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My iPod #516: The Beatles – Here Comes the Sun

Skiving from a tedious Apple meeting on a sunny day in April, George decided to chill at good friend Eric Clapton’s house. The joy of being there and not at work inspired him to pick up an acoustic guitar and write “Here Comes the Sun”, a song that would become one of his, and the group’s, most beloved songs. Only he, Paul, and Ringo play on the song as John was in the hospital recovering from a motorcycle accident, but every Beatles fan will know that not all of them were needed to make sweet music.

As the listener ponders on what they’ve heard during the abrupt ending to “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)“, George’s acoustic guitar peeks into the soundscape like a beam of light amidst the darkness and begins to deliver the song’s delightful introductory riff before being further joined by a soothing Moog synthesizer and orchestra when Harrison starts his vocal take. It is not long after that that Paul and Ringo give the track its driving rhythm and provide a solid backbone to the track’s cheerfulness and optimism. Filled to the brim with sweet melodies provided by almost instrument bar drums, “Here Comes the Sun” is a perfect example of a three-minute wonder. A great pop rock song if ever there was one.

It took much longer than it should have, but it was during the making of Abbey Road that John Lennon and Paul McCartney finally realised that George Harrison was not as below them in terms of songwriting as they had regarded him to be during the years they were together. At long last. The damage had already been done by that point, though it was fitting that on their last recorded material, George really showed what he was about.

My iPod #515: The Young Knives – Here Comes the Rumour Mill

Excuse the quality of the music video above; YouTube had only been existing for a year when the video was uploaded and couldn’t handle the same standards as it does today.

The Young Knives are a three-piece indie rock band consisting of brothers Henry and Thomas “The House of Lords” Dartnall on guitar and bass respectively, and Oliver Askew on the drums. They were quite the thing in 2006 (not as much as… say Arctic Monkeys were but were still a group that got people talking) releasing a string of enjoyable singles which led up to their debut album Voices of Animals and Men in August of the same year. Took me a while to find out who the band actually was. The original video for the band’s first single “The Decision” was played on MTV at sporadic times but the little animation that showed you the song’s name and artist never showed up. It also made me assume that The House of Lords was the band’s lead singer. Viewing the first video for “Weekends and Bleak Days” and “Here Comes the Rumour Mill” showed that he, in fact, was not.

And, if you didn’t see from the title, the second song is what I will be talking about today. “Here Comes the Rumour Mill” was The Young Knives’ second single released early 2006, and is about the paranoia and mistrust brought about by constant gossiping and rumours. The track is driven by a constantly moving guitar line that intertwines with Henry Dartnall’s vocals amidst a solid rhythm section before the power chords are brought out for a rip-roaring chorus in which Dartnall leaps an octave or so, shouting about the uncontrollable spread of the lies that are spouted by people. I think the track is another one of those that sound so much better when seen with its music video. It’s one that brilliant captures what the song is about visually, and what better way to exhibit it than through having the lead singer aggressively yell with huge bug-like eyes towards the camera, seeing hallucinations brought on by his mental condition? It’s a wild listen, much more so than compared to “The Decision”, and was the track that convinced me that the group was worth listening to. Most definitely my favourite song of theirs.

It’s a shame they gradually faded from the airwaves, but they’re still going strong. Their most recent album Sick Octave came out in late 2013. Still, it’s their first album that I feel most connected with. Takes me back to a simple times.

My iPod #507: Interpol – The Heinrich Maneuver

“The Heinrich Maneuver” was the first single from Interpol’s third album Our Love to Admire, a work that was also their first to be released since moving to major record label Capitol Records. I remember really getting into the song itself when it started to circulate around the Internet in the early summer of 2007; I wasn’t the greatest fan of the band at the time, though I thoroughly enjoyed their songs via the music videos that aired on MTV2 and I was glad that their ‘comeback’ didn’t disappoint. The video for this one on the other hand… could have been a bit better.  It’s cleverly put together, though I would have liked to see the band in it.

Singer and guitarist Paul Banks gets the song off through singing its first line before being joined by a stop-starting guitar riff and drums. It isn’t long until all the members enter the frame, especially former bassist Carlos Dengler who once again executes yet another weaving and inventive bassline to keep everything together.

It is quite a dramatic track. No doubt the bigger-sounding production has something to do with that feeling, but the song’s overall atmosphere gives it that further kick. That spooky false ending, Banks’ energising vocal take (which I’m sure exhibits a range not shown on any of their previous singles), or those synthesized strings during the song’s climactic ending – those are just a few elements out of many which make “The Heinrich Manuever” one of Interpol’s most thrilling tracks in their catalogue.

My iPod #490: Coldplay – The Hardest Part

I’ve never given X&Y a proper chance. Not sure why. But there’s never been a time when I’ve ever had the sudden urge to listen to Coldplay’s third album. I’ve only listened to it the once, so maybe it was a case that the overall package wasn’t that impressive to me. I do, however, enjoy the album’s singles. Out of the six that were released, “The Hardest Part” always gains the most of my attention.

Why? Well, “What If” and “White Shadows” didn’t gain much traction commercially in the UK anyway so I wasn’t able to hear those two as much as the remaining four. “Fix You” suffered from being overplayed that it didn’t have the same effect it did upon first listen, “Talk” was alright but not one of their best, and “Speed of Sound“…… well I actually like that one despite it being hated by the group themselves. But “The Hardest Part” hit that sweet spot. An earnest track about a sense of regret, loss, and the inevitability of having to let things go every once in a while backed up by hefty piano melodies, interesting guitar lines and one of Chris Martin’s best vocal performances.

Wouldn’t be performed by the group nowadays. An underrated track for sure. The music video for it takes away from its subject matter just that bit though.

Mac DeMarco – The Way You’d Love Her “Review”

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. A new song by Mac DeMarco. Great fan of this guy’s stuff. Been a fan for more than a year now. “Salad Days” is a brilliant listen. I listened to that before I did “2” but that is just as good. (Do prefer the former to it, I’m just gonna say). But right here, you get a bit of flavours from the two.

“The Way You’d Love Her” is the man’s first single from the upcoming “mini-LP” entitled “Another One”, which comes out in early August. It is very much more of the same as what you usually get from him. But the stuff you get is of a very good quality. His style’s just one that works every time. May people be tired of hearing the “same song”? Suuuure. But it depends. If you’re a Mac DeMarco fan, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t like this one.

I did think the music and melody of the verses were a lot better than the chorus. Normally I find that in DeMarco’s songs the verses are only the mere teasers before the greater melody is shown in the latter. But that’s how I felt yesterday. Everything will most likely fall into place.

He is coming to Manchester for the Parklife Festival, and I will see him no matter what it takes. 6-7 June, folks.