though you can hear it for yourself.

*25/08/2020 – I changed my mind about this quite quickly. You’ll find no album cover down here, but you can buy the song from Amazon via a click on the song’s title in the post.**

**15/06/2024 – Forget that footnote too.

#752: Radiohead – Little by Little

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A while ago when going through the Radiohead subreddit, I came across a thread which was based on the topic of the best/worst songs from the band’s album The King of Limbs. There seemed to be a consensus that today’s song, ‘Little by Little’, was considered to be one of the worst ones on there.

I went back to the album at some point last year, and when it got to the track I didn’t think it was bad. The climbing guitar hook was catchy instantly, its drop D tuning automatically gave this dark vibe, and Thom Yorke does his thing of singing words but bot really enunciating. It’s a very decent track.

There is a live performance of it that is considered by many to be much better than the version that appeared on the album. I have come to agree with that opinion. Their live take of the track, which you will see below, just edges it out. I like that it’s a bit slower and it feels a lot less busier than the studio version. You can actually hear the bass too. In the end, there are two versions of this song that everyone can get into so I feel like we’re all winners here.

#751: Ween – Little Birdy

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I am a massive fan of Ween. After listening to GodWeenSatan for the first time in 2015 and being amazed at the thing, I eventually went down a rabbit hole that had me watching every live performance, album, B-side, and rarity made by Gene and Dean Ween (real names – Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo). Pure Guava, their surprising major-label debut, is a favourite of many a fan of Ween. It is probably one of my least favourite out of all their records. Just seems like a sequel to The Pod. I believe both albums were recorded in the same place, possibly in the same sessions too. There’s a huge emphasis on the rhythm and low-end frequencies on Guava though – and this is made clear our of the gate when its first song ‘Little Birdy’ begins.

This track sounds high. Carrying on the lo-fi style that was established on its predecessor, everything sounds like it was recorded on some very cheap equipment. And for the most part, they were. The strung-out bass kinda pulsates as it slides from one note to the other, the drums are somewhat tinny and light to the ear, and I can’t think of a way to describe the guitar. Sounds like a slide guitar but it’s filtered in a way that makes it sound like a completely different instrument. Dean Ween, who ‘sings’ for the first half of the track, sounds totally out of it – like he just got out of bed or probably smoked a bowl two. And Chris Williams, Mean Ween to those who know, is the high-pitched vocal who ‘sings’ the rest and closes the song out. Both lose their timing during in the song, Williams corpses in the middle of one lyric….. this is basically a song that should have no right to exist. And if it did today, people would probably slay and move onto the next thing.

It’s all strangely hypnotizing though. It stuck out to me as a really good song when I first heard it. It certainly sets the tone for what’s to follow in the album. As to what it’s about, I’m not sure. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if the song is actually about a bird that one of the band members saw one day while strung out and became a source of inspiration. They can always make great songs about the littlest of things.