You know how you can get a tune in your head that won’t go away for days? So it is with me and this enigmatic track by the…well…enigmatic band My Bloody Valentine. MBV was something of a rage for awhile in the UK, never got very far in the USA. This track exemplifies what is both beautiful and, to some, maddening about the band. You can barely hear the vocals. The track is overwhelmed by distorted rhthym guitar. It has no verse-chorus structure. But, when the sort-of orchestral part comes in toward the end, I get a lump in my throat.
This track also appears on the Lost In Translation soundtrack which I can’t believe you still don’t own, especially since it also contains Air’s "Alone in Kyoto’ which is so gorgeous it will fix you breakfast.
I think the archetypal “inexplicably beautiful” is Tom Waits. Songs like The heart of Saturday night, A soldier’s things, or Better off without a wife. I think a kid from Popcorn Behavior put it well: Tom Waits makes beautiful music from ugly parts.
hi chas, you hit the nail on the head. tom is the man. i got a wee bit drunk last night and watched the dvd of tom trauberts blues about ten times back to back
(Note to self: Next time you need an image involving someone shaking their fist–do NOT do a google search for images named “fist.” You get some surprises there that’ll ruin your lunch.)
I was ever so slightly disappointed by L.I.T.(maybe ‘cos I had a streaming cold-I was the guy sat at the back trying not to cough to much).However,for weeks afterwards I couldn’t get Bill Murray’s Karaoke rendition of ‘More than this’ out of my head.
The guy patently CANNOT sing (join the club),but his performance was quite emotional,-on a par with Lee Marvin’s ‘Wanderin’ Star’ ( !)
Speaking of Film soundtracks-I never imagined that legendary ‘Krautrock’ band ‘NEU!’ would be picked up by anyone,yet there they are on the ‘Kill Bill vol. 1’ soundtrack.
I have the original 1939 version of ‘The Lion sleeps tonight’ aka ‘Mbube’ by ‘Solomon Linda’s original evening birds’.They don’t name bands like that these days ,do they?
I did a deep memory search and came up with the theme that ran through The Omega Man (Charleton Heston killing zombies; zombies trying to kill Heston). Also, the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns had music that stuck in my head- the theme to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Some nice stuff in Crouching Tiger, too. And I still remember the opening theme from the kid’s tv show, The Friendly Giant, from when I was 4 or 5.
Tony
Now, do I want to do a Google search on fist? Maybe later. Gotta eat first.
I only heard that versión of Jesus Blood once, and was shocked!! It was as if the sentence meant something different each time he repeated; but apart from that I’ve haven’t heard anything else by Tom Waits, Could you recommend any of his records?
What to recommend by Waits is a toughie – it depends on what you’re looking for. He sings about the darker parts of society, kind of like Richard Thompson. Nighthawks at the Diner is mostly spoken, and he tells some great stories. Heart of Saturday Night and Blue Valentine have some of his most accessible and beautiful music. On BV he does a great version of “Somehow, Somewhere” (not sure about the title, it’s from West Side Story), as well as another tearjerker called “Postcard from a hooker in Minneapolis.” Small Change is probably his funniest, definitely not for play in mixed company.
Waits was a heavy smoker and drinker. Rumor had it that he honed his voice by smoking FIVE packs of Old Gold a day. You never saw him without a cigarette. Then he got married, gave up smoking and drinking, but continued to sing as though he lived in the gutter. He’s living proof that having a great voice and being a great singer are not necessarily the same thing.
Never heard Jesus’ Blood, I’ll have to check it out.
“never be the sun” by dolores keane is a really beautiful track as is tom waits “kentucky avenue”. “a case of you” by joni mitchell is my all time favourite thing of inexplicable beauty.
!)
