vintage jam (in my head all day long edition)

I woke up with this in my head yesterday and it stayed there all day. Nine Three shit.

vintage jam (these guys are still around edition)

I saw an item on pitchfork today that seems to indicate that Superchunk still exist. This isn’t the first time that this has happened, I’ve seen evidence that this band are still out there many times over the past decade or so. I haven’t heard anything by them since 1994’s Foolish LP (though I’m pretty sure I have the “Hyper Enough” 45 somewhere where it’s been collecting dust since 95) but I think it’s safe for me to assume that they are long past their prime and probably should have called it a day when they had an audience large enough to actually notice. Having said all of that, they sure were pretty kick ass circa On the Mouth. Here’s the great “Mower” single from that album.

vintage jam (this is hardcore edition)

Because I finally got the LP reissue of This is Hardcore in the mail today,–you know, the one that I ordered in February (thanks insound, you really dropped the ball on this one)—here’s the video for Pulp’s This is Hardcore. In my opinion, this is pretty much the best pop video out there. And seeing as how the video embedding is “disabled by request” (thanks a lot Island records, very forward-thinking of you), I’ve substitued the video with a bunch of “outakes” from the LP’s sleeve. These (poorly scanned by me–someone repaired for me the Ed McMullin style staples-in-center one—thanks, dude) pics were included in the booklet that came with the reissue of the CD a few years ago. So, yes, I’ve bought this record (or received it as a gift) at least three times.

vintage jam (one-off edition)

This was some hot stuff just over a decade ago: a one-off Daft Punk side project single that went by the ultracamp name Stardust. This track was a hit, particularly in the UK where it went to number two in the charts. (Yes, kids, this kind of goofball shit was at one time taken seriously.) To my knowledge, Stardust went out on top and thankfully didn’t throw together a quicky LP to capitalize on their single song success.

nine eight shit

vintage jam (star edition)

Primal Scream. Star.

nine seven shit.

vintage jam (guilty pleasure edition)

Like anyone with a soul, I was never too impressed by Tupac Shakur. But this evening I watched a TV show that used his hit “Keep Ya Head Up” as incidental music. I always secretly liked this one telling myself that its success has as much to do with The Five Stairstep’s “O-o-h Child” as it does Tupac’s lyrics. Whatever. It’s good stuff–shame about the quality of the video below but I guess that’s what one expects from a Tupac fan.

And how weird is this?

nine three shit

vintage jam (ole 184-7 edition)

Guided By Voices just before they went irrevocably down hill. The first single from their Under the Bushes, Under the Stars LP.

nine six shit

vintage jam (one hit (and it isn’t this one) wonder edition)

I think I was only slightly aware of The Verve’s existence before they scored a near top ten hit in the States with Bittersweet Symphony. I dug that song and I bought the album, Urban Hymns, assuming that there would be songs similar to Bittersweet Symphony on it. There weren’t. Instead there were a handful of decent ballads and a handful of shitty mid tempo rock numbers. It was pretty average stuff.

Seeing as how the album sold over one million copies in the United States alone, I doubt I was the only one disappointed by the lack of more bittersweet symphonies on it. I for some reason seem to recall subsequently owning their first LP too. Maybe I thought that there was a Bittersweet Symphony-a-like on that. There wasn’t. If I recall correctly (and I don’t even care if I am correct here or not) that one featured almost jammy mid tempo rockers.

From what I understand, the band put out a reunion LP last summer. I doubt that has the follow up to Bittersweet Symphony that I was looking for and I don’t even really care about Bittersweet Symphony anymore anyway.

There was a diamond in the rough on the otherwise tedious second half of Urban Hymns, the song Lucky Man. This one actually charted in the States and I think that it got some play on MTV. Play it loud. It’s hot stuff.

nine seven shit

Oh, and I should mention that I thought that The Drugs Don’t Work and Sonnet were pretty decent songs as well, and that I think that Ashcroft looks every inch the rock star (see photo above).

vintage jam (manufactured imposter edition)

Acts like Massive Attack and Portishead at one time had a lot to answer for. While they were between LPs, a batch of imitators were ready to stand in for them. This was at a time when the American music industry was trying to convince a mostly uninterested public that “electronica” was the next big thing. That never happened but a few of these trip hop and drum and bass acts made it big-ish for a few months circa 1997. With a terrible name like The Sneaker Pimps, a lack of career longevity should be expected. They made a minor splash though with this song.

nine seven shit

vintage jam (‘enough already’ edition)

With word of a blur reunion, here is The Universal. It’s held up decently well. nine five shit.