Monday, August 20, 2012

Songs Of The Week #2: MinneSarah & TCDroogsma

The 2 Bears, Dead Can Dance, Niki & The Dove, Aesop Rock, Homeless...


Welcome back to Newest Industry's Songs Of The Week.  For the uninitiated, SOTW is a column we post each week in which we ask a couple of our regular contributors to give us their thoughts on The Current's free 'Song Of The Day' podcast, which you can (and should) download here.

This week MinneSarah & TCDroogsma give us their thoughts on the week's action.  As always, they have not read each other's comments before this posting.

01.  The 2 Bears - Warm And Easy (from the album Be Strong)




MinneSarah:

     Baritone vocals are all the rage these days, and this song really harnesses this aspect.  There are two vocalists (apparently, bears) and they don't so much react to each other as provide completely different layers.  I cannot review this song without bringing up 311's album "Transistor."  I mean, someone owes Hexum some royalties.  I'm a huge sucker for British accents, even when they skew a little Phil Collins, so that was major a plus for this song.  Summer is a theme to these lyrics, and the breezy Carribean beat makes it flow together seamlessly, but ultimately these two bears fall short of making a solid summer jam.

TCDroogsma:

     What the hell is going on here? This sounds like the bastard child of Dizzee Rascal and Peter Gabriel. I mean, I'm predisposed to love anything British, but I'm seriously confused.

     Why are the spoken vocals all slowed down? Why isn't their really a chorus? Why are they dressed like bears? The melody sung by the the Peter Gabriel-type guy is pretty solid, but the lyrics are pretty vapid. The spoken word bit seems like what the English would consider 'cheeky,' but my American brain finds them boring. Plus, what the fuck is up with that, “We got your girlfriend thinking, 'I never loved a bear but tonight I been drinking?'”

     And yet, I still kinda dig it.

Final Score:  MinneSarah - 2/5
                   TCDroogsma - 2/5
 

 
02.  Dead Can Dance - Amnesia (from the album Anastasis)

MinneSarah:

     This song is epic, and long...  During nearly six minutes, DCD does go on a reflective journey during which they argue the existential aspects of human memory vs. the human experience.  This song would be good for a long, contemplative, fall walk.  It also has the bonus of making me feel like the protagonist in I'm in an artsy early 90's movie.  Gen X used to eat this kind of disillusionment for breakfast. The piano saves it (I can't believe I'm typing this) from being too abstract and droning, but like I said, it's very very long.
 
TCDroogsma:

     Sir, please put your hands up! Put down the Massive Attack album and step away from the turntable!

     Funny thing, this song is literally about amnesia. Or, at least, amnesia via some tired cliches. Still, I was pretty much on board with the defeated vocals and strings until dude gets to the end of the song and falls back on the, “All my love and all my kisses, sweet Mnemosyne.” I googled 'Mnemosyne' to learn that she's the Greek god of memory. I mean, if you're gonna get all bookish about it you should just stick to the cliches. Still, a song that romanticizes amnesia without tying it to a relationship or something is pretty intriguing to me.

Final Score:  MinneSarah - 2/5
                   TCDroogsma - 2/5


 
03.  Niki & The Dove - Tomorrow (from the album Instinct)

MinneSarah:

     The female vocalist's staccato "yeahs" were taken from a Cyndi Lauper song, and the rest of the song doesn't get much better.  I tried to connect to the lyrics, but they are not the strong female sentiments that would make me forgive the delivery.  Although I had "True Colors" in my head the rest of the afternoon, the rest of the music does sound pretty hip and up to the minute - they don't get lost trying to replicate the 80's, just piggyback on some of it's resurgence.  :-(  Just frownie face.

TCDroogsma:

     Am I the only person who saw the name Niki & The Dove and made an immediate connection to Prince's 'Purple Rain' album? That's a dirty trick, Niki and/or The Dove.

     This one grew on me as the week went on. The chorus hits my brain in all the right spots. The bridge builds really well to one last payoff chorus. I don't totally understand what she's singing about when she says, “I'm gonna let you show me what it means to breathe fire...” but it's certainly intriguing. Perhaps she's trying to seduce a dragon? Or Dylan from Making The Band?

Final Score:  MinneSarah - 1/5
                   TCDroogsma - 3/5 



 
04.  Aesop Rock - ZZZ Top (from the album Skelethon)

MinneSarah:

     Yeah, so I'm biased.  I got Skelethon the day it came out, and this is my favorite song from it.  Why I like ZZZ Top:  tight beats, poetic lyrics, catchy hooks, classic Aesop delivery.  This song has a lot of punctuation, from the drums, cymbals, guitar, and vocals that result in high energy and high excitement.  The whole song sounds pulled together despite having a lot of audio elements. Why are you still reading this - go download it! 

TCDroogsma:

     Quick disclaimer: I love Aesop Rock. I've been bumping Skelethon since it came out 6 weeks ago. The Current could've given away an mp3 of Aesop Rock reading the phone book and I would've given it 3 of 5.

     Putting an Aes Rock song after the first three songs this week is a dirty trick. The lyrics left quite a bit to be desired in the first three, so trying to process this web of lines is a test. Completely rewarding, though. When you listen to this one, try to bear in mind that this is the first Aesop album since he got divorced. It makes the chorus hit a little bit harder.

     Plus, it's a shame that the radio has to edit out the bit during the opening verse where he says, “he was probably thinking, 'Fuck You, Fuck You, Fuck You...'” Kinda helps the song grab you off the bat.
 
Final Score:  MinneSarah - 4.5/5
                   TCDroogsma - 4/5



05.  Homeless w/K.Raydio - Get Gone

MinneSarah:

     This song is very lyrically dense, observant, and smart.  The beat is great, the delivery is clean, and K.Raydio brings it back around with her sweet sounding but assertive chorus. The narrative is frustrated but hopeful.  My favorite lyric - "I pack a bag for the Apocalypse and keep it movin'."  For as many times as Homeless has been put down, it has only reinforced that next time, he's doing it on his own terms.  This force of will carries through the song and creates a real, but positive song.  I highly recommended that you check it out.  Bonus points that it is local and is the only song I've reviewed so far (that I haven't heard before) that I wouldn't hesitate to put on a summer playlist.

TCDroogsma:

     Remember a couple months ago when The Current gave away MaLLy's “Good One” with K. Raydio on the hook? This is like the opposite side of the same coin. Homeless sounds like he's finding the good in life by looking down rather than up, which is actually a very 'midwest' way to look at it. I can get behind that.

     Shout out to Big Cats! On the beats. His production sounds better with every new track.

Final Score:  MinneSarah - 4/5
                   TCDroogsma - 3.5/5

Boom!  There you go, Minnesota.  Be sure to check out The Current's website and subscribe to the podcast.  As you can see, it's great fun.

Of course, the opinions presented here are only the opinions of the contributors who, er... contributed them.  This website is in no way affiliated with The Current, MPR, or any of the artists.

For more MinneSarah, she can be found on Twitter (@MinneSarah) and Instagram as MinneSarah.  If you run into her in the real world, be sure to compliment her nails.

For more TCDroogsma, he can be found on Twitter (@TCDroogsma), Instagram as TCDroogsma, and ranting like a lunatic on his own blog Caffeine & Obscenities.  If you run into him in the real world he'll probably fall down.

Of course, this blog is on both the Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) and the Facebook. If you get a chance, pop over there and give us a 'like.'  I mean, you know you kinda like us.  In a platonic way, but, y'know, if we both get to 40 and we're still single... just sayin'... 
 
 

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