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Best tunes of 1991: #18 Primus “Tommy the cat”

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How many of you folks use Winamp? I ask this because I know you’re all still out there.

For those that don’t know what I’m talking about, Winamp was/is a media player that predated iTunes by a good four years. It was widely used in the advent of MP3s and during the rise of Napster because it was free and easy to use. It has its diehards that just refused to switch over and were quite vocal about it when the flashier competitors appeared. I had thought it had been decommissioned but it appears it may still be in existence. I’m sure the diehards can confirm or deny either way.

I mention Winamp here because even back when I still used the program, I was very serious about properly tagging the metadata for my music and I always found it funny that there was a genre tag called “Primus”. That right there goes a long way to show how unique Primus is, the band and their sound. Indeed, Primus is blend of metal and prog and the weirdness of Zappa, and yet none of these at the same time, their sound really typified by the spotlight on Claypool’s crazy slap bass, and his oddball vocals and lyrics.

Bassist/vocalist Les Claypool formed the band back in 1984 but the classic lineup didn’t solidify until 1988 when guitarist Larry “Ler” Lalonde and drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander joined in the fun. I’m not sure how they managed it but they got a deal with a major label and on it, released their second album, “Sailing the seas of cheese”.

“Tommy the cat” was the second single off this album and my introduction to the band. It features another unique artist in the imitable Tom Waits, who gives voice to the character of the song’s title. But before we get there, the song’s drum marching band intro gets our attention and leads us right into the aforementioned bass forward sound that is only accentuated by screaming guitars. I particularly remember one afternoon spent working on a theatre set and, when the teaching supervisor was out of the room, us slipping this song on to the tape player. And a bass playing friend of mine got right into that bass solo. You know the one I’m talking about it. You love it.

…But before you get to checking it out below. Props must go out to Aaron over at Keepsmealive, who mailed me a copy of “Animals should not try to act like people” a few months ago. It just showed up in the mail after we had a discussion about it on his blog and I actually hadn’t gotten around to watching the DVD of Primus’s videos until sitting down to write this post. But I slipped it on last night and watching all of these brought back a ton of memories. I actually got to see a few I hadn’t seen before, like the one for “My name is mud”. So cheers dude and to the rest of you, enjoy the video and the tune.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1991 list, click here.

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Tunes

Best tunes of 2011: #26 Gotye “Somebody that I used to know”

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My memory is super fuzzy about how I came across this one but I remember watching the video quite a bit on AUX TV during my morning routine in 2011. So it might have been there that my interest was piqued and I was coaxed to check out the rest of the album, “Making mirrors”.

Gotye (pronounced phonetically, as you would say the French name “Gauthier”) is the stage name for Wouter De Backer, a Belgian-born Australian with a Dutch name. (I know, right? The man screams globalization.) He is the drummer of an indie pop group from Australia called The Basics, an outfit I did check out after getting into Gotye’s music, a number of years ago, but their material never grabbed me and I have never gone back for a second go. I also have never gone back to check out Gotye’s previous two solo efforts and since he announced in 2014 that there would be no more Gotye music and made good on that promise, “Making mirrors” is the only album I know. However, it really is a great one and worth a look for those out there that only know the single. It is super eclectic, traversing many sounds and referencing multiple genres and musical eras, and yet, surprisingly cohesive, drawn altogether by Gotye’s compelling vocals.

Its sales were of course bolstered by this one monster hit. “Somebody that I used to know” was a smash the world over, making Gotye and New Zealand songwriter Kimbra, whose vocals feature prominently in the song, household names. Very quickly, the song became a favourite to cover by many artists. In fact in Canada, a version by Walk off the Earth rivals the original in popularity. The video they made for their cover shows all five members playing the song on one guitar and it went viral, breaking the Burlington band into the mainstream. It’s so big here that I once got into heated discussion with some people that swore theirs was the original.

But back to that original.

Gotye’s “Somebody that I used to know” starts off quiet and sexy, a little like Edwyn Collin’s “A girl like you”, a little like whispering in your lover’s ear to wake her in the middle of the night. Interesting then, that it’s a break up song. Or rather a song that is weeks or months removed from a break up, wondering at how two people can be so close only to be total strangers.

“But you didn’t have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough”

It is right about this point in the song that Gotye lets loose some Sting worthy power vocals and the quiet becomes all power and passion. And just when you thought you knew what the song was about, the point of view and vocals are shifted to Kimbra and she too is quiet and composed at first. Then, they both become all fiery and alive. The instrumentation, meanwhile, mirrors the emotions of the vocals, utilizing samples of jazz guitars and dressing them up in electronic beats and xylophone melodies. To sum up: quite lovely.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2011 list, click here.

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Tunes

Best tunes of 1991: #19 Spirit of the West “D for Democracy (Scour the house)”

<< #20    |    #18 >>

I’ve told this story before on these pages but I’ll tell it again.

“D for Democracy” is the first Spirit of the West song I ever consciously heard. Yes, all of this began while I was watching a special, all-Canadian edition of “Good rockin’ tonite” one Friday night in 1991. They finished the show with this particular video (see below) and I noticed at some point during it that the accordion player, Linda McRae, was wearing a Wonder Stuff long sleeved T-shirt. For those that don’t know, I was a huge Stuffies fan back in those days and didn’t know many others who shared my enthusiasm. Luckily for me, I happened to be video taping the entire episode as I watched it so as soon as it finished, I rewinded the tape to watch the video again. And again. Shortly after that, I also managed to video tape the video for the re-recorded “Political”, for which I also fell hard, and then, decided to buy “Go figure” on cassette tape.

So I guess I came for The Wonder Stuff shirt and stayed for the music.

Linda McRae likely got the shirt when Spirit of the West was on tour in England with The Wonder Stuff and the two bands became friends. They recorded a cover of “Will the circle be unbroken” together and McRae (and her accordion) appears on “Welcome to the cheap seats”. It was actually while on tour with The Wonder Stuff that Spirit of the West decided that they wanted to add more of a rock edge to their sound. To that end, they enlisted a drummer before recording the follow up to 1990’s “Save this house”. Enter Vince Ditrich into the picture. The new sound didn’t sit well with all of their existing fans, some of whom preferred the more traditional Celtic folk direction, but it did win the band more radio airplay and new legions of alternative rock fans.

As its title suggests, “D for Democracy (scour the house)” is a political song, an attack on the Brian Mulroney-led government of the day, as are many of the songs on “Go figure”. Musically, Vince Ditrich’s impact is noticeable here, right from the outset. The drums are flexing their well-oiled muscles but not to be outdone, so are Geoffrey Kelly’s flutes. It’s like the band’s two directions came to a head on the intro to this song. The celtic folk becoming celtic folk rock in one jump up-and-down riot. Of course, the vocals come in and up the ante, John Mann singing loud and clear to “Scour the house, flip the wig, shake the tree.”

Indeed.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1991 list, click here.