Here are links to download three songs from the soundtrack to the upcoming “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” The links will expire on October 26, so get while the getting’ is good.
Category: Songs (Page 73 of 96)
When I graduated from college, the joke that was written about me by my staffmates at the Ohio University Post was that “I’ll follow my heart…and the free CD’s.” It’s funny, because it’s true. I definitely followed my heart, and then after landing some writing gigs, I was pleased as punch when the free CD’s started rolling in.
These days, they’re stacked in piles next to my laptop like an unfinished Jenga game.
Yeah, I know: nice problem to have, right? Sure, but still a problem just the same, since I invariably under-deliver to someone in terms of a timely review. This column looks to rectify that. And so, let us begin the first installment of Notes from the Orphanage.
Phil Aiken: It’s Always the Quiet Ones (TGRC)
If Billy Corgan did an album of piano-driven pop, it’d sound like this. Actually, that’s not exactly true; Corgan’s attempt probably wouldn’t be this good. Check out the title track. It has a spooky vibe to it, as in the Classics IV song “Spooky.” He even covers a Pete Shelley song (“What Do I Get?”) and recruits Tanya Donelly to sing backup on a song. Good stuff.
Dan Wallace: Neon and Gold (Torito Bravo)
This Chicago native wisely leads with the album’s best song, the Kinks-style ditty “Fell.” From there things take a much different path, more into Rufus Wainwright territory pre-Want One. He’s clearly picked some good role models in Wainwright, Ray Davies and the Divine Comedy (“The Lizard and the Cat” is soooo Neil Hannon), but he doesn’t quite rise above his influences. Not this time, anyway.
Max Sedgley: From the Roots to the Shoots (Sunday Best)
A little Daft Punk, a little Chic. The album sports block rocking beats by the pound, but the opening track, “Happy,” clearly does not know when it has worn out its welcome. When this disc hits a groove, like they do on “Celebrity,” the disc is quite fun. A little editing, though, would have gone a long way.
Skye: Mind How You Go (Cordless)
You know, I was wondering what Patrick Leonard had been up to. The man who helmed Madonna’s best records from the ‘80s is behind the boards for his London siren. Dido crossed with Morcheeba is how I’d pitch this if I were in Hollywood. It also brings to mind Tasmin Archer, who had one fabulous hit in 1993 with a song called “Sleeping Satellite.” Man, that was a great song.
Here’s that lost song, for anyone who doesn’t remember it. Think Seal, as a girl.
I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness: Fear Is on Our Side (Secretly Canadian)
Best band name since Eagles of Death Metal, and Ministry’s Paul Barker is behind the boards. But this is no thrash-fest. Hypnotic grooves circa late-period Talk Talk, and darkly danceable rock like the Sisters of Mercy or maybe New Order. If I gave this record more time, they might become my new favorite band.
Golem: Fresh off Boat (JDub)
Jewish gypsy punks. There, I said it.
Bedtime Beats: The Secret to Sleep (Rhino)
How about this for a challenging assignment: when do you listen to a disc like Bedtime Beats, something that’s specifically designed to knock you out? As you’re going to bed? Then you won’t hear the whole thing. While you’re working? Then you’ll fall asleep at your desk. I’m definitely not listening to this in the car; the disc even has a warning instructing me not to. So I put this off for weeks, but here goes nothing…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
Wow. This thing really works. Get this for the insomniac in your life, stat.
In 1989, I was listening to either the Psychedelic Furs or the Smiths, I don’t remember which. Out of nowhere, I had a random thought: I would love to hear the Furs cover “How Soon Is Now?” That vocal requires a unique vocalist, and they don’t come much more unique than Richard Butler.
Seven years later, Richard Butler, along with his band Love Spit Love, covered “How Soon Is Now?”, thus confirming that I have magical powers. Very, very slow working magical powers.
But I don’t want to wait seven years for this one. This song, which was a smash hit for synth-pop band PhD, is perfect for Mick Hucknall. Singer Jim Diamond even has the fiery shock of red hair and the odd facial structures (a nice way of saying that he’s funny looking). Simply Red could have some great fun with the reggae beat pulsating underneath the synthesizers, and the melody is right in Hucknall’s wheelhouse.
Come on, Mick. The song was a #1 smash in 1982. A cover of it is long, long overdue, and you’re just the guy to do it. Let’s make it happen.
Duran Duran has a lot more to their musical résumé than “The Reflex” and “The Wild Boys.” Indeed, if those songs were wiped off the face of the earth, I would be perfectly okay with that. There is also a considerable breadth of style on these albums as well. They weren’t just a synth-pop band. There are experiments in art rock, house music, Latin music, atmospheric pop, and funk. One thing’s for sure, they were not afraid to fail. And on more than one occasion, that’s exactly what they did. But they came back wiser every time.
The following list – a two-disc set, no less – contains my favorite Duran Duran songs, or in some cases remixes, that you may not have heard before. They’re listed in chronological order, since that’s important in understanding how the band’s sound has evolved over the years. Purists will surely take me to town for my omissions – I was never a big fan of the early B-sides like “Late Bar” and “Faster than Light” – but I stand by my choices…at least for the next five minutes, at which point I will surely want to replace five songs with five others. Enjoy.
“Sound of Thunder” – Duran Duran
What better way to start a Deep Cuts piece on Duran Duran than with a song that opens with a flanged keyboard riff similar to “Planet Earth,” the song that started it all. “Sound of Thunder,” though, isn’t nearly as sunny as “Planet Earth.” It still has a badass groove, and John shows his chops as a bassist for the first time, but the song is one of the moodiest dance songs you’re likely to find. There was talk about what it meant that the words “Earth,” “Memories” and “Thunder” appeared in bold type in the album’s artwork. The answer: absolutely nothing.
“Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)” – The Singles Box 1986-1995
This originally appeared on the import 12” single for “The Reflex” (and made its CD debut on the soundtrack for the 1994 movie “Threesome”), but it was recorded in 1983 while the band was still touring in support of Rio. This Cockney Rebel #1 smash (with that band’s singer Steve Harley singing backing vocals here) gets an extreme makeover, turning the first verse and chorus into a torch song. At that point, the song positively explodes into dance rock heaven. Listening to Andy’s blistering solo, you can practically hear him saying to himself, “You know, I’d love to form a band where I could rock out all the time. I wonder if John would be interested…”
“Breath after Breath” – Duran Duran (a.k.a. The Wedding Album)
Stunning. Still one of my favorite Duran songs to date, this duet with Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento was a radical departure into Latin music for the band (unless you count Mark Berry’s remixes of “Meet El Presidente”), and it came, conveniently enough, at a time when there were no expectations of how Duran Duran should sound. They had finally outlasted the whole new wave/romantic thing, and that clearly liberated them. This was also the first real guest performance on a Duran track, and the band was smart enough to know not to upstage Nascimento and his sweet, sweet tenor.
To read the read of our choices for Duran Duran Deep Cuts, click here, and come back to ESDMusic to share your comments.
There’s nothing better for someone who’s a fan of both music and movies to sit down in a theater, watch a film, and find yourself in awe of how the director has utilized a pop song to set a scene or convey a mood. It’s easy to know that you need a romantic song for a romantic moment, but finding the right song…? That’s the hard bit…and it gets even harder as you have to provide the proper sonic backdrop for just about every key moment in the film. Bullz-Eye polled all of our movie and music writers (and then some) to get their favorite uses of pop songs in movies.
The only real criteria we set was this: the song couldn’t have been written specifically for the film or have made its debut on the film’s soundtrack. This was pretty rough on us at first, because it meant we had to say so long to Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” (“The Breakfast Club”), bid bye-bye to O.M.D.’s “If You Leave” (“Pretty in Pink”), and offer a fond farewell to Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work” (“She’s Having a Baby”).
Fortunately, we had a lot of great songs – and movie moments – waiting in the wings. But be advised: our descriptions contain spoilers galore.
Some sample choices:
36. “Closer,” Nine Inch Nails – Se7en
When I popped in the DVD of “Se7en” to refresh myself with the film’s usage of Trent Reznor’s composition, I was legitimately surprised to find that it didn’t actually begin with it; there are, in fact, four minutes of screen time preceding the song’s appearance. The thing is, the film’s opening credits – over which the harsh, thumping industrial beat of “Closer to God” plays – are so damned creepy and set the tone of the 123 minutes that follow that it never occurred to me that they weren’t the first thing in the movie. The quickly-cut close-up shots of an unidentified individual (later revealed to be our man “John Doe,” a.k.a. Kevin Spacey) filling journals with miniscule handwriting, blacking out lines in books, going through photos of various medical experiments, and – worst of all – using a razor blade to remove his fingerprints will make you shudder. Reznor’s music does most of the talking. In fact, he only sings one line at the very end of the credits: “You get me closer to God.” Uh, actually, it’s about as far away from heaven as you can imagine. If you’d had any idea that this would be the most comfortable you’d feel for the next two hours, you’d’ve walked out of the theater right then and there. – Will Harris
28. “Jump in the Line,” Harry Belafonte – Beetlejuice
With all due respect to the “Day-O” sequence in “Beetlejuice” – it does appear first, and therefore comes as a complete surprise – it is the movie’s closing number, as it were, that gets our vote. Perhaps it’s the song’s relative obscurity (it did not make the Top 40, while “Day-O,” actually titled “Banana Boat,” reached #5), or maybe it’s the song’s brash energy and instant familiarity that roped us in. Oh, who are we kidding, it’s then-fifteen-year-old Winona Ryder, suspended in air and lip-synching to Harry Belafonte, shake, shake, shaking her body line, while the dead football players do a hilarious callback as her backup singers. It was also great to see Michael Keaton’s title character get a, um, little dose of karma from a witch doctor as well. All in all, it is the perfect ending to an unforgettably loony movie. – David Medsker
19. “Tequila,” The Champs – Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
I think it’s safe to say that my entire generation discovered this classic rock song thanks to Pee-Wee Herman and his first flick. Seeing him turn a rowdy biker bar’s clientele into a bunch of grooving softies while dancing to the song on top of the bar in his trademark shoes was the highlight of the movie. How can you not hear this song and not get images in your head of Pee-Wee doing his great little dance? I recall seeing and hearing it for the first time and wondering just what the hell that song was; I even went so far to tape it from the movie itself onto a cassette, so I could groove along with it whenever I liked. Pee-Wee has always been one of the coolest, and we owe him so much thanks for introducing a ton of kids to this always-great song. – Jason Thompson
To see the entire list, click here.
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