The Best Samples in Music

There's always the ignorant few that dismiss sampling as "stealing", adopting phrases along the lines of "Omg that band totally stole that riff, that it totally ridiculous". But sampling successfully is a real skill (slowly glossing past some previous attempts), here are my pick of the best sample in music.

BOUND 2 – KANYE WEST
Although the whole of Kanye West's back catalog would work for this post, Bound 2 is by far my favourite track on the album, opening with the modest piano before the glorious charm of Charlie Wilson, and of course (the highlight of the track) the "Uh-huh, honey" sampled from "Sweet Nothings" by Brenda Lee. Despite Kanye using multiple samples in this track, the obvious stand out is the children’s choir-esque vocals of ‘Bound' by The Ponderosa Twins Plus One providing the glistening gem that features in all of West’s music. This sample is bopping your soldiers whilst frantically tapping away at your laptop finishing your homework on a Sunday evening, it’s take your dog for a walk in the pitch dark and aching to break out into a high school musical shimmy down the road. He embraces his ever so slightly misogynistic signature lyrics, and still manages to be both courteous and putting his laundry first, “I wanna fuck you hard on the sink, After that give you somethin’ to drink, step back can’t get spunk on the mink” (and who the hell is Jerome?).

CAN I KICK IT – A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
Arguably one of the best hip hop groups of the 20^th Century, A Tribe Called Quest managed to encapsulate the warmth and beauty of Lou Reed’s ‘Walkon the Wild Side’, sampling it on their track Can I Kick It. They seamlessly combined it with the grove and rhythm that the band always delivered, with the smooth and flowing sound of Reed’s piece being teamed with the simple yet highly effective beat. In a complete U-turn to Kanye’s choppy and disjointed use of sampling, A Tribe Called Quest blended in ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ to such a degree it sounds as if it were an original element of the song. This track will always remind me of skidding on my kitchen, wearing my bed socks eating a choc-ice; and I’m not entirely sure why.

NEWPRINCE (CROWN ON THE GROUND) - CHILDISH GAMBINO
The slightly more frenzied option on this post, Childish Gambino uses Sleigh Bells’ ‘Crown on the Ground’ to create this loud, bordering on manic and very dance at a house party worthy track. The siren like sound of Sleigh Bells track grant this song an obnoxious and arrogant yet perfect opening, paving the way for Childish Gambino’s (real name Donald Glover) simple yet suave “I do not talk, I am just a rapper” before launching into a mammoth of a song. What’s unusual about this track is that no specific piece of the sampled song is lifted, instead what seems like Childish Gambino pressing play on the YouTube video of Crown on the ground whilst he raps over it. Because of this there are clashes between his and Alexis Krauss’ vocals, resulting in a highly successful and bordering on beautiful track.

PAPER PLANES – M.I.A.
Perhaps the obvious choice when talking about samples used in modern music, M.I.A uses the Clash’s ‘Straight to Hell’ for her most known track, launching her onto endless playlists for parties and being played in Topshop (it’s no surprise the YouTube video has almost 42.5 million views). This track opens with a spirally and glossy sound, reinventing the guitar sounds of The Clash into a far more sleek and modern take - the opening bars of this track are instantly recognisable, even if only yelled by a tipsy 14 year old at a houseparty (“all i wanna do is *gun shot gun shot gun shot gun shot cash register sound*”). The rest of the Clash’s song is ignored, but is also unnecessary, as the few seconds M.I.A does lift are repeated throughout creating the right genre balancing sound that she always toys with, I dare you to find a teenager that hasn't danced profusely to this song – complete with the gun shaped hand gestures – whilst sipping on apple cider.

And the rest:
Kendrick Lamar feat. Dr Dre ~ The Recipe  (sample)
KiD CUDi ~ The Prayer (sample)
Beastie Boys ~ Rhymin and Stealin (sample)
EPMD ~ Strictly Business (sample)
Jay Z and Kanye West ~ Otis (sample)

Murder ballads: 10 fantastic songs about homicide

Murder is something portrayed very frequently in the arts, although probably in literature more often than any of the others. So as you’d imagine, a multitude of artists (generally angst-fuelled alternative rock bands) have written songs about killing and slaying and a whole manner of that sort of thing. For this week’s post, I’ve picked out my favourite songs about the unlawful killing of a person.

Sonic Youth sung about controversial themes regularly in their music.

The Curse of Millhaven – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

A large amount of Nick Cave’s work documents homicide and the like. In fact, the Aussie once released an album on the topic- 1996’s Murder Ballads. The Curse of Millhaven is Cave’s 7 minute long account of the tale of Loretta- a fourteen year old serial killer living in Millhaven, who kills the rich men, the poor men and even the professor’s terrier. Often cited as one of Cave’s finest and most sadistic tracks, The Curse Of Millhaven is a fast paced, yet slightly catchy ballad that cannot be overlooked by anyone.

The sleeve for Death Valley 69

Death Valley ’69 – Sonic Youth

Thurston Moore is a man of many interesting interests and fascinating fascinations, one of which being Charles Manson, and the Manson family. In Sonic Youth’s ’85 debut single, Moore writes about the Manson family’s brutal murder of Sharon Tate, wife of Roman Polanski. As well as Moore’s vicious snarls, the song features Lydia Lunch on backing vocals, whose blood curdling hollering creates a really sinister atmosphere. Although Death Valley ’69 is primitive compared to the group’s later work, it’s a must hear for anyone.

Sister Ray – The Velvet Underground

Although the earlier two songs are an account of unlawful death, the Velvets’ Sister Ray is a stunning depiction of the aftermath of a murder. Lou Reed once described Sister Ray as a story set at a New York house which stars eight different characters. In this, someone is murdered and no one does anything about it because everyone is off their face on smack and/or crack. The song is completely improvised and goes on for a visceral seventeen minutes- each second very necessary.

Rusholme Ruffians - The Smiths
The Smiths have never been afraid to sing about the darker aspects of miserable Manchester, and Rusholme Ruffians. This song is about a stabbing at a county fayre, according to Moz "only adds to the excitement". It's best heard on the Rank live LP, where it's featured in a medley with a cover of Presley's His Latest Flame. The song is also notable for Rourke's fantastic bassline, and Marr's country-inspired guitar playing. Definitely the highlight of the band's second album, Meat Is Murder.

The original artwork for Headache EP; it was swiftly replaced

Grinder – Big Black

Big Black, like Nick Cave, have written a large amount of songs about murder and other aspects of the darker side of American culture (listen to Jordan, Minnesota for more of that), so choosing a Big Black murder ballad was a bit of a toughie. In the end I went for Grinder, from the EP Headache (the EP itself has a mug shot of a shotgun suicide victim as its cover art, post-shooting). In Grinder, the character portrayed by Steve Albini’s snarling vocal is the murderer. Someone takes Albini’s tools, but fails to take his trusty grinder; this causes the murderer to pursue and kill the foolish thief in one of industrial-rock’s greatest songs. Elsewhere on the Headache EP, there are even more songs of a similar ilk, namely the brutal opener, My Disco; a song about a surgeon stamping his new-born to death. Genius.

Somebody Got Murdered – The Clash

An obvious choice, of course, but Somebody Got Murdered is one of the more overlooked Clash songs. Sandinista! was snuffed at by a large percentage of the music press upon release, because apparently 36 is a few too many songs for an album. Even though that might be slightly true, Sandanista! has some absolute crackers on it, namely Shepherd’s Delight, the Magnificent Seven and Somebody Got Murdered. Strummer wrote the latterly mentioned Somebody Got Murdered in disgust, after seeing the victim of a shooting’s carcass gracing the floor of a London car park. Strummer’s lyrics are incredibly powerful; especially “somebody’s dead forever” which once more proves his prowess as a songwriter. 

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer – The Beatles

Now, I’ll be the first person to admit that I’m not a huge fan of the Beatles. However, they did write some fantastic songs, and release some amazing albums. One of those fantastic songs is Maxwell’s Silver Hammer from the amazing Abbey Road. There is some debate over whether the silver hammer of Maxwell is about an actual murder, but personally I believe it is. Some say that it’s about sex, or drugs, or something of a similar ilk. But I believe that the incident in the song alludes to the murder of Joe Orton, the English playwright, who was beaten to death by his (male) lover with nine hammer blows to the head, which is quite the contrast to the upbeat sound of the song, don’t you think?

Let’s Lynch The Landlord – The Dead Kennedys

We’ve already had a song by the greatest punk band of all time on the countdown (The Clash), but the murder mixtape wouldn’t be complete without a song from the greatest post punk band of all time, would it? Let’s Lynch The Landlord is a track from the Dead Kennedys stunning debut album Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables which is much more humorous in joking about the homicide of Biafra’s bastard landlord than the aforementioned songs. Jello Biafra and co, with this song, have written another song about defying those that exploit the proletariats in the most extreme ways, and I have to say, it’s very catchy. Probably more catchy than it should be anyhow.

Liddle Towers

The Murder of Liddle Towers – Angelic Upstarts

In the late seventies, punk bands were popping up here there and everywhere. This was especially the case in London, as the city yielded the Clash, Sham 69 and of course the Angelic Upstarts. The Murder of Liddle Towers is a song based on; you guessed it, the murder of Liddle Towers. Liddle Towers was an amateur boxing coach murdered under police custody the year before AU’s conception.

Wave of Mutilation – Pixies

The Pixies song that lends itself to the name of their greatest hits is also, arguably, the closest thing they ever wrote to a murder ballad. The song is, probably, about a phenomenon in Japan where businessmen would drive their cars into the sea, with their families present. Despite this, it sounds every bit as serene as Where is my Mind? and lacks the ferocity of any of the work that Pixies released prior to Doolittle.

That concludes my somewhat gruesome post, which I probably should have made at Halloween or something, but I thought it might be of some sort of interest to a few people. Also it’s something I’ve wanted to do ever since I joined FIBLAR. Anyway, please post anything I’ve missed out in the comments, because I’d be really interested to hear from everyone else.

(written by Calum Cashin)

FIBLAR's Lou Reed Tribute

Last week, the music world received the hard-hitting news that Lou Reed, frontman of The Velvet Underground, had passed away. Lou was an inspiration to so many people, and the entirety of the music world was all swift to pay tribute to the late, great Lou Reed.

The FIBLAR team were, of course, no exception…

To me, Lou Reed was the frontman of one of the most influential, and one of my favourite bands of all time, The Velvet Underground. I’ve always loved the Velvets, as my mum had Pale Blue Eyes and Stephanie Says on her driving playlist. Then, about ten months ago I purchased the LP of The Velvet Underground and Nico and was very blown away by it. In Particular, the song Heroin (Track 1, Side 2) spoke to me like no song I had ever listened to previously, and to this day is one of my favourite songs of all time. Since then, I’ve played the record over and over, and it never fails to make amaze me. In addition, Lou’s music (both solo and with the Velvets) has directly influenced many of my favourite bands, making it even more special than it already is. Ziggy-era Bowie and Joy Division both cite the Velvets as a favourite band, and countless bands have covered their music. It is for these reasons, and many besides those, that Lou’s death is a tragedy, Rest in Peace Lou.

Here’s what the rest of the FIBLAR team said about Lou.

Nina:

“I remember that when I was younger, and my dad used to play to me Walk on the Wild Side and I remember my parents talking about the Velvet Underground. When I was that young i had no idea who they were, but when I was 12 the Velvet Underground’s Heroin came up in my suggested videos on YouTube and since then I’ve been hooked. The Velvet Underground have changed my perception of music and they were one of the first artists that made me feel something- as cringey as that sounds.”

Avalon:

Lou pictured with the mighty David Bowie and Iggy Pop.

"Nina was actually the reason I started listening to The Velvet Underground. We were in Camden a few weeks ago, and we were just walking around aimlessly chatting, when she mentioned that she had started listening to them. I had previously seen people tweeting about Lou Reed, and I knew my parents liked The Velvet Underground, but I'd never properly listened to them. On the same day, we visited Urban Outfitters - and they had iPads that you could listen to music on. Most of the albums on them were terrible, but they surprisingly had “The Velvet Underground and Nico”. I put the headphones on and chose the song “Sunday Morning”. I instantly knew that it was one of the most, relaxed, beautiful songs that I'd ever heard. I can't explain it any other way - the song felt like it put what I had been feeling that day into words that I could never have dreamed of.”

James:

“To me, Lou Reed was an inspiration. Walk on the Wild Side was the first song that made me want to pick up a bass guitar, and it was one of the first things I learnt to play. From a different angle, the overdose scene in Trainspotting when Renton sinks into the carpet is one of my favourite scenes from a film ever. It's accompanied by Perfect Day, which indeed makes it perfect. I was on the M1 with my family when I found out he'd died via Twitter. I read it out to them, and the rest of the journey was spent in near silence, the mood reflected by the freezing, pissing-it-down darkness outside. Rest in peace, the godfather of pop music.”

Amelia:
"The Velvet Underground & Nico is one of my favourite albums ever; when I was little we’d listen to it in the car sometimes whilst driving home in the dark. When I first got into collecting records and hauled my dad’s vinyl collection out of the loft I rediscovered it - I truly fell in love with the album and daresay appreciated it far more than my sleepy six year old self ever could. Lou Reed has also been the inspiration behind so many of my other favourite bands and artists too, and for that I am eternally grateful."

Amy:

“So, Lou Reed’s death. I’m quite sad that another legend has gone. I guess because I would never call myself a Lou Reed ‘fan’ that I found it more shocking than sad. My step dad is a huge fan of Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground so I stroked his hand when a Lou Reed montage was displayed on BBC news as I could see he was trying to hold a tear back. My step dad once went to see Lou live and has a tour shirt with all the tour dates and everything. All the images on it are rubbing off so he preserves it at the back of his wardrobe under a mound of ties he never wears. I’ve also found some Lou Reed song books among our hundreds of books. Lou’s lyrics were actually pretty meaningful, I mean you won’t find ‘No matter what I did, it never seemed enough’ coming out of Harry Styles’ mouth. Another favourite lyric from Lou is “I’ve got to bring home the bacon; someone’s got to bring home the roast”. I’m not entirely sure what it means but I like it anyway.”

Rohanie:

“Growing up I had a very prominent soundtrack to my house, influenced by both my father's Catholic Northern Irish upbringing, and my mother's South American heritage, and the scenes and fads the two went through in their own upbringing. A key participant in the score of my childhood was Lou Reed, specifically with the Velvet Underground and Nico (particularly as it was originally released in 1967 on my birthday, which is something I held as a bit of a claim to fame as a 9 year old). "I'll Be Your Mirror" became intrinsic to our house, almost a lullaby. The Velvet Underground soundtracked Sunday mornings in the bath, sitting in the kitchen having wet hair combed methodically with a nit comb just on the off chance, drives on drizzly afternoons through mounds of sludgy leaves and mud. The iconic banana cover is an image etched into my youth- with Heroin and I'm Waiting For the Man, smoothly skipped without me noticing, and Femme Fatale and All Tomorrow's Parties blared as loudly as the speakers could handle in the marble green machine of a car we owned. The slick, fluid and somewhat effeminate vocals Lou provided glossing through the stagnant air of long car journeys and endless 2am nights during the Christmas holidays. Lou Reed's passing has left a gaping hole in our house, and rest assured he remains immortal on our CD shelf.”

Aisha:
“Lou Reed made so many people who didn't feel like a part of anything feel as if they weren't worthless and that they did belong. He made it against all odds and was subject to revolting ignorance but he got through it, a true hero and inspiration. Rest in Peace, beautiful angel. In the words of Carl Barat, you gave me my strength and helped me in my weakness, thank you for everything”

I find it really quite beautiful that even now, over 46 years after the release of The Velvet Underground and Nico, people still find the music of Lou Reed a source of comfort, joy and inspiration. It’s very apparent that Lou’s had a profound effect on many people of my generation, as well as those of his own generation. I think that ten, twenty, or even a hundred years from now people will look back at Lou’s music and find it sensational. Generations to come will marvel at the works of the Velvets, much like they’ll look back at the Beatles, or the Smiths, and be inspired to make rock ‘n’ roll music. So whilst Lou may have passed away, he’ll be immortalised in our iTunes libraries, our vinyl collections and our CD shelves. R.I.P Lou Reed.

(by Calum Cashin and the rest of the FIBLAR team)