Outroversion’s Ipod Shuffle XIII
Tupac- Trapped
If you know me well enough, you’ll know I’m reasonably well acquainted with the rap game. It was the first musical genre I really clung to in high school, I was passing out cassette copies of Dre’s 2001 in school like so much contraband. My favorite artists back then were Dre, Nelly, Eminem, Busta, The Wu Tang Clan and the like though back then I hadn’t heard of Jay-Z or Tupac. It’s a while later now and while I’m further down the line with Jay-Z I haven’t listened to any Tupac, at all. But I’ve got him on my ipod and isn’t that what counts?
The answer obviously, is no. Many people say he’s the best who ever did it and yet I’ve never found that time to bother listening, have I been missing out? Let’s judge him purely on this track and see…
You’ve got a sort of reggae/rock line to spit over, take it away Tupac! Early Rat Pack reference, very nice. It’s very autobiographical at the moment, some nice popular culture shoutouts and what sounds like Snoop Dogg laying something or other. He seems to have a knack for storytelling I must say and his rhymes are intelligent, his delivery and personae are natural and well developed. I’m definitely looking forward to hearing more from him, I know he’s not around anymore by the way I’m not that ignorant but I mean- I’ve got this cats greatest hits in my itunes!
Waka Flocka Flame- Inky
The second track is rap as well! And again from someone I’ve never heard! Listen, if someone talks to me about rap I can hold my own for over 10 minutes and when the conversation peters out they invariably will reccomend me someone to listen to, one that tends to be brought up is Immortal Technique and that one track made me so sick that I’m not all that fussed about that gentleman but I remember someone telling me about this fellow and how his Triple F album was going to be the next big “shit to drop”. Well, this is from that.
I sort of know Waka because of that backing track where he says his own name over and over again and makes a lot of silly noises but that’s the extent of my knowledge. This track starts off with him saying his own name and some words and swearing a bit, I think I heard an ethnic slur towards the end of the intro… So he performs what I guess would be described as the “hook”, before he rhymes “Horsey” with “Foursome”, ok so what exactly are we dealing with here…
He says the N-word a lot which is a shame, also b*tches and talks about guns and smoking, I’m waiting for him to do something that isn’t on page one of rap for dummies…
Uh, we could be here a while…
Paul McCartney- Yvonne
Chances are you haven’t heard this song. It’s often mistakenly credited as a Beatles song, it isn’t one as it was written in 1985 and additionally if it was you would have heard it to death as it is proper gorgeous. It was written during the Press Play sessions and somehow didn’t make the cut for what was ultimately not a particularly memorable Macca release. The song was re-recorded as Yvonne’s the one by Eric Stewart who co-wrote this with Paul and whose album it was on was widely disregarded by the music listening fraternity.
Incubus- Battlestar Scralatchtica
I’ve only gotten to know Incubus recently and I only checked them out as I was looking for bands similar to the Chili Peppers. Well, they’re very good and have a great back catalog that’s been a pleasure listening to. Very much College-Rock and proud of it this 1999 cut from the widely praised Make Yourself probably isn’t the best place to start if you’re interested in getting to know these Californians more intimately.
You know when RHCP were making songs like Out in L.A. and Yertle the Turtle, that’s the mindset Incubus may well have been in while creating this ‘piece of music’. I mean look at the name! Come on guys. Though I must say, if you like a bit of funky bass this has such a sweet line.
DJ Fresh Ft. Rita Ora- Hot Right Now
Times like these I kinda wish I wasn’t so dedicated to not skipping any tracks. Look, truth is sometimes I download those “Now that’s what I call…” albums, I don’t even really know why I guess I just figure it has like the 20 most “popular” tracks of the year and that’s the only way they’re gonna get on my itunes and I might feel like listening to a pop song sometime. Anyway, this is one of those tracks that are on my ipod lying in wait for such a moment of weakness.
Rita Ora I think is that one who kept singing at the Olympics. DJ Fresh presumably is Will Smith’s friend from Bel-Air…
It starts off with a horrible auto-tune robot voice man before Rita (not the one from coronation street with the snazzy jackets) tells you to put your hands up, but only if you’ve think you’ve got it. What it is exactly, I’m assuming we’re going to find out before too long.
The worst thing is, I’ve heard this song. Not intentionally or on a conscious level but I have and that is the awful thing about popular music. You probably don’t want to hear it but there’s pasty white men in suits making sure that you do no matter what you’re doing, whether you’re watching tv, walking through a supermarket, going to the shops and someone drives past with radio one playing. You can’t avoid this fucking shit and it is fucking shit and fucking shit that looking at the picture above went to number one in the charts. Fuck off.
I’m deleting this shit off my itunes and I’m not putting up a fucking link to this bullshit.
Nordic Giants- Through a lens darkly
Ooh, this is one of those bands that wear masks! And costumes! And they’re playing a festival i’m at this summer! Definitely seeing them.
Reading their bio, their live performances sound insane. Two mythological creatures creating live atmospheric soundscapes to short films? Why aren’t all bands this!
It all starts off rather twinkly piano wise but after a minute when more instruments are introduced you can tell they’re building to something. I believe the strings you can hear is a guitar played with a bow, pretty soon you get the feeling this is all going to explode into something glorious.
Once the brass and drums start finding their feet that is what you get. I mean, this is chillingly mood setting listening to it in my living room I can’t begin to imagine how emotive it will be live. This is post-rock I can get on board with.
Taylor Swift- We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Thankfully this is also from one of those “Now that’s what I…” albums. I say thankfully because I actually have some of her music on my Itunes voluntarily. Look, reality of the situation is that I like to a little bit of country music every now and then and when I saw that the Taylor Swift internet personality was seemingly an artist from that genre I thought I’d check out some of her music.
This is another song I’ve had to hear because I exist. I mean, she’s a pop artist isn’t she? Though you can hear the country influence in this song, you’d be hard pushed to say that this is representative of what is, when done correctly, a respectable and often deeply-profound and at times life affirming genre.
I’m just going to come right out and say that I have one One Direction song on my Itunes and I can guarantee that’s going to come up next the way this is going…
The Beatles- Early in the morning/Hi-Ho Silver
This is from a bootleg called “The Black Album“. It was recorded during the sessions at Twickenham for what ultimately would become Let It Be, so I needn’t say they weren’t in the best place at that time in any sense of the word.
I read once that the recordings on this album, poor quality and slipshod as they are, were Paul “trying to inject fun into a dreary, cold session.” which is a strangely comforting description. Testimonies of these sessions were of Paul trying to keep some element of comradary with an at times estranged group. While Ringo was still playing the most solid drums of his career, George remained professional and impartial while John was characteristically distant, his mind elsewhere.
The song itself, isn’t worth mentioning. This is symptomatic of many Beatles outtakes, they’re worth listening to because of what they are, the few minutes in time that they were brought into existence, the moments that no-one can ever get back.
Sting- When the angels fall
Haha try talking to me over the past year for more than a few minutes and not have me go on at you about how great Sting is! Impossible!
This is from my second favorite concept album of his, The Soul Cages. This 7-minute piece of beauty closes the album, dreamlike music and image forcing lyrics all with his impeccable and instinctive delivery.
As is sometimes the case with Mr. Sumner’s work, it’s well written poetry that can be interpreted clearly in a few ways. I think most likely it is a social commentary rather than a religious awakening or even a love song.
Tupac- Dear Mama
Alright, we’re closing with Tupac! Who am I to argue.
This seems quite nice, though I don’t know if Tupac’s mom is still alive? I remember seeing something with her on about 10 years ago, talking about West Coast-East Coast gang warfare so either way she will have heard this i’m sure and, though I haven’t heard it yet, it may well be a nice, if not prophetic ode to his mother.
It is just that, and it’s super sweet. Seems this fella was capable of seeing things from a very mature perspective despite being just 24 when this was recorded and this was only a couple of years before he died. God damn, this is both a touching song and awful to think of the actuality of the time that ultimately has superceded this snapshot.
