Welcome to Staff Trax (formerly Check Out This Jam!!!),
the weekly feature here on DC9 where we shed some light on the music
we've been enjoying of late, regardless of the touring or album release
schedules that tend to bear the focus of most of our coverage. Also,
it's a chance for you readers to get more insight into our own
personal tastes. Anyway, don't think too much about it. Just listen, brah.
Beans -- "Mutescreamer (El-P Remix)"
A buddy of mine turned me on to Beans several years ago. His insanely motor-mouthed, clever and catchy verses on this one get me every time. And, the line about women wearing clothes that "look younger than their age and shit" never ceases to amuse. --Lance LesterGrant Hart -- "You're the Reflection of the Moon on the Water
Hüsker Dü was my favorite band throughout high school and
college. It literally broke my heart when guitarist Bob Mould and
drummer Grant Hart went their separate ways in 1987. And though both
Mould and Hart have each made some good solo records, nothing they have done
apart approaches the awe-inspiring power of prime Hüsker Dü. That
being said, the most recent effort from Grant Hart, Hot Wax, is actually pretty
damn good. The first single is called "You're the Reflection of the
Moon on the Water" and the video matches the song's creepy garage rock
mood. --Darryl SmyersLifetime -- Lifetime
Lifetime
has the rare distinction of being a band that, even after 10 years apart,
could put a record that picks up right where it left off. Though
there was much hullabaloo about the label that released the bands fourth
proper record (Pete Wentz's Decaydance imprint), thankfully longtime
fans could just press play and realize that this wasn't their favorite band
getting a guyliner makeover sound. Sonically, this band has the moody
melodies found in Archers of Loaf and Seaweed, but played at hyperdrive
speed. Its second and third albums, 1995's Hello Bastards and 1997's Jersey's Best
Dancers, are classics, but 2007's Lifetime ranks up there. --Eric GrubbsGeorge Harrison -- "I'd Have You Anytime"
I've
been listening to George Harrison's "I'd Have You Anytime" from his
1970-released All Things Must Pass album a lot lately, and something about it
has really begun to bug me: The song, which was co-written by Bob
Dylan, contains the line "Let me roll it to you" at the end of the
opening stanza. Four years later Paul McCartney would repeat the phrase
ad nauseam in 1974's "Let Me Roll It." This latter, of course,
is widely believed to be McCartney's response to Lennon's jabs at him
in "How Do You Sleep?" (which also featured Harrison on slide guitar).
To further complicate matters, Lennon jacked the guitar riff "Let Me
Roll It" for his song "Beef Jerky" from 1974's Walls and Bridges,
continuing the trend of Beatles playfully stealing from one another in
the '70s. It's not like Ringo is completely innocent
either--it wasn't until a few years ago that he
admitted that Harrison wrote "It Don't Come Easy," which he released as
a single in 1971, despite the fact that Starr claimed the writing
credit on the original album sleeve. Despite what the Beatles
may have thought of each other personally in the early '70s, the one
thing that is clear is how much they desperately craved each other's
creative influence. --Cory Graves
