Start your music delivery system. Tell it to shuffle/randomize/mix. Describe the first five songs that come up - no skipping, no editing.
- Breeders - Divine Hammer. In my book, this is a perfect pop song. I can't think of a thing about it that I don't like, or that I would change. It's a solid 2:39 of Yaaayyyyyy!
- Feelies - Everybody's Got Something To Hide (except for me and my monkey). Yup, it's The Beatles' song. But this one's been stripped down and streamlined and compressed, and it zips by much faster than the original. I couldn't find The Feelies' original version on YouTube, and the live versions (which all seem to be recent), are a little messy, but, on the 1980 recording, it's all tight and nervous and twitchy.
- Spoon - Anything You Want (live, NPR). The live version is a little faster and Britt Daniels' vocals are a little loud, a little shouty and a little sloppy - because he's always that way, live. But, this is my favorite Spoon song. I don't even want to think about it any more than that.
- The Breeders - Chances Are. This is a cover of a Bob Marley song. It's a slow simple tune, without even the slightest touch of reggae - sounds more like a late 50's R&B ballad. The Breeders' version isn't much different than the original - Marley had a drummer tapping out a simple beat in his, which The Breeders skipped. The big difference is the vocals. In Marley's version, it sounds like Kim Deal is (somehow) doing the backup vocals. In The Breeders' version, she's doing the lead.
- Paul McCartney - Eat At Home. I'm a little new to the McCartney solo stuff. Never bothered with it until a few months ago, when I bought "Ram" out of curiosity. This isn't bad. It's moderately catchy and inoffensive. But it needs something... "Divine Hammer" is simple, but it's also blissful; this is just good natured.
I've showed you mine. Now you show me yours.
I’ve got the week off for winter vacation (schools are closed) so it’s a nine day weekend!
1. Shout Out Louds – You Are Dreaming
This is a really nice song. Nothing particularly special but I really like the chorus. They remind me so much of the Britpop stuff I listened to when I first came here to Norway (1998).
2. Snow Patrol – Disaster Button
Again with the Snow Patrol. And again, as much as I think they are not a significant band, I dare you to listen to this and not tap your foot or bob your head along to it. As much as I don’t want to, like most of their stuff, I love this song.
3. Foo Fighters – Breakout
This will always remind me of the year I met my wife and got married and moved to Norway. Funny video here and a rocking song, from the album I think is their most consistently excellent. I tried to pare this album down to fit onto my wife’s player and I figured there wasn’t a song I could cut.
4. Glow – Mr. Brown
This is a German band, though you can hardly tell. This sounds like so much other stuff released in the mid to late 90’s. I am not even sure how I stumbled on them, particularly since they barely exist anywhere online other than torrents. Anyway, when I am feeling nostalgic for the heady days of near-post-grunge this is as good as anything.
5. Sonic Youth – Reena
This is from Rather Ripped, which is an excellent album overall. I really like the newer Sonic Youth stuff, for reasons almost unrelated to my worship of their old stuff. They are aging, mellowing, like we all do. I like how even though this song is not exactly slow it feels mellow. It makes me want to sink into my big chair with headphones and close my eyes.
Have a good week, Cleekers!
That first one is a fantastic Breeders song. For some reason, women in Norway around 40 LOVE the Breeders. LOVE, like teen girls for the Beatles love. That and the Pixies. And Sugar. Not that I am complaining.
Creaky Croaky Cleeky Party.
1. Blur – Beetlebum
Released after the Blur vs. Oasis Britpop hype had started to wane and they were no longer trying too hard to compete, this catchy little mellow number sees Graham Coxon playing a muted riff that I find almost impossible to copy as I can’t play that fast! (see the video). I like the chunky guitar sound and the album this song is found on (just called ‘Blur’) is one of their best. Though people originally suspected the title was taking the piss out of Oasis’ Beatles obsession it is actually about heroin (‘chasing the beetle’).
2. The Cult – She Sells Sanctuary
Probably their biggest hit, this blast from 1985 takes me back to school discos (I was 14), bouncing around the gym thinking I was cool. Ironically, the Goths that worshipped this band were way too cool to actually dance but still managed to get all the girls. Damn their long hair and tortured existence. The song isn’t worth describing because you already know it! All of you! And if you don’t like it then see a doctor.
3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Windows
Piano, guitar, darkness, angst, heroin, dirty dangerous stranger sex. Lap it up Cleekidians. This is from one of my favourite albums ever, ‘Baby 81’, where every single track is a rock beauty yet no-one seems to have ever heard of it. There really is no justice in the world. They are such a tight band and this track is a great example of their capabilities. It gets right into a groove and hooks you completely. This is how you do it Strokes … are you listening? And it’s nothing to do with Microsoft before any clever bugger asks.
4. Tori Amos – Cornflake Girl
What a passionate woman Ms Amos is. I once saw her perform on Top of the Pops using two pianos that she kept switching between and it was such a sensual performance I developed a massive crush on her. It seriously affected me Cleekos! (she’s a redhead which ticks another box *cough*) So I sought out some of her music and came across this single, which I’d heard before but not attributed to her. She has a great range and sounds a little like Kate Bush in her higher range, which is fine as she’s another hero of mine. She sure knows how to tinkle the ivories and has released a lot of material in the last 15 years, so well worth checking out.
5. Talking Heads – The Book I Read
From their debut album ’77. Talking Heads are very important to me and are one of the first bands I *really* got into … even a little obsessed by – I bought all their records, bought books on the band (Rhode Island School of Design!), got hold of concert bootlegs, lived and breathed them until they split in ’89 or so. I absolutely love them and am gutted that I never got to see them live, unlike my bastard older brother. However, great as this song is, the album’s production doesn’t do their pure energy and frenetic sound enough justice. Luckily there is a live album available that really captures what this band were about – it’s called ‘The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads’ and wasn’t available on CD for many years and if you don’t own it then you’re life is not complete. Sadly I live on a lonely island of appreciation as none of my close friends share my love of The ‘Heads (philistines all), let alone Mrs C. If only they knew!
Cleektastical.
“One Hundred Miles” by Kathy Chiavola. Kathy’s lyrics occasionally verge on the corny or sappy; but that is alright by me as she has one of the sweetest voices I know.
“Serpent at the Gates of Wisdom” by Robyn and the boys (and a female violinist, but not Deni). We all know how I feel about Mr. Hitchcock’s voice, which is in full effect on this track. It’s a great song and it features a lyric about a burning tire, always makes me think of “Wheel’s on Fire”. The harmonica break near the end is a fine one.
“Sales Tax” by the Mississippi Sheiks. Let’s go buy a pack of cigarettes — gotta pay 3 cents more though, if the sales tax is on it. This is a great old blues number with a spoken introduction and a sweet fiddle. I guess sales tax was a new thing in the thirties, at least in Mississippi.
“No Knees” by Loudon Wainwright III. I don’t love Wainwright and the reason why is evident here — it’s hard to believe him when he’s singing about hard times. (I don’t know anything about his life, if he has had or not had hard times; it’s just he does not sound particularly down when he’s singing about them.)
“Dwarfbeat (demo)” by Robyn and the boys. A pretty nothing song, mainly because the recording quality is so horrible. Just sounds like fuzz. Off of the shuffle list it goes.