Video Vault Friday!

For today, I went with something "old school."  Back to the early days of MTV, this video was one of my favorites.  It shuffled on my ipod today, so I decided to go with it.  "Well listen buster, you better start to move your feet..to Madness One Step Beyond!"

Madness - One Step Beyond

Song In My Head

For me, it's Graham Coxon's "Bittersweet Bundle of Misery" off his 2004 album Happiness in Magazines (which I picked up for $2 at a used book/CD store yesterday). The song -- and the album -- picks up where Blur left off, and, true to form, it's quite a catchy tune. Hear it for yourself:

By the way, Graham Coxon is the rare non-frontman to enjoy a solo career doing things he didn't do as part of a band. He was Blur's guitarist, and he occasionally sung lead ("Coffee and TV"). I guess all the members of The Eagles -- Joe Walsh, Don Henley, Glenn Frey -- had similar career paths but there aren't too many who follow that trajectory. Johnny Marr tried it -- to a lesser degree of success. Who am I missing?

Song in My Head

For some reason, I have the greatness of Philadelphia's own Man Man in my head.  The song: Top Drawer - because the breeder in your bed doesn't butter your bread!

Nathaniel Hornblower

Nathaniel Hornblower's appearance in "Make Some Noise" reminds of when he first came onto the scene. It was back in 1994, at the MTV Video Music Awards, when REM won (again) for Best Direction in a Video. REM beat out Spike Jonze and the Beastie Boys for "Sabotage", but Hornblower grabbed the mic before Michael Stipe and company got a chance to make their acceptance speech. Watch it here.

Beastie Boys' 'Fight For Your Right Revisited': Five Things You Might Have Missed

Beastie Boys' 'Fight For Your Right Revisited': Five Things You Might Have Missed

The long form is just ok, but the "Make Some Noise" video is edited perfectly. For those Grand Royal enthusiasts, there are many subtle (and not so subtle) references to the b-boy lore (hence Nathaniel Hornblower - this time played by Mr. Show's David Cross) throughout this video. MTV gave us some insights. Post anything else you might have found.

Make Some Noise!

New Beastie Boys video for the single "Make Some Noise" is out! It fills in all the blanks from the "Fight For Your Right Revisited" trailer and ends with a bit of a mystery. I have to say, the song (which I posted above) is so good and the video is even better. And I think the Beasties managed to do the unthinkable: They've topped "Sabotage", which gets my vote for the all-time greatest music video. Watch the video for "Make Some Noise" in its entirety here.

What's Next for Johnny Marr?

I've made no secret that Johnny Marr is a Guitar God in my eyes. So when I read the news this week that he had left The Cribs I was disappointed, but intrigued by what may come next. Marr says he's working on new solo songs and expects to release two records over the next year or so. He adds he's really proud of his work with The Cribs and leaves with three good friends in Ryan, Gary and Ross Jarman. That's the polite side of the story. The Jarman brothers released a statement admitting recording sessions for the next Cribs album weren't working out with Marr. Ultimately, I figure the Jarman brothers might have grown tired of sharing the band they founded with a legend like Marr -- and weary of hearing The Cribs described as Johnny Marr's latest band.

That said, I think Marr's work on Ignore the Ignorant was some of his best in recent memory. Here's my favorite track off the album, "We Share the Same Skies". The opening guitar riff is vintage Marr, and his white Fender Jaguar looks pretty cool in the video.

By the way, if you're interested in learning more about Johnny Marr, check out the following sites. The first is a collection of Marr's guitars (including the white Jaguar he played during his time with the Cribs). I liked reading about his other guitars, like the Rickenbacker he got from Pete Townsend, the Gibson 335 he gave to Suede's Bernard Butler, and the Fender Jaguar he got from Isaac Brock upon joining Modest Mouse. Fun stuff. Here's the link: http://johnny-marr.com/guitarchestrajohnnymarr/guitarchestrajohnnymarr.html

Then there's this song-by-song showcase of Marr's guitar work with The Smiths, including interviews, sheet music, and YouTube clips of other random people playing Marr's stuff. Fun. The following link takes you to the page about "Hand in Glove", one of my all-time favorite Smiths tunes.
http://www.smithsonguitar.com/2008/09/hand-in-glove.html

Song In My Head

I heard this the other day in The Sports Authority, of all places. I don't have a fancy iPod app that identifies songs out of thin air, but I thought it was something off the new Strokes album. When I got home and did the research, it didn't take long to figure out. It's "11th Dimension" off Julian Casablancas' solo album from a couple of years ago. I pretty much ignored the album when it came out, but clearly I wasn't giving Mr Casablancas the credit he certainly deserves -- this song rocks the most genuine early-80s vibe I've heard in a long time.

Song In My Head

"This is a Low" by Blur -- a fine piece of songcraft that holds up to the best of its genre, and many would argue it does even better than that. The part that's stuck in my head is Graham Coxon's guitar solo at about halfway through. Enjoy.

Idol Chatter

What would you say if you were face-to-face with one of your idols? Here's a great post by a fan of The Fall, who travels 12,000 miles to see the band and then finds the band two tables down from him at a pub. He's forced to say something to Mark E. Smith but he struggles before finding his footing. It's a good read for any music fan.

For the record, I have met idols on at least two occasions that I can remember. I went up to Chuck D after a lecture at Lehigh University back in the day and asked him about stupid political stuff like affirmative action. More recently, I got a chance to meet Thierry Henry, and thanked him for staying on an extra year at Arsenal. As a Gunners fan, I truly appreciated it, and he seemed touched that I told him so.

Who are your idols, and what would you say to them?

Art Brut, Meet The Pixies

Pitchfork has a track from Art Brut's upcoming album Brilliant! Tragic! And while I was a big fan of 2007's It's a Bit Complicated, I got bored quickly and their subsequent release started to sound the same to me.

Not this time. The English quintet again teamed up with Black Francis for their latest release (as they did for 2009's Art Brut vs. Satan) and the results are pretty much what you'd expect. Still the same music, but muted instrumentation and quieter, less abrasive vocals make the hand of Frank Black very obvious. All in all, I really like it. Tell me what you think.

Here's the link:
http://pitchfork.com/news/42152-listen-new-art-brut-lost-weekend/

How Good Does This Look!?

There are few things I am more excited for than this news from the Beastie Boys: Their new album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is due out on May 3, AND there will be a 30-minute video called "Fight For Your Right - Revisited," which catches up with the characters from the original 1986 video. The trailer features competing casts of aging B-Boys played by Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Seth Rogan, Jack Black and others. Plus the parents from the original video played by Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci. And a cameo from Will Arnett seemingly in character as Gob Bluth from "Arrested Development". This can't come soon enough. For now, enjoy the trailer:

Step up to the plate - the double header

To follow up on the baseball theme motif, I will give you four songs, but each varies depending on the type of player I am.

"The Electrifying Player":
If I was a player who can electrify the crowd with a triple or stolen base, or a make a big play in the field, I think there is no better song to come to up to bat with then when those horns go off - the crowd goes nuts!

"The Man"
 This song just screams, I'm one of the best players in the league and I'm going downtown!

"The Fireballer"
Not enough is made of the music when your closer comes out to finish off the opposition.  Mariano Rivera's "Enter Sandman" is a solid example, but I'm coming out with this.  Makes me look a little wild, and maybe a little literate.

"The Junkballer"
If my job was to come out in relief to mop up a game that got out of hand, I come out to this one.  Makes me seem a little off.

Step Up to the Plate

We're three games into baseball season, the Phillies are undefeated, and it's time to revive the age-old debate. If you were a baseball player, what would be your at-bat music?

You need something that's gonna rev up the crowd but also something with enough swagger and cred to make it worthwhile. And the song you choose says a lot about who you are. Here's a very funny video where Curtis Granderson struggles as he tries to pick his at-bat music for his first season as a Yankee:

If Granderson needs inspiration, he could look to his captain: During the Yankees 2009 World Series run, Derek Jeter took "Empire State of Mind" -- which was everywhere at the time and seemed like it was meant to be played at Yankee Stadium, and grand enough for a player like Jeter. Moving over to the Phils, Chase Utley comes to bat (when he's healthy) to the opening bars of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". Shane Victorino's unlikely selection is "Buffalo Soldier" by Bob Marley. And dare I say Carlos Ruiz has a really good one in "Turn My Swag On" by Soulja Boy (For some reason, I love the snippet of that song they play for Chooch). Here's a YouTube clip of the Phillies' at bat music from 2010:

My playing days are long in the past, but if I were stepping up to the plate, I'd play "Clash City Rockers" by the Clash.

 

It has a brash opening guitar riff that would sound great in a stadium, and it packs a punch in about 12 seconds, which is really all you have time for.

My second choice might be "Tell 'Em" by Sleigh Bells -- because nothing is as loud and aggressive as the opening guitars in that song.

So let's hear it -- what song would you play as you come to bat?

Another Kind of Urban Music

If I wasn't a TV producer, I might be an urban planner. I've spent a good deal of time lately listening to The Suburbs by Arcade Fire, and since I've recently moved to the suburbs, I've also given a lot of thought to urban design and what makes a good place.

Turns out, I'm not the only one. Aside from the aforementioned Arcade Fire, here are some other great songs that are essentially about urban planning.

"My City Was Gone" - The Pretenders
Probably my favorite Pretenders song -- not saying too much as I'm not a fan of the band generally. But this one has that great bassline as Chrissie Hynde sings about how she went back to Ohio only to find her hometown of Akron was unrecognizable -- with a missing downtown and farms paved over for shopping malls.

"Council Houses" - Denim
Quick -- name another song that laments mid-century tower blocks conceived by the likes of Le Corbusier and Mies Van Der Rohe. You can't. That's why this 1996 song is so great. "Council houses/In the city/Who would want to pay the rent on this concrete slum imprisonment?" Denim were a glam band formed after the dissolution of the British indie band Felt, but this song makes the projects -- and their architecture -- anything but glamorous.

"London's Burning" - The Clash
How about an entire verse about London's highways? "I'm up and down the Westway/In and out the lights/What a great traffic system -- it's so bright!/I can't think of a better way to spend the night/Than speeding around underneath the yellow lights."

"Cities" - Talking Heads
David Byrne sings of checking out cities to live in -- London, Birmingham, even El Paso. Turns out, Byrne is a real urban planning guy -- check out his book "Bicycle Diaries".

"Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
The inspiration for this post -- made all too real as I hurtle down Route 3 in suburban New Jersey. The shopping malls around here really do rise like mountains beyond mountains.

Video Vault Friday!

Here's the innovative 1999 video for Blur's "Coffee & TV" featuring a cute little dancing milk carton who goes searching for guitarist Graham Coxon, who has gone missing. The video won several awards and was voted 17th greatest pop video of all time in a 2005 poll by Channel 4. I remember seeing it for the first time on MTV2, back when MTV2 actually played videos. Enjoy!