Tag Archives: my ipod

#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.

#750: The Who – Little Billy

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1968 was something of a transitional year for The Who. After 1967’s The Who Sell Out didn’t do as commercially well as the band – especially songwriter and guitarist Pete Townshend – thought it would, the group went straight back to work on making another album. That record, obviously, never saw the light of day – but some of the songs that were made for it (‘Glow Girl’, ‘Faith in Something Bigger’) were eventually released on Odds & Sods, a compilation of rarities and outtakes released in 1974. Others, like ‘Dogs’ and ‘Call Me Lightning’ were released as standalone singles.

‘Little Billy’ was due to be a single in that year too. The track was written for the American Cancer Society, I’m guessing so the band would prosper from advertisements and association with the company, but when it was taken to their executives it was swiftly forgotten about and left in an office for a number of years. Not very nice that that happened, as the track probably deserved more than nothing at all. It’s a peppy tale about the titular character who gets teased by his classmates for being fat. As they all grow older Billy stays somewhat healthy in comparison to those children who once teased him, who ‘one by one’ pass away due to cancer caused by smoking. Billy, being the ‘big man’ inside and out that he is, takes in the kids whose parents have died as his own. It’s a very cheery song but has quite dark lyrics – it works very well.

Got great vocal harmonies shared by Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle that were quite typical in ’60s Who recordings. And Keith Moon goes crazy on the drums and at one point gets a bit lost when carrying out the fills, before somewhat getting into the beat again. Above is the 1996 mix of the track, but the original 1974 release seems to be somewhat faster and in a higher key. I’ll put that down below. By the end of 1968, The Who were in the studio making Tommy and that worked out very well for them.

#749: Anderson .Paak – Lite Weight

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Anderson .Paak’s Malibu was released in the first month of 2016. I was working at a music magazine during that time, something I’ve gone on about numerous times before, and I’d seen that Pitchfork had given it an 8.6 and a Best New Music tag. So I thought “It’s worth a shot.” Opened Spotify, pressed play, and…. I just had that feeling from when .Paak first starts singing on ‘The Bird’ that the album wasn’t going to disappoint. It’s always a bummer when you make a blog series like this and all this new music comes out. ‘The Bird’, ‘Heart Don’t Stand a Chance’, and ‘Come Down’ – all of my personal highlights from there. But today’s post is dedicated to ‘Lite Weight’, which comes in halfway through the record.

This track is a vibe and a half. Being where it is on the album, I get the feeling that a lot of people may not know as much about. It is a bit repetitive too; it’s only made up of the chorus and a small verse where the lyrics are always the same. But the vocals are silky smooth and good for the soul. There are some low-pitched vocal samples here and there and shouting ad-libs are thrown in the moments where no-one’s singing. Are these details important? Not very. I can never get over just how good this song sounds with some headphones on though. It’s beautiful stuff. The main message of the song is ‘there is no time to be lightweight.’ This could mean no time to be shy in life and being brave enough to make a name for yourself. Or it could be a drug reference somehow, I’m not too sure. It’s the only song whose beat is created by producer Kaytranada; it was a good sign whenever he and .Paak were both on a track, as would be made clear on their other collaborative effort ‘Glowed Up’ from Kaytra’s 99.9% album.

Anderson .Paak has continued to make some great music since 2016. I still think Malibu‘s his best album though. There are just so many musical ideas and twists and turns on there that make it a very adventurous listening experience.