Tag Archives: lost

#772: They Might Be Giants – Lost My Mind

Leave a reply

They Might Be Giants’ ‘Lost My Mind’ was initially released on a teaser EP leading up to the band’s then upcoming Nanobots album in 2013. Alongside it came ‘Call You Mom’, a rocker about a narrator with mummy issues, and ‘Black Ops’, a stranger number that was a bit more experimental. ‘Lost My Mind’ was my favourite on that collection and stayed as one of my highlights when the album eventually came out.

In this song, John Linnell takes the phrase of ‘losing someone’s mind’ and puts it in a very literal sense. The narrator’s mind has gone missing, they think they might have misplaced it somewhere, and if it’s buried underground they’re not going to go digging for it because they don’t have the time. Some fans of TMBG really wish to understand the meaning behind a lot of the band’s songs. Sometimes they’re so surreal that it makes a lot of listeners wonder what Linnell and Flansburgh are on about. I’m not sure there’s much in ‘Lost My Mind’ to deeply understand though. It’s one of the few where you just have to take it as it is. I think that’s an aspect that makes it stand out to me.

Also there’s bags of melodies in here that I can’t help but sing along to. The track has a bit of a wandering feel to it. In contrast to ‘Call You Mom’, the track that preceded it on the Nanobots EP, ‘Lost’ is a slow burner and the guitars in your face as much. It’s midtempo, carried by a blaring keyboard played by usual guitarist Dan Miller and a steady rhythm section. John Linnell sings the lead and does so very well. I like the final chorus in which John Flansburgh sings the backing while Linnell holds out a longer note and sing together to create a good countermelody. That’s something to look out for.

#771: Kanye West ft. Bon Iver – Lost in the World

Leave a reply

So pretty much two months from now, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West’s magnum opus, arguable to some – will have been out for 10 years. I wonder how West will commemorate it. Probably with a Twitter rant of some kind. He probably won’t. He has admittedly said that he doesn’t care for the album that much and considers it a backhanded apology for that VMA incident in 2009 that made him one of the most hated people in America. I was 15 years old when the album came out, but somehow completely missed the GOOD Fridays campaign that led up to it. For all I knew, ‘POWER’ was the only song he’d released before it. I want to say that I remember the exact first time I listened to it in full… I can’t. I do remember listening to it a lot in those first few days though. I was just glad he was rapping again. A decade has passed and it’s a bit of a bummer, a bit scary too.

‘Lost in the World’ is the final track on the album in which Kanye is present. Very much the climactic point of the whole record. It’s largely based on the song ‘Woods’ by Bon Iver, and I think West bought that band’s leader Justin Vernon into the studio to re-record some lines as well as just add some vocal embellishes on there too. The whole message of the track? Basically, being a rapper in this crazy world and dealing with the struggles that come along with it. And it’s done amidst this massive musical backdrop of pummeling percussion, synthesizers, vocal samples, live choir-vocals…. the lot. The track is essentially its chorus repeated with elements built on top with each iteration, apart from one sole verse from West full of contradictions that was later confirmed to be inspired by Kim Kardashian.

The only thing that bugs me about this song is that following outro, and the album closer, ‘Who Will Survive in America’ is its own separate track. ‘Lost’ feels horribly incomplete without it. If the birthday skit with Chris Rock was appended onto the end of ‘Blame Game’, why couldn’t the same be done with ‘Lost’ and ‘Who Will Survive’? Whatever. That’s just a minor thing for me. I’m there are a lot of people who appreciate the separation. Despite this minuscule issue I hold, there’s no denying that both tracks are worthy of their place in closing out one of the greatest hip-hop albums of this century.

#770: The Wombats – Lost in the Post

1 Reply

I may not have listened to a Wombats song since about 2011 but I still enjoy a lot of songs from their first album quite a bit. ‘Lost in the Post’ is one of them. There’s nothing too deep about it. The lyrics concern the end of a relationship where the two involved just aren’t very compatible, and the narrator admits that it’s his own doing that has probably closed the affair a lot sooner. Once it’s over the lady seemingly vanishes into thin air, disappears, and is compared to those Christmas letters that children write for Santa which get sent to some unknown area.

It’s a great sing-along, I can’t really say much more. I don’t know who writes the melodies as all of their songs are credited to all three bandmembers, but lead vocalist and guitarist Matthew Murphy sings them well. There’s a weariness in the vocal delivery, I think, that appropriately matches the lyrical subject matter. And the rhythm section of Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass) and Dan Haggis (drums) support Murphy up with the ‘ooh-ooh’ backing vocals that are a constant throughout the whole album. Possibly the only thing about the track that I’ve fallen out of favour with is the ‘Go to Santa’ bridge which seems to last forever. It’s a bit repetitive. Has some great interplaying backing vocals during that section too though, which perks things up quite a bit.

The band made an actual video for this track though it doesn’t feature the song as it appears on the album. It seems to be a much older version recorded way before the group were signed to a label. The recording sounds a bit rougher; Murphy sounds considerably younger. It’s the same song, but I much prefer the final version.

#769: Danny Brown – Lost

1 Reply

‘Lost’ by Danny Brown has a bit of an unfair position in the tracklist of Atrocity Exhibition, sandwiched between ‘Really Doe’ – the posse cut featuring Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt – and ‘Ain’t It Funny’ which is one of the most insane hip-hop tracks put to tape. Because of this, ‘Lost’ can seem almost like an interlude; it’s just short of two and a half minutes in length and there aren’t so many production tricks that will wow you immediately on first listen. But it’s those extra listens that reveal how substantial the track is.

What grabbed my attention the first few times was the instrumental loop that keeps the track flowing. Taking a few seconds from Lena Lim’s ‘Flame of Love (戀之火)’, producer Playa Haze creates a strange, skipping backdrop of a stuttering vocal and a wandering horn melody that adds to the spooky vibe. Reminds me of RZA’s production on 36 Chambers which isn’t a bad thing. Danny Brown comes in with no restraint, comparing himself to Stanley Kubrick and a pimp within the first few opening lines of his first verse.

This track, keeping in the same tone with every other song on the album, details Danny’s descent into his downward spiral, but also looks at things in a more confident and optimistic manner(?). Before Brown was a rapper he made and sold cocaine to get his racks up, and now that he is famous he has all the money he needs to buy a whole lot of it. Despite the rampant drug use, he still never managed to get too far gone and kept his head in the game to get success. I think that’s a lesson that’s worth learning. I guess Brown was fond of the track, and so made a music video for it as you can see above. It’s more disturbing than what I envision when listening to the song. Make of it what you will.

My iPod #384: The Magic Numbers – Forever Lost

Leave a reply

So The Magic Numbers apparently released their fourth album this year…. I didn’t even know. Whether the band were still together was a question that popped into my head, before I went onto Wikipedia and saw that they, in fact, are. The group might not have so much mainstream success now, but about ten years ago – when guitar music had a greater chance of chart success – The Magic Numbers put the work in.

“Forever Lost” was the first single released from the band’s debut self-titled album in 2005. I distinctly remember the track’s music video appearing almost every day on MTV2, and every time I saw that first frame of that cartoon clock I switched the television to another channel. I did this countless times. The video never seemed to go away. So I gave in. I gave in, and found out that the song wasn’t actually that bad after all. In fact, it was a very sweet and pleasant song to listen to. And I had to admit that the video was a bit cute too. I was ten, don’t judge.

This cheery, upbeat tune about someone who doesn’t know where they belong anymore got the band their first top twenty hit. And for good reason. If you don’t feel anything listening to those soft vocal harmonies, general calm vibes and the melodica usage then…. this clearly isn’t for you. Come back tomorrow, though.