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Post by The Ocean on Mar 19, 2021 21:08:07 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #94 - 3/19/21 Against Me! - "Bamboo Bones" from White Crosses
Don't let them break you. Don't let them tell you who you are. Doesn't matter where you come from, You'll always have a floor to sleep on. And you have your bamboo bones, Nervous energy, Blind ambition, Skin of your teeth. Push back, push back, push back, With every word and every breath.
What god doesn't give to you, You've got to go and get for yourself.
I'm embarrassed to admit it, I've got no grip. I'm leading with my jaw. Can you see it from a distance? Does it look ridiculous? I guess that's just what I have to live with. Still I have a mind to think, Knees to break, You standing beside me. I'm going to push back, push back, push back, With every word and every breath.
What god doesn't give to you, You've got to go and get for yourself.
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Post by The Ocean on Mar 21, 2021 2:29:10 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #95 - 3/20/21 Ramones - "We Want the Airwaves" from Pleasant Dreams
Pleasant Dreams is my absolute favorite Ramones album. They survived their experience with Phil Spector (or perhaps you could say Phil survived Dee Dee) and went on to produce something of vastly superior production to their pre-Spector albums but more true to their style.
Opening this tight collection of Ramones classics is We Want The Airwaves, a minor key anthem and mission statement and a rare example of a melodic line in a Ramones song, which tended to eschew those kinds of "frills," as it were.
It's a perfect album opener to a perfect album.
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Post by The Ocean on Mar 22, 2021 0:16:52 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #96 - 3/21/21 The Offspring - "Denial, Revisted" from Conspiracy of One
NOFX once released a song called Whoa on the Whoas in an attempt to criticize bands like AFI and The Offpsring. But really it comes across as just petty jealousy. There are a lot of bands who make a big deal about others being sellouts, and meanwhile I look at their body of work and think "you can afford to be anti-sellout because nobody would buy you."
It isn't that the world can't handle it or that it's too extreme or any of that. No. It's that a ton of bands who still play music as polished in production as any other claim that they are more "authentic" because they deliberately attempt to make their music as unappealing as possible. That's performance art, maybe, but it doesn't make the music any good.
The Offspring's Conspiracy of One was their most commercially accessible album at the time, but it is no less THEM. Fans perhaps did not appreciate the toned-down profanity and the more pop music sensibilities on display, but there's no way you could hear the distinctive sound of the music and not come away thinking that this for sure was The Offspring.
Denial, Revisited was never a single but for all intents and purposes was built like one. It is a ballad of heartbreak where Dexter Holland emotes anguish as opposed to rage and chaos. I've always liked this song the most out of their discography.
People can talk about how their music isn't real punk or that they're sellouts and ultimately I don't particularly care. Music is music and I enjoy what I enjoy. No, they are definitely not the club punk music of yore, and the owe a lot of their later style to arena rock as much as punk, but I like what I like, and I REALLY like this song.
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Post by The Ocean on Mar 23, 2021 4:02:24 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #97 - 3/22/21 Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Ramble Tamble" from Cosmo's Factory
Any time you see a CCR song longer than four minutes you know you're in for a treat. A John Fogerty guitar solo is always something special no matter how many times you hear it.
I chose a Creedence song today in honor of my cousin Ang, who only just turned 40 but passed away last week. I'll never forget sitting down in my great grandma's basement on Christmas Eve playing Nintendo in the late 80's and early 90's, dying to be a part of the "older" kids group, when at that time just being four or five years younger was a lifetime of a difference.
We were supposed to catch up with the Pandemic was over but now all I have is the memories of playing in that basement while the adults drank the Rockin' Rye and played Creedence and the Doors.
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Post by zenman on Mar 23, 2021 5:07:28 GMT
Condolences about your cousin, Lauren.
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Post by The Ocean on Mar 23, 2021 19:05:12 GMT
Condolences about your cousin, Lauren. Thank you man. I'm absolutely gutted. I'm superficially "okay" but I feel like I'm walking with no floor underneath me. I feel the worst for his brother and sister. They lost their dad from an untimely death 12 years ago and now this.
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Post by The Ocean on Mar 24, 2021 1:57:42 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #98 - 3/23/21 Meat Puppets - "Aurora Borealis" from Meat Puppets II
A VERY Zappa-esque composition makes this instrumental track a great listen any time you give it a spin. Then again, Meat Puppets always had interesting chord progressions.
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Post by The Ocean on Mar 24, 2021 20:18:29 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #99 - 3/24/21 Barenaked Ladies - "Bank Job" from Barenaked Ladies Are Me
I can not distinctly remember when I first heard BNL, nor what was the original track that grabbed me (although Who Needs Sleep was an early favorite), but I played them incessantly for years and have covered a great number of their songs, including Call and Answer, If I Had $1000000, and the subject of this entry, Bank Job.
This album (and the follow-up/sister album Barenaked Ladies Are Men) represents a glorious snapshot of the end of the Stephen Page era of the band, after which they were never truly the same, in my opinion. I was not a fan of All In Good Time, but they found their footing again with Grinning Streak. Tongue always firmly in cheek, this song tells the story of a disastrous bank robbery which goes wrong for the STRANGEST reason.
This song executes two things quite flawlessly: its instrumentation escalation (it starts with a slow mono synth and they just keep adding more and more until after the organ solo), and its breathtakingly perfect layered harmonies. BNL have always been known for their harmonies, but here they are perfectly applied with laser-focused precision, with the voicings anywhere from two to infinity.
What a perfectly-made song.
Now, I have done 99 of these plus two bonus entries. What will my #100 be? Well, it was originally going to be Good Morning Good Morning by The Beatles, but I couldn't wait and I did that one hella-early. But, I know I couldn't just do ANY band for #100, so I saved a good one for it, you'll see.
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Post by The Ocean on Mar 25, 2021 14:20:29 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #100 - 3/25/21 The Beach Boys - "Disney Girls (1957)" from Surf's Up
The Beach Boys have released too many beautiful songs to count, and so much of it in such a short time span. They released up to three albums per year in the mid-60's. Usually there's a trade-off in quality when artists are that prolific. I'm a fan of Frank Zappa and Guided By Voices and even I'll admit that artists like them needed some self-editing.
And while I can't say I like everything the Beach Boys have ever done, their best work outshines most others. Disney Girls is rather unique as it is a Bruce Johnston lead vocal, and the beauty of his voice leads me to wonder why there isn't more of him in their early body of work.
That calm waltz, emphasis on the two in the chorus and on the three in the verse, floats you away on the current of this song, on a raft made of that beautiful swirling guitar. I could get lost in this song forever. I'm not a fan of a lot of their surf music, but when they ventured into the more melodic pop music realm, they showed the true talent they had for writing and performing.
Be sure to check out the recent remixes on The Beach Boys and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra album. This song and several other great choices are done so perfectly there.
With two guest picks and 100 picks from me, I am taking a long break from this before I return. Consider this the end of Season 1. Still so many great artists to highlight: Classics like Prince, Tom Petty and The Allman Brothers; contemporary artists like Lizzo, HAIM, Rihanna, and Halsey; lesser-known to contemporary audience acts as Fanny, Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush; jazz giants like Clifford Brown or Eric Dolphy, and on and on and on. I'm going to put together a Spotify playlist of this "Season" when I can.
Thank you to everybody who interacted with this whole project. It didn't get a lot of interactions, but I hope that I perhaps introduced some of you to the wider discography of some artists you hadn't really delved into, or even introduced you to some artists you hadn't heard of before. At the very least, I hope you enjoyed some of it.
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Post by The Ocean on Mar 27, 2021 3:31:00 GMT
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Post by The Ocean on Jun 19, 2021 3:42:40 GMT
I started a new "season" of this and I kept forgetting to post them LOL. I have 100 new songs from 100 new artists ready to go. Here are the first 17 Deep Track of the Day #101 - 6/1/21 Beyoncé – “I Miss You” from 4 Deep Track of the Day returns! And I couldn't have started on a more difficult artist to find a "deep track" for. Beyoncé has more hit albums and singles than most recording artists, living or dead. I've "cheated" with a number of artists and chose lesser singles (or songs that were hits but faded into obscurity), but for the first artist and one that is such a cultural icon, I wanted to at least find something that wouldn't end up on even a two disc best of set, but that still begs to be listened to. "I Miss You" is a soft performance on an album full of knockout vocal punches. Beyoncé has a very commanding and present voice, so it is always nice to hear her softer delivery and note that she can knock it out of the park without breaking a sweat. It starts off with a classic 80's-Roland-drum-machine-style beat before a warm pad opens up to an early 90's pop vibe. This song is very low key and does a lot with a little. So, that's the first of 100 new deep cuts (and a few sly cheats that aren't exactly deep but deserve to be better known at least). I really enjoyed doing the first 100! Anybody who's "new" can click the hashtag at the bottom to find the first "season" of this series I'm doing. Season one contained artists from AC/DC through Frank Zappa. Season two has Adele through the White Stripes. And I still have over 275+ more artists chosen for future seasons, from ABBA to ZZ Top! ----- Deep Track of the Day #102 - 6/2/21 Sheryl Crow - "Weather Channel" from C'mon C'mon Chosing a great album closing track is an art form in itself. On an album with hits such as Soak up the Sun and Steve McQueen at the opening, it's hard for later songs to live up to that. Weather Channel is a slow acoustic dream that closes the album on a soft and less poppy manner than one might expect based on the radio hits from this album. The music is exquisitely beautiful and the lyrics speak eloquently of loneliness and isolation. Mournful harmonies against sparse acoustic guitar playing procide some of the most soulful moments in this song. ----- Deep Track of the Day #103 - 6/3/21 Death Cab for Cutie – “Blacking Out the Friction” from The Photo Album The beautiful electric piano against that harsh guitar and a peppy drum beat speak to me. This song combines these sounds so elegantly in a way that still sounds vibrantly, almost aggressively pop. Also, the keyboard and bass compliment each other with a slower melody under the faster rhythm of the guitar and drums in such a way that these swirling elements such as sound and rhythm both meet their opposites, and yet match to make a cohesive and gorgeous song. ----- Deep Track of the Day #104 - 6/4/21 INXS - "Dancing on the Jetty" from The Swing Watch the world argue... argue with itself. Who's going to teach me peace and happiness? An underappreciated song. You can always tell an INXS song by the guitar, powerful rhythm section, and the voice of Michael Hutchence. This is no different. This song has all the elements you need for a classic INXS hit, but it simply never rose to that level. But that doesn't make it any less of a memorable piece of music by a band that was so sadly short-lived due to the tragic death of Michael Hutchence. ----- Deep Track of the Day #105 - 6/5/21 Cheap Trick - "Hot Love" from Cheap Trick Nasty guitars and riffage meet an almost Scott Wielandesque snarl to the vocals in this early Cheap Trick track, which gives almost no hint as to what they would get up to in later years. It is short and sweet and doesn't waste a second of your time with frills. This is one of those songs that must be DYNAMITE when they play it live. Sadly I've never gotten a chance to see that. ----- Deep Track of the Day #106 - 6/6/21 Fleet Foxes - "On Another Ocean (January / June)" from Crack-Up This is yet another song by Progressive Folk group Fleet Foxes that goes through so many movements that it is truly hard to consider it just one song. There are so many great ideas contained within this one relatively short track. It is low-key and plaintive to start but then it gets going about halfway through and becomes much more traditional in its pop sensibilities. But here traditional is not a bad thing. It is a great counterpoint to where it started. The whole album is perfection, really.
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Post by The Ocean on Jun 19, 2021 3:49:30 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #107 - 6/7/21 The Fall of Troy - "Tom Waits" from Doppelgänger
I have no interest in trying to figure out exactly what kind of time signature stuff is going on at certain points during the song. At a certain point it doesn't even matter. Like listening to Metallica and wondering if Lars just can't actually keep time and the band just adapted to him, but with The Fall of Troy you at least know it's by design that you can't QUITE get everything into a neat time signature.
I first heard of this band when I was in my undergrad during a course on American Music by ethnomusicologist Dr. Paul Greene. They came up during a student project and I was intrigued by the guitar work. It was so unique. I wasn't much a fan of the vocals, and it never became my "thing," but I can listen to it and appreciate it.
I love this song simply because of the joke of having the band The Fall of Troy have a song named Tom Waits, since Tom Waits had a song called The Fall of Troy. It just makes me smile. And the strange vocals aside, I really appreciate the musicality of it, even if it's not an everyday listen for me.
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Deep Track of the Day #108 - 6/8/21 The Damned - "Bad Time for Bonzo" from Strawberries
Great riff, great vocal chorus hook, organ, harpsichord, I mean.... this song has everything. The Damned is a gift that keeps on giving as far as bands go. The Damned is one of many bands that transitioned from Punk roots into New Wave glory, and they did it so very well. This song is a delightful bop from an incredible album.
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Deep Track of the Day #109 - 6/9/21 The Cardigans - "Over the Water" from Emmerdale
This is one of the most cheerful-sounding songs I have ever heard in my life, and I will never tire of it. Short and sweet. Lovefool is a great song for sure, but Over the Water will always be my go-to Cardigans tune!
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Deep Track of the Day #110 - 6/10/21 Midnight Oil – “Feeding Frenzy” from Earth and Sun and Moon
Midnight Oil's Earth and Sun and Moon is a perfect album. It has no low points whatsoever. And it was hard to choose a song on this one, but I love the old R&B roots of the basic track with the bass, drums, and organ sounding like Booker T & The MG's are getting ready to cook up some Green Onions. And then in comes the guitar completing the image, sounding like Steve Cropper in the flesh. It's its own song for sure, but the roots are all there in the sound. It's still got a great 90's jangliness to the chorus, but it really sells itself as a throwback without seeming like a pale imitation.
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Deep Track of the Day #111 - 6/11/21 The Sisters of Mercy - "Driven Like the Snow" from Floodland
You can't argue with an album like Floodland. I particularly love Driven Like The Snow based on that slowly droning intro. Andrew Eldritch starts off with his soft and menacing vocals adding more and more emphasis and power as the song goes along to match the intensity of the every-present drum backbeat, only backing off during each chorus which drops in intensity, then finally sending the song off with a low whisper over the only "happy" sounding chord progression in the entire song.
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Deep Track of the Day #112 - 6/12/21 Freddie King - "Pulp Wood" from Burglar
Freddie King's guitar tone is the best there is. I could listen to this album over and over again just for his PERFECT tone. This song is an instrumental, and it's kind of like a song within a song, where there are two very distinct songs happening, one of which is the middle, the other is the beginning and end. Love this album, love this little song, and I absolutely worship his guitar tone!
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Post by The Ocean on Jun 19, 2021 3:55:16 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #113 - 6/13/21 Chance the Rapper – “Let’s Go On The Run” from The Big Day
Chance the Rapper is one of those artists who knows how to build a narrative and create a mood with such ease and such clarity. This song is him just being him, expressing himself and expressing his feelings to another, telling a story through emotions, tiny little vignettes, cultural references, the works. Love this so much.
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Deep Track of the Day #114 - 6/14/21 Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats – “I’ve Been Failing” from Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Memphis Soul revival band Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats released a powerhouse of an album with their eponymous debut, and achieved a VERY unlikely hit with S.O.B., catchy as it is. I could throw a dart at a board and pick a song worthy to be highlighted, but I chose this track because of the beautiful melancholia expressed by the mournful barroom piano. There's something so classic about that sound that I keep being drawn to.
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Deep Track of the Day #115 - 6/15/21 The Rembrandts – “Waiting to be Opened” from The Rembrandts
I could honestly hear this song being covered by Celine Dion. The chorus has a kind of early 90's Disney cartoon music vibe going on, after all. The Rembrandt's had such a marvelous blending of voices and captured such a great sound through such a very sparse discography. Although they sound very different, I can't help but find parallels with Tears For Fears as another pop duo who have made FAR too few albums. Phil Solem's guitar is always so deliberate and composed, and makes for great soloing that fits perfectly for the song.
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Deep Track of the Day #116 - 6/16/21 The Cult - "Soul Asylum" from Sonic Temple
This is The Cult's Kashmir, basically. It's epic and loud, and that guitar drone is a clear nod to the Led Zeppelin classic. But once the song gets properly into the verse, it is its own thing, and feels larger than life. Ian Astbury's voice is iconic and quite underrated, as is this song in their discography.
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Deep Track of the Day #117 - 6/17/21 Fine Young Cannibals – “Don’t Ask Me To Choose” from Fine Young Cannibals
Gotta love that funk guitar with the horns on the chorus and that sweet warm bass. Not much to say, I just really like this one.
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Deep Track of the Day #118 - 6/18/21 Kershaw, Nik – “You Might” from The Riddle
Love the chord progressions throughout. Nik Kershaw is woefully underrated. His music is always interesting.
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Post by Jamie B on Jun 19, 2021 19:21:58 GMT
Good picks today!!
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Post by CAPTAIN on Jun 19, 2021 20:50:09 GMT
good picks !!!
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