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Best tunes of 2011: #28 The War on Drugs “Baby missiles”

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In the summer of 2011, I started up my first blog, Music Insanity, which lasted around five years before I decided to stick a fork in it. In its early days, it was pretty scattered and eclectic, its only constant being the music I loved. One of the ideas I had started out with but never finished was to create playlists, mixed tapes of a sort, of all the different alternative sub-genres. It was while putting together the second half of a two part playlist on shoegaze music, a kind of intro to the second wave revivalists, that I came across The War on Drugs.

Some music writer had termed them “Boss gaze” in reference to their second album, “Slave ambient”, and in exploring further, I saw this expression bandied about across the blogosphere. I found the term so humorous, I wrote a post with the term as its title and provided the video below to my, at the time, very modest readership for their consideration. Personally, as silly as the term sounds, I found it apt to describe the sound of “Baby missiles”. The song sounds a heck of a lot like “Born in the USA” era Springsteen, filtered through an early 90s Britain reverb pedal, Ride or Swervedriver, take your pick. Frontman and driving force Adam Granduciel was still finding his voice on this early album but you can almost picture him wearing a bandanna and jean jacket vest, much like a couple other bands (I’m thinking Killers and Airborne Toxic Event) were wont to do about this time. The beat is uptempo, built for handclaps, and augmented with a heavy wash of organs and harmonicas and vocal “whooo”s.

Six years and two albums later, this group has become relatively well-known, especially on the festival circuit, and has gone on to win a grammy for Best Rock Album. Nowadays, though, there’s another dubious term for them: “Dad rock”. Whichever you prefer, I think both fit.

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

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Best tunes of 1991: #22 Red Hot Chili Peppers “Under the bridge”

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So I’ve never been a big fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers.

My friend Elliott tried back in the day, playing their fourth album, 1989’s “Mother’s milk”, for me incessantly. I understood that it was different and in some ways innovative, but it never spoke to me. Then, when the first single from “Blood sugar sex magik” came out and my friend was all over it, I was not. In fact, “Give it away” drove me nuts. The rest of the album wasn’t my thing either but there was one song (and I’m sure you can guess which) that caught my ear and I’ll get back to that in a sec.

Since then, the LA-based funk rock band led by founding members Anthony Kiedis and Flea has reached legendary status, becoming one of the more successful bands to come out of the early 90s alt-rock explosion. But because I’ve never really paid that much attention, I hadn’t really grasped the true extent. That is, until they were slotted to play Ottawa Bluesfest a couple of years ago and the night they were headlining sold out, the first time a night has sold out in the festival’s history.

Of course I would like “Under the bridge” out of all of RHCP”s songs up to that point. At first listen, it didn’t really sound like them. In fact, when Kiedis wrote it, he didn’t want to bring it to the band because he didn’t think it fit in with the rest of their work. It was a deeply personal piece for him, expressing his loneliness and reflections on his history with drugs. “Blood sugar sex magik”’s producer, Rick Rubin convinced Kiedis to share it with the rest of the band and he was right to do so.

That now famous guitar intro by John Frusciante is just beautiful. You know the one where he is standing solo on a pedestal, wearing a chullo, like he is a misfit angel casting glory on us all before Kiedis lays down his heavy weight.

“Sometimes I feel
Like I don’t have a partner
Sometimes I feel
Like my only friend
Is the city I live in
The city of angels
Lonely as I am
Together we cry”

Though the feel is completely different than, say “Suck my kiss”, the sound is still definitely Red Hot Chili Peppers. The drumming is somewhat more restrained but Flea’s bassline is still muscular and funk heavy. Frusciante’s guitar through the rest of the song tempers Kiedis’s mood and almost eases him into a faster tempo. Then, the choirs joins in and it is epic.

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

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Best tunes of 2011: #29 Death Cab For Cutie “You are a tourist”

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By the time 2011 rolled around, Death Cab for Cutie had been at it for fourteen years. I had been following them for just over half of that time, discovering them, along with a boatload of others, with their 2003 album, “Transatlanticism”. The Washington-based indie pop/rock band has been pretty solid in releasing quality albums since that time, impressively sustained through a constantly evolving sound. But for some reason, with each album, my interest has faded some. I was fanatical with “Transatlanticism” and then, with 2005’s “Plans” but three albums later, I have been much less so. In fact, when sitting down to write this, I didn’t just listen to this one song. I had to listen to the whole album because I honestly couldn’t remember what it sounded like.

Of course, when I listened to “Codes and keys”, I loved it all over again. It was like I was back in 2011 and I re-experienced the whole gamut of emotions. From the excitement at seeing their name listed as headliner on the main stage on the final night of Bluesfest to the disappointment I felt when I realized I would have to miss it because I had a prior engagement. To the surprise when I heard their set was cancelled that night when the stage collapsed due to a violent storm and the commiseration with those attending that didn’t get to experience them live. They’ve yet to return to Ottawa as promised but I can at least say I got to see them in 2006 when they toured for “Plans”.

“You are a tourist” was the first single released off “Codes and keys” and managed the group their first hit single, charting high on multiple singles charts and hitting number one on a few of these. Written and recorded during the period where frontman Ben Gibbard was married to Zoey Deschanel, the subject matter of the album’s lyrics are less melancholic than previous efforts. The sound, too, is quite a change from its predecessors, being less guitar driven. “You are a tourist” is definitely a drums forward piece, the rhythm catching hold of the listener right away. Meanwhile, the bass line just hangs out, there in the low end, waving hello and minding its own business. The keyboards tinkle and the guitars jump in for flourishes, face grating though they can get at times, just to remind us they’re still there. Gibbard is suggesting that change is a good thing, positively positing that when you feel a tourist in your own town, it’s time to move on.

Yep. I listened to the song and wondered to myself how I let it go so long between listens. It won’t happen again.

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