Good Times Come To Me Now

Let us take a moment to address a nearly forgotten gem from the year of my birth, 1983. Haysi Fantayzee's 'Shiny Shiny' is a kooky and upbeat song about what else? The apocalypse, of course.

The garishly dressed and dreadlocked boy/girl duo scored an unlikely hit with 'Shiny Shiny'. Their one and only LP, Battle Hymns for Children Singing managed to reach number 11 on the UK charts. Haysi Fantayzee enjoyed considerably less exposure and success here in the United States. A review on All Music Guide by Ned Raggett describes the aforementioned album as follows:

"Arguably one of the most head-shaking albums ever made -- though to the band's credit, that was the whole point -- Battle Hymns for Children Singing might just be what the doctor ordered for insomnia. It's not so much for the fact that the music will put a listener to sleep as much as it will induce a listener to destroy the sound system it is playing on, therefore tiring out that person for bedtime."

Well, fortunately it does not make me want to destroy a sound system. It does succeed in making me want to get up and dance a weird partial jig, however. The same review goes on to say that 'Shiny Shiny' includes "everything from inappropriate electric guitar solos to Dexy's Midnight Runners-styled fiddles". While all of that is true, I think he forgot to mention another important element within the song: The sound of spoons being played as a musical instrument. It's pretty obvious that spoons are an incredibly essential ingredient in the attempt to create 1980s anti-nuclear new wave hillbilly hoedown pop.

'Shiny Shiny' may be arguably 'bad' by today's standards, but most reviewers and listeners are probably a little too harsh in their judgments. Just because it sounds a little kooky doesn't mean it should be forever restricted and designated as an 'ironic' guilty pleasure. I personally enjoy all of those quirky and strange sounding 'unlikely hits' from the early to mid 1980s. Although I wasn't born until the year this song was released, I grew up listening to a lot of music from that time period. Thus, I don't like Haysi Fantayzee in a purely 'ironic' way. Part of me truly and honestly likes 'Shiny Shiny'. I swear.

To be sold on this song, you absolutely need to watch the video. It's amazing. I mean, just check out those impressive special effects.

Even if you were to disregard the song completely, there is just so much greatness displayed in the video alone. First of all, they are both fucking weird looking and have dreadlocks and look androgynously similar to one another. Secondly, they both have killer moves (particularly, the jaunty hoedown dances the guy exhibits). Thirdly, their outfits resemble some sort of 1980s hobos performing in an old timey cabaret. Of course, the visual effects are stunning as well.

On top of all that, here is the best thing ever: My sister told me the other day that the guy in Haysi Fantayzee reminds her of Adrien Brody. Could you imagine if Adrien Brody had decided to have a go at being an 80s pop star with dreadlocks before he became a serious actor?

MP3: Haysi Fantayzee - Shiny Shiny (zshare)

Purchase Battle Hymns for Children Singing by Haysi Fantayzee here:





I'm sure you want to now. Bring that shit back, I say.

P.S. I just realized that the vocals in this Haysi Fantayzee song sounds eerily like some of the newer songs by Architecture in Helsinki.

Elvis Costello and The Attractions vs. The Armless Creature

Elvis Costello used to be great. Sure, he's still a talented guy, but his finest work definitely occurred within the era of Elvis Costello and The Attractions (1977-1984). I doubt many people would disagree with me on that.

I awoke today with a craving for some vintage Elvis Costello. I indulged in said craving and after a time I decided to explore and search for video footage. Of course, things like YouTube did not exist during the time period in which I listened to Elvis Costello with the most frequency (back in 1999-2003-ish). At that time, I hadn't been able to place many visuals with the music I knew so well. Regardless of how many or how few visuals one has seen, everyone knows Elvis Costello for two things: 1. his bespectacled skull and 2. his famous pigeon toed pose/stance. However, I was unaware of how just how much he worked the latter into his performances.

I just want to say this: Elvis Costello's kinesthetic quality of movement reminds me greatly of the armless creature from the film Silent Hill. That motion picture caused me to have a horrible nightmare recently, by the way. There is a part toward the end of the above video where Elvis Costello sort of chugs forward one leg at a time. This series of movements is particularly reminiscent of the armless creature. Also, he clutches his arms in toward his chest several times. Therefore, he could easily be mistaken for an armless creature. Not to mention that my sister observed, "there is one part where both his ankles are turned in severely and he looks disabled". All joking aside, this is such a classic video. It's rare that a video featuring musicians playing their instruments against a plain white backdrop can manage to be so incredibly entertaining. Plus, did you see the jacket the drummer is wearing? I want it.

For armless creature comparison purposes, here is a short video clip from the DVD extras of Silent Hill:


Hopefully you can get a vague idea of the similarities in kinesthetic quality from that clip, if you haven't already seen the film. I realize the armless creature guy moves in ways that look a bit more extreme than Elvis Costello's inverted and inward rolling feet/ankles. But then, perhaps you need to take a look at a second Elvis Costello video.


Elvis Costello is just flailing all over the place in that one. It's beautiful. Do you see any valid comparison to the armless creature yet? Even if you don't, that's okay. I have too keen of an eye when it comes to movement analysis. I was a dance major in college, so I tend to notice everything. Pedestrian movements are dance too. That is not to say that what Elvis Costello is doing is truly 'pedestrian' by any means. It's probably the antithesis of pedestrian movement, in fact. His quality of movement is actually quite interesting. I find it more enthralling than what many post-modern dance performances have to offer. In fact, you could pretty much stick Elvis Costello on a stage and let him flail his legs around strangely and call it a prolific work of post-modern dance.

Well anyway, this was all worth it to take a look at some classic Elvis Costello videos. I love when Elvis Costello still had an abundance of hair.

MP3: Elvis Costello & The Attractions - (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea (zshare)
MP3: Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Pump It Up (zshare)

Purchase music by Elvis Costello here:

Stand back, gents and ladies, I’m drunk and insane and I’ve got a gun!!

One time I got the idea to type my name into the iTunes so I could see what all songs with my name were on there, and oh, the results. First of all, everyone with access to some musical instrument seems to feel compelled to record their own special version of the Steely Dan song. I ended up buying about fifteen different songs with “Josie” in the title, and one of them was this one. Truly a diamond in the rough, no lie. I can’t believe this song exists. This is the first time in my life that I’ve been genuinely happy to be named Josie, because if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have ever heard this song, and yes, that would be a bad thing. I’ve “studied” this song a lot, as much as any other song telling a baffling story full of plotholes, and there is so much intense emotion throughout all of it, it has me convinced that it has to be true. I like to imagine it’s true, in any case, and what’s more, I like to imagine that it’s a true story about me. But anyway, one thing I do know for sure about this song: It needs to be way longer than two minutes. There is way too much crammed in here, except for a whole lot of, well, information.

Josie went to the barroom, ordered up a glass of beer
Said, “Tell me the truth, bartender, has my true love been here?”
“He’s my man, but he ain’t come home.”
“I ain’t gonna tell you no secrets, I ain’t gonna tell you no lies.”
“But I saw your man a while ago, and I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
“He’s your man, but he won’t come home.”

Why couldn’t he believe his eyes? Was her man lying in some dark alley naked and covered in questionable bodily fluids and multiple stab wounds? Who knows, and who cares.

Josie drank her beer, ordered up a glass of gin
Said, “Ain’t it a shame, bartender? I’m takin’ to drink again.”
“’Cause he’s my man, but he won’t come home.”

Wow, it appears Josie has a serious drinking problem, and I don’t just mean she’s a problem drinker, I also mean she has a problem drinking properly. Has she never heard the old adage “beer before liquor, never sicker”? Maybe in this case it should be “beer before liquor, leads to manslaughter”.

Josie went down the street, revolver in her hand
Said, “Stand back gents and ladies, I’m lookin’ for my man!”
“He’s my man, but he won’t come home.”

Who says that, “gents and ladies”? Well, I do now, for one, because it’s hilarious. Sometimes the more I hear a song, if there was a part that used to make me laugh when I first heard it, the more I got used to the song it wouldn’t make me laugh as much, but not that “gents and ladies” part. No, every time I listen to this song that “gents and ladies” part still gets me the same as when I heard it for the first time, where I’m just doubled-over in pain from laughing so hard. Actually, the entire song still makes me laugh hysterically like it did when I first heard it. My mom was actually the one who told me he was saying “gents and ladies”. The first, like, ten times I listened to it I thought he was saying “Jensen ladies”, like the name of the town was Jensen and she was addressing the ladies of the town of Jensen. God, I was grasping so hard for some kind of reality. I still am.

Josie saw her lover, and her revolver drew
Then Josie pulled the trigger, shot him through and through
He was her man, but he wouldn’t come home.

Way to go, Josie. This song doesn’t reflect well on me as a Josie, does it? Not all Josies are highly unstable, gun-wielding drunks. I mean, sure, I am, but we’re not talking about me right now.

One thing hurt Miss Josie, one thing made her cry
Standing there in the jailhouse doors, the hearse came rollin’ by
He was her man, but he won’t come home.
Sittin’ in the parlor by an electric fan, pleadin’ with her sister,
“Don’t marry a gamblin’ man! He’ll be your man, but he won’t come home.”

Whoa, slow down, pardner. She goes suddenly from standin’ in the jailhouse doors to sittin’ in the parlor. Does she not have to serve any time for this very public murder that pretty much everyone in the whole town witnessed? Did she murder everyone in the whole town except her sister? I wouldn’t be surprised, she sounds like a pretty clear-cut sociopath.

The part with the fan is yet another part that took me a super long time to figure out what the hell words he was actually saying. I thought she was “buyin’ a ‘lectric fan” for some reason. Again, I had nothing even resembling a clue, and this seemed to make some kind of sense. Seriously, in relation to everything else, I was just like, “Well…I guess it seems plausible within this context that she would all of a sudden be buying an electric fan and that it would be a necessary detail for the story.” It was a necessary enough detail to mention that she was by an electric fan, right? I thought maybe her sister worked in a general store or something and that’s why she was talking to her sister. Speaking of the sister, I don’t think Josie needs to be giving her sister any advice on love or marriage or pretty much anything. Maybe Josie shouldn’t pretend like her situation didn’t have a few problems that might not exist in every relationship, hmm? Like maybe her man wasn’t a-gamblin’ before he married her, but she made him so unhappy with her violent, drunken ways that he just couldn’t stand being around her? Yeah, that sounds about right to me.

I've only been able to find one picture of the guy who does this song, and he kind of reminds me of a goat:

And now, gents and ladies, is the time you to listen to all of this yourself. Which you really should do, because otherwise I'll have to, you know, shoot you.

Josie.mp3

The Rapture - The Sound

I've been listening to the song 'The Sound' by The Rapture on repeat all week long. I know it's not exactly a new song, but hey, I had yet to establish this blog when Pieces Of The People We Love was released back in 2006.

The first time I had ever heard The Rapture was in either 2002 or 2003. 'Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks' was my first introduction, and I thought it was a fantastic track and a decent EP. It was raw, angular, noisy and energetic. When The Rapture's first full length album, Echoes was released in 2003 I was surprised to hear that the raw, somewhat amateur sound featured on their EP had all but disappeared and been replaced with a layer of shiny and polished studio production. Still, It managed to become one of my favorite albums to be released in 2003. If I remember anything about that year in music, it was that bands such as The Rapture received both critical acclaim but also a lot of flack from music listeners. There were a lot of bands accused of ripping off post-punk and dance-punk bands from the late 1970s. The most blatant and obvious influence on all of these new bands was Gang of Four. I've been a big fan of Gang of Four myself for years, but it didn't make me hate The Rapture. In all likelihood it may have been the likeness in sound that initially drew me to The Rapture rather than repel me from their music. In 2003, everyone knew of The Rapture, yet I didn't know anyone besides myself and my sister who liked them or had given them a chance. I'm confident The Rapture has a boatload or two of devoted fans, but I also feel they are an underrated band that is easily overlooked.

2006 saw the release of The Rapture's second full length album, Pieces of the People We Love. This is probably the most cohesive sounding and accessible release from the band, yet it manages to not sound over-produced. If anything, the album proves that these guys are immensely talented and have a great deal of staying power. Pieces of the People We Love is an amalgam of post-punk, dance-rock, disco, electronic music, and an infinite amount of other styles. I've also heard from others that it sounds like hippie music. No matter what you think the album sounds like, I think it's safe to say that The Rapture have really come into their own and have progressed their sound quite a lot over the past few years. Basically, Pieces of the People We Love affirms that these guys aren't just another Gang of Four rip-off band.

My immediate favorite off of the album was 'Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh Huh' aka 'W.A.Y.U.H.', which features the best and most complex cowbell utilization I've ever heard in a song. 'Don Gon Do It' amuses me because the chorus sounds like a combination of Montell Jordan's 'This Is How We Do It' and The Backstreet Boys' 'We've Got It Goin On'. I'm still trying to figure out if either of those were intentional or not. Anyway, the whole album is impressive. One song, 'Get Myself Into It' even features an excessive amount of saxophone and I still like it. Earlier this week I was listening to music and 'The Sound' came on at random and I was blown away. It's not a track that had stood out to me before. Now I can't stop listening to it. I think it's the combination of cowbell, amazing drumming, loud guitars, synthesizer, the vocals... okay, well, pretty much every single element of the song sounds great.

Here is a live performance of The Rapture performing 'The Sound' in 2006. It's sort of remarkable how great they sound live here:

Too esoteric for a Saturday night...

MP3: The Rapture - The Sound (zshare)
MP3: The Rapture - Don Gon Do It (zshare)

Purchase music by The Rapture here:

If you failed to give The Rapture a fair chance before, I suggest that you do so now. Hop to it.