Flight Of The Conchords is one of my favorite HBO shows (and one of my favorite shows in general). On top of that, it is also a musical act. Comprised of two New Zealand comics named Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, the duo incorporates their songs into the story lines of the show (basically, music videos are placed in each episode) and the results are nothing short of hilarious. They don't stick to one particular style and instead bounce around from folk to techno to hip hop to reggae and so on and so forth. I won't say that they are actually particularly proficient in any of the genres they dabble in, but that is probably the point and a huge part of the charm. That being said, the best part about the tunes is that they are actually catchy and enjoyable and you don't need the visual element of the show to enjoy them (although seeing them performed on the show is most likely the best way to experience them for the first time). Today marks the release of their new album, I Told You I Was Freaky, which is a collection of songs from the second season of the show. There are quite a few gems on there, but one of the best is the song "Hurt Feelings". This song is a comedic take on rap that will have you not only smiling and chuckling, but singing the chorus in your head for days. The chances of this reaching beyond Flight Of The Conchords fans is probably slim though. I think the last "hit" from a comedy album was probably Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song", but again, you never know.
Another song that is also catchy and funny, but in a much more tongue in cheek (and salacious) manner is Rammstein's "Pussy". Rammstein first made a name for themselves in the USA with the song "Du Hast" from their 1997 release Sehnsucht. The video got some love from MTV (MTV still sort of played videos back then instead of dumbing down America's youth with The Hills 24/7) and (terrestrial) rock radio showed it some love as well. Their take on industrialized hard rock/metal (think Ministry "light") mixed with vocals mostly sung in German is an interesting twist on the genre, but I never really loved any of their albums. That being said, I do like a couple Rammstein songs, so I give the "singles" a chance when they put out new albums. A couple weeks ago I started seeing mentions on Facebook about how over the top the video for the first single, "Pussy", from their new album was and a couple hours later a friend of mine sent out a link to the video. He didn't really say much except that it was NSFW and pretty wild. The title alone was a bit edgy, so my curiosity piqued (and currently being unemployed and having no co-workers to offend) I hit the link right away to see what all the fuss was about. It started off innocently enough and then progressively turned into a full blown porno. Yup, like Jenna Jameson and Ron Jeremy porn. The interesting part though was that the song was actually not only good, but the chorus was just as catchy as any current pop hit. After watching the video 500 times, um, I mean one or two more times, I have literally been singing it in my head for weeks. The album, Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da (which translated from German means Since Love Is For All), came out today and I just had to buy the single right away because the only way to get a song out of your head is to just listen to it a lot, excessively even...eventually you will tire of it. I think Rammstein is brilliant for making a song that is not only anti-mainstream (and I'm sure horribly offensive to the buttoned up/religious zealot crowd) in a time where everything is so overly politically correct, but is also not just shock for the sake of shock (*cough* Marilyn Manson)...the song is well written, structured and executed.(This is a censored version of the video. If you are feeling perverted, I mean intellectually curious, then you can see the uncensored version here.)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment