I decided that I would start something called B-side Friday. So every friday I’ll post up to 7 lesser known songs. The songs could be by known artists but they will be lesser known songs by that artist. I don’t think I have to explain the term b-side. So check out the songs.
Hideaway – Fuel
When the Sun Rose Again – Alice in Chains
Play Crack the Sky – Brand New
Black – Pearl Jam
Set Phasers to Stun – Taking Back Sunday
The Resistance – Anberlin
Lithium – Nirvana
dancing on the subway
these tunes, when i’m on the subway, when i’m walking, stalking, running- it’s very hard for me to not dance around. oh yeah, i’m that crazy girl. the one that dances. hanging off the ceiling. and you know what, you will too. so what have we got here? some are all out club type pop songs. others- cheryl cole’s parachute fastforwarded. the stunners, you’re going to see more of them in the future, i’m sure. myah marie, she sounds like britney spears. so does this tune a little bit. that’s because well, she’s britney’s “backup” vocal. 
rar file
01 Cheryl Cole- “Parachute”
02 Kristine Elezaj- “Let You Know”
03 Shontelle- “Licky”
04 Che’Nelle- “Follow Me”
05 Ke$ha- “Backstabber”
06 Esmee Denters- “007 On You”
07 Chenelle Ray- “Starstruck”
08 Alex Young- “Music”
09 Jessica Jarrell- “Armageddon”
10 Kelis- “Scream & Shout”
11 Christina Aguilera- “Spotlight”.
12 Jade Ewan- “Had Him First”
13 Myah Marie- “Feet On The Ground”
14 Livvi Franc- “Automatik”
15 Eva Simons- “Silly Boy”
16 Kaci Battaglia- “Crazy Possessive”
17 Girlicious- “Sexy Bitch” (Cover)
18 Sugababes- “She’s A Mess”
19 The Stunners- “Dancin’ Around The Truth”
20 Paradiso Girls- “Boys Go Crazy”
21 Tami Chynn- “Hypnotico (Silly Heartbreakers)”
You shall never underestimate the power of a great Pop-song!
This wonderful new ditty by – Jack Penate – certainly ranks high in my ears right now. So much so I must have played it 5 times in a straight row by now.
Tweaked and twisted by Penguin Prison – “So Near” – turns to be a funk-fuelled, slap-bass Electro-kitten, which just penetrates you upon first listen.
Essentially it’s the perfect combination: Great songwriting, great singer, great remix – Pop meets underground in a very cool way!
What more can you ask for ?
Mp3: Jack Penate – So Near (Penguin Prison Remix)
In My Head / Tik Tok [Jason Derulo / Ke$ha]
Casablanca Records was a record label founded in 1973 by Neil Bogart. The label was the home to such acts as Kiss [not included on this collection], Donna Summer, The Village People and Parliament among others. The label flourished during the Disco Era, but was eventually swallowed up into Mercury Records and later the Universal Music Group. Casablanca Records was primarily responsible for many of the dance hits of the 70’s and early 80’s.
Disc 1:
Love To Love You Baby [Donna Summer]—-Perhaps the signature song of Summer, this release helped to establish her career and also helped to introduce the concept of the 12″ single. Putting Summer’s sexuality of full display, the song feature minutes of moans and ecstatic sounds that leaves the listener only imagining what was going on. I have heard many mixes of this track…one lasted a full 22 minutes. This is a classic introduction to the Disco scene. Marvelous. This mix last for an incredible 16 minutes!!!
Funkytown [Lipps, Inc.]—-Riding high on the charts for weeks and weeks, this was by my understanding, released on the revamped Casablanca label before it completely disappeared from sight. This is a nice synth driven single that took over the world for a brief time. You can never forget where you were when you first discovered this track…the cowbell…the synth line, the contagious key snip and the auto-tune vocal transfixed me for months. This is fun, uncomplicated and full of energy…everything required in 1979 for a huge worldwide smash.
Tear The Roof Off The Sucker [Parliament]—-Bringing more funk than legally allowed to the dance floor, Parliament was a ‘family’ and the chorus of voices only solidifies the idea. The beat still sounds like gritty urban life and smells of block parties and non-stop jams. A wonderful piece of history.
Take Me Home [Cher]—-Still a classic and still featured in her live appearances, this kind of started the whole thing for Cher. We in the ‘community’ embraced Cher for her flamboyance and outlandish costumes. Whenever I hear this single, I think of Will & Grace….funny how minds work. This is a nice disco infused joint that still sounds fresh and accessible to me.
I Feel Love [Donna Summer]—-Proving that she was far more than a one hit wonder, Summer teamed with Georgio Moroder could do little wrong in the mid to late 70’s. This is a huge dance floor single that literally made Summer a star and Casablanca a boatload of Cocaine money!!! If you seek the definition of Disco, this is at the forefront of the explanation. Running at almost 9 minutes, this allows the signature synth line [often repeated in many, many Dance songs] to wander, explore and find its way back home again. Summer delivers a dreamy and relaxed vocal that just urges you to sway and worship the lights and swirling balls catching them. Magnificent….and a great mix of the track.
Romeo And Juliet [Alec R. Constandidos]—-A French session player and musician, Alec hit big in the mid-70’s with his Euro-Disco ode to love. The track is high energy, has some nice ‘disco strings’ on it and a beat that is undeniable. The session singers sound generic, but manage to create a huge dance floor filler that reeks of excess and drugs….fantastic!!!
Ain’t Nuthin’ Gonna Keep Me From You [Teri DeSario]—-Best known for her duet with K.C. & The Sunshine Band [Yes, I'm Ready], this track…written by Barry Gibb is a high energy and fun song that includes all the cliché’s of Disco…the thump-thump-thump, the swirling strings…the lyrics of love and the search for it. how could you go…this is great, although i doubt many people heard it outside os the bars. The Gibb sound is all over this track.
In The Navy [The Village People]—-If there was ever a band ‘made’ for the Gay Community this would be it. Dressed in flamboyant and stereotypical costumes, the group lasted for two records of hits and then managed to eeek out a living in one form of the other for the next nearly 4o years. This track is so embarrassingly gay that it is hard for me to even listen to…this is everything i try not to be…but I embrace the history…as Stonewall and the NY scene was opening up the closet even more, this helped some but ultimately only gave the straight community more fodder to fight us with.
My Baby’s Baby [Liquid Gold]—-An in-studio creation of above DJ Constandidios, this seemed a pretty common practice back in the days when groups really did not tour. when this practiced resurfaced in the early 90’s it caused problems….i.e. Milli Vanilli. This is another generic track that manages to be huge and expected in the swirl of 12″ singles that were being pressed at the time. This has a great bass and synth line…strings that remind of early Barry White and a vocal that is unremarkable, but acceptable. Most of the song has a strong Urban beat but it is a sure dance floor filler…this is grand upon the chorus and full of energy.
Find My Baby [Cameo]—-With a galloping Disco Beat and a descending bass line, the song is a classic group effort that reeks of early day urban dance music. This is wonderfully under-produced and the result is raw and pure…you can not help but fall in love with the musical simplicity and the marvelous blend of vocal harmonies. This is nice!!!
I Found Love [Now That I Found You] [Love And Kisses]—-Probably better known as a sample used by Heavy D. in the 90’s, you can detect the basic elements in this original and you have to wonder at the same time of the genius of producers and writes to pick out tiny samples from such a huge song and build a new one around it. This is another studio created dance record that is a generic flood of vocals all coming together to create a fun record that you can dance to. Nice, but nothing special.
***1/2 out of 5
I like parodies when they are well executed—I love them when they’ve been spiced up (with a bit of instrumental flair) and paired with a funny video. But the thing that makes the video I’m about to show you so great is that it managed to be intelligent while being humorous.
Do not be deterred by the gun in the still-frame. xD
Without further ado, I present to you (but take no credit for): Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration [a clever remix of the One Republic single].
Even more difficult of reviewing a band I am a fan, is reviewing one I have never managed to get.
If in the first case, it’s easy to be transported by the emotions on overemphasizing each single note, in the second I am conditioned by prejudices to devaluate that.
This is why it is a week I can’t make head or tail of this Vampire Weekend review.
Vampire Weekend, despite what I have been reading over the parabolas of music journalists and bloggers over the last 3 years that saw them moving from model students at Columbia University to worldwide new independent rockstars, are not revolutionizing rock music from the musical point of view.
Shaking ingredients is a trick used since rock was born, more than a new cocktail it can bring a new freshness. It can surprise but does not change.
Vampire Weekend music follows on the path of optimistic pop-rock. Bright students writing cheerful songs for the summer parties. The use of rhythmic influences from outside Anglophone countries spices up the songs. With obvious differences the formula has been used by Talking Heads, by Police, by Peter Gabriel. It originates from the work of seminal artists as Fela Kuti and several more. Arrived to Columbia University probably because of an album borrowed by their parents’ vinyls collection: Paul Simon – Graceland.
In addition to give indie-rock scene something to dance with, instead of the depressing tunes of heartbroken lovers, Vampire Weekend mix gave music journalism all the appropriate adjectives which are in desperate need to write about a new band.
Afro-Beat is back in fashion, clever titled songs as Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa explain the mix and the classification become easy. But Vampire Weekend’s Africa is filtered through the all-white taste of upper class New York students who don’t live in Congo but dance Congolese Kwassa Kwassa in some University bars.
Their music is clean, aseptic, perfect. There is not a speck of dust in the drums, not a pinch of soul in its veins. Guitars are shiny and sparkling as the melodies they play. There is not a hint of grease, of dirt, of distortion. The shirts are ironed with no creases for a bit of groove to creep into.
It’s the youth that grew up with Mandela out of jail and doesn’t want to know what as happened to him before they were born. They don’t question the aim of those tribute concerts. Why he has been left rotting there for decades. “You can turn your back on the bitter world” they sing in Cousins and I start from this verse to deepen into Vampire Weekend world from their lyrics.
A difficult and incomplete job for someone not American, not even English. Texts are mostly obscure, they are not explicit but quite often hide some dubious words that I wonder if have any intentionality.
There is something ambiguous in the choice of language that goes together with their image. In the end this combination is the most interesting aspect they bring to the rock scene.
Reading through the lines is one of my forbidden pleasures, so it could be very easy for me to misinterpret Vampire Weekend. If theirs is a clever irony I am one of those going to fall into the trap. Fact is Vampire Weekend are the biggest contradiction rock’n'roll has seen since Bryan Ferry black tie closed the seventies in “haute couture”.
While they are about to enter the Cambridge Corn Exchange, tenths of girls who left the several Cambridge colleges, take the risk of messing up their perfect make up to squeeze to the front. If there is a natural place for Vampire Weekend to set a gig, that place is Cambridge, UK.
Three chandeliers hang from the ceiling, they recall the cover of their debut album. They also remind me of those movies set in a colonial environments when “whites” inhabit luxurious villas in the middle of the savannah, with lions at the gates and “blacks” serving tea in white ceramic.
The four guys arrive. They are immaculate as the fans were before the wait in the crowd. Cool western colourful clothes recall the sun of the Africa they love.
This is the Vampire Weekend’s revolution. Not the music, but the image they bring into rock’n'roll clichés. They are not four rebel teenagers of the upper middle class who refused the parental status-quo assaulting their guitar in the basement. They are four excellent undergraduates that likely meets to rehears in a proper studio after the traditional afternoon tea and biscuits with their grandmothers.
Vampire Weekend image turn the concept of American college rock upside down.
A genre that blossomed from the opposition of the mainstream culture, the enemy, to espouse the “underground” culture. Theoretically, philosophically, actively, politically, in fashion and body care.
All of that is reverted. Vampire Weekend reread that mainstream culture learnt at school and use it to their advantage. It becomes a reference, not an enemy; probably not a friend either but definitely something to make a good use of. They sing it and the colour it with joyful melodies and steady rhythm.
Richard Serra is cited on White Sky the track opening tonight.
Cope Cod Kwassa Kwassa follow and beyond the clever title presents to the world the debut of Louis Vitton in a rock song. Rhyming it with Benetton and citing Peter Gabriel doesn’t cancel the oddity, actually it makes it into one of their most efficacious songs.
Vampire Weekend at a first glance sound innocuous. They are welcomed in admiration by those students that until today identify themselves more with a Louis Vitton bag than with an indie-rock band.
M79 is the name of a grenade launcher used by Marines in Vietnam, this until the song arrives to the first line and you discover it is also a bus crossing Central Park.
California English brings its load of ambiguity citing “Contra”, the word that also titles their latest album. In the hand of Vampire Weekend it is a remote tourist resort in California, for the rest of the world a guerrilla fighter sponsored by CIA to combat Sandinista in Nicaragua.
Cousins is the song that suggests “You can turn your back on the bitter world”, where bitter in fact is the sentence that invites to ignore the world. Everything is well hidden in another gem of a pop song which is the constant formula that keeps fans dancing, apparently unaware.
I don’t want to imply all rock music has to be socially and politically concerned, I appreciate the need of leisure but I find difficult to understand the need of inserting odd words and dubious statements if it is all about having fun.
Taxi Cab goes “Like a real aristocrat…” and Run opens with “Every dollar counts…” to bring capitalism into rock’n'roll and the concert into their biggest hit.
A-Punk causes the educated euphoria that Trinity College students can let themselves go for a favourite song. As Christ was crucifixed at 33, the noble word punk is crucifixed here, 33 years since it was invented. Deprived of any meaning it had since. Punk doesn’t go beyond the title, not into the lyrics and, it goes without saying, far from the music.
The chorus-with-hiccup “Look outside at the raincoats coming, say ‘oh’” is catchy as much as it is annoying “‘Ey, ‘ey, ‘ey, ‘ey!”
One (Blake’s Got a New Face) and The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance keep the audience happy. It doesn’t come everyday that an independent album tops Billboard top 200 album chart. The image of the girls from Contra cover is hanging, huge, from the back of the stage pointing her lit eyes to the crowd. They change colour giving the clean face a ghastly look.
Contra is not very different from Vampire Weekend debut. They keep walking the road from New York to Soweto and Diplomat’s Son (!?) doesn’t move their musical proposal an inch further.
Ezra Koenig finds some seconds to adapt a rare B-Side, Boston (Ladies of Cambridge), written for the Harvard’s girls of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to dedicate it to the British girls of the old, sweet, original Cambridge, UK. Birthday present for a city that just turned 800 years.
The finale sees Giving Up the Guns introducing Campus, a rant against a professor. It works as a perfect assist and medley with Oxford Comma which is another tirade, about the uselessness of a grammar rule. If Franck Black was wondering “where is my mind?” when Vampire Weekend were babies, twenty years on it seems proper education gave them very clear answers. To the point of deserving two songs.
With two albums published is easy to guess what’s next. Horchada is their first single from Contra, another landmark Vampire Weekend song with a couple of mysterious verses “In December, drinking horchata, I’d look psychotic in a balaclava” which become even more mysterious in Mansarda Roof “The Argentines collapse in defeat, The admiralty surveys the remnants of the fleet”.
While Walcott, their first ever song closes the show and people head to the merchandise stall, I sit in the press area asking myself where these guys are bringing rock’n'roll.
15 years since Oasis brought the working class to top the chart and Blair to 10, Downing Street, Vampire Weekend bring New York Bourgoise to a decade destined to have a Tory government in a couple of months. I don’t believe in coincidences, history mirrors the society.
Dancing to the happy, vaguely exotic rhythms that invite to turn the shoulder to the bitter world, Vampire Weekend bring ambiguity into the dance floor.
A band which music sounds pleasant and innocuous, by four guys which appearance challenges anything your parents have been telling you about rockstars. Their daughters stand on the first row keen on being noticed, hoping to enter the after show party. Instead of causing their mums worries they must generate envy in their forbidden thoughts.
Meet Vampire Weekend on their [website] [myspace] [facebook] [spotify]
It suits Vampire Weekend in a strange way, but it does. I post here an answer I was asked several times about holding gear during the three songs photo set.
Obviously if you shoot with one camera and a zoom the problem does not exist and you can dress as you please.
When you have 2 cameras and few lenses and you need to change them and be quick, the question arises.
Any camera bag is not a solution for concert photography. They are bulky and press pit (when existent) are usually very narrow, so you are not operational with it and most important disrupt the efficiency of your colleagues. Leave it just under the barrier.
While shooting I keep all my stuff in one of those multi-pockets jacket, I find it very useful.
It does not look cool, at the gig a girl told me I looked like an explorer ready for a safari, (I answered I heard I was going to listen to Africa beat), but if you are not going to photograph a gig to look cool (I can tell you many photographers in the pit do) but to take cool pictures, that is my favourite option.
It holds many lenses, you can even hide a flash (you never know), everything is at your hands and relatively protected from shocks, dust and flying pints.
If you have a better solution, or want to share your way, let me know in the comment box below.
