2 with ten – the letter f
drat. once again, in efforts to abide by my own rules i find myself plagued by the limits of my itunes library. since i can only pick from what i have in the f’s im going with the first 2 artists that jump out to me. alas, they arent new but they both had an instant effect on me when i heard them and have since stood the test of time.
FC Kahuna. is a dj duo from london that made some pretty big beats. at one point they had a band that was touring. anyway, the song i picked called hayling came out in 2002 and features gus gus vocalist haftis helde. many a night i would sit in my truck with this song on repeat. i love the dark sparse bouncy use of electronics (fyi some samples on this song were lifted from tangerine dream). bottom line: this track is full on vibe – its minimal, beautiful, futuristic, trippy and sultry. damn, the cymbals are wonderful in this song too. oh, i first heard this song via a great double disc released my the ministry of sound label called the chillout sessions. this cd was a monster.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
in a weird twist of fate my other f happens to have also appeared on the aforementioned double disc. crazy huh…also the first time i heard of this band too!
Fischerspooner. usually when one thinks of fischerspooner a song like the one im posting doesnt come to mind. tone poem has always been my favorite fs song. we opened 3 shows on the west coast for them in 2005. at the time those were probably the biggest shows we played. adding to the fact that i love casey spooner this was a no brainer for me. check out this trip down memory lane. scroll down to june entry toward the middle of the page to see some of those show reports.. wow that’s a trip. ya know if anyone ever questions the amount of work and shit this band has gone through i guess i should just tell them to scroll through the archives of this blog.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
ok, on to the “f”uture. f me now please.
About The Author
Francis Ten
Other posts byFrancis Ten
Author his web sitehttp://www.facebook.com/francisten
Ok, for “F”, I debated throwing in some Flaming Lips, but I decided to go for a couple much more obscure suggestions. My first one for this week is Fuzzbox. Oh shit, this band brings back some memories! I started listening to Fuzzbox in high school when they were known as We’ve Got A Fuzzbox And We’re Gonna Use It. They started as a REALLY weird pop-punk band with really weird songs and crazy technicolor hair. Their early tunes from the album “Bostin’ Steve Austin” were pretty manic, like “Rules And Regulations” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkOj282VD-Q, and by their second album “Big Bang” they completely reinvented themselves as more of a dance pop band, with much more polished and catchy tunes like “Self!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b3aHuPE7fA.
My next recommendation is the now-dufunct Orange County ska band Forces Of Evil. Aaron Barrett of Reel Big Fish started this band in 2001 with members of other ska bands. Unfortunately they only released one album, but it was fun while it lasted. I can always count on their song “Angry Anthem” to put me in a good mood when I’m having a shitty day. See if this works for you. http://www.last.fm/music/The+Forces+of+Evil/_/Angry+Anthem. Another surprising little gem off their “Friend or FOE?” album is their cover of the Van Halen classic “Dance The Night Away” http://www.last.fm/music/The+Forces+of+Evil/_/Dance+the+Night+Away
Foals-Balloons-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGrZkUQ6_r8
Friendly Fires- Skeleton Boy- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyA8zfouG4Y
For my “F” selections I looked eastward, honed in on New Mexico, and chose a band that’s been around for over 50 years. I then looked farther to the east, zoomed in on Brooklyn, and selected a rapper I like.
***
The Fireballs formed in the late 1950′s in Raton, New Mexico, and cut some instrumental sides that influenced the beginning of surf music. In 1963, as Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, they had a #1 hit with Sugar Shack (one of the first 45s I owned as a 8-year old in fall ’63), and five years later they hit the charts again with Bottle of Wine. Leader and guitarist George Tomsco has kept the band going ever since. He seems like a cool guy with a fun attitude toward music, and he plays some mean guitar licks. Here is the Fireballs’ Web site. http://www.fireballs-original.com/main.html. You can hear five of their best songs in full on their MySpace site. Don’t miss Harlee Guitar. http://www.myspace.com/thefireballsnm. Here’s a video of a recent George Tomsco performance of Bulldog, with a funny story at the beginning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXNhywa5qHc.
***
Until recently I wasn’t a hip hop fan, but in the past few years I started to like some tracks, mainly because my quest for new music led me to radio station 100.3, which played great hip hop and R&B, sometimes in 20-minute continuous segments with the same beat under each song. Incredible driving music! I couldn’t enjoy this format for long, though. 100.3 switched to smooth R&B before becoming The Sound, which plays the same classic rock songs as KLOS. Don’t get me started on how much I hate classic rock radio! Anyway, one rap artist I like is Foxy Brown. I know, violent temper, throwing things, jail time. What can I say, she’s my favorite bad girl. Gorgeous, too. I picked up “Brooklyn’s Don Diva” last year and loved it. The samples effectively support her voice, which is a remarkable narrative instrument. She is incredibly dramatic and she gives me chills. I hope we hear more from her. Listen to song samples via this link. http://www.amazon.com/Brooklyns-Don-Diva-Foxy-Brown/dp/B000WGWCLM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1261347379&sr=1-1
My selections for F are Fat Rhabit and Flobots. Fat Rhabit is a local (Phoenix, AZ) rock group that I am not sure are still together. It seems their website redirects to a dead myspace page, however, they still have stuff up on last.fm ( http://www.last.fm/music/Fat+Rhabit/Fat+Rhabit+EP ). I would recommend the songs Brat and Vultures.
Flobots ( http://www.myspace.com/flobots ) are a protest alt/hip hop group from Denver. They had some airplay with their song Handlebars ( http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=100005760 ). Second song from them i guess I would go with Rise ( http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=45161651 )
Folk Implosion is one of my favorites for a lazy afternoon sitting in the sun. They’re a little granola, but not quite guilty pleasure territory. They briefly hit it big when their song Natural One was on the Kids soundtrack in the mid-90′s. The aong I chose is Free to Go (bonus F!) from their album, One Part Lullaby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnTwDLKOgCM
“F”
Fever Ray.
http://www.myspace.com/feverray
Fantastic Magic.
Pre- “Wavves” Nathan Williams was in this hometown band. Have to give the 619 shout out.
http://www.myspace.com/fantasticmagic
Thank you for the new music!
Fischerspooner? Yes! Yes! Yes! Saw them at Coachella many years ago and it was quite….a spectacle. How could you not like that Epoxies stuff though Fran? Anyhoo…
.
Right, so for my “F”s. Thankfully I can submit some new stuff that all came out this year. Here we go.
.
Frightened Rabbit – “Heads Roll Off” – Yes, it is possibly the stupidest band names in ages, but whew, what a track this one is. One of the catchiest to come out this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBcbDS5AGnk
.
Fever Ray – “Triangle Walks” – Probably the most intriguing band that came out this year. Their live show was incredible. Weird Scandinavian tuneage that has a penchant for Native American themes? Now that’s a two-pronged attack indeed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUqZKzCH34E&feature=related
.
Enjoy!
As the letter journey goes on I think of my favorites after the fact like D ~ Dead Can Dance how could I forget that one. Any hoo you’re on F- Well Faith No More comes to my mind as does Fugazi but i didn’t listen to the latter. Faith No More The Real Thing 1989 was a solid record going all over the place emotionally for me. Epic of course is played out but going back and listening to it after an absence it sounds very melodic mixing punk with rap IMO. And Easy by FNM was a very good song during and after sex. He added humor to it as well. Faith No More was some of what I grew up on 20 years ago… and it was a branch off of the whole metal/glam/rock i was listening to at the time. different and good.
And I know the Commodores created Easy and it is a cover song …..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ewckqytgLM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv9UM4zis1M and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upWUuByQLxQ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gna8GzfOa8I
So on a recent tip, I have recently gotten into Fever Ray. She keeps an edgy vibe, but somehow is not too dark.
http://feverray.com/video/if_i_had_a_heart_video.html
I would like to say Fugazi, as that was one of my first shows, but alas not in the library.
So I have to go with Foetus… though I try not to go to the scary place any more.
This track is called Thrush off the album Love. Whatever one may think about JG Thirlwell, he’s a very influential artist.
http://www.lala.com/#song/1657606172582216412
Another F is for Fixx ~ One thing leads to another– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzymBKGV8rw
And who could forget Faster Pussycat….. (i listened to that with Darren one of your old roomates) The whole album was great from where there’s a whip there’s a way and the first album… i got your # off the bathroom wall. Loved it ..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuhE-GsG8i8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-kXgB21PcQ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu4-eCEgQ88 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDQgI6PTho4
I’ve only got one recommendation for “F”,…The Family. I don’t know if you’re a fan of the Minneapolis sound from the 80′s, Fran, but I’m sure you’ll let me know.
The large paragraphs in quotes contain interesting info about the band that I’ve taken from wikipedia and another website that I’ve modified only slightly.
“The Family was born out of the ashes of the then disbanded The Time, with (sadly) their one and only album. With St. Paul (Paul Peterson) and Susannah Melvoin (twin sister of Wendy Melvoin – Prince’s guitarist in The Revolution) on co-lead vocals, the album was arguably the best (non-Prince) product to be released on the Paisley Park label. Under appreciated when first released, it remains a highly-sought-after classic by fans to this day. All songs were written and produced by Prince (barring “River Run Dry” – Bobby Z) and was a pointer towards Parade and Sign O’ The Times. The uptempo tracks were extremely funky, the ballads were poignant enough to move you to tears and the instrumentals planted the seeds for the upcoming Madhouse projects. The clever addition of string orchestration by Claire Fischer to many of the tracks were a revelation and a genius masterstroke. Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT.”
The Family was:
St. Paul (vocals, keyboards and bass)
Susannah Melvoin (vocals and keyboards)
Jerome Benton (vocals, comic foil and percussion)
Jellybean Johnson (drums)
Eric Leeds (saxophone and flute)
“Besides being a fan’s favorite, ‘The Family’ was a relatively important album in Prince’s musical career because it allowed him to test several musical concepts that he would later fully integrate in his music. First, it was the true beginning of his long-term collaboration with Eric Leeds. Leeds co-wrote the two instrumental tracks on the album, which were Prince’s first step into jazz fusion, a genre he’d later explore even more with his Madhouse side-project, then under his own name in the 2000s. ‘The Family’ also marks Prince’s first collaboration with composer and arranger Clare Fischer, as well as the first time Prince added a symphonic orchestra to his music. Though the two men never met (Prince would only send tapes to Fischer with more or less explicit instructions about what he wanted), they have worked together on a regular basis since then.”
The Family was the first band to record the song “Nothing Compares 2 U”, which was later made popular by Sinead O’Connor. QuestLove (drummer for The Roots) is known to be a huge fan of Prince and his projects and has said that The Family’s debut album that came out in 1985 is in his top 20 favorite albums of all time.
The Family – Screams of Passion
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1n63f_the-family-screams-of-passion_music
UPDATE: I just found out that the band has reformed (with all original members intact) as “Fdeluxe” and have a new CD in the works.
When I was a young girl I my mother used to listen to this song over and over again….it may be the only pleasant memory I have of her.
Foriegner…”Waiting For a Girl Like You” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ux8nYxEoUk . Please note the group also has many other jams such as
Cold as Ice (my fave) and Urgent).
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh… too many I know but I’m going to have to say my absolute favorite “F” group is also Fever Ray. I was just introduced to them by my co-worker and I’m completely obsessed with them. Their other band The Knife is incredible and I have a sweet live video of them but I’ll save it for the “K”‘s per Fran’s request… and besides, I don’t want to be dogged as if I posted something like Easy-E *ahem*…
Ok… sooooooo… I will go with Fugazi (as mentioned previously) because of the influence they had on my Bass playing and song writing. I was also a little out of touch with this band during their Hey Day in the late 80′s and early 90′s, but I really started to like them when I joined a group who did a lot of covers of their music. I really dig the Bass lines and their seemingly endless, relaxed playing style… Their music always struck me as being slightly off, slightly out of tune just to tweak your ear a little, maybe tickle it. One of my all time favorites to play (and listen to, at a VERY loud volume) is “Blueprint” off “Repeater (1990)”. Have a listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkfy9F5XO4I
another Gem of a song is “Give me the Cure” of “13 Songs”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggLzLJsxe2s
My other “F” is going to have to be Fiona Apple… not sure what happened to her as of late but her debut album really hit a chord with me (“Tidal”) and I listened to it for months thereafter… Although one of my favorites is “Sleep to Dream” off “Tidal” (Awesome Video to boot), I’m going to go with “Slow like Honey” off the same album. Aw hell, I’ll include them both:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Wnh0V4HMM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQGy9xIrn7w
Runner ups: Mark Farina, Flesh for Lulu, Fluke, Flogging Molly, and Fatboy Slim
Most would probably hate it – but ‘F’ wouldn’t be complete without one of the greatest acts to come out of NYC – Fannypack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TmNrFEOh2A
They got a lot of attention last year, but this guy is still a beast –
F’ed Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPWFnti4pas
First F is a Japanese band called Fake? featuring a half Japanese-half British vocalist named Ken Lloyd and the guitarist Inoran from another one of my favorite bands Luna Sea. The song I picked from them is called Belleza and its in English. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWMZe7-mupA&feature=related
My other F is my favorite trance song by DJ Ferry Corsten – Out of the Blue. I know he went by System F when he made it but I need to save my S’s for other bands. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgx_V0So0qk&feature=related
F is for Fran…
1) OK selection 1 is an 80′s toss up for me. I am going to choose Frankie Goes to Hollywood from my Library (over an honorable mention of Fad Gadget).
Must for the library:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyl5DlrsU90 … and the list goes on…
2) A little more contemporary but not for everyone : FLUNK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDCVYbrWn9Q
lifted this one off the Nancy Drew soundtrack…sweet cover, wish I liked more of their stuff but this one is all right too…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sOm6R9B-GM
Happy New Year
Too many of my F’s are mainstream. I’ve been trying to pick something that maybe would get passed by, or isn’t so well known. Front 242, Front Line Assembly, Foo Fighters, Fear Factory, Fat Boy Slim, all things that I think you’ve heard already. The Flaming Lips was tempting band to list regardless (I impulse-purchased Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots one day and was pleasantly surprise how much I enjoyed it), but in the end was still too popular for me to list. Tf someone out there hasn’t heard anything by TFL, good stuff there.
More Germans! My F’s are dominated by Funker Vogt. It took forever to pick something, I settled on Red Queen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9yR0qIUNSc
Thanks for Nothing is also a good song, and is closer to what you will hear from most of their tracks. No link because I couldn’t find a youtube link without grotesque video. And really, who wants to see war footage of people dieing?
While I can’t stand behind her music fully, every once and a while it’s a good listen. Sure you may know the song from an ipod commercial, but the vid is, different.
Feist-1234
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ9WiuJPnNA&feature=related
The only problem I have listing this there is something about the CD that bugs me. Perhaps because I bought “Yoshimi” with it (must have been an F day).
Here’s the other good song off the disc (everything else was sort of blah for me):
My Moon My Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWrNCCx2p5U&feature=PlayList&p=26F2BDCD0621335A&index=32
enjoy!
pants
My F picks are….
Faithless – UK band…been listening to them for a bunch of years now. LOTS of songs to choose from but listen to their classic “God is a DJ”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hcfxm8wM0A
The Fire Theft – Formerly members of Sunny Day Real Estate…for me it has a little Widespread Panic and a tad Blind Melon but I dig it.
Listen to Chain which is on their MySpace page but I would have had you listen to “Rubber Bands” instead but I couldn’t find a quality enough recording of it.
http://www.myspace.com/thefiretheft
Bonne Année!
Have a great NYE Fran!
D