Bradley's Buzz

6 Random CDs

It's that time of the week again - the time to look over some interesting random CDs that I picked through my collection and took to work - this week we have some 80s gems (of course), a few singer/songwriters, a classic even if its from 1999 and a little punk pop to get your weekend started off right!

BECK - Midnite Vultures (1999)
By far my all time favorite Beck album, Midnite Vultures brings in hip hop, soul, funk and every other genre this little genius can wrap his words around. The double punch of Sexx Laws and Nicotine & Gravy is just the beginning as we are melted in Beck's ever increasing tongue in cheekness and fun, deliberate or not. This is one of those must haves.


DEBBIE HARRY - Koo Koo (1981)
An album that had me and the masses very confused in 1981 - after the enormous success of Blondie and the latest album 1980's Autoamerican, Debbie went solo and at the time it was a bit of a disappoint for a great number of people. Listening to it all these years later, I can't believe how overlooked this album can be. Utilizing Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic, Debbie went funk and at the time I didn't understand it, but now, boy do I get it. A deeper more urban version of Diana Ross' Diana ("Upside Down", "I'm Coming Out") which Chic had done a year earlier. Debbie kept her New York cool and her attitude, and most importantly her delivery of strange and etheral images. Sure there's a few lackluster numbers, the closing number "Oasis" does remind you of a Sci fi film soundtrack but so did "Europa" from Blondie's Autoamerican album. The production is minimal but that's the Chic brilliance, funk guitars, a few horns and a lot of Debbie's cool voice at the forefront. "Backfired" is still one of her best solo songs while my favorite the funk/rock fusion of "Under Arrest" and the uber fabulousness of the rap/white funk/hippity hop "Military Rap" is so humorous it's completely serious.

GO-GOs - Vacation (1982)
If you were to believe all the critiques of the Go-Gos albums you would have to believe that Vacation, the band's follow up to their debut Beauty & The Beat is a complete waste of vinyl and CD, but then you'd just be stupid. The drama and Hollywood/Beach scenerios of the first album may not be as defined but with most of everyone's debut album, those are songs the band had done over and over again, the songs that got them signed and the songs they could do with their eyes closed. After that, it's coming up with the next step - an album of new stuff to keep the masses and your own artistry in check and for that I think the girls did it - no one thought the single "Vacation" was a let down, in fact, I recall how excited everyone I knew was when that single hit the airwaves and the video along with it. This was a band about fun and surf and the whole album captures that very well. "Get Up & Go" should've been a huge hit with its big nod going to 60s California surf music, it's jumpy, it's fun - even the pseudo ballads "It's Everything But Party Time" and "Worlds Away" still rock in that oh so 80s fashion, sure the place to start with the Go-Gos is Beauty & The Beat but don't skip this one ever, it's an excellant little summer pop album that will make you pull the roof off your SUV and head to the beach.

BRIGHT EYES - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (2005)
I discovered Bright Eyes after the Leivas informed there was a video he liked and had taped it off of Logo. A dreamy little acoustic ballad called "First Day Of My Life" it quickly became our song, and I ran out to buy the CD. As I began some research I discovered I was probably the only person who hadn't heard of Bright Eyes as he was deemed some kind of indie musical genius around the time of this album's release, being compared to Dylan and the like, and always being known as having recorded since the age of 13, Conor Oberst, the man behind Bright Eyes (it's just him and a revolving door of musicians) released this album in early 2005. A set of acoutstically driven sometime country flavored songs, its ten songs of wordy poetics and longing - my favorite things. With Emmylou Harris showing up for some harmony there's a lot to really gather in these ditties - "Another Travelin' Song" reminds me of some Dylan while the awesome words of "Poison Oak" and the drama of "At The Bottom Of Everything" reminds me of old story songs of the 60s and the cool calm collective of people like Joni Mitchell and Emmylou. It's an interesting little bit of musical poetry for sure.

BOUNCING SOULS - How I Spent My Summer Vacation (2001)
I love my pop/punk fun fast, furious and full of life, not cool produced and prepared in a studio like Avril or the influx of boys hitting the MTV circuit. Luckily Bouncing Souls is one of a handfull of bands that not only continues to record new CDs but actually seems to have fun doing them. Combining all the young angst of boys younger than them, they still manage to come up with songs about BMX bikes, girls and music, all the elements of the fun side of punk pop. How I Spent My Summer Vacation was my first foray into the bouncing world of Bouncing Souls and being released on May 22nd in 2001, (one of my birthdays) adds a little something to it - but most importantly it's just fun, fast and schock full of melody. "That Song" is catchy, "Lifetime" is melodic, "Manthem" is fun; and I love songs about music and its influences on one's own youth - and Bouncing Souls addresses this idea a lot particularly in the closing number (and my fav) "Gone". As a whole, it's all kind of like Blink-182 but with a little less production and it's always fun.

BILLIE MYERS - Growing, Pains (1997)
I love this album - in fact it is probably one of my favorite albums ever released. Starting with the infectious and so sad it's fun "Kiss The Rain" - a haunting tale of jealousy and longing for a lover whose far away, "go outside, kiss the rain.. whenever you need me/ if your lips feel empty and tempted/ kiss the rain and wait for the dawn/ keep in mind we're under the same sky/ and the nights as empty for me as for you/ hello? do you miss me? I hear you say you do but not the way I'm missing you/ would it mean anything if you knew what I'm left imagining..." the album moves into more of this territory as Billie's sexy soulful alto takes you through every aspect of her heart and soul - the lyrics point more to a poetry than a standard pop song lyric and she pulls it all off beautifully - the heartbreak drama of "A Few Words Too Many", (wait a minute what did you say/ did you say there's no real reason for you to stay/ I hear you talking but you're just not making sense/ I've been waiting for a happy ending/ now I know that there won't be any/ just a few words too many in my head) and "Please Don't Shout" (please don't shout/ it's only anger that you're waking/ please don't shout/ can't you see I'm not listening), the hilarious love triangle of "Having Trouble With The Language" ("she looked better in her black dress but you looked better dead..") and the sex filled "Tell Me" which has such clever lyrics you completely forget they're borderline dirty - "Tell Me, how would it feel to be me/ I wanna crawl under your skin/ I want to know how it feels in me, yeah, yeah," and set to an Egyptian type background melody. This is the ultimate break up album, though if you are going through one you may put this one with a little trepedation, it may leave you slightly satisfied knowing someone else can conjure up the words you're thinking or it may just push you over the edge and leave you a huddled blubbering mass on the floor, but then you could always just put the Go Gos back on. Either way it leaves you feeling, it leaves you feeling something and that's fairly rare in music these days so if you don't have this album, I can't recommend it enough.

posted by swivek @ 12:46 PM