20 October 2023 - The Rentals - Friends Of P.

The Rentals started off as a Weezer/that dog side project.  It turned into Matt Sharp's full time band.  

But who was P?  Who are they friends with?

Yes, P is not only a person, but a famous one. 

The debut album by Weezer was produced by former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek.  He did a great job on that album, and it was a bit of a family affair.  Frequently, Ocasek's wife, supermodel Paulina Porizkova, would join him.  In one of her conversations with Matt Sharp, Porizkova talked about how she had songs written about her... by bad metal bands.

So, Matt Sharp, friend of P., wrote a song about her.  

Turns out, she was better friends with Rivers Cuomo - at least according to Ric Ocasek, who called the song "silly".   He was not wrong.  

:Let's talk about the video.  None of these people were wearing glasses that actually matched their prescription.  If you go to about 2:40, you can see Petra Haden playing viola with a terrible headache because she was wearing such crazy glasses.  Ah, the pains of art.

Matt Sharp is the only constant in The Rentals, a project that still exists.  This live performance is from 1996, soon after the release of this song, and there were ALREADY lineup changes.

But also, live, the Moog synthesizer really shines through.  

19 October 2023 - Santigold - I'm a Lady

It's weird that I start a post with a live version of a song, especially one that I have to start in the middle of a video because it's part of a longer performance - in this case, an NPR Tiny Desk live set.

Santigold is something of a weird artist.  She's a black artist making music that's a little punk, a little pop, a little rock, a little folk - not necessarily what is considered traditional black music - which, given that she started her career working for Epic Records's urban music division, is even more interesting.

She's pretty clear that this song isn't punk, though.  It's a song that wouldn't sound out of place in the Siouxsie and the Banshees catalog, or the Pixies - as would the rest of her debut album, Santogold.  That's not misspelled - that was her stage name at the time (her real name is Santi White).  

It makes sense to have you hear the studio version of the song, which features co-writer Trouble Andrew (probably better known as a snowboarder than a musician) as a second vocalist.  Since the song was never an official single, it was never released in an official video format - but that's OK, because these people in this video made one.

The video is wild.  The song is super cool.

Since this was her debut album, she immediately toured in support of it.  This performance is from the 2009 Lowlands festival in the Netherlands. Her stage presence is already felt at this point in her career.

Ten years later, she still had that stage presence.

It's important to note that she doesn't have Trouble Andrew and his husky voice to do his part of the song, so she has to adapt it to her voice.  She does so effortlessly.

18 October 2023 - Sugar - Helpless

Once upon a time, there was a band called Hüsker Dü.  They were huge and then they broke up in 1988, because Bob Mould and Grant Hart had creative differences.  That happens.

Bob Mould went on to release two not-so-well-received solo albums.... but then, he formed a new band, Sugar.  Their debut album, Copper Blue, was grungy and dark and heavy. In 1990, the album would have been criminally ignored.   In a post-Nevermind world, it was a minor hit.  

This song was the big single from the album.It would be the band's biggest hit, rising on alternative charts worldwide.   It's a song that frequently gets stuck in my head, thirty years after its release.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album, Bob Mould went on a solo tour and played Copper Blue in its entirely.   Of course, that includes this song - and, in this performance, you can hear that the song was really all his.

17 October 2023 - Ice Spice ft. Rema - Pretty Girl

Where the hell did Ice Spice come from?

She's everywhere now, even at your local Dunkin' Donuts.

I mean, who the hell thought to pair her with Ben Affleck?  But it works!

But really, she's making music - good, compelling hip-hop that she's writing (or, in this case, co-writing).  She does not shy away from bold collaborations, like this one with Nigerian artist Rema.  This song is both hot and cool at the same time.  Her current single - she's made four trips to the top 10 and this is sure to follow - it's got all the markings of a hit song.  

You know why I'm posting this, though.

She was on SNL this weekend.  She performed this song.  And her bestie interoduced her.

She's young,  she's new to the music business... and THAT is her new best buddy.  That should tell you everything you need to know about Ice Spice.

16 October 2023 - Kendrick Lamar - Alright

Kendrick Lamar is possibly the most celebrated hip hop artist of his generation.  He's earned that, too - his rhymes hit a little harder than most, with a musical style that is unmatched.

This song, from his third album, To Pimp A Butterfly, was inspired by a trip he took to South Africa.  Co-written by Lamar, Pharrell Williams and Sounwave, it opens with lines from The Color Purple.  

The song's social consciousness and real beats brought Lamar two Grammy awards on its own in 2016 - the album won a third and another song won a 4th.  Lamar's performance in this video also earned a nomination - it's almost as if he's really rising above.

I don't usually like this generation of hip hop, but Kendrick Lamar is a notable exception, and "Alright" is a big reason why.

13 October 2023 - U2 - Numb / Down All The Days

This is exactly what this blog was made for.

The Edge getting harassed.  

We keed, we keed.

When this song came out in 1993, the world was used to Bono as lead vocalist for U2 - so it was a little jarring for this song and video to be released with The Edge as lead vocalist (and Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. as backing vocalists).  He was also the lyricist, with the band writing the rather sparse backing music.  

The song actually started off as another song from the Achtung Baby sessions, but the band hated that song, sung by Bono. It wasn't until Flood and Brian Eno started remixing it and producing it with The Edge that it turned into this absolute masterpiece of minimalism and unhinged electronics.  It ended up being a centerpiece of the Zooropa album.  

I remember listening to this song with my girlfriend at the time, who I don't think quite liked the song at first.  (If my memory serves me correctly, she came around)  I always liked it - it was weird and interesting.

By the way, if you listen closely, you'll hear the song of a cassette tape in a Walkman rewinding - one of many samples included in the song.  

The video itself was so iconic, it was the subject of many parodies.   This one, made by VH1 to promote The New WKRP in Cincinatti.  The show was terrible.  The commercial was amazing.

This isn't a song that the band has performed live much - but they did on the 1993 Zoo TV tour.

The band did eventually release the original song they hated - "Down All The Days" - as part of the 30th anniversary reissue of Achtung Baby in 2021.  

They were probably right to not go with that song originally.  You can really hear the "Numb" in there, though. 

12 October 2023 - Van Halen - Poundcake

This week has been a bit of a struggle for me.  Usually, posts come to me so quickly and easily.   This week, not so much.

For weeks like this, I like to have songs queued up - ones that appear to me in some way, shape or form.  Sometimes, that's helpful.  Today, that was helpful, because this is one of those songs.  

And this song really deserves to be queued.  Written by the band, it was the lead single of their 1991 album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, which every kid on every playground knows spells "fuck" - you've tried to justify using the F-bomb because you were told it was a legal term, right?

That sound you hear at the beginning of the song is not Eddie Van Halen's Frankencaster (how the hell he played that thing, I'll never know), but a Makita power drill.  

Lyrically, this song ain't great.  Musically, the song is dense and interesting and one of the best guitar songs ever written and performed.  

Oh yes.  Eddie did use that drill live.  Take this performance from the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards - where the FrankenMakita is on full display.