I believe it was Quentin Tarantino (or perhaps Chief Sitting Bull) who said, "You're either a Beatles man, or an Elvis man." Well, my dad is definitely a Beatles man. By the time I could walk I probably had heard their entire catalog. Fact - they should be called the fetals...(Sliding Doors, anyone? Noonan?)
So it came as no surprise when he pulled out The Move's final studio album, which smacks of the Fab Four from the opening title track:
[ mp3 ]: Move - Message From the Country
turn off your mind, relax and float downstream...I hear me some Tomorrow Never Knows up in this piece. Also a little I Want You (She's So Heavy), especially in the heavy bass lines.
CLICK THROUGH TO READ MORE AND LISTEN TO THE FULL ALBUM...
So it came as no surprise when he pulled out The Move's final studio album, which smacks of the Fab Four from the opening title track:
[ mp3 ]: Move - Message From the Country
turn off your mind, relax and float downstream...I hear me some Tomorrow Never Knows up in this piece. Also a little I Want You (She's So Heavy), especially in the heavy bass lines.
CLICK THROUGH TO READ MORE AND LISTEN TO THE FULL ALBUM...
However, this album is by no means a Beatles rip-off. Keep listening, and you can start to see why this band eventually expanded its instrumentation and became the Electric Light Orchestra.
(Complete sidenote - my Dad and I were just saying how we always thought of The Electric Light Orchestra's name describing an orchestra made up of electric lights. But then we read that 'light orchestras' were seen all over England in the sixties - they were simply small orchestras with a few violins and cellos. So it's really just a light orchestra made up of electric instruments. Or they could be using 'light' as a verb, in which case we can thank them for being the progeny of other imperative bands, like "Jimmy Eat World")
Anyhows, there are some surprising and strange tracks hidden on this record. One of my favorites is It Wasn't My Idea to Dance, which has one of the most bizarre riffs I've ever heard. Is it violin and oboe, together? Or is that a klezmer? Who knows. I love it.
[ mp3 ]: Move - It Wasn't My Idea to Dance
(Complete sidenote - my Dad and I were just saying how we always thought of The Electric Light Orchestra's name describing an orchestra made up of electric lights. But then we read that 'light orchestras' were seen all over England in the sixties - they were simply small orchestras with a few violins and cellos. So it's really just a light orchestra made up of electric instruments. Or they could be using 'light' as a verb, in which case we can thank them for being the progeny of other imperative bands, like "Jimmy Eat World")
Anyhows, there are some surprising and strange tracks hidden on this record. One of my favorites is It Wasn't My Idea to Dance, which has one of the most bizarre riffs I've ever heard. Is it violin and oboe, together? Or is that a klezmer? Who knows. I love it.
[ mp3 ]: Move - It Wasn't My Idea to Dance
Other highlights include "Don't Mess Me Up," a fifties Do-Wop tune that would have been perfect for Marty McFly, if he hadn't chosen Chuck Berry. And do yourself a favor and listen to "Ben Crawley Steel Company," which sounds like the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt doing bluegrass. I know. Weird.
Take a listen and let me know what you think in the comments. I'll confess that this record sent me on an Electric Light Orchestra binge. It's been quite a week.
-nw
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