Tag Archives: memory

#880: Dananananaykroyd – Muscle Memory

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Ten years ago, Scottish band Dananananaykroyd released their second album, There Is a Way. The day it was released was the beginning of the final week of my GCSE exams. But I didn’t even know that the band were even making any new music until the video for ‘Muscle Memory’ – as you can see up there – was shown on Channel 4’s breakfast music show Freshly Squeezed about a week later, I want to say. It might have even been on the last day of my final exam. Anyone remember that show? Freshly Squeezed? Anyway, I thought the track was great from the moment I saw it. Helped that the band looked like they were all having some good times in the video too. Right before it got into the shouty bridge, the video cut out and the show presenters moved on to something else. But I was left with enough. The knowledge that D’Kroyd were back with a new album. And an urge to see how the track actually ended.

By the time I saw that video, I was now a free 16-year-old who didn’t have to go to school for three months. The world was my damn oyster. So I watched the rest of that video on YouTube and downloaded There Is a Way as soon as I could. And I loved that album too. It was probably my album of the summer. And ‘Muscle Memory’ was always one of the highlights from there. The ascending riff that starts it off just sets everything in motion, and when all the other instruments join in the track is given this extra bounce that always gets my foot tapping. Vocalists Calum Gunn and John Bailie Jnr sing in unison, harmonise and alternate the lines they sing. It’s all generally a very fun listen. And what is about? Well, after some consideration in the past few weeks, I think it’s a song that’s meant to explore the relationship of a band/artist and its fans. How fans want to get closer to a band by trying to decipher their lyrics, reading their reviews, or playing along to their songs by learning them on the guitar. Dang, I think this tune’s so great. Hasn’t lost its energy ten years on.

So taking you back to 2011. There Is a Way had been out for a few months. There I was, excited for any new music videos from the band if they decided to release any more singles from it. And then out of the blue, they announced that they were to split up after their UK tour. Have to say, I was just a bit bummed out. But then again, listening to the last song on that album, the clues were there. The band had felt that they’d done their part, and from some articles I’ve seen they didn’t think they could go on with a band name as strange as theirs anyway. I miss ’em. But they have two albums that captured that essence of pure energy and joyous noise that the band were all about. And for that, I can’t be too sad.

#831: The Dismemberment Plan – Memory Machine

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A common theme that I realised runs through The Dismemberment Plan’s 1999 album Emergency and I is that in every song, the verses never sound quite right. Upon first listen, there’s always an odd not being played or the rhythm’s always changing and coming down on the offbeat. They’re never played very normally. Then the choruses come in and your floored by how melodic and memorable they are. The hooks on this album are really unbelievably good, especially those in the more rocking, frantic numbers. ‘Memory Machine’ is one of my favourites on there.

I remember listening to the track for the first time hearing how the bass stops and starts with the erratic drum pattern in the back, and trying to make out what was happening. Travis Morrison mumbling these words underneath this rhythm section, then it’s suddenly a few seconds of just noise before he actually gets into the first verse. There’s a lot of anxious energy built up in those opening moments. But when that first chorus hit, all the lights seemed to switch on. From then on, it was somewhat easy listening. ‘A Life of Possibilities’ had left me intrigued, but it was ‘Machine’ that properly made me excited for how the rest of the album would turn out.

The song’s about wishing to be immortal while having all of our bad memories removed from our systems so we won’t be overwhelmed by them. Basically about being turned into robots, because if we’re our lives are being made easier by the innovations in technology, then why can’t we be machines ourselves? Travis Morrison brings up some good points in this song. But I also think he depicts the horror it would be if we were all turned into robots, the way he’s screaming the very first part of the song to the listener at the end. It’s a track that’ll make you think, but also leave you feeling very pumped up when it’s over.

#830: Deltron 3030 – Memory Loss

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Maybe I should properly dive into Del the Funky Homosapien’s discography. Every time I hear his voice on a beat somewhere, I’ve always ended up enjoying the song. Gorillaz’s ‘Clint Eastwood’ came around in 2001, at that time I didn’t know it was him, but his rap speaks for itself on that one. Those are two classic verses on there. Then Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 came out. Del was on the soundtrack with ‘If You Must’. But I didn’t put 2 and 2 together to figure out it was the same guy. Obviously I did later on. And fast forwarding much later to about 2013, I found that it was widely agreed that the first Deltron 3030 was the best album he had been featured on. So, I listened to it. And though I can’t really say if I agree with that statement because I don’t have anything to compare it to, it’s a solid record to say the least. It’s a sci-fi rap opera about the state of the world in the year 3030, that’s quite radical.

‘Memory Loss’ is the last proper song on there. It’s followed by the closing interlude which funnily enough features Damon Albarn as the narrator. This album came before the Gorillaz debut, just remember that. Even before Del starts rapping, I was taken by those horns and that boom-bap beat that immediately begins it all. But then he begins with the phrase “You try to get over, you’re gonna go under”. And when you’re thinking about what he’s just said, he even says himself “What’d that fool say?” before repeating it with a strong conviction. He knows what he’s talking about. Then he proceeds to rap about people forgetting where they came from and the general state of the world in his eyes. After the rest of the album, it’s a great closer to sum up everything that’s occurred over the past hour or however long it lasts for.

Got a good descending bassline that I don’t think changes throughout. And I never realised that the guitar/string hook that plays during the verses is a sample. Gotta thank Genius for that telling me that. Sean Lennon also comes in with a short verse too. I’ve ran out of things to say, so I’ll leave this how it is. Hope you enjoy the song, it is up there, but search for the 3030 album too. It’s a trip. I’ve got some solo Del to listen to, myself.

#829: Deerhunter – Memory Boy

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My first Deerhunter song on here too. Two first timers in two consecutive posts. It gets crazy around here. Deerhunter was another band I discovered when I was in my first year of uni and trying to find new music to listen to. Particularly through Pitchfork. I also think I was just downloading any good album I could find so I could plays songs from there on the radio show I used to host on the uni’s radio station. But anyway, Deerhunter are cool. I think I enjoy a lot of the individual songs than their full albums… but 2010’s Halcyon Digest is the one of theirs that I can play through from front to back with no problem at all.

Today’s song, ‘Memory Boy’, is taken from that record. It’s a cheery tune about parental abandonment that lasts for just over two minutes. The song’s narrator remembers being a young boy and seeing his father leave with the television. The dad comes back to see him every day in October and play carrying the smell of weed on him. The the narrative flips around to the father’s perspective as he’s unable to recognise his son the more he gets older. A sad situation, right? But with that cheery guitar melody on the right and that blaring major-chord harmonica in the middle, it’s hard to tell.

Now, I know I said this was the first Deerhunter song that here. You’d think that would imply that there would be more to come. In the process of writing this, I’ve realised it could be the last one too. At least for a while, anything could change. All of the songs I really enjoy by them are before the letter ‘M’. But I’ll state them here just because they deserve a shout out. ‘Don’t Cry’, ‘Basement Scene’, ‘Coronado’ – all from Halcyon Digest, all great in my eyes. You should probably listen to that album all the way through though. ‘Agoraphobia’ is a wonderful song. I’d also recommend ‘Back to the Middle’ and ‘Backspace Century’. Some good ones to get accustomed to. Thank you for your time.