Now that most of you have had time to recover from the War of Winter’s Bone or whatever the clash of dragons was called last weekend, wanted to pop in to give you some tunes before you have to go back to the realm on Sunday. Most of you probably missed it, between the Avengers opening and going full Yeezy to watch the aforementioned Throne, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony was televised last weekend, which for music nerds like me is an annual anticipation along the lines of Christmas (though with less socks and Poopourri). Unlike other “big nights in music” like the Grammies or the Super Bowl, though, this one doesn’t suck. I might be in the minority here, but I’ll take performances from bands that’ve been delivering for decades over the latest K-pop “sensation” or montage of 30-second snippets sung by a shirtless dude with a tattoo of his home state on his belly in case he gets lost on tour. Add in the speeches about (and by) the band, as well as the video retrospectives spanning their careers, and it’s always a great watch. Whether you know (or like) the inductees, it’s the perfect place to learn a little about them, hear why you might want to pay attention (the speeches are often given by previous inductees or other music legends), and then watch them perform three of four of their biggest hits.
I always come away with a new appreciation for someone I might’ve followed on the margins (if at all) or a deeper love for bands I follow avidly, so it’s always an enjoyable time. This year’s crop included acts like Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks, and Def Leppard in the former camp, along with The Cure and Radiohead in the latter. NIN frontman Trent Reznor’s speech inducting The Cure was good and Robert Smith was endearing as always in his response, and the band was sharp as ever in their subsequent performance. (It remains a bucket list moment getting to see them live years ago, walking up at sunset amidst a sea of people in my beloved city by the lake while the notes of “Pictures of You” rained down on us like dust from a comet. I could have laid down and never gotten back up.)
Radiohead being Radiohead, though, was a different scenario. Each of the members has made comments in the past of indifference verging on dismissive towards the Hall and their possible (and then actual) induction, so it was unclear who (if anyone) would show up and what level of shit-talking (if any) they might undertake. Thankfully it wasn’t that bad — they weren’t no-shows (guitarist Ed O’Brien and drummer Phil Selway were there) and there was no shit-talking to be found (O’Brien and Selway seemed genuinely pleased to be getting inducted and were consummate Brits with their charming politeness). Unfortunately since it was only the two of them that meant there was no performance, so we were left with the video montage spanning their career to satiate us.
That wasn’t enough for me, though, so thankfully for the nine of you out there I’m here to fill the void if you find yourself in similar straits. Now that we’ve launched Sunshine Radio to popular acclaim (#73 on the Lithuanian Top 100 station list!), I decided to start bringing back one of the things I used to do on the old site, my periodic “One You Should Know” posts profiling bands that — as the title implies — you should know. Those were always better (in my opinion) than just popping a band into YouTube and listening to things on shuffle because these songs were hand picked by yours truly as the best they had to offer. (And if there’s one thing I think we can all agree on it’s that I have infallible taste — it’s why I associate with you clowns!) So we’ll revive that series here, combining my impeccable selections with the technology you kids know and love. (Similar to what we did last time for Wilco.)
In the coming months I’ll continue to dust off old OYSK posts and create substations for you on the Spotify so you can listen in ease (the old Sunshine was such a jerk — he made you look the songs up yourself!), but we’ll begin with one I created for the inductees. It spans each of their nine albums, as well as many of their EPs and singles, so should give you a good sense of why so many people love this band (including yours truly), even if they seem intent on driving you away some (most) times. At sixty-plus songs and nearly five hours in length, it should give you more than enough to chew on, charting their growth from more straightforward rockers to experimental cacti — and help you unearth at least one thing to enjoy. So fire it up and give it a spin:
While you listen I figured since we set the interwebs on fire when we did this the last time, my “friend” named “Gabriel” and I would jump in again for another spirited debate of “WHO’S ON TOP!” (cue applause) Last time we were debating the rankings of Wilco albums, so thought we’d go back to the well this time to examine the aforementioned inductees, Radiohead. Similar to last time we’re mostly in line with our choices, preferring earlier stuff to more recent material, quibbling over minor differences for what’s at the top, while agreeing (mostly) about what undeniably belongs on the bottom. (NOBODY likes Pablo..) Also similar to last time, though, when I showed him my list he reacted like I took a dump on his porch and flipped out. (Side note: I DID take a dump on his porch — Summerteeth forever!)
My rationale for the top pick is similar to what made me pick the aforementioned album for Wilco — it was the last album of the band’s early period, before they shifted from a more unvarnished, open style of music to a more jagged, opaque one, and that direct, earnest approach still resonates with me all these years later. The album that followed my top pick stylistically mirrors the one that did for Wilco — the first album of the new era, one where the band fused in electronic sounds and dissonance and delivered an instant classic, taking the band off on a new direction that they’ve never topped however many albums later. (Everyone seizes on how different/great Kid A was — well, almost everyone: Melody Maker called it “tubby, ostentatious, self-congratulatory, look-ma-I-can-suck-my-own-cock whiny old rubbish” in my hands-down favorite quote from an album review EVER — but they’d previewed the break in Computer and perfected it there.)
For Wilco the title fight (and resultant ranking) was between Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel — for Radiohead it’s The Bends and OK Computer. Both amazing, both albums I’ve listened to hundreds of times since they came out, so picking between them is sort of like deciding which of your lungs is more valued — I kinda love both of them, but if you force me to choose…I’m going with My Iron Lung. (That’s my left one, if you’re curious.) See what you think as you listen to the mix — but here’s my list for how they stack up:
- The Bends
- OK Computer
- In Rainbows
- Kid A
- Amnesiac
- Hail to the Thief
- King of Limbs
- A Moon Shaped Pool
- Pablo Honey
And here’s “Gabriel’s”:
- OK Computer
- In Rainbows
- Kid A
- The Bends
- A Moon Shaped Pool
- King of Limbs
- Amnesiac
- Pablo Honey
- Hail to the Thief
Clearly he’s an idiot for putting Moon so high and Thief so low (what do you expect for a corn-eating mouthbreather from the Midwest?), but otherwise we’re pretty much in sync. As I hinted at above, at a certain point arguing over where to rank these albums very much is like arguing over which of your organs you like more — there’s no right answer and ideally you’d like to keep all of them in place, but it’s what the interweb is for — pointless arguments and fleeting senses of superiority. So take that, “Gabriel” — I win again!
We’ll close with a couple one offs that crossed the threshold the past few weeks to round things out. First comes the latest single from the Aussie Oddge, Courtney Barnett, back with another lovably languid little gem (replete with another laughably snarky title). She released it in honor of Record Day, so no word on whether she’s recording another full length yet (her last one landed at #14 here last year), but in the meantime we can still enjoy this one, “Everybody Here Hates You:”
Next is the back end of the single released a few weeks ago by fellow Aussies Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and it’s another shimmering, sunlit float down the river. These guys continue to drop solid track after solid track, so hopefully they keep the streak going in the coming months. (Their debut landed one slot higher than Barnett’s here last year.) Check out “Read my Mind” while we wait:
Speaking of streaks, next comes the latest in a long line of winners from the beloved National, back with another dour, lovely march through the darkness on “Hairpin Turns.” It’s the third single from their upcoming I Am Easy to Find (both of the previous songs, “Light Years” and “You Had Your Soul With You,” have shown up here) and it doesn’t do anything to shake the expectation that should be another year-long favorite. We’ll find out for sure in a couple of weeks (it’s due out 17 May), but in the interim bliss out in the blackness here:
We’ll close with a brash little attack to get us off the floor and thrashing around a bit (we gotta get you nerds ready for battle again Sunday night SOMEhow!) and this punky little gem from A. Swayze and the Ghosts, our final batch of Aussies whose debut single I stumbled on a few weeks back. There’s not much out there on these guys — they’re four Tasmanian devils from the town of Hobart (which is here, if you’re curious like me) and this song is one of a whopping three they’ve released on the interwebs. They’re all pretty catchy, but this one’s the definite winner — we’ll have to keep our eyes out for what comes next. For now, though, crank this puppy up and get movin’:
Until next time, amici!
— BS