Easy Like Sunday Morning #4

It is that time of the week again and what a beautiful day it is. Considering it is nearing the end of October, it is frankly pretty amazing that the sun is out in full force. Do yourselves a favour and get out there and start soaking up some rays. This is going to be one of your last chances to do it for at least a quarter of a year before the skies get dark and the bitterness of winter kicks in. Hopefully the tracks posted in this update can inspire you to take advantage of this good weather.

First up is one of my favourite songs from my favourite album, David Bowie's incredibly underrated gem, Black Tie White Noise. Usually when David Bowie is brought up in conversations, there are almost always references to the likes of Space Oddity, Ziggy Stardust, Diamond Dogs and Let's Dance. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Almost everyone who has ever had the chance to listen to a David Bowie record has their own personal preference, after all, he is a man of many faces. Having been out of the public perspective for quite some time, it is not often that the extent and influence of his work is discussed at any great length. Often both the media and public alike forget exactly how much of a trendsetter and innovator he was and remains to be. The sheer volume of critical and commercial accomplishments he has made throughout the years is unparalleled by all but the most highly regarded artists. Although Black Tie White Noise is by no means his most quintessential album, there is an endearing quality to it that the majority of his albums fail to come close to. This is most likely because of the different themes touched upon within the album and the background history behind it. Coming off the back of his hard rock experimental sideproject Tin Machine, Black Tie White Noise was Bowie's first solo release of the 1990s. Whilst Tin Machine had initially proved to be a somewhat successful venture, many considered it to be too experimental and as a result it didn't quite set the charts on fire and lead to the general public becoming wary of Bowie. This factor, combined with the fact that the record label that released Black Tie White Noise, Savage Records, went bankrupt soon after it was released didn't exactly help its chances. In spite of this misfortune, however, the album still managed to reach the number one spot which is a testimony to its overall quality and charm. As mentioned previously, the themes that are touched upon on this album make it stand apart from much of his other work because while it sounds upbeat and vivacious on the surface, he touches upon topics such as racism in the legal system and the questioning of mass conformity. It isn't all doom and gloom though. Songs such as The Wedding and the featured track Miracle Goodnight provide a nice counter to the antecedent subject matter. Miracle Goodnight, in particular, was chosen due to its funky, contemporary rhythm and Bowie's dry yet distinctive vocals.

David Bowie - Miracle Goodnight

The second track to be featured in this post is Soul Meets Body by Death Cab For Cutie. While I admit I am not the biggest DCFC fan in the world, I enjoy the majority of their material. I guess you could say they are a guilty pleasure of sorts, though personally I don't believe in such things as personal taste is nothing to be ashamed of. The track Soul Meets Body is taken from one of their more noteworthy albums, Plans, and is their highest charting single in the US. Despite such popular allure in America, the band aren't quite as well recognised in the UK. That's not to say that they're an underground group or anything, in fact, they are quite the opposite, being signed to the major record label, Atlantic. Compared to more homegrown indie rock groups such as the Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian or Razorlight, they are relatively unknown in most circles, which is a crying shame because their tracks are considerably more well-structured compared to said acts while at the same time remaining irresistibly catchy. Soul Meets Body is a perfect example of this catchiness. It is not necessarily stuck-in-your-head-all-week catchy but it most definitely has that kind of vibe going for it, something critics have described as "a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere" accompanied by "tender, lovelorn lyrics that anyone over the age of ten can relate to".

Death Cab For Cutie - Soul Meets Body

For the next track I have decided to go for something a little bit different. Anyone who knows us has probably been wondering why there has been a significant lack of hip hop posted, especially given the fact that each of us is an avid fan of the genre. The simple truth is that we haven't got around to dedicating and committing ourselves to making a full post but it is most certainly in the pipeline. Instead, you will just have to make do with Common's Be, taken from the album of the same name. Following his critically and commercially disappointing album, Electric Circus, Common chose to work on a style many consider to be safe. While the former album concentrated on experimentation and fusing styles to create something more eclectic than what most hip hop artists offer, Be stood firmly in opposition, delivering infectious beats and smooth verses for maximum effect. In many respects the album itself was a comeback piece, a return to form and a record that not only paid homage to the rap artists of yesteryear but also gave broad indication as to where the genre was going. The mere fact that Kanye West produced Be speaks volumes for how Common chose to be reintroduced to the world. The reason I have chosen the first track from this album is because to me it just makes sense. It provides a nice introduction to both the album itself and Common as an artist while also maintaining a sense of unabridged familiarity. Although the backing beat is concordant with the vocals, it is the lyrics that originally stood out to me the most. While most listeners have become accustomed to Common's intellectuality, it is still pleasing to hear an artist rapping about the things that matter in a clear and cultivating way.

Common - Be

The next track was chosen as a homage to my musical roots. While I may not give the impression that I enjoy traditional Irish folk music, I have a special place in my heart for the likes of The Waterboys, Horslips and Lúnasa. The main reason for this love of Irish folk music is very much from my fathers input and influence. During my childhood, when we weren't on foreign holidays we ended up in every corner of Ireland chasing folk music. My dad quite literally lived and breathed the stuff and although he was into his Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen and a variety of others, the music that you would hear in some of the smallest pubs in Ireland was where his passion lay. We would travel all over the country searching out new bars that placed emphasis on folk music practically every night during a holiday. To put it in context, I have one distinct memory of driving up an astonishingly dangerous mountain in pitch darkness hunting out supposedly the best bar in Ireland for folk music and good times. From what I can recall, we were told about this bar by a drunken stranger, and let me tell you, he wasn't lying. To our total disbelief, it was jampacked full of punters all singing and dancing while the booze flowed as if it there was an endless fountain of alcohol being pumped right to the taps. There is something immensely captivating about these bars and despite having been in at least a dozen or so different countries, no one is able to come close. The main difference lies with the spontaneity of the Irish. One minute you could be sitting there surrounded by total silence, the next minute the whole place has erupted seemingly out of nowhere. It is usually at this point that you spot the instigator of craic, a man who could be old enough to be your grandfather who has pulled a harp out of what seems to be thin air and is breaking into an incomparably faithful rendition of an old folk song more than likely passed through the generations for centuries. As you may or may not have guessed, the artist I have chosen for this feature is Lúnasa with their track Morning Nightcap. The main reason behind this insertion is that I believe Lúnasa to be one of the few groups out there who perfectly capture the coextending tranquility and condensity of Irish folk music. The song Morning Nightcap is perfectly representative of this parallel, offering music which is as beautiful as it is exquisitely sentimental and consummately engrossing.

Lúnasa - Morning Nightcap

The last track to make it into this post is a track by one of the most original and inspiring electronic artists of the last decade, Moby. In my opinion, his album Play is one of the greatest of all time. A major criticism from music journalists regarding electronic music, with the exception of the likes of Aphex Twin, Kraftwerk, Vangelis and Leftfield is that it lacks creativity and inventiveness. Play singlehandedly shattered this opinion and paved the way for a new demographic. Not only has every single song on the album been featured in some shape or form in various different forms of media, especially film, but the album contains the perfect personification of flow. Every track fits into its slot like a glove and there isn't a single track I would consider for omission. Upon first listening to this album my mind was blown all over my living room wall and to this day I spend a considerable amount of time thinking about how exactly he was able to create and compose such a masterpiece on his own. The pacing of the tracks is exactly what you'd expect from a pioneer of electronic music and there are so many different styles that he gives RJD2 a run for his money, a feat that in itself is no easy task. While I have only decided to focus on one track, Inside, from Play in this post, expect at least two more in the coming weeks as it again becomes my turn to take the reigns for the weekly Easy Like Sunday Morning update. I heavily recommend saving this one for an especially rainy day (I know this is a morning post, but preferably at night) when you can lie in bed with your window open, blasting it from your best speakers. You will thank me later.

Moby - Inside