29 July 2021 – Beginning by LA Priest

July 29, 2021 kevinisabastardbeginning, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, LA PriestLeave a comment

I’ve been losing my mind a bit over the last year or two. Lots of talking about positivity and productivity. Just mental shit when you consider we’re all going to die. As part of that I’ve been trying to use my free time in a more fulfilling way. One of the biggest obstacles to that has been creeping back in to my life lately. FIFA. I’ve been playing FIFA again. FIFA 21 is free to download with Game Pass on the Xbox. Man, it makes me so sad. It’s not that fun and it’s so easy to just lose time to it. I play career mode so it’s really just designing a system and monitoring and improving that system and tweaking it over time. It’s just so lame.

The only real good thing about FIFA as a series of games is the soundtrack. The musical choices are very interesting and there’s always a couple of great tunes on each game. My favourite song this year is “Beginning” by LA Priest. It’s a wonderful little nonsensical song. I like when it comes on when I’m playing FIFA because it kinda makes the pointlessness of the never ending machine seem a bit whimsical. There’s a busyness to the layering of sounds that gives it a kind of whirring factory vibe. There’s an attitude to the vocals that makes me want to do some air punches and snap some kicks while having a wiggle. I read a song by song run through that LA Priest did with The Fader, where they talk about the emphasis on the texture of lyrics as opposed to meaning. I like that idea.

You can listen to “Beginning” by LA Priest here.

28 July 2021 – Crush by Jennifer Paige

July 28, 2021July 28, 2021 kevinisabastardcrush, Jennifer Paige, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.comLeave a comment

“Crush” is a banger. And in trying to figure out why I like it so much, I’ve come up with one of my dumbest hot takes of all time. “Crush” is the prototype for “We Are The People” by Empire of the Sun. The backing vocals are airy. The guitar is veeery similar.

But then at the same time, there’s something in the vocals that is very like George Michael’s “Fast Love”. Reading the Wikipedia for the song, there’s a quote from Larry Flick from Billboard where he talks about how Jennifer Paige manages to make “Crush” sensual subtly, by using her vocal range as opposed to “groans and moans”. A huge part of George Michael’s success was down to the sexiness of his songs so it all kind of adds up.

Honestly that’s probably enough to justify liking a song, but “Crush” is pretty iconic in it’s own right. It’s one of the less over played one hit wonders that are this good. The lyrics suit the song perfectly. “Here’s what I do, I’ll play it loose” is one of the greatest combinations of lyric and delivery in songwriting. Jennifer Paige’s voice is super effortless and that works so well with the blasé vibe of the lyrics.

You can listen to “Crush” by Jennifer Paige here.

27 July 2021 – Babies by Kyle feat Alessia Cara

July 27, 2021 kevinisabastardalessia cara, babies, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, kyleLeave a comment

I really liked KYLE’s “Light of Mine” album. I had tickets to see him in 2018 and ended up not getting to go. I listened to the album on repeat for months and I overplayed it for myself so I wasn’t able to listen to it for a while. He also starred in “The After Party” on Netflix so I guess it felt like over saturation. Too much in too short a period of time.

I like the feeling when you’re finally able to come back to an album like that and relisten to songs. Doing that with “Light of Mine”, I have to say “Babies” is an undeniably good song. The lyrics are quite neat when you look at them. Both KYLE and Alessia Cara’s verses have references to “ABC” by The Jackson 5. In the first verse:

And I was learnin’ ABC’s
No one taught me how to love you

And then in the second verse:

And this ain’t easy, 1-2-3’s
No one taught me how to love you (No one taught me)

It’s simple but it’s kinda cool. The song is the opposite to “ABC”. He’s talking about how relationships aren’t easy and they don’t always work, but there’s room to learn and figure things out. The whole thing works well. They have very complimentary voices. The verses have a great bounce

This might sound deranged, but I think if they ever went back to making those sci-fi animated films like “Titan AE” and “Atlantis”, “Babies” would fit perfectly into the soundtrack. Those type of films always had a romance shoehorned in. “Babies” would work because it is sweet, it has a positive message and it has a kind of quiet outer space vibe. Make of that idea what you will.

You can listen to “Babies” by KYLE feat. Alessia Cara here.

26 July 2021 – Over You by Zak Waters

July 26, 2021 kevinisabastardkevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, over you, pretty sister, zak watersLeave a comment

Over the last 2 years or so, I’ve been Marie Condo-ing my personal social media. Does this make me happy? Mute, block, delete the app. At this point, I’m down to only having Instagram on my phone and only using Facebook for messenger and very occasionally to check when people’s birthday’s are. Even on Instagram, I’ve cut down on who I follow to people I genuinely enjoy as an online entity. I’ve even muted people that I like, but have stressful lives. I’ve been happier for it.

One person, who has survived the culls is Pretty Sister, formerly known as Zak Waters (possibly still known as Zak Waters, that might be his name, but probably isn’t). He’s got a new album out and, as I assume he intended, I haven’t listened to it because it made me want to listen to some of his stuff that he released years ago as Zak Waters.

Sometimes the song of the day is down to a moment within a song. My song today is “Over You”. What I really like about it is this kind of a turn around that the song does twice. The music seems to slow to a stop and suddenly start back up again. It’s like it dummies a stop coming out of the chorus and then bursts into the best sing along part of the song – the repeated “No don’t wanna be lonely lonely lonely” bit. Zak Waters has an incredible voice so it really works well. I love this song because it has such a pop/edm crossover feel. It’s from 2013 which was during my nightclub years and this was just what I wanted in those days. It’s got the kind of Moombahton beat to it which combines well to make it a real summery song. All together a terrible choice of song of the day for a school night, because all I want to do now is drink cocktails and dance.

You can listen to “Over You” by Zak Waters here.

23 July 2021 – Shine Blockas by Big Boi feat. Gucci Mane

July 23, 2021 kevinisabastardbig boi, gucci mane, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, shine blockasLeave a comment

Anyone who read my post about Outkast’s “Ms Jackson” will know that I have a lot of time for Big Boi. “Sir Lucious Left Foot… The Son of Chico Dusty” is an absolutely scandalous album. Big Boi does some crazy stuff, especially when you consider that it’s from 2010. The features are out of this world on multiple levels. There’s established heavy hitters as well as left field choices and up and coming artists of the time. A big part of what works so well is that the songs are rock solid. The production is incredible. The songs just sound so good. Even the skits are good and I hate skits in general.

“Shine Blockas” is a fucking great song. I only heard Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes “I Miss You” for the first time today and to pick the sample from that to make “Shine Blockas” is mind blowing. The vocal sample is so smooth. And then on top of it all Big Boi and Gucci Mane are in flying form. The rapping is perfectly measured, there’s edge and slickness in perfect balance.

I loved this album when it came out first and have come back to it a number of times over the last few years. I came back to it today for the first time in while. I’ve written before about how when you re-listen to an album that you love, you always always find something that jumps out at you. I always loved “Shine Blockas”, but it’s only reflecting today that I really realised what a belter it is.

You can listen to “Shine Blockas” by Big Boi feat. Gucci Mane here.

21 July 2021 – 1901 by Phoenix

July 21, 2021 kevinisabastard1901, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, phoenixLeave a comment

My cousin Ciarán introduced me to Phoenix. I was 18. It was a strange time. I think I was mad depressed for a period of time after Christmas but it turned into the really good period that ran up until the middle of the summer at least. I was really happy and super focused. I had my leaving cert and I really fucking killed it. I got really into maths at that time. I think because I found it the easiest thing to study. It was right or wrong, very objective.

When I studied I’d lock myself in the room for hours and I would listen to the four Phoenix albums that were out at that time back to back in chronological order. It was like a meditative thing where the music blocked out everything else.

That coincided with when I started going out for the first time. People were turning 18 so there were lots of parties. People’s parents would leave them home alone so there was free gaffs.

“1901” is the song that links both elements of life. It was a great mood lift when studying. It’s energetic and fun. It’s the kind of song that could act as a break from study, to shake it all out and come back focused. It’s also a great indie dance banger of the time. It’s a frantic wiggle. The drums are that perfect late 2000s/ early 2010s punchy indie dance sound. The synths are just a massive wall of noise and the guitars are clangy highlights to the whole piece. I love French singers singing in English because of Phoenix. I’m not sure exactly what it is that made me like lead singer, Thomas Mars’ voice in the first place but it’s now a quality that I like about other bands or singers so it’s obviously deep in my little brain.

“1901” is such a perfect song for that time that it will always be one of my favourites.

You can listen to “1901” by Phoenix here.

20 July 2021 – Get Down Saturday Night by Oliver Cheatham

July 20, 2021July 20, 2021 kevinisabastardget down saturday night, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, oliver cheathamLeave a comment

I wrote half of this post and changed my mind. I was a little conflicted about which version of the track to pick. I was going to pick the Room 5 version, “Make Luv”. I felt like I needed to preface it by talking about how much I like the original before I could talk about why I prefer “Make Luv”. As I wrote I changed my mind.

I love the original version by Oliver Cheatham, “Get Down Saturday Night”. It’s a fuller sounding song. Oliver Cheatham had more to do. The backing vocals are great. The bassline is fantastic. It’s slower than the Room 5 version but it’s got a proper groove and it’s very danceable. One of my favourite parts is the the bridge. You’ve got the jangly guitars from the pre chorus. I love the classic move of shouting out locations. It’s just such a great trope. And then there’s the sample of the laughing kids which is almost creepy.

I love when it appears in the film “Ex Machina”. It’s very intense, but so appropriate. Oscar Isaac’s character’s reaction is exactly the same as mine when this song comes on. I don’t care about anything else, I’m about to tear up the fucking dance floor.

You can listen to “Get Down Saturday Night” by Oliver Cheatham here. I also love that the best version of the song on Spotify is on an album for cool dads.

16 July 2021 – Freak Like Me by Sugababes

July 17, 2021 kevinisabastardfreak like me, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, SugababesLeave a comment

I literally only realized that the Sugababes weren’t the Sugarbabes. Life is just one rollercoaster after another…

I always liked the Sugababes. The reason that “Freak Like Me” was in my head this week was that I watched the New British Canon video about it by Trash Theory on YouTube. You can check that out here. Basically, the video breaks down the origin of the song and credits its producer, Richard X, with reinventing British pop music. I thought it was pretty cool. It’s a great song with an interesting story . They’ve got great voices and the two songs that a being used for the mash up are a great and very surprising combination.

You can listen to “Freak Like Me” by Sugababes here.

15 July 2021 – Following Fools by Lime Cordiale

July 15, 2021 kevinisabastardfollowing fools, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, lime cordialeLeave a comment

I’ve written about Lime Cordiale before. I’ve even kinda written about “Following Fools” before, but not as one of my songs of the day. It’s one of my favourite songs and also one of my favourite videos.

One of the things I like most about Lime Cordiale is that they get into serious shit even though they’re goofy dudes. There’s a big conversation to be had about men and manhood and masculinity. I don’t think everyone is able to have it. “Following Fools” is about young men following in the footsteps of older men. It acknowledges the responsibility that older generations have, but I also think the title suggests a recognition of the facts that (a) nobody knows what they’re doing, and (b) every previous generation got some things wrong. I love this song because it starts the conversation without going into Joe Rogan mode. It’s coming from a place of love and honesty.

On top of all that it’s a classic Lime Cordiale tune. The bass grooves away. The pre chorus vocals have that vibe of those Beatles songs where you get the impression the drugs had taken hold. It’s dreamy and sweet. The fact that it’s meaningful is just a bonus really.

You can listen to “Following Fools” by Lime Cordiale here.

14 July 2021 – Act Yr Age by Bluejuice

July 14, 2021 kevinisabastardact yr age, bluejuice, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.comLeave a comment

Bluejuice’s greatest hits, “Retrospectable”, became one of my favourite albums during lockdown last year. I got sucked into watching YouTube clips of Triple J’s Like A Version. It’s a radio segment in Australia that has produced some incredible covers. I love covers. There’s a huge amount of potential to flex by picking something cool to cover and then covering it in an interesting way. Bluejuice had a number of appearances over the years and they always managed to do something fun.

I’m not sure if I consciously moved from YouTube to Spotify or if the various algorithms aligned, but I began listening to Bluejuice’s own music religiously. “Act Yr Age” was the first song that I remember listening to. I like so much about it. I love the hand claps. I think there’s a xylophone in there, some kind of tingly key sounds. I love that. I like that the main riff is on piano. There’s a great energy to it. Jake Stone and Stavros Yiannoukas are like voice soul mates. Their combination of voices is consistently perfect. It’s a fun song and it makes me happy.

You can listen to “Act Yr Age” by Bluejuice here.

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