Motley Tunes #10

Motley Tunes is a weekly segment featuring an assortment of 2-4 songs I find worth sharing.

It's holiday time for me, and that means listening to more music. I've been digging in to (and exhausting the discography of) bands like Weezer, the White Stripes and Pixies for sometime now, and am trying to learn Neutral Milk Hotel and Nirvana songs on my guitar; besides I haven't posted a Motley Tunes post in quite some time now - so yeah, long story short, this post will feature 5 songs instead! Yay!

1. Debaser by Pixies

The Pixies were the godfathers of alternative rock. Their jarring songs, incongruous lyrics and noisy purgative music gave them a massive underground appeal. Debaser, driven by a relentless bassline, jarring guitars and surreal lyrics (slicin' up eyeballs / I want you to know) delivered in anguish, is quintessential Pixies. Watch out for Francis Black screaming "I am un chien Andalusia" (lyrics inspired by a silent surrealist 1929 movie) on this one. 

2. Hello Operator by the White Stripes

Raw, stream-of-consciousness delivery with a pounding guitar playing against a wailing guitar and a middle section consisting of nothing but clicking noises which imitate an operator pressing buttons - Hello Operator is perhaps the White Stripes' most thought-out song. 

3. Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson

Probably the sexiest Jack Johnson song. So laid-back it'll make you fall out of your chairs. I wanna sing out these lyrics to someone someday :)

"Waking up too early
maybe we could sleep in 
making banana pancakes 
pretend like it's the weekend."

4. History Lesson - Part II by Minutemen

Uncompromising punk rock stalwarts Minutemen leave their trademark brutality and incoherence aside to give us this nostalgic autobiographical song that opens with the legendary line "Our band could be your life." 

5. El Scorcho by Weezer

The most slapstick Weezer song. Loose, self-deprecating and gauche, the song offers a cool twist to Weezer's favorite theme of earnest-geek-yearning-for-love (singing 'I think I'll be good for me if you'll be good for me'). The music video is weirdly funny too!

Favourite lyrics:

"But that's just a stupid dream that I won't realise
Cuz I can't even look in your eyes
Without shaking, and I ain't fakin',
I'll bring home the turkey if you'll bring home the bacon."

Crazy Elephant Blues

Recounting my virgin experience at Singapore's Rock n' Roll Blues haven Crazy Elephant, at its twentieth anniversary celebrations held on 07/12/14. 

Surrounded by formidable high-rise offices of the Central Business District, Clarke Quay, in contrast, is home to low-lying restaurants, bars, nightclubs. One active in the day, the other, abuzz with night owls. Nestled in one corner of the Quay, The Crazy Elephant Rock n' Roll Blues bar takes blues/rock aficionados on a nostalgic trip back in time.

I was privileged to go to the Elephant for their 20th anniversary celebrations with my buds Karan (who got us in, thanks to his, ahem, connections) and Dev. Being minors, we went there for the blues, not the booze (wink wink). Karan told me that this place had once hosted Deep Purple, that the in-house band covered Voodoo Chile every other time, that they had open jam sessions every Sunday - in short, I had high expectations of this place. Turns out they were going to be more than met.

Being its 20th anniversary, the alfresco area was flooded with people (most of them regulars apparently). We got our invitee's stickers and got in, and were given the best darn table the place had - right in front of the performers. The Elephant's interior is worth mentioning: wooden furnishing decorated with graffiti and dim yellow lighting, cramped, haphazard but warm, nostalgic; like an authentic recreation of a 60s garage band's jam den. The graffiti - ranging from simple tags such as 'XX was here' to song lyrics to drunken slurs (gibberish and profound) to an impressive psychedelic mural of a Crazy Elephant (pictured below) - added to the DIY ethic and the free-spiritedness of the Elephant.

The impressive psychedelic graffiti mural and the performing area

After we sat down a remarkable thing happened. A photographer asked us to pose, and this tall dude with long, blonde surfer-hair and a rockstar persona came by and photobombed us. The photo was printed onto these cards (pictured below), and I coyly went up to the dude later and gave one to him.

He turned out to be Claude Hay, the first performer of the night.

Claude's band includes a grand total of one person: himself. Besides being a one-man-band blues machine, he makes his own instruments (out of household articles as preposterous as a baking tray) and names them (Louise is made from a scrap bin lid, Stella from a baking tray). He plays the rhythm parts on a loop, has customized his guitars to sound like banjos, pianos and I even heard a bit of Sitar, rocks with the energy of a five-man band, and is totally phenomenal. Check him out below!

Most of all, he's extremely modest and to have him casually photobomb us like that was so, so cool of him.

Next up, we had another Australian band called the G. Nunan Band, who were equally hard rocking and talented - their frontman (Greg Nunan, duhh) even snapping a string or two while dishing out his blues. Oh, we had some food as well, which was tasty and all, but we were hungry for more music. We saw three more bands perform before we called it a long night. These bands were jam bands, some formed then and there, impromptu, made of bar regulars who did not want to be left behind in the festivities.

My friends asked me to watch out for the resident bassist Kamal and guitarist John Chee. They were awesome, Kamal with his slick groovy basslines and a very reserved John Chee playing sparely, giving other guest performers the limelight (check the two cover Voodoo Chile sometime in 2013 below: eargasmic).

For one, these jam bands surely turned up the volume. It got louder, looser - it was the alcohol doing the trick for them, probably. What was fascinating was that these were rather old people, who were minutes ago busy drinking and looking dull, but on strapping on their guitars gained an exuberance that spread infectiously through the sweet noise they made. Just looking at the facial contortions of this particular guy below who was super loud and made his guitar squeal and shred and shriek like a boss shows the passion and feeling these people played with. I'd like to have this passion for music when and if I get old :)

In the midst of the gaiety and the music, we met few people who were bizarrely impressed that three 17 year-olds were sitting through music that belonged to their grandparents' generation. One of them, a biker dude, showed us his prized tattoos featuring Anthrax, Slayer, Metallica and invited us to visit a metal themed biker bar nearby (we accepted his invitation with mild curiosity and fear). The other was a 47 year-old investment banker who called himself "the biggest Rolling Stones fan in the world", and said, with alcohol lingering in his breath, that he'd been to 14 of their concerts all over the world. In a fit of drunken profundity, he declared "The electronic bullshit teens listen to these days - It's all fucking bullshit" and we nodded our heads in agreement. He kept repeating how impressed he was, which told us how nice and how totally inebriated he was.

What a night! And just as we were about to leave, I saw a piece of graffiti on a shelf, which minted in chalk the final lines of the epic Stairway To Heaven - "To be a rock and not to roll." To its left was a shiny blue electric and a star within a star (a Hollywood walk of fame star maybe?) and together with the vintage wood, the whole setup seemed profound to me. A call to save, treasure and spread the holy music tradition of a bygone era. All I wanted to do was pick up the blue electric, plug it in, and play with what little proficiency I possess the ethereal intro of that song whose concluding lyrics said so much to me.

Perhaps the alcohol dispersed in the air in that clammy place had gotten into me. I was intoxicated, and it felt fabulous.

| TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL |

Motley Tunes #9

Motley Tunes is a weekly segment featuring an assortment of 2-4 songs I find worth sharing.

1. Hong Kong Garden by Siouxsie & The Banshees

Their first single: shiny, compact, a perfect post-punk song; was a shocker. Because it was too poppy, too perfect, given their otherwise uncompromising unconventional take on post-punk. Nevertheless, a brilliant if underrated song - faux Oriental riff (played edgily on a xylophone), Siouxsie's commanding vocals, sinister lyrics - concluded with a resounding gong to remind you just how Oriental it's trying to be.


2. November Rain by Guns N' Roses

Why? Because no November is complete without this epic pretentious melancholic masterpiece (thankfully) by a band otherwise known for foolhardy pretensions (just why, why the hell was Axl Rose braying like an ass on your trashy cover of Knocking On Heaven's Door?). Anyways, GnR do hold their shit here for 9 minutes (their only noteworthy achievement since Appetite For Destruction). Watch out for Slash's eargasmic solos on this one.

"Nothing lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
Nothing lasts forever 
In the cold november rain."

Rocking On The Shoulders Of Giants

How good music inspires more of the same.

There's a lot of 'borrowing' going around in the world of music -  riffs, chord progressions, melodies, other abstract but unmistakable ideas, styles, traits. Borrowing - accompanied usually by improvisation - as a mode of paying homage to one's idols. But there's acknowledgment, and there's imitation. The former respects the original musician while the latter (even if pursued with the noblest of intentions) disrespects. Nirvana borrowing from and building up on the Pixies' music was praised, but Vanilla Ice sampling Queen's 'Under Pressure' riff was dismissed as wannabe (although Ice Ice Baby was a success (his only one, thank God for that)). Imitation does have its plus sides though - there would be no Stayin' Alive without the Bee Gees starting off their careers as Beatles imitators. Where the line between paying homage and ripping off is drawn, is a matter of taste and does not really matter to me.

All I'm saying is, that too in three words - Influence progresses music. Good music is more often than not a product of the artists rocking on the shoulders of giants. Bands are seldom singular, one-of-a-kind; any individuality is not without the music these bands listened to, worshiped and studied in their nascent years creeping in in bits and pieces into their own music. Instead of brushing off these acts as imitative (Coldplay is just another Radiohead, what's so great about them), we must give them credit where credit is due (Coldplay did hold its own when Radiohead lost it in the late 2000s).

Enough of me yapping about influence. Let's hear it, see it cast its spell. I've outlined a 'chain of music' below - that traces just one, mind you, just one, vein of influence.

• Rumble by Link Wray

Power Chords. Distortion. A profound attitude. Vital elements in the arsenal of any hard rock guitarist - all trace back to this 150 second instrumental. Rumble's raw aggression made it the only instrumental song to be banned by radio stations for fear of inciting gang violence. Take that for badassery.

You know your song is influential if you have Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin) air-guitaring it circa 2010. If Pete Townsend (of The Who) says he "would have never picked up a guitar" if "it hadn't been for Link Wray and Rumble."

Which brings us to the first branch in our little chain - Led Zeppelin & The Who.

• "Heartbreaker" and "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin

For many, Led Zeppelin are synonymous with rock music. Their diverse canon, with its diverse influences ranges from bare-bones blues to rich folk to reggae rock to proto-metal. Their first four (modestly serialised Led Zeppelin I-IV) albums are part of every essential rock albums list you'll find. They drew heavily (at times bordering on plagiarism) from blues artists of their time - riffs, lyrics, melodies. Their attitude, their unabashed badassery, Page's in particular at least, would've been incomplete without Rumble.

Check out Heartbreaker and Immigrant Song, two LZ songs which, in my opinion. are remnants of Rumble infused into LZ's own brand of cock rock. An aggressive and potent mix of speed and power. 

That riff is classic Jimmy Page badassery. Also, formulaic power chords and distortion (thank you Wray!). 

A Viking folk tale told in a mystical, wailing tone against rumbling, advancing guitars and drums. 

• "My Generation" and "Who Are You" by The Who

If Led Zeppelin's canon is diverse, The Who's repertoire is eclectic. Their constant experimentation pushed the boundaries of rock and roll into the art rock and arena rock they settled into in their final years. Their wild, destructive live performances (which included guitar smashes) and lyrics which spoke for a generation perhaps gave them the moniker 'The Godfathers of Punk.' Their experimentation embrace of pop art in later years perhaps inspired the avant-garde and glam sensibilities of rock.

Their sheer mass makes it impossible to chart their influence fully, so let's enjoy two of their songs instead, again remnants of Rumble.

Lyrics which personified the then 'their generation' (what Nirvana did in the 90s and sadly, pop sellouts like Bieber are doing today), and form arguably the most concise description of youth rebellion - People try to put us d-down / Just because we g-g-get around / Things they do look awful c-c-cold / I hope I die before I get old (Talkin' bout my generation). The hyperactive bass, wild drums and stuttering vocals are mere embellishments.

While My Generation was one of their first, Who Are You? is one of their last songs. The former helped spawn punk rock, this one went on to impact more poppy and operatic acts (like Queen). 

Ah, branching gets even more convoluted now. Instead of going metalwards (must admit that I'm not too familiar with metal), lets make our way towards (and end this post at) alternative rock via Ramones, Queen and Nirvana (all influenced by Led Zeppelin & The Who in turn influenced by Link Wray - see how it grows?)

• "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones

The Who may have been the Godfathers of Punk, but the Ramones led the explosion of the genre in the 70s, mapping out a simple blueprint for punk rock - four chords, catchy tune, inane anti-establishment lyrics, black leather jackets - which would be followed for decades to come a la the Sex Pistols, Clash, Patti Smith, Green Day. 

• "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen

Queen were glam rockers, with a sound that belonged to stadiums, larger-than-life. To mention Queen in this context without mentioning Bohemian Rhapsody, to me, is unthinkable. They've poured their influences (heavy sound from LZ, avant-garde style from The Who), their own aesthetic of hard-rock and pseudo-classical music in these glorious six minutes. Though it doesn't reflect Queen's diversity, Rhapsody captures their essence.

• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana

Nirvana were more than 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' - but as in the case of Queen & Bohemian Rhapsody - SLTS captures the essence of Nirvana. Soft verse - loud chorus - soft verse; snarly, detached vocals; carnal lyrics; power chords and distortion (and more of it). With Nirvana, Kurt Cobain wanted to be "totally Led Zeppelin in a way and then be totally extreme punk rock and then do real wimpy pop songs;" he finally settled on that and a more abrasive sound (borrowed from The Pixies, who will be featured in the next post) to give birth to grunge. As SLTS went global and Nirvana were labelled as "The Voice of Generation X" (a label they absolutely abhorred), Alternative Rock was redefined - propped up from the obscure underground (Pixies, The Smiths, REM) to the non-mainstream overground. 

Listen closely and you'll see similarities between Rumble (our start point) and SLTS (our end point) - both ominous, aggressive, with ample distortion. We seem to have come a full circle. Or have we?

This chain, mind you, is not exhaustive. It's exhausting (for me to compile), but NOT exhaustive. The influences linked above can be extended, looped and traced on and on until all of modern music is connected like a family tree. One that bears sweet sound for fruits. To add on a leaf, a flower, a twig to that behemoth of a tree is my humble aim. 

Rocking On The Shoulders Of Giants will return and the chart below will grow!

Chunk of influence: Size of box proportionate to relative impact

Oscillate Wildely is back!

Oscillate Wildely? Why the name (besides the obvious wordplay on Oscar Wilde and the Smiths' reference)?

Oscillations. Ups and Downs, To and Fros, Back and Forths. Ad infinitum. Flames rising up from a hearth, Waves hitting the shore, Wind making a flag flutter, the Earth on its axis. Elementary motion.

Assuming, for a split second, some semblance of order, an equilibrium, before being disturbed. Striving for order again. Disturbed yet again by forces beyond its control.
Ad infinitum.

A predictable destination, an unpredictable path.

Like the lives we live. Dynamic, fluctuating, inescapable.

Knowing where to go but not how to go there or knowing how to go there but not knowing where. Clinging to the past, worrying for the future, forgetting the present.

Enter wildness. Chaos. A deliberate injection of more randomness to mock the forces beyond our control. For the heck of it.

Clinging only to the present. Because its there, because it can be held on to, made interminable without worry for what's happened or what will.

Chaos in order, order in chaos.

Like Music. For what is music but pleasant sound and what is sound but wild oscillations of air?

Oscillate Wildely, friends!


Thank you for getting through that eccentric, esoteric, enigmatic twaddle. Here's announcing my return (after what can only be described as a hellish time - exams, more exams designed as projects, more exams of the physical and emotional kind...).

Here are some tracks to kickstart this return. Here's to music!

1. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) - Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire's first song off their debut album - Funeral. Brilliantly textured, reflective, and such pretty (though serious) lyrics!

2. Karma Police by Radiohead

A Radiohead classic! Felt like sharing it because I've been listening it a lot these days!

3. Buddy Holly by Weezer

Chill, laid-back song by a chill, laid-back band! Don't tell me the 'OO WEE OO I look just like Buddy Holly' bit isn't catchy!

'Til next time!

Motley Tunes #7

Motley Tunes is a weekly segment featuring an assortment of 2-4 songs I find worth sharing. 

1. Obstacle 1 by Interpol

A dour, melancholic retelling of a love that isn't what it once used to be. Beautiful.

"I wish I could eat the salt off of your lost faded lips 
We can cap the old times, make playing only logical harm"

"She puts the weights into my little heart."

2. Slow Dancing In A Burning Room by John Mayer

To have heavily blues-inspired musicians like John Mayer in today's day and age is a priceless gift to music. This song demonstrates why.

The Strokes - New York City Boys

On The Strokes, who paved the way for revivalist garage rock in the new millennium with their sterling 2001 debut Is This It, in the process becoming one of the biggest indie rock bands of the last decade.

New York City, the year 2000. The Twin Towers tower over the bustling city, far above the underground nightlife that swings to repetitive, unoriginal 80s dance, or mean ghettos populated with diamond-studded rappers, or the midtown Manhattan airwaves brimming with plastic boy band pop. Rock music is out of the picture, has been so since Sonic Youth, or perhaps even The Velvet Underground. The city is beckoning, beseeching someone new to take over. Five kids sporting the choicest of leather jackets swagger their way in. Right place, right time, with just the right music.

These brats knew they owned the goddamned scene all along. Heck, do they look like they care?

The explosion of The Strokes, first onto NYC's music scene and then the world rejuvenated the then directionless indie rock scene. Their sterling debut album, Is This It, WAS it. The media proclaimed them as the 'saviors of rock & roll.' The hype grew, so did the band's fan base, and with this some began to dismiss them as 'just another band' that would die amid the hype and fade into nothingness.

Messiahs or not, they were a bloody solid band. Self-assured without succumbing to arrogance. The 11 tracks on Is This It, packaged under a tight 36 minutes, are produced with unbelievable crispness and finesse. The songs explore the pleasures, frustrations and oddities of the rambunctious 'big city life' in the Big Apple. Frontman Julian Casablancas sings with calm aggression in a cool, detached way that has cocky written all over it. The album's chief appeal however, comes from the background wall of chugging guitars and mechanical drums. The Strokes layer basic riffs, beats and melodies to produce an efficient, minimalist and deceivingly simple sound. A sound which revived old-school garage rock (à la The Stooges, The Velvet Underground) and paved the way for a new wave which still continues to sweep the music world (à la Interpol, Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys). 

Here's Is This It. Prepare to be charmed.

Essential tracks: Hard To Explain, Soma, Last Nite & Take It Or Leave It. 

Bands who release excellent first albums find it difficult to match expectations with their second outing. The Strokes decided to retain their signature sound for their second album Room on Fire, essentially conceiving a twin brother for Is This It. 11 tracks, 33 minutes, chugging rhythms, same old same old. They played safe, the album was successful, but the need to evolve was apparent, more so because the indie rock scene was booming and new bands were sprouting by the hour.

Their third album First Impressions of Earth saw them incorporate synthesizers into their vision of retro-rock (like many other bands of the time, The Killers for instance). The first five songs are everything a Strokes' fan could ever want from them; like the brilliant opener 'You Only Live Once' which blessed the YOLO trend way before it became hip. The rest of the album is a mess, gone is the airtight coherence and self-assuredness the Strokes were so oozing with back in the Is This It days.

The Strokes embraced YOLO before it became mainstream. If that isn't ubercool, what is?

Perhaps that's why the Strokes then took a long break, with Casablancas pursuing a solo project in the meantime. They returned with the inconsequential Angles in 2011 and a more welcome Comedown Machine in 2013. What was apparent was the Strokes' move to draw inspiration from their contemporaries (some of them in turn inspired by The Strokes) (snakes swallowing their own tails, anyone?). Their embracement of an ambient synth sound and Casablancas singing in falsetto (what in god's name, right?) was surprising too. Comedown Machine turned out be somewhat of a consolation, had throwbacks to Is This It and was lively and fresh in patches, Tap Out and One Way Trigger being a few.

On a personal note, The Strokes' music was the reason I started listening to more 00's indie rock (over 70s rock, which I was super into before I fell in love with Is This It). They sound so fresh, so alive (just like the big city life they sing about) that I find myself going back to listening their songs now and then just to reassure myself that good music still exists. And you're more likely to drown in the exuberance of their chiming guitars than in the Pacific Ocean. Drown away, my friends!


When The Strokes started out, Casablancas wanted them to sound like a band from the past that took a time trip into the future to make their record. About fifteen years in, they seem to have departed from that vision in the quest to evolve and stand out. Unlike bands that peak early and diminish into insignificance, the Strokes seem to have prolonged a hit to a brick wall. Perhaps, for them, the only way ahead into the future is to look back into the past.

Motley Tunes #6

Motley Tunes is a weekly segment featuring an assortment of 2-4 songs I find worth sharing. 

1. Paranoid Android by Radiohead

Radiohead at their absolute finest. The Stairway to Heaven of the 90s this song is, if you ask me. Beautiful.

2. The Air Near My Fingers by The White Stripes

Jack White, despite the distorted guitars, his raw punk-ish voice and amateurish production comes up with a surprisingly charming song. The song is good on its own, but his boyish charm and the sweet line"I get nervous when she comes around" take it a notch higher.

Motley Tunes #5

Motley Tunes is a weekly segment featuring an assortment of 2-4 songs I find worth sharing. 

1. The Dark Of The Matinee by Franz Ferdinand

Stumbled upon Franz Ferdinand last week. They're solid. This song's my favourite thus far. Solid intro riff, catchy hook, sexy lyrics (like really sexy) and most laudable of all - they actually use the word 'Matinée' in a song (and repeat it four times in the chorus) and execute all of it with aplomb.

"You take your white finger,
slide your nail under 
the top and bottom buttons of
my blazer,
Relax the fraying wool, slacken ties,
And I'm not to look at you in the shoe, 
but the eyes, find the eyes" (how sexy is that huh?)

2. I Will Dare by The Replacements

This one's from the 80s, a charming love-song but more importantly one of the early famous jangle-pop songs that formed the cornerstone of the 80s-90s alt rock movement. 

"Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime
Now I don't care, meet me tonight 
If you will dare, I will dare"

Some Din & Tonic For The Friday Blues

The Harvard Din & Tonics graced Victoria Junior College this morning in their impeccable tuxedos and lime green socks, treating us with a melodic dose of A capella music. 

Armed just with their vocal chords, dashing strides and a zany sense of humor, they won over Victorians' hearts with not just their music, but also with their presence. What a beautiful way to start our otherwise dry Friday mornings! 

They performed their own acapella renditions of popular jazz, doo-wop and soul numbers from the golden era (Summertime, The Lady Is A Tramp and their signature gag Sh-Boom) as well as contemporary pop (McDonald's Girl, which was undoubtedly the most loved). They even counted from 1 to 40 in a whimsical yet lovely acapella style. We were also privy to the Din & Tonic piano, popcorn, bowling and a black McDonalds logo (they formed these things ingeniously using their bodies and tuxs). 

Midway through Sh-Boom, as is their custom, the Tonics enacted a rather horsey joke :P

They take you to maybe, just maybe the first time you had ... .... .... .... a cheeseburger!

They weren't just singers with pretty faces, they were true-blue showmen. And they put on a great show. Even though I don't dig acapella and jazz, they gave me a genial introduction to it. Indeed, the group showed great pride in its rich tradition and musical roots, and I'm glad we could get a peek of it.

The current members of the Harvard Din & Tonics

Oh, and on the Singapore leg of their ongoing 10 week world tour, they're doing a very special charity concert at Singapore Polytechnic tomorrow. They plan to raise half-a-million SG$ for a very noble cause! 

After their performance they had a booth where they were selling CDs but most of us were more interested in a meet-and-greet (lol)! Even though they were ambushed by hundreds of their most recent fans, they were really nice and took like thousands of pictures with us! Me and my buddy Karan managed to take pics with some of the Dins too, yaay!

(Middle pic) Me: "What's up with the lime green socks?"
The fella on my right: "We're just cool like that."

(Bottom left pic) He resembles Paul McCartney, doesn't he, no? No (?

Motley Tunes #4

Motley Tunes is a weekly segment featuring an assortment of 2-4 songs I find worth sharing. 


1. Travelling by Paper Lions

This song has an extraordinarily pleasant vibe that just feels so good!

2. Happy Before by The John Steel Singers

The John Steel Singers mess around with their pop beautifully in 'Happy Before.'

3. How You Like Me Now? by The Heavy

Great fusion of raspy soul and spiky garage rock.

Soft Silly Music Is Meaningful, Magical - A Tribute To Neutral Milk Hotel

On one of the most eccentric yet most loved indie bands - the Jeff Mangum-led Neutral Milk Hotel. 

Everything about Neutral Milk Hotel lies in the realm of the eccentric. 

Take their name for example - three words from the English language which even a randomised word generator would find difficult to bring together. 

Or the fact that they disbanded soon after ballooning into popularity (following the release of their second and final album 'In The Aeroplane Over The Sea') due to Jeff Mangum's nervous breakdown. Mangum, it seemed, was alienated from his music because of the attention he was getting, and took to being a recluse instead of embracing the fandom. 

Not to mention that their music is some of the oddest you'll ever experience. Like a curio at a museum which can only be gawked at in awe but never be comprehended.

Listen to this, the 2 min opening track of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. It's called 'The King Of Carrot Flowers, part 1' and talks about moms sticking forks into dads' shoulders and dads dreaming of different ways to die. Don't look at me like that, I told you NMH were nutcases right from the start. 

This is either madness... or brilliance, isn't it?

It's remarkable how often these two traits coincide. (Jack Sparrow would concur)

This is exactly how I felt after listening to all of 'In The Aeroplane Over The Sea.' This was either the work of an advanced genius or that of an utter bonghead. NMH were either out of their minds or simply ahead of their time. How about both? Okay? Okay. 

NMH's debut 'On Avery Island' did justice to their eccentricity, but not their musical ability. It was soft, fuzzy music with strange, silly lyrics expressing surreal, cryptic ideas - but it wasn't coherent enough, it wasn't chaotic enough, it wasn't emotionally mature enough. It wasn't Mangum-ish enough.

It did produce this gem of a song, though. (Lyrics)

Not that coherence and chaos are complementary, or that emotion and depth are demanded of soft, silly music to begin with. Ostensibly, we are dealing with opposites here. The oddball mind, or rather the astute genius of Jeff Mangum did however bring all of these qualities out in the musical roller-coaster that is In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, NMH's masterpiece.

Essentially a concept album (though what the concept is is anybody's guess), the album's 11 songs are flush with everything that On Avery Island lacked. Lo-fi fuzz rock - driven by rich acoustic guitars playing no more than 4 simple chords and incorporating musical saws, trumpets, accordions and horns. A marching band on an acid trip. Fueled by the indomitable Mangum's raw emotive energy that envelops, comforts and impassions you like a snuggly eiderdown. The lyrics packaged in these irresistible melodies are cryptic yet accessible, nonsensical yet meaningful, bizarre yet familiar. Classic Mangum, classic Neutral Milk Hotel.

Thematically, Aeroplane talks about the light anguishes of adolescence, fleetingness of life or just about anything in the universe. It all depends on how you view Mangum's view of the world. The lyrics do however make a lot of references to the legendary Anne Frank. Indeed, legend has it that one fine day Jeff Mangum read The Diary Of Anne Frank and was moved like never before.

"I would go to bed every night and have dreams about having a time machine and somehow I'd have the ability to move through time and space freely, and save Anne Frank. Do you think that's embarrassing?" - Mangum in an interview with Puncture Magazine

Aeroplane is essentially the product of Mangum's romanticism of Anne Frank. The love child of Mangum and Anna's ghost, if I may and if you will.

Having said that, trying to give meaning to any of these 11 songs is an exercise in futility. We are touring Mangum's universe in a synthetic flying machine, guided by the man himself. A world wrapped in gold silver sleeves, covered in semen-stained mountaintops where it is strange to be anything at all. Mangum's imagery is ridiculous (With pulleys and weights / creating a radio played just for two / In the parlor with a moon across her face), sometimes depressing (The only girl I've ever loved / was born with roses in her eyes / but then they buried her alive) and totally out of this world (God is a place / Where some holy spectacle lies) but undeniably beautiful. Tugging at, playing with the fragility of our heartstrings. Soft, silly music IS meaningful, magical.

Neutral Milk Hotel haven't released anything original since Aeroplane, have reunited a few times and rare Jeff Mangum sightings at obscure places are reported once a while. For all we know, Mangum is busy building his time machine to save Anne Frank from the clutches of the Nazis (or has he already done so?).

Here's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea in its curious entirety. Enjoy!

Motley Tunes #3

Motley Tunes is a weekly segment featuring an assortment of 2-4 songs I find worth sharing. 

The lineup for this week graces 3 songs with uber-cool bass work.  

1. Under Pressure by Queen (and David Bowie)

Two notes - that's all it took Deacon & Queen to compose this iconic riff that has cool written all over it. Vanilla Ice shamelessly sampled the bassline for his 'Ice Ice Baby' crap.

Freddie Mercury once said 'F*** You' to a packed Wembley stadium while performing this song (2:04), only to send the damned audience cheering, clapping and howling wildly ;)

2. Always Like This by Bombay Bicycle Club

Mellow, snuggly and emotionally raw, even more so cuz of its bassline. My favourite BBC track so far.

PS. They're having a gig in Singapore next Tuesday, and guess who can't make it because he's got no $$$ :(

3. For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica

On the other end of the spectrum, this thrash gem by Metallica features some crazy bass work. Particularly enamoured by this live performance of the song, where Rob Trujillo prances around like an animal while working his sick bass.

There you go, songs of differing intensities, all featured here because of their superb basslines.

Power Napping To Echoes by Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd's epic Echoes, at about 24 minutes long, is a great accompaniment for an invigorating power nap!

I love taking power naps, between 20-60 minutes long, and one fine day, I decided to take one while listening to the longest song I had in my iTunes library - at 23.5 minutes - Echoes.

This song is a real beast. Opens with shrill pings that seem to resonate from the edge of the universe. A slick rundown of the chords follows, so do the first four verses, which have a much earthly feel to them. They seem to talk about evolution - the stubbornness with which life survives, the interdependence with which it persists.

Again, seem is key here. After all this song has had several famous interpretations - that it paints a picture of life struggling to survive a massive tsunami (a la 2012); or that each minute of the song represents one hour of the day and each section of the song corresponds to moods felt during parts of the day (lazy mornings, dull afternoons, you know). People (frenetic fanatics rather) have noted how sections of the brilliant movie 2001: A Space Odyssey sync perfectly with the song. Eerie.

Okay, I drifted off a bit there. Back to our song: a guitar solo follows the verses, and this eases in beautifully to a funky groove (the sort that you bob your head to). It then leads into a rather strange section filled with guitar feedback. Feedback that sounds like a seagull in distress, or a whale. Gilmour the master at work. A rundown follows this controlled noise, and leads in to the final verses. The song ends with some calm guitars that fade out softly.

But ah, you'll say, what's this gotta do with the nap? As brilliant as the song is on its own, it has a charm to it, a magical spell that works its magic therapeutically. I've found myself sound asleep before the electronic seagull sounds come in (~ 10 min into the song) and quite awake at the end of the final verse (~21 min into the song). Waking up to the calm guitars that fade out the song gives me that feeling of being transported to a heavenly place. Unaware of where I am, what time it is or what I was doing before my nap. Fresh as a dew-covered flower that basks in the first rays of sunlight.

Pardon me for being dramatic, but the song's to blame for bringing out the dramatic in me. Pink Floyd have created a masterpiece here, one that I'm still learning to appreciate (due to its sheer length). They scarcely intended their song to be somebody's power nap accompaniment. But there you go, music touching souls in ways the artist hardly intended it to. 

So if you're in the habit of power napping (or would like to give it a try), try a 24-minute nap while listening to Echoes. Do have an alarm on hand to stop you from oversleeping, though. Way to get re-energized to tackle the shit life hands you!

The Smiths - A Light That Never Goes Out

On my favourite band - indie legends The Smtihs. 

The Smiths (from left to right):Andy Rourke (bass), Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (lead guitar) & Mike Joyce (drums)

Four misfits who came to be spokesmen for a million others. In Morrissey-Marr, music history finds itself the oddest of collaborations - the former adored Oscar Wilde and 60s girl-groups; was a recluse and sang in a self-absorbed, detached, woebegone manner. The latter was inspired by more traditional artists such as The Who, Patti Smith and George Harrison; was an extrovert and carried a lively, jangling sound with his nimble guitar-playing. Their different styles, surprisingly, jelled well, and together with Rourke & Joyce, helped create a distinctive sound never before heard in rock music.

Morrissey provided the lyrical direction and stage persona. Their songs resonate with the hapless romantic, the maladjusted adolescent, the introverted wallflower and just about everyone who has ever had a lovelorn heart. They aren't miserabilists, mind you, oh no, instead they are the antidote to depression. Their lyrics offer a humorous slant on the most emotional of matters, comforting you out of your misery. That's Moz for you, friends - the potent poet, the sagacious seer, the witty nut.

Morrissey, shy, introverted off-stage yet the most outlandish of performers on it. British NHS glasses (hip much?), loose-fitted shirts and gladioli stuffed in his back pockets were his trademark. Marr, outgoing, extroverted off-stage worked his magic on stage in the background. In the Smiths' live shows, he was hardly there yet made his presence felt. Absurd, right? The Smiths do tend to have that impression.

The Smiths on stage. Moz in front (with shades, loose shirt and gladioli and all) while Marr and the others in the background. 

Marr, on the other hand, provided the musical genius and kept the band together. His guitar melodies are so complex, so unique that he himself couldn't perfectly replicate them. The Stone Roses and Oasis (and therefore every other Brit guitar rock act) owe their sound to him. He is not a guitarist you identify by a cute riff or a pompous solo, but by his entire body of work.

"That man's a f****** wizard" - Noel Gallagher (of Oasis fame). 'Nuff said.

So what do we have here?
A band that lasted for a mere 5 years
Made just 4 proper albums
Never released a bad, shitty song (I might be a teeny bit biased here)
But left an enduring legacy.

By the bye, Perks of Being a Wallflower and 500 Days of Summer were responsible for introducing me to the Smiths. Not the best of ways to discover them, but boy am I glad that I did.

There are only so many bands that write life-saving songs. Songs which rescue listeners from abysmal lows by breathing a new life into them. So what if the songs are 30, even a 100 years old? Do the universal feelings of love and angst that these songs speak about change? Nope, such songs are timeless. Such bands are timeless. The Smiths are such a band.

There's a lot of clamour for a Smiths' reunion, lot's of money being offered, tons of fans (new ones especially, like me) eager to relive them. Chances are extremely slim, probably nonexistent, but hope never dies. Like the ephemeral dazzle of fireworks or the delicate fractals in a snowflake, some things are not meant to be relived, or replicated. Maybe The Smiths are such a snowflake, such a firework. The aftereffects of their combustion will however, never die. The beacon of solidarity they lit in every heart they touched, that light, will never go out.

Here are a few 'essential' Smiths songs for your wonderment. 

1. Hand In Glove

(Lyrics).The most romantic song ever written IMO. Has many interpretations due to its sexually ambiguous nature - which makes it even more romantic!

"No it's not like any other love, this one is different because it's us"

2. This Charming Man

Found this cute stick animation video! This song is trademark Smiths - Moz's croon overlaying jangly, driving guitars. 

"Why pamper life's complexities when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat"

3. How Soon Is Now?

This song is to the Smiths what Stairway to Heaven is to Led Zeppelin. Iconic tremolo opening, profound lyrics. Probably their most respected masterpiece. 

"I'm human and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does."

4. Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want

Following their longest song (How Soon Is Now?) is this, the shortest song in their catalogue at 1:52. Its length doesn't undermine its beauty, simplicity and feeling one bit.

5. What She Said

(lyrics) One of their lesser-known hardest, jangliest songs. Polarising. Piercingly witty.

"I smoke cuz I'm hoping for an early death. And I need to cling to something, what she said"

6. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

3 minute pop perfection. 

"How can they see the love in our eyes, and still they don't believe us"

7. Ask

Ask me if this is one of their good songs, I won't say no, how could I? 

"Coyness is nice, and coyness can stop you, from saying all the things in life you'd like to"

"If it's not love, then its THE BOMB THE BOMB THE BOMB THE BOMB THE BOMB that will bring us together"

8. Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

No seriously, stop me if you think you've heard this one before. I won't give any excuses, only laugh at you.

"Nothing's changed, I still love you, oh I still love you, only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love"

9. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

Starts off with a piano played over the voice of protesters. The wait for the chorus is worth it, I tell you, for it'll leave you with guaranteed goosebumps. Beautiful, soul-wrenching lyrics.

"Last night I felt real arms around me. No hope, no harm, just another false alarm." 

10. Asleep

Hauntingly beautiful.
Any other comment on this song would be a sin.

"Don't feel bad for me, I want you to know.
Deep in the cell of my heart, I will feel so glad to go."

11. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

Probably their most popular song. One listen and it's not hard to say why. Bleakly romantic. It would be a privilege to die by the side of your loved one, wouldn't it?

"And in the darkened underpass, I thought, oh god! My chance has come at last."
But then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask."

Happy listening, and I hope you find the Smiths beautiful in ways I haven't yet. 

Motley Tunes #2

Motley Tunes is a weekly segment featuring an assortment of 2-4 songs I find worth sharing. 

1. The City by The 1975

(lyrics) This electro-dance group puts the synth-driven beats of the 80s in a more modern context. Ambitious (and hailing from Manchester) - they have big shoes to fill in. Expecting more from them soon! And oh, they're playing in Singapore next week (I'm giving them a skip, though).

2. Tap Out by The Strokes

(lyrics) On their 5th album Comedown Machine, The Strokes venture into softer, synth-driven territory without forgetting their garage-rock roots. Tap Out features a lovely beat, two gorgeous, contrasting melodies and their trademark chugging guitars (+ a solo, yay!).

"Decide my past, define my life, don't ask questions cuz I don't know why"

Two excellent synth-driven dance tracks for this week, ya!

Motley Tunes #1

Motley Tunes is a weekly segment featuring an assortment of 2-4 songs I find worth sharing.

1. Fluorescent Adolescent by Arctic Monkeys

Amusing music video, this.

My favorite Arctic Monkeys song. Has a nostalgic ring to it, which makes one reminisce about the good ol' days. The lyrics are quite wild but very witty - "was it a Mecca dauber or a betting pencil" (did he have a long 'pencil' or a short one? :O) - always makes me chuckle. The fact that Alex Turner sings in his trademark Sheffield accent adds to the song's sexiness. AM reminds us that adolescence is a very colorful time that must be cherished. 

2. Heavy Metal Drummer by Wilco

Oh those drums, oh that cheerful yet wistful mood! Have we not ever fallen head over heels for a charming band member? A pretty bassist, or that handsome singer?  I love being naive when it comes to crushes, don't we all do? On growing up, I hope I look back on the line "I miss the innocence I've known" (song lyrics here) and cherish this naivety.

So yeah, there you go, two great songs, both having different takes on yearning about a life once lived (oh how I brood over my early teens!). May they make your day!

This is The One

On one of my favorite albums so far - The Stone Roses' self-titled debut. 

The Stone Roses (Reni, Ian, Squire and Mani). My, you can read the arrogance from their faces!

In 1989, this quartet of ambitious British lads released a timeless album. Blending psychedelic music of the 60s, dance music of the 70s and the then growing 80s guitar pop - their effort was perfect fodder for accompanying the raves and trips of the day. It was the seminal 'Madchester' (basically a music scene in Manchester where you abuse Ecstacy and dance like crazy) album that inspired many imitations and spin-offs. But, since not many really care about the obscure drug-fueled 80s anymore, let me get straight into the 13 beautiful tracks this album offers. Tracks which were early milestones of Indie Rock, which partly initiated and helped inspire countless Britpop acts (such as Oasis).

The songs remain fresh even today (they do form a timeless album, remember). In the opener, 'I Wanna Be Adored,' Ian is at his narcissistic best, nonchalant, expecting to be adored. Listen closely for its amazing bassline and guitar hook, which effortlessly leads into 'She Bangs the Drums,' a bass-riff driven pop masterpiece that is undeniably catchy, irresistibly hummable. 

I don't know what instrument gives 'Elephant Stone' its novel rhythm (probably a wah-wah), but its bloody good. Groovy, dreamy, ethereal. Speaking of ethereal, the single riff-driven 'Waterfall' fits the label. Numbingly therapeutic.

'Don't Stop' and 'Elizabeth My Dear' are probably the only incongruous tracks in the otherwise solid album. The former is very experimental (with backward guitar parts and what not) while the latter is just a one-minute Queen Elizabeth dis. 'Bye Bye Bad Man' (incidentally the title of the superb album art), 'Sugar Spun Sister' and 'Made of Stone' on the other hand, are simply put, just brilliant. 'Shoot You Down' and 'This is The One' are softer, dreamier and just carry you away into a world with candy-floss clouds and licorice roads.

The album closes with two ambitious dance tracks (with spare vocals), each over 8 min long. 'I am the Resurrection' is wistful, with long dance sections which I find tedious. 'Fools Gold' on the other hand, with its looping drums and spiky guitars, is the best album climax in history. It takes just one listen for its rhythm to insidiously creep inside of you and urge you, no, leave you with no choice but to dance. Oscillate wildly to it, friends!

Recommended Album Picks!

Take out an hour from your lives and listen to this as a whole, for the tracks flow from one to another effortlessly. Best listened while travelling, or before sleeping, for you'll be transported into a dreamy world (candy-floss clouds and licorice roads, remember?). 

As a whole, The Stone Roses is brash without being loud, self-assured without being over the top and so confidently executed that it lies in the realm of larger-than-life, genius albums. Each song has a limited vocal range yet is simple, catchy, infectious, and in this The Roses turn their weakness - Ian's vocal ability - into their greatest strength. Reni's watertight drumming (especially on 'Elephant Stone') is greatly commendable. Squire's guitar work is dreamy yet exuberant. Even the Roses couldn't match (or even come close to) this behemoth, ever again. It would be the most Herculean of tasks to overthrow this beauty as my favorite album.

Music, a lifebuoy

"A sad fact widely known 

The most impassionate song 

To a lonely soul 

Is so easily outgrown 

But don't forget the songs 

That made you smile 

And the songs that made you cry 

When you lay in awe 

On the bedroom floor"

- Rubber Ring by The Smiths

Music is a rubber ring saving us from drowning in the sea of bad feelings raging in our minds. A life preserver that rescues all regardless of age or gender. A shaft of sunlight illuminating the most desolate of hearts. A spark of fire igniting the darkness that clouds the brain. You get it. Enough of the fancy language then.

Being a voracious listener of modern music (rock in particular) for the last 4-5 years, I've found it to be a savior in the lowest and a companion in the highest points of my life. The songs I've heard have made me smile, cry, and lie in awe on my bedroom floor. They've spoken to me in ways the musicians would've never intended them to. Given me new perspectives and all that. By sharing them here on oscillate Wildely, I hope they never outgrow me and I never forget them. I'll write about some of my favourite songs/album/how they made me feel/what makes them good as well as recommending some of them. So this is like a personal music blog, if you will!

Don't dismiss me as a pretentious, show-offy snob just yet. Cast all notions and ideas you've had about music (especially pop music) aside and enjoy the ride. Put on your headphones and oscillate wildly to the sound of music!

PS. Oscillate Wildly is a brilliant instrumental by The Smiths (you must've guessed my favourite band by now :D) whose title is a play on Oscar Wilde (another figure I deeply regard) and a call to immerse in the music by grooving to it without inhibition - hence the name of the blog.