What are you listening to?

[Lejuan]

 

[Solidus]

I had concert tickets to see Fit For A King in 2020, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic. They've got some insane breakdowns and lots of technical prowess in their music for a genre (metalcore) that's been pretty stagnant in recent years. "Debts of the soul" is one of their more solemn songs, but the ambiguity in the lyrics makes it one of their more unique entries. I always come back to it whenever I listen to this band.

 

[karamazov80]

I recently went down the Nick Cave rabbit hole on Youtube. Nick the Stripper is a song that gives me nightmares. He fascinated me as a teenager when you had guys like Marilyn Manson trying so hard to be outrageous, yet here's this ordinary looking dude who is more subversive and disturbing than any of those other guys.

 

[Lejuan]

I recently went down the Nick Cave rabbit hole on Youtube. Nick the Stripper is a song that gives me nightmares. He fascinated me as a teenager when you had guys like Marilyn Manson trying so hard to be outrageous, yet here's this ordinary looking dude who is more subversive and disturbing than any of those other guys.

I've only ever been a casual fan over the years, listening mainly to his more mainstream stuff - but I too recently went down the Nick Cave rabbit hole on Youtube and found this gem. I'd heard it before on his Murder Ballads album but never rated it til now. I did some digging into the Stagger Lee tradition and found it really interesting.

The song has long been a folk/blues standard, with everyone from Lloyd Price to Beck to Amy Winehouse having a go at it. The story itself has its origins in the murder ballad tradition, from which sprang the 'prison' toast - a spoken-word recital of criminal and legendary characters and deeds. These toasts told the stories in the first-person, allowing the teller to occupy the persona of the notorious subject and enhance his reputation by a kind of association.

Toasts were a pre-cursor to gangsta rap, and provide the inspiration for Cave's version. Here's the toast he based his Stagger Lee on:





That Split Enz track was the first music video I remember seeing. I definitely didn't appreciate them as a kid - I came back to the via Crowded House. Being locked down for so long has given me a lot of time to reflect on all the live music I passed on over the years, Crowded House's Sydney Opera House gig being one of them.

 

[karamazov80]

I first heard of Cave because of the "Where the Wild Roses Grow" music video playing on MTV really late one night, and bought Murder Ballads shortly thereafter. Great idea for a concept album. I knew Stagger Lee was a riff on an older folk tune, but never heard of Toasts before. Disturbing!

The South Pacific connection is just coincidence, but Split Enz (after Neil joined) is one of my favorite bands and I was going through some of their older videos on Youtube the last couple of days. I thought that version of One Step Ahead was particularly nice. Neil and Tim were both fantastic songwriters.

 

[Pork Chop Express]

 

[jarom55]

I am listening to a Japanese traditional song with subtitles. It is a very strange and delightful experience listening to a completely different traditional song. basically, it is a Japanese traditional kabuki theatre performance where Performers wear old traditional dresses with attractive oni, samurai, cosplay slipknot, squid game frontman, and many other kinds of masks which are really fascinating to watch.

 

[Lejuan]

I first heard of Cave because of the "Where the Wild Roses Grow" music video playing on MTV really late one night, and bought Murder Ballads shortly thereafter. Great idea for a concept album. I knew Stagger Lee was a riff on an older folk tune, but never heard of Toasts before. Disturbing!

The South Pacific connection is just coincidence, but Split Enz (after Neil joined) is one of my favorite bands and I was going through some of their older videos on Youtube the last couple of days. I thought that version of One Step Ahead was particularly nice. Neil and Tim were both fantastic songwriters.

Your post inspired me to listen to some Split Enz, starting with that awesome Auckland performance. I don't know if this is overreach, but there's a Beatles-esque quality to a lot of their stuff - but somehow more complex and nuanced. *Edit ... just googled it and seems like every man and his dog has been saying this for years (tho most stop short of the 'more complex and nuanced' part).

 

[Solidus]

 

[choombaz]

I first heard of Cave because of the "Where the Wild Roses Grow" music video playing on MTV really late one night, and bought Murder Ballads shortly thereafter. Great idea for a concept album. I knew Stagger Lee was a riff on an older folk tune, but never heard of Toasts before. Disturbing!

The South Pacific connection is just coincidence, but Split Enz (after Neil joined) is one of my favorite bands and I was going through some of their older videos on Youtube the last couple of days. I thought that version of One Step Ahead was particularly nice. Neil and Tim were both fantastic songwriters.

The Finn brothers have some great solo albums as well and a couple as … The Finn Brothers.

 

[MaxCur]

Piano Tunes for relaxation

 

[Solidus]

Love the stop-motion animation with the action figures in this music video.

 

[karamazov80]

Your post inspired me to listen to some Split Enz, starting with that awesome Auckland performance. I don't know if this is overreach, but there's a Beatles-esque quality to a lot of their stuff - but somehow more complex and nuanced. *Edit ... just googled it and seems like every man and his dog has been saying this for years (tho most stop short of the 'more complex and nuanced' part).

For sure. Interesting that those bands had opposite career trajectories, with the Beatles getting more experimental as time went on, with Split Enz getting progressively more commercial.

 

[Pork Chop Express]

 

[Solidus]

I always liked this song from Taeyeon. Reminds me of something I'd hear during the end credits of a noir anime.

 

[Heavy Metal Spike]

.
.

And now for something completely different . . . Eskimo Callboy

These fine folks get filed in the **** à la Steel Panther category. Different style to Panther but same positivity / humour / "up" vibe with a reasonable dose of "politically incorrect".

Never heard of them before the start of December when BW&BK once again did what they do best (Lemmy-bless BW&BK).

• BW&BK article ESKIMO CALLBOY Release New Single / Video "Pump It"
  
  
• Single from September - "We Got The Moves"
  
  
• New single from Dec 3rd - "Pump It"

I have no idea what I just watched / listened to

. . . but both tracks made me smile from ear to ear (and are bookmarked), and I happily trawled through their video back-catalogue !!!!!

So SOOOOOOOO funny . . . and so SOOOOOOO catchy. I defy you not to laugh, smile & bop your head.

.

 

[Solidus]

I always find myself coming back to this music video, as it's like the theme song of 2020 in my mind. Pretty crazy that that it was filmed just a few months before the pandemic started.

 

[Solidus]

 

[JMT1979]

The Midnight, specifically the albums 'Endless Summer' and 'Nocturnal', with the song 'Days of Thunder' thrown in.




Also, the album Night Drive by Timecop1983:

 

[Solidus]

Nice! I saw both of them several times in Brooklyn.

The Midnight did a nice rendition of Gloria last year from his in-home studio.