Further Musical Meme
Feb. 9th, 2007 05:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
erikredI gave ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
callahanshappy the letter L, and he knocked it out of the park so far that I was ashamed of my own pitiful (and rather unthought-out) selection for the letter B. I asked him for another letter (and another chance), and he obliged with the letter P.
Once more, with feeling!
In alphabetical order, here you go:
Pablo Picasso, Burning Sensations
My brother, Aaron, and I had a complicated relationship as kids, the usual sibling rivalries augmented by displaced anger over constantly moving (military family and all that). It wasn't until we were both in High School together (he a freshman, me a senior) that our relationship really finally gelled into the mutual respect, love, and understanding that we have today. Part of this was that we drove to school together every morning while listening to a bootleg recording of the Repo Man soundtrack, and so songs like Pablo Picasso became the sort of strange anthem of brotherhood that stick with us even now. Also, I'm pretty sure this song is historically inaccurate. [Addendum: I IM Aaron every day. I IM'd him with the opening line of this song, and he returned with the next line without missing a beat. That's nearly 20 years since we were both in High School, and we both still know the song by heart. Woof.]
Pawnshop, Sublime
I discovered Sublime about three years after Brad Nowell was found dead of a heroin overdose, but that sad bit of history aside, I really enjoy the music they put together. This song is one of the major exceptions. There's something just heartbreaking in a song about a place where people go to put their goods in hock on the off-chance that they'll catch a break and actually get up enough money to buy their stuff back. It's the lament of the working poor, and it really brings me down. I'd much rather be listening to Santeria.
Pepper, The Butthole Surfers
I saw The Butthole Surfers at Lollapalooza in '91 in San Diego. They're really, really not a festival kind of band, and it showed; there was a lot nasty feedback, and their gear sounded awful. This is a real pity because songs like Pepper (recorded much later) have a superb sound and fascinating lyrics.
The Perfect Drug, Nine Inch Nails
Saw Trent Reznor and NIN at the same Lollapalooza, and his performance was similarly unimpressive. The crew couldn't get his soundgear to check out properly, and he went ballistic, kicking gear and shouting. Again, this is too bad, because when he's on, NIN can really pump out the tunes. This song, a paean to absinthe, captures a more mature Goth sensibility. And yes, I know I'm going to catch flack for pretense for saying that.
Pi, Kate Bush
My friend Jean Sirius once said that she would watch Carrie Anne Moss read the phone book. I share that sentiment. And strangely enough, I'd listen to Kate Bush recite Pi to a certain value, which is pretty much what she does on this track. She has such an incredible voice.
Pink Elephants on Parade, Sun Ra and his Arkestra
The drunken Dumbo scene remains a stunning example of WTF theater. Really, who imagines a drunk baby elephant hallucinating pink elephants? That's the kind of recursive thinking that leads to infinite loops and fractal acid trips. Mind you, if you're going to pursue that sort of hep, you'd do well to commission the very king of cool, Sun Ra, to flesh out the tune. Recorded for the somewhat dark ensemble project Stay Awake, this version captures the truly disturbing (and funkily cool) essence of the original scene.
The Planet Plan, United Future Organization
Poetry And All That Jazz, United Future Organization
I'm including both of these tunes since they're both by the best Fusion Jazz band you've never heard, though, given my penchant for flogging them at anyone who visits my house, that may not strictly apply to all of my faithful readers. In The Planet Plan, UFO (not to be confused with the rock band of the same name and utterly different hair) mixes mixes up a kind of techno remix of the sort of sound you'd expect to hear on Man from UNCLE and/or The Avengers if late 90s hipsters like the Propellerheads got control of those shows; there are references to Godzilla, Gamera, and the really, really bad Japanese kaiju films I cut my teeth on as a kid. The Poetry track overlays Jack Kerouac reading part of Desolation Angels on beautiful, rhythmic jazz; hypnotic. United Future Organization: worth hunting out.
Police Oppression, Angelic Upstarts
A Canadian buddy of mine in Japan, on hearing that I was huge fan of New Model Army, suggested that I'd like Angelic Upstarts. Through the wonders of Usenet, I managed to trade, through the post, a tape of my Japanese friend's Hardcore/Death-Metal Band (Insane Youth, sadly disbanded now) for a tape jam-packed with Angelic Upstarts (and some classic GBH). If you like social(istical)ly-conscious punk, you can't go wrong with these like lads from England.
The Prince, Madness
When the bootlegs of the Repo Man soundtrack finally wore out (spectacularly, as tape often did), my brother and I turned to tapes of Madness and the Specials. I don't know exactly why we bonded over ska and punk, but hey, for us they worked.
Prisoner of Society, The Living End
Speaking of punk, The Living End are a rather young Aussie punk outfit out of Melbourne, and they're just an awful lot of fun. Unlike Angelic Upstarts, they're the sort of band you just want to play loud-- don't bother listening to the lyrics, there's really nothing to them.
Punk's Not Dead, Darren Hanlon
And finishing on another Aussie: Darren Hanlon sings punkishly folksy, smart songs about life, love, and, obviously, punk (in this case, a roommate who "plays a dictaphone recording of her band; the drummer has been playing for nearly seven hours/but he hits them with such passion it makes other drummers cower." I'm a sucker for the clever, and Darren Hanlon hasn't let me down yet.
All right, that's more than I should've done, but I feel much better about these than my previous effort. Happy listening.
callahanshappy the letter L, and he knocked it out of the park so far that I was ashamed of my own pitiful (and rather unthought-out) selection for the letter B. I asked him for another letter (and another chance), and he obliged with the letter P.Once more, with feeling!
In alphabetical order, here you go:
Pablo Picasso, Burning Sensations
My brother, Aaron, and I had a complicated relationship as kids, the usual sibling rivalries augmented by displaced anger over constantly moving (military family and all that). It wasn't until we were both in High School together (he a freshman, me a senior) that our relationship really finally gelled into the mutual respect, love, and understanding that we have today. Part of this was that we drove to school together every morning while listening to a bootleg recording of the Repo Man soundtrack, and so songs like Pablo Picasso became the sort of strange anthem of brotherhood that stick with us even now. Also, I'm pretty sure this song is historically inaccurate. [Addendum: I IM Aaron every day. I IM'd him with the opening line of this song, and he returned with the next line without missing a beat. That's nearly 20 years since we were both in High School, and we both still know the song by heart. Woof.]
Pawnshop, Sublime
I discovered Sublime about three years after Brad Nowell was found dead of a heroin overdose, but that sad bit of history aside, I really enjoy the music they put together. This song is one of the major exceptions. There's something just heartbreaking in a song about a place where people go to put their goods in hock on the off-chance that they'll catch a break and actually get up enough money to buy their stuff back. It's the lament of the working poor, and it really brings me down. I'd much rather be listening to Santeria.
Pepper, The Butthole Surfers
I saw The Butthole Surfers at Lollapalooza in '91 in San Diego. They're really, really not a festival kind of band, and it showed; there was a lot nasty feedback, and their gear sounded awful. This is a real pity because songs like Pepper (recorded much later) have a superb sound and fascinating lyrics.
The Perfect Drug, Nine Inch Nails
Saw Trent Reznor and NIN at the same Lollapalooza, and his performance was similarly unimpressive. The crew couldn't get his soundgear to check out properly, and he went ballistic, kicking gear and shouting. Again, this is too bad, because when he's on, NIN can really pump out the tunes. This song, a paean to absinthe, captures a more mature Goth sensibility. And yes, I know I'm going to catch flack for pretense for saying that.
Pi, Kate Bush
My friend Jean Sirius once said that she would watch Carrie Anne Moss read the phone book. I share that sentiment. And strangely enough, I'd listen to Kate Bush recite Pi to a certain value, which is pretty much what she does on this track. She has such an incredible voice.
Pink Elephants on Parade, Sun Ra and his Arkestra
The drunken Dumbo scene remains a stunning example of WTF theater. Really, who imagines a drunk baby elephant hallucinating pink elephants? That's the kind of recursive thinking that leads to infinite loops and fractal acid trips. Mind you, if you're going to pursue that sort of hep, you'd do well to commission the very king of cool, Sun Ra, to flesh out the tune. Recorded for the somewhat dark ensemble project Stay Awake, this version captures the truly disturbing (and funkily cool) essence of the original scene.
The Planet Plan, United Future Organization
Poetry And All That Jazz, United Future Organization
I'm including both of these tunes since they're both by the best Fusion Jazz band you've never heard, though, given my penchant for flogging them at anyone who visits my house, that may not strictly apply to all of my faithful readers. In The Planet Plan, UFO (not to be confused with the rock band of the same name and utterly different hair) mixes mixes up a kind of techno remix of the sort of sound you'd expect to hear on Man from UNCLE and/or The Avengers if late 90s hipsters like the Propellerheads got control of those shows; there are references to Godzilla, Gamera, and the really, really bad Japanese kaiju films I cut my teeth on as a kid. The Poetry track overlays Jack Kerouac reading part of Desolation Angels on beautiful, rhythmic jazz; hypnotic. United Future Organization: worth hunting out.
Police Oppression, Angelic Upstarts
A Canadian buddy of mine in Japan, on hearing that I was huge fan of New Model Army, suggested that I'd like Angelic Upstarts. Through the wonders of Usenet, I managed to trade, through the post, a tape of my Japanese friend's Hardcore/Death-Metal Band (Insane Youth, sadly disbanded now) for a tape jam-packed with Angelic Upstarts (and some classic GBH). If you like social(istical)ly-conscious punk, you can't go wrong with these like lads from England.
The Prince, Madness
When the bootlegs of the Repo Man soundtrack finally wore out (spectacularly, as tape often did), my brother and I turned to tapes of Madness and the Specials. I don't know exactly why we bonded over ska and punk, but hey, for us they worked.
Prisoner of Society, The Living End
Speaking of punk, The Living End are a rather young Aussie punk outfit out of Melbourne, and they're just an awful lot of fun. Unlike Angelic Upstarts, they're the sort of band you just want to play loud-- don't bother listening to the lyrics, there's really nothing to them.
Punk's Not Dead, Darren Hanlon
And finishing on another Aussie: Darren Hanlon sings punkishly folksy, smart songs about life, love, and, obviously, punk (in this case, a roommate who "plays a dictaphone recording of her band; the drummer has been playing for nearly seven hours/but he hits them with such passion it makes other drummers cower." I'm a sucker for the clever, and Darren Hanlon hasn't let me down yet.
All right, that's more than I should've done, but I feel much better about these than my previous effort. Happy listening.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-02-11 10:14 pm (UTC)I actually thought that Pablo Picasso was the logical first choice for anyone who had seen Repo Man, and Pink Elephants on Parade from Stay Awake would have been my number two. I agree with the observation about NIN and the Butthole Surfers not being festival bands (I've never seen NIN live in Columbus, but I've heard negative things about Reznor after every Columbus visit from hardcore NIN fans). I've heard Police Oppression and Punk's Not Dead but don't have copies, and I have most of the other songs. The one mystery is United Future Organization (I know that Monday Michiru guested with them back in the early 1990s, iirc, but I don't believe I've heard one of their cds).