By ajostu
“It’s the vibe.”
An innocuous sentence that has a particular resonance for the cohort of Australians who were around when the 1997 film The Castle became a part of the local culture. They are the words of suburban solicitor Dennis Denuto (played by Tiriel Mora), completely out of his depth, trying to argue against the compulsory acquisition of his client’s house. "It’s the constitution. It’s Mabo. It’s justice. It’s law. It’s the vibe … no, that’s it, it’s the vibe."
Those words might a stream of consciousness spoken out of panic and desperation, but what better guide could I have for determining this week’s lists? I listened to the nominations, engaged in careful linguistic analysis, and for that all important final determination… the vibe.
As the list came together, I was also pleased to find some little coincidences that connected some of the tracks.
It’s probably a little too obvious to note that a characteristic of stream-of-consciousness (hereon SOC) is some sense of flow – it’s called a stream after all – but one thing that struck me listening to this week’s noms was the interplay between SOC, narrative and logic. Which is to say: narrative and/or logic usually get knocked out of kilter in some way. For example, The Fiery Furnaces proclaim My Dog Was Lost But Now He’s Found and what could have been a simple story comes across as a sequence of unlikely events mediated by rhyme. And as happyclapper pointed out, that dog turned out to be a real shaggy mutt.
Anyone who’s listened to I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue will know of the “Cheddar Gorge” segment where the panelists aim to repudiate SOC by avoiding associations between words. More or less. The skit came to mind because there were a few word association noms this week, ranging from the random to the suggestively connected, and Live Life Dead Die stood out. It’s unusual for bands to use the indefinite article to refer to themselves, so A House join a select few (I can think of two others but after that I’m struggling).
Julian Cope thinks he’s tracking the progress of Four Jehovahs in a Volvo Estate. I’m slightly confused as to what’s going on here- probably a good sign- but I think they’re in the Outer Hebrides by now.
There were loads of psychedelic-era tracks nommed this week, and Hole In My Shoe by Traffic is arguably one of the more well known ones, but sometimes classics are classics for a reason and in this case I’ve allowed my inner Captain Obvious to guide me.
Anything can sound like SOC if you don’t know the language so I was obliged to pejepeine for showing that Jorge Ben is engaging in the kind of personal rumination that was a common style of writing this week. Our protagonist starts off in a “got out of bed this morning” situation and ends up asking Porque é Proibido Pisar Na Grama – why can’t I walk on the grass?
I would also note: as with the last song, so with the next, I’m a sucker for a good string arrangement.
In between the cows and elephants in Hanky Panky Nohow, John Cale states “nothing frightens me more than religion at my door”– one of the more diverting tasks this week was try and discern: which lyrics were purely and deliberately meaningless, and which were hinting at inner structure and meaning within the stream?
This was certainly the case with Zoo Eyes. In this case, Aldous Harding’s lyrics sure sound like SOC, but maybe it’s just that a cryptic lyric can sound that way on first listen, and once decoded become crystal clear.
Following that let’s discuss the next track, Human by The Killers. (checks notes) I just think it’s a bloody great song orright?
There was some very fine hip-hop nommed this week, but Aesop Rock was the highlight for me; as Nicko points out, the carefully crafted multilayered wordcrafting in Zero Dark Thirty warrants the extensive footnoting that the text has been given on lyrics sites.
Sometimes you’ve just got to go with the classics. Blue Lines by Massive Attack. Accordion by Madvillain. Two tracks from two albums that have stood the test of time. I note from the New Songs section that Massive Attack have been busy working on a new release. That would explain why Banksy’s been so quiet recently. Allegedly.
Aaah prog, the haven of esoteric lyrics. Yes were one of the most successful bands of the Prog Era (‘69-‘75 or so), and Roundabout was a rare single success for a genre that mainly expressed itself in the album format. Jon Anderson has a singular lyrical style, harder to copy than you’d think (Mike Keneally’s parody Sacred Axe is probably the most successful attempt). He makes hay here with a lyric which, when you boil it down, is about coming home from a gig.
There were loads of longer noms this week – it rather suits the topic after all – so I’m ending the A-list with two of these. The thing that struck me with Folk Song by Bongwater is the way the extended ruminations of our protagonist are bathed and arranged in a really rich sonic bed. Like all the better noms this week, even if it rambles and moves around, you get the sense that you know what it’s about, even if you can’t put your finger on it. With The Mike Kozelek Museum, I wondered for a while where the song was going, but there were hints along the way I should have spotted. The song flows along its stream on a bed of hypnotic guitars. They reminded me a bit of Steve Hackett, which is a weird irony when you listen to the words.
Free Association A-List Playlist:
The Fiery Furnaces - My Dog Was Lost (happyclapper)
A House - Live Life Dead Die (barbryn)
Julian Cope - Four Jehovahs in a Volvo Estate (MussoliniHeadkick)
Traffic - Hole In My Shoe (ShivSideCar)
Jorge Ben - Porque é Proibido Pisa na Grama (pejepeine)
John Cale - Hanky Panky Nohow (ShivSideCar)
Aldous Harding - Zoo Eyes (Uncleben)
The Killers - Human (Marconius7)
Aesop Rock - Zero Dark Thirty (Nicko)
Massive Attack - Blue Lines (happyclapper)
Madvillain – Accordion (magicman)
Yes – Roundabout (SweetHomeAlabama)
Bongwater - Folk Song (Tarquin Spodd)
Mark Kozelek - The Mark Kozelek Museum (tincanman2010)
The Brains Unchained B-List:
It was particularly hard reducing the short list this week, and I’ve tried to cover some of the range of noms that got missed from the As. Then there’s the case of the subsets “great but not quite on topic” and “arguably one of the finest songs ever written but zedded”. There’s still a lot of stuff I really liked that missed out- including much of the oddball and out-there material – but as I always say, As for the mind and Bs for the car and it’s a list I’d be happy to drive to.
Happy Mondays- Hallelujah (club mix) (Vikingchild)
Underworld – Spoonman (barbryn)
The Fall - The Man Whose Head Expanded (MussoliniHeadkick)
Can - Father Cannot Yell (Tarquin Spodd)
The Grateful Dead - Doin' That Rag (Chris7572)
Jill Sobule - Palm Springs (Fred Erickson)
Destroyer - Blue Eyes (magicman)
The Last Poets - Bird's Word (BanazirGalbasi)
George Clinton - Atomic Dog (amylee)
Homeboy Sandman - The Stroll (DiscoMonster)
Patti Smith - Tarkovsky (The Scond Stop Is Jupiter) (Nicko)
Fleetwood Mac - Illume (9-11) (ansia)
Elis Regina & Tom Jobim - Águas De Março (BanazirGalbasi)
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
In the middle of Mad Hope, an unusually contemplative and sincere Louis Cole sings a mantra. It’s bracketed by Gen Hoshino’s word associations. Lyrics in the captions if you want them. My favourite song from 2025, and a clever video from cult youtuber aRuFa.
A long time ago, looking over some recommendation sites to try and find new music, I was led to Noname and the then-new Telefone album. The opening track Yesterday immediately captured me. It’s probably one of the more lyrically direct tracks on the album, a reflection on nostalgia and family, but I’m still trying to work out where the tennis shoes came from.
Code Girl is one of guitarist Mary Halverson’s many projects, and I couldn’t resist the chance to highlight some of my favourite current players in the jazz scene. The words to The Lemon Trees are sung by the eternally fab Robert Wyatt, and as much as anything I’m putting this track up as a PSA to the many Wyatt fans – I know you’re out there – who may not be aware of this collaboration (he appears on a few tracks on the Artlessly Falling album).
We end off with Rob Mazurek and the Exploding Star Orchestra – now there’s a name with the promise of some stream-of-consciousness – and in Dream Sleeper it’s in the music and sonics as much as the words; the words contributed by Damon Locks.
Madvillain, featuring MF Doom and Madlib
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations in response to last week's topic: Go with the flow: songs featuring a stream of consciousness. The next topic will launch on Thursday after 1pm UK time.
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