Dynomite, Novocaine For The Souls, Somnambulist

"Dynomite" Ima Robot
It really surprised me how quickly I got used to the lead singer's voice in this song. It grew on me quite quickly, which was odd since I was a little turned off by it at first. This song has a lot of bits and pieces that sound familiar in style to other songs I've heard. None of them, however, sound familiar together, almost like a discordant highlight-reel from an eclectic playlist on shuffle, not that that's a bad thing. This song is definitely, as they say, a toe-tapper. I can't say I really understood what the song was about, but I enjoyed it for what it was. B+

"Novocaine For The Soul" Eels
The lead singer on this reminds me, at times, of Blake Scharzenbach from the greatly missed band Jets To Brazil. I'm not sure entirely how I feel about this song. It was one of those odd moments in listening to new music where I understood why I would like this song, and I could see myself reccomending this song to people who like similar music to my own tastes. And yet, at the end of it, I wasn't really feeling much. The lead guitar has an ambling feel that almost grabs your hand and pulls you along the towards whatever end goal this song has. I guess I must has lost grip of his hand before we reached the end, because this song, as much as I understand why its a good song, and why I would like it, left me unscathed. I feel like after a number more accidental listenings, and a few months, this song will definitely grow on me.

"Somnambulist" BT
To be honest, I was a little disappointed when the vocals came in on this track. I absolutely love everything going on in the background, but the vocals really did little for me. They felt like ice in a glass of Coke from the fountain. The Coke came out from the fountain cold enough, and the ice is really just getting in the way and making it that much more difficult to enjoy the Coke itself. Musically this is fantastic, though, and I would love an instrumental version if one exists. That electronic-distortion vocal track on top of otherwise quite enjoyable electronic and hip hop tracks has lost its appeal for me. Vocals aside, though, this was a fantastic track.

Clash, Smells Like Teen Spirit (Cover), Time Is The Enemy.

"Clash" Junkie XL
One of the things I absolutely love about this song is the feeling of disconnect between each section of the song. There are moments where it almost seems like the song just stops dead with whatever its doing and goes off in a completely different direction. This song is a personal favorite of mine for driving on a nice day, or even more so, for a workout. It definitely gets repetitive towards the end, but its in a way that I really enjoyed. Whenever the song strayed from its main melody, I always got a little excited when I knew it was coming back. Almost like a game of musical peek-a-boo.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit (Cover)" Paul Anka
There is definitely a different feel with this lounge cover of an alternative rock song than there is with Richard Cheese. I don't want to say that Anka takes his lounge covers more seriously, because that could imply a level of pretension on his part that is definitely not there. Its more that he takes away the campy comedy-cover feel that Cheese has. Comedy music always has a feel of triviality; I feel it every time I hear Weird Al. Sure its funny, but that's about as far as it goes. Anka takes the lounge cover and turns it almost into something respectable. This isn't a funny rendition of a classic Nirvana song, this is Smells Like Teen Spirit as Paul Anka would have sung it, no more, no less. And it works.

"Time Is The Enemy" Quantic
One of the things I absolutely love about this song is that I have no recollection of where or when I got it, or how, for that matter. I don't own any CDs that this would have possibly been on, and neither "Time Is The Enemy" nor "Quantic" are things I might have searched for and accidentally gotten this. Either way, its one of my favorite chill out songs. This song gives me a feeling of a last shot, a last attempt at something greater, a last chance to escape. Long shots, quick cuts. Feet pounding on ground, lungs pounding in chest, rain pounding on head. A sense of being lost in a compeltely familiar area, like when you approach an intersection from a direction you're not used to and suddenly you have no idea where you are. Almost a level of peaceful and dutifully earned desperation. One of my favorite aspects, and its such a small one, is that the lilting piano in the background bounces back and forth from the left channel to the right channel. I didn't even notice it until I listened with stereo headphones, but its there.

Clash, Smells Like Teen Spirit (Cover), Time Is The Enemy.

"Clash" Junkie XL

This song makes me think of a LOT of things. A lot of different influences. The first thing I thought was "The Go! Team." quickly followed by The Flaming Lips, followed by the background of some pop-princess' catchy-as-a-bastard song. (In fact, now that I listen, the back beat is pretty similar to "I Kissed A Girl" by Kate Perry) And then that Blur song they always played at hockey games. I definitely get the 'would go over well in a sports arena' feel. Not a bad thing by any means. I get a lot of electronica vibes that I like, but I can't seem to bring any specific artists to mind. This one did get a little too repetitive to it's detriment at the end. I think it may have done better if it was a little shorter with an extra bridge. 

"Smells Like Teen Spirit (Cover)" Paul Anka

I don't know as I have ever heard anything by Paul Anka before, I've just heard my mom say he is one of her all time favorite singers a million times over. Andy had mentioned a covers album he did that he had to send me -- one that even I would enjoy. He was right. This song in particular achieves something that I always feel Richard Cheese lacks. The musicality of the lounge instrumental in the background is a lot more pleasing and complex than that of any lounge cover of a popular song I've heard thus far. Anka's voice is pretty similar to Cheese though. Nothing out of the ordinary there. 

"Time Is The Enemy" Quantic

Apparently Andy was listening when I was babbling about instrumental hip hop-esque music last night. THIS is the kind of ambient, electronic, dance-hop I love. The kind you could easily wiggle around a dance floor to, or just simply chill on the couch

or drive in the elements with. I find I tend to dig trip-hop ambient style sounds when they have piano and a slow moving toe tapping beat in the background. This has what I like. At it's very worst it gets a teensy bit repetitive at one point, but otherwise, kudos. 

A new direction.

Andy and I are going to try and change gears here at Sweet Fancy Jesus. Finding it hard to come up with controversial topics to banter back and forth between, we're going go in a different direction. 

This time around, we will send each other 3(ish) songs every week or so and give our opinions on them. We're giving it a shot anyway.