Score 100 G's Every Time I Play Atari

When I was dead broke, man I couldn't picture this

Burning Rangers: I Just Smile (English version) ft. Pamela Driggs
from Burning Rangers OST (Marvelous Entertainment 1998)

Yukari Fresh: Chant This Charm (Theme of Giant Egg)
from Music Popped Out Of the Egg - Giant Egg OST (Wave Master 2003)

Masaya Matsuura: Funny Love
from PaRappa The Rapper OST (Sony Music 1996)


I've been a video game fanatic for as long as I can remember, well actually since about 1979 when the Atari 2600 came into the Filthy Choice household (back when it still had the woodgrain face panel) and through all the different iterations of video game systems, I've pretty much let the damn things take up way too much of my time. The sad thing is that for the most part, the games tend to be frivolous, trite and a mind numbing lesson in rote memorization and yet I still find them appealing, which is either indicative of how empty and dull my life is or how cunningly designed and marketed games and the game industry has become. But this isn't about all that, rather it's about Video Game music and in particular about the three tracks provided for this post.

The first song is from Burning Rangers, a game that didn't get much attention when it came out because it was released about the same time that the console it appeared on was dying out. Sung by Pamela Driggs, a Jazz and Boss Nova vocalist, the song has a light, airy almost ephemeral feeling to it and like the game it appeared on it fades quickly from memory if not listened to enough and yet despite this non-praise I find myself often listening to this song and enjoying it because of all the aforementioned traits. Her voice, singing what is an obviously mangled engrish translation of the original lyrics, fits the tune nicely with it's jazz inclinations and laid back instrumentation.

The second tune, Chant This Charm is typical J-pop fluff but distinguishes itself because of the hilarious chorus, where the singer warbles the lines "coo-coo, coo-coo doodle doo/ chant this charm you'll feel so good." Unfortunately this song is so grippingly saccharine that if your not careful it lodges in your head and sits there like a thick chunk of caramel lodged in between your teeth. The song, as sung by Japanese artists Yukari Fresh is fun, lighthearted and vacuous and has perplexing lyrics that matches an even more perplexing premise of a game.

The third song is from the game Parappa The Rapper and is sung so horribly that it could easily be mistaken for an American Idol audition reel. Funny Love was not included in the game as far as I know, and it's easy to hear why. The singer strains his voice so hard to reach a range that it has no right going to, that you can't help but wince at his attempts to hit the high notes. Why include it in this post you might be asking? Honestly I don't know, I just happen to enjoy it's melody and the game it comes from.

In the end, the selections I chose are not indicative of the quality of Video Game Music. It actually does the genre an egregious injustice because there have been some very good musical pieces created by Video Game composers, but ultimately, the bad ones are so much more entertaining. To prove it, just listen to the song The Jet Baby. It doesn't get better than that.

Blame It On The Bossa Nova

Nouvelle Vague: Love Will Tear Us Apart
from Nouvelle Vague (Luaka Bop 2005)

Nouvelle Vague: Just Can't Get Enough
from Nouvelle Vague (Luaka Bop 2005)

Nouvelle Vague: I Melt with You
from Nouvelle Vague (Luaka Bop 2005)


Let me first start off this post by shouting out the homey Jenn for putting me up on this CD, something for which I'm sure I never would have picked up on had she not told me about it.

Even though the album has been out for a minute, I've only started to really listen to it within the past few days and decided, what the hell I might as well throw up something about it. Unfortunately I don't know much about them, save for what the liner notes and a few online sources have provided, including their own website and from these sources one can gather that the group is made of Marc Collins and Olivier Libaux, two musician/producers who took a group of female singers and some 80's punk and new wave songs and ripped out the essence of the tracks and remade them as pseudo Bossa Nova songs. Does it work? Not always, but when it does work each chanteuse delivers a very enjoyable song and in the end isn't that what we all want from our music.

For this post I took the three most recognizable songs from the album (though not necessarily the three best) to give the uninitiated a taste of what the album has in store. Just Bossa Nova enough to delineate it from the kitschy these tracks scream of an Astrud Gilberto influence. Each flowery voiced singer delivers a staid, yet respectable performance while keeping the melodic essence of the song intact.

Love Will Tear Us Apart opens with the soft sounds of waves coming in on the beach and then breaks down to a smoky, sweaty rendition of the Joy Division hit. The second track, I Just Can't Get Enough is a much more endearing song, stripping the synth sounds of the original and replacing it with driving percussion's and rhythmic acoustic guitars and piano, the breakdown seals the deal with it's toe tapping drums and piercing whistle. In it's own way, I Melt With You works even though the original has a greater hold on me. Gone is the faster tempo of the original, making the opening line "moving forward using all my breath" almost ironic as it's interpreted by the singer of the Nouvelle Vague version. But it's the childlike xylophone and the lumbering, almost country-western percussion that makes the song enjoyable, and it succeeds despite the sometimes heavy-handedness of the vocalist to carry the song farther than it's allowed.

As a whole the album is very successful in that every song is one that can be listened through in it's entirety, which is something of an exception nowadays. But coming from someone who's exposure to punk and alternative is minimal at best, this is probably something you would want to pick up only if you want to hear a tribute album that comes out of left field.

Mindless Music For The Masses Makes Ya

Think less of the one that hates ya

Atban Klann: No Sequel
from Grassroots LP (Ruthless 1992)
Atban Klann: Open Your Mind
from Grassroots LP (Ruthless 1992)
Atban Klann: Mountain Top
from Grassroots LP (Ruthless 1992)


Now I admit to having a soft spot for the Black Eyed Peas. Even though lyrically they're not that impressive (and they've gotten progressively worse in their attempt to fill up their albums with four minute sound bites instead of songs) and beat wise, Wil I Am, though competent behind the boards leaves a lot to be desired. I think my admiration stems from two reasons, 1. one of the members, like me is Filipino and 2. I bought into their whole socially conscious/jazzy/independent/backpacker sound that they had when their first album dropped. But since then the only fascination that the group held for me was the fact that apl.de.ap was dropping songs with Tagalog sprinkled in it, and like most critics I've, sometimes unfairly, dismissed them as radio pop fluff (though to be honest, they've worked hard to earn that rep).

Tracing their roots back to their days as the Atban Klann, when they were first signed to Ruthless Records by Eazy-E, you can hear in their sound a genuine love for Hip-Hop and songs like No Sequel show that they could have easily been a second tier Souls of Mischief or Pharcyde, and considering how far both of those groups have fell it's easy to imagine that the the B.E.P. nee Atban Klann could have easily surpassed them even had they continued with this sound, which makes it kind of difficult to listen to these tracks as I'm the type of person who waxes nostalgic about the days when Hip-Hop was "good". Mixing live instrumentation and samples into their beats, their music was diverse and eclectic and yet still easily accessible.

The marriage of the Atban Klann and Ruthless seems like an odd one, the former a socially conscious rap group with an east coast jazz influenced sound and the latter the hallmark of Gangsta rap, but at the time of their signing, Ruthless Records had it's fair share of conscious rap acts in the likes of Blood of Abraham and Yomo & Maulkie so Atban Klann was not exactly alone but their sound and whole persona led to label politricking and a marketing disaster so their album never saw the light of day and with the death of Eazy in 1995 the group found itself without a label. The album that they recorded for Ruthless, Grassroots, had some songs that upon listening could have easily fit into the early 90's sound. And with the satirically misogynistic song Mountain Top countered by Open Your Mind, it's a wonder that the album was never released (but then again, hindsight is 20/20) It's a shame they were never given a chance to shine as the Atban Klann because as the B.E.P.'s they seemed to forsaken music for marketing.

Nothing Sounds Quite Like An 808

Gucci Crew: Sally, That Girl
from So Def, So Fresh, So Stupid (Gucci Crew 1988)

D.O.C.: Let The Bass Go
from No One Can Do It Better (Atlantic 1989)

Original Concept: Pump That Bass
from Straight From The Basement Of Kooley High (Def Jam 1988)


One of the greatest advents of 80's Hip Hop has to be the the use of the kick drum on the Roland TR-808 drum machine, first made famous by Rick Rubin and Jazzy Jay on T La Rock's cut It's Yours. This simple move shifted the dynamics of Hip Hop from the tinny sounds of the cheap drum machines to the kind of bass that could punch a hole in your chest if you weren't careful. The use of one kick drum also gave rise to a lot of careers that never would have flourished had the 808 never caught on.

Case in point, The Gucci Crew II. Probably best known for Sally and their seminal hit Gucci Bass, the crew will never be mistaken for great lyricists but that can be forgiven considering that their one great redeeming value is the window rattling bass that laced all of their songs. And speaking of "great" lyricists, is it any surprise that B.E.P. in their new song Don't Phunk With My Heart lift a vocal sample from the song Sally-a nostalgic nod or a self-effacing shout out to just how weak the group is lyrically, but that's neither here nor there. The reason I chose this song over Gucci Bass, The Cabbage Patch, or another favorite of mine Truz n Vogues is that this song has a lot of sentimental value for me. The song brings to mind my days as a youngsta: my friend Mel pounding out the beat on the lunch table and us freestyling the song only replacing Sally with the flavor of the week. Also the then titillating lyrics were the equivalent to a Penthouse Letter to my no-game-having, no-pussy-getting 15 year old self (sadly, little has changed). The Gucci Crew would later try to recreate the success of this song with the originally titled Shirley, but it's Sally with it's purile, sing song, easy to recite lyrics and it's copious amount of 808 that takes the cake.

The second cut Let The Bass Go shows that not all 808 songs were just about the bass at the expense of lyrics. The Dr. Dre produced song absolutely bumps, particularly when the breakdown comes towards the end of the fourth verse and with the D.O.C. dropping his smooth delivery the song works in a way that Hip Hop songs always should, as a marriage of beat and lyric.

Original Concept's Pump That Bass came out around the time when Hip Hop truly embraced 808. 1986 brought out cuts like Shy D's Gotta Be Tough, 2 Live Crew's Get It Girl, and Rodney O & Joe Cooley's Everlasting Bass. Made up of Dr. Dre and T-Money (both of Yo Mtv Raps fame) this song also brings back fond memories of homemade mixtapes where this song would be mixed with Gigolo Tony's song Fat Rome or Hokey Pokey (note to self, post those mixes up here someday) and of shitty corollas and dropped Nissan pickups that used to drive by the Junior High I went to bumping this song from generic brand 15" subwoofers, and how I longed to one day own my own shitty car with a booming system. At the risk of sounding like an old codger, they just don't make songs like this anymore.

808 is still around in the form of booty music and that slow southern-fried chopped and screwed type song and if you listen to it now, not much has changed. It's still the same easy lyrics with an over-emphasis on production but the genre has definitely become more exclusive and the appreciation has become less pronounced by the Hip Hop community. For a really good overview of the genre peep out PappaWheelie's History of Bass. It's really informative and tracks the genre from it's birth up to the ass clapping sound of the new wave of bass artists.