Tag Archives: perfect

#1029: Modest Mouse – Perfect Disguise

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Unfortunately, this’ll be the last track from The Moon & Antarctica that I cover in this long-running series. There are many more that I could cover if I would, but they all precede the letter ‘P’. If you really wanted to know, they would be ‘Gravity Rides Everything’,‘A Different City’, ‘The Cold Part’, and ‘Alone Down There’. Some of you may argue that there should be at least a few clear contenders that should be coming up. But boo you, this is my list. ‘Perfect Disguise’ isn’t the worst note to leave on, anyway.

After the album’s three opening tracks raise the overall momentum to an all-time high – ‘Dark Center of the Universe’ is quite the intense number in particular – ‘Perfect Disguise’ comes in to slow things down and let the listener relax for just a few moments. Its introduction’s a slow build, starting with Isaac Brock’s lone guitar and followed by Eric Judy on bass and Jeremiah Green on drums. Judy’s bassline interweaves with the guitar, harmonising on instances while also maintaining its own melodic path. The three-piece’s performance here on its own is so relaxing, but is also added upon with a wailing guitar and banjo. Some twitchy synthesizers pan around the place during the verses. A great piece of music to just sink into a bed to.

Now, despite the alleviating music, the track’s lyrics concern a narrator’s realization that someone has been using them, or putting them down to in order to look better in comparison when in front of other people, and has chosen to not put up with their antics anymore. The narrator sarcastically wishes this other good luck in whatever these actions will lead them towards. And that’s really all there is to say. The harmonies throughout, which are singing ‘Broke my back’ but what I first thought were just some wordless vocals, repeat as the guitars fade out and alongside some glitch/spooky bleeps and bloops that transition into the next track. By itself, a bit of an erratic, sudden way to end things. When hearing it in the context of the album, though? Totally different experience. I reckon the track’s placement on there might give it a bit of an interlude-type track stigma, but to me it’s always been a highlight of mine for the relatuvely short time I’ve known it.

#1028: Lou Reed – Perfect Day

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So before I knew that ‘Perfect Day’ was a Lou Reed song, I had only heard of it through one of those count down TV programs where celebrities were talking about a certain types of singles from the 1990s. ‘Perfect Day’ was chosen to be the single to represent the BBC Children in Need charity in 1997. It was a cover, and almost each line was sung by a different artist, from Elton John to Dr. John to Boyzone and countless others. I can’t remember what the exact category for that count down program was. But I only remember there was one guy who got a kick out of how Shane MacGowan sang the “It’s such fun” lyric with the most miserable look on his face. I’ll embed the video for it below. You’ll either think it’s all right or straight-up terrible.

Years later I’d find the original through listening to Lou Reed’s 1972 album Transformer, and hell yes this track is one of the best on there. Reed’s all quiet and up close to the microphone during the verses before the track opens up immensely into a grandiose chorus, backed by a glorious string arrangement courtesy of glam rock legend Mick Ronson. The track itself is about thoroughly appreciating the time spent with a loved one, doing things that relationship-people do like going to the movies and drinking in the park. Other activities are mentioned. And overall having a huge boost in mental health, feeling like a good person, rather than the sad, unstable person they would be when left alone for too long.

You see, I like that interpretation of the song. I think Lou Reed means just what he sings here. But a lot of people think it’s about really liking heroin. Then Trainspotting came out in the ’90s and everyone started to agree more that that’s what the song is really about. There’s no reason there couldn’t be a double meaning there. Plus, it wasn’t as if Lou Reed hadn’t covered that topic in another very, very popular song of his. But I truly think it’s as sincere as it gets here. The overall sentiment alongside the almost dramatic nature of the music, well, it’s almost enough to bring anyone to tears.

#1027: R.E.M. – Perfect Circle

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Ah, R.E.M.’s Murmur. I’ve commented on this album before. How I came about it initially, and how I came to ultimately love it. For those not in the know, it’s not a long story. Heard it once in 2013. Went on to completely forget about it. Heard it again in 2017 and thought it was one of the greatest albums I’d heard up to that point. It’s a tie between it and Automatic for the People as my favourite record of theirs. The preference can change day-by-day. What I observed right away with Murmur was that the choruses on every song were downright incredible, even on the sole slower number ‘Perfect Circle’.

The record prides itself on a whole singer-not-making-sense-but-it-still-sounds-great theme, which I think endears a lot of people to it. The lyrics are more for the listener’s interpretation rather than setting a straight-up narrative or trying to signify a message. Placed right in the middle of it all, or as the closer to the first half if you’re a vinyl person, ‘Perfect Circle’ is something of the emotional centerpiece – even though it might be difficult to find something to latch onto with all the vague lyricism. For me, there’s a hint of something clear in the second verse, in which the song’s title is said for the one and only time in the song, where there’s a scene of friends getting together, drinking and enjoying each other’s company. But that’s all I can say at this time. Otherwise, I’m mostly getting lost in the comforting instrumental backdrop of pianos and lightly strummed guitars.

Whether this was well-known before 1998, I’m not sure, but it was that year when R.E.M. were on tour that they began to bring this track back to their live sets, announcing before they’d proceed to play it that the song was actually written by drummer Bill Berry. He had amicably left the band the year prior, and so every performance of the song was in dedication to him. By “written”, I think it would mean musically. Am sure Stipe was always behind the lyrics. But that the drummer was behind the music should be no surprise. It’s just another example of an R.E.M. song where Berry’s musicianship resulted in one of the band’s (in my opinion) best songs.

#840: DJ Shadow – Midnight in a Perfect World

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Mood music at its finest. Took me a real long time to finally get this track. I’d had Entroducing….. in my library since 2014, and my initial reason for downloading it was because I needed some instrumentals for my uni radio show. Plus it’s regarded as one of the best instrumental hip hop albums of all time, so I thought it was worth the time. One – I don’t think I used any tracks from there on my show, and two – I sat through it once and as time went on I pretty much forgot all the stuff on there. I kept the album on the laptop though. It’s meant to be a classic, so maybe I would get it some day.

Fast forward to 2019, and I was going through my library deleting songs/albums that I really didn’t listen to. Needed to free up some space. Entroducing….. was next up, but I listened through it just to come to a final decision. And for whatever reason, maybe it was that I had gotten older and paid more attention to albums, I don’t know. But I definitely liked the album a lot more. ‘Midnight in a Perfect World’ was the clear standout. It’s so good that its keyboard/piano sample appears twice on the album, the first time in ‘Transmission 2’. ‘Midnight’ is so calming, so nocturnal and atmospheric. I had to add it to my phone immediately. And thus it saved the whole of Endtroducing….. from being deleted.

I went to Berlin with a few friends a couple months after that all happened. It was pouring rain from the moment we landed, and once we got to our accommodation and unpacked our things, we went to go around for a walk. Just to get a grasp of the new surroundings and stuff. The rain fell, the skies were grey, it was quiet too, barely any cars around and we weren’t talking so much. And suddenly that loop from ‘Midnight’ just started playing in my head over and over. Seemed to be the perfect music for that moment in time. I’ll always think of Berlin and its not so great weather when I hear this song.