My teenage daughter’s musical education has its ups and downs.
While I have been able to turn her on to noise bands like Yellow Swans and the Warped techno/electro of Aphex Twin she’ll still wind me up by putting on a CD of Coldplay for the school run and yesterday she was smitten by the song ‘Sing’ by Travis.
My work is not complete!
I had to confess that I too, in a moment of weakness (and swayed by rave reviews) I bought a CD of The Man Who (which precedes Sing) soon after it was released in 1999.
I have always maintained that Coldplay are the poor man’s Radiohead (which probably makes Travis the poor man’s Coldplay). Still, out of curiosity I was moved to listen to the album again to see if I had mellowed with age and was able to appreciate the serene grace and haunting melodies other humans seem able to detect.
Needless to say, it still struck me as a vapid set of tunes with the same brain numbing effect that hits me whenever I enter a large DIY store. But there is one exception.
But a few minutes after the final chords of the closing track (Slide Show) have faded into oblivion comes a hidden track with a fierce energy and fire conspicuous by its absence in the rest of their material. After the lame tracks that precede it, this track (Blue Flashing Light) is a breath of fresh air.
See what you think:
Do you know any great tracks (hidden or otherwise) by bands you generally hate?
