Make It Easy On Yourself – The Walker Brothers – Take It Easy With The Walker Brothers – 1965

Make It Easy On Yourself – The Walker Brothers – Take It Easy With The Walker Brothers – 1965

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZTS9H-l5qQ

The first of several Bacharach / David penned masterpieces that have a place in my top 14. An anomaly during the ‘British Invasion’, when the likes of the Beatles, Stones, Dusty Springfield, The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five, The Spencer Davis Group and more were taking residence in the US charts, the American Walker Brothers (not actually brothers) achieved success in the UK with the help of Scott Walker’s outstanding vocal talent.

Not the first to record it, but having the biggest hit with it, this is the archetypal Walker Brothers song- Scott Walker’s deep, stately voice adding the necessary gravitas to a typically lush Burt Bacharach arrangement. Taking its cue from the old adage of ‘if you love someone, let them go’, Walker takes the role of jilted lover- a martyr to his own heart. This song is tragically, heroically, romantic addressing a situation the word ‘heartache’ was invented for. Even as she’s leaving him for another man, and being the injured party, he can’t bring himself to abandon his protective instincts- absolving her of any guilt as he watches her walk away in to the arms of the man she’s chosen over him.

‘If you really love him,

And there’s nothing I can do…

Don’t try to spare my feelings,

Just tell me that we’re through’

‘And if the way I hold you

Can’t compare to his caress,

No words of consolation

Will make me miss you less’

And despite the noble, stiff upper-lip façade this betrayal has left him bereft- the vocals carrying an air of resignation. A trace of bitterness creeps in to the first lines of the second verse, but he remains a monument of devotion.

As with the last entry ‘Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)’ the song writing is so good that it puts you in the singers shoes so effectively that you’re not hearing the song, you’re living it. The backing track mixes iconic Bacharach horns and strings with the epic, echoey Phil Spector touch that creates a sweeping, brooding atmosphere perfectly capitalised on by Scott Walker- capturing the tone of the song impeccably. They repeated the trick later in the same year of ‘Make It Easy On Yourself’s release with ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ an equally gloomy song lyrically with a slightly more upbeat delivery and a soaring chorus.

‘Make It Easy On Yourself’ brings to mind another well-worn phrase, ‘nice guys finish last’. This song could be partnered very well with The Rolling Stones recording of ‘You Better Move On’, written for a similar situation but taking a far more preferable stance, addressing the other man directly-

‘You ask me to give up the hand
Of the girl I love.?
You tell me I'm not the man
She's worthy of?
But who are you to tell her who to love?
That's up to her,
Yes, and the Lord, above…
You better move on’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0by4xX7xXN0

Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) – The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds 1966

Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) – The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds 1966http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcFDaDZbc3Y

An unintentionally convenient segue from the last write-up to this one- The Drums, known for ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ to The Beach Boys who had several ‘surf’ based songs. In 1966 with the release of Pet Sounds Brian Wilson shunned the ‘fast cars, cute girls, and sunny beaches’ formula of previous albums that had bought The Beach Boys such success and instead presented a collection of slower-paced, introspective and thoughtful tracks. The Pet Sounds album was written as a response to The Beatles ‘Rubber Soul’- to me, one of The Beatles lesser albums but to Brian Wilson it was an inspiration;

“I really wasn't quite ready for the unity. It felt like it all belonged together. Rubber Soul was a collection of songs... that somehow went together like no album ever made before, and I was very impressed. I said, "That's it. I really am challenged to do a great album”

I could devote a lot more time to the 13 tracks as a whole but for now at least I’m concerning myself with just one- track 4, ‘Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)’. As far removed from the ‘fun fun fun in the sun sun sun’ template as anyone could have thought possible, the lyrics paint a picture of utter contentment.

‘I can hear so much in your sighs,
And I can see so much in your eyes.
There are words we both could say,
But don't talk, put your head on my shoulder’.

This may well have been what Ronan was aiming for when he wrote the line ‘you say it best when you say nothing at all’, but Brian Wilson nailed it. Whats more, you believe every word he sings. There’s no grand gestures or gushing praise or compliments, his words capture the feeling of two people being so comfortable in eachothers company they don’t need to utter a sound to make it known, it can be read all over their faces.

’Being here with you feels so right,
We could live forever tonight,
Lets not think about tomorrow’.

The ‘lets not think about tomorrow’ line in the second verse indicates an imminent seperation, hence the desire to spend their last night as close, emotionally and physically, to one another as possible. This aspect adds a melancholy dread and explains the downbeat tone of the song- the strings, organs and drums almost faintly funereal. It is, in musical form, the perfect embodiment of a feeling many normal humans would find impossible to put in to a thousand words but Brian Wilson earns his status as a songwriting genius. In its two minutes, fifty four seconds ‘Don’t Talk…’ recalls to those lucky enough to have experienced such emotions their own memories of perfect moments shared. And to everyone else, so evocative and heartfelt is its portrayal of domestic bliss, by the end you’ll believe its swooning romanticism could be your own first-hand account.

Down By The Water – The Drums – Summertime EP 2009

I’m going to start this entry with a confession- I think I have a readership of about four, so I feel I’m amongst friends… I’m a romantic. Of the hopeless variety, it has to be said, but a romantic none-the-less. Around this time of year you start to see the ’50 Greatest Love Song’ complilations and the like all over the place, and to borrow the words of Morrissey ‘they say nothing to me about my life’. So I got to thinking, in true ‘High Fidelity’ style, what I would consider my ‘all time top 14 favourite love songs’ to be. Not 14 to be awkward, but I had the best intentions of covering one a day until Feb. 14^th, stating the case for each. Missed that boat… Ah well- I’ve been left with a carefully considered list of what to me personally, are some of the best examples of putting in to words feelings that can be all too hard too adequately convey. Songs that treat love not as an emotion, but a force that is as real and futile to resist as gravity. Songs that understand that ‘The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return’. So in no particular order, here’s the first one;

Down By The Water – The Drums – Summertime EP 2009 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvW9E2606Oc

There are not many groups that have found a place in my heart as quickly and as immovably as The Drums. On my last.fm profile, they’re my second most listened to artist and just 75 plays behind The Beatles. Considering that’s from an entire back catalogue which, including b-sides and remixes, barely totals about 30 tracks, it’s safe to say I’ve had them on heavy rotation. The one that, if pushed, I would probably consider my favourite of theirs is Down By The Water. Absolutely wearing the girl-group influences on its sleeve (going so far as to steal wholesale the black-and-white podium based video of ‘Out In The Streets’ by The Shangri-Las), DBTW evokes a ‘morning after the night before’, 50’s high school romance sort of impression.

‘If you fall asleep down by the water,
Baby I’ll carry you, all the way home’

Bruno Mars would catch a grenade. Throw his hand in the blade(?!). Jump in front of a train for his girl. In reality, how useful is that ever likely to be? What Jonny Pierce is promising here shows a far more believable and genuine commitment. Although at no point in the song does it explicity state the ‘couple’ are in a relationship in the romantic sense (making it no less a ‘love’ song, by the way), it could just as easily be a strong platonic friendship albeit with unrequited feelings on one side. In fact I’d even consider that to be more likely considering the next lines;

’Everybody's gotta love some one,
But I just wanna love you, dear.
Everybody's gotta feel something,
But I just want to be with you, my dear’.

It’s less a declaration of love than a plea, the vocals really capturing the ‘teenage heartbreak’ essence as performed so well by the likes of The Shirelles and The Shangri-Las. Its an archetypal situation- all too relateable to many, I expect.

’If they stop loving you,
I won't stop loving you.
If they stop needing you,
I’ll still need you, my dear’.

Boy loves girl, girl loves boy but only ever as friends. Girl lives happy and fulfilling life, boy left heartbroken shell, no less dedicated to the happiness of the one he believes should be with him. It’s a teen-movie soundtrack compilers dream!

‘You've gotta believe me,
When I say…
When I say the word ‘forever’,
And whatever…
Comes your way,
Oh we'll still be here together’.

The innocent, naive(?) faith and fervent belief in his feelings for the girl as evident from the lyrics are only half the story, the yearning performance Jonny Pierce gives sells it. I can give it no higher praise than to say it could have easily come from the era it was clearly written in reverence of. The music itself is pretty minimal, simple accompaniment so as not to detract from the focus of the track, namely Pierce’s delivery. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore. Except… they just did.

Who The F**k Are Arctic Monkeys?

Who The F**k Are Arctic Monkeys?

The question asked in the title of the Arctic Monkey’s second EP was a typically bold move from the confident quartet… Alex Turner treating their lightspeed rise to biggest band in the country with cynicism. Just three months prior to its release, ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ had become the UK’s fastest selling debut album- the 360,000 first week sales were enough to top the rest of the top 20 put together. In 2005/06 EVERYBODY knew who Arctic Monkeys were. It’s a story that’s been well-documented but its one that, for me, will always bear repeating.

As a keen music fan I’m used to discovering new bands and music through any means possible, a task that is infinitely easier now than it was even 5, 6, 7 years ago. Only last week Jack Penate released a new song to his fans via Twitter. Recorded in his front room, with just a video camera and a guitar, it was being heard on Radio One that same evening. And it was no gimmick, no-one batted an eye. But in 2004 Arctic Monkeys became the first to truly reap the rewards of the accessability and the means to distribute their material afforded to them by the internet. Believe it or not, I remember clearly hearing their music for the first time. The tribal drums of ‘A Certain Romance’, joined by the urgency of the guitar, made for a 30 second assault of an intro that gave way to a calmer melody that literally made me sit up and listen. The narrative ‘grim up north’ tale sung with affection held me rapt and I’m sure a grin found its way to my face. Having approached the tracks which make up what has come to be known as the ‘Beneath The Boardwalk EP’ (a collection of demos) with indifference, I was an instant convert to a band that had already created for itself a certain mythology. Listening to ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ I could scarcely believe that what I was hearing had been recorded by a bunch of 17 and 18 year olds who had only picked up instruments 2 years earlier. The way these songs were being spread and the interest generated is testament to the quality of the tracks- the band themselves have since admitted they were unaware the demos had even made it on to the internet, having been given away on cd at early gigs.

It’s difficult to adequately convey just what it meant to me as music lover to see the Arctic Monkeys breakthrough as they did. It was truly exciting. Before the release of their first single they sold out the London Astoria, a venue much more established bands had had to work up to. Tickets were bought for several times face value outside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOJ2DJgLflQ

Listen to the cheer that greets the opening notes of ‘Mardy Bum’ and the crowd that sings along to every word…

 The musical landscape in the early 2000’s can fairly be described as ‘bland’. Of course there’s always quality if you look for it but at least in terms of mainstream successes, a list of the best selling artists of the early part of the decade tells its own story; James Blunt, Dido, Keane, Coldplay, Norah Jones, Snow Patrol, Katie Melua, Westlife, Will Young. As far as guitar-based music, indie, rock bands were concerned the charts had long been an irrelevence. But to send ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ to Number One in October 2005 felt like a victory. Oasis didn’t get in to the top ten until their third single. The Libertines, their fifth. Picking the case up from the rapidly depleting display I shared a knowing look with a guy who’d just done the same, and we turned to go to the checkout- the sole purpose of our visit to HMV Richmond being to buy the single. The release of the album was bought forward a week to January 23^rd 2006 officially due to ‘high demand’ but likely to try and avoid the wide-spread sharing of the mastered album tracks for free (a move that failed, as I recall the entire finished album was doing the rounds, as the demos had before). Not that it appeared to matter in the slightest- to me, nor everybody else. There was never any question that we’d be buying the physical release. As mentioned above, the 360,000 first week sales (118,000 on the first day of release) sent Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not to Number One- it stayed there for a further three weeks. Just unheard of. This was a real band that to all appearances  had crashed the mainstream out of nowhere but to those ‘in the know’ it was the culmination of months and months of building antcipation and excitement.

Having waited what felt a long time from the initial distribution of the ‘…Boardwalk’ demo MP3’s to the album release, the announcement of an EP of new material to come in April was a welcome surprise. The first track ‘The View from the Afternoon’ was intended to be the third single but was instead backed by 4 new songs. The chart-ineligible EP confirmed beyond all doubt to me that Alex Turner was the Real Deal. ‘Despair In The Departure Lounge’ and ‘Who The F**k Are Arctic Monkeys’ particularly displayed a song-writing maturity, complexity and musical proficiency that left the band head and shoulders above anything else around. A born frontman, rather than bask in the adulation he’s earned he uses the EP’s title track to mock the band-wagon jumpers,

‘And there's a couple of hundred
Think they're Christopher Columbus
But the settlers had already settled
Yeah, long before ya’

Anticpate his own downfall,

’Oh, in five years time, will it be
"Who the fuck's Arctic Monkeys?’

And go as far as to invite it

‘bring on the backlash!’

For every band I feel pleased to have discovered and raved about before they’ve made it big, none of them have done it on the scale seen by the Arctic Monkeys- a genuinely phenomenal sequence of events that will never be repeated. Seven years later the impact their debut made still resonates with me. Self-made superstars.