November Collab Blog: Favorite B-sides

B-sides are generally known for being more lackluster than the hits - but that's not always the case. For the November collab blog, members of the collective talk about the B-sides, outtakes and bonus songs that deserve all the more attention. 

A. Iwasa's Pick

Song: “Walking Through My Dreams"
Artist: The Pretty Things
Album: S.F. Sorrow (1968)
I first looked up The Pretty Things after John Lydon repeatedly name dropped them in Rotten as being better than The Rolling Stones, but poorly managed.  S.F. Sorrow was a rock opera, and "Walking Through My Dreams" was the B-side to "Talkin' About the Good Times", both bonus tracks on the album.  If I could do anything in the music world, I would want to put on a theatrical production of S.F. Sorrow.

Parisa's Picks

Album: D-Sides (2007)
Artist: Gorillaz
Favorite Track: “Hongkongaton”
If you’ve been following T&E for awhile, you’ve probably heard me say on more than one occasion that Demon Days is one of my favorite albums of all time. So it’s probably not too surprising to hear that D-Sides, the B-Sides and remix album to Demon Days, would be one of my favorite outtakes album. Generally, B-side singles or albums are known for being lackluster, but the Gorillaz show here that even their outtakes aren’t just skip over tracks. Rather, this collection of bonus tracks shows the versatility and experimentation that didn’t fit into the conceptual narrative of Demon Days. Tracks like “People” show off their Britpop roots, “Rockit” flexes a moody synthwave aesthetic, “Murdoc is God” is a thrashing grunge-meets-industrial noise banger, and my favorite, “Hongkongaton” is a fusion of Eastern melodies with dub and dancehall production. And while some of the remixes feel a bit repetitive, D-Sides is an overall killer compilation.
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Song: “Marmalade”
Artist: System of a Down
Album: single
Before Spotify, YouTube, and even before the emergence of peer-to-peer file sharing software like Napster, I remember sitting in front of the computer with my brother as he’d bid on any System of a Down music and merchandise he could find on eBay. You see children, back in the day if you wanted rare, unreleased music, you’d have to either dig for it in record crates, or in the case of millennials like myself, sit up all night on eBay bidding wars in hopes of getting a burned CD delivered to your house. My brother and I ended up with over forty SOAD albums by the early ‘00s (mind you, they only have five officially released albums), filled with rarities, unreleased tracks, live sessions, interviews, and more. Of course, these tracks are now easily accessible to hear on YouTube, but at least people can have access to some of SOAD’s best and most underrated. Songs like “Temper”, “Honey” and “Marmalade” are gems from the raw, unfiltered days of their early career. Aggressive, thrashy, and still groovy as hell, SOAD’s outtakes are some of their best work to date. Y’all are blessed to not have to spend the time and money my brother and I did back in the day just to be aware these songs exist, so do yourself a favor and take a listen. ​
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Hazel's Pick

Album: Emotion Side B (2015)
Artist: Carly Rae Jepsen
Favorite Track: "The One"
This is the one, girls. CRJ is "Call Me Maybe" to most people. To a lot of us though, she is *the* underestimated pop queen. Emotion is a nearly perfect album, but somehow, often doesn't click at first. Emotion Side B is sort of the canonical "start here" album to get into her music. "Cry," "The One," "Fever," "Higher" --- it's all bangers folks. The production on all of Carly's output is exceptionally good, especially post Kiss era, but on Emotion Side B it really shines through. If you don't understand the Carly hype, start here. Once you're on board its Emotion -> Dedicated -> Dedicated Side B -> Kiss. Eventually you'll find yourself thinking: "Call Me Maybe is actually a good song." Dive in folks. Cut to the Feeling. Run Away with us. 
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Album: Giant Steps (60th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)[2020 Remaster]
Artist: John Coltrane
Favorite Track: Giant Steps (Alternate Take 8)
A mouthful of a title, right? It's an earful of an album too. The remaster clocks in a little over 2 hours. It's full of outtakes, retakes, alt takes, rehearsals. This record is a sort of constellation orbiting Giant Steps, a peek into and around one of the most seminal jazz records ever recorded. And boy did they record a lot of it. An album to listen to in little
nibbles, just appreciating the nuance and skill of every musician in the session. Seeing how things took shape, slowly, cunningly. A delight for anyone into Coltrane, cursorily or die-hard. 
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