19 May 2021 – Diver by Canterbury

May 19, 2021 kevinisabastardcanterbury, diver, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.comLeave a comment

Listen to “Diver” by Canterbury here.

There was a phase around 2011 where people were obsessed with serious over ear headphones. You had to wear them around your neck all the time so people knew you were listening to something interesting. It was a real wanker move that I was gleefully guilty of. Conceptually, the explosion of big headphones made sense around that time. The mid 2000s were a time of peak poor quality illegal downloads being blared through mobile phone speakers. Then towards the end of the decade there was a swing towards sound quality snobbery that coincided with my late teens.

One of my favourite things about serious headphones was sometimes finding songs that had way more layers than you originally noticed. My little mind would be blown sitting on the 103 bus coming up Whitworth Road in the evenings fairly regularly. “Diver” is probably the main song that I think of when I remember that feeling.

Canterbury were an English band at a weird time for English rock bands. They were kinda heavy but too good looking to be marketed as a proper heavy band so they ended up as a kind of a rock band for teenage girls. I went to see them in 2011 without having really listened to them and then downloaded their free album “Thank You”. I gave the album a listen and the chorus of “Diver” was absolutely massive. If you skip to the one minute mark you’ll hear what I mean. The drums have that indie disco rhythm going. There’s one guitar playing a riff that kinda goes in circles. There’s a second guitar throwing in disco chords. And then the bass riff has this great slide and then grooves along. You’ve got all these complete layers and it feels like each layer is a band member. Lots of bands have more instruments than band members in their songs and they lose that band feeling. “Diver” on a decent speaker makes Canterbury feel like a real band, all doing different things to make the same song.

18 May 2021 – Love Shack by The B-52s

May 18, 2021May 18, 2021 kevinisabastardkevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, love shack, the b-52sLeave a comment

I’m trying something new this time. I’m linking to the song at the beginning of the post. That way, you can have a little listen and hopefully hear what I’m writing about as you read. So…

You can listen to “Love Shack” by The B-52s here.

I started writing a post today about guilty pleasures. I was writing about how what we generally think of as guilty pleasures are perfectly acceptable things to like and associating guilt with them is ridiculous. What we should do is collectively reevaluate guilty pleasures. We should actually feel guilty when we listen to Chris Brown or Morrissey. People who do bad things but make music that we like. I was going to write about a Morrissey song, but I don’t feel comfortable supporting his music on my little platform, despite how good I think some of his songs are.

Instead, I’m going in the other direction. I’m sure there are lots of people that would feel that “Love Shack” is a guilty pleasure. I think “Love Shack” is an incredible song. It’s camp and goofy. The singer, Fred Schneider has a cartoon voice. There’s call and response lyrics and everyone knows the words. The surf guitar riff is iconic. There’s something powerful about it in the way it makes me want to dance that can’t quite figure out. There’s something about the punchiness of the snare sound that sounds like the drummer is all in on this track. “Love Shack” one of my all time favourite songs and I feel zero guilt for that.

14 May 2021 – You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate

May 14, 2021 kevinisabastardhot chocolate, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, you sexy thingLeave a comment

I don’t know why I know “You Sexy Thing” but it feels like one of those songs that’s always been around. I had never thought about it much until the last few years when I started thinking about how much of a banger it is.

I think “You Sexy Thing” appeared in my world around 1997 because it was in “The Full Monty”. I’ve never seen the film but I think it sparked a revival for the song. “Sex on the Beach” was out around that time and I used to sing it. As I was five years old, this resulted in parental intervention and I think it affected my brain. I categorized everything that mentioned sex or the word sexy as explicit. As a result, I thought “You Sexy Thing” was very risque as a child. In truth, the lyrics are fairly tame and almost sweet.

The song itself is iconic. There’s the lazy guitar riff that’s instantly recognisable. There’s loads going on on the bass and there has to be at least two people involved in the percussion. The best thing about “You Sexy Thing” are the vocals from Errol Brown. It ends with my favourite style of song ending, the descent into madness. Errol Brown yelping away, singing random phrases from the song as the music fades out. It always makes me feel like the sound engineer is trying to wind things down because otherwise the song will go on forever.

You can listen to “You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate here.

13 May 2021 – The View From The Afternoon by The Artic Monkeys.

May 13, 2021 kevinisabastardkevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, the artic monkeys, the view from the afternoonLeave a comment

I always really liked The Artic Monkeys’ first album “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” and I think “The View From The Afternoon” is probably everything that I like about it.

There’s jarring guitars. The bass is heavy. The drums are that kind of indie drumming that made these kind of songs into songs that you could dance to. Vocally, I always like when people sing with their own accents and lyrically, The Artic Monkeys wrote about what was going on around them in the way that they spoke. I liked the truth of it. “The View From The Afternoon” kicked off the album with a bang and I guess that’s part of why it’s stuck with me more than some of the others.

The Artic Monkeys absolutely burst onto the scene and have obviously been super successful in the years since, but I totally lost track after the first album. I guess I was probably just in a different phase when the next album appeared but I felt a bit like I got left behind as they ascended further and further to a point where they were probably the biggest band in the world. While I didn’t keep up, it would be difficult as a fan of the first album to begrudge them their success. “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” was so consistent and so good that they earned whatever they get.

You can listen to “The View From The Afternoon” by The Artic Monkeys here.

12 May 2021 – Unforgettable by French Montana feat. Swae Lee

May 12, 2021May 12, 2021 kevinisabastardfrench montana, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, swae lee, unforgettableLeave a comment

I heard “Unforgettable” when it leaked in winter 2016 and I felt like it was such a massive summer song that the timing was confusing. I was relieved when it reappeared in April 2017. It’s one of those songs that gets so huge that there’s a danger of it becoming overplayed but I’ve always loved it.

There’s an obvious dance hall influence which meant it was a summer song in 2016/2017. Then “Despacito” happened and reggaeton became the new summer indicator. Sometimes pop music leans too hard into other musical styles when they’re popular, co-opting instead of taking inspiration, but I think “Unforgettable” balances that well. There’s obviously steel drums and a classic dancehall beat but it’s definitely incorporated into a hip hop sound.

“Unforgettable” also has another of my favourite bad rap lyrics of all time, coming from French Montana: “I got a hard head, but her ass soft”. The real appeal is the Swae Lee’s choruses. His echo-y vocals on the top of the dance hall beat is top notch. There’s been some back and forth about the origins of the song and debate about how responsible French Montana was. It’s an interesting idea that Swae Lee may have had more of an input as the featured artist, than French Montana in the biggest song of his career.

You can listen to “Unforgettable” by French Montana feat. Swae Lee here.

11 May 2021 – Heat Waves – Stripped Back by Glass Animals

May 11, 2021 kevinisabastardglass animals, heat waves - stripped back, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.comLeave a comment

Heat Waves is a great song and has been a massive success for Glass Animals, but the Stripped Back version has just stuck with me. As the name suggests, it is stripped back to the bare bones and I think sometimes that’s an interesting exercise to see the real quality of a song.

With all the bells and whistles removed, “Heat Waves – Stripped Back” is perhaps an even better song. There’s a haunting quality to just the vocals and guitar and the use of empty space. There’s room for the lyrics to come across. The subject of the lyrics is one of those classic ideas that always terrify me, that you could love a person but a relationship might not be what’s best for either party. I feel like the Stripped Back version matches that idea better, although I do really enjoy the layered vocals of the standard version.

You can listen to “Heat Waves -Stripped Back” by Glass Animals here.

10 May 2021 – New Light by John Mayer

May 11, 2021 kevinisabastardjohn mayer, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, new lightLeave a comment

John Mayer is a mystery of a man. There’s obviously something to him that appeals to people. And I don’t mean that in a way to dismiss middle of the road music and its fans. He also seems to appeal to serious people who are into serious things in terms of music, comedy, fashion and intense internet meme culture. He seems a bit unhinged though. Infamously, he self destructed around 2010, but also more recently he has seemed self aware to the point of it being scary.

And so we arrive at “New Light”, the first song I ever consciously listened to by John Mayer. It’s weird. The song is super vulnerable. It’s hard to know if it’s just a song or genuine feelings, because it would make sense if it was genuine. I could believe that women secretly date John Mayer but are embarrassed by him. At the same time, the lyrics are great. They’re simple and conversational but quite naturally poetic. Musically it’s interesting as well. It’s 80s tinged, kinda funky, very smooth. There’s a very neat guitar solo. It’s produced by No I.D. who has produced with Kanye, Jay-Z and Common. It feels like a weird combo, but it sounds fantastic.

The video is very of the time. It’s goofy but very aware of its own goofiness and there’s an underlying understanding of internet culture. The clothes are the real give away. The press commentary refers to his dirty hoodies and pyjamas but John Mayer is wearing limited release Japanese streetwear. He wants to go viral, he understands the game, and he understands the fashion. How is something so mainstream so niche? It hurts my little brain and I am completely fascinated.

You can listen to “New Light” by John Mayer here and check out the video here.

07 May 2021 – Always On Time by Ja Rule feat. Ashanti

May 7, 2021 kevinisabastardAlways on time, Ashanti, Ja Rule, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.comLeave a comment

Ja Rule has had three incarnations in my memory. Most recently, he was the celebrity face that seemed to legitimize Fyre Festival. That went well for him. Before that he mostly know for the beef he had with 50 Cent. 50 Cent pretty much ruined Ja Rule’s career.

Before all of that, I knew Ja Rule from “Always On Time” with Ashanti. He seemed to make a career out of duets with R&B singers. It’s a great example of how hip hop was marketed at that time. The hook is catchy and memorable and appeals to a pop audience, but then Ja Rule is rapping away about riding. It’s a catchy song but I love that it was all over pop radio and everyone knew it when I was a kid but nobody really listened to it. People are concerned about Cardi B and Lil Nas X, but they weren’t paying enough attention 20 years ago.

You can listen to “Always On Time” by Ja Rule and Ashanti here .

06 May 2021 – Let’s Stay Together by Al Green

May 6, 2021 kevinisabastardal green, kevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, let's stay togetherLeave a comment

I’ve been getting a bit precious about writing these, overthinking the reasons for including songs. That’s a bit lame for a list that is intentionally endless and where the only criteria is being a song that I like.

“Let’s Stay Together” is an undeniably good song. Al Green has a brilliant, effortless voice and almost whispers the words. The guitar and bass gently groove along and the sound is accented nicely by the horns but the song is really driven by the percussion.

I always remember Barack Obama singing it during a speech at a fundraiser in 2012. It’s was a great PR move because I think “Let’s Stay Together” has a universal appeal. It’s hopeful while acknowledging that things can get tough. As a presidential candidate, that’s attitude you’re trying to sell and I think that’s Obama did that, even if things didn’t work out.

You can listen to “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green here.

05 May 2021 – Today by The Smashing Pumpkins

May 5, 2021 kevinisabastardkevinisabastard, kevinisabastard.com, the smashing pumpkins, todayLeave a comment

I’ve never been a great guitar player. In every band I’ve been in, there’s a decent argument to be made that I was the worst guitar player, or at least the second worst. I don’t really have the attention span to learn or practice to get any better than I am, which is passable. I wasn’t very ambitious and was reluctant to try anything I didn’t know I’d be able to do.

I don’t think I realised at the time, but “Today” was the origin of every song I wrote. There were light clean bits that were nice and gentle, and then there were heavily distorted bits and then the best bit would be when you’d play the gentle clean bit with distortion. Mission accomplished. Song written.

“Today” is a great song. The intro is very delicate and then there’s a wall of sound. It’s distorted but sounds hopeful. The choruses are light and abrupt. The verses are heavy and driving. That contrast is also in the lyrics, which range between sarcastically cheery and nonchalantly grim.

Billy Corgan is an odd boy but I could probably put together a considerable greatest hits of songs he’s written that are all among my favourite songs of all time. I try to balance the act of thinking he’s a musical genius and avoiding anything non musical about him and that’s served me well so far.

You can listen to Today by the Smashing Pumpkins here.