Uncovering the best of the web, while pointing and laughing at the worst.
November 16, 2011 Leave a comment
Why are these the 10 best? Because they are the only 10 that exist.
Thank you for supporting Deep Cuts Week. In appreciation for all the suggestions and feedback our readers have graced us with, ROTI hereby presents the official Deep Cuts index. All song embeds have been refreshed and are presently working. Enjoy!
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DEEP CUTS INDEX
Al Green |
November 13, 2011 Leave a comment
I’m wrapping up this Deep Cuts Week with an incredible band, Talking Heads. They have been one of my favorites since forever, and the more time I spend listening to them, the more I respect, appreciate and enjoy their awesome music.
Dissecting this band’s impressive catalogue is no easy task, so I once again called in artillery support from the highly knowledgeable DJ Walls of Sound.
Let’s start with the story of Talking Heads, and quickly move on to the outstanding music.
David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Tina Weymouth attended the Rhode Island School of Design together, and after graduation and the breakup of a band that Byrne and Frantz were in called The Artistics, they all moved to New York to seek their fortune. Byrne and Frantz tried to find a good bassist but came up empty, so they persuaded Weymouth — Frantz’ girlfriend, now wife — to pick up the instrument. It wasn’t long before she ruled at it.
Their first gig was opening for the Ramones at CBGB. Their unique style, clever name and Byrne’s amazing songs quickly became popular, and they were battle-tested by regularly playing bills that included such great bands as Television and Blondie. The band got even better when David Byrne ran into Jonathan Richman and found out that the original lineup of the Modern Lovers had split up; Byrne & co. quickly tracked down keyboardist & guitarist Jerry Harrison and signed him up to be the band’s fourth member.
After recording the post-punk classic 77, Talking Heads took a huge leap forward when they began working with producer Brian Eno, who challenged Byrne to step outside himself and create otherworldly compositions, while encouraging and augmenting the musicians in the creation of incredible grooves and rhythmic masterpieces. Two increasingly massive albums followed: More Songs About Buildings and Food and Fear of Music.
At that point, the band teetered a bit — the other band members, Weymouth in particular, chafed under Byrne’s controlling leadership. Frantz held the band together, though, and eventually summoned everyone to the Bahamas to record the next album. Eno came along begrudgingly, thinking the band might have stalled out, but soon found that they had expanded on the ideas in the song “I Zimbra,” the last recording done for Fear of Music, and crossed over into a new terrain of sonic ideas. A crew that included everyone from guitar wizard Adrian Belew to camp-follower Robert “Addicted to Love” Palmer (they let him play some percussion) created Remain in Light, the band’s best album. Quite possibly, the human race’s best album.
Talking Heads went on to make many great songs and videos, the best concert film ever (Stop Making Sense), a passel of other hits like “Burning Down the House” and “And She Was,” and establish themselves as first-ballot rock Hall of Famers (I mean that literally, they were inducted in the first year they were eligible). Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth played a key role in the early stages of hip-hop; he drummed on “The Breaks” and her “Genius of Love” groove was one of the most-sampled songs ever. Jerry Harrison is one of the few people who can say that he changed music as part of two different bands, playing on both the Modern Lovers’ hugely influential debut and all the Talking Heads classics.
And David Byrne? Just one of the preeminent geniuses of modern times.
For their many great songs, their classic albums, their outstanding album covers and videos, and the astonishingly good live bands they put together — Talking Heads are the best ever. Read more of this post
November 11, 2011 3 Comments
It’s not cool to admit you like Fleetwood Mac. But goddamn it, I DO like Fleetwood Mac.
I know that for some of our most loyal readers, Mac appreciation is a bridge too far. Fleetwood Mac are a super mainstream 70s band known as much for their incestuous boning as for their many hit songs. Their classic lineup features a woman who styles herself a witch/gypsy, a white dude with a fro, two drunken Englishmen and a balladeer whose pop sensibility has zero room for irony….
For those of you who simply cannot accept that Fleetwood Mac could ever rule, I guess I understand. A closed mind is a tough nut to crack. But for those of you willing to join me on a journey with some truly great pop music and one amazing, historically underappreciated album, I think you will find this a rewarding post.
In order to do this right, I sought the consultation of the biggest Mac fan I know, a man known by his friends as Vicious Rumors. He recommended many deep cuts and other tracks, told an amazing tale or two, and even put some songs on the Internet to complete the apex of our list. You’ll be hearing from him soon, but first, some historical background.
Fleetwood Mac began as a British blues band, fronted by guitarist Peter Green. Their best-known song was the original version of “Black Magic Woman.” Eventually, Green and then a succession of guitarists joined and departed, leaving the lineup in a constant state of flux; the one constant was the band’s all-world rhythm section and namesakes, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie.
Keyboardist and singer Christine Perfect joined up, bringing a new pop element to the band, and eventually married John McVie. Then Fleetwood got Californian songwriter Lindsey Buckingham to join on guitar and vocals, and he brought with him his girlfriend and musical partner, Stevie Nicks. Together, they made the successful album Fleetwood Mac. Then all the couples broke up, everyone was screwing everyone else, feuding, and doing tons of drugs, and they made Rumours, which for you children of the 80s was basically the Thriller of its time.
Easily the best thing about Fleetwood Mac is what the band did next; turn over all power to Lindsey Buckingham, who went a bit mad while directing the recording of the incredibly expensive ($1m in production costs), hugely anticipated, and totally genius follow-up, Tusk.
Of course, Tusk was way ahead of its time and bombed epically (if you can call an album that sold 4 million copies a bomb). Everyone blamed Buckingham and the band soldiered on to do less interesting stuff, break up, get back together, tour, break up again, etc etc. In truth, though they had some good songs after that, both as individuals and as a group, they never made an album as great as Tusk again, and their best record was regarded as a failure for decades.
But today, more and more people are realizing what a masterpiece Tusk is. A recent article in Gothamist noted that “it’s really interesting how pervasive that album is with musicians, more so than Rumours was—a lot of contemporary artists like Animal Collective, Kaki King, and The New Pornographers cite that album, and [Lindsey Buckingham's] songs in particular, as a huge influence on them.”
So, friends. Join me as we explore the greatest deep cuts from Tusk and some other forgotten Fleetwood Mac gems. Are you willing to subject yourself to a full-blown Mac attack? If so, I salute you. Read more of this post
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