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