(no subject)
Songs I am currently in love with:
Mission Of Burma - What We Really Were (such a gorgeous song. I keep wanting to mention this band in my dissertation on punk because they really are one of my favourites, but there was always so much more to them than punk so it's hard to find a place to talk about them. I mean come on, harmonies? Tape loops? The artwork of Max Ernst? That never did fit in with american punk. Still, they were as close as america had to the sheer more-punk-than-punk brilliance of Wire)
Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown (writing my dissertation and reading up on various punk resources has rekindled my love and respect for Black Flag. Without a doubt the most important american punk band of all time. No question)
Fugazi - Promises ("Together we will be forever", "Stupid fucking words. They tangle us in our desires", "Promises are shit", "Go where you think you want to go. Do everything you were sent here for. Fire at will if you hear that call. Touch your hand to the wall at night." "Promises", "Words". This song is near perfect is lyrics, melody, musicianship, sound, mystery, meaning... everything. This song is very very important to me)
Billy Bragg - Island Of No Return (I usually don't feel as much for Braggs political songs as much as his love songs, but there's something about this tale of Falklands-war-isolation that really moves me. Maybe it's just the performance. I love the way he sings lines like "Me and the Corporal out on a spree, damned from here to eternity" and "I never thought that I would be, fighting fascists in the Southern Sea, I saw one today and in his hand, was a weapon that was made in Birmingham")
Muse - Citizen Erased (whilst I don't consider myself a Muse fan, I could listen to this song several dozen times a day, which I have done for the past week at least. It's just everything I could possibly want from Muse. There's really no point listening to anything else by them, this song is their entire essence distiled into 6 minutes)
Biffy Clyro - Eradicate The Doubt, The Ideal Height, Questions & Answers, Bodies In Flight, Now The Action Is On Fire (Scotland seems to have more than its fare share of overlooked indie rock bands, but none moreso than Biffy Clyro. After their first album they were unfairly written off as unoriginal Nirvana/Pixies wannabes. So no one really paid attention to the genre hopping fury of their magnificent second album The Vertigo Of Bliss, which i have recently rediscovered. When I first got it I was impressed but also confused by its inaccessibility, but now I;m utterly in love with it. The unusual time signatures, ridiculous song titles (particulary Toys Toys Toys CHOKE Toys Toys Toys), poignant and memorable lyrics, and sheer bravery of the music is everything I look for in modern indie rock.
Mission Of Burma - What We Really Were (such a gorgeous song. I keep wanting to mention this band in my dissertation on punk because they really are one of my favourites, but there was always so much more to them than punk so it's hard to find a place to talk about them. I mean come on, harmonies? Tape loops? The artwork of Max Ernst? That never did fit in with american punk. Still, they were as close as america had to the sheer more-punk-than-punk brilliance of Wire)
Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown (writing my dissertation and reading up on various punk resources has rekindled my love and respect for Black Flag. Without a doubt the most important american punk band of all time. No question)
Fugazi - Promises ("Together we will be forever", "Stupid fucking words. They tangle us in our desires", "Promises are shit", "Go where you think you want to go. Do everything you were sent here for. Fire at will if you hear that call. Touch your hand to the wall at night." "Promises", "Words". This song is near perfect is lyrics, melody, musicianship, sound, mystery, meaning... everything. This song is very very important to me)
Billy Bragg - Island Of No Return (I usually don't feel as much for Braggs political songs as much as his love songs, but there's something about this tale of Falklands-war-isolation that really moves me. Maybe it's just the performance. I love the way he sings lines like "Me and the Corporal out on a spree, damned from here to eternity" and "I never thought that I would be, fighting fascists in the Southern Sea, I saw one today and in his hand, was a weapon that was made in Birmingham")
Muse - Citizen Erased (whilst I don't consider myself a Muse fan, I could listen to this song several dozen times a day, which I have done for the past week at least. It's just everything I could possibly want from Muse. There's really no point listening to anything else by them, this song is their entire essence distiled into 6 minutes)
Biffy Clyro - Eradicate The Doubt, The Ideal Height, Questions & Answers, Bodies In Flight, Now The Action Is On Fire (Scotland seems to have more than its fare share of overlooked indie rock bands, but none moreso than Biffy Clyro. After their first album they were unfairly written off as unoriginal Nirvana/Pixies wannabes. So no one really paid attention to the genre hopping fury of their magnificent second album The Vertigo Of Bliss, which i have recently rediscovered. When I first got it I was impressed but also confused by its inaccessibility, but now I;m utterly in love with it. The unusual time signatures, ridiculous song titles (particulary Toys Toys Toys CHOKE Toys Toys Toys), poignant and memorable lyrics, and sheer bravery of the music is everything I look for in modern indie rock.