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deadcactuswalking · 2 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 03/12/2022 (Christmas Garbage, Stormzy)

I think this’ll be a short one. Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” reigns for a sixth week and welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we start with our notable dropouts, which are songs exiting the UK Top 75 – which is what I cover – after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, that list includes “Major Distribution” by Drake and 21 Savage, “TV” by Billie Eilish, “One Up” by Central Cee, “She’s Not Anyone” by D-Block Europe featuring Burna Boy, the original “Miss You” by southstar sadly being eclipsed by the Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz version, “STAR WALKIN’” (League of Legends Worlds Anthem) by Lil Nas X, “Super Freaky Girl” by Nicki Minaj, “2 be Loved (Am I Ready)” by Lizzo and some really big 2022 hits saying farewell: “Big City Life” by Luude and Mattafix, “Last Last” by Burna Boy, and “Running up that Hill (A Deal with God)” by Kate Bush. Oh, and “Bad Habits” by Ed Sheeran is gone but it’ll be back. To be fair, most of this will be after Christmas.

One thing I appreciate about ACR is that in a year wherein festive celebrations came earlier than seemingly ever, there aren’t four Christmas songs in the top 10 like in the US, and we had more of a trickling in effect than Stateside. That doesn’t mean that our notable gains and returns aren’t largely dominated by holiday music, however. In terms of where our three highest-performing festive tracks are, “Merry Christmas” by Ed Sheeran and Elton John is at #15, “Last Christmas” by Wham! is at #9 and, to prove ACR’s impact, “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey is at #8. Without ACR, it’d top this week’s chart. We also see 14 returning entries from the Christmas canon, so bear with me as we welcome back “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber at #71, “Feliz Navidad” by Jose Feliciano at #70, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with the Plastic Ono Band and the Harlem Community Choir at #68, “Sleigh Ride” by the Ronettes at #66, “Snowman” by Sia at #65, “Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade at #63, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” by Dean Martin at #61, “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #60, “One More Sleep” by Leona Lewis at #57, “I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday” by Wizzard at #53, “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney at #51, “Step into Christmas” by Elton John at #45, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams at #44 and “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea at #42. I wouldn’t usually do this since I name these songs every year but it’s a short episode so I suppose it’s worth listing off my opinions on these songs, in the exact order I mentioned them. So just briefly: better than you remember, mind-numbing, infuriating, a classic, I hope the snowman isn’t autistic, sounds like a drunk dads’ karaoke (in a good way), fine enough, Satan’s spawn, modern classic, disagreeable but good, genuinely bizarre and incomprehensible, jolly good fun, sounds like a warm fireplace and finally, seriously underrated. As of now, there are five Christmas songs in the top 20.

In terms of gains outside of the Christmas songs, there really aren’t many to speak of as most songs found themselves falling or stagnating. Regardless, “Lionheart (Fearless)” by Joel Corry and Tom Grennan is at #22 and Stormzy sees gains for “Firebabe” at #11 and “Hide & Seek” at #7 off of the #1 album (more on that later). Also in the top 10 is a massive gain off of the debut for RAYE’s “Escapism.” featuring 070 Shake at #6. It’s the first top 10 hit for 070 Shake, and whilst I do doubt its longevity considering how opposed it is to sounding festive, I do hope it sticks around. It’s a great song.

This week’s top five on the UK Singles Chart consists of “PSYCHO” by Anne-Marie and Aitch at #5, “Miss You” by Oliver Tree and Robin Schulz at #4, “messy in heaven” by venbee, goddard. and ArrDee at #3, “Made You Look” by Meghan Trainor at #2 and of course, “Anti-Hero” at the top. Now we can go through our list of new entries on the chart, as is the point of this series yet I’ve still not found a good segue. It’s been damn near five years.

NEW ARRIVALS

#52 – “Someday at Christmas” – Lizzo

Produced by the shills over at Amazon

Every Christmas, we get Amazon pushing songs, typically covers, by big artists that are exclusive to their Amazon Music service so that Alexa will play it when someone asks for holiday music and whoever recorded it gets a cheap, Astroturf hit. To me, it kind of ruins the point of a Christmas song to make it exclusive to a service (especially considering the universal and optimistic, hopeful world view of the original song), and it largely makes no impact as the song leaks onto YouTube or... totally legal torrenting sites anyway. “Someday at Christmas” is a classic by Stevie Wonder and is available on all streaming services so it’s really not worth digging a cover up. As a part of my opposition to these sketchy Amazon original covers, I opened this spot up to people on a music Discord server largely centred around the charts to give me suggestions of songs to check out, so in kind of a lightning round, here are 10 songs that the server wanted me to listen to instead of “Someday at Christmas”.

Jade suggested “The Thrill is Gone.” by RAYE, which acts as the B-side to “Escapism.” and in my opinion is worth a single release on its own. RAYE has that typical mix of cold swagger and quivering whisper that works for the uncertain content, desperate for validation from this guy when the thrill in the relationship has just withered away. I do think the chorus is a bit weak but the jazzy groove is top-notch and really organic, especially in the breakdown, with the tempo shifts adding some real sense of dynamics across the arrangement. This new direction from RAYE reminds me of Amy Winehouse and whilst she may not have the punch yet in these singles, she’s got me compelled with these singles and I’m excited for that album.

Piran suggested “player 2” by piri & tommy, a UK garage duo who have learned from the winning formula that is PinkPantheress, mixing the classic groove with bedroom pop sensibilities. This is far from my favourite from their album froge.mp3, especially considering “beachin”, “on & on” and “say it” exist, but it still has that vintage-sounding wave of subtle keys and a thumping beat that is decent. If Tommy Villiers were a vocal presence worth caring about, I’d probably not mind the bog-standard content but in comparison to the more energetic tracks, that chorus feels kind of tedious and piri is obviously the standout in this duo when it comes to the vocalist. Regardless, it’s still got a groove to it, the build-up is well-implemented and its mix is impeccable for its genre – the bass really hits and the vocals are cloudy and all over the mix like they should be in more casual UK garage, but it’s also mostly a demo of a song that feels like it should have been re-recorded somewhere across the line.

Jade also suggested “Zukunft Pink” by Peter Fox featuring Inéz, which is Fox’s first solo release in 14 years and went #1 in Germany. I liked the intro with all the strings coalescing into each other amidst the hand claps, and they definitely carry a grandiosity when the bassy digital dancehall groove comes in. I’m not entirely convinced by Inéz on the hook but Fox’s vocals deliver a bassy rumble that is pretty fitting for this kind of subtly uplifting but also incessantly-flexing track... and compared to your average rap song, it definitely has more of a bounce to it so I’ll take it. Sure, it’s a tad unmoving but when he starts the second verse by dissing Elon Musk and the little chiptune synths arrive in the bridge, I can’t say this isn’t good fun.

Piran also suggested “The Loneliest Time” by Carly Rae Jepsen featuring Rufus Wainwright. Whilst not successful commercially since “I Really Like You”, Jepsen has won with the critics and usually, not me as much. This new single went viral on TikTok and is completely competent with its vaguely disco sound as the strings wrap around an unnecessarily driving beat that, alongside the chipmunk post-chorus, just sounds a bit too awkward. Rufus Wainwright sounds like a Jonas Brother in this but at least with a modern duet, there’s actual interplay and they both have a lot of vocal charisma, getting back together after a breakup because they’re both so irresistible. It’s cute, but the production is too distracting for me to really endorse it fully. I wish I could like Carly Rae Jepsen more than I do but more often than not, whoever’s behind the boards is doing too much. I don’t like bog-standard synthpop but I also don’t understand the need for such maximalism as that bridge with all the sound effects when the songwriting reflects such a simple, instinctual emotion. Something more minimal and striking could have worked here.

Luca suggested “Get with You Tonight” by DJ Mark Night and Lukas Setto, a throwback deep-house tune with a sweet bass hook that pretty much won me over before anything else. That specific tone of synth bass in a funky house context will never not work, and Setto has that kind of liquid voice that just meshes with the production in such an effortless way. Sure, the content isn’t compelling but in a dancefloor smash like this, it doesn’t need to, and the way each falsetto note just perfectly hits on the stabs of the synth strings in harmony makes the chorus seem so cathartic, especially when the verses tend to be slippery with subtle ad-libs. The swell of the production is really grand yet never really oversells itself because the groove is so solid that every other inflection is just a DVD bonus feature. I have no idea why this isn’t a hit, it’s incredible.

Piran also suggested “Weapons” by Ava Max, who sadly started making good music as soon as she stopped charting. Whilst this second album seems set up to be a slump in the eyes of the public, at least I’m enjoying the singles, and this is one of them. Her brand of 80s pastiche has a certain synthwave drive to it, with a delivery so coded in vocal manipulation that any emotion comes off as an act, in a perfectly camp way. If anything, I kind of wish the song was more camp, since the main chorus melody sounds like it should be in a musical and the lead synth is not far from a Phantom of the Opera organ. Regardless, the drums are punchy as Hell and it’s incessantly catchy. It’s not my favourite Ava song – “Maybe You’re the Problem” still has that on lock – but this won’t make a bad album track. If anything, that may be the problem. I’m sure there are songs more single-worthy than this one.

Jade also suggested “Baby Girl” by Disco Lines, which may take a while to explain. Firstly, Adele released the fine enough song “Melt My Heart into Stone” in 2008, and in 2010, Donald Glover took an incredible piano and vocal sample loop from that song that had real flip potential with an actually good rapper on it, but since this is early Childish Gambino, it’s embarrassing and largely cringeworthy, as well as being like two minutes too long with a bad mix. A drumless flip of this loop with Griselda on it, or even a full hip house flip, would work, but alas, it didn’t happen. In 2014, HOME released the vaporwave classic “Resonance” that in the eyes of the Internet came to define the entire movement, with its wavy synths, many of its melodies becoming pretty iconic. Nowadays, I find it pretty rote to be honest, but it’s a solid instrumental that is definitely chill to relax to and the synthwork ends up keeping you on your toes more than you’d think. Colorado DJ Disco Lines took the hook from “Do Ya Like” and the synths from “Resonance”, sped both of them up for TikTok views and made a pretty annoying loop out of it. I appreciate the mashup as I’m a fan of Bastardised pop, especially putting vaporwave with Childish Gambino because well, that’s what he should have always rapped over... but when he’s taking a mediocre hook and splashing it over synths that become less recognisable once you’ve added these bog-standard house drums over it, it just becomes much of a muchness, not really existing in a form that is separable from virality, especially when he starts sampling MLG meme lines. Like come on, at least pretend it’s a real song.

Luca also suggested “CORALINE” by Maneskin, proving my thesis that this band is better in their native tongue. The acoustic backing reminds me of a Latin-inflected Red Hot Chili Peppers with how it makes a surprisingly flickery and upbeat strum sound drained and mellow, and whilst the language barrier does prevent me from fully taking the lyrics in and I can’t comment on their tone because of what may be lost in translation, it’s a pretty compelling and tragic story about a girl called Coraline who seems emblematic of those longing for a release or escape from a constant background of mental trauma. Frontman Damiano David plays it safer with his nasal tone which makes it even more gripping when that first electric guitar riff comes in and he breathily whispers over the tumbling drums, his delivery evolving into a raspy screech as the song intensifies and... yeah, this is exactly my thing. These suggestions have been good, but this one in particular scratches an itch that is so cathartic to me and I don’t get to talk about hard rock nearly enough on this show. David strains himself in his slippery delivery which sounds as messy and difficult to solve as the mental problems he’s describing, especially when his rolling rasp gets more venomous and desperate over the a killer drum fill – I had to search who Maneskin’s drummer was and whilst Thomas Raggi deserves credit for his guitar work, especially on that solo, the drums from Ethan Torchio are just crushing and absorb all space in the mix. It is seriously intense and honestly perfect for this content, especially if restraint wins over sonically as Damiano sounds defeated moaning over the same acoustic riff we started with. It’s a passionate, heartbreaking song that is pretty much up my specific alley in many ways: I live for dramatic alt-rock melancholy, and this is up there. Maybe I shouldn’t write these guys off as much as I do sometimes.

Piran also suggested “Blue” by Sigrid, which is in comparison to the previous song, kind of underwhelming. There isn’t really room for comparison here though as these are pretty much randomly selected tracks. I’m not a fan of Sigrid anyway, but what I’ve heard from her recently doesn’t even have the same punch as her debut, and as a ballad, “Blue” just feels like it exists. It almost has a country twang in its acoustics but watered down so that a Norwegian actually makes sense singing on it. There isn’t enough detail to the content to make it all that distinguishable, and it probably needed some extra drafts so that the writing weren’t so repetitive, especially if as a song it’s going to be this cloudy and unmoving. Sigrid is a great singer for sure, and she delivers vocally here, but she’s selling very little over a song that doesn’t even have a typical power ballad swell. This is just... completely fine, and that’s pretty much it.

Finally, Jade also suggested... “Vagina” by cupcakKe. You know, the blaring instrumental of this song sounds really dated for 2015, especially considering that a lot of other trap from that era has not aged one bit, and the rattling lo-fi percussion is pretty distracting, especially with the twinkling bells that are loud enough in the mix to annoy me. It’s just a bit of an instrumental headache and it really is unfortunate that there is not a comically obnoxious female rapper talking explicitly about sex over this beat. I get we can’t have everything we want.

Of course, we can’t exactly have a Best or Worst of the Week for this week, so I may as well replicate it for this section: my favourite was by far “CORALINE” by Maneskin but “Get with You Tonight” by Mark Night and Lukas Setto gets pretty close – turns out Luca suggested both. I’m not really a fan of all of them, but it’s mostly a good batch and the only track I’d say I dislike is “Baby Girl” by Disco Lines, but even that is only less than two minutes and has some decent ideas going for it. A big thank you is due to everyone who suggested, of course. Oh, and if you’re forgetting what this show is about:

#32 – “This is What I Mean” – Stormzy

Produced by P2J, Knox Brown, PRGRSHN and Joel Peters

Stormzy feels confused. This arguably maturer, slower effort This is What I Mean still gave him a #1 album but sonically, he seems too ambitious for his own will. He’s still a great rapper, yet he spends a great deal of his time singing. He has an ear for great production, but doesn’t develop upon the foundation enough. The beats are all immaculately mixed for the most part and definitely intricately sequenced but in the Jacob Collier fashion wherein very little soul is brought to the table and we’re relying on Stormzy for the emotional impact... which is just not going to come through since whilst he has a resonant voice in rap, he’s not going to tug at your heartstrings in R&B mode. Also, Jacob Collier helped produce the album – go figure. It’s a conflicted album that is less than the sum of its parts but ultimately delivers a pretty apt path for Stormzy to go from here, even if this album is far from perfect. My favourite track was the sweet, retrospective “I Got My Smile Back” which is way too wholesome for me not to dig, but the title track does get close, mostly because it’s a grime posse cut and those rarely fail. Stormzy handles most of the track, which mixes a fluttering romanticist piano with pulsating, warping bass and a genuine swell in the strings for the intro, before flattening into staccato harmonies and shrieks for Stormzy to start going off... and he does. There’s not much wordplay, but his sheer cold confidence and playfulness with his flow is more than enough to make up for it, especially when all of the vocal loops create an incomprehensible, bassy mess that he somehow still stands out against, before the grimey, filthy bass beat comes in and he can slide over it as he usually does, with effortless swagger and a wonderful blend of ad-libs and sound effects that are all so intricately placed to fit with Stormzy’s flow that it sounds like it took weeks. For the third verse and the bridge, Ms Banks comes in to trade bars with Stormzy, appearing on a distorted phone call verse that has a striking yell to it, right before Ghanaian singer Amaarae comes in and kills it with her convicted swells, venomous chants and violent, eerie harmonies perfectly aligned with the strings. I think it’s pretty hilarious that the week after Stormzy called himself Kanye, he said that he vibed with Hitler, but when you sit on an album for this long, some of it can age... not quite so well. The track ends with an infectious chant and hypeman outro from Black Sherif that goes pretty hard, and whilst I wish it ended up with a more solid bang and really, it fails to set the stage for how the album actually sounds, it’s great on its own and definitely has single material.

Conclusion

Well, I suppose Stormzy, Ms Banks, Amaarae and Black Sherif get Best of the Work for “This is What I Mean” but there’s not exactly competition, especially since Lizzo’s cover is only a negative on principle and is honestly a pretty fine, faithful rendition. As for next week, I imagine it’ll mostly be more Christmas garbage, but for now, thanks for reading, rest in peace to Irene Cara and Christine McVie, and I’ll see you next week!

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matt00794 · 2 years

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FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2022

Hi so I did this before and want to try doing it again. I know it’s November and some great albums could show up in December but I doubt it. my music listening has pretty much always been focused on new music and rarely look backwards. So this is going to be all about new albums, kind of want to do a film one but I haven’t really watched any 2022 movies, I just had zero interest in new movies but watched a lot of older movies and kind of want to do a list of faves of those. I seriously doubt anyone will read all of this or that but who knows.

1. Caprisongs - FKA Twigs

This has been my favorite album since the start of the year. It’s such a wide ranging and interesting album from start to end. She is having so much fun making this, from the interludes to the instrumentals to the singing it’s all just fun and excitement.

2. Dawn FM - The Weeknd

This was my number 1 for a like a week then I listened to Caprisongs. It’s just everything that Abel does well. It’s a whole world in an album. He’s such an exciting voice in the world of music

3. Once Twice Melody - Beach House

there’s no real order to the rest of these albums so don’t judge me on the order. I had so much fun with the release of this album, it has 3 parts and we got bits and pieces of it till we got the whole thing. It’s such a massive but interesting album.

4. Renaissance - Beyoncé

dance bops that were perfect for a summer after a long period of craziness

5. Surrender - Maggie Rogers

the wu tang clan of techno folk returns with another great album. want want is my favorite off of this.

6. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers - Kendrick Lamar

It’s Kendrick of course this is on here. It’s a messy but interesting album, he really goes into some tough topics. While he isn’t perfect he’s working on himself and making himself a better person and I hope his perspective helped end some bigotry of other people.

7. Let’s Have a Dream - Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Super Band

I have to have a weird pick so heres my live Japanese concert by Yoko Ono from 1974. She’s such an artist and it’s so sad how she was treated because a bunch of people hated that John Lennon loved her. as for the music it goes from loud and angry to lovely. Yume O Moto is a great listen

8. The Loneliest Time - Carly Rae Jepsen

ok this isn’t my favorite of her works, but she is one of the best pop artists we have and a lesser work is still great. My only issue is that I feel like she is still working in the same music world since emotion. This and dedicated feel like they belong with that album and I want to see her expand into something new. That being said she’s still doing what she is doing at a super high level and some bops were made.

9. Alpha Zulu - Phoenix

Phoenix have some of the weirdest lyrics in the world but it’s all vibes and the vibes are amazing.

10. Crybaby - Tegan and Sara

I haven’t spent enough time on this to fully no what to say here but I love this. They are so clearly excited about music again. It’s just such a burst of energy.

11. Midnights - Taylor Swift

so this is an indie artist and she really needs to be played more. This album has been talked about a lot and I have some mixed feelings on it, but after a lot of her stupid controversies around this album I’m getting to the star wars point where I will like everything she puts out there and at this point don’t want to hear from other fans cause we won’t agree, cause Karma is a cat and I’m just a sexy baby

12. King’s Disease III - Nas

I’m not really a big Nas fan, I listened to the Illmatic because I heard it was one of the great rap albums and an influence on good kid. I randomly listed to 2 when it came out and really liked this and then loved this one. That he’s still still one of the best rappers out there and willing to go into so many different topics is great.

13. The Car - Arctic Monkeys

this is the controversial pic of the list. I really love their new sound. Tranquility is such an amazing album and this is a more mainstream version of that one.

Honorable mentions

These are some Albums I had a lot of fun with but for what ever reason didn’t listen to enough to really get to that faves area or just didn’t leave the impact I would want sort of thing. also this get’s up to 22 😉

Laurel Hell - Mitski

LP.8 - Kelly Lee Owens

Shunka Ryougen - Haru Nemuri

Super Champon - Otoboke Beaver

Simple Sentences - Shoko Igarashi

World Wide Pop - Superorganism

Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, & Lava - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Changes - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

RTJ CU4TRO - Run The Jewels

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noloveforned · 2 years

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no love for ned on wlur – october 14th, 2022 from 8-10pm

artist // track // album // label ulysses // push you away // .010 // eenie meenie mary anne's polar rig // surfaced // surfaced 7" // kollektivet fur // high side // the betty shakes // fellaheen titus andronicus // (i'm) screwed // the will to live // merge wet leg // loving you // good music to ensure safe abortion access to all compilation // good music private lives // misfortune // private lives cassette // feel it abi-ooze // run and hide // forestdale sessions cassette // rotten apple lime crush // téléphone // timewaster 7" // fettkakao versus // sea girl // let's electrify! ep // teenbeat renovator's delight // bark all night // bark all night // little lunch yoko ono and plastic ono super band // one way road // let's have a dream - 1974 one step festival // super fuji discs jacobites // snow white // robespierre's velvet basement // troubadour the ants // coping mechanism // good luck crow // (self-released) shannen moser // the sun still seems to move // the sun still seems to move // lame-o jakub šimanský and tomáše niesner // dikobraz // všechno dobré // stoned to death elkhorn // wilderness // distances // feeding tube søren raaschou featuring travis laplante // the new world // number two // artsound creation sun ra arkestra // somebody else's idea // living sky // omni sound cecil taylor // air // the world of cecil taylor // candid kokoroko // we give thanks // could we be more // brownswood minnie riperton // memory band // come to my garden // grt jeanette baker // vacation from my mind // vacation from my mind // forager nayanna holley with adrian younge and ali shaheed muhammad // it's all us // reasonable doubt soundtrack // abc signature fatboi sharif and roper williams featuring yl // fly pelican // gandhi loves children // novelty rhys langston // obscenely poetic // grapefruit radio // pow georgia anne muldrow featuring mp is free and declaime // the outcome // a thoughtiverse unmarred // mello music group babeheaven featuring navy blue // make me wanna // sink into me // (self-released) nicholas krgovich and joseph shabason // childhood mcdonald's // at scaramouche // idée fixe fievel is glauque // decoy // god's trashmen sent to right the mess // kit say sue me // elevate me later // ten // damnably hagstone // hagstone2 // hagstone0 ep // (self-released) microdisney // angels // crooked mile // virgin let's whisper // long run // the in-between times // fika

#wlur #radio shows

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portinfinite · 2 years

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sonicziggy · 2 years

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"YUME O MOTO" by Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Super Band, Yoko Ono, Steve Khan, Andy Muson, Rick Marotta, Steve Gadd, Don Grolnick, Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker https://ift.tt/H3Dxg4K

#IFTTT #Spotify #Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Super Band #Yoko Ono #Steve Khan #Andy Muson #Rick Marotta #S

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jpopstreaming · 2 years

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🆕 「 YUME O MOTO」 by Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Super Band, Yoko Ono, Steve Khan, Andy Muson, Rick Marotta, Steve Gadd, Don Grolnick, Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker Available for streaming worldwide!🌐 Added to our weekly playlist 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3lgjH73

#Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Super Band #Yoko Ono #Steve Khan #Andy Muson #Rick Marotta #Steve Gadd #Don Grolnick #Randy Brecker #Michael Brecker #YUME O MOTO #Japanese music #J-music #Jmusic #J-pop #Jpop #Spotify

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moma-prints · 3 years

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Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Super Band, Kenny's Castaways, New York, October, 1973, Fred W. McDarrah, 1973 (printed 2014), MoMA: Drawings and Prints

Gift of the Estate of Fred W. McDarrah Size: image: 9 1/2 x 6 3/8" (24.1 x 16.2 cm); sheet: 10 1/16 x 8 1/8" (25.6 x 20.7 cm) Medium: Gelatin silver print

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/194368

#museumarchive #museumofmodernart #fredwmcdarrah

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robophono · 7 years

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Project 0007 Tweet The Document: The Recordings Recording Project

Recordings acquired February 21, 2017. Social media documentation at:

The Guitars Unlimited: Play the Roger Miller Hit Songs Instagram Twitter Flickr

The Plastic Ono Band: Live Peace in Toronto 1969 Instagram Twitter Flickr

Paul McCartney: And All the Rest Instagram Twitter Flickr

George Martin and his Orchestra: Off the Beatle Track Instagram Twitter Flickr

Today's People: Hello World Meet Today's People Instagram Twitter Flickr

Various Artists: Soul Train Super Tracks Instagram Twitter Flickr

Various Artists: K-Tel's Dance Machine Instagram Twitter Flickr

#the guitars unlimited #play the roger miller hit songs #roger miller #the plastic ono band #john lennon #yoko ono #live peace in toronto 1969 #paul mccartney #george martin #george martin and his orchestra #off the beatle track #the beatles #today's people #hello world meet today's people #soul train #soul train super tracks #k-tel #k-tel's dance machine

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monkberries · 4 years

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Wait what's wrong with the AKOM How Do You Sleep episode? I remember it being fine but its been ages since i listened to it so if you've got any thoughts I'd love to hear them :)

Be aware, this is only about the first episode, not about the George-focused episode. If they resolve any of the issues I have with the first episode in the second episode, then I sincerely apologize.

First, there are some things they talk about that I agree with! Near the end of the episode, they discuss the dynamic between John and the people around him in a really insightful way, and in a way I’ve often thought about it; both John and the people around him were all kind of in this mindset of “oh, Paul rejected us? Well, we didn’t want him ANYWAY! So THERE!” They also discuss the fact that John was very easily manipulated, and nearly his entire support system (minus Ringo, and shame on them for not mentioning that) basically egged his anger and viciousness on. And they also play/read some interviews with John about the song and tangential subjects, and it’s always nice to hear primary sources.

However, much like their post about Lewisohn, I find a lot of this episode excessive, overtorqued, and generally far too exaggerated. They perceive an imbalance in narratives (which I do think is there, just not to the extent they say) and overcorrect, imho.

First, I want to get my opinion on the song itself out of the way: I listen to it a lot. It’s on my Fall 2020 playlist. I enjoy the musicality, the style; the mood it evokes is extremely strong to me. Sometimes it’s fun to indulge in feeling evil or mean without having to actually be evil or mean! Plus, I love playing it right before Jealous Guy, or Steel and Glass, or I Know (I Know), just to get that maximum John Lennon Mood Whiplash effect. I think George’s solo is vicious and perfect for the mood as well. However, the lyrics are pretty horrendous in terms of their effect on Paul and his feelings; they’re also horrendous in that they’re just not well-written lyrics. IMHO you can tell it was written by three different people all throwing insults at the wall to see what would stick and rhyme. Half of the digs don’t even make sense. “So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise/You better see right through that mother’s eyes” Wut? “The one mistake you made was in your head” ??? The hell do these things even mean lmao

Anyway. Onto the episode itself.

Around 1 minute in, they say that there’s not a lot of check and balance in the Beatles fandom w/r/t this song, and that much of the fandom espouses that HDYS was “deserved” and “honest”. They reiterate this sentiment over in different ways throughout the episode, and I just do not see that kind of thing being a majority opinion in Beatles fandom spaces at all. Perhaps they are occupying different fandom spaces than I occupy (tumblr/Hey Dullblog/beatlebioreview), and it is true where they are? (In which case, my goodness, find some better blogs to follow, babes!) They talk about how they’ve never seen anyone pick it apart before, and that the discussion around it has not changed, that people have been saying Paul deserved it since it came out. Again, this is does not jive with my experience in the Beatles fandom.

From Shout!, a book with a well known anti-McCartney streak, published in 1981: “John’s Imagine album - despite the plea for universal peace and brotherhood in the title track - launched a thermo-nuclear strike back at Paul with ‘How Do You Sleep?’ a title suggesting crimes almost in the realm of first-degree murder. The McCartney references were unmistakable, and, often, cruelly unjust: ‘The freaks was right when they said you was dead... The only thing you done was Yesterday...’ There was even a two-fingered gesture of contempt for Paul’s new outdoor life with Linda on their Scottish farm.” Also, the RS review spends two paragraphs talking specifically about how heinous and unjustifiable HDYS is. You can definitely say that rock journalism takes some of the attitude of HDYS and runs with them, such as Paul’s music sounding like muzak - that sentiment certainly persisted. But I would argue that most of the shit journos are reacting to and buying into comes from Lennon Remembers primarily, where John says all the same crap and more, and worse, rather than HDYS itself, which they seem to balk at.

They make the claim as well that the Imagine LP has been elevated to some kind of untouchable, un-criticizeable status. In the years after his death, I think there is probably some truth to that, although again, untouchable is an extreme word. Even in 2003, the LP was number 80 on Rolling Stone’s top 500 albums of all time. However, it was 227 on NME’s list in 2013 and dropped to 223 on Rolling Stone’s new 2020 list, suggesting a waning in popularity over time and a willingness to look more objectively at the quality of it.

The thing that really bothered me about this episode is like... They talk about the need for nuanced discussion of the song, right? And that’s all fine and good, and I agree, nuance in any Beatles discussion is essential if you want to get close to any actual truth. However, they then go on to say, quite adamantly, that if you say the music of the song is good, even if you think the lyrics are awful, then they wouldn’t even bother having a conversation with you. It’s very “We want nuance! NO NOT LIKE THAT! YOU’RE DOING NUANCE WRONG!” Like, I’m sorry, the music is good, in my opinion! John is very good at evoking a mood! The fact that I think George’s solo is incredible, or that the keyboard riff gives me chills, or that I think the bass goes super hard, doesn’t mean I don’t understand how rough the lyrics are or the effect they had on Paul. In fact, imho, I think it’s important that we discuss how quality the music is because it underscores the calculated cruelty John exhibited. He worked hard on this song. He wanted to create a very specific feeling out of it, and he succeeded in spades. I think if it had been crappy musically, people would have been much more contemptuous of it than they already are. As I said earlier, some of the digs don’t even make sense; I think they’re bolstered and propped up specifically because the music underneath them is so good. Also, it’s not fucking wrong to enjoy a groove.

I also take some issue with them saying that HDYS was easily among the worst things John ever did. Like... equivalent or worse than going on anti-Semitic, homophobic rants? Yikes.

There are many instances in this episode where they will go “I often read things like...” or “Jean Jackets will say...” or “I see this a lot...” and then never actually talk about where they see these things or quote directly from them. One instance goes “I often read things like, ‘John Lennon is expressing years of pent-up resentment over creative differences’, as if John is some kind of, like, drunk art teacher doling out free advice to Paul on his music.” I’ve read a lot about HDYS and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. Just about every discussion of the song I’ve seen says very clearly that it was an unjustified, deeply personal attack. I realize there is an aversion to publicly Naming Names when you’re calling out people who perpetuate a bad narrative. But I want to know where this stuff comes from. I want to actually see what it is they’re upset about.

Lastly, they talk near the end about music innovation and experimentation, and this is where I think things go much too far in overcorrecting a narrative. The well-known narrative for many years post breakup was that Paul was a boring square who wrote granny music. That is true; he was much maligned in the press about that. However, I think post-Hertsgaard, post-Revolution In The Head, post-Complete Recording Sessions, and post-Many Years From Now, that attitude has changed quite a bit. Most serious Beatles fans know now that Paul was the first one to really get into Avant-Garde stuff; most fans know about the fact that he made McCartney 1 basically alone in a homemade studio. Most fans have probably heard or at least heard of Temporary Secretary, lmao.

But it feels like these women are still living in the past where Paul was still being maligned for being a square, so instead they go way far to the other end and say “Paul was the musical innovator, not John.” And that is just flat out NOT true. They were BOTH musical innovators. The fact that Paul was the first to get into avant-garde art does not exclude John from also being incredibly innovative and experimental in his own way. Perhaps he wasn’t doing that on Imagine; they are right that Imagine is a collection of really good but fairly commercial songs. But they utterly discount the fact that he did Strawberry Fields Forever, and I Want You (She’s So Heavy), popularized backmasking, was one of the first if not the first to use amp feedback in a song in I Feel Fine, experimented with recording his voice differently with Tomorrow Never Knows and Revolution, and also the entirety of Plastic Ono Band!!! You don’t have to downplay or erase John’s experimental contributions to music in order to elevate Paul’s. You can elevate both of them. It’s fine.

Also, this is the episode where they say Lewisohn’s book is exactly the same as all the other Jean Jackets books except thicker, and I have a viscerally bad reaction to that for many reasons I have already outlined on this blog. Suffice to say, it is demonstrably untrue (not least because Lewisohn hasn’t published anything in his Tune In series that goes beyond 1962) and unfair to someone who has done an unbelievable amount of legwork to back up his writing. They also compare Lewisohn to Goldman (???????) and call them John and Yoko’s “fuckin bitch boys saying the same shit over and over again.” I have to imagine Goldman was a misspeak and she meant someone else, but still that jarred me lmfao

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