Palookaville

Well, I haven't posted anything for a while, so I thought I would just do a quick (which will probably not be so quick) review of Palookaville, an album by Fatboy Slim. I can honestly say I like at least 80% of Fatboy Slim's work, which is quite a bit more than I can say for many musicians in his genre.

Palookaville was released in 2004 and was Fatboy Slim's 4th studio album and, although I don't consider it the best of his albums (a position held by We've Come A Long Way, Baby) it is not the worst (or actually, it might be. I've only heard three of his albums and this is as good as Dance Bitch, so I suppose it is the "worst" album Fatboy Slim has made, not that that distinction really means anything). Also, interesting fact, this will be the first non-Australian album I have reviewed (The Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time was released by an Australian radio station, so I still count it as Australian, no matter what nationality the majority of the songs).

1. Don't Let The Man Get You Down.
Sampling the first lines of the fantastic Signs by Five Man Electrical Band, which is a great song in its own right. This song is one of Fatboy Slim's more tasteful songs. I think he may have just held himself back from making the song as over-the-top as other songs. I place this song as my third favourite of all Fatboy Slim songs and easily the best of this album. Two things that tie in with this song: Firstly, it has a fantastic music video, which is basically a public announcement spoof against racism, which is well made. Secondly, I question the logic behind putting this as the first song on the album. The entire vibe I get from this album as a whole is a loud, fast, awesome mess and this song and several others go against the majority. I would have put something like Slash Dot Dash which, while not being the same quality of Don't Let The Man Get You Down is both a fantastic song and gives a much more accurate impression of what the rest of the album is like.

2. Slash Dot Dash.
Speak of the devil... Slash Dot Dash is the quintessential Fatboy Slim. Not his best song ever but contains the strangeness, legendary sampling and eclectic rhythm as so many other of his songs. This song contains possibly the best guitar I have heard in quite a while. I'm not quite sure if this is from whatever is being sampled of was played by someone exclusively for this track, but it is goddamn fantastic.

3. Wonderful Night.
To give an idea of Wonderful Night to someone who hasn't heard it (and for some reason accidentally found themselves on this blog), imagine the Cat Empire and Gorillaz doing a song together (and somehow becoming British). This song just exudes smooth, which is a quality I greatly appreciate in any medium. The music video for this song is one of the best I have ever seen, on par with Art vs. Science Magic Fountain, which , if you couldn't guess, is another fantastic song and music video. There is very little about this song I don't like and is very easily the second best song on this album. Well worth a listen, but just don't expect this to portray a typical Fatboy Slim song.

4. Long Way From Home.
The most honest thing I can say about this song is that it well and truly lives up to it's name. I don't know what the hell is going on. It starts off with what sounds like a piece of background music from a Midsummer Night's Dream film adaption, followed by what I could have easily been convinced was a (half decent but) obscure Kasabian song, which recurs throughout the song. There is also a strange auto-tuned voice and a weird "remix wind" sound which seems to keep popping up throughout the album. I don't know if that was intentional, or if Fatboy Slim just liked the sound, but it works pretty damn well. Then there is a drum machine having a sneezing fit and then the next song starts. Erm...yeah. Just go with it. It's like a mentally unstable man in your house is giving you winning lottery numbers. You know you should be more concerned why there is a somewhat strange man in your house, but while he is doing something that awesome, you can't help but go along with it. The first part of this song's review looks critical, but it is a good tune.

5. Put It Back Together.
Well, this song continues on form the previous track by starting off with a strange strumming accompanied by a group serenading with only the words "la" or "do/du". The actual vocals for this song are very interesting, a sort of "lazy" singing style, but one that makes you think there is a lot of effort put into it. I don't know if that goes against the intended effect, but screw it. Also, there is a part in the song which is just the words "yeah,yeah,yeah". I would greatly appreciate if someone who stumbles upon this review would kindly listen to this song and tell me if they imagine it sung by a group of muppets (yeah, I know. I'm deluding myself into thinking anyone actually reads this. Anyway, muppets). Not a bad song, but I feel one or two elements could be tweaked or even removed completely. I do like the Muppet part (or whatever a sane person would call it).

6. Mi Bebé Masoquista.
Well, Blogger didn't seem to approve of my review of this song, so I guess I'll have to do it again. I have no idea why this song is titled in Spanish, but the title translates to My Masochistic Baby and goes on, having nothing to do with Spain in any way. Sorry to make the review for this song so short, but I'm pissed off that a paragraph was just deleted. Up yours, blogger. Pretty lame song, too.


7. Push And Shove.
Starting off with a decent baseline, this song sets up that it will be better than its predecessor, which is pretty simple, as song achievements go. Sadly, the vocals on this track clashes with my taste. This song is sung with the dullest and most mundane voice, one of which I never would have expected someone with the levels of raw talent exemplified repeatedly by Fatboy Slim.  This song would have been perhaps not "good" but certainly very interesting if only they had picked someone with the ability to sing with even the most minor projection of effort. Just...no.

8. North West Three.
This song reminds me in the first few seconds of A Distant Shore by Ozi Batla, which as anyone who has incidentally stumbled upon both articles will know, is not a negative comparison for me to make. The vocals are a hell of a lot better than the previous tracks, of at the very least, sound like the singer is trying. The actual song is very pleasant. It reminds you of the seaside on a pleasant day (Please take that observation with a grain of salt. It is coming from an individual who imagines muppets singing of Fatboy Sim songs. Make up your own decisions, dear imaginary audience). As with the first and third tracks on this CD I get the impression Fatboy Slim is holding himself back, using less instruments and samples than usual and it truly works. I think this would be a solid track for many bands to release as a single. Yet, Fatboy Slim makes a song like this as mid-album filler. What is wrong with the world?

9. The Journey
As with North West Three, the vocals improve in quality by very large amounts. The overall impression I get from this song is that it is designed to pack the entire impact of the album in 1/12th the time and it does so quite admirably. If it had been up to me (which it wasn't and most certainly never will) I would have placed this song as the first track on the album. It isn't faster than Don't Let The Man Get You Down, but it serves as more of an overall example of what sort of impression the entire album will have on the average individual. This song also has a very interesting and varied set of samples, only one of which even remotely resembles and variety of inanimate children's show icon.

10. Jin Go Lo Ba
Yahoo Babel Fish, quite understandably, lacks a Nigerian-English option, so in the end, I am to take Wikipedia's word that this song translates into Drums Of Passion. Who cares, really? The song is OK, with more life than most songs on the album and only uses samples vocals, which may or may not be a good thing. Not a bad song by any standard, but rather unremarkable.

11. Song For Chesh
This song starts out in a fashion akin to North West Three, but very poorly. Luckily the song completely changes to something akin to North West three in another way, but still not quite pulling it off. To give an impression just how forgettable this song is, I went back and (poorly) spell checked the review so far. There's...some kind of...."blah" (literally, that's what it sounds like the song is saying)....keyboard (I think. I'm far from the best in spotting instruments in this sort of genre, where everything is a remix of a remix.). I'm just going to leave this song now. It's not unpleasant, but it's like celery. It's more effort to actually consume than the payout from listening to it. If you feel you are listening to too much good, innovative music and want a break from it all, I couldn't recommend this song more. Also, think celery is a bad metaphor for music? Welcome to 1am. May it swallow your soul and leave you for dead.

12. The Joker.
I'll be perfectly honest. This is the only version of The Joker I have ever heard, and although I am aware it is a cover, I'll be judging the song itself, not just how Fatboy Slim has portrayed it. First thing: I like it. Secondly, What the hell is with the music video? Normally I mention the music video (if I've seen it) at the end of a song's review, sort of as a side note. But this music video is weird. It's not overly violent or overtly sexual. It doesn't promote drug use or murder or something akin. It consists only of kittens. There. Kittens. WHAT THE HELL, FATBOY SLIM? WHAT? THE? HELL? As the beginning of the video points out, it is the outcome of a "make a video contest" (I'm not sure which is more disturbing: 1. This was the best video. 2. Fatboy Slim legitimately thought this was the best video. 3. Fatboy Slim wanted to give this song the most irritating , over cutesy, horror of a music video just to screw with the audience. Perhaps Fatboy Slim isn't a fan of money.) But really, kittens? Also, going back, it sort of does mention drug use, at least with the whole "catnip" thing (The entire twisted and weird essence embodied by a kitten purchasing illegal drugs off of another kitten may just be enough to make me see why Fatboy Slim liked this video). What was I talking about before? Oh, right, the song. Erm... not bad, good singer, decent sampling but I do feel that there is far too much going on in the background. It honestly feels like this is being played on top of an entire other song at some points, but I suppose it does work at some other points. Also, I does sort of sound what a kitten would experience if it got high. I'm not sure what kind of experience could give someone the authority to declare what a kitten actually would see while high. A vet, perhaps? I don't know, and I feel I have padded this review out with enough sleep deprived thoughts.

Anyway, Palookaville is not the best album ever, but I have no shame in having listened to it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase it (thank you, public libraries). Also, last thing, if anyone who has read this far down despite the muppets and hallucinogenic catnip may be interested in giving some suggestions of what I could review next. I have a metric shitonne (1.5 imperial craploads) of CD's, but I would honestly like to know A. What the few people who accidentally read this would like to see and B. Why do so many people from Russia view this blog? Nothing against the place, but seriously, that is the largest source of traffic on this blog. So if anyone can answer either of those questions, please comment.