Stray Tracks
From the fringes of the collection, a few songs to share….
Eminem, "Lose Yourself"
The elevation of Eminem by my critical brethren has had a lot to do with my alienation from hip-hop in the '00s. I think Eminem's got good flow, a flair for clever wordplay, great stage presence, and the kind of deep emotional problems that often makes superstar artists interesting. But at the same time, he tends to drive his hooks into the ground, and he's partly responsible for the trend towards excessive narcissism in popular culture, in which celebrities both major and minor (and sub-minor) give interviews and produce reality shows and record songs that are all about how the eyes of the world are upon them. Yes, I'm aware of the irony of me pointing this out in a column that dissects how every childhood memory has affected my musical opinions; and I'm also aware that a lot of Eminem's songs are meant to satirize this very phenomenon. Still, I can't help but feel that listening to Eminem is a step towards buying into celeb-worship, and I prefer to engage with that world exclusively via my weekly half-hour of The Soup. That's why—cliché as it may be—my favorite Eminem track is the Oscar-winning mega-hit "Lose Yourself," which scales back the arrogance and ups the desperation and, ultimately, the transcendence.
"Lose Yourself" by Eminem
Emitt Rhodes, "Mary Will You Take My Hand"
Here's another west coast wunderkind who had flashes of chart success—a la Curt Boettcher and Harry Nilsson—before disappearing from the pop scene before the '70s ended. Rhodes is best known for fronting The Merry-Go-Round, a fine post-Beatles American rock band I'll get to later this year, but Rhodes also had a brief swing as a solo artist between 1970 and '73. This jaunty song—incongruous steel drums and all—comes from his solo debut The American Dream, which his label didn't release until two years after it was recorded, after he'd had a couple of minor hits. It's what they used to call a feel-good song, and an effective one.
"Mary Will You Take My Hand" by Emmit Rhodes
England Dan & John Ford Coley, "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight"
For some reason, the mid-'70s were especially kind to these kind of soft, rootsy concoctions, delivered with a slight southern lilt and a whole lot of pro-quality studio varnish by neatly dressed, shaggy-haired dudes with epic moustaches. I've always liked this song because it shines like zircon, and because it features the squarest lyrics this side of The Everly Brothers' "That's Old Fashioned." In essence, this song is saying, "I don't want to have sex with you; I just want to go for a walk." Ladies, any takers?
"I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" by England Dan & John Ford Coley
Esquivel, "Bye Bye Blues"
The Esquivel mini-craze of the mid-'90s was largely driven by my generation's shallow junkshop mentality, which had us cluttering our dorms and apartments with all manner of retro kitsch—partly out of nostalgia, partly out of irony, and partly because we thought it was funny. But we also revived Esquivel's wiggy cocktail party favorites because they're genuinely wonderful—full of sonic surprises, exotic flair, and creative exuberance. Our motivations may have been muddled, but if it helped keep Esquivel's name in front of the record-buying public a little longer, it was well-worth-it.
"Bye Bye Blues" by Esquivel
Eurythmics, "Here Comes The Rain Again"
For a somewhat sadder version of shadowing, you could always follow Eurythmics' strange decline from relatively adventurous techno-pop at the start of the '80s to adult contemporary mush by the end. Though along the way, Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox recorded a few amazing singles—and in fact, some of their best were the ones that balanced the adventurous with the mainstream. I've always loved three Eurythmics songs in particular: "Love Is A Stranger," "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)" and this aching love ballad. Maybe I was unduly influenced by the "Here Comes The Rain Again" video, which had Lennox walking forlornly across windswept cliffs in her frumpy nightgown, but when I was 13, this song seemed the epitome of romantic yearning—something I was a few years away from actually experiencing.
"Here Comes The Rain Again" by Eurythmics
Ever We Fall, "Late Night Dance Party"
Because I've never been steeped in emo-fandom (or emo-backlash), I don't really have much in the way of a critical framework to apply when I a song like this comes up. I can sort of understand why some people would be instantly opposed to it: It has those boyish, borderline-whiny vocals typical of emo, and lyrics overly (almost cynically) preoccupied with youth culture. But it's also got the kind of open-ended alt-rock arrangement that much of emo favors, and at times it reminds me of some of Minutemen's more elastic later songs, or the work of the short-lived Tripmaster Monkey. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who thinks this song sucks, because I've got literally hundreds of songs like this that've landed on my hard drive over the past several years, and I never know whether to delete them or not. This is one I'd be inclined to keep, though I'd be hard-pressed to say what makes it better or worse (or really any different at all) from the others.
"Late Night Dance Party" by Ever We Fall
Everclear, "Fire Maple Song"
Art Alexakis has really only ever written one song, which he's been rehashing over and over on album after inexplicably big-selling album. I do like that song—I liked it when I heard it for the first time on Everclear's debut World Of Noise, and I've liked it every time the band has had another hit with it—but it's hard to believe that every time Alexakis has presented his label with "I Will Buy You A New Life" or "Santa Monica" that the label hasn't said, "Uh, Alex…this is great and all, but we've already released this song." If you tried to shadow Everclear, you wouldn't travel very far.
"Fire Maple Song" by Everclear
The Evolution Control Committee, "Spandau Filet"
I respect the conceptual brilliance of Negativland, but their collage-minded protégées in The Evolution Control Committee make cut-ups that are generally more musical and fun, if rarely as pointed. There's not much going on here besides remixing skill—no point, in other words—but it's kind of mesmerizing regardless. (And short, which is always a plus.)
"Spandau Filet" by The Evolution Control Committee
The Exploding Hearts, "Throwaway Style"
While garage-rock and post-punk were getting revived left and right in the early '00s, power-pop's best hope for superstardom (at least since the brief, sputtering career of Material Issue) were the Portland-based clang-and-jangle purveyors The Exploding Hearts. They were hooky and charismatic, and on the basis of the stellar debut LP Guitar Romantic and some energizing live shows, they seemed like they were on the verge of bursting out of the underground, until a van accident killed three members of the band. At the moment, The Exploding Hearts still aren't all that well-known, but I get the feeling that Guitar Romantic (and the also-quite-good singles-and-outtakes collection Shattered) will be passed on from fan to fan as the years go by, and become revered like Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, and other great records by bands that peaked early then stopped, by choice or by circumstance.
"Throwaway Style" by The Exploding Hearts
The Faces, "Bad 'n' Ruin"
I'll talk more about Rod Stewart somewhere down the line, but in the meantime I should say a few words about arguably the best project Stewart has ever been involved with. The fact that The Faces are down here in this section and not up with the Pieces Of The Puzzle is only because I've never given them the attention they deserve. I bought a Faces anthology after "Ooh La La" so memorably closed out Rushmore, but I only played it once or twice for some reason. I guess I just wasn't yet in the right place yet to appreciate strictly groove-based British blooze-rock. In the years since I've gotten heavily into Free—Free, for heaven's sake!—but until this week I hadn't gotten around to revisiting The Faces. That's a grievous error that I plan to spend the rest of my life correcting.
"Bad 'N' Ruin" by The Faces
Fatboy Slim, "Gangster Tripping"
I know Fatboy Slim's biggest hits were so overplayed that they became annoyances, but at a distance, it's easier to hear Norman Cook's best singles for what they were: smartly assembled club fare, full of familiar sounds and walloping beats. When it's past midnight, you've had some drinks and you're hungry, you want something salty and cheesy. Fatboy Slim is the dance floor equivalent of "drunk food."
"Gangster Tripping" by Fatboy Slim
Fats Domino, "I'm Ready"
Every time I start to forget that "rock 'n' roll" is essentially a euphemism for fucking, I get a friendly reminder via proto-rock singles like this Fats Domino classic. Bonus points for the handclaps, which add percussive texture. I love percussive texture.
"I'm Ready" by Fats Domino
The Features, "The Way It's Meant To Be"
Here's another in what seems like an unending string of Tennessee rock bands that got an invitation to the big time only to find nobody there when they knocked on the door. With The Features though, I'm not entirely sure why they ended up on a major label in the first place, except that it was the mid-'00s, the "rockisback" movement still had a little momentum left, and The Features have always been a band with catchy hooks at the ready. But bandleader Matt Pelham has also always had an idiosyncratic approach to his musical output—which has been sporadic during the band's 10-plus years of kicking around the scene—and he's never been one to just cash in. The Features' early music was Cars-y about six years before The Strokes and others made The Cars a viable influence again, and then the band went through an Elephant 6 phase about three years too late. For The Features' lone LP Exhibit A, they combined the new wave strain with the DIY indie strain, while adding some arena-rock crunch. The result was far noisier and more reckless than I think Universal was expecting, and the album subsequently died on the vine. But I still think it's one mother of a record—especially this song, which you may notice sounds a little like Fats Domino's "I'm Ready" at first, before taking a few different turns.
"The Way It's Meant To Be" by The Features
Femi Kuti etc., "Water No Get Enemy" This one sort of stands in for the "regrettably unremarked upon" Fela Kuti, who is RUU for one simple reason: I've apparently lost the kick-ass Fela Kuti anthology I used to have on CD. So Femi will have to do—which is fine, because the apple hasn't fallen that far from the tree, and anyway, this is a cover of a Fela song. Femi Kuti may use more modern recording techniques, and he may have picked up the habits of contemporary R&B, from guest vocalists to remixes, but the Afrobeat essence is the same. It's all about repetition, testifying, and transcendence. (More on the latter next week.)
"Water No Get Enemy" by Femi Kuti etc.
Regrettably unremarked upon: Emmylou Harris, Emperor X, Ennio Morricone, Eric Burdon, ESG, Etta James, Everything But The Girl, Explosions In The Sky, Fairport Convention, Fat Jon and Fela Kuti
Also
listened to:
Embrace, Emerson Drive, Emily
Haines & The Soft Skeleton, Emily Lord, Emmet
Swimming, Emulations, End, End Of
Fashion, The End Of The World, Englebert Humperdink, Enon, Ensemble,
The Ensemble Al Salam, Enzo Stuarti, epic45, The Equators, Eric Andersen, Eric
Bachman, Eric Donaldson, Eric Johnson, Erie Choir, Erin
Condo, Ernest & Hattie Stone, Erma Franklin, Eskimo Joe,
The Eskimos, The Esoteric, Espers, The
Essex Green, Ester Drang, Esthero, Estradasphere, The
Eternals, Etran Finatawa, Eugene McGuinness, Eugene Mirman,
Eulogies, Euros Childs, Evan Dando, Evanescence,
Evangelicals, Evelyn Champagne King, Every Move A Picture, Evie Sands, Ex Lion
Tamer, Ex-Boyfriends, eXIT cLoV,
Extra Golden, Eyeball Skeleton, The
Fabulettes, Face To Face, The Faint, The Faintest Ideas, Family
Fodder, The Fantastic Four, Fantastic Plastic Machine, Fantômas, Far Away
Places, Fareed Haque, Fat Daddy Holmes, Faunts, Faux Fox,
Federico Aubele, Felix Da Housecat, Felony, Fergus
McCormick, Fern Jones, Fernando, Ferocious Eagle,
The Fever, The Few, The Field, Fields,
The Figgs, The Fight, Film School, The Films, The Finals and
A Fine Frenzy
Next week: From Fine Young Cannibals to Genesis, plus a few words on transcendence
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