And so the week began with Sak Noel storming in at number one in the UK charts. All day. All night. Etc. Now don't get me wrong, I know it's not a musically brilliant song, I know it's not even that original and I will happily recognise it as a piece of musical Eurotrash. But I, and apparently millions of others, seem happy to acknowledge that this song is fucking badass. Fact.
Hopefully you've taken the proactive step of clicking on that handy link up there and are currently letting it flow over your aural membranes as we speak. If that's the case the following will simply greater inform your listening pleasure. Otherwise, (for example if you are in a public place sans headphones) this will give you a rough idea of what we're al talking about without having to bother. Anyway, the song begins with a simple enough beat bouncing its way along the time signature. Then, in comes a lovely lady with some sort of generic "foreign" accent talking about when she came to Spain. So far, so basic. Then she exclaims at the unaccountable vigour her fellow Iberian nightlife enthusiasts appear to display: "Vhat the fuck?!"So she calls her friend Johnny. AND LET THE DUCK SQUEAKING BEGIN!
Duck-squeaking (to give it its technical term) had probably been used before Stromae and as he illustrates wonderfully here, these songs are quite basic to make. But that's half the charm and shouldn't detract anything from the sheer enjoyment. If anything the fact that you can enjoy the simple pleasure of some randomly garbled noise is just one of the better things about existence. And this isn't some self-righteous attempt at justifying naff music, I'm just saying let's not get on our high horses every time some random mockery of a song gets to number one. Sure, there are some brilliant musicians out there who don't get the publicity and credit they deserve (and I'll post a few links below to make up for all this lark later) but the easiest way to combat that is just to put your money where your mouth is and make some acquisitions in their camp.
On top of that, I'm not sure that the whole concept of a guilty pleasure in reference to a song makes sense. It's not like listening to Sak Noel is bad for you or anyone else. Maybe if you inflict it upon others repeatedly then it might become an irritating nuisance but then that's true of almost anything. A while ago I interviewed the drummer and vocalist Steve Ansell from the band Blood Red Shoes; Wikipedia handily describes them as "an alternative rock duo from Brighton" which, if you take a listen to their music (in particular Don't Ask), means they play loud guitar music nice and fast. As a result, you'd expect their influences to consist of things like Metallica, Iron Maiden perhaps and a few other guitar acts thrown in for good measure. And sure enough, this was partly true.
However Steve, like myself was also dead-set against the idea of guilty pleasure music. So much so that he also listed Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder as some musical pleasures of his. Now they might not be Sak Noel but they sure as hell aren't the hardcore pulsating guitar and drum riffs that inspire furious indie bands. But the point was he enjoyed their music. The emotions these songs inspire come from the same place that make people want to write songs in the first place, whether they're Beethovens Fifth, Bohemian Rhapsody or Born Slippy. Music should be about what you enjoy, and if that happens to overlap with what's technically proficient or cool then so much the better, but don't sneer at the fun little efforts of others trying to make something of their own. Even the commercial churnings of Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh ultimately belong to the great big family of music. What's more there's always the chance that something that began as a money-making pop outfit outgrows its roots and becomes something a bit more ambitious. Personally I'd say that's what Take That did but hey, who am I to judge? And at worst you get a noxious one hit wonder that just fades away forever whilst solid hardworking artists plough a little furrow of their own. Have faith and let the music do the talking.
Anyway, spiel over here's a list of songs that I feel no guilt whatsoever for admiring and some that I'm downright proud of knowing. Feel free to guess/attribute emotions appropriately.
BOOM:
Lightning - The Wanted
Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes
Earthquake - Labrinth feat Tinie Tempah
Gabriel - Joe Goddard
Down with the Trumpets - Rizzle Kicks
Tessellate - Alt J (Free download my fronds)
April Fool - Manchester Orchestra
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
Forever - Wolfgang Gartner feat. will.i.am
Garden - T.E.E.D
Read and Write - Turbowolf (Best frickin' name EVER)
The Bay - Metronomy
Heart Skips A Beat - Olly Murs feat. Rizzle Kicks
Dodgson
Hopefully you've taken the proactive step of clicking on that handy link up there and are currently letting it flow over your aural membranes as we speak. If that's the case the following will simply greater inform your listening pleasure. Otherwise, (for example if you are in a public place sans headphones) this will give you a rough idea of what we're al talking about without having to bother. Anyway, the song begins with a simple enough beat bouncing its way along the time signature. Then, in comes a lovely lady with some sort of generic "foreign" accent talking about when she came to Spain. So far, so basic. Then she exclaims at the unaccountable vigour her fellow Iberian nightlife enthusiasts appear to display: "Vhat the fuck?!"So she calls her friend Johnny. AND LET THE DUCK SQUEAKING BEGIN!
Duck-squeaking (to give it its technical term) had probably been used before Stromae and as he illustrates wonderfully here, these songs are quite basic to make. But that's half the charm and shouldn't detract anything from the sheer enjoyment. If anything the fact that you can enjoy the simple pleasure of some randomly garbled noise is just one of the better things about existence. And this isn't some self-righteous attempt at justifying naff music, I'm just saying let's not get on our high horses every time some random mockery of a song gets to number one. Sure, there are some brilliant musicians out there who don't get the publicity and credit they deserve (and I'll post a few links below to make up for all this lark later) but the easiest way to combat that is just to put your money where your mouth is and make some acquisitions in their camp.
On top of that, I'm not sure that the whole concept of a guilty pleasure in reference to a song makes sense. It's not like listening to Sak Noel is bad for you or anyone else. Maybe if you inflict it upon others repeatedly then it might become an irritating nuisance but then that's true of almost anything. A while ago I interviewed the drummer and vocalist Steve Ansell from the band Blood Red Shoes; Wikipedia handily describes them as "an alternative rock duo from Brighton" which, if you take a listen to their music (in particular Don't Ask), means they play loud guitar music nice and fast. As a result, you'd expect their influences to consist of things like Metallica, Iron Maiden perhaps and a few other guitar acts thrown in for good measure. And sure enough, this was partly true.
However Steve, like myself was also dead-set against the idea of guilty pleasure music. So much so that he also listed Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder as some musical pleasures of his. Now they might not be Sak Noel but they sure as hell aren't the hardcore pulsating guitar and drum riffs that inspire furious indie bands. But the point was he enjoyed their music. The emotions these songs inspire come from the same place that make people want to write songs in the first place, whether they're Beethovens Fifth, Bohemian Rhapsody or Born Slippy. Music should be about what you enjoy, and if that happens to overlap with what's technically proficient or cool then so much the better, but don't sneer at the fun little efforts of others trying to make something of their own. Even the commercial churnings of Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh ultimately belong to the great big family of music. What's more there's always the chance that something that began as a money-making pop outfit outgrows its roots and becomes something a bit more ambitious. Personally I'd say that's what Take That did but hey, who am I to judge? And at worst you get a noxious one hit wonder that just fades away forever whilst solid hardworking artists plough a little furrow of their own. Have faith and let the music do the talking.
Anyway, spiel over here's a list of songs that I feel no guilt whatsoever for admiring and some that I'm downright proud of knowing. Feel free to guess/attribute emotions appropriately.
BOOM:
Lightning - The Wanted
Stereo Hearts - Gym Class Heroes
Earthquake - Labrinth feat Tinie Tempah
Gabriel - Joe Goddard
Down with the Trumpets - Rizzle Kicks
Tessellate - Alt J (Free download my fronds)
April Fool - Manchester Orchestra
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
Forever - Wolfgang Gartner feat. will.i.am
Garden - T.E.E.D
Read and Write - Turbowolf (Best frickin' name EVER)
The Bay - Metronomy
Heart Skips A Beat - Olly Murs feat. Rizzle Kicks
Dodgson
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