MUSICAL NUTRITION
I've toned down a lot of my views on music recently.
I used to lambast those who only listen to the current pre-fabricated vacuous drivel served up by the money-grubbing music industry. You know, I would do really subtle things like pretending to puke whenever anyone espoused a preference for One Direction.
But recently I came round to thinking, very magnanimously, that I don't really have the right to deride anyone for their egregious and misguided addiction to lowest common denominator ear candy: after all, if it gives them pleasure, then that's fine, isn't it?
However, I still can (and do) try to show people that there are other possibilities out there that they may not have been exposed to, other musical avenues that they might ultimately find more rewarding than the narrow confines of the meaningless frippery they have become accustomed to.
And so I present a selection of songs that I find moving and worthwhile. They may be sometimes obscure, often melancholy or even 'difficult', but for me this is art: evocative expressions of the less ordinary in challenging and experimental musical settings. Here you will find atypical song structures, unusual instrumentation and lyrics that dare venture beyond the pap of pop.
If you find something here that resonates with you and sets you off on a new journey of discovery, then my work is done. If not, then, hey, your flavour of the month idols will still be there waiting for your cash...
1. Joy Division - "Atmosphere" (1979)
Spine-chilling otherworldliness - from the glacial production and sparse instrumentation to the disturbing vocal, it's hard to believe that this unique track initially appeared on a limited edition 7" single released by an obscure French record label. The impact of this song hasn't lessened over the three decades I've had the pleasure of knowing it. "Don't walk away in silence..."
2. Brian Eno - "An Ending (Ascent)" (1983)
Part of a sound track to NASA footage of the moon, this looping cyclical synthesiser piece is pure Eno - constantly morphing beat-less ambient music that is both beautiful and sad.
3. Ennio Morricone - "Adonai" (1966)
An early example of the Italian movie soundtrack maestro's art, this song featured in a black and white film based on Hieronymous Bosch's painting 'The Garden of Earthly Delights.' All the hallmarks are there - ethereal high-pitched female voices, clanging bells and the juxtaposition of rock music with harpsichord and other, as yet unidentified, idiosyncratic instruments. Spine-chilling, profound, and yet eminently danceable.
4. U2 - "Van Diemen's Land" (1988)
I don't like U2 at all - overblown pompous twaddle for the most part, but this track, a solo performance by the guitarist, is astonishing, a deeply moving tale of a man about to be deported as a convict to Australia (then named Van Diemen's Land).
5. Kraftwerk - "Radioactivity" (1975)
Germany's electronic music pioneers provide a lengthy track about radio and radioactivity which is both harsh and machine-like (pulsing synth bass and morse code), but also graceful and melodic (choral and orchestral chord layers), showcasing all that is great about these grandfathers of techno.
6. Hüsker Dü - "I Will Never Forget You" (1984)
I would call this the greatest love song ever. No trite boy-meets-girl doggerel here: against a backdrop of powerful punk riffage, Bob Mould relates this tale of rejection and emotional damage with such passion that its verity cannot be denied. Listen to how he spits out the title in a howl of pain and anger, words that might in lesser songs be rendered wistful and nostalgic.
7. Sheila Chandra - "Ever So Lonely/Eyes/Ocean" (1992)
The British-Indian singer's medley of earlier 'pop' hits, rendered without accompaniment except for barely perceptible raga-like background drones. This frequently brings me to tears, such is its intensity. The sad irony is that Chandra now suffers from a rare disorder that has rendered this amazing voice mute, a terrible tragedy.
8. Wire - "The 15th" (1979)
The hallmarks of Wire's 'art-punk' approach, experimental rock music with no guitar solos that is somehow soaring and beautiful (listen for the synthesiser's entry in the second verse), providing a backdrop for obscure stream of consciousness lyrics that conjure up nothing and everything.
9. Circus Devils - "All the Good Ones are Gone" (2010)
A side-project for prolific alternative songwriter Robert Pollard, most Circus Devils albums contain a lot of wildly experimental and often hard to digest snippets, but there's always at least one deeply moving piece. This minimal piano and synth ballad conveys a deep sense of loss and sadness without you even knowing what exactly it's about.
10. Morrissey - "Jack the Ripper" (1993)
Morrissey is one of the very few artists who can write songs that are both funny and deeply moving at the same time. This one has another kind of juxtaposition, however: the narrator is the infamous killer himself, and the lyrics sound almost like a love song if one is not paying attention - "fall into my arms," being not quite the romantic embrace one might find in a normal pop song. Macabre and fascinating.
11. Aphex Twin - "Actium" (1992)
Apart from the aforementioned Kraftwerk, I hadn't really had any exposure to the emergence of electronic music in the early 90's until somebody lent me the debut album from Richard D James, and I was instantly hooked. This track epitomises his early work - absolute minimalism with everything swathed in a warm cloak of reverb. One thing that makes James stand out from the crowd is his melodic sensibilities, evident even here as a tiny synth line floats above the insistent pulse of the bass. Sublimely relaxing.
12. Sebadoh - "Narrow Stories" (1990)
Even lo-fi 4-track tape recordings and primitive instrumentation cannot dampen the melodic charm and wistful lyricism of Lou Barlow. Less is definitely more.
13. New Order - "In A Lonely Place (1981)
My favourite song of all time. Not only is this one of the most intriguing and artistically bold pieces of music of the last few decades, it is also shockingly real in the story of its history. The last song to be written by Ian Curtis before his suicide in 1980, his band mates released it a year later as their first offering without him. This long piece is harrowingly empty with synth washes so suffused in reverb as to be virtually non-existent, while the steady tomtom beat is about as far from rock and roll as you can get. Occasionally the music swells with cymbal crescendoes, giving the impression of a stormy sea. Only at the end does the bass come in as the song closes with a long instrumental outro. Most moving of all are the lyrics, which even mention the subject of hanging, the means by which Curtis exited this world. Chillingly beautiful.
14. Neil Young - "Powderfinger" (1979)
A powerful tale of a young life cut short in some conflict or other...highly evocative.
15. Psycho & the Birds - "Jesus the Clockwork" (2006)
Another Robert Pollard side-project, this throwaway cassette tape recording features a sublime melody and mumbled lyrics that somehow move in a way that defies explanation. The only line I can make out for sure is the opening "high on a hill in the brains of tomorrow" - I have no idea what it means, but I love it...
16. Colin Newman - "Alone" (1980)
Taken from Wire frontman's first solo album, this track gained a certain prominence from appearing in the film 'Silence of the Lambs.' A sad, beautiful song that eschews typical rock structures and is stronger for it. The lyrics are typically oblique, but really resonate for me:
Alone, with too much generosity / A theatre mask of hostility attracts / Assaults occur, infrequently / And those who come, to conquer? / Need strength / But damage accumulates /Still moving him to tears / Retained a sense of humour
17. Neutral Milk Hotel - "Two-Headed Boy Part 2" (1998)
Beginning with what sounds like whale song, this acoustic solo tale of conjoined twins is without a doubt macabre and disturbing, and yet is so moving it brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. There's nothing else quite like it.
18. Captain Beefheart - "Big Eyed Beans From Venus" (1972)
After the Captain's wild experimentalism on 1969's classic "Trout Mask Replica," he tried to embrace a more conventional rock approach in the hope of increased sales, but his eccentricities in both musical arrangement and lyrics could not be suppressed : the result, this intriguing and complex piece...
19. Galaxie 500 - "Final Day" (1989)
A cover of a Young Marble Giants track, this drum-less folk song movingly paints a picture of nuclear holocaust and the social levelling that will result.
20. Swans - "A Hanging" (1986)
This track, wisely placed last in this list, is moving in a different way to the others. It moves due to its extreme sonic brutality and the weight of its self-deprecating lyrics. Truly cathartic, after being bludgeoned you will emerge cleansed - if you make it to the end, that is. Don't give up too soon, as there is a sonic surprise that will jolt you out of your catatonia towards the second half. Not for the faint of heart.