the battle's just begun

This is from Outkast's 1994 album ATLiens, the title track of which has that line, "now throw your hands in the air/and wave 'em like you just don't care" which would get stuck in my 9 year old mind all day. Not that I was a major fan of Outkast at 9, I probably couldn't have told you whose song it was then. 11 years later, it's still a great song, but lately I have been paying more attention to the rest of the album. "Babylon" is an interesting song both musically and lyrically. The lyrics deal with conflicts and contradictions implicit in acting on lust and living faithful to God. The title itself is a reference to the city of the bible where sex was part of the pagan worship there. As much as the topic of sex comes up in hip hop, the amount of self-examination in this song is much less frequent. The music itself is reflective of this same spiritual introspection, with a chant like loop for the verse and a gospel chorus for the hook inbetween dark beats and shimmering hi-hat.

Outkast - Babylon

brother, you're right

I don't know if it's the extremely cold weather we have had of late, or simply my mind wandering, but I have been missing Africa lately. I actually had never heard this song until about this time last year, when I told my friend that I would be there this summer and he played this song for me. But the people there were definitely familar with it. The people there are still crazy about Bob Marley, his face and music is obiquitous. Regardless of the fact that the revolutionary regime that he came to support in 1980 and sang about in this song has turned on the people it freed and is systematically destroying the lives of Zimbabweans, his popularity has not wavered. I am certain he would be horrified to see what has become of Mugabe's government if he were still alive today.

Bob Marley - Zimbabwe

and now a thousand years between

Led Zeppelin is a band I often write off as having heard all of their songs ad nauseam and don't ususally expect the little spark such as I got when randomly listening to this song a couple weeks ago. "Tangerine" is from Led Zeppelin III, an album criticized for having a lot of acoustic tracks, and I suppose that reaction stems from people liking their heavier side, and understandably so. However good they were when they played heavy, this song is just as effective sans distortion and drum bombast. The heartsick lyrics go so well with the citrus-sweet guitar and when the drum and bass appear for the chorus the emotional content of the song takes on an almost palpable presence. A few interesting things I have gleaned from the internet regarding this song: "Tangerine" was originally a song worked on by Jimmy Page while he was in the Yardbirds, and there is some consternation as to the actual author, (not the first song with this problem either). Also, the little false start- sounding thing at the begining is supposedly the best song written by Page and Plant, but it was erased - and they threw the little bit left in the begining of "Tangerine". Lastly, if you listen closely as the song starts, you can hear Bonham counting the beats. Great, thats enough trivia, now play the song.

Led Zeppelin - Tangerine

the pig is back

That's right, serving up another semester of musical heterogeneous genius, (wokka wokka). And here to celebrate with us is Scarface, the Tupac of the South. I don't know if I'm actually qualified to make that statement, but let's roll with it. This song, while a little out of place on the album, which has more of a southern sound too it, is still quite good. Elite rapper Jay-Z gets a run for his money next to Scarface who proves outshine Hova maybe just a little on this song. Also, Kanye West mostly stays where he does best, behind the production boards, and the result is a bouncing, shiny bit of ear candy, and not the crappy fun size either.

Scarface - Guess Who's Back