“I Can’t Fly” by Dr. Dog from Toothbrush [2002]

Back when Dr. Dog was still unknown, they kicked off Toothbrush, their first album as a proper band, with the psychedelic (yet quite catchy) track “I Can’t Fly.”

“Her Majesty” by Chumbawamba [2002]

Never a group to shy away from controversy, Chumbawamba in 2002 lyrically accosted Britain’s beloved monarch and in doing so challenged fans of the England’s most famous band. To “celebrate” the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, Chumbawamba added “a chorus or two” (e.g. “she’s pretty much obsolete”) to the Beatles’ “Her Majesty” and gave the recordings away for free to UK residents on the band’s mailing list. (via)

A Beatles song verbally assaulting the queen? That had to stir some resentment (that is, if people even listened to Chumbawamba in 2002). On the musical side, the band actually showed some respect for the song, beginning with the out-of-place chord and ending just as abruptly as the original 23 second recording. 

“What’s Going On” by Charles Lloyd [2002]

Although deep down I am confident that my fiancee and I will come through all of this better off than before, the last few weeks have really thrown our lives into disarray. The travel and sleep arrangements would be enough to tire anyone (seven beds in 13 nights—hardly ever the same one on consecutive nights): a trip to Delaware (happy, exciting!), then back-to-back drives to Nebraska (sorrowful, exhausting). Throw in complete chaos at work this week, a move across town this coming weekend, the harsh realization that we will be completely uprooting ourselves to move out East less than a week after our wedding (honeymoon later?), and—oh yeah—that wedding planning stuff and you’ll see why Charles Lloyd’s 2002 album Lift Every Voice seemed appropriate.

At once confrontational and soothing, the album saw Lloyd voice through music his own emotional response to the attacks of 9/11. In my current interpretation, I am confronting all of life’s challenges while trying to maintain my composure with moments of solitude and the support of others (my fiancee and both of our families). I need to be both confrontational and relaxed.

As much as we thought we were prepared for this busy spring and summer, we really weren’t. Life hit us square in the face and left us wondering “What’s Going On”? But we’ll pull through. I’m not worried.

This should be enough life posts for a little while. I will try to get back to the random/topical music history posts Wednesday. Thanks for reading and understanding!

“Smoothie Song” by Nickel Creek [2002]

Nickel Creek led bluegrass into the 2000s. Already on the band’s 2000 eponymous album (effectively though not technically a debut) the trio showed an unmatched ability to bring the best aspects of classical and rock traditions to bluegrass. The instrumental “The Smoothie Song” kicked off Nickel Creek’s next album This Side. The song exemplified the group’s natural melodicism and was released as the third single from the album, though it failed to chart. The album itself did quite well, topping the Billboard bluegrass chart and peaking at #2 on the country chart.

Sadly, for the fans at least, the group called it quits a few years ago. At a time that many people flocked to Dave Matthews, I always preferred Nickel Creek or some of the groups on the bluegrass side of “jam band” (e.g. Yonder Mountain String Band or String Cheese Incident).

“Venice Queen” by Red Hot Chili Peppers [2002]

Random Music History Song of the Day

“Venice Queen” showed the Red Hot Chili Peppers trying to recapture the subtle power of “Road Trippin’,” the closing track from 1999’s Californication. It didn’t necessarily fit the same style, but “Venice Queen” was clearly meant to bring closure to the band’s 2002 album By the Way. In fact, the band wrote the piece as a way of finding closure after the death of Anthony Kiedis’s therapist and friend Gloria Scott (source).

As with many songs on the album, the band wore their influences on their sleeves (see most notably the band’s homage to the Beach Boys on “Tear”). The first half of “Venice Queen” builds a la U2, while the second segment rides a repetitive series of simple chord changes, an obvious attempt at a modern “Hey Jude.” Even if they gave up innovation, the band could still write some damn fine songs.

“Cochise” by Audioslave [2002]

Random Music History Song of the Day (catch-up edition)

Almost caught up from illness week…. 

Thirty years after the initial hype over supergroups (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Blind Faith, etc.), it appeared that a hard rock supergroup built on two legendary ’90s bands was in the works. In 2001 the musicians from Rage Against the Machine were searching for a replacement for rap-rock vocalist Zach de la Rocha, but didn’t want the new singer to to mimic his style. Rick Rubin suggested ex-Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell. The group hit it off and wrote in a short three weeks more songs than would appear on their debut album. The supergoup debuted with the single ”Cochise” in October of 2002. The song then served as the opening track of the band’s self-titled debut album a month later.

I was never big on the Nu Metal that dominated rock radio in the mid and late 90s, so while Audioslave wasn’t my favorite music, the presence of Chris Cornell made it much more listenable. In fact I like most of the band’s singles, including this one.

“Jacob’s Ladder (Albumesque)” by Chumbawamba [2002]

Random Music History Song of the Day

First of all… Yes, Chumbawamba has actually accomplished more in its career than just “Tubthumping.” They’ve been keeping the protest song alive for some 25 years.

Before they rewrote “Jacob’s Ladder” as a protest song directed specifically at the United States’ war in and occupation of Iraq, Chumbawamba recorded an acoustic version of the song. The acoustic version was included as a b-side of the re-written single along with the official album recording. This early version was still an anti-war protest song, but it used a different historical event as its inspiration.

Here is a good rundown from another site (I might as well not waste my own time paraphrasing the whole thing since I’m going to cite it regardless):

“‘Jacob’s Ladder’ was inspired by the drowning of 1,500+ British sailors in 1940. The band’s explanation accuses Churchill of letting them drown whilst the King of Norway was evacuated ahead of the invading Germans.

Political expediency versus class; Winston Churchill let 1591 ordinary sailors drown after their ships were sunk off the coast of Norway in WW2 by German battle cruisers. Churchill thought a rescue attempt might have alerted the Germans to the evacuation of the Norwegian royal family, so ordered ships in the area to abandon the drowning men.

So I did a few searches and came across this account in George Duncan’s Maritime Disasters of WW II:

H.M.S. GLORIOUS 
June 8, 1940 
- sunk by the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau while aiding in the evacuation of British troops from Narvik in Norway. En route to Scapa Flow in the Orkneys, the Glorious , commanded by Capt. D’Oyly-Hughes, encountered the German cruisers which scored direct hits on the carrier at a range of 20,000 yards putting her flight deck out of action. A total of 1,207 men, including 41 RAF ground personnel and 18 RAF and Fleet Air Arm pilots, died. There were 43 survivors. Two escort destroyers, the Acasta (Cdr.Glasford) and Ardent (Lt-Cdr.Barker) were also sunk during the attack. The Acastahad fired a torpedo at the Scharnhorst causing damage to her quarterdeck and killing 48 men. The total death toll from the three British vessels amounted to 1,519 ( Acasta 160 and Ardent 152) There were only 63 survivors but 25 of these died from exposure before being picked up two and a half days later. Only 38 men survived the sinking of the three ships (only one survivor from the Ardent, Able Seaman Rodger Hooke). One hundred miles away was the cruiser HMS Devonshirewhich picked up the garbled SOS from the Glorious but dared not repeat it. At that moment she was on a secret mission, transporting the King of Norway and his staff from Tromsó to the safety of the British Isles. The Glorious (22,200 tons) was the first aircraft carrier to be sunk by surface ships.

A 1999 Channel 4 documentary led to some questions in Parliament from Alan Beith and Tam Dalyell; evidently the SOS was not garbled at all - within 4 minutes of receiving the signal from the Glorious, the Devonshire’s speed was increased to 30 knots and all of its 8-in turret guns were manned. It was running for the UK and maintained its radio silence.” (source)

Sad but true. :/

“Satellites” by Doves [2002]

Random Music History Song of the Day

“Satellites” was the centerpiece of Dove’s sophomore LP The Last Broadcast, which topped the UK album chart in 2002. The song built on a style made famous by a number of great British bands. The chords created by the background vocals of “Satellites” reflect a debt, or possibly even an homage to Blur’s classic near-gospel mantra “Tender” from 1999. Both songs probably drew inspiration from the work of Spiritualized, particularly the title track from the band’s 1997 album Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space. We could even throw The Beta Band’s “Dry the Rain” from 1998 into the mix of influences that led Doves to this style. All of the aforementioned songs were versions of a type of song that goes back at least as far as “Hey Jude.”

It is a testament to a songwriter’s skill when he can write one or two motives or melodies which alone are strong enough to carry a song for over six minutes. All of these songs exemplify exactly that. Working in this style is challenging. Where many pop songs use a built in chord changes - e.g. a bridge or a repeat raised a third - as the primary means of progressing the music forward, these songs repeat the same chord series far too long for that alone to keep the listener interested. The one trick used in each of the songs above is a gradual crescendo, a push to the finish that gives each song momentum. That drive keeps the listener interested and creates the expectation of catharsis at the song’s end, especially when the feel of gospel music is evoked.

Of the songs mentioned, only “Satellites” actually halted the music for a cathartic wordless a cappella finale. The others continued through fade outs that ran 20 seconds or more - a soft landing to be sure, but not the release that Doves provided.

“Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia)” by The Flaming Lips [2002]

Random Music History Song of the Day

Pitchfork decried The Flaming Lips’ inclusion of “Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia)” on the band’s 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. How dare a band as good as The Flaming Lips put not one, but two(!) instrumentals on an album which only had eleven tracks total, going so far even as to use “Approaching…” as the album closer?!

I’ll tell you why. While the writers at Pitchfork might not realize it, instrumental rock music is not ipso facto worse than rock music with vocals. Moreover, The Flaming Lips thought “Yoshimi… Pt. 2” and “Approaching…” were good instrumentals, otherwise they wouldn’t have included them! The voters at the Grammys agreed and awarded this very song a Grammy for “Best Rock Instrumental Performance.” Suck it Pitchfork.

“Fuck You Lucy” by Atmosphere [2002]

Random Music History Song of the Day

National media and major labels finally took notice when Atmosphere released what was effectively their sophomore album Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs (as the name suggests, a compilation of then-current EPs) in 2001. Unfortunately for Slug (MC) and Ant (producer) the positive attention, paradoxically, quickly took the focus away from the music itself. Much of the media attention dismissed Atmosphere’s first LP Overcast! and more importantly, the media turned Lucy Ford into a defining statement instead of merely a single step in the growth of an artist.

When Atmosphere released their next record, 2002’s God Loves Ugly, they included a song called “Fuck You Lucy.” On the surface the lyrics describe a breakup with a woman named Lucy. Based on the events described above, however, the full lyrics and especially “Fuck you Lucy for defining my existence” obviously carry an additional allegorical meaning.

On an even broader level Lucy is a placeholder for every woman, a single name to bring many of Slug’s descriptions of women (and more abstract ideas like addiction) together in the same fantasy. This figuration, then, allows the listener greater freedom of interpretation. Finally, Slug himself has stated that “Lucy is hip-hop.” Much like Common’s famous anthem “I Used to Love H.E.R.,” Slug occasionally uses Lucy to as an allegory for the state of hip-hop.

Such layering is what makes the best independent hip-hop so good.