Frank's Daily Song #4

I missed a day, it's true. Here is #4. I'll post #5 a little bit later.

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A Tribe Called Quest - "Award Tour"

A Tribe Called Quest are easily my favorite hip hop act of all time. The first time that I had ever heard a Quest song was when I was 16 or 17 years old. I was driving around with a friend of mine in the suburbs and he had put "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" on a mix CD. I remember saying to him that I hated him for not showing it to me earlier in my life. The very next day, I went to Borders and bought two Quest records, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm and Midnight Marauders, the release that contains the track featured in this post.

"Award Tour" was always the stand-out track to me on Midnight Marauders. The production is so smooth. The electric piano loop in this song is so infectious that it gets stuck in your head by itself. Q-Tip rhymes the first verse on this track and I feel like it is the best instance of his vocals on the entire record.

"Award Tour" does not hold enough water by itself to really convey how great of a record Midnight Marauders is. I strongly suggest picking up this album.




A TRIBE CALLED QUEST -"AWARD TOUR"

We are getting closer to the future

The new songs are coming along like crazy. i really like them and cannot wait to record and release them.

we're going to be demoing more on Friday.

In late march i believe some of us will be going on a retreat to a lakehouse in peoria, il to have a writing/recording session. we're gonna do a bunch of crazy drugs and find ourselves and stuff.

hope all is well. we are playing next friday, the 26th at the Boiler Room. many new songs will be played.

take care,

chris

Frank's Daily Song #3

Stereolab - "Mass Riff"

Stereolab has an immense catalogue. It's not even the volume of the material (which is still pretty hefty...) but it is the incredible dynamic that the "groop" is able to create between songs and albums. I was thinking about how I wanted to post a Stereolab song but I was having trouble in deciding which track to upload.

Stereolab has an ability that many artists lack. They are able to craft songs that are so wildly different from each other while never losing the aspects that make them unmistakably Stereolab. We can say this about a lot of artists, yes. Stereolab is just one of them.

I chose "Mass Riff" from Instant 0 in the Universe for no real reason, really. Instant 0 in the Universe is the first Stereolab record that I purchased and I believe that it represents their career very well. "Mass Riff" is a good example of their attitude, arrangement dynamics, as well as the overall mood of the band.

I don't have much to share about this one. It's a really good track. I suggest buying anything that you can find by them It is all worth it. On top of that, all of their EPs are super cheap.


STEREOLAB - "MASS RIFF"

Frank's Daily Song #2

It's technically Tuesday. Here's number 2.

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Monsula- "Razors"

Monsula is another East Bay punk band. They had their heyday back in the time that bands like Operation Ivy, Jawbreaker, Green Day, and Fifteen were all playing at the famous 924 Gilman Street club. The first time that I ever listened to Monsula was sort of an accident. I was really into Cringer and Jawbreaker and I had just happened to purchase this strange record. It was just four bands covering each others' songs.

I was totally sold on Monsula only after hearing them cover another band's song. So, I went ahead and purchased the Sanitized release. This was a good idea. It has a lot of decent tracks on it...but there is definitely one stand-out song. "Razors" is too much fun. It's such a perfect example of the late 80's - early 90's East Bay scene.

So, here is "Razors" by Monsula. Enjoy!


MONSULA - "RAZORS"


Also, if you can find that "Brouhaha" 7-inch anywhere. Totally buy it. It's a great weird punk collection to have laying around.


-Frank

Frank's Daily Song #1

I like a lot of music. When I listen to a band, I like to think about what music that band enjoys. So, I thought
that I would present 1 song a day for all Truman likers. Does that sound good?

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Go Sailor - "Ray of Sunshine"

Go Sailor was a short-lived East Bay pop trio with a totally awesome lineup. It was fronted by Rose Melberg (The Softies, Tiger Trap), Amy Linton (Henry's Dress, The Aislers Set), and Paul Curran (Crimpshrine). Awesome, right?! It was probably a good thing that this band ended as everyone in it had better things to do. On top of that,all of their songs sound exactly the same. I love this quality in minimalist pop bands. There is no beating around the bush when it comes to songwriting. They get right to the point in making fun music that you don't have to think about for a moment.

The first time that I had ever heard Go Sailor was when I was fourteen or fifteen years old when I happened to come accross this bizarre Lookout! Records compilation, Heide Sez. I was wandering around in Record Breakers (back when it was in the suburbs...) for cheapo punk comp discs. I loved the goofy, Hanna-Barbara styled illustration on the cover and bought it without a second thought. Also, it was $3.00.

In retrospect, this was a really awesome punk comp. There some great tracks from The Queers, Mr. T Experience, Pansy Division, etc. But this Go Sailor track, "Ray of Sunshine" always stuck out to me.

A few years later, I rented the movie But I'm A Cheerleader (check it out if you haven't seen it). The soundtrack to this film has a few fantastic pop tracks and I was shocked to hear this random Go Sailor song on this soundtrack. It was then that I knew that I had to buy a Go Sailor record. I purchased the Don't Go EP solely for this track.

If you're into twee/jangle pop, you'll love this. Then again, if you are a twee person, you probably know the song... ;-)

Enjoy! I hope you like it.

GO SAILOR - "RAY OF SUNSHINE"

-Frank

Springinsguth availble in the uk

Our album Springinsguth is now available through strictly no capital letters distro in the UK.

Tell your Aunt Margot!