Strange playlist for today:
"MIA (Piracy Funds Terrorism version)" - M.I.A.
Diplo crafts a dark, miasmatic sound for Maya's darkest, deepest song. Shame it was just tacked onto the released album as a hidden bonus track,with a much weaker mix to boot.
"Co Pilot" - New Kingdom
Wrote all about these chaps a few weeks back, but damn does this sound good; all circular groove, psychedelic through repetition.
"Grooving On An Inner Plane (Black Snake Diamond Role version)" - Robyn Hitchcock
Synthesizer hand claps lead Robyn into a dark place, one that forms the inadvertent link between "Kings Of The Wild Frontier" and "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes". Except it's sorta good.
"Sonja" - Lyle Lovett
The long tall Texan digs deep in his vault and finds a pearl (mixed metaphors are my idiom). From lost love to pick-up tips in just a few lovely verses.
"Fish" - The Clean
What I wanted from Joy Division The Clean provided.
"Slow (live)" - My Bloody Valentine
I read Mike McGonigal's excellent 33 1/3 series book on Loveless this weekend, wherein Kevin Shields cites this song as the first step to the pivotal guitar sound that encompasses that recording. Still one of my favorite MBV tracks; it sounds like what I imagine a Codeine cough syrup high to be. Much more interesting than chopped & screwed.
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2 comments:
Please elaborate re: the Clean and Joy Division?
My musical taste often leans toward the bands that go just over the edge. The Clean had no fear of walking over that line, and I think succeed and fail in almost equal amounts because of that choice. But when they go flying off the cliff and their momentum keeps them aloft they absolutely soar. "Fish" is one of those songs that shouldn't ever end - I want it to be a post-punk "Sister Ray".
Joy Division (at least in studio recordings) saw the edge but didn't seem to even approach it. Whether that was the band or Hannett I don't know, but they come across as in control at all times; it makes "She's Lost Control" so funny, in a way, because the band winds up and revs the engine and then it's done. Even on early stuff like "Warsaw" they seem to be hamstrung in their attempt to let go.
What makes Joy Division so consistent is also what makes me not want to listen very often; there is no release. That tension is a tease, a wind up toy with a broken crankshaft. Joy Division had all the pieces in place to roar occasionally and yet...
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