Wednesday, July 27, 2011

#9: Remember Me?

Time for three in a row again. This time, it's the history of a song I've been liking for a while.

I'm sure you recognise this one for two or three reasons if you're an Australian with decent music tastes. More than likely you've somehow heard the original, or you've heard the sampling done by Ghostface Killah. Jazz to rap. Erk. But the main one I'm talking about is the sampling done for a 1997 acid jazz one-hit-wonder that turned into an Australian megahit ten years afterwards. Remember this? It's the one who had your babies. (And I want its babies.)

This is my favourite out of all three. Though I don't completely agree with sampling, on the basis that it's not originality, this could almost be considered a remix. It's fun. And it's another Melbourne night song. I was first introduced to this by an acid jazz fan and I haven't looked back. In fact, I put this in my Melbourne mix.

Acid jazz. It's a genre not too many people have heard of, and those who have are more obscure than Amy Winehouse Insane Clown Posse. Basically, acid jazz is NOT a fusion of acid and jazz. That would be silly. Acid jazz is probably more akin to jazz fusion than acid, because acid is just... mindblowing. And not in a good way. It's like receiving a blowjob when you don't want one. I only say that because the word "blow" has been put into my head. But there is a reason for it: it's good, but you don't want it to last too long, otherwise your head will explode from the paradox. Acid is something I'll save for another day, with an artist like A*S*Y*S who probably deserves some kind of entry here. But acid jazz is beautiful. It's stuff that should be listened to after 10:30pm, and perhaps even after a night out. If you're the kind of person who doesn't go straight to bed after a night out on the town, but prefers instead to listen to some kind of music (yes, I am one of those people. Yes, I have a playlist of such music. Yes, I listen to it. No, I'm not a freak. I know others who do that) then acid jazz is a really good option.

Enough about acid jazz and more about Remember Me. I like it for its simplicity and possibly its similarity to classic house (when HOUSE was HOUSE and all that crap that some day you'll hate me for saying). Not necessarily for its samplee, because I never liked soul/rhythm and blues. Respected, but not liked. Still, I suppose I should respect Woman Of The Ghetto for giving us a song by Blueboy. On the other hand, this was released in response:

Tame Impala shoulda quit while they were ahead with Sundown Syndrome and Solitude Is Bliss (yes, I know Solitude Is Bliss came after this. No, I'm not going to change that sentence). Those were good songs. This isn't. Apart from being a cover of a sample, they sped up the original so that they could fit in a dozen more iterations of "Remember me? I'm the one who had your babies" and five dozen more scats. And scat is about right for this song. Making a song more repetitive is not cool. You're already showing a lack of creativity by making a cover, now you're doing it even more by adding the same shit over and over? That makes the song, as a whole, about as interesting as a hole. Saying something five times is enough. Taking the extra thirty seconds to add another seventeen repetitions is boring and you're probably already sick of it. Not only that, but you're focussing on the instrument with possibly the most dischord in your entire arsenal: your voice. At least you're keeping on key, but my gods, you're making a pretty cool song sound bland. Seriously, if you're going to cover a song, do it well. There's only a small handful of covers I can genuinely say I like. One of them cuts out lyrics entirely. Seriously, Tame Impala, stick to songs like Sundown Syndrome, because that song makes you sound like the Beatles. I didn't like the Beatles' music but I respected it, and I will give you good points for sounding like them.

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