Despite my lack of OG-ness (Original Gangster-ness) I find myself going through Hip Hop phases. Sure I’m an indie kid at heart with my pretentious philosophy books, my vinyl records, my lego girl bob, vintage clothes and banging on about The Beatles all the time. But I think somewhere inside there is a hardcore gangster from Compton, trying to escape.
Here is my Top 5 Hip Hop tracks in no particular order. They may not be the super credible tracks (Fight The Power, Rappers Delight, Straight Outta Compton etc..) but these are the ones that always get me singing, or should I say rapping. Yep, one day when I hit it big as the first Vietnamese/British/Australian rapper you can say that you remembered me when. Although I would never do that society, rapping with an Australian accent sounds like cats dying. I join Pix and Chris in their previous statements about Aussie Hip Hop (although I do have a huge crush on Figgkidd, who I may or may not have pseudo stalked at the shoe store he works for in Sydney.) Gravel Pit– Wu Tang Clan
Thank God that ‘Mega Rampage’ festival in Melbourne didn’t sell enough tickets and had to cancel. Now the Wu Tang Clan can do a solo show. This song reminds me of high school when I’d hang out with older guys so they could drive me around. This always seemed to be blasting out of the sub woofers that cost more than the car. Ring, Ring, Ring- De La Soul
De La Soul are amazing. I went with the more popular Ring, Ring, Ring over the more credible Me, Myself & I. I was watching some sort of street talk segment from a TV show made in the early 90’s & some guy was wearing a De La Soul t-shirt. It made me want to be transported back there so I could go see them in their prime. This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan
Ok this is more RnB but this never fails to get me dancing at a club. I’ll even do the drunk scream and throw my hands in the air type deal. This song is 90’s cheese to the maximum. Don’t judge me that I know every single word….and the rap. Let’s Get High – Dr. Dre
This is also another high school flash back for me, just a bunch of wannabes from the leafy suburbs smoking way too much pot at parties. I wish Dr. Dre would bring out that damn Detox album! I’ve heard of building things up and making people wait, but I think you’re crossing the line into agonising doctor. Although in saying that, i've probably gotten my hopes up too high and it's going to be horrible. Sabotage – Beastie Boys
Wahhhhhhhhhhhh! I had to include a Beastie Boys track in here. They manage to blow my mind with every album. This song reminds me of The BDO 2005 where I somehow became sunstroke by 11am and then had to wait until about 9pm for the Beastie Boys to come on. They were worth it. They dedicated this song to George Bush. Also, I love the film clip, Spike Jonze is another one of my unrequited loves.
I always get the impression that if you run a music blog, you are supposed to be a certain type of person. You know, your facebook should be littered with photos of you and friends at gigs, mediocre no name band members on your friends list, belonging to disadvantaged minority groups or at the very least, join supporter groups of the aforementioned. Oww and of course you simply must have written somewhere "music is my life" or "i'd die without music".
If you're a music blogger, you should be AWESOME... right?
Wrong. You just need to master the art of blogger.com sign up. Something I can proudly say I completed with honours (after reading the sign up help tutorial document).
All I know is, bands wouldn't know me from any other arrogant arm chair know it all, I've no time or inclination to go to live gigs unless I know that no one will invade my personal space and I can't take you through my Radiohead library of rare and unreleased B-side viynls.
So since I haven't given people much to really dispise about me lately (atleast in a blog sense) and to put my mediocrity on show, I thought I'd share albums that I adore. The results are underwhelming but I think we all have our guilty pleasures.
If you are waiting for Ok Computer, Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band or god forbid, Nevermind (vomit). Stop reading now.
1. The Darkness - Permission to Land This album absolutely set my musical world on fire. I think every fan of The Darkness had a different favourite song and I was no different. From the initial flagrant over use of the word 'cunt' in Black Shuck and Get Your Hands Off My Women to the brilliant infectious hooks of Growing on Me and I Believe in a Thing Called Love, you had only got through the first four songs on Permission to Land. Love is Only a Feeling was great but personally I saw it at the albums low point, almost like a break between great songs to follow like Givin Up & Stuck in a Rut to fire fourth one after the other in quick succession. The insanely guilty enjoyment one could get dancing freely to Friday Night, thinking of past great love affairs to the brutal Love on the Rocks with No Ice. And finally, far better than Love is Only a Feeling was Permission to Land's more appropriate slower more emotive track, Holding My Own.
While what followed from The Darkness was only really enjoyed by myself and a few others who refused to let go of the past, few could argue that Permission to Land emodied an a-typical fun release that touched on many great stock standard elements of a good rock album.
2. Lucretia - For One Reason I've touched on these guys many times before. In my early days of youth and exuberance, this band and the members within it, filled my every weekend, every party, probably every live music event I went to. We've all got that band which made our high school years great, while most of you little bastards had The Ataris or Mad Caddies to listen to on cd and see once or twice a year if you're lucky, I partied with, attended school with and enjoyed hard rock act Lucretia which featured Whiteboydancefloor's very own Javid Van Der Piepers on vocals. The E.p included the light and shade of Never Ending, the drum driven, arguably hate filled ho down of Rhythm Keeper and the powerful slow burner of F.o.R. Lucretia even had that classic Nothing Else Matters type moment, that get your cigarette lighters sing along of Don't Want It. As individuals they were and still are very talented musicians and as a group, they had a rare chemistry that made what was a dwindling genre remain exciting and varied. They took great pride in the importance of making live shows a very personal affair and always catered setlists, crowd interaction and the music to those who were listening.
To get a bit soppy, the Lucretia years, they were some great years.
3. Fear Factory - Demanufacture For a kid who previously wouldn't listen to anything heavier than The Rolling Stones, Fear Factory was indeed a massive jump. While these days Fear Factory seem so blunted by in fighting, out of date music and no credible scene to operate within even if they were still good, Demanufacture is a great introduction to double kick, tuning lower than drop-D and evidence of great hooks in heavier sound.
As an average rugby league player who attended a catholic school, facing the impending doom of another pummelling at the hands of the public schools 21 year old islanders who were doing the HSC via pathways, nothing could get me more hyped for battle than the opening title track Demanufacture or the foot stomping catchyness of Replica. And when you come down from that confronting adreneline rush, Dog Day Sunrise was there to continue festivities. A great band that time out grew.
4. RHCP - BloodSugarSexMagik This album title is still one of the very few times I will accept that intentionally incorrect spelling is acceptable (I probably made a spelling error in that sentence no doubt). This was one of those impulse buys I made because I knew RHCP's were cool and if I owned an older album it would increase my street cred. Or at least that was the plan.
By chance I ended up stumbling upon an album which for me totally wipes the floor with Californication in every way. We just aren't lucky enough to get an album of 17 songs in which it is difficult to find any of those songs that don't belong.
Sadly since those golden days, RHCP's have gone the way of many bands, totally laughable. Let's not even speak any further of the flop that was their double album. But at least in BloodSugarSexMagik we have some sheer funk brilliance. Looking past Under the Bridge or Give it Away now, this album's greatest moments for me are the less thoughtful more abrasive funk classics like The Power of Equality, Funky Monks, Mellowship Slinky in B-major and the cover They're Red Hot or even the beautifully fragile I Could of Lied.
What RHCP's are now is a prime example of what happens with less drugs and an overdose of Ginseng.
4. Kings of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood I am one of those old hasbeens that goes out to social gatherings and hears Sex on Fire and proceeds to spend the next drunken 20 minutes babbling on about how I was there in the beginning and that their old stuff is better than their new stuff.
Aside from the fact that all those cliches get thrown out too often, I've not met many diehard Kings of Leon fans who don't agree with me. I won't say that I don't like the latest release that has brought them immense fame, but I am sad to see how they have had to gradually water down their sound as the years have gone by to get where they are.
In Youth and Young Manhood we find a group of young men with energy to burn and I question whether the Kings of Leon of today could keep up with pumping out a set of songs like those on this release. Personally it doesn't get much better than the sheer outburst of hillbilly inspired rock n roll that is Red Morning Light or Spiral Staircase. Let's not forget also what should be a total eternal classic California Waiting, one of my favourite songs of all time.
I won't sit here and say that Youth and Young Manhood is my favourite Kings of Leon release, but at that time in my life, nothing I'd heard was delivering that inaudible hillbilly vocal with such radio friendly, energetic rock n roll. Even in this primitive form of rock n roll, Kings of Leon demonstrate the song writing class and a connection to their music that still carries with them today, even if a little watered down.
5. Hilltop Hoods - The Calling Before you scoff... hear me out. My enjoyment of commercial music has meant that I'll give pretty much anything ago. Infact not 2 hours ago I was doing what I do most weekends and enjoyed jamming out my favourites from Taylor Swift. So I wouldn't say supreme taste is something that has always been evident in me.
Now Hilltop Hoods were gaining great exposure and gaining important slots on many festival bills. So I bought the album, just because that's what I often do, buy an album with no real knowing other than I've heard a song or two and think eh why not.
I won't go into the specific reasons, but suffice to say listening to the Hilltop Hoods reaffirmed exactly why Aussie Hip hop should never ever exist and this is one genre we should definitely leave to the Americans.
Since my encounter with The Calling, I have watched as Hilltop Hoods have gone from strength to strength with each release more ridiculous and commical than the last. I'm sorry but if you can take hip hop of the Aussie variety seriously, you're a bigger joke than my sex appeal.
Fresh off finishing a string of horrific university work, I bring you the cds that aided me greatly in remaining sane (or as close to it as I get).
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More Good music on a grand scale. You certainly didn't come to whiteboydancefloor to be stunned by such a starling revelation. I'm sure ancestors of Mumford & Sons were aboard the titanic helping Jack Dawson impress the rich chick with a few sing songs ("Winter Winds"). Every song lends itself to soft fragile moments ("The Cave") that give way to momentous stampedes of strings and percussion ("White Blank Page").
To say they aren't brilliant is foolish but for a 22 year old sitting in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, aside from a sideline appreciation, I can't totally emerse myself in a full blown love affair purely based on subject matter. I am your typical ignorant white kid who has enjoyed a sheltered, well supported, very comfortable lifestyle. On face value, these are types of songs that are recited by the soldiers before they defend the motherland or surly sailors fisherman, singing songs in a Portmouth drinking hole ("Little Lion Man" / "Roll Away Your Stone").
So look, I don't drink beer and when it comes to England, I really don't know nothing about anything. But I think aside from the englightened few who search for the deeper intent of these guys, most Aussie kids will flock to fall in love with Mumford & Sons because then they can tell their friends they listen to a band who uses the banjo. A good enough reason given the quality of the album.(3.5 White boys outta 5.)
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Bridezilla - The First Dance Anyone who has read my previous posts on Bridezilla will be quite aware of my love for this band. But as we all know, the supreme love of a band can be unceremoniously crushed when a love based on a few live encounters and the odd mp3 changes to that with an album in hand. This is where things can get more intense.
I've often heard people criticise Bridezilla as being dull or boring. To those people, The First Dance will do absolutely nothing to change your mind. But for those who love Bridezilla's string infused intepretation of modern music, this album will do everything to reaffirm what you love about Bridezilla.
It is well known that Bridezilla are highly skilled string musicians and the arrangements are as you would expect, breath taking. While the whailing vocals might lose a few people, I struggle to think of any other vocal that would work in quite the same way without turning this into George.
I think Bridezilla will definitely experience greater success overseas with the album they've delivered. Let's be honest, with such a cultured and refined sound, there just isn't enough upstanding intelligent music listeners in such a small population dominated by Pete Murray fans to fill shows to the size they deserve. None the less, a brilliant debut for a band who did the right thing in doing a few years of solid playing before delving into a full length. Certainly a release that displays more maturity than their years, but I expect even better to come (3 Whiteboys out of 5).
I love getting free stuff, but then again who doesn’t? So when my good friend Ashley rang and told me he had gotten free tickets to Marilyn Manson I was pretty chuffed. The music gave me flashbacks to high school when all you could smell was weed and after seeing his short interview in the movie ‘Bowling For Columbine’ I thought that he came across as poignant, well informed and interesting. I’ll be the first to admit I’m no hardcore fan, I’m merely just an occasional listener and observer, so Manson fans please don’t use me as a ‘virgin sacrifice’.
Touted as being an anti-Christ shock rocker, my friends and I were expecting something that would astound us, something that would leave us with a lasting memory but alas we were left disappointed. I’ve heard stories of him sodomising his back up dancers with microphones, violating a bouncer and even bending over in front of the crowd and shoving his own finger in his arse. All things anal aside, there wasn’t anything that shocked me. He sure did spit a lot, although spitting can be seen thanks to the hoodrats that hang at train stations. Possibly all the hype and media interest has blown up in his over made up face. Marilyn Manson has now just become a caricature within the caricature that he has created for himself.
Instead of an outrageous showman, I was faced with a band that barely moved and may have appeared to be on lots of Ketamine. The band possibly handed out Ketamine to the whole audience who were surprisingly timid. The mosh-pit at the Arctic Monkeys concert was a hell of a lot more brutal. The sound quality wasn’t the best, but apparently Festival Hall has never been that top notch and Marilyn’s voice certainly didn’t match the quality of the albums as his voice would cut out mid roar. I could talk about the music some more every song has a similar quality to it, heavy bass with a lot of chanting going on. You know the deal.
The redeeming feature of the show was that he did tell some pretty amusing anecdotes and did get me chuckling. People watching was the name of the game when some of the slower stuff played, an adorable mother and daughter duo who were about 5 feet tall, pumping their fists and smoking a joint and a young child who had more energy than the whole crowd put together caught my eye. Playing ‘The Beautiful People’ as the last song for the night, with its super catchy riff always makes me happy.
So if you paid $90 a ticket for an hour and a half long show when the most exciting theatrics were him putting on about five different hats while a man with a spot light stood behind him, I’d probably be disappointed. Maybe he’s just becoming a model citizen? Or maybe he's shocking us by not shocking us at all?
What ever happened to that super hot chick Uffie? Anyway the word is she will be dropping an album early next year, but the question is do we still care?
Ok so this is a re-post of sorts from my feelings on Hey Hey The Reunion and I am issuing an apology... Not to that total fuck up of a television show, but to the mercurial father of wbdf Chris whose very rousing post was posted over the top of by none other than the scum that is myself.
Posting over the top of Chris is almost like a Christian taking a dump in a church or something... mind you there are probably some which do that, so suffice to say what I did was the whiteboy equivelent of even worse! This whole M.J offending is a total fabrication, isn't that blatantly obvious? Both Hey Hey & Harry Connick Jnr have spent the best part of this decade trying to recapture some semblance of fame they may of once had and no Will & Grace fame doesn't count... sorry Harry, you should of stuck to what you were amazing at rather than becoming yet another poor man's Michael Buble.
So while I'm sorry about that, I'm not story that I am one of the enlightened few which realise that Hey Hey was and is total rubbish. Let's face it... Hey Hey the Reunion is horrific and it's taking up the time and resources that could be spent on something more worthwhile... Like perhaps the redundancy packages you'll need to out everyone on the Footy Show (Syd) and the media spin you'll need to generate to bring back Matthew Johns.
Darryl's trademark is to be a baffling buffoon who mumbles and bumbles through his hosting duties, Molly's knowledge of the music industry is stuck back in 1995 and if Russell Gilbert is a comedian, then I'm a well respected expert blogger!
The fact that every single member of this sham-fest was available to do the reunion shows doesn't surprise me as their careers following the demise of Hey Hey revolved around Dancing with the stars and various other network flops, whoring themselves to whatever would take them.
So please people, tell me why this shambles should not have remained a distant memory? What is with the endless fan fare? The show seems to have generated more leeches than the Parramatta Eels. Even my beloved and highly popular 2GB radio jumped on the band wagon thanks to Andrew Moore (stick to sport if your taste reflects a liking to shows like this).
I thought Channel 9 had 20 to 1 to shelve all their out of work stars?
In more uplifting news....
What happens when you get 3 strapping young Belgian lads and mix them with a Kiwi?
A catchy little number and the 3 parts Belgian 1 part New Zealander makes for great press releases. Be sure to give this one a listen, it's very inoffensive and difficult not to bop along to!
DAS IS CHOICE BRO...YAH!!!
Anyways... Hopefully there is already a Facebook group petitioning for the end of Hey Hey!
The thoughts and feelings of both Nancy Magoo & Pix... written by Pix... title by Nancy... inspired by hatred of bad taste.
Was Kanye really that off base when he interrupted poor innocent Taylor Swift at the MTV Video 'Music' Awards? Does he deserve the saliva-spraying, vein exploding vitriol directed at him? Was Mr Obama correct in his assessment when he called Mr West a jackass?
If you ask most people and the Daily Telegraph, its a yes.
If you ask me, its a no.
I think Kanye is a modern day crusader. He may not be extolling the virtues of a particular faith and trying to convert 'heathens' to Christianity; rather he is attempting to convert the masses from the worship of mediocrity to the worship of something lofiter (possibly his ego, but I'm defending the guy right?). Mediocrity is a faith that held its rally that night, with MTV is its God, and the VMAs its church, and that night Ms Swift was being canonised. But unfortunately a saint in the mediocrity's opposing church was made to look like a sinner by trying to exorcise the demons that were spewing from Taylor's deceptively beautiful head.
Kanye may be wrong when he said that Beyonce's (fantastic) video was the best damn video of all time, but in a one-on-one fight between it and any of Taylor Swift's awful offerings, one would be forgiven for thinking as much. Taylor Swift may be very attractive and she may or may not have talent, but having talent and making good music aren't often synonymous, as they aren't in this case. To put it bluntly, she is awful.
That is why we need more Kanye Wests around.
Powderfinger need to be told not to make music anymore and die. Electro music needs to be told its not 2006 anymore and that it is embarrassing itself. Australians need to be told that they shouldn't make hip hop music. Etc.
Kanye West was guilty of two things that night: standing up for what's right and just in the world, and making Taylor Swift an overnight mega star. Sack your manager Taylor Swift, Mr West did more for your career that night than your manager ever has.
If the above photo isn't enough to tell you that Meiko is an absolutely adorable then stop reading and download "Boys with Girlfriends" asap! It's a cute, catchy little pop number which would fit right in on a Packed to the Rafters soundtrack. It must be hard for Meiko, after she finishes her whirlwind Aussie tour, she's off to support none other than Jewel. Not just a pretty face, get down and check her out!
