Lesson XI: Rehab (remix) by Amy Winehouse and Jay-Z

Goes to prove all you need to get some radio play is a Jay-Z verse on the end of your song. Consider this, Rehab was a great song before S.Carter got his hands on it. But what readio station in the States was playing it? Now you can't escape it.

And since Winehouse is already a regular on the blog scene, I'm going to talk about Hovie's verse. At first I was disappointed. Jay has found himself a formula from starting the verse by yelling young to saying that every time he tries to leave they pull him right back. I knew that with a swag like Jay's he would never admit lyrically to being an addict so he'd obviously have to be addicted to being fresh which is what he said. But when it comes down to it, it's still an awesome verse. He goes for a few throats, makes a few good metaphors, and at the end has a killer flow which is an aspect of Jay-Z that he recently has forgotten. Kingdom Come, Iceberg Slim's last release, was his weakest catalog of flows. The man who once claimed to change his style "every two lines" on his release was now rapping into his ready made formula. But this verse is tight as all hell and more importantly it's got Amy Winehouse all over the radio.

Lesson X: The General by Dispatch

I chose this song because not only is it Dispatch's most recognizable tune, and not only is it an awesome song, but I am going to see Dispatch with my most awesome cousin Steven and my best buddy Frank at Madison Square Garden this month so I'm stoked.

The intro riff is jazzy, funky, and chord melody all at the same time. Perfect lead in, definitely catches the ear and the rhythms are crazy. The vocal comes in over just the guitars and dynamics are shown at full force. As the drums enter to a staccato guitar, they sound rather militant and marching band. Then the pre-chorus comes in with those funky rhythms again! Next thing you know the chorus is blasting you into a scene of forgiveness, melody, and just plain perfection. Everyone who ever went to a college party can scream this hook. It's irresistible.

Right into the little change over, which I must say is genius. When you're doing a song that has the same chords through the entire song and trying to make it sound good, pristine attention to detail in the breaks and dynamics are the only way to keep the song interesting. Then the drop down and the back end of the song reprises the chorus from a tiny frame of it into a huge harmonious outpouring of hook, hook, and more hook.

This band is sick and this song is awesome. I saw their supposed last show in Boston and it was so fucking kick ass. Like 100,000 people on a field in downtown Boston, 98 degree weather, people in trees, water bottle fights, and Dispatch. Their harmonies are awesome, their lyrics are intensely great, African hand drums, rhythms, they have everything. Check them out, they're all over the internet. And if you have a kidney to spare, maybe you can get into MSG and see them with me. Hooty hoot.

Lesson IX: Van "The Man" Morrison

Sorry for the absence, things are crazy around the camp these days.



So today I'm doing a bigger picture blog about not a song but a man, the man actually. That's right, Van "the Man" Morrison. Who knows and loves "Brown Eyed Girl," "Wild Night," Moondance," and "Jackie Wilson Said?" Fucking everyone. The guy writes smashes. "Have I Told You Lately," "Domino," and every other fucking song you love to hear. But what does he look like?


Is Van Morrison the J. D. Salinger of music? The answer is no. He's been on TV a ton of times, he's in "The Last Waltz" (the Martin Scorcese doc about The Band's last concert, fucking awesome), he's done Sullivan.... What the fuck does he look like and if you know and you're under 30, you're rare.

He may be the last mega huge pop star to have a certain chunk of his fan base not know what he looks like. And that's my point here. I know when Madonna has a pimple and I don't know what the guy who wrote and sang "Brown Eyed Girl" looks like. That's absurd. In a world of Star Magazine and 24 hour news networks (24 hours of news everyday in a ratings war cannot possibly be news all the time), we know what people look and dance like and who they date long before we ever hear their music. I've seen more pictures of this Pete Doherty guy puking on Kate Moss' tits in the last two months than I care to remember but I have no idea what he sounds like. I am probably better off but it only proves my point. You can barely get a decent image of him on Google Image Search and only the first two pages are really him. Search Brittany Spears right after it and you'll be on for days.

It's music. It's for you ears. If the Beatles wrote and recorded Sgt. Pepper and were all really fat Chinese guys it'd still fuck face. Love you Van. (BTW the pics are Morrisey, Jim Morrison, Morris Day, and the last one is the real Van Morrison)

Lesson VIII: Happy Birthday (to you) by Mildred and Patty Hill

Since it was my birthday yesterday, I'm doing this shit. Now, a lot of people don't even think about this but this song is genius. Simple, memorable, and easy to sing along with. Before this song, people would bring out your cake with all the candles and give three cheers for the birthday boy/girl. You know, hip hip hooray style. That's cool and all but it's not a song.

And yeah by the time you're 16 you want to stab everyone in the eye when you have to sit and sing the dumb ass song. I know. And yeah, that guy who always does harmony at every party is a turd. I know. And of course the live in a zoo rendition pops up and pisses you off and then there's that awkward part where your family says Nicholas but your friends say Nick. I know this. But you know that song by heart. And so does every mother fucker on the planet. People sing that shit in English in Japan. Ballin'

Lesson VII: Gone by Kanye West

I know I took a while to post this I just got over come with some regular shit and didn't get a chance to post. Kanye West gave us the College Dropout the same month that I dropped out of college to pursue a better life than 9-5 in a cubicle regardless of economic stature. Since the exact moment that his music first hit my ears I've been a huge fan. The song "Gone" from his second full length release, titled Late Registration, is a masterful expression of John Brion's string sections, lyrical play, and the sweet sound of Otis Redding's "It's Too Late." (PS: The real version is ballin'.)

While Kanye's first verse is pretty good, and irresistible anyways because the strings are fucking your face the entire time, Cam'ron's verse is stunning. He allows the repetition of Otis Redding's hook line to finish his thought stream. This is one of the best uses of the lyrics ina sample to intertwine with a rap verse I think I've ever heard. Kanye comes back in for a third verse where he says the word gone in every line making it a total of 23 gones.

At this point in the song John Brion brings in this short ambient string piece that is worth the entire listen itself! I mean this string rise is brilliant. It drops you right back into your seat at the final verse where Kanye drops a little more knowledge on you and then bounces. I highly suggest you get onto digging this song.

Lesson VI: Only Living Boy by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (If you want to believe Art had any part in it)

Wow, what can I say about this song that isn't total praise? Every time I think I can't love it anymore, I re-find it and fall in love all over again. The use of the background vocal in this song could serve as a guideline to all who want to write music. They create the mood, they elevate and alleviate the mood like a beautiful woman. The chord structure is as simple as it gets yet the song seems to express complex ranges in human emotion. The dynamics are absolutely on fucking point and the bass line is almost a co-narrator with the lead vocals, taking you along on a journey. Not to mention the surreal and attack-less organ noise that calmly massages you to sleep.

And the lyrics, amazing. They represent so many parts of being human which are so universal and complex. From feeling alone (only living boy in New York), to feeling completely free (I've got nothing to do today but smile), I mean this song is the ultimate combination of utter joy and alienation. He loves being the only one and "gathering all his news on the weather report" but at the same time you can feel the loneliness which is best represented by the background vocals and organs total melancholy of tone and reverb.

This song delivers every time, learn it, live it, love it......want some more of it.

Lesson V: Very Hot by Diet Kong

Time to set the scene. You play a show with your band in the afternoon on St. Patrick's Day. After a long day of setting up, playing, breaking down, and then the two hour drive you find yourself at yet another gig in New York City at Arlene's Grocery. As you enter the club and put your gear behind the stage, you meet the next band going on. A man in a black suit that has been painted white with what looks to be house paint, not to mention that this man has a rope tied around his head, greets you with a smile. His greeting of a friendly "Hello boys" seemed genuine enough. A round of handshakes and he says he must be getting onto the stage now, dumps a bottle of baby powder onto his head, and then steps into the frantic oblivion of an already rolling live show. This is Keith and his band is Diet Kong. That's the story of how was introduced to this band and they rock asses.

Their song, "Very Hot," had us singing the hook the whole way home to Philly that night, scatting the words over and over. On the play by play breakdown, "Very Hot" starts with an intro that could grab the ears of any music fan from NIN to BIG. The first line of vocals to come in are nice falsetto lines that remind me of why I love Dr. Dog so God damn much. And the verse melody is real sweet, with a touch of falsetto here and there cleverly woven into the lines. And then there's the hook.

It comes in strong and relieves the tension of the syncopation and dynamic of the verse. You can almost envision the warehouse of pogo-ing ravers that this hook seems to call out to. It's easily memorable and it totally makes you want to dance. Just when you think you're going to get a guitar solo over electronic drums that just makes you want to slap whoever first melded hip hop and rock for helping to ruin both genres, he calls the pump fake and drops back to the hook. A strong song from a strong band, this could totally be a summer time hit. You know one of those songs that you loved in April when no one cared and then you want to kill people when you hear it in August? Then five years later, it reminds you of the summer of 2007 and you get all teary eyed? Yeah that's the kind of shit I mean.

Check these guys out, their videos are fucking AMAZING and the songs kick total ass too.....

Here's some links...

MYSPACE

Much Love in the Evil Sound by Diet Kong

Lesson IV: Makes Me Wonder by Maroon 5

I did this song because it's the number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. That's the only reason.

Unfortunately America, this is the most lame generic bullshit I have ever heard from this band. I like a lot of their stuff but this one is a Jamoriqui rip off from the get go, except without the coolness. The guitar tones are weak, Adam Levine isn't using his voice to it's full potential, and the hook blows. The drums are either a machine or they sound like shit, I couldn't stand to take a double listen to this piece of shit. Seriously, this is the number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and it is recycled, computerized, and generally lame. It makes me shed at least a single tear.

On the other hand, I just got Love Supreme by John Coltrane and it's still hot and no one gives a fuck. You can check out Maroon 5's new video right here.

Lesson III: Computer Blue by Prince

You all know "Doves Cry," "Let's Go Crazy," and "Purple Rain" from the motion picture by the one and only Duke of All That is Music: Prince. But "Computer Blue" from the same album is a face fucker indeed whether you know it or not. If you don't you should really get out there and dig on it because it rocks my box.

First, let's talk Prince for a second. My friend Rob put it best when he said "An alien could land at 3121 and give Prince their version of a musical instrument and he'd write a hit song on it in fifteen minutes. Enough said.

"Computer Blue" starts off with an intro riff that exemplifies the less is more strategy and is nicely reintroduced in the chorus. It has all the makings of an awesome Prince song from the get go including the synth sound which screams panty melter. The guitar part, you know the one I'm talking about, where he repeats that one fast line over and over again right after the chorus...yeah I play a lot of guitar and that shit is amazing. Not only is it catchy as hell as well as genius but it's hard as hell to play. And then after the chorus it changes up. You get a nice pressure relieving trip to a guitar solo, again less is more, over what almost sounds like Scarface music. And the resolution of the guitar solo on those high and sustained notes that lead into the outro instrumental chorus as goosebump inducing. The final Prince scream and unaccompanied outro solo are totally 100% kickass. If you don't know this song, get it right now.


You're still reading......go listen........go!

Lesson II: Dashboard by Modest Mouse

Ok so everyone remembers Float On and how they all backed into a cop car that summer and everything was just great, right? If you don't you can't remember an awesome hook and probably don't even really like music because my face was fucked all summer by saturation.

Now, I have a lot of friends who really dug Good News for People Who Love Bad News who told me that all the new stuff they heard from Modest Mouse sucked.....well guess what? You suck!

Their newest single "Dashboard" is fucking great (so is the rest of the album but that's another blog.) I think one of the main reasons is that tasty guitar licking courtesy of the Smith's Johnny Marr who recently joined the band. His pinky work combined with lead vocalist Isaac Brock's amazing job at suttering, scratching, and belching his unique voice so it becomes part of the groove. All the breakdowns are sweet as candy and the staccato-ness (I know not a word.....yet) of the entire tune is really the killer for me because a dance song that's so stiff in it's individual parts but so fluid in it's entirety is the balls bro.

If any of your friends tell you this new album stinks, tell them they stink and punch them in the eye. Then go out and get the newest release from your boys Modest Mouse.