Victim of Changes

Hello to ye few who happened to chance upon this blog. I'm shifting this blog over to amateurshour.wordpress.com, head on over there for future updates and musings.

Song of the Night (#21) Simon and Garfunkel - I Am a Rock

I was wondering when I'd get around to Simon and Garfunkel. I've unconsciously heard their music since I was a child, but really only took notice of the duo when I was a teen. At one point, I knew about twenty songs of theirs by heart and habitually sung them around others, whether they liked it or not. Their lay in the simple, folk-like nature of their songs and Paul Simon's insightful lyrics.

 "I Am a Rock" is word for word, note for note my favorite song of theirs (and possibly, of all my music). Truth be told, the song is a Simon creation, much like the rest of their discography. However, the insertion of  percussion, guitars and Art Garfunkel's backing vocals make the classic it is today.

Perhaps the ultimate "down in the dumps" song, "I Am a Rock" is boldly ironic. Simon's lyrical angst and brooding (not for nothing does Simon consider the song his most neurotic) are paired with a cheerful melody! The singer speaks of becoming a rock; an island to be separate from those who could hurt him (in the context of the lyrics, this is because of a failed relationship). And yet that ringing guitar is so damn uplifting - a note of hope in an otherwise dour mass of self-pity.

Song of the Night (#20) Manic Street Preachers - Judge Yr'self

It's hilarious to think of how long and how badly I'd misjudged Manic Street Preachers. I'd heard the band's name in passing a few times and seen their CDs in HMV, but this was during the nineties, when it felt like every band from the UK was a Britpop band and recorded nasally, emasculated whining.

One can only tolerate so much hype, so I assumed Manic Street Preachers to be more of the same and dumped them into my mental rubbish bin alongside Oasis, Radiohead and Blur (the latter three remain there to this day). It turned out that this was a colossal mistake, and I wouldn't reverse my opinion for another fifteen years.

My current impression of the band? Imagine Big Country, only meaner and a great deal angrier. Or perhaps you could imagine Rage Against The Machine's Welsh counterpart, minus all the rapping. While famous for their ambitious lyrics and revolutionary image, I'd argue that MSP should be better known for their forceful and intense brand of hard rock.

"Judge Yr'self" is an unusual song, though not in regards to its melody or composition. Originally written for the 1995 Judge Dredd film (yes, that one), "Judge Yr'self" was left off of the film's soundtrack after the disappearance of the band's chief lyricist and rhythm guitarist - the legendary Richey Edwards. Similarly to the band's seminal album "The Holy Bible", it is almost impossible to avoid interpreting the song in light of Edwards' mental condition and character (you could write a book on this topic, and several already have).

Musically, this is the band at their best, combining searing melodies with shout-worthy anthems. The legacy of Edwards' contributions only serves to make an already powerful song a punch to the gut.

Song of the Night (#19) Gary Numan - We Have a Technical

I suspect that I'm frequently going to be writing about Gary Numan, simply because I adore his music.

"We Have a Technical" isn't dissimilar to "Cars". This isn't surprising, considering that both were recorded perhaps a year apart, during Numan's fertile years with Beggars Banquet. 

During these early years (right after taking full control of Tubeway Army), Numan wrote consistently excellent songs marrying sweeping, glacial synthesizers with conventional rock structure. "Cars" is one of his best songs from this early period, but "We Have a Technical" is better. 

Remarkably enough, "We Have a Technical" was an outtake of the Replicas recording sessions; I have no idea why such a compelling song wasn't a part of the final album (which would have been better off without, say, "The Machman"). 

All the hallmarks of a great Numan song are present:

Propulsive beat? Check. 

Jagged hard-rock guitars? Yup. 

Paranoid sci-fi inspired lyrics? You betcha!

Synths? Damn straight!

In short, imagine "Cars" with more pessimism and an extended second half given entirely to showing off that gorgeous melody. In recent years, "We Have a Technical" has found a welcome place in Numan's live set. It will undoubtedly never receive the recognition that "Cars" has gotten, but I'm hopeful that any who come across this song can appreciate its power.

Song of the Night (#18) John Entwistle - Heaven and Hell

Watch any 1969-1970 live concerts of The Who, and you'll no doubt be blown away by the band's ferocious opening number.

If ever there was a song to embody The Who at their most powerful, it would be "Heaven and Hell", penned by John Entwistle, and brought to life kicking and screaming by his energetic bandmates. Anybody unfamiliar with The Who could be shown this performance and by its end, grasp the band's importance. 

But as much as I love the song's live performance, I'm more interested in its lesser known studio form, recorded as part of Entwistle's solo album "Smash Your Head Against the Wall".

"Heaven and Hell" in studio form is an ironic contrast to its live performance. Could you ever picture The Who performing a song of such apathetic lethargy? Entwistle has crafted a bluesy number sounding as if were heavily stoned and then dragged through the mud. 

The lyrics aren't that important: this is nothing more than a childlike description of Paradise and Perdition. The song's power is a result of Entwistle's languid vocals and some fantastic noodling on both electric and bass guitars. Who would've thought that he could craft a song of such cynicism and surprising power?

Song of the Night (#17) Napalm Death - Instinct of Survival

I'm capable of tolerating some fairly extreme music. I regularly listen to bands such as Morbid Angel, Bathory, and Cryptopsy, and I've been blasting my eardrums full of heavy metal for so long that little impresses me.

That being said, I'm not entirely sure what to make of Napalm Death.

Press that play button, and you'll be assaulted with pure brutality: vicious blast-beat drumming, explosive riffing and ferociously nonsensical howling.

Napalm Death are revered as the fathers of the Grindcore movement, and the fact that their sound bamboozles and confounds me (and many, many others) is a testament to their creativity and influence. Heavy Metal is a musical genre that prides itself upon being loud, obscene and mean. Napalm Death simply took these values to their most extreme expression and in doing so, challenged every subsequent metal band to do the same.

I picked "Instinct of Survival", but I could have picked damn well any other song off of Scum to showcase the band's power (the infamous and hilarious "You Suffer" was almost too good to resist). I'm not going to comment on any social commentary present in the lyrics, because... well, I really can't understand the lyrics.

The skeptical might repeat the trite statement that this is more noise than music: but to do so is to misunderstand and start very long debates. Napalm Death are intense, but each song definitely has structure and intent (to shatter the eardrums of its puny listeners, possibly). And to make the assumption that songs like Instinct... can't be music is nothing less than arrogant and close-minded.

Song of the Night (#16) Akira Yamaoka - Last Stop, Windows Up

Akira Yamaoka is a genius.

As the composer for the famed Silent Hill video game series, Yamaoka helped to define the series' nightmarish atmosphere with his equally nightmarish and unsettling soundtracks.

Yamaoka's music is remarkable for being both eclectic and well-crafted. He cites Trent Reznor's harsh industrial rock as an obvious inspiration, but other styles such as trip-hop, alternative rock and jazz have clearly left their mark on him. Last Stop, Windows Up is an example of his music at its most relaxed, and wouldn't sound out of place during the quieter moments of a Silent Hill game.

Only Yamaoka composed the song as part of his soundtrack to Suda 51's Shadows of the Damned, which is, if anything, the anti-Silent Hill.

Shadows Of The Damned is a proudly outlandish game, and its immature stream of curse words and penis jokes can be hard to stomach. The same can't be said of the game's soundtrack, which sticks to the Silent Hill formula of mixing loud, ominous soundscapes with softer, more conventional pieces.

Last Stop is played specifically during the game's level progress screens, and allows for a break from the madcap action composing the rest of the game. Key to the song is its percussion: a jazzy, relaxed groove that gently propels the listener along. The wistful piano (practically a Yamaoka trademark) adds an introspective feel, as if contemplating the insanity that has yet to come.