Top 5 Redux
Lance Spellman reminds me that part of the magic of the Top 5 Side 1 Track 1 list in the movie is the relative obscurity of the choices -- stuff that's totally off the beaten path, but makes you go "AH, YES! A perfect choice!" And in targeting Rush, and The Police, I didn't really include that element. Because frankly, such a list should encourage someone to go out and discover stuff they've never heard before.
That being said, the particular moment in the movie where Rob (Cusack) attempts this draws derision from Barry (Jack Black) for being safe, until the last choice, which was a "new classic." This sounds good until you discover what that last choice was...
Radiation Ruling the Nation -- Massive Attack's No Protection
Now I'm a huge Massive Attack fan. I even love 100th Window. So I of course, ran out and bought No Protection. Which isn't really a Massive Attack album, but in fact is a set of dub remixes from The Mad Professor. And Radiation Ruling the Nation SUCKS. The whole album loses all the jazzy groove of Massive Attack and ends up boring and annoying.
Well, I'll see if I can escape that fate, with a list of the "Top 5 openers from acts you probably don't listen to."
Crooked -- Evil Nine, You Can Be Special Too, 2005
What happens when two former punk bassists spend a few years learning the ropes of electronic production, then team up with Aesop Rock? The best hip hop track ever recorded by caucasians, that's what!
Closer to Fine -- Indigo Girls's Indigo Girls, 1990
Remember Lilith Fair? You know all those great female performers that were the next generation Joni Mitchells? These two set the marker for all that, coming out of the showboat 80s to remind the world what acoustic guitar and a sense of harmony could accomplish. Credit this album and this song for the explosion of performers like Jewel and Sarah Maclachlan into the mainstream.
Fear Not of Man -- Mos Def's Black on Both Sides, 1999
In spite of his unfortunate turn as Ford Prefect in the recent Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Mos Def is one of the most skilled and musical rap artists to handle a microphone. Shifting between bouncing rhythms and spoken word, this track sets off a career that I personally can't get enough of.
Convulsion -- Skinny Puppy's Too Dark Park, 1990
Forget Nine Inch Nails or even Ministry. Skinny IS industrial. Those pounding distorted drums and that opening sample "He's seeing monsters... he's losing his mind and he feels it going." If you can listen to this track all the way through and not be shaking -- well, you didn't have it turned up loud enough!
Cowboys -- Portishead's Portishead, 1997
Portishead defined trip hop, and there's no better album to curl up on a sofa with your girl (or girls, or guy.... whatever floats your boat) and get into some serious sensory decadence.
So there. I'm sure most people here have heard at least one of two of these acts. I'm willing to bet that only I have ALL these tracks on a play list.
Anyone wanna pick up the baton and see if they can keep it obscurely classic? Try to stick with stuff that didn't, y'know, go multi-platinum! And bend your genre's around -- there's more to life than metal or new wave!
Comments
2. Breathe - Telepopmusik (Genetic World)... first introduced to mainstream in an old Mitsi ad. See the ad here: { Link }
3. Swamped - Lacuna Coil (Comalies)... Evanescence who?!
4. Blackest Eyes - Porcupine Tree (In Absentia)
5. Long Time Gone - Dixie Chicks (Home)
The last one was tough... it was either Dixie Chicks or "Friends" by Joe Satriani on the Extremist album. But someone's already mentioned Joe, so I had to give the girls some props.
Posted by Jess Stratton At 11:45:14 AM On 07/19/2007 | - Website - |
Wandering Mind, Jimmy Ryser, Manana Mentality (ok how do I do the little curly thing over the n), 1994
Indiana boy, picked up his stuff in college at IU.
I Want to Dress In Black & White (and work real hard all day), The Electric Amish, Milkin' It, 1996
Funny stuff.
Ah Via Musicom, Eric Johnson's album of same name, 1990
Killer guitar player.
Pseudo Silk Kimono, Marillion, Misplaced Childhood, 1985
If you like Genesis you'd like these guys.
Throwback, Bankstatement, self titled, 1989
Formed by Tony Banks of Genesis.
Posted by Kevin Mort At 12:04:43 PM On 07/19/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by Chris Whisonant At 12:54:31 PM On 07/19/2007 | - Website - |
@3 - Only Satch song played on a guitar without a whammy bar. :) Fixed bridge, baby.
@1 - As I said, the PMT remix of Ready, Steady, Go is better. I think it's the one they used in Collateral. And I have a progressive breaks remix of Breathe in a set somewhere... imagine Hybrid doing a remix of it. Okay... it's not as good as they would make it, but still a cool stylistic shift.
Posted by Nathan T. Freeman At 01:16:39 PM On 07/19/2007 | - Website - |
5 openers from bands you've never heard
Puzzle Pieces - Tiger Trap - s/t, 1993
Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken - Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country, 2006
The Happiest Days of My Life - My Favorite - The Happiest Days of Our Lives, 2003
Here We Are Again - Holiday - Ready, Steady, Go, 1996
I Love You Like the Way That I Used to Do - Rocketship - A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness, 1995
if any of you have heard these bands, I'm impressed!
cheers!
Posted by brandt fundak At 04:14:33 PM On 07/19/2007 | - Website - |
{ Link }
-Grey
Posted by Greyhawk68 At 04:15:31 PM On 07/19/2007 | - Website - |
1. "Windowpane" - Opeth (Damnation)
2. "I Spy" - Neil Zaza (Staring At The Sun)
3. "The Train" - King's X (Ear Candy)
4. "Prelude/The Front" - 4Front (Gravity) [Yeah, it's listed as two tracks, but one sort of needs the other. For this album, the running order really matters, because a couple of the songs are written to run into one another.]
5. "Beat the Heat" - Gamalon (Aerial View) [Can you tell that I went to school in Buffalo?
Posted by Brian Miller At 09:27:44 AM On 07/20/2007 | - Website - |