Next week, there’s going to be a run of big singles hitting the CD racks, by some of the biggest names in popular song (and Same Difference); Britney, Takey, Madgey, Oasissy, McFlyey, Estelly, Pussycatty, TI ft Rihanny… All of which are damn near guaranteed to be enormous hit records.

This is clearly not news.

But what of the other songs, the ones which struggle to get attention because they are sung by people who, through no fault of their own, have yet to be hounded by gangs of paps or voted for by the public? Who is going to consider their feelings when their songs come out, only to be trampled in the dust by a herd of marauding pop stars (or to give them their Latin name, Mirrorkissus Wildebeatus)?

That’s right. US!

I present to you an alternative to our current Top 5, based on niceness of song and nothing else.

Alternative Number 5: Alessi’s Ark - ‘The Horse’

This scratchy, ghosty, wafty little thing possibly won’t trouble the chart compilers overmuch, but c’mon, it SHOULD. She’s got a beautiful voice, it’s a really sweet song, the video looks a little like those adverts with The Judderman in, and it’s only 110 seconds long. That’s a whole extra minute you can spend listening to something else when you’ve finished swooning at the sonic loveliness on offer.

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Alternative Number 4: Emmy The Great - ‘We Almost Had A Baby”

It may seem like a less dramatic slice of gender politics than Beyonce’s - and set to a cheesy ’50s ballad backing to boot - but it’s not. The sweetness of Emmy’s voice and the sourness of what she is actually singing just makes the whole thing much more queasily real. It is the essence of ‘Foundations’ by Kate Nash but without the one-liners and with a greater sense of terrible consequence. Hurrah!

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Alternative Number 3: Frankmusik ‘3 Little Words’

That keyboard doesn’t really work, you understand.

Anyway, this should be big. It has literally everything going for it, including The Happy, The Fun and The Not Rubbish.

Hell, if Alphabeat can do it, if Sam Sparro can do it, why can’t Frank? EH? TELL ME!

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Alternative Number 2: Santogold - ‘Say Aha’

And before I can even wipe the rage-froth from my sneer, why isn’t this a big hit on downloads already? It’s as infuriatingly catchy as the Ting Tings, it’s got a video which is deeply disturbing but does not show anything which would be out of place on CBBC, and it is brilliant. What more does anyone need?

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Alternative Number 1: Solange - ‘Sandcastle Disco’

If Big Sister Be can barge her way to the top with a silly song about boys being rubbish, and a video which starts like a parody of a Calvin Klein perfume ad, why can’t Solange make headway with this? Are we THAT depressed by the onset of winter that we can’t enjoy some unseasonably happy pop nonsense from time to time?

…what, ALL of you? Pah!

The real Top 40 is available here…

You’re outta time, y’say? That’s so funny because I’m outta space. I think we may have an infestation of continuum pirates. Call the exterminators!*

Meanwhile, back on planet Oasis, it’s still the late ’60s, and the modern world has yet to arrive. This is why the beings known as ‘mods’ dress like old duffers, and listening to music in stereo is considered to be a revolution in sound. This is also why mellotrons are still considered to be very exciting new instruments, the internet is just a way of describing where to put a hooked fish, and texting is the name of a panda in a cowboy hat.

The leader of the Oasis race, a charismatic and fiery soul called Li-Yam, has issued a musical communication, a plea for all races to understand what is going on on their home planet, and how every day is a struggle for survival against the forces of time.

He refers back to his people’s history, their travels, their ill-fated attempted to start an airline, and their daily battle with paranoia - a genetic disorder common to all tribes on the planet, most commonly displayed in a suspicion of anything new and a tendency to lash out.

Li-Yam is concerned that their turbulent past has created bad feeling within the galaxy, and is worried that this may leave them vulnerable to attack. Would this be a popular move, he asks, and would it be better if Oasis were entirely overrun by The Axes Of Evil (a coalition of warlike races, led by the armies of Trivium).

But, being the wise and venerated leader he is, Li-Yam delivers his plea for universal aid in a sleepy, soothing voice, over dreamy music, with the idea that he is leading the Oasis race away from aggression and into a more enlightened place, where that arrogant, provocative strut is replaced with a thoughtful grin and a welcoming wink.

Who could resist? Certainly not me. I’ve signed up to the Space Rocketeers, and we launch at dawn. Wish me luck!

Download: Out now
CD Released: November 24th
www.oasisinet.com

(Fraser McAlpine)

* Cribbing jokes off Friends. That’s got to be a new low.

Ah well. As Julian Cope’s mate once said “we are all of us in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the kerb”.

Though it is a risky venture to release a double album even if you are a considerably prestigious artist, the bulk of such releases usually derive from artists who have already made a reputable name for themselves at a time when they can afford to take risks. I can use two classic albums from 1996 as an example; Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collies and the Infinite Sadness and 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me were released by both artists at their commercial and artistic peaks. 2Pac already had a platinum album to his name, with his previous Me Against the World reaching #1 on the Billboard 200 upon its release. The Smashing Pumpkins’ prior album, Siamese Dream, also saw a similar range of success as it reached #10. The Pumpkins were the kings of alternative-rock at the time and 2Pac was the king of hip-hop during the same era; they had substantial room to take risks and both artists vastly benefitted from their decisions. Both double albums are now considered classics of their respective genres, but that is not often the case for other attempts when applied to a format that some find overwhelming due to aspects like length, stylistic repetition, and even price. It does not help that most of today’s listeners tend to be an impatient group, with it being a feat if many of them could even sit down and listen to an album in its entirety.

For an artist who opts to produce a double album, it is arguably vital to have a sense of confidence in regard to their own stylistic ability. Unless the songwriting can be widely classified as ingenious, few artists can release such a lengthy album without their style becoming tiresome by the last few tracks at best. This is one of the primary reasons why most double albums we see are from artists who have already had their successes and bumps in the road, as experience is the most imperative tool in crafting something successful of a lengthy duration. Pink Floyd had delicately constructed the epic release of The Wall in 1979 after already writing a slew of legendary albums like The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, releasing the renowned double album in ‘79 after 10 albums and 12 years of working together. Such a practice is most common amongst artists, with experience and success contributing to a high degree of confidence that consequently results in aspirations for a release of epic proportions. Keeping that in mind, for an artist to debut with a double album showcases a form of confidence that is rare even among the most experienced artists. Whether they can live up their own lofty impressions is often a flawed cause, but Benji Hughes’s debut, A Love Extreme, has pulled it off so seamlessly that it is not even slightly pretentious or overbearing. Instead, the native of North Carolina has produced one of the best debuts of 2008.

Within the 25 tracks that encompass A Love Extreme, Hughes’ topical tendencies stray anywhere from taking mushrooms before a Flaming Lips concert to being stood up at a Dairy Queen. “I’m more alternative than Suicide Girls,” he goes on to say during “The Mummy”, a rather apt indication of his cultural awareness. An awareness of so-called “hipster culture” is something that he does quite humorously, with the majority of it being in satirical form like the bouncy, topically self-explanatory “I Went with Some Friends to See the Flaming Lips”, the synthesized dance-pop of “Why Do These Parties Always End the Same Way?”, and the infectious electro-funk of “Neighbor Down the Hall”, a tale of the effect of loud music on an irritated landlord. His outlook on youth culture is amusing because he manages to make a mockery of it while not disbanding and dismissing it entirely, using realistically humorous anecdotes to often emit a central focus. Since it is a double album after all, this is wisely not the only prevalent topical focus. Hughes also has an extreme capability to craft resoundingly successful love songs, whether they are in the form of a ballad or an infectious interpretation of electronic pop. Tracks like “All You’ve Got to Do Is Fall in Love”, “Waiting for an Invitation”, and “So Much Better” variously employ gentle acoustic and key progressions, while a brisker effort like “Even If” showcases a suave mixture of key-led pop and jazz. All of the aforementioned provide excellent results though in a romanticized atmosphere, particularly the brilliant “Even If”, which finds Hughes treading successfully somewhere between The Walkmen and The Divine Comedy.

Though Hughes’ diversity causes comparisons to The Walkmen on “Even If” and even Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy on “So Well” to arise, his multifarious topical ability is more reminiscent of Stephin Merritt, the leader of the Magnetic Fields. Like Merritt, Hughes is able to simultaneously generate ironic, satirical, and witty remarks over a ceaselessly expanding array of musical styles. It also helps that his voice is similarly low, musky, and also highly melodic. One of the album’s catchiest tracks, “You Stood Me Up”, fuses power-pop in the verses with an utterly irresistible chorus that is largely dependent on electro-rock. Its humorous lyrical content is subtly accompanied with rejection and somberness though, as is more evidenced by a track like “All You’ve Got to Do Is Fall in Love” where he begins by asking (or pleading), “Wouldn’t it be sweet if you could be in love with me the way I am in love with you?” For a more direct relation to the Magnetic Fields, “Love is a Razor” reminds me of Merritt’s “Love is Like Jazz” for its witty metaphorical stance. “Love is like a razor, it’s cold and it’s sharp,” Hughes delicately croons over the gentle strum of an acoustic guitar, adding another one to a sprawling list of concurrently humorous and ironically tragic songs.

How so many songs can be simultaneously humorous and tragic is part of what makes Hughes’ album so impressive. The very same thing can be said for Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs, another comparable epic that incorporated a massive array of styles, unpredictable topical frequencies, and amusing references to pop (and independent) culture. Many of us consider that album to be a classic As usual, you can find three recommended samples from the album below, but buying the other 22 tracks for less than should be a no-brainer. It is quite impressive that Hughes has crafted 25 tracks for the album and none of them are lacking in either effort or quality. “When it was time to put it all together, we didn’t want to leave out too much,” Hughes replied when asked about his choice of releasing his debut as a double album. “It just didn’t seem right to leave out too much because it represented where we were when we began all the way through until now.” For the sake of his listeners, it was certainly a wise decision, as each and every track is clearly a great effort that most often results in a unique success.

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Benji Hughes - Even If

Download audio file (bhug-eve.mp3)

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Benji Hughes - You Stood Me Up

Download audio file (bhug-you.mp3)

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Benji Hughes - All You’ve Got to Do Is Fall in Love

Download audio file (bhug-all.mp3)

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Yeah, I got Itunes. No I don’t have an Ipod, hopefully this Christmas Santa can overlook the whole being naughty thing. Who is he to judge anyway? Just kidding Santa if you’re reading this… Anyway, as I browse… (in post The Thursday Shocker: Lost Gems from djnodj.com. )

Yeah, I got Itunes. No I don’t have an Ipod, hopefully this Christmas Santa can overlook the whole being naughty thing. Who is he to judge anyway? Just kidding Santa if you’re reading this… Anyway, as I browse… (in post The Thursday Shocker: Lost Gems from djnodj.com. )

Yeah, I got Itunes. No I don’t have an Ipod, hopefully this Christmas Santa can overlook the whole being naughty thing. Who is he to judge anyway? Just kidding Santa if you’re reading this… Anyway, as I browse… (in post The Thursday Shocker: Lost Gems from djnodj.com. )

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Written by Fense
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Written by Fense
I can get into this, no problem. The Big Picture plays soft, bedroom-y pop with emphasis on slow tunes that feature acoustic, or, at least softly electric, guitars and quiet melodies on keyboard. None of… (in post The Big Picture [Feature Band] from FensePost. )

by bob panza

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