Electric Chairs - "Barbie Girl"

I haven't seen "Barbie", yet, anyway.  I suppose it's too big to ignore, and I'm sure Greta Gerwig and company have done a good job, but I guess I'm more of an "Oppenheimer" guy.  I can only assume that Aqua's 1997 minor hit "Barbie Girl" is featured in the film.  I got their debut LP. "Aquarium", based on the strength of "Barbie Girl", but I can't remember the last time I listened to it.  

I'll assume you've heard Aqua's version of the song: it's fun and cute, while remaining subversive.  But have you heard the cover by Electric Chairs?  They released an EP in 2001 of different mixes of the song.  I haven't seen that EP (there can't be many copies in existence), but I first heard this song on The Orb's excellent "Back to Mine" mix CD (check out the entire series).

The Electric Chairs version really brings out the disturbing, menacing, predatory element* that is present in the Aqua version, but a lot easier to miss.  When Aqua sings "Come on, Barbie, let's go party", it sounds like a dismissive critique.  When Electric Chairs sing "Come on, Barbie, let's go party", it's a threat.  And when the beat comes in (~2:38), it is simultaneously super cheesy and awesome -- a plastic but fantastic copy of what a dance beat should sound like.  

Electric Chairs - "Barbie Girl (TF Long Version)"

Aqua - "Barbie Girl" 

* I was tempted to draw a parallel to Sonic Youth's cover of the The Carpenters' "Superstar", but SY's cover changes the meaning of the song, inverting victim to predator.  I think the Electric Chairs cover just emphasizes the scathing commentary that was lurking under Aqua's Europop veneer.  

Blackalicious - "Paragraph President" (In Memoriam)

I've fallen behind on posting, but I'll restart by acknowledging the passing of Timothy J. Parker, AKA Gift of Gab, best known as one-half of Blackalicious and part of the influential Quannum Projects collective.  I could tell you that Gab had a voice, flow, and diction that put him head and shoulders above most other MCs, but you should instead read the tributes from DJ Shadow, Chief Xcel, and the many others that recognized his unique talents. 

I thought about highlighting "Midnight in a Perfect World (Gab Mix)" by DJ Shadow, but I already used that EP to mark the passing of David Axelrod four years ago.  I also thought about using "Alphabet Aerobics" (studio, live 2016), which you might remember from Daniel Radcliffe turning in an impressive version of it on the Jimmy Fallon show many years ago.  It's a great song, but verges on novelty and fails to capture the seriousness of Gift of Gab.

Instead, I settled on "Paragraph President", a 2001 single from the 2002 Blackalicious LP "Blazing Arrow".  DJ Shadow featured the last half of this song (listed as "halfway home") on his 2004 LP "Live! In Tune and On Time".  DJ Shadow was a guest producer for "Paragraph President", and once you listen to the combo of Gift of Gab and DJ Shadow, it will only make you regret they did not work together more often. 

Blackalicious - "Paragraph President"

Body Count - "Raining Blood" (the song remains the same)

You may be cool, but are you Ice-T, fronting Body Count, covering Slayer's "Raining Blood" cool?

Unless your name is Tori Amos, probably not.  

Body Count: rehearsal version, studio version.

Tori Amos: studio version.

Slayer: studio version, and as seen on South Park.

Camera Obscura - "Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" (LP Review)

Several years ago I rated Camera Obscura's "Let's Get Out of This Country" a perfect 10, and the perfection of that LP overshadowed the two previous LPs (I didn't discover the band until 2009).  Now that I've had some time to reflect on it, I have to say their 2001 debut LP "Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" is awfully good in its own right.  Not as good as LGOOTC but still pretty good, and as I've said before: the iTunes play counts don't lie.

This LP doesn't offer the same variety of musical styles that LGOOTC presented, but they completely lock down the genre of "pop music for adults"*.  I think there is a rule that any discussion of Camera Obscura has to mention fellow Glaswegians Belle & Sebastian.  While I recognize that Belle & Sebastian were first in this genre, but for my money Camera Obscura is a lot more enjoyable. 

One difference between this LP and LGOOTC is that although singer/songwriter/guitarist Tracyanne Campbell was still the center of the band, John Henderson (vocals/percurssion) was featured more prominently, in both duets ("Swimming Pool", "Anti-Western", "Double Feature") as well as lead vocals ("Houseboat").  Henderson left the band in 2004 and the supporting male vocal role was taken up by Kenny McKeeve, but in a diminished capacity relative to what we see in their first LP.  I love Tracyanne, but  Tracyanne & John both singing is pretty hard to beat.

In a perfect world, Camera Obscura would be a hugely successful band and "Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi" would be in the CD collection of every NPR listener under 50.  Not convinced?  Look at the cover art again, and then listen to the song "Double Feature":

Close comes this winter
Summer is no longer
And things, they seem much bleaker
We'll see a Catherine Deneuve double feature

TC: And our lives
JH: (Double feature, you will survive)
TC: will fade
JH: (Last forever so rest your eyes)
TC: as in darkness
JH: (Play with words when we cannot sing)
TC: we will bathe
JH: (This double feature means everything)

The question you should be asking yourself is "Why isn't Catherine Deneuve in dozens of pop songs?"

Standout songs: saying "all" would be cheating, so I'll go with: "Eighties Fan" (the only "official" video from the LP), "Happy New Year", "Houseboat", "Anti-Western", "The Sun on His Back", "Double Feature"  (listen to this YouTube playlist for all the songs).

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 9/10



* One important exception: am I the only one that thinks the closing instrumental "Arrangements of Shapes and Space" sounds like the Texas-based, "post-rock" band Explosions in the Sky?

Unkle - "Do Androids Dream of Electric Beats?" (LP Review)

Although this is "only" a bootleg, it is one of the prized members of my CD collection.  Unkle's* 2001 triple LP "Do Androids Dream of Electric Beats?" might be the best DJ mix I've heard.  Unkle has always been James Lavelle and whomever he is working with at the time (at this point, it was Richard File -- but make no mistake, this is James Lavelle's vision).  Originally intended for a Japanese radio show, this is not your ordinary club/ dance mix and is more suited for a theater than a club.  With the title being a clever nod to Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and the cover art from Futura 2000, the sci-fi theme is clearly established.  In my review of "The Less You Know, The Better", I described Lavelle's vision as "the soundtrack to the weird sci-fi movie that only James Lavelle can see."  If you listen to this mix from start to finish, you'll start to catch glimpses of the movie too. 

James Lavelle is an extraordinary DJ, and the set pulls together various tracks and genres that would fail miserably in less expert hands.  In addition to the usual suspects from Lavelle's label Mo' Wax, there are The Beatles, The Stones, Rare Earth, Fleetwood Mac, Iggy Pop and other surprises.  I could try to write more about it, but fortunately due to its not-quite-legal status, it is pretty easy to find on the web.  Just listen (each disc is just a single track):

Disc one -- "Shin" Youtube, Soundcloud
Disc two -- "Gi" Youtube, Soundcloud
Disc three -- "Tai" Youtube, Salacious Sound

All three discs in a single Youtube playlist.  You'll have to look at the Wikipedia and Discogs sites to piece together the source material for each track. 

Don't even think about finding an original version -- there were only 500 copies made, and even the bootleg versions command a pretty stiff price now.

Standout songs: n/a. 

Skip 'em songs: n/a

Final Score: 9/10  You read a lot about DJ sets being a "journey", well this is a textbook example.  And if "Do Androids Dream of Electric Beats?" is a textbook, then James Lavelle is your teacher.


* I've chosen to credit this to "Unkle", although this was released as Unklesounds, or UNKLESounds, or UNKLE Sounds, depending on what you read.  Add to the confusion is the fact that James Lavelle & guest have also released UNKLE, U.N.K.L.E., and other variations.  I'm lumping them all under "Unkle".

DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist - "Product Placement" (LP Review)

"Product Placement" is the 2001 mix LP from DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist and follows their similar 1999 LP "Brainfreeze".  The premise of the LPs is rather simple: create a DJ mix LP using nothing but 7" 45 rpm records.  The trick is in their expert choice, mix, and execution.  Yeah, you could do all this digitally, but that's not the point: it's just two of the premier turntablists shredding.  And limiting themselves to only material that appears on 7" steers things to an older, funk-oriented mix as well as being an homage to an obsolete format.

Another observation is that the presence of Cut Chemist adds a level of humor that DJ Shadow's mixes (not to mention his original material) simply don't have.  For example, listening to DJ Shadow's "Funky Skunk" is an entirely different experience, not to mention his early KMEL mixes or "Diminishing Returns". They also have this fascination with 7-11 and related cultural artifacts (continued from "Brainfreeze") that would make Kevin Smith proud.

As always, it's difficult to review a mix LP since there are only two tracks, each nearly 30 minutes long.  My two favorite parts appear in track 1:

• the transition from Timmy Thomas - "Sexy Woman" --> Kool & the Gang - "N.T." --> Freddie Scott - "(You) Got What I Need" --> James & Bobby Purify - "I'm Your Puppet" (starts at ~ 6:50)
• the deliciously awful "Rappin' With Gas" (starts at ~ 11:26)

The full track list is available, but it is easier to just listen to the whole thing and find your own favorite parts.  In 2003 they released a DVD of them performing this mix live; you can find the entire thing on Google Video.  You owe it to yourself to check that out; obviously a big part of the appeal is watching them working together and manipulating the vinyl.

Standout songs: n/a

Skip 'em songs: n/a

Final score: 9/10  Part of that score is based on the novelty, but this really is a fun mix LP.

Weezer - "Weezer" (LP Review)

Weezer's eponymous third LP (generally referred to as "the green LP" to differentiate it from 1994's self-titled debut, "the blue LP") was released in 2001, after a long-term hiatus and shuffling of band members following the release of "Pinkerton" in 1996. As I stated in my review, "Pinkerton" is a solid LP but suffers from being slightly self-indulgent, incomplete and sometimes too smart for its own good. The green LP addresses those flaws and recaptures the magic and humor of the blue LP.

Simply put, this LP is a veritable textbook on how to write & execute power pop; few people write hooks as well as Weezer's front man Rivers Cuomo, who is arguable the GenX equivalent of Brian Wilson, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Paul Simon, et al. Three songs were released as singles from this LP ("Hash Pipe", "Island in the Sun", "Photograph"), but just about any of the ten songs could have been chosen.

The LP length, the humor, the song style & craftsmanship, even their "Flying W" logo: it is all reminiscent of Van Halen's first four LPs, updated of course with a nerdy, hipster, GenX attitude & sense of irony. And I mean that in the best possible way.

In contrast with "Pinkerton", the green LP features the return of producer Ric Ocasek (who also produced the blue LP), and Ric knows a good deal about catchy tunes as well. And whereas "Pinkerton" was modeled after "Madam Butterfly", there is no pretentious concept for this LP. The songs also don't overstay their welcome: the longest is 3:50, and the entire LP clocks in at less than 30 minutes. And while half an hour is might be a little short for an LP, the advent of the compact disc and its generous 74-80 minutes of storage led many bands & producers at the time to forget how to cull weak tracks. Sometimes less is more.

Standout tracks: Would it be cheating to say "all"? If forced to pick only some, I'd go with: "Hash Pipe", "Island in the Sun" (Spike Jonze version), "Photograph", "Don't Let Go", "Knock Down Drag Out", "Simple Pages", "O Girlfriend".

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final score: 9/10. Two things keep it from 10/10: its modest length (could we have found more track, perhaps like the blue LP's "Say It Ain't So"?), and the blue LP's shadow of perfection.

Bonus Links: Several of bonus tracks & B-sides from the same sessions: "Oh Lisa", "Always", "Starlight", "Brightening Day", "I Do", "The Christmas Song". None are bad, but not including them was probably the right choice (yes, I realize that contradicts my nitpick above).

2011-10-09 edit: Mikey Welsh, who played bass on just this Weezer LP, died Saturday October 8.

Explosions in the Sky - "Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever" (LP Review)

Imagine The Pixies walking into the studio, finding Black Sabbath's instruments and gear (ca. 1973) and then deciding to cover songs by Tortoise. Or maybe it should be Tortoise covering The Pixies. Either way, Explosions in the Sky triangulates somewhere between these three musical influences, with the additional regional influence of Austin, TX. I'm not sure I can describe the Texas, esp. Austin, sound (it is more of an attitude than a specific genre), but you know it when you hear it.

EITS are Mark Smith (guitar), Munaf Rayani (guitar), Michael James (bass and guitar), and Chris Hrasky (drums). As you can infer from the lineup, they play instrumental (taking their Texas laconism to the point of no vocals), guitar-oriented rock. But even with two, sometimes three, guitarists, don't look for any shredding here: they've completely transcended the conventional rock guitar solo and are firmly within the post-rock genre (hence the comparison with Tortoise). Structurally, it is clear they've also listened to their share of NWOBHM bands with their highly regimented, almost martial/marching band arrangements.

EITS is probably most well known for providing the soundtrack for 2004's "Friday Night Lights". A lot of people when first exposed to EITS find this an odd pairing, assuming that EITS represents the alternative, "too cool for sports" set. I get it though. For one, EITS clearly makes soundtrack-sounding music. Secondly, HS football is such a part of the Texas ethos that to have refused the opportunity when it arrived would have been self-negation. But I'll review that LP at a later date...

"Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever" is their 2001 LP, whose very title invites comparisons to Tortoise's 1996 LP "Millions Now Living Will Never Die". TWTTTSD is technically their second LP, although their 2000 debut "How Strange, Innocence" received very limited release. TWTTTSD gives us six songs and 50 minutes of vast, epic, open, organic instrumental music that works the soft-loud-soft formula to its maximum effect. Noise canceling headphones are the best way to listen to this LP: the quiet bits are so subtle and sweet that you have to really stop and pay attention to what they're doing. You'll be tempted to turn up the volume, but be careful. In a minute or two they're going to explode: a majestic, roaring, aural behemoth. And just after the reverberations have rearranged the objects in your room, EITS will be quiet again. Then you will know how apropos the band's name is and realize that they really could not have been named anything other than Explosions in the Sky.

In a band filled with guitarists (all of whom do an excellent job), I have to say the star of the show is drummer Chris Hrasky. Producer Trevor Kampmann certainly did him a favor and put Hrasky out front in the mix, and he is often playing more of a lead than rest of the band. For example, listen to 1:40--2:25 in "Yasmin the Light", 3:00-5:00 of "Have You Passed Through This Night", or 4:50--5:50 of "A Poor Man's Memory" -- you'll nearly forget the guitarists are playing.

The closest thing they have to lyrics is in "Have You Passed Through This Night" where they sample Private Witt's voice over from the movie "The Thin Red Line" (delivered with an appropriate drawl):

This great evil. Where does it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doin' this? Who's killin' us? Robbing us of life and light. Mockin' us with the sight of what we might've known. Does our ruin benefit the earth? Does it help the grass to grow, the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you, too? Have you passed through this night?

Unkle would also sample this and other dialogue from "The Thin Red Line" in the song "Eye for An Eye" on their 2003 LP "Never, Never, Land", but EITS did it first as well as better.

There are no bad songs on this LP. An unkind critic could argue that the songs are interchangeable, but it is fair to say that if you like one you'll like them all. "Have You Passed Through This Night" stands out because of the movie sample, but honestly the song boundaries are almost arbitrary as each song consists of several movements and if it were presented as a single 50 minute track I would be hard pressed to cut it into six segments.

Standout songs: all. You can find the LP at Grooveshark, but note that the track listing there currently has a lot of errors. You can find a better listing at lala.

Here are the tracks as sourced from YouTube: "Greet Death", "Yasmin the Light" (live), "The Moon is Down", "Have You Passed Through This Night?", "A Poor Man's Memory", "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept".

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 10/10. This is truly a genre-defining LP.

Howie B - "Another Late Night" (LP Review)

Sometimes the total is less than the sum of the parts. I like Howie B, and I like DJ mix LPs -- I probably own at least a dozen from the various Another Late Night/Late Night Tales, Back to Mine and DJ-Kicks series as well a handful more outside of those series (e.g., see my review of DJ Shadow's "Funky Skunk").

Unfortunately, Howie B's entry in the Another Late Night series does not come together. In fact, this is probably my least favorite DJ mix LP -- Howie B just goes through the motions, playing the tracks one after another (almost all of them in their entirety), with little feel for transitions or even an attempt to mix them. It has the following tracks (lifted from wikipedia.org):

1. "What It Is?" - The Undisputed Truth
   
2. "Love's Theme" - Love Unlimited Orchestra
3. "Twilight" - Maze featuring Frankie Beverly
4. "I Changed My Mind" (Stereo MCs Rattlesnake mix) - Lyrics Born & The Poets of Rhythm
5. "Uplink" - Stratus
6. "Mirage" - Santana
7. "Walking In Rhythm" - The Blackbyrds
8. "Summer Hot" - Curtis Mayfield
9. "Contrazoom" (featuring Alison Goldfrapp) - Spacer
10. "Respiration" - Black Star
11. "Work The Angles" - Dilated Peoples
12. "Heavy Tune" - Gong
13. "Under The Boardwalk" - Howie B
14. "Violets Don't Be Blue" - Herbie Mann

Only the transition between "Work the Angles" and "Heavy Tune" has the semblance of a mix, the rest sound like the work of a radio DJ and not a club DJ. The track listing is suspect too: "Love's Theme" is obvious -- no points awarded there (you might as well sample "Funky Drummer"). The requisite rap tracks are good ("I Changed My Mind", "Respiration" and "Work the Angles") as is "Uplink", but the rest of the tracks are dominated by too many meandering 1970s fusion jams ("What It Is?", "Mirage", "Twilight", "Walking in Rhythm", "Summer Hot", "Heavy Tune"). They're not necessarily individually bad (ok, "Mirage" is pretty bad), but how many do we really need?

The biggest head scratcher is probably Howie B's version of "Under the Boardwalk" -- it sounds like a midi version suitable for karaoke. I mean that in the worst possible way. Including some of your own work in a mix is de rigeur, but Howie B insults us with this throwaway track.

If this was your first DJ mix LP, you might not ever purchase another one. A more skilled DJ could salvage this song selection with innovative mixing. Or, minus the mixing, a more thoughtful track selection would have been ok. To fail at both is unforgivable.

Standout Tracks: "I Changed My Mind", "Respiration", "Work the Angles", "Uplink", "Love's Theme"

Skip 'em Tracks: Pretty much the rest.

Final Score: 4/10. You might enjoy some songs individually -- this score reflects the presentation as a mix LP.

Cut Chemist - "Bunky's Pick" (LP Review)

"Bunky's Pick" is not really an LP, but a 2001 three song single (at 21+ minutes, perhaps it should be considered an EP) released on Stones Throw Records. It was very puzzling when I first got it many years ago: "Bunky's Pick" is by Cut Chemist, "6 Variations of In the Rain" is by Madlib, and "In the Rain" is by Billy Wooten. The reconstructions from Cut Chemist and Madlib were great (as you would expect) and the song by Billy Wooten was beautiful. But why did this single/EP exist? Why does Cut Chemist have primary billing? Who is Billy Wooten? I didn't understand how these three songs came to be on the same release.

I eventually learned this can be best thought of as a companion to the compilation LP "The Funky 16 Corners", also released on Stones Throw Records. In fact, "Bunky's Pick" is a bonus track on some versions of the LP. Cut Chemist remixed the highlights from the LP into a single 7:48 track. As Madlib's song title suggests, he focuses just on different interpretations of "In the Rain". Although I haven't seen a physical copy, apparently some versions of this single featured Madlib with primary billing. IIRC, this single was also my first introduction to Madlib.

To contrast with the Madlib version, the original version of "In the Rain" is also provided ("In the Rain" is also on "The Funky 16 Corners", although it originally appears on "The Wooden Glass Recorded Live"). Billy Wooten (the featured artist in the group "Wooden Glass") is a jazz vibraphonist and this song was my first introduction to him. Prior to hearing this, I would have been skeptical about "jazz vibraphone", but you can't deny the beauty of this song. I guess I'm a believer now.

Standout Tracks: Bunky's Pick, 6 Variations of In the Rain, In the Rain.

Skip 'em Tracks: none.

Final Score: 10/10