Daft Punk - "One More Time" (2000)
An absolute classic of the genre, and responsible for thousands and thousands of imitators.
I think it goes without saying that I think this song is terrible. It is almost everything I found bad about music in one long repetitive track. That being said, I will attempt to find some nice things to say about it. The middle section, starting around 2:22 is not as annoying as the rest of the track, because the drum machine has been turned off. They use a great bass sample even if they claim that it wasn't sample. If they played it themselves, great. The song ends so surprisingly abruptly I thought YouTube had choked. The lyrics are very upbeat.
Showing posts with label House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label House. Show all posts
Friday, June 15, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
"Move Any Mountain - Progen 91"
The Shamen - "Move Any Mountain - Progen 91" (1991)
This song was so popular that whole albums of remixes were released.
The entire U.K. was in love with this song and one of the albums released had sixteen samples from the song broken out on separate tracks so that the home listener/burgeoning dance producer could create their own version. The song is a blend of electronic effects, drum track, orchestra hits, really tinny keyboard solos, drone-like spoken verses, an out of nowhere rap, and a positive message melodically sung for a chorus. I like the message and in fact I think the vocals here are pretty good. The drone, and the mechanical nature of the music makes me think of being beaten down and defeated, but the verses and chorus are uplifting and both of the rap interludes are upbeat. Such powerful positive lyrics means that on second listening I can't help but hear the song as more about positive energy, but I still say on first listen that such a mechanical sound and droning verses makes the song seem downbeat.
The Shamen started life as a psychedelic indie rock band from Scotland. Over the course of a few years they lost some vocalists, a keyboardist, and their drummer, so that by 1990 they were just four members, two of which had never been on an album. One of those was a female singer, who appeared on the Album En-Tact but not this specific track. Rap vocalist Mr. C was also new to the band, but you can hear him twice on this track. Will Sinnott had been with the band a few years as bassist, vocalist and keyboardist, and rounding on the act was only original member left; Colin Angus, on guitars keyboard and vocals. As the four got together to record the album, they continued on in the direction of electronic dance music, which Sinnott and Angus had been pushing the band towards since their previous album. The new dance sound gave them the biggest hits of their career to that point, and so they were given money to record a video. Tragically, just days after the video for this song was shot, Sinnott drowned in the very waters they had been filming in. The band continued to record and perform, getting more popular until finally imploding in a huge fight with their label in 1996, though they did release an independent album in 1998 before splitting for good.
This song was so popular that whole albums of remixes were released.
The entire U.K. was in love with this song and one of the albums released had sixteen samples from the song broken out on separate tracks so that the home listener/burgeoning dance producer could create their own version. The song is a blend of electronic effects, drum track, orchestra hits, really tinny keyboard solos, drone-like spoken verses, an out of nowhere rap, and a positive message melodically sung for a chorus. I like the message and in fact I think the vocals here are pretty good. The drone, and the mechanical nature of the music makes me think of being beaten down and defeated, but the verses and chorus are uplifting and both of the rap interludes are upbeat. Such powerful positive lyrics means that on second listening I can't help but hear the song as more about positive energy, but I still say on first listen that such a mechanical sound and droning verses makes the song seem downbeat.
The Shamen started life as a psychedelic indie rock band from Scotland. Over the course of a few years they lost some vocalists, a keyboardist, and their drummer, so that by 1990 they were just four members, two of which had never been on an album. One of those was a female singer, who appeared on the Album En-Tact but not this specific track. Rap vocalist Mr. C was also new to the band, but you can hear him twice on this track. Will Sinnott had been with the band a few years as bassist, vocalist and keyboardist, and rounding on the act was only original member left; Colin Angus, on guitars keyboard and vocals. As the four got together to record the album, they continued on in the direction of electronic dance music, which Sinnott and Angus had been pushing the band towards since their previous album. The new dance sound gave them the biggest hits of their career to that point, and so they were given money to record a video. Tragically, just days after the video for this song was shot, Sinnott drowned in the very waters they had been filming in. The band continued to record and perform, getting more popular until finally imploding in a huge fight with their label in 1996, though they did release an independent album in 1998 before splitting for good.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
"The Bomb (These Sounds Fall into My Mind)"
The Bucketheads - "The Bomb (These Sounds Fall into My Mind)" (1995)
The title itself is a mondegreen. The actual lyric is: /Street sounds swirling through my mind/ (Wolinski)
Imagine your surprise when I tell you that I can't stand this song. This seems to be some of the least creative sampling, looping, and adding of any dance song I've ever heard. Based almost entirely on Chicago's "Street Player" on their universally panned Chicago 13 I can hear almost nothing that doesn't come straight from that 1979 critical and commercial flop. The drums that sound like a trash can being played too loud over a decent Latin dance beat while a 60's era "red alert" type sound plays are new. So credit to that can go to Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez who was 100% of The Bucketheads. The vocals are Peter Cetera of Chicago, the horns are other members of the Rock/Jazz fusion group. The song was already a disco song for the band, so the dance beat is not even new. I don't really care for the original track by Chicago, but at least it is that, original.
The title itself is a mondegreen. The actual lyric is: /Street sounds swirling through my mind/ (Wolinski)
Imagine your surprise when I tell you that I can't stand this song. This seems to be some of the least creative sampling, looping, and adding of any dance song I've ever heard. Based almost entirely on Chicago's "Street Player" on their universally panned Chicago 13 I can hear almost nothing that doesn't come straight from that 1979 critical and commercial flop. The drums that sound like a trash can being played too loud over a decent Latin dance beat while a 60's era "red alert" type sound plays are new. So credit to that can go to Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez who was 100% of The Bucketheads. The vocals are Peter Cetera of Chicago, the horns are other members of the Rock/Jazz fusion group. The song was already a disco song for the band, so the dance beat is not even new. I don't really care for the original track by Chicago, but at least it is that, original.
Monday, January 2, 2012
"Destroy Rock & Roll"
Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll (2003)
"...Missing Persons, Duran Duran, Missing Persons, Duran Duran, Duran Duran, Duran Duran..."
The vocal is a sample of a religious diatribe against popular culture by an unknown member of the Church Universal and Triumphant. The sample is a list of musicians poplar during the 80s. Mylo created the electric drum heavy musical track. I like the cowbell that shows up through the song. Basically the whole song is a man reading names and a computer created track playing behind it.
Un-sourced opinion is that Mylo did all the graffiti art in the video as well. If so, I like him much better. The song is forgettable, but some of the stencil art is great fun. I really like Tina Turner as her own legs, ZZ Top as a negative space portrait studio photo of themselves, and Big Country as the lower 48 states, even though they are from Scotland. I love Thompson Twins as Charlie Chaplins looking at each other, and the best one of all is The Cars as a Volkswagen Beetle, followed immediately by the artist slapping a 53 on the picture, making it a reference to The Love Bug and Herbie, which makes sense because the next musician intoned is Herbie Hancock.
"...Missing Persons, Duran Duran, Missing Persons, Duran Duran, Duran Duran, Duran Duran..."
The vocal is a sample of a religious diatribe against popular culture by an unknown member of the Church Universal and Triumphant. The sample is a list of musicians poplar during the 80s. Mylo created the electric drum heavy musical track. I like the cowbell that shows up through the song. Basically the whole song is a man reading names and a computer created track playing behind it.
Un-sourced opinion is that Mylo did all the graffiti art in the video as well. If so, I like him much better. The song is forgettable, but some of the stencil art is great fun. I really like Tina Turner as her own legs, ZZ Top as a negative space portrait studio photo of themselves, and Big Country as the lower 48 states, even though they are from Scotland. I love Thompson Twins as Charlie Chaplins looking at each other, and the best one of all is The Cars as a Volkswagen Beetle, followed immediately by the artist slapping a 53 on the picture, making it a reference to The Love Bug and Herbie, which makes sense because the next musician intoned is Herbie Hancock.
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