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'...
