Passion Pit opened with a bang (or to be more accurate, a high pitched sound which had quite an after effect on my ears) and launched into Eyes As Candles. The first thing I noticed was how much more dynamic and louder their live sound was, and this wasn’t just because they were playing in a venue, not a studio. They had obviously taken some time to create a solid set, one which would be more interesting than just playing through the album. The drums were heavier, the synths harder, everything was harsher, but the pop hooks remained, with the crowd joining in when needed. A lot of the time, with five people playing instruments at once, the sound was muddied. This really sucked, because as soon as parts of the songs were stripped down to just drums and bass, or two synths playing off each other, the experience was magical.
Unfortunately my favourite track, Better Things, suffered this problem the most. It made it no fun at all, but they redeemed themselves with a great rendition of Sleepyhead. The highlight of the evening was definitely their encore, Moth’s Wings and The Reeling. Though I liked those tracks on the album, live they took on a whole new level, created by the amount of raw energy given by the band.
I just got an email procaliming the launch of their new site, sharethevirgins.com. You sign up and get a nice little mp3 of Little Boots remixing Rich Girls. And if you invite people to join in the fun, you get points! And points mean prizes! So sign up, you’ve got nothing to lose. On related news, I still haven’t got their debut.
There are so many reasons people are drawn to The Libertines, everyone has their own take on their music. I love them becasue of their uniquely melodic songs, mixed with superb lyrics and their uneveness in playing which I believes creates something extremely special. Because of this, I leap at the chance of finding any secret demos or unreleased tracks. And because they wrote so much, it seems like we will never find all of it, but here are some tracks which I have found and that I find to be the best.
Who’s Got The Crack? – Mentioned previously, it’s probably not as good as the original, but it’s nice to hear Pete and Carl singing it.
Dreaming Of You – Similar to “Who’s Got The Crack?”, it’s good, but no as good as the original.
I Got Sweets – A jazzy number from Carl, with bluesy chords and great lyrics. Maybe not their smartest song (just replace “sweets” with any illegal substance), but still a good life moto, just like with “I Get Along”. Great, clean solo at the end.
The Delaney [Live] – A more normal type of Libertines song, it has distorted guitars and screaming, never die choruses.
Never Never - My favourite b-side, it’s a shame that few people will hear this because it was not included on the album. It’s really infectious and has an absolutely fantastic chord progression.
The Live Lounge is a segment from Joe Whiley’s Radio 1 show on the BBC. There have been two double-disc CDs so far, but that is nearly not enough for the amount of content which has been aired. Here are some of the unreleased tracks which I think are great:
Changing the lyrics slightly, Dizzee and Chrome, don’t quite have a perfect voice for this one. Neither Dizzee or Chrome seem to quite hit the high notes. It’s a shame because the modified pop song sounds great in Dizzee’s trademark sound.
Seemingly a perfect fit, Jack Peñate keeps the quick tempo of the original, but strips it down to just him and his quitar, and a couple of hand claps. Doesn’t seem like he quite finished it properly, but well worth a listen.
A tiny bit faster than the original, otherwise it is quite faithful to the Klaxon’s version. Why would someone change such a good track? Somehow, I actually prefer this cover. Perhaps it is the britpop sound of the Chiefs.
Though, I am not a Kate Nash fan, I really respect this cover. Seeminly, Kate Nash’s has more verocity than Alex’s. With chirpy piano instead of a bass, she smashess the poppy sound, which I initially judged the song to be, with a snappy, loud guitar.
I know everyone has heard of The Moldy Peaches (you know, that cute Juno song), but I am here to destroy those happy images, that these guys are a bunch of cutesy indie pop musicians. Who’s Got The Crack, starts with their campside sing along style and a slow, slightly distorted guitar. It moves to the chorus; “Whoooooooooo’s got the crack?”. As you can see, their passionate and quite unnerving singing can’t really be translated through text. As the song keeps moving, the informal arrangement becomes more chaotic, with more absurd lyrics and the gain moving unhealthy too much to the right. “I want to be a garbage man but a sailor stole my gloves” and “I am a goat in a moat”, are some of the strange lines (but not the strangest) in the song. A fantastic track, I don’t think it could really be made any better. The Libertines covered it in one of their demos before the realease of their second album, and isn’t quite as good as the original, unless you are a die-hard Libertines fan. It would have been amazing to have seen them live, but sadly, that will never be.
Thanks to Minneapolis Fucking Rocks for the file! Since I have been having a couple more hits than normal, I have removed it.
I’m afraid I have gone and written another post about Lightspeed Champion, I am sorry. Anyway here are my favourite rarities from the God of music himself:
Hooker Song – Catchy harmony and catchy lyrics, but still in his style of aggressive but cute songs; “Kill me baby, won’t you kill me?” Similar to “Patricia the Stripper”, the story is based around Dev’s awkwardness after hiring a hooker.
Happy Birthday – Showing off his guitar skills, this is how I introduced my anti-Lightspeed Champion friend to worship him. With sweeping crescendos from the violins, this track could have easily been on the album. Lyrics are once again, a critical attack on himself. But how else do you want it? Thanks to The Cold Cut blog for this one.
Flesh Failures – My favourite rarity, this was simply an extra track from the bonus CD of his debut. It’s a song from the musical Hair, and it really suits Dev’s style. Its just a repeating small chord pattern and Dev singing alone. Half way through, he is joined by some beautiful backup singers, which really boosts his vocals.
Another Song About Being Alone – One of the best Christmas songs I have heard (I’m not really into the “classics”), we just have to hope he records this properly. Oddly, it was released on his youtube account, just before Christmas.
This song was one of the only ones which I hate from the Arctic Monkeys, who are one of my favourite bands. While browsing Last.fm I stumbled across a band called “White Lies” and saw “Only Ones Who Know” as one of the free downloads. And what a fantastic surprise I received. Without all the annoying echo from the original and a female singer, this cover is exceptional. The singer has a beautiful voice and, not to knock Alex, just seems to fit the song so much better. The slow strum of the chords and violins are swapped for a much more beautiful, happier and faster guitar strums. This track has definitely sparked interested in me for White Lies.
I’m sorry for the wait, I couldn’t find much time to blog over the recent weeks, but I will try and keep it up more regularly now.
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The Live Lounge is a segment from Joe Whiley’s Radio 1 show on the BBC. There have been two double-disc CDs so far, but that is nearly not enough for the amount of content which has been aired. Here are some of the unreleased tracks which I think are great:
