Mystery Jets: Two Doors Down

such a brilliant 80s parody I am a bit worried it's actually not a parody:

Flight Of The Conchords

Here's to funny things happening in music recently. Flight Of The Conchords is a musical comedy duo from New Zealand and they got their own tv show, too! But I'll spare you (or rather me) reciting biographical details and trivia I could only copy from other websites (obligatory link #1: the homepage; obligatory link #2: wikipedia; obligatory link #3: myspace). and give you something to see first and then my thoughts afterwards.

If You're into it



Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros



Inner City Pressure



Business Time



Inner City Pressure is not bad, eh? You can tell it is a total rip off of The Pet Shop Boys, but yet it is such a unique song. The sound is so much the same but they did not just add different lyrics to a familiar melody.

What fascinates me about Flight Of The Conchords is that at first I thought how clever they were not forming an ordinary band, but making a comedy thing out of it. That way they are not limited to one style of music and they do not have fixed roles (like who plays what instrument etc.). Although their live shows are with acoustic guitars only (at least as far as I have seen on youtube), they can play all sorts of music in the show - quoting music history from ragga to hiphop to french pop to electronic music to folk, from David Bowie to Pet Shop Boys to Sisqo and so on. Then I wondered whether this meant they weren't so clever at all, because basically when you use a musical style and just copy it for your own song, then there is a lot of work that has been done for you already. But if you listened to the songs closely, you should object now - of course. What makes each song remarkable different from any music it was inspired by is how the two guys use lyrics to comment on their inspiration, to ironically over-emphasice and ridicule what was at no point meant to be funny by the original artists - hence the comedy aspect.

"you know you're not in high finance
considering second-hand underpants"

is what the Pet Shop Boys would never have added to their description of the lifes of young rebelious west end boys.

Same goes for rapping the obligatory hate rhyme:

"Other rappers dis me
Say my rhymes are sissy.
Why? Why? Why?
What?
Why exactly?
What? Why?
Be more constructive with your feedback, please. Why?"

and If You're Into It is just thoughts of a boy - a boy nobody ever told when to stop!

"If you want me to
I could hang 'round with you
If I only knew
That's what you're into.
You and him
Him and you
If that's what
You're into
Him hanging 'round
Around you
You're hanging 'round
Yeah, you're there too.

...

Then on our next date
Well, you could bring your roommate
I don't know if Stu is keen to
But if you want we could double-team you
How about you
And two dudes?
Him, you and Stu
In the nude
Being lewd with two dudes with food
Well, that's if Stu's into it, too"

It's soo well done how all the sounds of the vowels correspond with each other. This is very you can see how much lyrics with music and poetry have in common - the sound has to project the meaning. The way they do it shows they are not only good lyricists, but also fantastic musician. This is very clever, musically and lyrically!

03 - Rjd2: The Third Hand

03
RJD2: THE THIRD HAND (2007)

I have written about this one here. It is still hard to believe I read about this record in a hiphop magazine first. But yeah, Rdj2 used to be a hiphop sampling dj once. With this record, he has created something more atmospheric, more dreamy, more melodic. This has been the soundtrack for my autumn this year. I used to listen to this one all of september when I was riding my bike. It is a bit of a twisted record, I find it very hard to add "labels" to it. But unlike last time I wrote about this record, there is now something I can give you to hear. Please have a look and listen at Work It Out, which represents the feel of the album very well, I think. It may sound repetitive when you've only listened to it once, but If you give it a few more tries you will realise there is a lot going on in the song.



Rjd2, by the way, is not the guy with the crutches, but, among others, the guy in the blue/white checked shirt following him at the beginning.

Frankie Valli and the mysteries of video shooting

"beggin', beggin' you
put your dancing shoes on baby"
(slightly edited, ;-) )

Frankie Valli - Beggin' (pilooski edit)



The most amazing song for me at the moment.

Why on earth they shot a video like this one is a mystery to me. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (why the full name of the band isn't spelled out correctly is a mystery either) were, among other things, successful in the British northern soul scene in the 60s. Considering the timeline, the 1950s petticoat dancers are a complete miscast, and the sound doesn't really apply to these 80s hiphop dancers either.

There are people dancing northern soul nowadays. I bet these two young men would have loved to take part in the video:



Better luck next time!

And in case you would like to see and hear more northern soul (like I do!), try these guys:

Justice live at "I love Techno"

Kinda old, but this still hits me like a rock. I am more and more into Nu Rave.