Original video located here. Accessed 25th November 2019
Song title: When it Breaks
Artist: Quivers
Year: 2019
Why I like this song:
Well someone has been listening to their Go-Betweens albums.
One would think that resurrecting 1980s jangle pop would be a fool's errand but this band not only pulls it off but they do so with flying colours.
Original video located here. Accessed 18th November 2019
Song title: Powderfinger
Artist: Neil Young
Year: 1979
Why I like this song:
And now we come to Rust Never Sleeps: My designated endpoint for my exploration of Neil Young's music.
It's a live album that is split between an acoustic side, with Neil solo, and an electric side, with Crazy Horse stepping in to back Neil up. But for me, side 1 is the Neil Young I have come to know whilst side 2 is the Neil Young that I already knew of.
However it seems that this album is well known because a) it was a song named Powderfinger on it which explains how that band got their name and b) it has Hey Hey My My which was referenced by Kurt Cobain in his....erm....final letter.
Moving swiftly along, I have to say that of all Neil Young's albums that I have heard, this could well be my favourite, It has an immediacy that is unmatched, the songwriting is top notch and it showcases Neil Young strengths both in the acoustic and rock genres.
So what can I conclude from my exploration of Neil Young's music?
To be honest I'm not sure what to make of it.
On the plus side, Neil has shown to be capable of churning out some great songs (Harvest, Heart of Gold, Needle and the Damage Done). And Rust Never Sleeps is nothing short of a triumph.
Yet at the same time, I am left feeling somewhat...empty.
Allow me to explain: Sometimes an album/movie/book/TV series/video-game comes along that blows the minds of countless people and inspires many people to craft their own material - but in doing so, the source ends up getting replicated so much that it therefore becomes a challenge to approach it years later.
And that's how I feel to Neil Young's 70s output: This has been replicated so many times since that the original doesn't appear, to me at least, to have the impact that it should.
Time is indeed a ravager.
Still Rust Never Sleeps still manages to have bite
Original video located here. Accessed 6th November 2019
Song title: 10am Automatic
Artist: Black Keys
Year: 2004
Why I like this song:
Lately I've been listening to the Black Keys album Rubber Factory.
It was inevitable seeing as I have been listening to quite a lot of Black Keys lately. But I already knew this song and it rocks hard - at the time I thought it showed more muscle than what the White Stirpes were doing.
And as it turns out, the parent album was great too
Original video located here. Accessed 4th November 2019
Song title: Stand Inside Your Love
Artist: Smashing Pumpkins
Year: 2000
Why I like this song:
Recently I have been listening to the Smashing Pumpkin Machina album(s) with fresh ears.
However this is not Machina in it's original form: It seems that story of Machina's troubled production has inspired fans to take both Machina 1 and 2 and merge them into the double it weas originally intended,
Now fan edits of albums are new to me: I have heard of fan edits of movies and have enjoyed them but music? This is a new field. But then again, one should not underestimate the power of fandoms.
So after some research, this is the fan-made Machina double album I have settled on: