Summer Fiction is both everything and nothing you’ve heard before. We wish more music fell into our inboxes like this. It’s Baroque Pop, it’s torch songs, it’s freewheelin’ Folk, it’s reminiscent of the golden days… but most of all it’s the roots and sound that’s Rock and Roll. It’s why Rock and Roll will never die.
Every now and then we are graced with a songwriter that can make even the simplest sounds heard before, still well worth hearing. With all of today’s media bombardment, I hear these songs and I listen. All I want to do is sit and listen. Bill Ricchini is one of those songwriters, and “Throw Your Arms Around Me” is one of those songs. Take a listen to “To: Alone”, when was the last time you heard a pop song this slow… this good? It’s a sound that reminisces where Richard Swift could have gone and what Elliot Smith had in his bones.
The Summer Fiction LP drops November 30th. True songwriters always have something good to say.
The Chief and the boys pay homage to the David Bowie and Brian Eno penned classic. Circa ’97, “Heroes” is a b-side to the Be Here Now 7:22 long debut single “D’You Know What I Mean”. A song, by the way, which should win an award as one of the greatest debut singles, to a post global phenomenon album, of all time.
Really, how ballsy is “D’You Know What I Mean”? Other than the fact it’s basically “Wonderwall” a half step down, just listen to it let alone the entire Be Here Now LP. It’s coked out, it’s Liam Gallagher hurling in between vocal takes, it’s infinite layers of consonant genius.. it’s getting kicked out of Abbey Road Studio’s ballsy. Be Here Now radiates the sort of ambitious irony that only a band that believes they are the greatest band in the world can create. And for that reason it is genuine, and for that reason it is great. Noel claims to hate Be Here Now par a few tunes. Liam… us… and select Oasis fans around the world rather claim it’s one of the best Rock and Roll albums of all time. Either way look at it, it’s “Coming in a mess, going out in style”.
“Heroes” finds a nice home as part of the Oasis B-side legacy. Part of an infamous B-side collection that would be a worthy A-list collection to a majority of artists. Example, dude’s performed their ’95 b-side “Acquiesce” on Saturday Night Live in 1998. How good was it? Good enough for Saturday Night Live to include it on their SNL Celebrates 25 Years of Music 2 CD collection. And they’ve got LOTS of music to chose from. Get it here!
The mashup journeyman DJ Topcat crafts a smooth blend here with this Cee-Lo Green/Four Tops Mix. What’s crazy about “Fuck You”, and maybe it’s a testament to just how fucking good a song it is… like we’ve heard it everywhere, just about everyday and mixed up every which way and the song still sounds really really great. Like we can’t help but go falsetto on that “I pity the FOOOOOOOOOOL” line every time we hear it. See if you can stop yourself from humming along to Stubbs and Co. and The Ladykiller himself. Yep, like we thought, we can hear you! It’s OK, we’re humming along too.
Bobby Ray is back at you with “Beast Mode”. “I guess 2010’s the first year you gave a shit.” Maybe. But B. o. B., with 3 top 10 singles and a number 1 album to his credit, can make legit claim to his beast modey-ness. Dude has had a massive year and, and if anything, “Beast Mode” serves as something of a valediction to his 2010.
Top shelf beat here from the Megatron Don; The seemingly perpetually addled with label problems Saigon pitching in with some choice rhymes. The feel Just Blaze has for the rhythm, cadence, & diction in the flows of the rappers he works with (particularly Saigon) really sets his production work apart.
The Swedish bodytalker paused her worldbeating tour of nonstop jams just long enough to cut this cover of the classic Prince track for the UK’s Channel 4 TV.
A big step up here from the Kentucky-based band. “Shake Me Down” is the sound of a band at a defining point of creative realization. The band’s second LP Thank You, Happy Birthday is due Jan. 11.
“Bigger Than Us” is new from former UK it girls White Lies. “Bigger Than Us” sounds, well, big, but is it big in that sort of self consciously big way? Is the band trying to hard? Are they overreaching on this new material? Is it just too much? No.
Ok, so prob the most crotch grabbing reference since MJ (RIP) but the vocal/song are so fucking good we can forgive. As featured by Mistajam as his Jam Hot on Sat Nite, this live acoustic version of the UK songstress’ electrorock track is about 1000 miles ahead of the original.
Brooklyn chillwave collective Small Black paid a visit to Club Underground at The Echo in Los Angeles last Friday. The band delivered their blend of organized chaos to a packed house of Friday-night musical thrill seekers, rightfully amped after solid sets from unsung heroes of the eve Young Prisms and Class Actress.
Small Black are a thought provoking band. To me they seemed the type of band who’s live show could make or break the way you perceive their vision. After several listens through their New Chain LP, their live experience only seemed to become more relevant to me. I had already fallen in love with the endless overtones which ring throughout “Weird Machines” with its clever melody complementing a simple syncopated rhythm. There was a vision here and I needed to experience it live.
These New Yorkers had a full sound, both bold and ambitious. There was plenty energy, but this was, after all, chillwave… and leave it to any LA crowd to acknowledge that. While listening I’d noticed that like many acts who use an album’s recording to paint a picture, the live experience felt different. This is what I was looking for. Stripped down and raw… what’s the statement? On tape, a layered sound of airy synths echoing to all-hell, melodic vocal buried in, became two live synths, bass and a full drum kit. As were my impressions of the album, moments lacked genuineness; But also like the album, certain musical ideas were translated into significant statements. Next enter the irony of their ‘chillwave’ label, these dudes were a rock band playing on different equipment.
There was among the gathered masses a genuine sense of excitement to see Small Black. Their timely LP and enthusiastic performance says a lot for other bands on the scene. “Camouflage” felt even more reminiscent of an abstract take on The Cure’s “Pictures of You”, and it became clear “Search Party” ordered for dancing. “Weird Machines” remains a standout even with it’s stripped down sound live. It’s a song of true writing substance. Set closer “Photojournalist” was no doubt a pleaser and half the audience had dispersed by the time the band came out for an encore.
Small black had left me with a new perspective on their vision. Which is what I wanted. I’d recalled one of their banterings about between songs. “LA is the most realist shit on the west coast.” Right. Now, where’s that New Chain LP?
