Vol. 4 Episode 26

Beck has a second non-album single being released called IWon’t Be Long. I have heard a stream of the new song and am excited to get a copy.

I am very excited about some new music that I have coming next week from Slumberland Records. I will probably make two posts because of this incoming music.

I also have a repressing of Deee-Lites’ first album, World Clique, coming next week.

Edit: The first Man or Astro-Man? astro analog single has had a second repressing in gold and the second astro analog single has had a first repressing in red. Get them at Chunklet if your interested.

On with the show...

 

Beck – Defriended

This is the first of two non-album singles to be released this year. This single was released in early June 2013. It was released as a download or limited edition 12” single. The vinyl also came with a download card. I was mad about the shipping on this one though. It was an extra ten bucks to ship. It came out to be just shy of twenty bucks all told. Then again it is a unique single. I have not seen that it was a limited number of pressings though.

The standard version of the song Defriended is on the A side of the single, play length is 3:46 minutes. The B side is an extended version of the song with a play length of 14:01 minutes. From what I understand, the song is about being defriended or unfriended on a social media site on the internet. The music is very chaotic but amidst the chaos is Beck singing in his mellow style. The beat is steady and the music is both electronic and analog. I have always liked the juxtaposition of electronic/synth music with electric/acoustic instruments. Although the extended mix does get a little long, especially when I look up to see that the track is only half way through.

Either way it is still very interesting to listen to. If you’re a fan get the LP, if your not get the download. It is a very good track.

Family Force 5 – Reanimated

This is a new remix album from Family Force 5 (FF5). It was just released at the end of last month, June 2013. There are two versions of the album, the standard CD and the Reanimated Package. The package features the cover signed by the band with a sticker and a Crank It Like A Chainsaw bracelet. The disc features the remixes that the group has put out in support of their partnership with NGen Radio; Phenomenon, Next Level and Chainsaw, along with the video mix for Zombie, remixed by McSwagger. There are some remixes from the III album and from the III.V EP. These songs are Cray Button, Wobble, Can You Feel It, Paycheck and Get On Outta Here. There is also a remix of Love Addict and Superhero. There is a total of twelve songs on this remix album.

I think that the stand out tracks for me are Wobble and Zombie. I had never heard this version of Wobble. It comes off as a current version of an 80s R&B track. It is absolutely the best track on the album. Zombie I had heard before because I have seen the video for the song. This is the version of the song that is used in the video. It is such a cool remix.

The three tracks from the NGen radio promo song I have talked about a little bit in the past. Phenomenon from Vol. 3 Episode 48, “The song is simple in the lyrics department but still meaningful. The title of the song is repeated as it the additional lyric, “I’ll show you love if you show me love.” There are some other lyrics to the song but those are the ones that stand out in my head as important. The song is excessively electronic and is the direction that the group seems to be going recently with their music. That has always been their direction I think anyway. I have had some friends complain that the group are becoming too dub step. I don’t think that a rock group can be too dub step since most rock groups, even with electronic influences, don’t want to be fully electronic. I think this song is more like Justice or Ratatat than anything like a Skrilex. All I can really say is keep making music FF5 I will be the one buying it for sure.” Next Level from Vol. 4 Episode 7, “Next Level is an even harder and more electronic track than the previous two NGen Promo tracks. It talks about exactly what the title says, bringing “it” to the next level. The song comes from Christian artists so it is truly meant to push Christians to bring their best and step out from the shadows of their former selves.” Chainsaw from Vol. 3 Episode 49, “This track is not as electronic as Phenomenon is and it reminds me of Wobble a little bit in that it is another song describing a dance to a degree. The song uses a super cool electronic saw tooth sound to represent the noise that a chainsaw makes. It is a lot of fun and takes from the 90s dance/rap music.”

The whole album is an electronic dance party. I recommend it to anyone who likes electronic music, Christian or not. It is that good!

De La Soul – 3 Feet High And Rising

This is the first album from De La Soul. It was released in 1989. It was originally released on CD and vinyl. I find it really amazing that all of the music on this album fit on one record. There are twenty-three songs on the album. I recently got in a repressing of the album as a double vinyl set. I got the album mainly for my wife. I was never really into rap music. I had a few albums from a few different artists but never really got into rap. I have listened to this album a couple of times now and really like the style and mellow sound that the group puts out on this album. From what I have gathered the group was more about peace and harmony than thug life, money and girls. I really like electronic music and the use of samples too. This album is all samples, true turntableism.

There were seven singles released from this album. The first is called Plug Tunin. Musically this song is the foundation for the sound that the album encompasses. The song starts off with a sound bite. The music is a cool jazz track. The term Plug Tunin refers to being sure that the mic works and checking ones vocals. The lyrics to the song are a bit odd and don’t exactly make much sense to me. That doesn’t make it a bad song though.

Potholes In My Lawn is the second single released from this album. This song was used by NASA with the Opportunity Rover project that landed on Mars in 2004. It was the first hip-hop song played on the planet by us as human beings. The song was not a big hit by any means but is very interesting with its use of country styled sounds clips.

The third single released from the album was Me Myself AndI. This was a song that I remember hearing on the top 40 radio station. I liked the simplicity of the chorus as they just sang the title of the song. The other think that I liked was the organ sample that was pulled from the Funkadelic track called (Not Just) Knee Deep. Not that I like that song but that sample is killer. It really helped to put De La Soul on the map. It just shows that if you use the right sample in a hip-hop track it can push the track to stardom.

The next single released from the album was Say No Go. It is a very up beat track that attracted me with the use of a jazz horn sample and the guitar solo sample. I also like the fact that they use a sample from Hall & Oates from the song I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do). The song is about using or not using drugs. They were a part of a rally to get people to stop using crack cocaine.

The fifth single from the album is called Buddy. The song is supposed to be about the body, not just the human body but any body. This could reference a body of work or a body of water. It is a general term that they were referencing. Some of the lyrics do reference the female body though. The song also has guest raps by major members of the Native Tongues posse, including Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah and Monie Love. It is a good song but not one of my favorites.

The Magic Number was the next single released from the album. The song takes from the TV show Schoolhouse Rock! For the chorus. The song also takes a sample from one of the most famous songs for drum samples, Funky Drummer by James Brown. The song has that feel of I am trying to teach you something but is three really the magic number? It is a good song and one of my favorites from the album.

The last single from the album is called Eye Know. The major sample from the song is from the Steely Dan song Peg. I like Steely Dan so I am naturally attracted to the song. There is also a sample of a whistle from the Otis Redding track called (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay. It is really an odd pairing and doesn’t really sit right with me. It reminds me of to colors that don’t go together but are forced next to each other. I can appreciate the song for what it is though.

This is an important album in the history of music and should be heard by people who appreciate music. I will add that there are adult themes talked about on a few tracks though.

That is all I have for now...