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Posted July 14, 2006 by Mike Mineo in Features
 
 

Friday is usually lovely… (Playlist)

We send our wishes of peace to anyone involved in that new war getting started over in the Middle-East, this should bring a realization. In (much) lesser news, Weezer has finally called it quits and decided to split, like they should have after the Green album. Their first two albums were brilliant, but it was all downhill from there. I also hope Zidane doesn’t know what YouTube is. So, let’s tune into some good music…

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The Killers – When You Were Young

[audio:https://obscuresound.com/mp3/p7/kil-whe.mp3]

Wait, I said good music, right? So why am I posting The Killers? Well, this happens to be their new single off of their new sophomore album. I am posting this half jokingly, as Brandon Flowers previously stated Bruce Springsteen as his biggest influence. There are points in this song where Flowers undeniably tries to mimic The Boss vocally (01:55), and his attempt to pull it off comes off horribly. So go ahead and laugh while The Killers continue to make music solely for the purpose to have brain-dead MySpace girls worship them. This is less annoying than anything on the first album though, I’ll give them that.

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Joy Division – Novelty

[audio:https://obscuresound.com/mp3/p7/joy-nov.mp3]

Now, here we go. ‘Novelty’ represents my favorite Joy Divison song out of many. They are such an influence to today’s popular music, though they are not acknowledged often. ‘Novelty’ is a perfect example of Ian Curtis’ brilliance before he took his own life. Most Joy Division covers suck, and that is simply because no vocalist will ever be able to capture the certain mood that Curtis did. Go and buy Substance, it’s difficult to find a bad song on it.
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Jackson Browne – Somebody’s Baby

[audio:https://obscuresound.com/mp3/p7/jac-som.mp3]

I was watching Fast Times At Ridgemont High the other day, which has to be the best teen movie ever made. It is also Sean Penn’s best role, which is saying quite a bit. Jackson Browne’s ‘Somebody’s Baby’ is one of the songs of the very 80s soundtrack, and it’s just one of those feel good songs that everyone seems to have heard at one point or another. A pretty nice song for a Friday.

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Japan – Ghosts

[audio:https://obscuresound.com/mp3/p7/jap-gho.mp3]

Back to the dark stuff, and this one is as dark as you can get. Off of the 1981 classic, Tin Drum, Japan was one of the first groups to manufacture a dark element in synth-pop. Though they were fashionably outdated, Japan were ahead of their time with this spooky classic. David Sylvian’s vocals are very nicely done here. He later went on to accomplish a fantastic solo career, which I recommend to check out if you enjoy this song.
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The Bees – I Love You

[audio:https://obscuresound.com/mp3/p7/bee-ilo.mp3]

I really enjoyed Free the Bees from The Bees, as I thought it was a record very in tune with the summer. Gems such as ‘I Love You’ recalled 60s classics that are hard to manipulate. Though the whole album doesn’t sound like this, The Bees do a great job of diversifying themselves from the rest in this love ballad as sweet as honey (yeah, bad choice of words).

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dEUS – 7 Days, 7 Weeks

[audio:https://obscuresound.com/mp3/p7/deu-7da.mp3]

dEUS are possibly the best Belgian band to ever exist, but I only say that because I am not aware of the competition, even while being a quarter Belgian myself. They returned from a seven year hiatus with Pocket Revolution last year, which pleased their following and found a few new fans along the way. ‘7 Days, 7 Weeks’ is a beautifully done song with engaging harmonies over Tom Barman’s soothing vocals.

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Rogue Wave – Are You on My Side

[audio:https://obscuresound.com/mp3/p7/rog-are.mp3]

Zach Rogue of Rogue Wave said in this interview that ‘Are You on My Side’ was his favorite song off of his band’s album, Descended Like Vultures. I have to agree with Mr. Rogue on that one. The song, though just over four minutes, has an epic feel to it and it fits nicely in the middle of the album. Rogue Wave came out of nowhere with their debut, and this song is a perfect example on the quality of the album and its production.

It’s easy to love music.  But have you ever tried to learn about it?  Discover the History of Rock Music via the internet.  You can learn about lots of genres including Japanese rock and roll music, country music, and Popular Rock Music!


Mike Mineo

 
I'm the founder/editor of Obscure Sound, which was formed in 2006. Previously, I wrote for PopMatters and Stylus Magazine. Send your music to [email protected].