The Beatles - Rubber Soul

 A turning point in the Beatles' careers

Ask a group of ten people what their favourite Beatles record is and I’m sure you’ll probably have ten different answers.

Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road are largely considered as the best the Beatles ever did by lots of critics and fans. Some fans however prefer Magical Mystery Tour’s psychedelic pop, and other groups prefer the music they made before Rubber Soul.

Rubber Soul is probably my favourite, but also quite an interesting point in the Beatles’ discography.

There are a few exceptions, but most songs the Beatles wrote before Rubber Soul are largely simple pop ditties.

Rubber Soul marks the first time the Beatles started to mature as artists and songwriters.

The songs on Rubber Soul started to have a deeper layer of meaning or more sophisticated way storytelling.

It is also noticeable that the group started writing songs they couldn’t perform outside the studio. Instruments that were unusual for pop/rock at the time were also starting to enter the mix.

This is quite noticeable on Norwegian Wood, not only is this song one of Lennon’s strongest effort as songwriter, it is also the first time the sitar was used in a Beatles song.

Other favourites are Nowhere Man and In My Life.

Nowhere Man instrumentally with all the vocal harmonies, sounds to me as the music they wrote before Rubber Soul but perfected and at its most mature. The subject matter and the how it is delivered of course also helps to give the song a more mature sound.

In My Life is a heartfelt ballad about nostalgia and love. The melody here is catchy and beautiful at the same time. And the little piano solo that serves as bridge. It kind of sounds like a harpsichord and makes the song sound oh so British.

Considering the Beatles’ place in music and history it feels like quite an absurd thing to give them a simple recommendation.

Mostly because probably everybody with even a little bit of interest in music knows their music.

But for those few that haven’t yet had the pleasure to discover the wonderful pop music of the Beatles I say: not only from a musical point but also a historical, this is a band you should check out.

Suicide - Suicide

What if Kraftwerk went Punk?

The first thing Suicide proved when they released their debut was that the most important thing about Punk is attitude. Alan Vega and Martin Rev make up the duo that delivered us this milestone of Punk, New Wave and Electronic.

Sonically this record is nothing like a standard punk record. Here guitars and drums are discarded, and the only instruments here are Vega’s voice and Rev’s layers of synthesizers.

Vega’s lyrics tell urban tales  through characters often displaying paranoia, alienation and fear. Vega sings in a monotonous tone which is in great contrast to the monstrous shrieks and screams Vega makes. Little whimpers and moans all serve to make Vega’s characters even more disturbing.

I promise you, your hairs will raise on multiple times through this record. 

These tales are told upon the sound of Martin Rev’s synthesizers, which are the perfect fit for Vega’s vocals.

Old drum machines are pounding out repetitive rhythms which reminded me a lot of “No Wave” music.

The repetition and cold noisy synthesizers all come together perfectly in one driving sound that easily drowns you into the songs.

The melodies on here are surprisingly catchy and memorable as well, and I was definitely not expecting that from this sort of group.

The ten minute song “Frankie Teardrop” best displays the strength of both sides.

I recommend experiencing it yourself first, preferably in a dark and closed room.

The song builds slowly upon a driving rhythm and after a few seconds Vega introduces the character Frankie Teardrop and the situation Frankie and his family find themselves in.

I won’t spoil things too much but things are not going well for our poor Frankie. As the story progresses and the synthesizers hum louder and louder, Frankie takes some drastic actions for him and his family. The shrieks Vega makes through this song will make sure that next night you’ll sleep with your lights on.

I consider this one of my all time favourites, and I’ll repeat, this is a milestone for Punk, New Wave and Electronic. Everyone even mildly interested in those genres or (experimental) music as a whole should check out this classic record.

Weezer - Pinkerton and the Blue Album

Rivers Cuomo is my spirit animal.

Pinkerton is my favourite album. It is a personal album, and it is always difficult to review something that had such a big impact on your life.

When I first listened to Pinkerton there were many changes going on in my life. I was changing schools and growing up. It was a time where I often felt depressed and alienated.

Simply said, Pinkerton came at the right time in my life.

They even looked like us!

Let me explain Weezer for a little bit. They are of course a pop band; so their music is accessible for lots of folks, but their first two records are also hugely popular with a crowd we’ll call, for lack of a better word: geeks.

The lyrical themes on the Blue album deal with subjects geeks could quickly relate to. Couple that with some great and catchy power pop melodies and a sound that perfectly encapsulates the 90s alternative rock, and the Blue album was destined to become a 90s alternative rock legend.

Lately the thought appeared to me that Blue and Pinkerton may be two sides of the same coin. Where the coin represents being a teenager.

Blue deals with teenage topics in a lighter and more idealised way, and far often goes on about the nice things you have while growing up. With exception for “Say It Ain’t So” most serious topics are delivered in a tongue in cheek way, or using metaphors.

Pinkerton in stark contrast deals with these topics in a direct and extremely personal way. While writing Pinkerton, front man Rivers Cuomo felt alienated and depressed, coupled with the rock star lifestyle weighing down on him lead probably to a mental breakdown. This shows in the lyrics; serious topics are no longer dressed up and Rivers’ honesty does not show any borders.

For some Rivers’ honesty may be a big turn off, but for me and dozens of other (awkward) teenagers it felt amazing to hear something  was so relatable.

Musically Pinkerton also stands in some contrast to Blue; Blue has a very clean production which of course was perfect for what Weezer wanted to achieve with it.

Pinkerton on the other hand has a really raw production which greatly accompanies  River’ heartfelt delivery.

Both records of course have some of the best alternative rock hooks ever, but where Blue’s hooks are clean, Pinkerton’s hooks are raw and drenched in distortion.

That doesn’t mean that Pinkerton is only serious emotions and stuff like that.

“El Scorcho” for example has a lot of crazy things going on, from the guitar hook to all the stuff former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp does.

Pinkerton also displays what a great songwriter Cuomo was. Some songs have a little piano work here and there, the way “Pink Triangle” flows into “Falling For You” is also really neat, “Falling For You” also has quite some complex stuff going down for a Power Pop song, and of course the themes of the album is also cohesive through all songs.

In essence, why I love Pinkerton so much comes largely down to personal reasons and I suspect that is for most people that love Pinkerton as much as me, and again, it is quite hard to describe something that had such a big impact on your life. In my opinion everyone should just listen to Pinkerton for themselves and then see if they like it for its personal lyrics or perhaps its amazing song writing.

So do I consider Pinkerton the best record ever made? No, that honour goes to Mingus’ “Black Saint and The Sinner Lady. But I do consider Pinkerton my favourite, and Blue and Pinkerton are both two essentials of 90s rock music.

Perfume - Level 3

Fantastic future pop, as expected!

I am in no way a hater of pop music but I do find myself disliking, or not caring for a lot of top 40 music. Every record Perfume made since their début (Game) has had the number one position. So why do I love Perfume’s music so much?
Perfume is an Electropop trio produced by Yasutaka Nakata. A big name in J-pop and one of the key factors of the group’s success.
What I love so much about Nakata’s general sound is his forward looking view on pop music. Lots of pop acts take their influence from a contemporary hype or a past movement. And of course that can lead to great results. (Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience) But with a lot of Nakata’s productions and especially Perfume’s songs, the music has a distinct quality that gives of the sense that it belongs perfectly at home in a futuristic nightclub. The three girls are great pop vocalists of course and they give the music a lot of charisma. Nakata layers their voices, which sometimes don’t even sound human anymore through the use of voice effects and voice manipulation, upon these futuristic Electropop beats in such a way that it becomes the perfect pop music for me.

But enough about Perfume in general, let’s discuss Level 3 in particular.
Firstly, the singles versus the album mixes. Level 3 had an amazing set of singles preceding it. Even Spending All My Time and Mirai no Museum where great, or at least interesting Perfume material in my opinion.
I do however prefer the actual single versions over the album remixes.
The “Spring Of Life” remix has some nice changes where the bridge that has been added as intro brings some nice momentum as it rolls with even more joyful force into the fantastic chorus.
The “Magic Of Life” and “Spending All My Time” remixes weren’t as good in my opinion. The “Magic Of Life” remix blows the chorus up a bit too much and so loses a bit of its charm.
In comparison to the single; the “Spending All My Time” remix is not really good at all. The placement of some parts and, the way it builds up to the great sing-along parts are unsuccessfully done in my opinion.
Some of the remixes did give me the feeling the record flowed a bit nicer into each other and I can always enjoy that.

The great b-sides that are included bring a nice variety to the mix, and some of the new songs are strong growers and potential classics in Perfume’s discography. “1mm” in particular is perfect Perfume material.
“Point” is a gorgeous Drum and Bass inspired track, and “Handy Man” is such an “out there” pop track that reminded me a bit of Nakata’s work with Kyary Pamyu Pamyu on her last record.
Overall I think this is one of Perfume’s strongest efforts yet. To me it brings elements of Triangle and JPN greatly together and takes the strong points of both.
I recommend this record to everyone looking for a great forward thinking pop record and whoever wants to take a look into Japan’s pop music scene.