3) Powderfinger

The adjective “anthemic” is rarely used to describe a band’s music and yet since the year 2000, Powderfinger are in the fortunate position of being described as such by just about every reviewer in Australia. Really, what better compliment could a band receive than saying that their music, regardless of whatever style it is at the time, coalesces and inspires people on a regular basis?

Apart from the singer, the members of Powderfinger are not often thought of as exceptional musicians, but their song-writing as a group is their true gift. As a guitarist, I respect that they’re one of the few bands today to use a dual electric guitar line-up in synergy (also see Dallas Crane) and for the most part creatively, as opposed to straight rhythm and lead. Just listen to the intro of the epic “Thrilloilogy”, with five unique parts playing in perfect harmony, and yet almost in a competitive manner, vying for the listener’s attention. As for the previously mentioned singer, Bernard Fanning gets a lot of stick, especially from Shaun, but he is the best vocalist that Oz Rock has to offer today, with an earnest delivery that can turn the most overused cliché into heartfelt sentiment.

Powderfinger are to be commended for being a band that never rests on their laurels, constantly evolving their sound with each step in their career. It would be easy to maintain the light studio rock of Odyssey Number 5 (their most successful album) for the rest of their career, especially as they’re all middle-aged gentlemen. But they followed that up with their tribute to classic rock Vulture Street, which also was a hit and my personal favourite album of 2003 (well it’s either that or Innocent Eyes by Delta Goodrem*). And now they’ve even left that behind, for the atmospheric Dream Days at the Hotel Existence, which initially I felt was quite dull overall, but has gained a second wind with me after hearing the songs live and loud.

No other band sounds as effortlessly Australian as Powderfinger or has more to say about what it is to be Australian today. “Bless My Soul”, the number one most listened song on my digital music listening device, is the ultimate “going to the beach song” for me. “Roll Right By You” from Vulture Street is a plea to middle Australia to be more compassionate after being united in their blatant racism following the Tampa affair in 2000. Hell, “Lost and Running” IS Australia in the 2000s, in both sound and lyrical themes.

But the main reason to like Powderfinger? They regularly thrashed Coldplay in cricket when they toured with them in 2001. Advance Australia Fair (sniff).

*NOTE: I have not really listened to Innocent Eyes in its entirety.

4) The Darkness

Yes, this is another reminder to Shaun and Buck that they should have come to the Adelaide show last year in April. Armed with loud guitars, a great sense of humour and above all one of the few great frontmen of our generation, The Darkness briefly achieved world-wide infamy from 2003 to 2006. Their first album, Permission to Land, was a thirty-eight minute opus that had everything I love about music: energy, heart and fun. The follow up One Way Ticket To Hell…And Back was more extreme with pound for pound less rock songs, but in its place were more ballads such as the aching “Seemed Like A Good Idea At the Time”, not to mention the superior cock jokes, both in set-up and punch line, especially in "English Country Garden".

Justin Hawkins was the perfect frontman, a sublime entertainer, lyricist and songwriter. In fact he’s probably the most versatile singer since the person he’s most commonly compared to, Freddy Mercury, although even Mr Mercury stopped short of comparing a love that doesn’t make sense to pubic lice (“Growing On Me”). I’ve gone through the whole series of articles without using the word genius, but come one! A band broken way, way before its time due to said frontman's drug problem, but I predict they’ll be back by 2010 for the big comeback album.

It has very recently come to my attention that I have a habit of not finishing things that I start, which is very lame. I didn't have any real ambition to write any more blogs, but I will complete this segment, tentatively at the rate of one posting a week, as a thank you to my loyal fanbase who have consistently demanded that I finish this piece ever since I posted the first one back in August 2006. By fanbase I mean Tom and Shaun. This is for you guys. And what the hey, this is the year of the reunion after all...

PREVIOUSLY ON ANIL'S TOP TEN FAVOURITE BANDS:

10) Audioslave (RIP)

9) Rage Against The Machine (...Audiowhatnow?)

8) Led Zeppelin (Holy Shit, They're back!)

7) Ben Folds Five (Too soon for a reunion, but I predict they'll be touring come 2010)

6) AC/DC (Naaaaahhhh! Although rumours are a new album out January 2008)

And now we return you to...

My ten favourite bands! (Part 2 of 6)

5) The Beatles

Everything that can possibly be said of The Beatles has been said already, by audiophiles more intelligent and more prone to speaking in an English accent than I ever could. Everyone knows every single, but by avoiding the albums one misses out on hearing dozens of other musical pieces that shaped the 1960s zeitgeist, and to this day form the scaffolding upon which all pop music is built around. Songs such as the rockin’ “She said she said” from Revolver, which has my favourite drumming in any song (yes, even though it is Ringo playing). Or the aching “She’s Leaving Home” from Sgt Pepper with the dual lead vocals of Lennon and McCartney. Even “joke” songs such as Lennon’s insincere “Yer Blues” (from The Beatles’ White Album) have the heaviness and musicianship of the 1970s rock bands that would make a career out of exploring the 12 bar blues.

They ended up releasing twelve albums in just over seven years, which is almost one album every six months. Every album was an adventure in taking pop music to previously undiscovered sonic landscapes, and every song was unique and had its own story. Having listened to the Greatest Hits, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the self-titled “White Album” (not to mention George and Giles Martin’s sublime remix album Love), there’s still more than half of the Beatle’s output to discover. I’ve barely scratched the surface of the beast. Eventually I will take the red pill, but there’s no rush; these songs will last forever.

Young Modern; Song 2: Straight Lines

And we come to the big one, the "Working Class Man" for the new millennium. Is the song perfect? The fact remains that the keyboard riff in the song is unoriginal, and the lyrical melody has proved to be troublesome to maintain live for the singer. And yet when the song is played live, the piece is so strong and so uniting that the audience is compelled to yell “I’m A SEX CHANGE!” at the top of their lungs. Indeed it IS the biggest Australian song of the year, revealing much of Daniel John’s writing ability and band’s playing in general. It is a demonstration of the power of using controlled restraint to build up a song; the quiet synths, the octave leap in the first chorus (see Powderfinger’s “Lost and Running” for another great octave leap), the drums kicking only halfway through the piece and so on. "Straight Lines" has gone on to be Silverchair’s biggest hit since "Tomorrow", and it is a credit to the band that it is still being played regularly six months after radios added it to their playlists.

Young Modern; Song 3: If You Keep Losing Sleep

A quirky tribute to insomnia, my first exposure to this song was in fact March 2006 when I attended the Clipsal 500 with Messrs Asikas and Gaillard. In retrospect it was perhaps not a clever move to open with this piece given the audience was composed of 20,000 bogans screaming for “Tomorrow” (myself included). It is the first song on the album to feature Van Dyke Parks’ orchestral arrangements, which sort of gives the piece a “Ren and Stimpy” dream sequence vibe if you will. Weird and brilliant, this NEEDS to be a single for the band to take their next step as artists challenging the status quo.

Young Modern; Song 4: Reflections Of A Sound

I was able to listen to an acoustic version of this song prior to the Young Modern, and its one of the few songs that holds up on its own without the other two guys. A fun, solid little pop number, if somewhat unremarkable. It is however blessed with pretty melodies and lyrics, and really there isn’t that much more you need. I’m glad that this track is released as a single; there’s something pleasant about middle Australia getting to hum this song in their cars on the way to work.

Young Modern; Song 5: Those Thieving Birds Part 1 / Strange Behaviour / Those Thieving Birds Part 2

The centrepiece of the album, and probably the most Dioramic piece of the album, in terms of studio ambition if not style. Daniel Johns is best known for being the songwriter and singer for Silverchair, but people often forget nowadays that he remains a seminal guitarist, and this track is the first on Young Modern to highlight that fact with intricate guitar work. The Van Dyke Parks orchestral backing, adding a cinematic soundtrack feel to the proceedings. Johns’ throws melodies all over the place, like a chef’s liberal use of potent spices. Surprisingly this track got one of the biggest reactions at the May Silverchair concert I attended with Shaun.

Young Modern; Song 6: The Man Who Knew Too Much

This song has a cool funky groove, and Paul Mac’s keyboards sound great with the rest of the band. Its probably my least favourite song on the album but it is a grower nonetheless.

Young Modern; Song 7: Waiting All Day

One of my favourites, this piece has a strong correlation with “Forever And A day” from the Dissociatives album, both musically and lyrically. This song has a great catchy chorus, and should be a future single.

Young Modern; Song 8: Mind Reader

The rocky riffy number, the fact that this is the closest to a Silverchair rock song on Young Modern is unfortunate. It is a fun track, but could have been better, Gillies’ drums in particular could have been beefed up a bit.

Young Modern; Song 9: Low

Shaun’s favourite song! Despite the blatant plagiarism of George Harrison’s slide guitar style, it is a great singalong and is one of the lyrical peaks of the album.

Young Modern; Song 10: Insomnia

A sort of sister song to Low, the lyrics are a bit more humourous and absurd. My, these reviews are getting shorter as I go. Meh.

Young Modern; Song 11: All Across The World

This song has one great melody which is stretched out throughout the whole song, and on the whole is a good ending for the album, although not in the realms of Steam Will Rise and After All These Years as in the previous albums.

Young Modern; Song 1: Young Modern Station

And welcome back to I-Nil 2007 edition! After last year’s atomic failure of trying to catalogue the entirety of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Stadium Arcadium record, I thought I’d set my sights on a less ambitious goal of doing the same for a much SHORTER album, but still one worthy of being examined in detail: Young Modern by Silverchair. It has been five years since their last album, Diorama, was released, and given that said record is currently this writer’s all-time favourite record, it goes without saying that I have been quietly excited about this collection of pieces for a long time, especially as by and large Young Modern has the same key production team as its predecessor (Paul Mac be damned).

Anyways, “Young Modern Station” ahoy. Despite the superior drum and bass, “Young Modern Station” initially sounded like a Dissociatives b-side thanks to Paul Mac’s minimalist-style keyboard usage. However, by listening to the album in its entirety, one can fully appreciate it as an opener, as it is certainly is representative of Young Modern in many ways. Highlighted with strong 80s pop sensibilities and having a very angular sound, it comes across like a three minute locomotive (making the title apt) rather than having any sort of groove with which to mosh to. And yet it does rock, but not as we know it. A piece of contradictions then, it certainly puts you in the mood to listen to the rest of the album, as it doesn’t sound like anything the band has done before, re-inforcing the concept in music that anything can, and anything should, happen.

Like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Silverchair have a history of opening their records with a bang. I mean, fuck; “Israel’s Son”, “Slave”, “Emotion Sickness”, “Across the Night”. Each of these tracks is an epic signature Silverchair song (well, maybe not “Slave”) that serves to take the listener on a journey, whilst also encapsulating the vibe of its respective album within the confinements of a single piece. Upon initial listens, “Young Modern Station” certainly achieves the latter goal, but time will tell if it’s thought of as fondly as the previously mentioned classics.

Also of note: the ending transition to the next song. I saw it come a mile away and screamed like a 10 year old Michael Jackson fan when I heard it the first time. Probably worth listening to the whole song just to hear!

Best of Mars

I give up. Its too much work, the comments are down, my reviews have been said to be “long-winded” (Boisvert, 2006) and truth be told I should have known I could never do something as epic as a song by song review of a 28 piece album. The lesson is, never try. Anyway, here are some snapshots of the best that Mars has to offer. Take it or leave it.

Mars; Song 1: Desecration Smile

“Desecration Smile” opens the Mars disk, and is supposedly the fourth non-American single of Stadium Arcadium. Another laidback pop tune, this time based around acoustic guitar, it is more mature and well-rounded than other like-minded pieces in say, By The Way. I’m not convinced that it is a great album opener, as it has great competition in “Around The World”, “By The Way” and even “Dani California”. However, this song really shows of Kiedis’ improvement as a vocalist in recent years, at least in the studio. Previously he would not have been able to sustain such a relatively high-pitched melody, and with it such a gentle, reflective protagonist to carry the song. This, along with the mysterious vibe of the piece, makes it stand out in this collection of songs.

Mars; Song 2: Tell Me Baby

One of the best tracks and an obvious choice for a single, as it’s a song that shows the Chili Peppers at their bass-slapping, groin-grabbing, uhh….something-rapping best. Like “Can’t Stop”, it’s a party song, but I like that it also has a deeper meaning, detailing the current of shitty “talent” that migrates to the Peppers’ hometown Los Angeles in the pursuit of fame and other concepts. If it had more memorable solos to flesh out the piece, it would be a perfect Red Hot Chili Pepper song, but it’s an instant classic nonetheless, and that’s good enough.

Mars; Song 8: Make You Feel Better

This song addresses the fact that Red Hot Chili Peppers are aware of the powerful effect that their music can have people, that it has the ability to get people through tough times. Perhaps more than any other song, it highlights the great strength of Stadium Arcadium; that with 28 songs, there really is something for everyone. At any other prior point in my life I would have hated the song, dismissing it as Red Hot Chili Peppers attempting to write a theme song for the hit TV show “Friends”. But, having discovered the Beatles earlier this year, and thus learning a lot about melody, this song resonated with me upon first listen with its singalong chorus, its restriction to 4 or five chords, and its nice skipping beat, as Chad Smith embraces Ringo Starr’s ideology of “less is more” whole-heartedly. Hands down, my favourite song on Stadium Arcadium.

Mars; Song 13: Turn It Again

At just over 6 minutes, this is the album's longest track. Another jam in which the instruments are playing together but find their own completely individual space. Features some of the best performances the Red Hot Chili Peppers have ever committed to tape, the most most obvious of which is John’s solo, which combines his most intense shredding ever recorded with at least 20 different guitar tracks (I lost count myself, but I believe according to a guitar interview John stated he personally mixed around eighty different tracks for this song alone). The solo raises the bar not only for himself but for pop/rock in standard four four timing. However, lend a spare ear to Chad Smith; his drumming in the verse is incredible. Its amazing to think that he would ever use Talking Heads as a reference point but there you go. Probably the least conventional song on Stadium Arcadium, hopefully it’s a sign of things to come for the next album.