If
you've developed a short attention span since summer is currently showering us
with its shine, take a breather and listen to a sharply short song. Sample an early
self-titled Beastie Boys morsel or get pumped up with Battles' Dominican
Fade, a breviloquent blast of audio excellence. These selections are all under
two minutes in length.
Our first entry holds the world record for the
shortest song ever, lasting under two seconds; 1.316 seconds to be exact. You
Suffer by English grindcore band Naplam Death was released in 1987 and Justin
Broadrick has said the band never intended to set a Guinness record.
"You Suffer was largely a comedy thing,
one-second song. Utterly retarded. It's ridiculous, but it was hilarious. We
played that song in front of 30 local kids, like, every weekend. We played that
song 30 times. It was a laugh," Broadrick is quoted as saying in Albert
Mudrian's book Precious Metals: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme
Metal Masterpieces.
Scroll on down and you will see short songs don't have to suck.
If you were to scroll through my iPod, you would see the artist or group I have the most songs by are the Beastie Boys with 68 tracks total. I was very saddened to receive a text from my friend detailing MCA's passing. Adam Yauch and the boys provided an essential soundtrack for my teenage years. To this day Beastie Boys songs never fail to brighten up my mood when I'm feeling dark and dreary. If the seas of society are pulling you under, the Beastie's music can be the buoyancy you need. The group's output spans seven albums over 20 years. Along side Ad Rock and Mike D, MCA meandered from punk to hip hop. There were massive hits and overshot misses, yet the BBs never failed to electrify my ears like a live wire.
I'm thinking about putting the super sized Beastie Boys poster I took down from my bedroom wall back up. Years ago I deemed it too immature and removed it. But now in MCA's honour, I may have to locate some thumb-tacks.
Photo version of my pubescent poster
Of course there are Beastie Boys classics no one can deny. Sabotage, Slow and Low and Intergalactic, to name a few. I personally tended to gravitate towards the more obscure tracks. Aside from Hello Nasty, their recent releases found the trio at peak performance level. To The Five Burroughs and Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 are funky and magically modern respectively. In addition, if you haven't heard their Grammy-winning instrumental album The Mix Up, give it a listen. I can't count how many articles I hammered out with that lyric-less masterpiece encouraging my keystrokes.
MCA will live on forever in the ears of appreciative music fans. He delighted us with his rapid fire rhymes and made the outcasts feel welcome thanks to Beastie Boys' non-judgemental philosophy. For the decades of artful entertainment; I feel gratitude.
Twenty Questions
I Want Some
Here's A Little Something For Ya
Dub The Mic
3 MCs and 1 DJ (Live video take)
Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (Extended video)
Many associate this time of year with pastels and poultry peeps. Yet Christian chronicles say that Jesus was crucified for our sins and resurrected on Easter Sunday. If you've consumed too many ultra-rich rabbits or remained a comatose couch potato this past weekend, don't crawl up on the cross just yet. All Ears prescribes music therapy to help you overcome the guilt of your misdeeds.
LUST
Of course there are hundreds of thousands of love songs that would make good bed fellows for the sin of lust. However a song about strippers, or rather comparing politicians to dollar hungry whores, is my pick. Is there anything more awkward and lustful than being a spectator at a strip club?
Lapdance NERD
GLUTTONY
Modern thinkers usually view gluttony as one of the least severe sins. St. Gregory the Great had a different view of gastro-centric gobblers, writing that gluttony isn't just about eating too much. Gregory, a doctor of the church, considered adding spices to food or seeking out delicacies to be gluttonous actions in addition to over eating. Bjork is an artist who has devoured the world music scene, selling over 15 million albums. Her style and musical ascetic are a literal smorgasbord of sounds; spanning rock, electronic and experimental. If you're craving a great track to tide you over, nibble on this alt-rock hors d'oeuvre from one of Bjork's early Icelandic outfits.
I'm Hungry The Sugarcubes
GREED
Besides the obvious subject matter of this song, who better to represent the sin of greed than spotlight seeking, Taylor Swift-usurping, self-aggrandizing sample stealer Kanye West?
Gold Digger Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx
SLOTH
Easily the most accessible sin, If I had the ambition I'd wager most Westernised readers indulge in sloth daily. According to the gospel sloth isn't only about inactivity. Loving sleep, resting on your laurels or simply squandering your gifts are all described as sloth in the Bible.
The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go speaks of indifference but the trackwasn't squandered on the music listening public. The song remains the band's only #1 UK single and was ranked at #228 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Should I Stay or Should I Go The Clash
WRATH
Anger, or wrath, is right up there with sloth as the most frequently indulged sin. Hopefully most individuals will never become so enraged they commit familicide as the character in Violent Femmes' Country Death Song does. Country Death Song was penned by Femmes leader Gordon Gano while stewing in tenth grade study hall and this tale of offspring offing is reportedly based on a documented murder-suicide from 1862. Fittingly this song appeared on the band's 1984 album Hallowed Grounds which relies heavily on Christian concepts.
Country Death Song Violent Femmes
ENVY
The Muffs are an unremarkable band, although I may have mislead you judging by how much I blog about them. They'll never win a Grammy or score a surprising opus but Kim Shattuck and company's music is perfectly peppy pop-punk. It's usually direct with straight-to-the-point lyrics. Example: I Wish That I Could Be You succinctly embodies the essence of envy.
I Wish That I Could Be You The Muffs
PRIDE
Pride isn't really a sin. From gays and lesbians to the psychotically patriotic, in many views pride is a positive asset to posses. However vanity and self-inflation are where pride can turn pitch black, sending the sinner into a self-congratulatory shame spiral.
Veruca Salt may not be as relevant today but their pleasant 1994 album American Thighs mixes '90s alt-rock with cushy coffee house chick cool. Nina Gordon and Louise Post should be proud.
If you misplaced your invitation to join the mortally misanthropic staff at Party Downyou wouldn't be the only TV viewer who missed the party.
Created by Paul Rudd, Dan Etheridge, John Enbom and Rob Thomas, the Starz original series ran for two seasons and was cancelled in 2010. Partially improvised with delicious deadpan delivery, the show failed to find an audience and star Adam Scott estimates the series finale garnered just 15 000 viewers; abysmal ratings even by cable channel standards.
Although couch potatoes failed to RSVP, critics praised the show for its irreverent style and inspired performances. Party Down follows the staff at the titular Hollywood catering service as they float from one tedious event to the next.
Ron Donald (Ken Marino) leads the troubled team and is overly earnest at first. Yet Ron's failures cause him to crash and burn as the series progresses. Henry Pollard (Scott, who you can now see on NBC's Parks & Recreation) is a has-been actor who can't shake being associated with a catch phrase he uttered years ago. Casey Kline (Mean Girl's Lizzy Caplan) and Kyle Bradway (Ryan Hansen, better known as Arrow-in-the-head guy from the terrible Friday the 13th reboot) are struggling actors while Roman DeBeers (Martin Starr) is an aspiring, nihilistic writer. Jane Lynch steals scenes as Constance Carmell, a past her prime actress who doles out advice to Kyle and anyone else who will listen. Lynch left the series mid-way through the first season to join Glee and was initially replaced by Jennifer Coolidge. In season two Megan Mullally took over Lynch's spot full time as Lydia Dunfee, a dim witted stage mom.
The spark that critics saw in the show will hopefully set the big screen ablaze as Mullally and Scott have independently confirmed that Party Down will be resurrected for theaters. Shooting is expected to commence this summer.
"We're like 90% there... If everyone's schedules work out and the guys get time to write a script. They have kind of a skeleton of a story worked out so we know where it's going to go but we just have to kind of cross the Ts and dot the Is, or something. But Starz are being super cool and they're going to let us do it, and we're all excited, we all want to do it," Scott said in an interview with Christopher Schobert for The Playlist.
Cai.ro means to conquer. With their debut release this Toronto-based quintet strive to vanquish preconceived notions of popular music. However Cai.ro's choral crusade on the Young Love EP isn't heavy handed like the Ottoman Empire's invasion of Egypt. Instead Nate Daniels, Dante Berardi Jr., Matt Sullivan, Caitlin Grieve and Wooyoung Kim wage an audio assault with an arsenal of folk-pop and orchestral opulence. Frequently described as an orchestral folk ensemble, Cai.ro straddle enemy lines with diverse songs exploring themes of love, addiction and self-discovery.
All These Colours
All Ears recently spoke with lead singer and guitarist Daniels and guitarist Berardi Jr. to gain insight into Cai.ro's plan of attack.
Before joining Cai.ro's ranks Daniels and Berardri Jr. were each part of separate musical armies.
Daniels floated around several bands offering his vocal talents. The material created with one nameless Montreal band Daniels fronted found its way to Cai.ro's play list, however Daniels left that outfit opting instead to have more control over his musical output.
"I realized later that it's not about control but about sharing a common vision with people who support me and would extrapolate on that vision," Daniels said.
Across the trenches, Berardi Jr. comes from a prolific industry family. His father was a musical marvel, mastering many instruments. Berardi Sr. was the composer, arranger and band leader for Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductee Godfather Bobby Curtola. In addition his maternal grandfather worked with acclaimed record producer Donald K. Donald.
"I think having a musical family helped push me in the direction of playing and more importantly loving music," Berardi Jr. explained. "I've definitely gone my own way and found my own sound and process along the way. Music is in my blood so I can't deny my family played a part. There's no way I could stop playing and writing. Even if it ends up not being my career down the road. I'm going to cop out and say it was nature and nurture and a little stubbornness as well."
That stubbornness landed Beradri Jr. with Sound23, a collaborative project, and then with the alternative-influenced group Goodbye Glory before being drafted into Cai.ro.
"[We] did some small scale touring and traveled to Europe and played in a festival. [It was a] great learning experience. It definitely laid the ground works for who I am and how I play now," Berardi Jr. said of his time with Goodbye Glory.
Now that the two are comrades with Cai.ro their mutual battle has just begun. The Young Love EP is sublimely stunning with moments of malleable melodies and instances of alt-rock awesomeness. Daniels describes their effort as "a penetrative scoring to any given circumstance in your life. Dramatic and sometimes anthemic." However even with the obvious talent this EP exudes, the Canadian music industry remains a minefield for any symphonic solider who to dares to tread on its grounds.
"The quest for notoriety in the music industry has always been a struggle for anyone who attempts it. Thankfully that is not the only reason we play music. In regards to our opinion of the Toronto and Canadian music industry; it has a lot of catching up to do." Daniels said.
"That's why we're here though. Trying to move forward with the momentum of great bands before us like Arcade Fire. They completely re-shaped the formula and format of what it means to be a Canadian artist; even if their roots were in Texas. A little American injection has done us good."
Cai.ro will appear in an episode of Canadian indie music chronicle From Far and Wide this May and took to the stage at this year's Canadian Music Week. In addition look for some DIY music videos to accompany songs off Young Love to be posted soon.
