The Presets - "My People" (2007)
Oh joy, electro dance synth pop! It's like I won the musical lottery! Except of course the opposite.
As many popular Australian songs turn out to be, it is a message song dressed up as a pop song so that it is more palatable to the radio censors and becomes more of a ear worm for people so they think of it all the time. This song is about the Australian phenomenon of Boat People. Thousands of people leave lives of poverty and oppression every year in South East Asia by small boat, and travel to Australia looking for a better life. Most are caught and put into mandatory detention centers. The song brings to lights their plight.
The Presets is just about the best name I have ever heard for this type of group. So perfectly on the nose. The Presets is two guys, one on vocals and keyboards, and the other on drums and keyboards. It is all electronically produced noise, and a drum set, though many of the drums sounds are electronic as well. I find the obviously electronic sounds annoying and oddly out of time. Much of the high pitched sounds could have been made by a keyboard in an 80s British synthpop band. The worst offender is the sound that segues from the chorus into the verse. It's so dated I'm pretty sure I had a toy as a child that could make that sound. The lower pitched sounds that are replicating the sound of a heavily feedback looped guitar is less annoying. It's still not great, but it does give the song an angry edge that lets people know that the song might be for more than just dancing. The lyrics are good, evocative and really putting you in the feeling of the people that he is singing about; but the vocals are so processed and monotonous that aside from the repeated chorus I had to pull up a lyrics sheet just to get an idea of what he was saying. This is far from the worst dance influenced synthesizer driven song I've heard, it does some creative things with some of the sounds, and the message is clear if more that a little covered up; but it's just so not my genre, I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about it. And if that wasn't enough, Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas has stated that their 2009 album The E.N.D., which gave us the musically null "Boom Boom Pow" and the truly horrible and musically stupefying track (yes, I'm implying that just by listening to the song you become musically dumber - that's why I'm not linking you to it) "I Gotta Feeling"; sounded the way it did because he spent three months in Australia while "My People" was big on the radio.
Showing posts with label Alternative Dance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternative Dance. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
"Getting Away with It"
Electronic - "Getting Away with It" (1989)
Apparently the lyrics are meant to be a parody of Morrissey and how he had been getting away with portraying the miserable persona for years.
Electronic was Johnny Marr of the Smiths and Bernard Sumner of New Order. For this debut track they collaborated with Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. This is the definition of an English dance band super group. The song has a fairly straight forward dance beat, provided by David Palmer of English New Wave band ABC. Added onto that is a bright cheery piano and a surprisingly subdued string section. About two and a half minutes into the song there is an acoustic Spanish sounding guitar solo. All in all it's a very Euro dance track and somehow I find that to be less annoying than most of the other dance songs I've reviewed so far. The prettiest part of the song is definitely the chorus, the blend of Sumner and Tennant's voices multi-tracked as their own choir is a beautiful sound.
Apparently the lyrics are meant to be a parody of Morrissey and how he had been getting away with portraying the miserable persona for years.
Electronic was Johnny Marr of the Smiths and Bernard Sumner of New Order. For this debut track they collaborated with Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. This is the definition of an English dance band super group. The song has a fairly straight forward dance beat, provided by David Palmer of English New Wave band ABC. Added onto that is a bright cheery piano and a surprisingly subdued string section. About two and a half minutes into the song there is an acoustic Spanish sounding guitar solo. All in all it's a very Euro dance track and somehow I find that to be less annoying than most of the other dance songs I've reviewed so far. The prettiest part of the song is definitely the chorus, the blend of Sumner and Tennant's voices multi-tracked as their own choir is a beautiful sound.
Friday, April 6, 2012
"Paper Planes"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (2007)
Yes, that song from the Pineapple Express trailer.
The song is easy to pigeonhole as the one with the shotgun and cash register sound during the chorus. It's also easy to say it's about weed, or it's about violence. What it is, is gangsta rap filtered through M.I.A.'s Sri Lankan dance influenced worldbeat and heavily bolstered by The Clash's "Straight to Hell". That driving guitar and drum beat with high pitched squeal that sounds like it's provided by an electric violin are all The Clash. Whether M.I.A. and her producers re-recorded it or just remixed it isn't important, that's the baseline. Much like a section of that song was looped to produce the base of this song, "Paper Planes" was sampled and looped to create the base for "Swagga Like Us" by T.I. and Jay-Z featuring Kanye West and Lil Wayne. The oddest feature of the song is that each and every verse gets repeated. It's almost like old church style, where you don't have the missal so the cantor has to sing a line and then sings it again with you.
M.I.A. has said that the song is supposed to reference the immigrant experience. Aside from the line about getting caught on the border I don't really hear it. Even that line can be interpreted as being a criminal; having multiple false visas is a sign of drug dealers as well as illegal immigrants. Almost every other line: "/bona fide huslter making my name/" "/Pirate skulls and bones/Sticks and stones and weed and bombs/" "/We pack and deliver like UPS trucks/" "/Yeah, I got more records than the K.G.B./" "Some some some I some I murder/ Some I some I let go/" (Arulpragasam) represents crime and pride in doing it well. I'm not against songs that glorify violence and criminal behavior per se, but at least cop to it. Don't try to tell me your song about how right your crew is, is actually about the worldwide immigrant and how they are perceived.
Yes, that song from the Pineapple Express trailer.
The song is easy to pigeonhole as the one with the shotgun and cash register sound during the chorus. It's also easy to say it's about weed, or it's about violence. What it is, is gangsta rap filtered through M.I.A.'s Sri Lankan dance influenced worldbeat and heavily bolstered by The Clash's "Straight to Hell". That driving guitar and drum beat with high pitched squeal that sounds like it's provided by an electric violin are all The Clash. Whether M.I.A. and her producers re-recorded it or just remixed it isn't important, that's the baseline. Much like a section of that song was looped to produce the base of this song, "Paper Planes" was sampled and looped to create the base for "Swagga Like Us" by T.I. and Jay-Z featuring Kanye West and Lil Wayne. The oddest feature of the song is that each and every verse gets repeated. It's almost like old church style, where you don't have the missal so the cantor has to sing a line and then sings it again with you.
M.I.A. has said that the song is supposed to reference the immigrant experience. Aside from the line about getting caught on the border I don't really hear it. Even that line can be interpreted as being a criminal; having multiple false visas is a sign of drug dealers as well as illegal immigrants. Almost every other line: "/bona fide huslter making my name/" "/Pirate skulls and bones/Sticks and stones and weed and bombs/" "/We pack and deliver like UPS trucks/" "/Yeah, I got more records than the K.G.B./" "Some some some I some I murder/ Some I some I let go/" (Arulpragasam) represents crime and pride in doing it well. I'm not against songs that glorify violence and criminal behavior per se, but at least cop to it. Don't try to tell me your song about how right your crew is, is actually about the worldwide immigrant and how they are perceived.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
"Out of Space"
The Prodigy - Out of Space (1992)
Early stuff by The Prodigy. Who knew? British dance/rave fans, that's who.
Stretching the limits of what I find to be good music, this five minute long mix of a few samples, a few beats, and a few really annoying sounds is the just about the crystal center of what the British rave scene was all about in 1992. At this point in their career, The Prodigy was basically one guy doing production, and two guys dancing on stage. It wasn't until later that the dancers began singing and playing instruments, so this is all sampled vocals, created drum loops, and found sounds all done up by Liam Howlett.
The first minute actually sounds spacey. Orchestral synth chords are paired with a sound that I think may be a circus organ setting. Then the beats drop in and we've got a very forgettable, but danceable track. Then the song drastically shifts and we get the second section. A Reggae song loop, different drum beats and a really annoying spring "boing" sound. Then, just when you think nothing could be more annoying the first section starts again, this time with vocals sampled in from a Kool Keith song and a squeaking sound that grates on your ears worse than the "boing" though that sound continues as well. The song continues, but really, you've heard it all by this point. There are more sounds added, and the drum loops are actually fairly cool, but the two annoying sounds absolutely kill any enjoyment of this track outside of it's intended time and audience.
Early stuff by The Prodigy. Who knew? British dance/rave fans, that's who.
Stretching the limits of what I find to be good music, this five minute long mix of a few samples, a few beats, and a few really annoying sounds is the just about the crystal center of what the British rave scene was all about in 1992. At this point in their career, The Prodigy was basically one guy doing production, and two guys dancing on stage. It wasn't until later that the dancers began singing and playing instruments, so this is all sampled vocals, created drum loops, and found sounds all done up by Liam Howlett.
The first minute actually sounds spacey. Orchestral synth chords are paired with a sound that I think may be a circus organ setting. Then the beats drop in and we've got a very forgettable, but danceable track. Then the song drastically shifts and we get the second section. A Reggae song loop, different drum beats and a really annoying spring "boing" sound. Then, just when you think nothing could be more annoying the first section starts again, this time with vocals sampled in from a Kool Keith song and a squeaking sound that grates on your ears worse than the "boing" though that sound continues as well. The song continues, but really, you've heard it all by this point. There are more sounds added, and the drum loops are actually fairly cool, but the two annoying sounds absolutely kill any enjoyment of this track outside of it's intended time and audience.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
"Frontier Psychiatrist"
The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist (2000)
"It is the opinion of the entire staff that Dexter is criminally insane."
This song is built almost entirely on samples of comedy records and lesser known songs of the 50s and 60s. The genre can be called a few things, but Wikipedia uses Plunderphonics, and I think its a hell of a word. Recognizable samples include dialogue from the John Waters film Polyester, the strings from the movie Lawrence of Arabia, quotes by Flip Wilson, and choir and horns from the Enoch Light Singers version of Bert Kaempfert's (You Are) My Way of Life. Kaempfert wrote Danke Schoen, L-O-V-E, and Strangers in the Night amongst other songs, but (You Are) My Way of Life was never that big. It is worth checking out though.
All together this jumbled mass of sounds really works well. I think the important thing they did was not to overwhelm the situation and just keep layering sound over sound. It's actually sparse in a way, and makes use of a "chorus" so that we have something to find and use as a center if we do get lost in the sound. Around 3:00 we get a change. The horn theme remains, but the choir drops out and we get quieter. Around 3:50 we get a guitar breakdown that fades us out of the piece. Someone has put together a video breaking out a lot of the samples. Here's a link.
"It is the opinion of the entire staff that Dexter is criminally insane."
This song is built almost entirely on samples of comedy records and lesser known songs of the 50s and 60s. The genre can be called a few things, but Wikipedia uses Plunderphonics, and I think its a hell of a word. Recognizable samples include dialogue from the John Waters film Polyester, the strings from the movie Lawrence of Arabia, quotes by Flip Wilson, and choir and horns from the Enoch Light Singers version of Bert Kaempfert's (You Are) My Way of Life. Kaempfert wrote Danke Schoen, L-O-V-E, and Strangers in the Night amongst other songs, but (You Are) My Way of Life was never that big. It is worth checking out though.
All together this jumbled mass of sounds really works well. I think the important thing they did was not to overwhelm the situation and just keep layering sound over sound. It's actually sparse in a way, and makes use of a "chorus" so that we have something to find and use as a center if we do get lost in the sound. Around 3:00 we get a change. The horn theme remains, but the choir drops out and we get quieter. Around 3:50 we get a guitar breakdown that fades us out of the piece. Someone has put together a video breaking out a lot of the samples. Here's a link.
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