Badlittlekitten's top 50 indie/alternative tracks of this century so far.

Badlittlekitten · 12-20-2010, 07:17 PM

Na, not in this thread mate.

EDIT: There may be a Shins appearance soon though.

Badlittlekitten · 12-22-2010, 08:31 AM

39
The Beta Band - Gone
Hot Shots II
2001

Edinburgh Scotland's much missed Beta Band were a eccentric hippy folk collective of scruffy beards. Like many other groups brimming with invention, their record sales suffered, mainly because they were always ten steps ahead of everyone else, and, well, maybe because they were to to happy in their stinky clouds of super skunk to care. Their music is an effortless mash of stoner folk, Krautrock, hip hop, trip hop, funk, acid house and electronica. Yet, despite all this delicious diversity, I chose the song that sounds like bloody Pink Floyd. 'Gone' is a dark brooding thing, made up of just a Roger Waters bass line, dread inducing guitar chords and some subtly haunting backing vocals . Frontman Steve Mason sounds like he's been struck with swine flu rather than his usual cold, and he mourns, "Won't you think of me, when I'm gone" as a simple piano figure that's full of hopelessness washes him astray. It's bleak, depressing and is more suspicious of fun then any other Beta Band track, and it could have been the best track that was never on Floyd's Meddle, thanks to its intensity and emotional conviction.

A few years later The Beta's would split, frustrated that their critical adulation didn't translate into commercial success. They inspired many inferior bands like Gomez, Oasis, The Mystery Jets and Arcade Fire, who inevitably were hugely successful. Such is the renegade rock cliché.

Badlittlekitten · 01-11-2011, 12:56 PM

38
Menomena - Muscle N' Flo
Friend And Foe
2007
Portland's multi instrumentalist trio Menomena used a unique method to record Friend And Foe - with a home made computer program they each recorded individual improvised takes that are looped, copied, pasted, regarded and then disregarded, seemingly at random. Yet some how, it all fits together like a jigsaw and makes a great art rock LP. It's a rare beast, in that there isn't a skippaple track on it, yet I struggle to find a stand-out track. I went with 'Muscle N' Flo', the opening song and a fine example of what the album is all about. It opens with some stumbling drums which instantly crash to a halt as the vocals come in with the memorable line, 'Oh in the morning I stumble my way towards the mirror and my makeup' (sung by a male. Stumble is an apt word here) over a bass rumble. After the drums have come and gone again, a twangy guitar slides into a lovely piano riff which briefly settles things (writing this list has made me realise how many twinkles of piano I adore, and how many are important to a song.) before the vocal harmonies of the chorus come in and guitars itch and scratch all about the place. The Moment is at 1:45 when, as the percussion drops out again, that piano returns with a riff that seems to defy gravity while some organs discreetly moan and drone, all accompanied by the lyric, 'Now here I stand a broken man'. Some of the most bewitching songs peak with the quietest, most intimate of moments, and this is one of them. The line 'There's so much more left to do, when I'm not young but I'm not through', is one of the many examples of what I like about this album; beyond the trickery and experimentalism lies a cutting reminder of them old fashioned human attributes, like hope.

12-20-2010, 07:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
Badlittlekitten And then there was music Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Near Wild Heaven Posts: 287	Na, not in this thread mate. EDIT: There may be a Shins appearance soon though. __________________ 'Said do you feel it? Do you feel it when you TOUCH ME?. THERE'S A FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE!' The Stooges. Dirt. https://soundcloud.com/bad-little-kittens My Top 100 LPs My Top 52 Indie Tracks Of The 21st Century (incomplete) Last edited by Badlittlekitten; 12-21-2010 at 03:41 PM.

12-22-2010, 08:31 AM	#2 (permalink)
Badlittlekitten And then there was music Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Near Wild Heaven Posts: 287	39 The Beta Band - Gone Hot Shots II 2001 Edinburgh Scotland's much missed Beta Band were a eccentric hippy folk collective of scruffy beards. Like many other groups brimming with invention, their record sales suffered, mainly because they were always ten steps ahead of everyone else, and, well, maybe because they were to to happy in their stinky clouds of super skunk to care. Their music is an effortless mash of stoner folk, Krautrock, hip hop, trip hop, funk, acid house and electronica. Yet, despite all this delicious diversity, I chose the song that sounds like bloody Pink Floyd. 'Gone' is a dark brooding thing, made up of just a Roger Waters bass line, dread inducing guitar chords and some subtly haunting backing vocals . Frontman Steve Mason sounds like he's been struck with swine flu rather than his usual cold, and he mourns, "Won't you think of me, when I'm gone" as a simple piano figure that's full of hopelessness washes him astray. It's bleak, depressing and is more suspicious of fun then any other Beta Band track, and it could have been the best track that was never on Floyd's Meddle, thanks to its intensity and emotional conviction. A few years later The Beta's would split, frustrated that their critical adulation didn't translate into commercial success. They inspired many inferior bands like Gomez, Oasis, The Mystery Jets and Arcade Fire, who inevitably were hugely successful. Such is the renegade rock cliché. __________________ 'Said do you feel it? Do you feel it when you TOUCH ME?. THERE'S A FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE!' The Stooges. Dirt. https://soundcloud.com/bad-little-kittens My Top 100 LPs My Top 52 Indie Tracks Of The 21st Century (incomplete)

01-11-2011, 12:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
Badlittlekitten And then there was music Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Near Wild Heaven Posts: 287	38 Menomena - Muscle N' Flo Friend And Foe 2007 Portland's multi instrumentalist trio Menomena used a unique method to record Friend And Foe - with a home made computer program they each recorded individual improvised takes that are looped, copied, pasted, regarded and then disregarded, seemingly at random. Yet some how, it all fits together like a jigsaw and makes a great art rock LP. It's a rare beast, in that there isn't a skippaple track on it, yet I struggle to find a stand-out track. I went with 'Muscle N' Flo', the opening song and a fine example of what the album is all about. It opens with some stumbling drums which instantly crash to a halt as the vocals come in with the memorable line, 'Oh in the morning I stumble my way towards the mirror and my makeup' (sung by a male. Stumble is an apt word here) over a bass rumble. After the drums have come and gone again, a twangy guitar slides into a lovely piano riff which briefly settles things (writing this list has made me realise how many twinkles of piano I adore, and how many are important to a song.) before the vocal harmonies of the chorus come in and guitars itch and scratch all about the place. The Moment is at 1:45 when, as the percussion drops out again, that piano returns with a riff that seems to defy gravity while some organs discreetly moan and drone, all accompanied by the lyric, 'Now here I stand a broken man'. Some of the most bewitching songs peak with the quietest, most intimate of moments, and this is one of them. The line 'There's so much more left to do, when I'm not young but I'm not through', is one of the many examples of what I like about this album; beyond the trickery and experimentalism lies a cutting reminder of them old fashioned human attributes, like hope. __________________ 'Said do you feel it? Do you feel it when you TOUCH ME?. THERE'S A FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE!' The Stooges. Dirt. https://soundcloud.com/bad-little-kittens My Top 100 LPs My Top 52 Indie Tracks Of The 21st Century (incomplete) Last edited by Badlittlekitten; 01-11-2011 at 01:20 PM.