that's what elise just told as i was grooving to the tunes i've picked for tonight's post; it must mean i'm on to something good.sorry about the last couple posts skimping on the text and such. the gf suggested to me a week or so ago that i should do a post with my top ten songs of all time. i'm not sure if i'm ready to make a commitment like that (narrowing my favorites down is just such a daunting task!) but a "top ten of ____ greats" sounds like it would be something right up my alley.
so, without further ado, here are TEN SONGS WITH SOME HELLA HARD DRUMMIN, homie.
(in no particular order)
Led Zeppelin - When the Levees Break
not even the beastie boys really did this break justice when they opened their first album, licensed to ill (originally to be titled 'don't be a faggot', i kid you not) with it. the great blues sliding riff is killer as well. these are some hella hard drums, homie.
Joe Cocker - Woman to Woman
i think josh homme of queens of the stone age was talking about this song being hella hard in some interview a couple years ago, and he mentioned that the drums here are pretty much the basis for dr. dre's drum programming career lately. i think dre borrowed a little more than the drums, but for the life of me i can't realize which song he sampled it for... hmm...
The Cool Kids - What Up Man
i can't believe that this hadn't been done already (to my knowledge). old school hip hop drumming is always referred to as "boom bap", but it took a long time for someone to take that phrase quite literally. boom. clap. bass.
The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows
Ringo Starr always get a bum rep for being a shitty drummer that got really lucky. i always took that for gospel until i started really listening to the fab four. this doesn't exemplify anything techincally proficient or anything, but the song that launched the psychedelic phase of 'the greatest band there probably ever will be' probably wouldn't be half as great without ringo's little stutter number.
Air - Remember
this song hit me in the face when i first listened to moon safari, probably because the drumming alone turns the vocodorama into something completely different than any other song on their otherwise chill pill of a debut. wait for my eyes to roll when kid cudi or drake (or kanye for that matter) realizes this as well and snatches it for some mixtape. hella hard and smooth like silk at the same time.
Daft Punk - Rollin' & Scratchin'
i can't say enough good things about this track. when i first bought homework (we're talking back in high school) i couldn't stand this song. its just some annoying high pitched squeal that goes on for like eight minutes. it took a long time to realize it's absolute genius. without rollin and scratchin, there would be no justice, or electro-bangers or anything. i'd put this up against slayer for degrees of metal brutality any day of the week. the premise is incredibly simple, yet at the same time so perfectly executed. sure, the pitch-altered metallic synth growls and shrieks its way into climax heaven, but its the drums that turn the party level from 3 to an 11, and all that enters at that one point is a goddamn hi-hat. dp do fantastic things with this song live (obviously), but probably the best version i've found is off alive 1997 (it's a 45 minute single file, too long to post here), where they throw in some bass drum rolls to add a little swing to this beast's stomp. how can something so abrasive be so fucking danceable at the same time?
Schoolly-D - PSK
they say schooly-d invented gangsta rap. i guess psk stands for parkside killers, which sounds like a crew i wouldn't want to run into doing my jazzercise routines down the sidewalk late at night (sometimes there's no other time in my busy schedule). that doesn't impress me, but what does is the little bird who told me dude recorded this whole song in one take. that's vocals and beats, while operating the drum machine manually at the same time as kickin his little raps. oh yeah, and biggie does a great tribute to this on life after death's disc one.
The Honey Drippers - Impeach The President
i hadta include a classic break break in this list somewhere, and this is none more hella hard than impeach the president. it's the claussen pickle of old soul breaks: cold, crisp and delicious. and if you know me, you know claussen's the only brand i'll stand for.
Spoon - Paper Tiger
again, sometimes its not the level of difficulty or studio tomfoolery that makes or breaks a hella hard drum, but just a great idea done perfectly. the idea here is to waste nothing. every element has its role and adds something completely different to the mix: the reverb bass drum, the stuttering/phasedthephuckout tom tom, the steady rim shot. whoda thunk a couple dudes from austin even knew what hella hard meant?
Blur - Song 2
i had to include this one, mostly for personal reasons. growing up in the school band playing the lame ass (or so i thought at the time) trumpet, i was nearly salivating with envy at the drum section (who, for the most part, only played their stupid snares or bass, which made them even lamer than me). but this one kid would always sneak onto the little kit in the music room when our teacher wasn't looking, and he would always hammer out the opening drum pattern to song 2, which if you remember was like the end all be all for sixth graders in the mid to late 90s. and yeah, it still does kick groovy.
and before anyone mentions it (all because of that goddamn movie trailer), the drums at the end of 'in the air tonight' are too hard to include in this list, since they would undoubtedly put everyone else to shame. i think there should be some sort of musical drug testing committee, because phil had to have injected his snare drums with steroids or something. it's just not humanly possible otherwise.
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