Some things I've enjoyed this year/1: songs
I begin the (more) arbitrary (than usual) listing of items for the years end. Today, I'm going to list several songs that I quite enjoyed - songs that existed independently of albums that I purchased or songs that were unfortunately attached to rather mediocre records.
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Archer Prewitt - "Judy, Judy" from Wilderness
Whenever I listen to this record, I think of that one Basil Bunting poem that goes something like "...remember ascetics, prophets, half-wits / young girls with little tender tits / that fellmonger death is waiting over all." Anyway, it's something like that. I think its the pencil-sketch on the cover. But the record for the most part, like Basil Bunting, I cannot latch onto, tho I can recognize its inherent quality as far as composition. Of course, that's the way I feel about a lot of this Chicago stuff - a lot of Jim O'Rourke records, Sea and Cake, Tortoise, Shrimp Boat, etc. "Judy, Judy" is the little tender tit in the center of this record that gets my attention and sticks out in my memory. Kinda sounding like classic rock radio staple America without being quite so discouraging (America makes me feel as if its not really worth it to do anything at all, ever, for any reason). And how can you argue with the too-polite-to-be-insistent drums coupled with the lyric "Judy, Judy, come on..."? You can't. You just get sort of exasperated and sink back into the couch. The sweet sound of failing up.
Andrew Thompson - "We're In Business"/"Don't Get Down" from Egad!
Tho the rest of his debut record is just as awful as the title would suggest, these two tracks push thru the rest in order to bring the heavy 1983 vibe. "We're In Business" is the whitest Off the Wall outtake and probable contender for "Best non-Parliament/Funkadelic Song About Robots". "Don't Get Down" probably would've been song of the year until I found out that the chorus lyric is in fact "Cheer up, Isaac" instead of the infinitely more brilliant and ambiguously gorgeous "Sheila...Isaac". Still, an affecting little synthpop track that would dovetail nicely with "We're In Business" had the two been released as a 7" instead of a full length. Strangely, this is on the same label that gave us Edan's Beauty and the Beat record that had all the heads going "hells yes."
Mike Jones & Paul Wall + Britney Spears - "Tippin' Toxic" (Hollertronix Mash) from Hollertronix Vol. 2
I am still not 100% sure about what Hollertronix is, exactly (record label? studio? artist collective? website distribution center?), I only know that when I see Hollertronix attached to something, I give it a listen. And tho this sometimes unsettling mash-up is far from the best I've found with that tag, it's an oddly compelling track right from the get-go. It does miss Britney's tech-fucked vocal fills, but the "Tippin'..." chorus slides in so perfectly around Bloodshy and Avant's brilliant string hook (possibly the most genius hook since Mary Wells' strings/handclaps/vibes combo on the stupendously unbefuckinglievable "Honey Boy" single) that it's hard to really fault any of the clunkiness of the verses. And whenever I put this on, I can't help but see that really bored-looking chick from the "Still Tippin'" video - you know, the one dancing in front of the turntable in the yard - compelling, if rather confusing.
I was gonna put up the track here, but since YSI isn't cooperating, I'll put it up later along with some more song favorites. But for now, the internet and I need to rest.
---------
Archer Prewitt - "Judy, Judy" from Wilderness
Whenever I listen to this record, I think of that one Basil Bunting poem that goes something like "...remember ascetics, prophets, half-wits / young girls with little tender tits / that fellmonger death is waiting over all." Anyway, it's something like that. I think its the pencil-sketch on the cover. But the record for the most part, like Basil Bunting, I cannot latch onto, tho I can recognize its inherent quality as far as composition. Of course, that's the way I feel about a lot of this Chicago stuff - a lot of Jim O'Rourke records, Sea and Cake, Tortoise, Shrimp Boat, etc. "Judy, Judy" is the little tender tit in the center of this record that gets my attention and sticks out in my memory. Kinda sounding like classic rock radio staple America without being quite so discouraging (America makes me feel as if its not really worth it to do anything at all, ever, for any reason). And how can you argue with the too-polite-to-be-insistent drums coupled with the lyric "Judy, Judy, come on..."? You can't. You just get sort of exasperated and sink back into the couch. The sweet sound of failing up.
Andrew Thompson - "We're In Business"/"Don't Get Down" from Egad!
Tho the rest of his debut record is just as awful as the title would suggest, these two tracks push thru the rest in order to bring the heavy 1983 vibe. "We're In Business" is the whitest Off the Wall outtake and probable contender for "Best non-Parliament/Funkadelic Song About Robots". "Don't Get Down" probably would've been song of the year until I found out that the chorus lyric is in fact "Cheer up, Isaac" instead of the infinitely more brilliant and ambiguously gorgeous "Sheila...Isaac". Still, an affecting little synthpop track that would dovetail nicely with "We're In Business" had the two been released as a 7" instead of a full length. Strangely, this is on the same label that gave us Edan's Beauty and the Beat record that had all the heads going "hells yes."
Mike Jones & Paul Wall + Britney Spears - "Tippin' Toxic" (Hollertronix Mash) from Hollertronix Vol. 2
I am still not 100% sure about what Hollertronix is, exactly (record label? studio? artist collective? website distribution center?), I only know that when I see Hollertronix attached to something, I give it a listen. And tho this sometimes unsettling mash-up is far from the best I've found with that tag, it's an oddly compelling track right from the get-go. It does miss Britney's tech-fucked vocal fills, but the "Tippin'..." chorus slides in so perfectly around Bloodshy and Avant's brilliant string hook (possibly the most genius hook since Mary Wells' strings/handclaps/vibes combo on the stupendously unbefuckinglievable "Honey Boy" single) that it's hard to really fault any of the clunkiness of the verses. And whenever I put this on, I can't help but see that really bored-looking chick from the "Still Tippin'" video - you know, the one dancing in front of the turntable in the yard - compelling, if rather confusing.
I was gonna put up the track here, but since YSI isn't cooperating, I'll put it up later along with some more song favorites. But for now, the internet and I need to rest.
posted by P at 4:26 AM
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