The Beach Boys – “God Only Knows (Aeroplane Bootleg Remix)”
After releasing somewhere around 183 hottt remixes, give or take, in 2008 alone, and outfitting Factual Opinion fave Kathy Diamond with a monster single, Aeroplane duo Stephen Fasano and Vito Deluca have become some producers-to-watch around these parts. So it’s only logical that they prove they’re not fucking around by taking one of the most beloved songs of all time, refashioning it with the same loping, glitzy bass-lick that’s all over Xtina and Britney singles these days, and giving it a serious shot at the science fiction spin-off it secretly always needed. Or at least a Griffith's Observatory laser-light show. Aeroplane’s Facebook fan page lists their interests as “Brian + Tony Wilson,” meaning The Beach Boys’ auteur and the Factory Records co-founder. On paper, it seems like a train wreck—think Sufjan Stevens singing over an Orb track. In practice, it’s oddly hypnotizing—like Sufjan Stevens doing a concept album about a state full of little fluffy clouds.
Franz Nicolay – “Quiet Where I Lie”
Major General, the debut album by Franz Nicolay—The Hold Steady’s fancifully mustached keyboardist and secret weapon—mostly sets about proving one of the purest mathematical theories in rock and roll: Lyrically iffy downtempo songs < Lyrically iffy uptempo songs < Lyrically iffy uptempo songs in the style of Bruce Springsteen. After sharing a tour bus with Craig Finn (arguably the greatest rock lyricist of the 21st century), Nicolay might have a good bit of anxiety of influence—his songs tend to borrow Finn’s phrasing and poetic aspirations, but leave out the geographical references and wasted teenage love stories—but often make up for it with sheer Jersey-rock bombast. “Quiet Where I Lie,” one of the album’s highlights, adds a good smattering of Phil Linot to the mix to create a cool, if totally familiar, song structure.
M.O.P. – “Blow the Horns (Dirty)”
Listen, Billy Danze. Listen, Lil’ Fame. “Blow the Horns” sounds great and all, but if you’re making it to the end of the song without stifling fools, putting holes in my jeep, or asking me to choose between my life and my jewels, you’re probably not trying hard enough. That video you guys did with Bert and Ernie is still dope, though.
N.A.S.A. – “Spacious Thoughts (Feat. Tom Waits & Kool Keith)”
Of all the numerous collaborations on the N.A.S.A. album, the pairing of Tom Waits and Kool Keith seems the most inspired—if oddly inevitable. Tom Waits growls through the chorus like he’s Mike Patton before giving us the dancing monkey talk we wish we could just mainline directly into our veins. Kool Keith plays it a lot tamer, without even one vagina reference. Somebody needs to let producer Squeak E. Clean know that if he got through the recording session without Waits building his own percussion instrument or Kool Keith inventing another persona (or at least adding an extra vowel to his name somewhere), he must be doing something wrong.
Phoenix – “1901”
There are days when we spend a disproportionate amount of our time lamenting the fact that we did not fight for the inclusion of Phoenix’s It’s Never Been Like That in The Factual Opinion’s 2006 end-of-the-year countdown. But one day out of every hundred or so, the propulsive pleasures of that fantastic album could not make up for an unfortunate lack of depth—and that one day, when the album happened to sound flimsy and derivative rather than muscular and fully-realized, just happened to fall just before our 2006 war room. If the blasts of Justice-worthy electro scuzz and the best Cars-jacking vocal line since Ra Ra Riot’s “Too Too Too Fast” on just-dropped single “1901” are any indication, the upcoming (and awesomely named) Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix will tip the balance fully in favor of Phoenix’s aesthetic, and we may never have to wonder again what the band might actually, you know, stand for.
Record Producer – “Good News”
The (supposed) Melbourne duo’s second single, after 2007’s “The Way,” “Good News” has all the right signifiers—the turntable scratches, the nature-recording samples, the Dilla-and-Shadow-indebtedness—but it’s a good single built for anonymity. The band’s name is only going to work on the meta level it wants to if the group does something truly anachronistic, rather than zeitgeisty. Generally, if you’re going to call yourself “Record Producer,” you probably shouldn’t be a record producer. (You should be a speed metal band.)
Ryan Leslie – “Gibberish”
Not the first AutoTune parody song, but possibly the first that works as both satire and sincerity, Ryan Leslie’s “Gibberish” takes a genius conceit and expands it into something truly special. Aided only by finger snaps and a spit-polished version of the “Spottieottiedopaliscious” horns, Leslie’s singing carries the song. But, as he mumbles his way through the unintelligible vocal, only a small handful of buzzwords and phrases pop out—“moonlight,” “time is running out,” “I want you right there.” AutoTune effects the inflection on every word Leslie sings. The song is an airtight argument in favor of the power of feeling over the power of words. It’s also a comment on AutoTune doing a lot of the work for R&B singers. But, mostly, it works because Leslie gives the song a simple and memorable melody. All the meta-song stuff is just gravy.
-Martin Brown, 2009
Marty! You're back! Yay!
BTW - Most of these links are already dead! lol
You're soooo right about M.O.P. I think the problem with them is they really reached the peak of what they can do on that Warriorz album. It just hasn't been the same since.
My God, that Bert & Ernie video might be the *funniest* thing ever!
And Kool Keith collaborating with Tom Waits???? OMG!!!! That has to be the best idea no one's thought of yet!
The God Only Knows remix doesn't work for me. That's one of those songs where you can't hope to improve it, you can only make it worse by messing with it.
I'm really liking this Phoenix! Awesome! I'm pretty sure the French are making the best rock music on the planet right now. I haven't been able to stop listening to that M83 album since you guys put it in your top 25, Daft Punk and Justice both have music on lock down, and this Phoenix sounds awesome!
Record Producer was totally new to me, and you're right, it's totally Dilla meets Shadow. It's enjoyable, but a bit too homage-y for my tastes.
You had more patience for the Ryan Lesile song than I did. I tried and had to close out the page in about 15 seconds. No thank you. Speaking of Auto-Tune, what do you think of the Lonely Island song, "I'm on a Boat?" I think it's pretty funny, but I think sometimes I'm easily amused!
Posted by: Kenny | 2009.02.25 at 09:27
The Orb + Sufjan! That's a spot-on description!
Alternative links:
M.O.P. – Blow the Horns (Download link didn't work for me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlCK9UEjr3Q
N.A.S.A. – Spacious Thoughts (Feat. Tom Waits & Kool Keith)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMlm3Uz8s_g
Phoenix - 1901
http://www.wearephoenix.com/
Record Producer – Good News
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=265683287
Posted by: Squidhelmet | 2009.02.25 at 12:57