I had a chocolate muffin for breakfast this morning. I feel dirty.
Sometimes I have a blueberry muffin, which is ok because the blueberry is The Official Breakfast Fruit (tm). Fruit for breakfast is ok, even if it's surrounded by tons of dense, sugary cakey stuff.
But a chocolate muffin is indefensible.
It was quite nice though. And I had a bottle of orange juice, so that should even it out.
I never really have breakfast, so I'm a bit inexperienced in the enterprise. It's just trial and error at this point. At one stage, I was jamming a hole-punch in my mouth, hoping it would provide some early-morning nutrients.
Then I tried eating a big bowl of reticence. But not only was that not a traditional breakfast dish, it wasn't even a physical substance but merely a concept (and thus failed to satiate me).
So, I'm learning, like a toddler taking its first chubby steps.
Hole-punch > Reticence > Chocolate Muffin
I'm making real progress.
***
Here's a fun little blog item:
The iPod Shuffle List
I put myPod on random, and see what turns up. I can talk about my views on the song, reminisce about where I heard it, interpret the lyrics, or anything that comes to mind. It will be fun, and educational too!
There will be no cheating, no matter how boring/disturbing the results.
I'll do ten to start with, and we'll see how it goes.
Track #1
The Divine Comedy - Come Home Billy Bird (Absent Friends)
Ooh, something good to start with! This is from their underrated Absent Friends album, and is a real peach (as Adam Buxton would say). This album reminds me of my last year of university, and is full of interesting gems.
This was the first single, I think, and is a joyful pop number. I quite like songs that tell a story, and this is about a business man trying to get home to his son's football match. It's quite upbeat, and deals with an interesting issue. Catchy chorus too!
This also features vocals from ex-Kenickie and current Culture/panel Show mainstay Lauren Laverne, who seems pleasant, but a bit disturbing for some reason.
Anyway, full marks, Mr Hannon.
Track #2
The Breeders - Too Alive (Title TK)
I'm not the biggest Breeders fan in the world. Nothing against them, but I have only this album. You can't go wrong with Kim Deal's vocals, though. She is pretty cool. But I think she knows it a bit too much.
This is a cool little track, but nothing mind-blowing. I think I find that with The Breeders. I like all the tunes, but nothing ever really soaks in. Perhaps I'm overly fond of Frank Black, and subconsciously find myself on his side of the ex-Pixies (Exies?) divide.
Track #3
Oasis - Some Might Say (What's the Story Morning Glory?)
Hey, I haven't heard this for ages!
I suppose I follow the pattern of most Oasis fans: I loved Definitely Maybe and this album, but then got bored. And now I get really annoyed and bored by them. I heard their new single recently, and it's as dull as watching grey paint dry on a filing cabinet full of grey paint.
I will give them credit though. When I was first learning the guitar, my Oasis songbook was a godsend because it was full of things that were easy to play. That's probably a good thing - music should sometimes be accessible. It's good for a rubbish teenager to be able to strum along with famous songs.
Anyway, this track is pretty standard Oasis stuff. And it does take me back to 1995 (I think). I was 13 and probably quite miserable. But I don't think that was down to the music, just me being a surly teen. No complaints with the track, but no erections either.
Track #4
Evan Dando - Rancho Santa Fe (Baby I'm Bored)
This list has been surprisingly credible so far. I'm still waiting for the cringingly embarrassing track. A friend turned me on to Dando and The Lemonheads. I used to like them a lot, but haven't been compelled to revisit them recently.
I like Dando's voice. It's kind of deep and weary. This isn't one of my favourite tracks on the album though. It's quite atmospheric, but I'm looking for something more in the way of bouncy guitar-pop. I quite like the outro though - everything sort of breaks down. I think it was intentional, but he might have just got bored (the album title is a clue).
Track #5
Black Eyed Peas - Rap Song Ft Wyclef (Bridging the Gap)
Hey, here's something slightly embarrassing!
I used to really like the Black Eyed Peas. I hope this doesn't turn into one of those 'I liked them first' deals, but their first album was really good. They were one of my favourite hip-hop bands. But this, their second album, was a bit of a disappointment, despite featuring some cool people (Chali 2na, Mos Def).
After that, they added an attractive woman (Fergie), and released that Where Is The Love? track, and became really big. I don't know if I've lost interest in their early stuff because they're now very uncool (if so, shame on me), or if it's just not as good as I remember.
In any event, this song is shit. You shouldn't mention better bands than you in your song. It makes people realise they could be listening to something better.
Track #6
Pixies - Ana (Bossanova)
Oh dear, I've already mentioned Pixies (should I put a 'The' in there? Probably not according to indie pedants, but screw them).
Everything by the band is good, so I'll go for a lyrical analysis here.
This is about a woman. Perhaps a mystical woman. Of the sea - a goddess. Aloof and ethereal.
What does 'Eleven High' mean?
He probably just saw a hot chick on the beach.
That analysis was good, wasn't it?
This is a pretty intense song, regardless.
Track #7
The Verve - So It Goes (Northern Soul)
Ugh.
If Oasis are boring, The Verve are the droning in the background. They are perhaps the most humourless band in the world, and their new song is awful.
But I'll give them a chance. I don't know this song at all.
...
Oh God, it's over six minutes long.
...
I imagine this is what it's like to get shot in the stomach. Now I know how Tim Roth felt.
...
It's not really that bad, I'm being facetious. But it is pretty uninspiring. I imagine it would sound a lot better if it was sped up about three times. It would probably be like a Melt Banana song.
'I'm just a boy in a white bandanna'? Is this song about Jack Evans? I suppose his is more of a do-rag.
Track #8
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - Scorpio (The Message)
Weirdly, there has been a lot of Grandmaster Flash coming up on myPod recently. I've been enjoying it, as I think I only bought this album through a sense of hip-hop history propriety.
A cool electro sample on this, complete with Stephen Hawking-style vocals. In terms of a computer voice, rather than the lyrics being about black holes.
It makes you realise how inventive hip-hop can be. You can use any genre you want and mix it up. It's a cool audio bricolage, and should probably have more respect as an art-form. Of course, ther's loads of shit hip-hop too, but that's probably true of any genre.
Except pan-pipe music. They're keeping it real.
Track #9
Wyclef Jean - Whitney Houston Dub Plate
This isn't really a song, but a little interlude with Houston.
I find Wyclef really annoying. He stirkes me (and this may be totally incorrect) as someone who thinks he's very political, but is actually very ill-informed.
I don't know if that's better than being ill-informed and apolitical. It probably is.
Track #10
Etienne De Cracy - Grokster (The Triptych)
I have no idea about this. It's 55 seconds long. It's part of a (very good) compilation by Fred Deakin from Lemon Jelly, which is like a massive mixtape, full of weird, good music. I highly recommend it.
This isn't really a song either. Let's see what Wikipedia has to say about this!
Wow! Nothing!
Oh, it's just spelled wrong. It's Etienne De Crecy.
Interesting - “what the music industry doesn’t understand, is that young people will not build their own music culture if they don’t have free access to the music.”
But people didn't used to have free access to music, and they seemed to create a music culture...
But I'm not arguing, it seems like the right idea. Although I'm not anti-capitalist, I think capitalism and art should be separated as much as possible.
[But what about music inspired by capitalism? What about capitalism as a way to spread awareness of music?]
Oh all right. I haven't though it through.
***
So, that's it. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Actually, I hope you enjoyed it more than I did. I'm selfless like that.
I also hope you're richer and better looking than me. And better at Tetris.
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