Music Matters

Kosheen,  having been named after Japanese words for “old” and “new”, is a band that have always impressed me, even if they are only popular within their own genre.  Sian Evans has a unique voice which can be haunting yet seductive and while their music may take a little getting used to, it has that uniqueness that is so rare yet very easily likeable, after a while.  I’m proud to be a Kosheen fan since the beginning, after seeing Hide U on MTV one night many years ago.  I’ve never seen Kosheen live or in a club venue, but it would be nice to, someday.

Their album Resist has so many songs that are singles it’s ridiculous.  Every track is an anthem, each song on the album is awesome.   Hide U of course is their biggest hit, while songs Catch, Cover, Harder, Slip & Slide Suicide, Empty Skies, Resist are all pretty memorable.  Face In The Crowd, Cruelty, Let Go, Gone, are also great.  It’s hard to find a song that doesn’t add up here, Kosheen’s knack for songwriting in the electronic genre never fails, at least for their debut album.  It’s an amazing CD, definitely one for the history books, or at least the aspiring CD album reviewers.

When Kosheen released Kokopelli just a few years later in 2003, I had high hopes.  Resist was so good, what could come next?  Unfortunately, Kokopelli didn’t live up to my expectations, but it still holds its own after all these years.  Blue Eyed Boy and Wish are my favorite tracks off their second album.

Damage is a great album that really gave Kosheen their sound.  Released in 2007, Damage, Overkill, Chances, and the ballad Cruel Heart are my favorites.  It’s definitely good, because it’s Kosheen.

Apparently Kosheen are releasing an album later this year called Independence.  Fitting for choosing this band to review over July 4^th weekend.  Will it be more of the same Kosheen that we’ve been known to expect?  Only time will tell.  Let’s see what this band from Bristol, England will have to offer us soon!

- Dan Golden, July 2011 (as always, email any comments to [email protected])

Having never gotten the chance to see Faithless live and the fact that they’re now officially broken up, does not bode well with me.  How I got to be such a big Faithless fan rather surprises me, since their hit Insomnia took off in the late 90s, I’d bought album after album and enjoyed just about every one of them!  A nice added perk to Faithless is Dido’s involvement with the band as she’s Rollo’s sister, so she is always featured on at least one song and he’s been known to produce her albums as well.

Reverence  starts things off quite nicely, the hooks are developed, the sound groovy and chill.  Insomnia is of course the biggest track here “I can’t get no sleep” … Maxi Jazz’s rhymes so smooth like butter on a song.  You just get lost in their music so easily.  Don’t Leave, Salva Mea, If Lovin You Is Wrong, are all also standout tracks on this record.  Very nice way to start off their collection!  I’m proud to have been a follower of Faithless from the beginning, and Reverence started me off the way a Faithless fan should.

Sunday 8 PM is another Faithless classic.  The cover is also amazing, that of Faithless venue/gig entrance.  First released in 1998, Sunday 8 PM includes an incredible instrumental to start things off right, The Garden.  While Why Go? Is an incredible track, God Is A DJ is perhaps their biggest hit here.  Bring My Family Back is also classic Faithless.  It may not have as classic Faithless tracks as their debut got, but Sunday 8 PM was definitely a step in the right direction!

Outrospective was released three years later in 2001, which contains probably my favorite Faithless track ever, We Come 1.  To see that live would have been insane.  One Step Too Far was a nice addition with Dido on the vocals as well.  Tarantula is classic Faithless.  Muhammad Ali always struck me as a little odd for Faithless, being more reggae sounding, but it still holds its own on this album.  Maybe not my favorite Faithless album, but it’s still Faithless, and still kicks ass.

Before The Dance came out, No Roots was my all time favorite Faithless CD. Released in 2004, it includes I Want More, Miss U Less See U More, Everything Will Be All Right Tomorrow, and No Roots.  As usual, Dido makes an appearance.  The thing that struck me as genius about this album is the fact that they developed it to be more lyrical in the beginning and turning into more instrumental towards the end, and it works wonderfully.

Unfortunately in 2006, Faithless released the worst album in their career, To All New Arrivals. Perhaps this was the sign of an end to come soon, and it seemed as an afterthought after just having released a best of disc as well.  The only good track worth mentioning is Music Matters.  It was sad but true, Faithless had hit their rut, and hard, such a bad CD I couldn’t even listen to the whole thing and to this day I don’t think I ever will.  I’m glad they have a saving grace on this CD though, Music Matters is indeed a great track if nothing else.  It’s also where the lyrics come from that are featured on my blog page. :)

When Faithless released The Dance in 2010, it was a masterpiece.  I wasn’t too upset to hear that they were splitting up after hearing The Dance.  Yeah, it sucks I won’t get to see them live (I guess there’s always Faithless Soundsystem, what’s left of Faithless touring now), but The Dance is absolutely perfect in every way.  Starting off with Not Going Home, and Feel Me being my favorite track, then the reggae sounding Crazy Bal’Heads.  Tweak Your Nipple is classic Faithless, North Star features Dido again, and Sun To Me closes it out perfectly.  I’m glad to have followed Faithless from the beginning, and I’m proud to own The Dance, having special ordered it online all the way from across the waters since it was only available in the UK.

You can’t go wrong with Faithless, but if there’s one CD I suggest you start out with…. Do yourself a favor and check out The Dance.  Then backtrack and check out everything else.

It’s okay that you’re a Yankees fan Maxi Jazz…. I still love ya!

After all,

You told me that music matters.

P.S. It was cool chatting with Sister Bliss online the day you randomly held a contest online to see who would ask the most intriguing question.  I think the question ended up being “which song makes you cry” or something of the sort, but the reward was for festival tickets in the UK anyway.  Ah, good times!

- Dan Golden, June 2011 (email any comments to [email protected])

The thing that strikes me most original about the band Massive Attack is their ability to create hooks that aren’t your typical repetitive grinding chorus verses.  The songs are infectious, addictive, and each album gets better with each release.  That alone is something of a milestone in music these days.  To have a band that keeps getting better and outdoes themselves time after time again, making each song and album and discography collective, thoughtful, and creative.  It’s no wonder that I’m starting out my blog with a band as big as Massive Attack, as awesome a band as they are, and a band I have been lucky enough to see live even though ironically I missed them live when I first found out about them through the 9:30 club listing for having come through the Washington DC area all those years ago.  I don’t regret a single Massive Attack moment I’ve ever listened to, album I’ve ever bought, or video I’ve ever watched (and if you want to watch a really fucked up video of a girl getting completely wasted, Live With Me is definitely your #1 choice for that!).

In order to appropriately talk about Massive Attack, I must point out I’ve been involved in the electronic music scene for a while now and have to give kudos to Bjork for paving that way.  I get offended often when someone talks ill of such a goddess, she really opened my eyes to the genre and I am eternally grateful for having her shine the way to other great artists such as Kosheen, Hooverphonic, Faithless, DJ Shadow, Orbital, and many many more that I might not have been even the most slightly interested in.  I’m sure I’ll get to many more of those artists (especially Faithless!) in later blog posts, but for now I’ll suffice to say thank you, Bjork.  You and me go way back without even you knowing it.  But that’s cool.  Though where you’ve faltered and grown stale Bjork, Massive Attack has picked up and stayed strong and I totally love them for that.  Massive Attack will always fill that void if I ever had any to fill, though now I’ll never know because they’re a milestone in my own personal musical discography.

Masters of the trip hop genre, Massive Attack’s first album was actually not the first that I bought surprisingly.  That title goes to the album Mezzanine, released in 1998.  First song I ever heard from Massive Attack?  None other than Teardrop, of course.  It can only get better from there!

I backtracked at Newbury Comics of all places one day, picking up Blue Lines released in 1991, and Protection in 1994.  Safe From Harm, Daydreaming, and Unfinished Sympathy are my immediate favorites off Blue Lines.  And how could I forget Karmacoma off Protection?  It’s probably just Tricky’s influence, but that song in particular is the ideal Massive Attack relaxation & chill song.  Better Things has shown up on a couple of my mixes as well, that song always knows how to hit the spot.

And then there’s Mezzanine, the first Massive Attack album I ever really got into.  Angel, Inertia Creeps, Teardrop – those are my top three.  The whole album is amazing.  It’s no wonder the popular TV show House uses Massive Attack in their introduction as the credits roll before each show.  I would, too.

But, wait!  It gets better from there.  Not only do Massive Attack have three amazing albums at this point, they release two more on my watch this time, able to rush out and buy the new albums as they get released and consider myself an avid fan of the band.  100^th Window, released in 2003, is probably my all time favorite Massive Attack album.  It’d be a toss up which album I’d recommend an interested music lover trying to get in touch with his inner self through music – Mezzanine or 100^th Window?  I’d say listen to them all, see what you make of them, and it’ll get through to you, I promise.  The album cover for 100^th Window is top notch and the top songs include Future Proof and Butterfly Caught, though as with their other albums, every song is great!

And with each Massive Attack release, they take forever to come out, so I had to wait a long time to get my hands on Heligoland, released just last year in 2010.  But what a release it was!  I’m also a pretty big Elbow fan, so it was a pleasant surprise to find Guy Garvey on the album as a guest star.  It’s funny when other artists try and incorporate guest stars on their albums, they don’t ever sound half as good as when Massive Attack does it.  Like I said before, one of the reasons I like Massive Attack so much is that their albums get better with each release.  Heligoland did not disappoint in the slightest and each song is absolutely fantastic, mixed well, and produced professionally.  Pray For Rain is haunting, Splitting the Atom an instant classic, and Atlas Air is a staple Massive Attack song for anyone remotely interested in them.  I cannot praise this band enough, and my only complaint is that their b side United Snakes is not on the album, which is definitely worth a search on youtube!

I have seen them live before, at the 9:30 club on 9/29/2006.  I was considering getting tickets for both nights of the two gigs they played there, but I was good with just one, right up in the first few rows.  Amazing show, their lights were spectacular!  And I managed to get a tour shirt at the gig too.  Finally, I got to see a band whose live show announcement was what started it all for me in the first place.

Massive Attack…. Thank you!

- Dan Golden, June 2011 (please email any comments to [email protected])