Ak1200

We aren't going to make this a whole blog post about jungle/drum'n'bass. And we certainly aren't going to get into the differences between jungle and drum'n'bass here today. All I know is that when I play this stuff my stereo simply cannot get loud enough, regardless of who is mixing it. It was a big thing in the 90s and I wish there was more now. It really seems like a niche subgenre, but it's got to be one of my favorites. It's kinda like that heavy metal of electronica.

I would also say that AK1200 is one of the Big Three when it comes to the jungle subgenre. But he's definitely a distant third behind Dieselboy and DJ Dara, with whom he started the legendary and never-ending Planet of the Drums tour. Still - not bad. He collaborated with those artists and many other big names in the genre. He did a little something with a Tribe Called Quest too that turned out great, and that kinda matters.

Despite his importance to the genre, the difficulty of how to listen to a DJ's entire repertoire in chronology order was solved by Google Play, which only offered me 10 songs. And really there were only four songs, with multiple remixes of several.

The first of these is "Keep Hope Alive" from the Urbal Beats 2 collection, which is a pretty legit collection from URB magazine. It's strange that it's not the first song on the album because it does that quirky thing where it starts off as a sorta goofy house song that emerges into a darker drum-and-bass beat. It's great. (If we ever get to listen to Atmospheric Drum and Bass that album starts with a similar trick.) The song is a remix of a Crystal Method track. Enjoy it:

Other than a random but decent track called "Fake," the other major streaming tracks were the singles for "Emancipate" and "Real Justice." Both are hard, fast bangers with a dark tone but a socially conscious edge. Basically, this is exactly what I'm looking for - sometimes, like late at night. Someone made a video of it, and there's not much more to listen to or comment on but it sure rocks hard:

Air Supply

And now for the musical-equivalent of a daytime soap opera.

This music is incredibly boring and marred by over-singing, but at least it's a real band making original music. The two guys' different voices work well together; I hadn't realize that was their thing in this band, but OK. There are many lineup changes, but the founding duo remain consistent: Graham Russell is the Brit that sing, writes, and plays guitar while Russell Hitchcock is the Aussie lead vocalist. Later, they sometimes serve as substitute hosts on Solid Gold. They met while performing together in a 1975 Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar, so excuse me if I proceed with caution. (One of the sisters that would go on to form the band Cheetah was also in that production and briefly played with these guys; her replacement in this band would eventually leave to play with Divinyls, and then later recruit away another Air Supply player to join him.) It turns out that I did know some of these songs, and overall it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that great of an experience either. I appreciate moving on my with listening.

I'm not really complaining, but it is a little awkward that their first four albums are not available streaming (in America?), so I went hunting through the dreaded Greatest Hits collections for the singles from some of those albums. Some were there, but others were not. Some showed up on the later albums. Still, I didn't even get to hear the entirety of Love & Other Bruises, third overall and their 1978 debut in America, which got to #2 in their native Australia, but the title track, their first single, did make it onto a collection. The album failed to chart in America, even though they had gone and re-recorded some of their earlier tracks for the occasion. So some of these songs were on the old albums, and some of them show up on later albums; there's some international repackaging going on here. It recalls the debate over what constitutes AC/DC's "first" album. There might be a self-titled floating around first in some markets. In the early days they toured with the likes of Rod Stewart, Boz Scaggs, Chicago. I know those are beloved bands to some, but we are undeniably dealing with "Soft Rock" here. The Simpsons called it wuss rock. If you enjoy Adult Contemporary then you might view these guys as masters of it.

Apparently there is a prior 1979 concept album(!) that morbid curiosity makes me interested in, but not that much. Lost in Love is actually their 5th album, but it's sorta the first in the US and the first I was able to listen to. Again, they are re-mixing and re-recording songs from previous albums. The first song "Lost In Love" comes from the concept album. It's a stunningly bland song to debut with. Nonetheless, this is where they make their mark. There are three Top 5 singles here. We all know "All Out Of Love," right? It is only the third song I l heard out of over a 100, but it has got to be one of their best. Oddly, I didn't recognize the song at first, but when the chorus hit the memories came flooding back. Where do I know this song from? From elevators? Commercials? The radio in my mom's car? Rollerskating? I suffered through often-cringe worthy lyrics and singing, but no more so than on "American Hearts," a shit song that made me want to confront these sappy Australians. They go a bit country, for some reason, on "Old Habits Die Hard." The funky disco  of "Just Another Woman, however, is a near-gem that sounds like late-period ABBA and showed this band can pep up when they want to. They don't want to often. Their ratio is all off: the rock album should have a few ballads on it, not the other way around.

I'm not entirely sure if my parents actually owned the next album or I've just seen it in so many thrift store record bins that I've become familiar with it in that way. Again, I hear some of these songs and wonder where I know them from, so vaguely on the edge of my childhood memories. It does contain a couple good songs that some might remember: "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I was Over You)" and "The One That You Love." It is super-easy to get the two hits confused, not least of which because when the latter's title is sung in the song it is also preceded by the line "Here I am...." Nonetheless, this is peak Air Supply and their most successful album. Pop maestro Clive Davis produces here, and he gets his hits. There's no denying the sweetness of their harmonies. "Sweet Dreams" is less memorable than the first two but a third Top Five single from the album. A song of theirs also gets used in a Japanese TV show, and so they become the proverbial "big in Japan." If soft rock is a genre then this album is a masterpiece of the genre, but it's not exactly what I'm looking for. After "Sweet Dreams" the album ends with four catatonic songs in a row, which is really damning because this was supposed to be their best ever work. It almost made me fall asleep while driving, so there's a legitimate danger lurking there.

They follow up with Now and Forever (1982), which effectively capitalizes on their momentum and success through the release of "Even the Nights are Better".  OK, sure that's a good song. So now we've got three or four pretty good songs worth acknowledging. I mean it's not great, but as long as I don't have to next listen to endlessly watered-down iterations of the same stuff for several more albums....

Although still in the early stages of their seventeen-album discography, things deteriorate rapidly after those two decent albums. For some reason the album they release in 1985, smack-dab in the middle of their career and not representing a change of sound in any way, is self-titled; it might have something to do with revamping the band personnel. When I read that Hearts in Motion (1986) was "a serious step down in the band's popularity" I got scared. I had every reason to be afraid. It is consistently weak and forgettable, but remember - they are trying to rock softly, so maybe somebody wanted this music.  Only "Lonely Is the Night" can rise above the pack; it was a mildly successful single, but you've got to really want it to like it. It's post-peak Air Supply and awkward, but it's the best they've got at this point. They follow it up with the uncalled-for Christmas Album, that adds nothing to any of the classics. They don't even make them sounds like Air Supply songs. It is a shamefully pointless collection of songs reminiscent of those 99 cent CDs you can get at Cracker Barrel or the grocery store: music by nobodies for anybody.

After a long break, during which the one guy releases a solo album that has a single featured in the 1990 movie Arachnophobia, they return with The Earth Is..., which fails to chart but launches them on a successful tour of Asia. I got nothing from this album except a brief nod for lead track, "Stronger Than the Night," the second in their series of songs about the night. It could be a great 80s power ballad, but it didn't chart. The problem might be that it was released in 1991. So this tolerable 80s band forges on into the 90s with limited success. Despite the alarming title of 1993's The Vanishing Race it actually alludes to the plight of the indigenous Australian people in sympathetic terms, not that there's a coherent concept album about it or anything. Again, I wasn't really too interested in most of this stuff and it generally sort of just washed over me inoffensively. There are some fine melodies on occasion I suppose ("Faith" comes to mind), but I gave most of these songs multiple listens trying to care and they never sunk in. Still, there is a mild rock band hidden in there somewhere. It sounds most like Styx when the electric guitar and driving drum beats occasionally kick in predominantly because the vocal similarities can be stunning at times.

News from Nowhere is a an apt title for their 1995 album that is seemingly devoid of purpose or meaningful content. It contains an unforgivable cover of "Unchained Melody" that cops too much from the Righteous Brothers' version. The album's title track is so airy that it's almost not even there. This was the album I lost patience with Air Supply. They seem to be mailing it in but enjoyed continued success in other places. There's another album that charts only in Asia.

The vanishing act continues on Yours Truly, which is also barely there. The beats are largely replaced by palatial strings and light acoustic guitar. I kept waiting for each song to kick in, and I got through more than half the album before anything happened. The lyrics become truly horrific, as in: "you are the future from the past/ You are the spell that has been cast." It recalls "Body Glove" from a previous album with the ghastly line: "the world is just potato chips/ joined together at the female hips." The last thing I want to hear is anybody's explanation of what that line is supposed to mean.

After a 16th unsuccessful album, it finally kicks up a slight notch for Mumbo Jumbo, a notable release from 2010 and their most recent album to date. As the title suggests, there is a bit more sonic variety here. Most of the songs chug-along with a decent beat. There's more electric guitars and drums, even hints of weirdness. It's more of a pop rock album, although they may very well have considered themselves that prior to this album. The ballads are power ballads. It's not all great, but at least they are trying-- and no doubt succeeding at their self-appointed task. It sits well with their other albums, so I hope their actual fans were pleased. Still, there are real problems. "Me Like You" is as dumb as it sounds. "Can I Be Your Lover" (no question mark) is irrirtating.  "Lovesex" is not just annoying-- it's actually kinda repulsive. It gets to a core issue: this is supposed to be a romantic band but there's little eroticism to this music (anymore, if there ever was) and some genuine potential for irritation. I didn't want to hear about "Learning to Make Love To You" either.

They are still touring and recently released a new single: "I Adore You" is OK. The track reels it in a bit and concentrates on what they do well: keeping it classy and smooth. And yet, even as I can picture this as someone's wedding song, I still don't want to hear it. "Do you mind if I adore you?" Gross, leave me alone. This stuff doesn't appeal to me much, but either does Thunder from Down Under - and both can still fill a room, so to each their own. I will leave this to the target audience. I have no doubt that this type of safe music and over-singing appeals to folks that watch American Idol and such.

Even bands that I might find musically dull can perhaps tell interesting stories. Taking a closer look can reveal nuances worthy of attention, even as it sharpens the focus on flaws. This band may have been done a disservice by the parameters of my project: perhaps Air Supply is not meant to be listened to in album chunks (much less all of them in a row). For most people, there's a time and a place where some of these songs will do nicely, and I'm comfortable including myself among them. Good for these two guys for still doing their thing today with little-to-no compromise of their original vision, whatever that might have been.

Air

French band Air's legendary album Moon Safari was--fittingly--the first album I ever downloaded on my first iPod. This ubiquitous 1998 album changed everything at the time and it has aged remarkably well. The band themselves, however, seem to have fallen victim to an odd phenomenon: after changing the musical landscape with a genre-bending and innovative album, everybody started sounding like that. As a result, their later albums fell somewhat flat, despite some great material. We were not calling this type of music EDM back then, but the type of electronic music it heralded is inexorably woven into the fabric of modern popular music now.  I like to think of Air as post-dance electronica, which is only a little bit weird since their repertoire actually falls largely before that electronic music Renaissances of the 2000s. This artsy European band deserves credit for mainstreaming an influential sound that goes way beyond computer-generated techno or mixing records. 

It's essentially two guys: Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel. They formed the band in a fancy school in Versailles in 1995. Even on the band's pre-Moon Safari EPs the concepts and sound of the band were almost fully formed. It may not have the sheen of their hyper-produced classic, but there are already flashes of genius. There's rich sonic potential from mixing modern beats and sounds with pure, warm organic instruments like piano, organs, and horns. Most of the elements are present, so the unified vision arrives almost fully intact and well-honed when they drop their proper full-length debut. Some argue it all gets a little too perfect, ideal for pumping out of sterile white speakers or earbuds; a Pitchfork writer once said they befit "minimalist architectural design (circa 1974)". Yet they really hit the zeitgeist on the head, particularly in terms of downtempo electronica: they may not have been the first band to make dance-music you can't dance to, but nobody else doing it at the time got a song on the radio or sold so much to the masses via international success.

Moon Safari begins with "La Femme D'Argent" (possibly translated as The Silver Girl), an unforgettable shimmering electro-symphony, which--as the opening track on a well-regarded album--deservedly gets a lot of play. It soundtracks the opening moments in the first episode of Veronica Mars. (Side note(s): of course the Dandy Warhols play the show's theme song, and Albert Hammond's "It Never Rains In Southern California" plays the series out three stellar seasons later.) It's an amazing, lush track to start off with, but then "Sexy Boy" is jarring as the first "song" most people hear from the band, or at least the first song with lyrics in English. Yet, it was a huge hit single in Europe and got some airplay over here too. It's not my favorite Air song; it's too much of a regular song, and more jarring than sexy. The album ping-pongs back and forth after that between such concise songs and the more expansive soundscapes. They get that ratio just right on this album more so than on any of their others. The many slides and glides that emerge throughout the album make it so smooth, but not always. The stomp that propels "Remember" is a sample from a Beach Boys song, "Do it Again": the single from 20/20 with the b-side written by Charles Manson; it's not the last time they'll share an influence with modern spacey rock or chamber pop bands. "Ce Martin La" (That Morning) is a great song I've been falling asleep to since it came out; it had 640 plays from my digital library at last count, and that may or may not be including all those previous iTunes plays. What a gorgeous song! The muted horns over lush strings recall a 70s film soundtrack, or the Academy Awards live orchestra's rendition of a 70s film soundtrack. The whole album is classic, five star stuff because of an endless stream of near-perfect songs. I listened to the Rarities disc that came out to mark its 10th anniversary, not because I had to but because I wanted to. Some of these remixes could more accurately be called re-imaginings, as in the funk rock of "Kelly Watch the Stars"; the original has an interesting official video.  Even a buried track like "Talisman" is a fantastic song that should have been a Bond theme. (Why didn't these guys ever score a James Bond movie?) Live staple "You Make it Easy," demonstrates brilliant production, with the airy female vocals mic'd so hot every breathe intake is clearly audible. It really snaps in new Apple ear buds. Some have argued that the album lacks fun or irony, and that it takes itself too seriously. The strength of the songs and their collection as whole more than makes up for that slight, and they seem to address it with more exuberant playing on later albums. Their debut takes the cake though. It makes the 1,000 Albums You Must Hear Before you Die list, and with good reason. For me, it's virtually a desert island disc, as the frequent instrumentals with lots going on in them give me plenty to hear anew each time I listen, without getting stuck on tired lyrics. It's an incredibly diverse album, despite it consistency. There is a time and place for every album, and this one has lots of applications: sleeping, reading, relaxing, and sexing. It does have a certain romance about it, without ever being intrusive, so yes--it is ideal for lovemaking. Maybe that's why it made so many Best of the Year lists when it came out, although of course that's not the only reasons. OK, it may be mostly suited for primarily downtempo activities, but the point is that this now-20 year old album still gets lots of consistent airtime (from me at least) to this day during various modern activities that need musical accompaniment, and it doesn't sound dated; it doesn't really sound too much like the 90s since it was revolutionary for its time. This album could come out today and people would still rave about it, no pun intended.

It is fitting that a film soundtrack is their next album, the score for The Virgin Suicides in 2000. It is damn near almost as good as their classic debut and even in some ways better, given my penchant for instrumental music, as most of this is. Despite occasional forays into electronica or orchestral maneuvers, this is often a more band-oriented sound, relying frequently on keys, drums, and bass. The subject and sound get aptly dark for the film, but it is thematically and musically consistent. "Playground Love," despite making me uncomfortable with the subject matter, is when they sound most like Spiritualized; maybe it's the vibes or the perfectly subdued vocals. The song is written and sung by the guy from Phoenix, another French alternative band.  Again, I was happy to sit through the rarities and outtake from the album that were added for the 15th Anniversary edition. It was really great to hear them stretching out live and pumping more humanity into these songs. The album does not have the staying power or variety of Moon Safari, but it is a great listen as more than just a movie soundtrack. Their debut was more revolutionary, but this one effectively follows the trajectory they set for themselves. Their sometimes-drummer, who also played in Red Kross, did another Sophia Coppola film soundtrack, Lost in Translation, which warmed all our hearts by bringing The Jesus and Mary Chain back into cultural prominence, among others. Air also appears on Coppola's soundtrack for Marie Antoinette. They also back up Charlotte Gainsberg on her 2nd album in 2006 (the first being 20 years earlier), which I'm sure will be great when I hear it for the first time when I get to 'C.'

The true successor to Moon Safari, however, is the clumsily titled 10,000 Hz Legend, but it sometimes gets lost in the cultural chaos of 2001. Some have noted a departure in sound from the debut on this second official album, but only to those who skipped the soundtrack album, which bridges the two slightly-different sounds and telegraphs their evolution. Far more song-oriented, it seems like an almost a deliberate attempt to capture (or capitalize on) the magic of Moon Safari with a more accessible collection of tracks. Although some of those songs are fantastic, as a whole it falls just slightly short of their former grandeur. Some of this perspective may reflect my personal bias as almost all of these songs have words, many sung by guest stars (some by computer). The song featuring Beck, "The Vagabond," is a pretty great collaboration that lets both artist do their respective things well. Maybe only the wonderful "Radian," with its slow build to lush strings and flutes, could rest easy on Moon Safari; it's my favorite track here. Not for the last time, but the band starts to sound like Pink Floyd, particularly when they are holding long synth chords over funky beats like it's 1977 all over again. A track called "Milk Bitchy" seems to confirm the Floyd influence with a reference to their Atom Heart Mother. "Radio #1" is decent electronic pop ditty (albeit not a beautiful, shimmering sonic landscape) and it gives us the great word "stereogum," which would go on to title what may be my all-time favorite music blog/site, still going strong to this day. The album also featured a Japanese rock group called Buffalo Daughter, which I was previously unfamiliar with but now interested in. Again, the album is good, but it inevitable disappoints a little following the magnificence of Moon Safari and the excellence of The Virgin Suicides. Sadly, they never seem to regain the sparkling, revolutionary impact of their debut. I don't fault them (much) for that even as I point it out. Too much of their music remains impressive.

Talkie Walkie is good soundtrack-sounding work that was well received, but in retrospect it doesn't rise above the heap of the rest of their catalog and doesn't rise from the growing pack of early 2000s electronica-influenced music. The lead single is "Cherry Blossom Girl." It's not their best song, and for some reason they got a porn director to shoot the incongruous music video, which seems to have some actual porn in it (so click with caution).  Ah, the French! That song from Lost in Translation is on here: "Alone In Kyoto" ends up being one of their most popular non-Moon Safari song; let's give some credit for that to Scarlett Johansson, who has somehow now made her second appearance on this blog. The album offers yet another song from Veronica Mars and one from some French movie. Many critics think that these guys are better at soundtracks then songs, noting this record as an improvement over the last. There are definitely some good songs. The endless arpeggios of "Mike Mills" made me think it was about the guy from R.E.M., but it's actually a tribute to the [mostly-music-video] director and musician of the same name. This led me down a wonderful rabbit hole to find the band Butter 08, which is basically the two women from Cibbo Matto (a band I deeply love and appreciate) and others including someone from Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, plus Mills. The one Butter 08 album from 1996 seems brilliant after just dipping my toes in, and I am grateful to have discovered it now. Nigel Godrich produced Talkie Walkie, and he's a big name: he produced (and played with) Radiohead on every album since OK Computer, he also did Thom Yorke's solo stuff and plays with him in the supergroup Atoms for Peace along with Flea, and he deserves massive credit for shepherding a fantastic recent solo album by Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, which also sounds alot like 1977. So this Air album has got star-power and is recognized as a return-to-form. I find some of the songs truly excellent, but nowhere near as impressive collectively as Moon Safari. Should I apologize to the band for repeatedly comparing everything they've recorded to their debut record? Is that fair?

The next two albums, 2007's Pocket Symphonies and 2009's oddly-titled Love 2 offer more of the same: solid, electronica-influenced pop(ish) rock. The sound is slightly less downtempo and slightly more song-oriented than ever. I had some frustration with the sporadic and generally unimpressive lyrics, preferring their soundtrack-esque work. However, this music is as good as most songs showing up in the late 2000s. It charts and sells enough. They actually got my attention and appreciation most on the blissed-out ambiance of the last song on Love 2, "The Dream of Yi"; it only last 5 minutes, but I could easily listen to its sounds for 10. So the music is occasionally great, but nobody can claim it is as innovative as the music at the start of their career. At the time it came out, I was so very into Moon Safari, but I lost interest after 10,000 Hz Legend. When I caught up with them for this listening project there was definitely some good stuff I missed. Chief among that stuff is their last, most recent album Le Voyage Dans La Lune (2012). It's a lot more interesting and thematic than their previous two efforts. In fact, it's kinda a concept album: a soundtrack to the restored version of that classic 1902 silent science fiction film A Trip To the Moon, which is of course what their French title translates into. The whole concept is pretty incredible and works well, as you can see here in this unofficial version, which isn't the impressive remaster or necessarily synced up exactly right, but you get the idea. It was a welcome change of pace. It's tight rather than expansive. Although it gets very Floydian again, overall the album is less epic--just 11 shorter songs and it ends with a thud, not a bang. Despite being mostly a literal soundtrack, there are two songs with words...and this time they are both great! Both feature excellent guest stars contributing vocals and lyrics: the three singing and keyboard playing ladies of Au Revoir Simone, of Roadhouse fame from Twin Peaks: The Return, and Victoria Legrand from Baltimore's own Beach House (who has also sung with the band Grizzly Bear). The album left me wanting more, but there is no more to hear. They did create something called Music for Museum, but it was an actual commission for the Palais des Beau-Arts de Lille and made available only as a limited-edition of only 1,000 copies of clear vinyl. What I could I hear on YouTube is stunning and right up my alley. It's closer to Brian Eno than modern electronica-influenced rock music, and I wish I could stream it all, but it remains elusive in an official, complete form.

They did release a compilation in 2016 to celebrate 20 years as band, but it would be nice to hear what they sound like now. Last we heard, modern Air is a pleasant mix of groovy space jams and sophisticated beats. For their diverse sounds, their innovation, their classiness, Air comes out on top in the end. They dropped an undeniably groundbreaking, classic album at the start of their career and have managed to remain interesting and entertaining, if not innovational, since then. So, whether you're reading or studying, trying to fall asleep, making sweet love, or just need some background music for your cosmic cocktail party, Air has got you covered.

Don't get them confused with Daft Punk! 

Interlude: Best Music of 2018

It's the day after Christmas. The year is drawing to a close. It's time for me to stop fiddling with the list of what I believe represents the best music to come out in 2018. More accurately, it's the music that I personally enjoyed the most.

I hope everyone had a great year, discovered some new bands, and heard something new and great from beloved artists. There's a lot of stuff out there, so please let me know: what's the best thing you heard this year? Which of these songs or bands do you hate/love?

Best Songs of 2018

1. Belly "Shiny One"
2. Janelle Monáe "Make Me Feel"
3. Kero Kero Bonito "Only Acting"
4. of Montreal "Paranoiac Intervals /Body Dysmorphia"
5. Lily Allen "Trigger Bang (feat. Giggs)"
6. The Pom-Poms "I Got that Boom"
7. Big Freedia "Rent"
8. Poppy "Time is Up (feat. Diplo)"
9. Sylvan Esso "PARAD(w/m)E"
10. CHVRCHES "Get Out"
    --------------------------------------------------------
11. Tune-Yards "Heart Attack"
12. The Decemberists "Severed"
13. Holly Miranda "Golden Spiral"
14. MGMT "Hand it Over"
15. Dr. Dog "Go Out Fighting"
16. Snail Mail "Heatwave"
17. Mikaela Davis "Other Lover"
18. Bishop Briggs "River"
19. Lissie "Best Days"
20. Brandi Carlile "Whatever You Do"
21. Kacey Musgraves "Butterflies"
22. Rising Appalachia "Resilient"
23. Twisted Pine "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'"
24. Old Crow Medicine Show "Flicker & Shine"
25. Kamasi Washington "Fists of Fury"
26. Zeke "Hellbender"
27. Sleep "Sonic Titan"
28. Spiritualized "I'm Your Man"
29. Perfume "Let Me Know"
30. Demi Lovato "Sober"

Honorable Mentions
Soul Cannon, Lindi Ortega, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Low

Best Show

Zeke (@Metro Gallery in Baltimore)

Best New Artist
Mikaela Davis

Best Album

Janelle Monáe Dirty Computer

and Playing over the End Credits of 2018
Calexico "Under the Wheels"

"Defy the system
And avoiding the eyes that stay well hid
Surrendered the words while the lovers leap
Out of the fray and into the infinite

Deep
In the war regime
Always someone else's schemes
Show me a sign
When the world falls apart
Coming together from all of the corners tonight
From the core to the seams
From the threads that we seek
The threads that we seek

Oh

Find me some peace, a mindful heart
A break in the tide when the fighting starts
Power's down and the town goes dark
When the words fail we scatter"

Aimee Mann

The Safeway by my house is notorious for the weird and wonderful music it plays: an eclectic mix of pop and obscure hits from the 60s through 90s. I was shopping there recently with friends when the song "Voices Carry" came on the radio. I did not recognize the song at all, even when the friends told me all about the hype around the crazy video and controversial topic. We're trying to figure out who sings the song that they know and I don't, and the band turns out to be 'Til Tuesday, at which point I say, "Oh, isn't that the band that Aimee Mann was in?" They respond, "Who is Aimee Mann?"

It turns out Aimee Mann is known to some people  (if at all) only as the lady from that new-wave band from Boston, 'Til Tuesday. However, that has not been my experience. In fact, I had only ever heard of 'Til Tuesday as the band that Aimee Man had previously fronted, which is a slightly different experience. In this regard, she perhaps may even be underrated as an artist in some circles, and maybe even previously from my perspective, although she did win a couple Grammys and NPR called her one of the greatest living songwriters. It's not NPR-editors and -listeners that are in danger of undervaluing her work though. I suspect many of her fans listen to NPR, and vice-versa.

To start things off, I cheated a little. Although not technically part of her solo career chronological discography, I gave a bonus listen to "Time Stands Still" by Rush. In 1987 Rush saw Mann playing in 'Til Tuesday, called her up, and asked her to sing on the track. I have often wondered: How and why did Aimee Mann hook-up with Rush? She's not even Canadian! However, there's apparently not much to the story. Her vocal line in the chorus is totally sweet and it works wonderfully. It's a special moment for a band that so rarely is anything more than just those three guys playing.  Not only is that her voice on the track, that is her floating around in the extremely new-wave video. This track predates her entire modern solo career, but of course I heard it long before anything else she put out herself or with her band, without even realizing who was singing on the track until many years later. She breaks up her new-wave band to start her much longer solo career; the drummer, who wrote "Voices Carry," becomes her manager, and is still to this day. Those two actually had been in a relationship (and before that she dated the guitarist from XTC), but since 1997 she's been married to Michael Penn, a legit singer-songwriter in his own right and brother to actors Sean and Chris Penn. New Yorkers! For a lady that seems to struggle with relationships and mental stability (or maybe it's just the characters in her songs), staying married since 1997 to a rock star while simultaneously being a rock star is an impressive feat. Actually, despite the drama of the yarns she spins, she seems like a relatively grounded person, especially for someone who originally got some attention for having crazy hair. 

'Til Tuesday ~1986: guess which one is Aimee Mann

My actual, pre-blog listening experience with Aimee Mann begins with "Red Vines," a memorable track from her third album Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo (2000). However, I knew the song from some wonderful, random Virgin Records compilation CD that also introduced me to the The Dandy Warhols. Prior to that I might have scanned a Rolling Stone article about her first two albums, but I didn't hear them. They are both good. 1995's I'm with Stupid is perhaps a more fully-realized vision than the first one, Whatever, which she put out in 1993 to critical acclaim and modest sales. That first album actually makes the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die list, which was somewhat surprising: the songs are good but they didn't gel into something more than a mere collection of tracks for me. The song writing is very clever, as are the musical hooks, but these aren't the songs that made an impression on me as much as her later works did. "I Should've Known" is the single, I guess. Roger McGuinn strums a 12-string on one song on the first album, and Squeeze appear on several songs on the next album. There's also some wonderful, sunny backing vocals contributed by Juliana Hatfield on "You Could Make a Killing," a fine song that some may recall from the 1999 soundtrack to Cruel Intentions, sitting there alongside Fatboy Slim and "Bitter Sweet Symphony". "That's Just What You Are," another single, is an additional good song that shows up on the soundtrack to Melrose Place. She once covered "Come Sail Away," and they used it in an episode of Community. 

The soundtrack work culminates in one of her greatest works, music from the Paul Thomas Anderson movie, Magnolia. Far more than merely contributing some songs for the film, the soundtrack is virtually an Aimee Mann album. Some of the songs end up on her on subsequent album. I adore her take on instrumental pieces for the soundtrack. There are just a couple other artist on there, including Supertramp. One can hear the appreciation for Supertramp in Mann's sound; it's kinda adorably dorky that someone, a famous rock star and gifted song-crafter no less, would be unabashedly into such a cheesy band. (Remember, she likes Styx too.) The soundtrack is deeply entwined with the film, with Anderson saying the film was inspired by Mann's music. I haven't seen it in a long time, if ever. Maybe I saw it in college, but I should see it again. Apparently at one point the actors actually sing one her songs. The track "Build that Wall" has an unfortunate modern resonance. "Save Me" is the single, and what a great song it is. It narrowly misses out on the Best Original Song Academy Award to Phil Collins for his song from Disney's Tarzan. Boo!! The really kicker is her remarkable, trippy cover of the song "One," which some will recognize from the proto-metal version that Three Dog Night did, although it is a actually a Harry Nilsson song, of course. Mann originally did it for a Nilsson tribute album and interpolates several of his other songs in her fantastic version.

While on the topic of stage and screen, it should be noted that Aimee Mann has a striking physical appearance and she's done some acting. She's one of the nihilists in The Big Lebowski - the one that sacrifices her toe! She played at the Bronze on Buffy, which sorta counts as acting (she does utter a line, something about how she hates playing in vampire towns). She's had other small roles here and there, and recently voiced a character in an episode of Steven Universe. And she was in a legitimately hilarious Portlandia skit staring Aimee Mann as herself, a struggling musician. Maybe you can still watch some of it here:
                                  

She puts out Lost in Space  in 2002, and a guy like me is going to be disappointed that with a title like that there aren't more beeps, whirls, electronic whistles and bells. Mostly we get a straight-ahead band, but there are occasional keys and strings. It's fine though and sits well here at the peak of her work.

After Magnolia there's a good live album and then my favorite, The Forgotten Arm, a concept album she puts out in 2006. Sure, it wins a Grammy, but for best packaging, which is nice. Characteristically, the album I find "best" is the one absolutely savaged by the very critics that made her a darling. I'll confess to being unfamiliar with Prefix magazine before this moment, but they said it has "Enough bending guitar licks to satisfy the yuppiest of thirtysomething businessmen and enough mellow ballads to satisfy your Dixie Chicks-loving mom." Damning with faint praise indeed! E! said it reveals "how straight-up dull Mann's country-tinged songs can be," and fair enough, but how did you not know that going into this? This album is better, not worse, because it is a concept album. Maybe part of me still thinks that The Wall is the greatest album of album time because it works on so many levels, and most of me knows that isn't true. However, the legit attempt at a full on actual concept album is nothing to scoff at, and this one works well as far as I'm concerned. The other thing I like is the mellow consistency. As much as I like synths and weirdness, the straightforward instrumentation and production on every track works. (It reminds me of the time Ryan Adams decided to quickly cover Taylor Swift's entire 1989 album while leaving the production exactly the same on every song so the guitar tone and drum sounds never change.) The simple production is warm, reassuring, and doesn't get in the way of the storytelling. The storytelling doesn't get in the way of the songs, to my ears, as it did for some reviewers. I appreciate the narrative around addiction and the depths of despair. In a weird-twist, the album's final lyrics allude to happy ending in a distant future, but a bonus track on an import version of the album ambiguously suggests a less rosy ending. What is this, House of Leaves? Seriously though, something about this shockingly straight-ahead rock music makes me like it a lot. I even tolerated the Christmas Album afterwards; it's a timeless-sounding, loungey affair that at least includes that Grinch song. Another couple solid albums follow before her most recent one, Mental Health, which is as much of a downer as the title suggests. It is easily her most sparse album. Although the harrowing topics are handled ably in her insightful lyrics, it was musically a disappointing anti-climax to her discography. I've heard enough though, particularly on that hard rocking live album, to have some confidence that Mann will come roaring back again anytime now.

As her career proceeds the songwriting seems to gain an ever greater gravity and seriousness, at times even a sadness. Her songs always dealt with emotional turmoil, but some of the cleverness gets stripped away eventually and replaced with emotional depth. I came to deeply appreciate the insights she brings to troublesome personal relationships and heavy issues like addiction. I see why she is praised as a songwriter most of all. And yet the music would have to be there for me to care about good songwriting...and it is. That band is not just strumming chords behind her on the live album: she rocks. And I dare say Aimee Mann is the Queen of the Countermelody, whether the synth on near-classic "Freeway" or the slinky melodica(?!) on "Save Me", her good lines and clear melodies are consistently made even more salient by a good ear for counterpoints. Great synths abound in "Charmer" from the latter-day album of the same title. This musical element is even a piece of her overall longevity and success: it highlights her charm in being just weird enough to be equally interesting and accessible.

a-ha

Alphabetically, shouldn't this band be the first 'A'? Well, here we are. Another one hit wonder? Yes. And no. They name is stylized in lower-case, and sometimes one of those three letters is italicized, but not consistently.

While many listeners will be familiar with "Take On Me," which is actually their first ever single and the first song on their first album, the band has continued slowly but steadily to make music since 1982 through the present. They are a national treasure in their native Norway. They have at least ten albums and well over a hundred songs. I had previously heard literally none of these songs other than "Take On Me." I've subsequently been led to believe that both "The Sun Always Shines on TV" and "Hunting High and Low" were mild hits that other people actually know; I can see why: both tracks grew on me, but despite being enjoying they were still utterly unknown to me before this listening. "Crying in the Rain," actually a cover version of The Everly Brother's 1963 single, also had minor charting success, although that one failed to register much with me. "Stay on These Roads" barely cracks the hits category, but I like that one. Actually, I liked a lot of these songs, and I found all of it surprisingly tolerable. They are far more lush and cinematic than I ever gave them credit for based on limited exposure, but perhaps the sweeping impressive nature of their most famous video should have been an aesthetic hint.

OH boy that video was a big one. Most people of a certain age will remember that video. Some of us remember the cute girl. Some of us remember the cute boy. Some of us remember both. It was from before my time, technically, in 1984, but it must have remained in heavy rotation on MTV for decades because it was still around for me to see years later. I love the keyboard part(s), and the urgency of the drums in the chorus, which is basically electro-clash.

In the iconic video the song becomes much more than whatever it originally was about. It becomes the soundtrack to an epic and engrossing adventure, albeit an incredibly concise one. The narrative itself is brilliant storytelling and compelling salesmanship. Not only do we get a whole story in three minutes, we are introduced to the band via their catchiest number and meet its beautiful blonde Nordic cute people not just as musician but, especially in the case of lead singer Morten Harket, as compelling characters in a brief drama. Oh and that chemistry you're seeing between actress Bunty Bailey and Harket is very real - she also stars in their next video (I'm not gonna lie- learning that is when I decided to google it) and she subsequently had an actual relationship with Harket. She was also in a Billy Idol video, but not much else. Surely, she and director Steve Barron, who also shot Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," get some credit for the song's enduring staying power. MJ was supposedly at the band's first US concert and invited them to Neverland Ranch....I bet.

Harket has got a pretty incredible voice that can be both smooth and also hit really high notes without screeching. He's actually in the Guinness World Records book for holding the longest live note: 20.2 seconds in "Summer Moved On." Not bad at all for a come-back single, which in May of 2000 was their first new music in six years. You're not gonna believe this, but they also hold the world record for having the biggest rock concert attendance of all time: 198,000 at Rock in Rio. That's a lot of people. This band was huge throughout South America in the late 1980s but also in the 90s! Their fans editing Wikipedia want us to know that 198,000 people is three times the audience that George Michael, Prince, and Guns n Roses performed for at the same event in 1991...and that when despite breaking the record the international press ignored them for younger acts it was demoralizing for the band. There's actually a whore series of bad things that gives this band a bit a persecution complex. First they don't win the Best New Artist Grammy in 1986, then when they play the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 1998 their bit is cut from the televised highlights, then nobody wanted to talk about their record breaking concert attendance, then they play Live8--which is a big deal as Pink Floyd reunited at it--and they have technical problems that make them have to scrap one of their four songs, then they played the iTunes festival in 2009 and everyone's set except theirs was available for download...

AllMusic has an excellent line about one of their albums, which could apply to any of them: "a nicely crafted collection of songs...while not an album one can discuss at length, it's an album that's a pleasure to listen to." So true. It's effective, if not necessarily intriguing or complex. It's pop music that matters because it was crafted by humans that care about what they are doing and do it well enough; it's not created, packaged, and sold by committee thinking trying to cash in on the latest trends.

Their James Bond song is a memorable title-track from The Living Daylights, which might ring some bells for casual fans. Everything after their
1993 album Memorial Beach is available in America only as an import, which is weird and somewhat shocking. That's several albums. They might not have all the urgency and consistency of the earlier albums, but they aren't bad at all.

They were supposed to end on a high note in 2010 with a final world tour that hit six continents. They came back in 2015 and even recorded another album, Cast in Steel, which again I must say is pretty good. It straddles 80s-nostalgia and more modern sounds brilliantly. One thing they do well is that none of their many albums sound like a major departure from their previous work. While the sound has evolved, it's been an organic and smooth transition, almost imperceptible until one listens to their first album compared to their most recent. Even some of those altered sound might be attributed to changing production standards.

The band seems determined to emphasize that they are the same band they've always been all this time. It is still the same original three guys performing together (the drummer always seems to be just whoever). To that end, their most recent, and some would say crowning, achievement is a career-spanning acoustic re-imagining of their catalog. Their episode of MTV's Unplugged takes place at an obscure location on the summer solstice and is everything that series was supposed to be but eventually got away from: incredibly intimate, unfamiliar versions of familiar songs. Hearing these beautiful, organic versions of the songs gives them an impressive timeless feel, instead of anchoring them to the anachronistic sounds of the 80s. It's clear the band put time and effort into these arrangements that are fascinating in their newness while revealing the strength of the underlying songwriting, highlighted by the stark instrumentation. Several European and American performers join them for the show, including Ian McCulloch, who joins them for one of their songs and then helps them aptly cover "The Killing Moon," by his own band, Echo & the Bunnymen. The modern-yet-nostalgic clip of them playing "Take on Me" as the finale had already gone viral even before the song was used in Deadpool 2, which they tell me is hilarious. And damn these Nordic men age well!

If they stopped now it would be a kinda beautiful circular closure as that last song on their last album is "Take on Me." In some ways the song is synonymous with the 1980s. As evidence, here's just one of many pop culture examples where the song is literally used to indicate the historical setting of the 1980s: in this case an obligatory Simpsons reference, albeit a foreign dub. It's been covered by many people include Tori Amos, Sara Bareilles, and Reel Big Fish. Yes, the ska version is excellent.  Still, I'm not entirely sure what to make of their mixed legacy. They seem to remembered almost wholly for their singular cultural contribution that's emblematic of the 80s, rather than as a full band with multiple songs and albums. Chris Martin of Coldplay as spoken highly of them, for better or worse. Adam Clayton of U2 has defended them. So did Pitbull. He notably samples "Take on Me" in this song with Xtina; it's hard for me to watch and even harder to listen to, and really just makes me want a hard-house remix without this joker clowning around on the track. They do get Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) dropping their name, especially referencing the often forgotten Cast in Steel, which is really nice. They aren't entirely forgotten for their musical contributions. The band has not exactly run away from their one hit wonder, but there is a slight bittersweet tragedy if that's all they are remembered for. So, if you like that one song then check out some of their other stuff! If not, then don't bother. 

[My 7-year-old daughter just came up to my desk and said, "Good-- you're finally writing about A-ha so we can stop listening to them."]

The Aggrolites

If there is one defining feature of this wicked-fun reggae band it is that they are so consistently awesome. I didn't really hear a Single or a particular stand out track on any of their five proper albums, but that's not meant to be an insult. It is because every single song is equally fantastic and entertaining. I never got tired of hearing them, even when they lingered on my phone for months before I got around to blogging about it.

Their other defining characteristic is that they are so shockingly authentic sounding. I can't claim to be all that familiar with old-school reggae and dub, but what I have heard sounds remarkably similar to this stuff. It's fairly impressive how fully they embody dub in their song structures, instrumentation, singing style, and even recording aesthetic. (Allegedly, their debut was recorded in a single day of all first-takes.) Then again, maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about or listening to when it comes to reggae. (I enjoy reggae when I have the opportunity to listen to it, but-- Bob Marley? That's pretty much all I got.) This musical blind-spot may have been confirmed when I recently heard that their newest album is going to be a "return to the sound of the earlier albums." This was perplexing to me, having discerned no significant difference between their first song and their last. Their lack of prolificacy is actually a boon. While they only have five albums, plus a live one, all are extremely good albums full of great songs. I have difficulty identifying the best one. However, if forced to choose I might select their 2006 self-titled-non-debut, despite frustration with the lackluster title. (Their most-recent fourth album is sadly entitled IV.) Their conciseness helps make them a damn-near flawless band, or as close to flawless as any rock band can get. Are they better than Pink Floyd? No, not really. But when a band has over a dozen albums there are bound to be a few clunkers in there. Not so with The Aggrolites, even though they've been around for 15 years at this point. Every. Song. Rocks.

Is this ska? Is this reggae? The band is born as a re-formation of a ska band and a reggae band from LA that both broke up, so that clears that up. They call it "dirty reggae," which alludes to the funk and soul influences. It does get extremely groovy. I wouldn't call this a ska band (their are only rarely horns), but they play the ska circuit. Special hat-tip to my friend who gave one or more of these guys a ride to some ska festival - and they were super-cool!

We might particularly appreciate the great vocalist, Jesse Wagner, who also plays guitar: nice when he needs to be and nasty sometimes too. The vocals are raw and unrestrained, with some of the lyrics being just the title of the song or some improvised shouting. There are occasionally nice backing vocals too. Who doesn't love shout-y male-female vocals? Even though the band is all guys, they get the audience to sing along (even on some studio tracks) and shout things out: Pop the Truck! Spelling out the band name on their theme song!  Reggae Hit LA! My only weird complaint is that he often yells something or other random on even the most sparsely-worded song; otherwise so many of these tunes would have ended up on my exclusive, and frequently-played wordless playlist.

A special nod goes to the keyboardist here, Roger Rivas, also a founding member and songwriter. There are keys on every song, and every organ sound selected is just perfect for each song; each song gets just the tone it so desperately needs. It varies appreciably between gravelly roars with just enough distortion, to delicate and warm sounds, and even some great synths. It really ties the songs together and keeps them interesting.

I should probably have listened to the album they made as the backing band for Tim Armstrong (of Rancid and Operation Ivy), but I will when I get to T. They've put some stuff out on his Hellcat records. Their best known song is the titular "Dirt Reggae" from a Hellcat compilation. In fact their genesis is traced to backing up reggae icon Derrick Morgan, whom I had to google and had not appeared in my music library. Their other popular track is "Work To Do," because it was on the soundtrack to the film 50/50, but it would fit well on a party playlist or a children's mix. Again, I love it, but they are all great songs.

The live albums make me want to see them live. It sounds so raunchy and joyous. The opportunity to yell back things is always fun. Plus they recreate live this absolutely fantastic musical trick wherein the song starts (as do the album and the live performance) with a steady funk beat that than morphs smoothly into a soulful reggae beat. It's sick, and you don't have to like reggae to appreciate it, but being a musician will help. Here's a decent example of it from YouTube:

So, yes they are skinheads. But the good kind! 

It's been a few years (since 2011) since they release fresh material. I am ready for more, and eager for the chance to see them live outside their native California. Dirty reggae!