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In Case You Missed It: Nu Shooz

I was in Tanzania. I was drunk. It had been a long night out, and my friend Paul and I were on our way home. We had just finished playing our favorite game, "Try To Confuse The Shit Out Of The Cab Driver By Using Rudimentary Swahili To Say Ridiculous Things" and we had a pretty good time of it (I was trying to explain the plot of The Empire Strikes Back from the point of view of Darth Vader [I think it went pretty well]).

The driver had the radio turned up. That usually consists of "Bongo Flava", local Tanzanian jams, which sort of sounds like a cruel version of Sean Paul karaoke. But then, it happened. Out of nowhere, the sound of the 1980's invaded the car. I felt like the most salient moments of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Risky Business all wrapped up into five wonderful minutes. I memorized as many of the lyrics as I could, wrote them down, and searched for them the next time I was around the internet. From there, my relationship with Nu Shooz was born.





I don't know much about Nu Shooz. Apparently they're a husband-wife pair (that never works out), and they actually managed to make it through 3 albums before someone in charge finally figured out they were hopeless. They have one video for a song that sounds like Paula Abdul covering the theme from ToeJam and Earl. But that doesn't take anything away from the glory of "Lost Your Number". It really is an entire decade rolled up into 5 minutes of music, completely summarizing everything there is to love and hate about the 80s. And with this song, I bet you'll find yourself a bit more on the loving side.

Nu Shooz - Lost Your Number

Listen to the lyrics. Let them take you away. She lost his number. How can she call him? I honestly have no idea. There was no Facebook. I'm not even sure she had a cell phone. Its tragic. But so wonderful. I mean the first line references a pay phone, could you ask for more?

So just let that 80s vibe wash over you, and then go add it to your dance mix.


Hat Tip: Stephen the cab driver

In Case You Missed It: Yes

As a historical entity, the career of Yes is one that fascinates me by its lack of recognition in the sphere of popular culture. These sort of things happen, people or events with a significance that far outweighs their familiarity, but that doesn't mean that they should. Just try to torrent a Yes album-- the results are painful; groups like INXS and Air Supply (why do I have no respect for Australia?) put them to shame. No, not that Yes. But Yes's discography is one that has kept them relevant for over a quarter of a century, and put them on the edge of an era of music that they helped to lead, however overshadowed they might now be.

So lets get to the songs.



Comparisons to Zeppelin are inevitable. But Yes expands far beyond imitation, most clearly by embracing the mystic/cosmic vibe to a degree that Zeppelin only flirts with. Lyrically their sound is much more akin to something like Jethro Tull, and the music follows. Each track is a trip, rolling up and down through different tones with a dynamism that few artists can pull off. Before you ask: yes, I chose two 10 minute songs. On to our first track.

Yes - And You And I

The middle two minutes of the song is an acid party that is pulled straight from the soundtrack to a Kubrick film, as if to remind you that, yes, this was recorded in the early 70s. But its mood is more upbeat, clearly, and comes full circle in a way that begs to be repeated the moment its finished.

Yes - Starship Trooper

No, not that Starship Trooper. This is one of their favorites--the track completely encapsulates that prog rock sound-- it feels more "composed" than "written", if that makes any sense, and just bursts with the feeling that everyone in the room should be lovin on one another. If your shirt isn't off by the 1:45 mark, the flute that comes in at that point will make sure it is.

So I hope you enjoy it. Even though Yes might be missing out on well-deserved respect with the general population, if they get it from AMDAL readers, thats way more important, right?
Right.

In Case You Missed It: 311

311 reminds me of the swimming pool. It's that simple, and it's that perfect. I think of driving during the summer with the windows down when I'm 16-- is it possible to have a better memory attached to a piece of music? I think not. And while I can't really hope for You The Reader to experience the same, strong, Abercrombie-and-Fitch-scented nostalgia that I do each time I listen to these guys, they still give off that mid-90s vibe in a way that you have to love.

So these guys are from Omaha, NE, meaning that they formed a band because being in a band is the only thing to do in Nebraska if you aren't hating on gays or doing crystal meth. Luckily, they ended up being pretty good and actually became famous enough to enjoy the slow painful musical death that comes with most early rising stars. But they had a good ride along the way, I guess. And damn if their drummer can't play.

So there's a couple tracks I want to share. The first is off of their double-album, an "experimental" release to establish their musical prowess that failed miserably. But this track is awesome, so awesome. I mean sure, the beginning sounds like rising up into outer space after the third hit from the Roar, but after that its nearly perfect.

311 - Use of Time

The second is a jam off their major self-titled release. I think, of the two tracks, this one is more true to their vibe. That can be tested by getting shitfaced and deciding which one you like better. (The theory is that, the shittier you get, the more 311 makes you want to grab a camcorder and make your own Jackass video.)

311 - Don't Stay Home

So take a listen. If you've heard them before, I hope these tracks remind you of biddies by the pool and Sharks and Minnows. If this is your first time, go make some bad decisions and let 311 help you on the way.

In Case You Missed It: The Butthole Surfers

The 90's were a great decade for music. So were the 80's, in sort of a backward, laughing-cause-otherwise-I'd-be-crying sort of way. The 70's were rock-solid, and the 60's, magnificent. "In Case You Missed It" is a shamelessly stolen title weekly special that aims to balance your musical diet with a healthy dose of olde schoole, to bring you back to those favorites you listened to in high school or elementary school, or that your parents listened to in high school or elementary school. I hope that, if you've enjoyed these tracks before, its at least been a while. And if you haven't experienced them before, I hope its a decent first go round.

So, without further ado, and with the risk of completely alienating a crowd with disturbing images and ridiculous names, I give you the Butthole Surfers.

"Cinnamon and sugary
And softly spoken lies
You never know just how you look
Through other people's eyes"

I remember first hearing the Butthole Surfers on the radio in the 7th grade: That means that we must be in 1996, which is a great year in music for so many reasons. I'm probably just sitting around, listening to the radio, waiting for my mom to get home so she could take me and the other teen virgins to the mall where we'd walk around not buying things wondering whether we would go to Sam Claycombe's house and get drunk on gin from his parent's liquor cabinet that weekend. But instead, something happens. The radio DJ probably says something like "And next up, we have a new track from... (hushed voice) Can I actually say this on air? Are we actually playing this? Really? Christ. (loud voice) From the Butthole Surfers, folks. You heard it first on 107.5 The River." And on comes this song. Its like nothing I've ever heard before. Some guy is talking over a loud drumbeat about all kinds of weird shit I thought you weren't supposed to say on the radio. I have no idea what's going on. I think I just heard him say that Flipper died. But then, on comes the chorus. Its mind-blowing, in that first-time-I-saw-a-rated-R-movie sort of way. Just spectacular. And before I know it, its over. And, it being 1996 and all, my computer experience consists of a pre-Napster Prodigy internet connection and Duke Nukem 3D, so my illegal downloading options are limited, which leaves me with the primary option of asking my mom "Can you take me to get the new Butthole Surfers album?" which even my tiny 7th-grade-sized brain knows is not a feasible option. So for weeks, I am left to only experience this joyous track when it occasionally appears on the radio or MTV2. After an eternity, I finally get the chance to swing by Sam Goody, overwhelm the apathetic 16-year-old working the counter, and blow my allowance on the PARENTAL ADVISORY plastered Electriclarryland. The album is terrible, but at least I get my fix of this song, "Pepper". I hope this track is as much of a homecoming for you as it is for me.

2 extra pieces of must-know Butthole Surfers trivia:
1) If you read about them on the blogosphere, critics almost unilaterally refer to them as "The Buttholes" for short, like its completely normal. e.g. "On the Buttholes' latest release, Weird Revolution, they move into new territory."
2) In 1988 (these guys have been around forever), they put a faux-Zeppelin album out called Hairway to Steven. That is hilarious.


The Butthole Surfers - Pepper