On the absolute last day, would you hang on to anything?
If I had to stick around for the end of the world, I'd be so bummed if there weren't any Three Mile Pilot in my player. Certainly, I would want my all-time top albums with me, but also, there'd be no excuse to have forgotten my essential post-apocalyptic sci-fi rock.
Legend: San Diego, CA in the Nineties; now reunited. Commander: Pinback's Zach Smith on bass, vocals, piano, cello. Watch his bass riff, it's alive and foreboding. Pathfinder: The Black Heart Procession's Pall Jenkins on lead vocals and guitar, whose singing and lyrics are infectious with agony. Protocol: Songs built almost entirely around the Star Control computer game.
I'd posted 3MP songs a while back, from a variety of releases, but I thought one album in particular should have its own post. The second album, The Chief Assassin to the Sinister (1994, Cargo/Headhunter), gets named as my most beloved more than half the time. It tastes like corroded metal and acid rain in a war-weary space submarine, deserted but for a ghost in the brain that holds either the salvation or death of free stars. The best part is that overtone of fathomless desolation, as if the uncharted gravitational vacuum is about to turn the universe inside out and all that's left to do is hear the rhythm of your own heart.
That, and check out the enviable album title.
^ Shang vs. Hanger
Locating MOG account...
Comments (32)
btw- Negative Records' vinyl reissue of The Chief Assassin to the Sinister had some modified title tracks, and came packaged with the equally awesome Starcontrol Out EP.
To answer your question, everyone I love and a bottle of Calvados.
The music sounds like something Miss Ivylander would play in her room, except much more flavorful. Perhaps you've given me an idea for her birthday present....
ivy, my birthday is coming up as well (in August), I wouldn't mind me some of this...
I was thinking that my awareness of 3MP is due to a mogger here, but looking through their artist page I can't recall the post that introduced me to this amazing band. weird. I have a bunch of their mp3's from singles, this song 97-MT is resparking an interest, I will need to track down some more of this album. they have good album art too, and the nerdy video game references can only be a good thing.
btw, i am really into these sci-fi musings and imagery...this is a bright sun spot in an otherwise cloudy, starless week
My faith, my fmily, and my music, in that order.
Like this, must find more.
much as I'd like to echoe Ivy's sentiment, don't think I could stand the gnashing soul upheaval. a more isolated pastoral stream or mountainous locale, far from the hordes of humanity would be my choice. a place to pay homage and settle up with the soon-to-come-undone cosmos. the Brandenburg Concertos keep popping in my mental playlist, but I'd bet Bowie's 5 Years and Diamond Dogs would serve as condiment.
That or a Big Mac at a brothel.
Last time you brought up TMP, I dug deep into Another Desert, Another Sea...haven't bought any vinyl recently, that reissue sounds prime.
gotta admit--although i live for music, we're not talking "desert island disk" here. i think i'd wanna go out just huggin' my babe and with no hangover in sight, probably getting plowed for the first time in years. i don't like pain, so hopefully i'd crash out and miss the big event. everyone can tell me about it later. there are a ton of possibilities for me musically, but it would be more like background noise on that day. i wouldn't be getting up and playing air guitar, that's for sure.
and if by some chance i DID wake up with a hangover, it'd be the best one ever.
Sci Fi Rock..or Prog Punk..EmoElite (when most of it is emolite). For all the loudness it's subtle. Some reminders of SST bands from the 80's. Screaming smartly into the void.
I dunno..if the world was over I wouldn't want to have to choose the music to save..I'd have to start makin' it my self at that point.
New world ,new music.
My Best of Coldplay/U2/Sting/Dave Matthews Band play list.
I am not afraid of the end of the universe, and I am not afraid to admit what makes my ears happy.
The rest of you have fun being all intrinsic and intellectual just for the sake of it. The sky would be falling on all of us, might as well go out with something soothing to the ears...........
I actually would consider being forced to listen to "your song" as the lights went out as the greatest injustice I could imagine. But it goes both ways, and in the end, what makes us different, is what made it all worth while.
As long as we both go pffft with a smile on our face...
I dunno..I think the end of the world does not need a soundtrack.
I believe the question of what song should accompany the end of the world was definitively settled in 1998:
I'm sure I won't be lucky enough to see the last day, but if I were, I would be sure to hang on tight to memories of all the good times being inherent and pedantic.
What has gotten you to thinking in such morose terms? I have no idea what I'd hang onto or even what I would do. I think I'd rather not think of such things at the moment.
Liking the songs, rather interesting.
I love these kinds of threads, Poebegone and myself have dissimilar taste in music, but our differences are what make MOG so interesting, and from time to time, I learn to like bands like 3 mile pilot, because normally I would not hear of them.
However, 3 mile pilot is not getting added to the list of things ot listen too... no offense Poebegone, but I do support your right to enjoy them.
you know ghost, after perusing your whimsical take on it all, I do believe I have derived the ultimate answer to Ms. Poe's query ( I wasss close...)
David Bowie-Hang on to Yourself
Always late to the party...that's me. Girl, your prose is mad poetry. Your insights splatter like neon paintballs in my imagination. I can't wait to read your debut novel.
If you where to take all genre's of music since 1965, and put the artist in a group photo....
David Bowie would be lurking in 80% of them.
The man knows no bounds. He has slept with the most beautiful women, its been said he did the same with some of the most beautiful men. He has started or over taken just about every fashion trend in the past 40 years. He has played Art, Pop, Dance, Rock, Soul, R&B, Electronic, Psychedelic, Classical, Industrial...... Acting, composing, singing, narrating, modeling.........
And he did and does all of them very well......... well except that puppet catasrophe with Jim Henson.. Dark Crystal....
Regardless, nice tune Scottfree
He has played Art, Pop, Dance, Rock, Soul, R&B, Electronic, Psychedelic, Classical, Industrial...... Acting, composing, singing, narrating, modeling.........
....What? We're supposed to admire indecisiveness? Just what is a dilettante?
Mind you, There's no doubt nor arguement from be concerning the man's considerable talent(s). But to say he's all that with whipped cream, nuts, & a cherry? Naw.
Now granted, he did not do a bunch of organically grown hallucenigenic drugs with a dozen guys and strum chords into jam tunes while touring the country in open fields with his fans sucking on ballons and eating cheese sandwhiches.........
But I do have 4 of his tunes on my iPod, which is 3 more than what I have of the Dead, Widespread Panic and Phish combined together.
But I agree, for all his talents, I have more Culture Club Tracks than David Bowie tracks......
I probably should not have admitted that.....
Miss poe just dropped the bomb and left us divining the entrails..
Group hug.............
ok Cody.. go find us another thread...........
Poe writes:
"Songs built almost entirely around the Star Control computer game"
Interesting concept.
Are you familiar with the music of the two bands The Depreciation Guild and anamanaguchi?
They have incorporated the 8-bit video game sounds of the Famicon into their music. I completely love it!
Interesting tunage, Poe. And I mean that in the most complimentary way possible, because I can listen and enjoy the hell out of anything, provided it sparks my interest. And this certainly does.
To answer the question--my family, and my hard drive. Because if the end of the world turned out to be nothing more than a test of some sort of emergency broadcast system, I'd like to make sure those thigns survived whatever came next. (hard drive has most of my music, and all of the family photos and stuff. Everything else is all fluff compared.
poe, I searched out Chief Assassin and gave it a good listen. I think it definitely made me appreciate the handful of 3MP singles I already had that much more. it is a great album for certain
thanks very much, kiddies. as usual, i missed the party. replies soon, i promise. (:
Bill, I will drink to those excellent choices. In fact, I am pretty decided I will drink to all excellent choices until the bitter end.
You know, this album (and the link to gaming) is among those I used to ease my 12 yo nephew into the sort of rock music he does not yet comprehend. Ms. Ivylander will appreciate.
Anna, well then, your heads up gives us just about enough time to search the world for something that will delight and excite you, which, in the words of an ABBA-ish song, "It won't be easy, you'll think it's strange".
Rob, you know it, nerdy video game references, sci-fi musings and imagery are all goood. I'm not the biggest fan of the lead vocals, and the sound production can be garagey, but I dare say I dig every single 3MP record ever put out, album and otherwise.
The Chief Assassin...'s cover art is also rad:
Dale, hey, your answers are like my answers-- faith, loved ones, music. And really, when the universe turns itself inside out, it's simply the end of the world as we know it.
Scott, I get that. As paradoxical as it sounds, on the last day, I am going to try to lose myself and in so doing hopefully find myself -just like the David Bowie song- and be one with the universe or something like that.
Actually, too, I wouldn't mind a McDonald's Big Breakfast, and for that matter, something deadly, like a Monte Carlo or Monte Cristo sandwich, a Krispy Kreme, or one of 'em deep fried Twinkies ...I could go on and on.
Robin, seriously, that's a winner- "and with no hangover in sight, probably getting plowed for the first time in years" ... "and if by some chance i DID wake up with a hangover, it'd be the best one ever". Love the spirit, can completely relate.
Cody, you beat me to the punch. This isn't an end-of-the-world post, it's a start-of-the-new-world one. I won't stop me from singing and making music myself ...hell, there'll be no looking back. Although I will say you're being too optimistic for Halloween week. ;d
Ooh, good call. There is indeed a touch of SST to this album. t'was the sound of the times, huh?
Ghost, you called it and I concur. I hang around MOG where diversity is alive and well. Besides, every time I meet a Mogger with the exact same taste in music as mine, an angel falls from heaven. Luckily for angels, it's never happened on my watch.
It don't mean we can't all face-off or group-hug, as you know. PS- I support your freedom to not enjoy these, totally.
Matt, hey, I'd have loved to have come up with that riposte myself. I'm afraid you'll have no choice but to accept a pat on the back from anyone today.
Human nature dictates I will keep trying to have a good time for as long as time allows it.
Aug, I can assure you I wasn't in a glum, morose place when I thought this post up. I may have been watching Planet of the Apes. The remake with Mark Wahlberg, for the first time, which would've put me in a foul mood (because I didn't like it).
Jeff, as always, I thank you for your kind words. You weren't just playing paintball, were you? Those things hurt for real. Truth be told, I missed my usual October Mogging and got into Halloween mode a little too late.
Group hug, everyone, goddammit.
Dave, I am proud to say it was a fellow Mogger (walkingthecow) who hipped me to The Depreciation Guild. I have loved In Her Gentle Jaws since the first listen. anamanaguchi, I haven't heard and can't wait to. Ooh, speaking of which, I am way into game-type music and am cooking up a related post, when time permits.
Chuck, your hard drive! I love it, it makes sense entirely, I'd bet I'll do the same.
"...if the end of the world turned out to be nothing more than a test of some sort of emergency broadcast system..." -Why, thank you for getting in the zone where this post's really at, you sci-fi-head. (8
Poe writes:
"Dave, I am proud to say it was a fellow Mogger (walkingthecow) who hipped me to The Depreciation Guild. I have loved In Her Gentle Jaws since the first listen. anamanaguchi, I haven't heard and can't wait to. Ooh, speaking of which, I am way into game-type music and am cooking up a related post, when time permits.
****
That's fantastic. "In Her Gentle Jaws" is my favorite album of the year (I know it came out at the end of '07, but I didn't hear it till this year). That's fave of *everything* else released. I've since gone to see them 4 times, have written a big feature on them, and have gotten to know they and their manager personally - a bit. Well, I actually knew Kurt from POBPAH already.
Yeah, apparently anamanaguchi and DG are friends, and share "famicon" secrets ;-)
Hello stranger, have you heard the infamous 7" (Planets/Grey Clouds)? Damn, we need to talk, and soon. Is there a PM system here somewhere? And what's with the ketchup on the wrist, have you been listening to the BHP as well?
Oh and I forgot to mention that your description of this album is brilliant. You have a way with words. So... yeah, we need to talk. Email me? shockingoysterATyahooDOTcom if you don't mind that is.
Dave, agreed, IHGJ is one album I haven't stopped playing frequently to this day. 4 times? I'm jel...
Famicom secrets is enough props for me, I shall check out anamanaguchi right away. Thanks again!
Gegenschein, hey now, I had indeed been listening to BHP, albums 1 and 3, while I made this post. Keeping it all in the family.
The wrist goo comes from a packet of 7-11 chili sauce, orange Photoshopped to red. I made pink and purple versions, even. (8