Tag Archives: ways

#1290: Madvillain – Strange Ways

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When writing about the previous Madvillain song beginning with the letter ‘S’ sometime last year, I made a point that I couldn’t quite recall how I felt when hearing it the first time among the other tracks when I was going through Madvillainy in 2013. Also for the first time. But I can’t say the same for ‘Strange Ways’. Out of the 22 tracks that make up that album, ‘Strange Ways’ was the one that my brain matter latched on to. Not so much due to MF DOOM’s signature internal rhyming scheme usage, but because of the sampled loop incorporated by Madlib. It’s common knowledge that the instrumental is taken from the song ‘Funny Ways’ by progressive rock band Gentle Giant. I didn’t know that back then. But the way those strings were rising and that “myy waays are strange” vocal kept on repeating over and over, alongside those added percussive thumps by Madlib, all came together… the song had the melodic hook, it had the beat. It was already a win.

The production was all well and good. It still is. And through repeated listens, I came to focus on DOOM’s words gradually. Now I could go to Genius, paraphrase whatever’s said there. I tend to not trust that place just ’cause it’s fan-run like any other place, except for those times when artists actually go on there and explain/give context on their lyrics. From what I can tell, ‘Strange Ways’ is a moment of social commentary on Madvillainy, firstly addressing the parallels in life between a drug dealer and a police officer in the opening verse and then providing an overall pitch on war and the pointlessness of it all. Unfair in how we’re chosen to fight while the rich people in the offices sit back and watch what happens. And anyone reading this may comment how there’s much, much more to the track than just that. And that might be the case. But you can go to Genius for that. Me, I’m just into how DOOM delivers his words over Madlib’s beat. And some classic lines in here too. “When the smoke clear, you can see the sky again/There will be the chopped off heads of Leviathan”, is a personal favourite.

The last 30 seconds of the track, as it is on the album anyway, are filled by an interlude taken from a ’50s animated short film in which a man finds out that a lady he’s into is seeing someone else. It leads perfectly into the following song on the album, and isn’t related to the lyrical ‘Strange Ways’ in any way. It’s good for the album flow, though, is the only reason I can think of it being tacked on for. That’s all I’ve got, gotta say. And with that, we’ve reached the end of the Madvillainy representatives in this series. No more DOOM either. A little more Madlib to come, however. I made a vow in about 2021 to stop adding songs onto my iTunes library so there could actually be an end to this thing. But I’ve got my Spotify ‘Liked Songs’ collections. There’s more DOOM on there. More DOOM that, had it been another time, I would have dedicated some time to. But I hope the writing I’ve done regarding his tracks are worth the read. The guy was too great at what he did, such a shame he’s no longer with us.

#1125: Ween – Right to the ways and the rules of the world

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Maybe the best way to listen to The Pod is through the way its broken up on its vinyl releases. Split up into four sides, having the time to digest one of those at a time with some breaks in between would probably allow a new listener to at least digest the 15-20 minutes that each side of vinyl provides. I didn’t do this. When I was fully on my Ween exploration in 2015, I dove headfirst into the album on Spotify and listened to it the whole way through. All 76 minutes. That first time was a slog. I don’t know if you know, but the album is known for having extremely shitty production, even though a lot of the songs are classics. At least to us Ween fans, anyway. ‘Right to the ways and the rules of the world’ is only the seventh track on there. On that first listen, it felt like I’d been listening to the album for much longer than when the song arrived. And it also felt like it went on for a lot more than the mere five minutes it lasts for.

Now of course I’m used to it all. The track is a slow, slow one though. Coming after the little non-song of ‘Pollo Asado’ (a very popular one for Ween people), ‘Right…’ is what I believe to be a mimic of those old, melodramatic ’70s progressive rock songs by bands who would write about things like folklore or traditions of the past… myths and legends and the like. Gene and Dean Ween take on this melodramatic route, singing about nothing but a bunch of silliness – brilliant imagery though, gotta be said – all of which is crowned by the aloof harmonies that recite the song’s title phrase. “Monsters that trinkle like cats in the night/The cosmic conceiver continues his plight.” Those are just the first couple of lines.

The screeching organ that blares throughout is the melodic linchpin throughout the song, really hammering home that sort of medieval type of sound that I think the song’s going for. Something of a vocal chameleon, Gene Ween puts in another captivating performance. Increasing in intensity throughout, it culminates in the final verse where he lets out a shriek and then falls into a fit of laughter as the instrumental continues. Some people may argue that the song takes some momentum out of the album’s proceedings. Whatever “momentum” that may be, going through this album can feel like being in a state of purgatory sometimes. It’s just as essential as any other track on there, I feel. The production is so murky, you could almost choke on it. But the song at the core of it stands strong.

#1109: …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – Relative Ways

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So I guess that around May/June time will be 10 years since I first listened to Source Tags & Codes, the 2002 album by …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The album got the rare 10 rating on Pitchfork, a decision the publication even questioned themselves in the review for the next record the band made. But me being the Pitchfork-head I was a decade ago thought the album had to be really good, one-of-a-kind, if they gave it a 10. And, yeah, I was fully convinced on that first listen. The songs are dramatic, sometimes enchanting and mysterious, sometimes melodic, sometimes noisy… feelings and dynamic vary all across the spectrum. The band had three songwriters, and their personalities showed in the respective tracks they sing lead vocals on. I liked that aspect too.

Yet, with all that being said, it’s not an album I really seek to listen to in full these days. Been like that for a while, actually. I guess it just tapped into attitudes that the 19-year-old person I was had that the soon-to-be 29-year-old probably lost along the way. It’s a sad thing, to be sure. That doesn’t stop the fact that there are some great songs on there. Two of them I’ve already written about, I think they’re just timeless, and ‘Relative Ways’ is the third and final one from the album and by the band that’ll get a post on this place. I swear, it’s a coincidence that the three songs I like the most from the record are sung by guitarist Conrad Kelly. I would suggest ‘Heart in the Hand of the Matter‘ if you want to hear a song by drummer Jason Reece, or ‘Baudelaire’ by former bass player Neil Busch to get other perspectives. But I guess it’s Kelly’s work that left the largest impression.

‘Relative Ways’ marks the start of the reflective final leg of Source Tags…, which comes to an end with the emphatic title track closer, and, to me, it seems to be a case of a song that’s about the process of writing a song. Kelly expresses his difficulties in trying to sum up what he wants to say, what with literally everything that happens in the world, either naturally or manmade, but finds solace in that whatever happens will happen and it will all come together eventually. It could take a lifetime, or a couple of days, but the ideas will form and something will come out of it. I guess it must be rather frustrating being a person whose job it is to write songs but to feel like anything you try to compose is terrible, and Kelly envisions a saint coming down from the heavens to forgive for any mistakes he’s made that’ll help him to carry on. So overall, it’s a very optimistic song about letting things happen and self-forgiveness. It’s awesome, really. Moments I enjoy: The switch-up between 3/4 and 4/4 time in the instrumental breaks, Kelly’s shouting vocals for the song’s second half and how the guitars drown out his voice in the tension-building section near the end. Makes for some good, good listening.

#842: OK Go – A Million Ways

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You didn’t know OK Go had another dancing video, did you? No, it’s always been the one with the treadmills that got all the attention. Well, here in the UK at least, ‘A Million Ways’ came before ‘Here It Goes Again’ by at least a year or something. Though the latter was the video that skyrocketed OK Go’s name in the business, and got them doing the treadmill act at the MTV VMAs in 2006, ‘A Million Ways’ was probably the track that really started it all.

This was the first track I ever heard/saw by OK Go. Didn’t know that they had something of a hit with ‘Get Over It’ in 2002. The video showed up on the Amp music channel. All I know was that there were these four men dancing this somewhat elaborate routine. To a ten-year-old me, I thought it was truly captivating stuff. I probably didn’t catch the music as much, but I certainly couldn’t forget the video. The band held a contest on YouTube allowing people to do the ‘Million Ways’ routine. If I had been older and had friends who were into the same music as me, I could have done it. I do remember doing the dance at primary school, just at playtime or whatever. People thought it was funny. It’s not that great doing it solo though.

For a while there in 2006, OK Go was one of my favourite bands. YouTube was now a thing and you could watch music videos on there, it was pretty revolutionary at the time. During that time, I found the video for ‘Invincible’, ‘Do What You Want’ was a single and appeared on the soundtrack for Burnout Revenge. All these songs I liked. ‘Here It Goes Again’ and its success capped off that good year for the band.