Tag Archives: my ipod

#645: Hot Hot Heat – Island of the Honest Man

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Does anyone else remember when Windows Media Player had this option where you could search for a song on the internet and add it to your own playlist after the program provided a link to the website where the file was hosted? I think it was called the ‘guide’? Something along those lines. It wasn’t such a great tool as the music was very scarce. Not always in great quality either. It wasn’t like now where you can virtually listen to anything now because of Spotify and the like. But to build on my initial question… I think that is how I came to hear today’s song for the very first time back in 2005, and it’s probably one of the better songs from the album it’s on.

‘Island of the Honest Man’ was the initial promo single from Hot Hot Heat’s second album Elevator, before ‘Goodnight Goodnight’ was released as the proper commercial track some time later. In 2005 I was ten, and I guess there was something about this track that I thought stood out from a lot of other things I was listening to around that time. The clangy guitar in the verses is very sharp and biting in its delivery. Its general fast tempo and the way the timing changes during the transition into the chorus. The chorus is fantastic too. There’s a very uplifting sense about it, something I’ve got from those fluid summery guitars that back it up. I don’t think the track excites me as much as it did way back when but I still get into its groove when its momentum gets going. Also recently I noticed that there’s a guitar part that harmonises with the lead vocals during the last choruses. That’s pretty cool.

I guess because I heard it at that young age I never considered what the lyrics are about. Though mainly from its chorus, it’s about finding this place where you can do whatever you want to do without being judged. Be yourself. All of that sentiment.

#644: Teenage Fanclub – Is This Music?

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‘Is This Music?’ is the instrumental that closes out Scottish power pop/alt rock band Teenage Fanclub’s album Bandwagonesque, released back in 1991. I remember listening to this album for the first time, in 2014 according to my computer, and… do you ever have those moments when you hear an album’s first few songs and think – ‘It feels like I’ve known this thing for years ‘cos there is no bad song on here so far’….. or something along those lines? Well, that’s how I felt with this one. Immensely inspired by the work of Big Star, the tracks on Bandwagonesque are quality – all characterised by a grand sense of melody, rhythm and generally great songwriting.

Like a few others on the album, ‘Is This Music?’ is written by the band’s (now former) bassist Gerard Love who actually plays the lead guitar refrain that repeats throughout the song. Norman Blake, another songwriter in the band and usual rhythm guitarist, takes the bass here. There’s nothing much I can say about the track as there’s no vocals nor message that needs to be deciphered or figured out. It’s a great piece of music that although repetitive doesn’t tread the line of annoyance because the licks on here are so memorable. It’s the final point on the album that says thanks for listening, we’re out of here.

Some may also know this as the backing music that played during the ‘goal of the month’ compilation for Match of the Day during the 90s.

#643: The Strokes – Is This It

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This is it. The title track and opener on The Strokes’ debut album from 2001. And a lot argue that it never got a lot better than this. I’ve said I’m more into Room on Fire in the past but ‘Is This It’ is definitely one of The Strokes’ best songs, in my opinion.

Everything about it sounds so simple, warm and cozy to the ears; it is a song that couldn’t see anyone not liking for any particular reason whatsoever. Two seconds of silence are interrupted by the sound of a tape reel rewinding, before the track’s slow drum rhythm comes in along with the first guitar and Julian Casablancas’ trademark croon. The verse transitions into the first chorus where the second guitar is introduced, but it’s when that bass line kicks in on the second verse that the track is complete. It’s the full package. If you don’t like the hop/skipping catchiness of the bass with basically everything else you hear…. The Strokes aren’t for you. The band gives you what they’re all about right here in the short duration of time the song lasts for.

Did you know that the sound at the beginning is actually a take of ‘Someday’ that’s been sped up to a crazy amount and progressively been slowed down? It’s interesting to hear, if you care that much.

#642: The Who – Is It in My Head?

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The ninth track on The Who’s 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia is just another introspective moment out of many on the album. Its protagonist has…. a lot on his plate – to keep it short and sweet – and is trying to figure out things he can do to try and make himself a better person without coming across as too eager or looking a fool in the process. By the end of the track, he gives up altogether and declares total apathy for anything in the following song ‘I’ve Had Enough’.

For the longest time I thought Pete Townshend sang the chorus. In actual fact, it’s bassist John Entwistle who takes the lead with Roger Daltrey singing the verses. Speaking on Daltrey, this album was definitely his vocal peak. He belts out every howl and bellow from the gut. I can only try and replicate the song’s ‘I feel I’m being followed’ bridge but would never be able to reach those notes with as much gusto.

Daltrey’s voice is really the focal point throughout. As the track is quite mid-tempo, there isn’t as much room for the rapid drum fills or inventive bass lines from the rhythm section. Townshend does add some guitar flourishes here and there, particularly to transition between verses and choruses. Still, it’s another emphatic and cathartic performance by all four members capped off with some warm synthesisers in the mix too.

#641: Nine Black Alps – Ironside

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‘Ironside’ opens the second half of Nine Black Alps’ 2005 album Everything Is. Coming right after the acoustic track ‘Behind Your Eyes’, it’s a bit of a smack in the face and something just to say ‘right, back to what we were doing for the first five numbers’.

This album is a 10/10 for me. It really hasn’t lost its effect on me after thirteen years of owning it and listening to it. I’ve seen in places that people feel that the band where the Nirvana influence on their sleeves. I don’t get that. Nirvana has never come to mind when I’ve listen through. I’m sure there is a band from the past they sound like. And even if they do, there’s nothing wrong with that. Nine Black Alps do their own thing very well, and I don’t think they ever got better than their first record. I don’t have much to say about the song itself which is why I’m rambling on a bit. I think it may be about self-harming and having a bleak outlook on life in general. It’s a real rocker though. Quite intense.