Tag Archives: my ipod

#833: They Might Be Giants – The Mesopotamians

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I’ve gone on about They Might Be Giants being a great band on here many a time. You don’t have to hear that again. I guess I’ll say, to stray away from the praise, that the album The Else is maybe one of my least favourites of theirs. Weren’t expecting that were you? Any TMBG fans reading who really like The Else, don’t want to grind ya gears. There are just a lot of songs on there that I don’t feel very strongly about. The ones that I do though, I have a great love for and written about. Except ‘Feign Amnesia’, I started liking that one a bit too late to make a post about it. But today’s post is dedicated to the album’s closer, ‘The Mesopotamians’.

Another song of They that only John Flansburgh and John Linnell could write. Gonna go on a limb and say that it’s mainly written by Linnell. He sings the lead vocal on here. This may be the only song in existence that even touches upon ancient Mesopotamian mythology. I did learn a bit about a Mesopotamian tale with Gilgamesh in my first year of university. But I’ve forgotten about that, and I’ll continue to pretend that Mesopotamia was led by the four characters as described in the Giants song. Within the track, Mesopotamia is described as this barren place that is ruled by the heroes of Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashiburnipal and Gilgamesh as they go around the place as a travelling band. They drive around in their van and play shows to no one, but they etch their lyrics into the ground with hope that anybody in the far-distant future stumbles upon them. There’s a reference to the whole Beatles ‘Paul Is Dead’ conspiracy theory in there too.

It’s a cheery number. It’s not a track that shouts ‘album closer’ to me. I saw the tracklist, saw it was the last song on the album, and when it ended I was still surprised that nothing came afterwards. There’s not that sense of finality to it. But that doesn’t stop the track itself from being an enjoyable one. It’s a playful take on these ancient figures from years and years ago which I assume are meant to be taken seriously. Nothing bad about that.

#832: Alkaline Trio – Mercy Me

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This’ll be the one and only Alkaline Trio track you’ll find on this whole thing. I’ve got no problem with them; I’ve never taken the time to listen to more of the band’s music. Maybe there’ll be another song on here one day. For now though, this is it. I can kinda remember seeing the video for ‘Time to Waste‘ back in 2005. Actually, it was played quite a bit on MTV2. And I thought that was a cool song. Then the video for ‘Mercy Me’ started showing some time later, and I thought it was much better.

Taking it in as the ten-year-old I was at the time, I liked that the track was less heavy and had what I thought was more of an accessible melody to the voice. There’s a nursery rhyme, child-song like quality to it that makes it very easy to remember. I think the lyrics concern being bored with life and loneliness, which makes it one of those downer songs with an upbeat rhythm and tempo. Those types of songs always get to me, especially when they’re done well. This one is no exception. It may also be about life on the road. I don’t really know, I’m just guessing here.

The bass player takes the lead vocal for part of the chorus, and I think I remember reading that this was something of a big deal around the time. Maybe it was the first one he had done apart from doing backing vocals. He does have a good voice for the music, I have to say. I also think that my mum liked this one too just for a while, but that’s neither here nor there. Just because I’ve linked to all the singles so far from Crimson, I’ll throw in a shout-out to ‘Burn’ which was the album’s last single. Didn’t get into that as much. But someone out there will feel different.

#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.