The other day I read in a magazine that Oasis is coming back, the new album is a lot better than the last few, and then there was an interview with the brothers Galagher. Who are total pricks, btw. I mean... I always knew they were, because everyone used to be like, "Man, those Oasis guys are such pricks!" But I'd never read or seen an interview myself. But, if anyone wants to know: they still are.

I borrowed my sister's (What's the Story) Morning Glory, which is the one that has Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova on it. Really.... I know no other Oasis songs, but those two are damn good, especially Champagne Supernova. I was kind of listening to the rest of the album, and kind of like Don't Look Back in Anger, but we'll see. It's kind of funny, I used to borrow that album from her all the time back in the day, but never even tried listening to the other songs, I was one of those lazy teenybopper people who wouldn't listen to it if it wasn't on the radio, or someone specifically reccomended a song to me (which--my sister reccomended Champagne Supernova to me, I'd actually never heard it on the radio, but I loved it). Wonderwall was one of the first non-oldies songs I ever loved, with Everclear's Santa Monica and Blues Traveler's Hook.

It's weird, my sister and I used to have the exact same taste in music (mainly pop-rock), and she turned me onto a lot. But now she only listens to pop, which I hate 90% of, and I more listen to rock and/or poppish stuff that is more obscure and (in my opinion) mature. She actually doesn't listen to much music at all anymore, actually, which I find sad. I wonder if I'll be that way when I'm her age too.

Anyway, I don't see what the whole thing is about Oasis copying the Beatles. I just can't see it. Especially since every rock band SINCE the Beatles shows SOME Beatles influence. And it's hard to nail down the Beatles to some specific sound, since their earlier songs are stuff like Chuck Berry covers, and then they end up singing psychedelic stuff like Strawberry Fields, and hit every sound in between. I know I know only 2 Oasis songs, but neither seem very beatlesque. Wonderwall sounds nothing like Penny Lane or Yellow Submarine, Let it Be or Paperback Writer, Champagne Supernova has never particularly reminded me of In My Life, or She Loves You, or Eleanor Rigby, Come Together, or A Hard Day's Night. Yes, I just wanted to show off how many Beatles songs I can come up with off the top of my head. I Am the Walrus! Can't Buy Me Love! Anyway.... the point is I find no Oasis song to coincide with any specific Beatles song, and find most rock has SOME Beatles influence.

Oh well. Better, infinitely, to copy off the Beatles than to copy off of Linkin Park. Yes, I'm looking at you, Evanescence! You copy off of Linkin Park! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 10:36 PM  | 

 
So Limp Bizkit is back together, puke. I noticed that when I was reading Rolling Stone today. Hopefully all their former fans have grown up enough that they don't like Limp Bizkit anymore. The charts seem to indicate a decline, but who knows.

The last time I saw Fred Durst he was literally standing around in the background of Be Cool doing nothing. And when I noticed that I was like, "That seems about right."

In other news... I got nothin' :P I just wanted to let everyone know how much I hate Fred Durst.
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 5:43 PM  | 

 
Oh, here's something else I wanted to mention. I was reading Entertainment Weekly, and I guess every issue there's a page in the back that they give to Stephen King to ramble about whatever he wants, but thankfully most of the time he's pretty decent. And by "most of the time" I mean "the two times I've ever read it." But still, I gots to give the scary man his props (because otherwise he'll hunt me down and feed me to Cujo).

This week his thing was how he loves d/ling MP3's, and before he started doing that he was getting to the point where he didn't really care about music anymore until he had this kind of renaissance about it brought on by the MP3 downloading. And then he mentions he makes a ton of mix tapes (CDs?) which... is another topic I'm sure I'll do someday, but the point is he listed out a bunch of songs he thinks you should download.

The only one on his list I'd actually heard of**: "Our Love" by Rhett Miller.

First off, it's more than a little creepy to realize you listen to the same stuff as Stephen King. Okay... it's only one song, and he probably is mostly a normal guy. But still.

Secondly, I can't believe Stephen King likes this song. I know he can't listen to dark and depressing stuff all the time, but this is a really peppy song.

I was about to say it was a happy song, but the lyrics actually aren't, when you think about them. The first verse is about Wagner, and this huge opera or some other piece of music he wrote for this lover* he had that was actually married to a friend of his or something. One time I actually looked all this up to see if it was true, and I think it was, but I can't remember all the details. And the next verse is basically the same situation but with Kafka. The chorus is a bit happier, proclaiming great things about "our love." Anyway, I just can't imagine Stephen King sitting there rocking out to it, though I WOULD love to see that.

Other facts about "Our Love" while I'm at it:

1) I consider it to be the only really worthwhile song on the album. "Four Eyed Girl" and "Come Around" are the only other songs on it I even listen to, and their lyrics are so cheesy ("I'm dressed all in blue/and I'm remembering you"? Eyw.) I have difficulty getting past them. Which... you'd think a guy who could write a good song about Kafka and Wagner could pull something better out of his sleeve, but I guess he couldn't. I do, however, like his work with the Old 97's. I have Satellite Rides and enjoy every bit of it. I've not bought any of their other CD's, though, as I've heard their sound varies widely from record to record, and I've not been in the mood to risk buying another album that could turn out crappy like Rhett's solo.

2) I was actually really excited when this song was on Scrubs once. It was when J.D. and Eliot hooked up for like the thousandth time. I don't know why, but they always have a good song when those two hook up. So much so that I almost want them to keep hooking up and breaking up just for the music. The time before that was "Dreaming of You" by The Coral. Which... like "Our Love" is the only decent song on the album it's on. Or maybe I'm just too picky. But anyway: "Dreaming of You" is a very awesome song. Poppy, but weird enough to make it interesting.

3) Man. I had a third bit about how there's this one phrase in the song, that when I read "Fight Club" for a film class, the phrase was in there too, and so I got a question right on the quiz because the song made me remember it, but that's a pain and not all that interesting in the end. But I needed at least three facts!

___
* All I know is that according to "Our Love" "it took almost 7 hours to sing." I think the song also wants to say that love increases creative output, because obviously these are known artists and it talks about how Wagner also wrote letters to this lady the same time he was writing the huge opera, and Kafka wrote letters to his lady, both of their "hearts exploding words."

** Actually, I forgot, there was a sublime song on the list that I know. I think it was "What I Got." Stephen's comment on it is that it's vulgar or something. And I'm like, "Geez, you should listen to Santeria or Wrong Way if you think that's bad, old man!" True story.
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 11:47 PM  | 

 
So I was listening to Ninedays for the first time in awhile today. Ninedays, for those who don't remember, had a one hit wonder in "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" in the late 90's or early 00's or whatever. Anyway, at the time I quite liked the album, but I got tired of it and so rarely listen to it anymore.

There's a song on the album called "Bob Dylan," which, even when I really liked the band, I found it kind of pretentious of them to be name-checking (and even sampling) Dylan, but liked the song enough to overlook it. When I listen to it now I can sort of feel a sort of residual enjoyment of what it used to be like to listen to it, but can't quite make myself pay attention for the full song without my mind wandering off. Which, I find it sad because there's a lot of music I loved that I feel that way towards. I don't know if it's because my tastes have changed or most songs I can only listen to a certain amount of times before it no longer gives me a rush to hear it anymore, or what it is, but it's sad.

That whole bit above was actually a long-winded setup for this ramble about how I feel about lyrics, but I actually realize it contains a fully-formed thought of its own, so I don't think I'm going to ruin it by adding more mental junk to wade through tonight. Perhaps I'll do a part II some other time.
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 11:25 PM  | 

 
Top Five Literal Moments I've Had While Listening to Music:

1) Interstate Love Song -- Stone Temple Pilots
on the car radio on the interstate

2) Found Out About You -- Gin Blossoms
on my headphones at the bus stop. The lyrics in the chorus go "Whispers at the bus stop/I've heard about nights out in the schoolyard/I found out about you/I found out about you." I guess I hadn't found out about anyone, though.

3) Underground -- Ben Folds Five
on my headphones as I wrode the London Underground

4) Philosophy -- Ben Folds Five
in my head EVERY DAY during the one Philosophy class I took in my collegiate career

5) Closer to Free -- The BoDeans
AKA the Party of Five theme song.
while being eating at TGIF with four other people, none of whom thought it was near as funny as I did when I pointed it out.
posted by DJ Jazzy Phoe @ 10:18 PM  |