1. Shuffle em up.
2. Describe the first five songs that come up, no matter what they are.
3. ???
4. Profit!
- Sonic Youth - Master Dik. Thurston does a weird quasi-rap over a swarm of wanky guitars and KISS samples. Odd. An strangely un-excellent track from the otherwise great Sister. Ends with the repetition of the word "Ciccone", which is Madonna's real last name and the origin of the name of SY's noise-rap side project, "Ciccone Youth".
- Green Day - All By Myself. Until I found this video, I did not know Tre' Cool sang this one. I thought it was Billy Joe doing a dumb voice.
- Beatles - I've Just Seen A Face. A fun little song, but alas, it wins my award for Most-badly-Mixed Guitar Solo.
- Alison Krauss & U.S. - Lose Again. A sweet song. Sounds like spring. Odd that this isn't anywhere on YouTube.
- De La Soul - Take It Off. One of the many short, pointless, throwaway tracks that litter DLS's records. This is the kind of thing that makes me not like DLS as much as I think I could. I tend to avoid playing their albums because the good stuff is surrounded my silliness.
OK, now you do it.
“I’ve Just Seen A Face” is still one of my favorite selections in the generally overdone “bluegrass covers of rock songs” category.
The shuffle gods are not generous.
1. Foreigner – Long Long Way From Home
I hate Foreigner. I really really do. I don’t like the guy’s voice, I don’t like their chord changes, I don’t like their lyrics, I don’t like their instrumentation. This one even has a cheesy saxophone solo so lame and shitty, I could have played it. This sucks. They suck.
2. Harold Faltermeyer – Axel F
You know, from an 80’s pop point of view, the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack was really a pretty good collection. And this track, which of course provided the recurring musical motif for Eddie Murphy throughout the film, was the capstone. The synthesizer timbre on display here is as evocative of its era as the Moog was to prog-rock and the Hammond was to the late 60’s. I wouldn’t want to hear it more than occasionally anymore, but it’s still something of a guilty pleasure.
3. Orbital – Lush 3 (Euro Tunnel Disaster’94) / Walk About
Boilerplate techno. Fourteen minutes of PLUR. Keeps you coding, I guess.
4. Propellerheads – Spybreak! Short One
More techno. This is from the Matrix soundtrack, though I have no idea where it occurs in the movie. I loved that film but uncharacteristically I really didn’t take much notice of the music.
5. Aerosmith – I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
I run really hot-and-cold with Aerosmith. Joe Perry has produced some of the most memorable guitar hooks ever recorded, but the band has nearly papered over their hard rocking legacy with a swath of sappy arena ballads. Basically, everything Mark Prindle said.
What really stands out for me with this song is how perfectly it crossed over from rock ballad to country ballad. Goes to show that (as Zappa said) timbre rules — the distinction between popular genres is as thin as the singer’s inflection or the kind of guitars used.
That was a great read Cris!
everything Mark Prindle said
Whoa, the comments there make for some interesting reading.
End of a glorious 4-day weekend and only three days at work this week thanks to the pending royal wedding on Friday and the May Day bank holiday next Monday!
So it’s Sunday as far as I’m concerned.
CSS – Music Is My Hot Hot Sex
From their 2006 album ‘Cansei De Ser Sexy’, this song (and most of the album come to think of it) just oozes pure-grinding-Brazilian-sexiness. Shame they blew it with a lacklustre follow-up album and now appear to have sunk below music’s fickle radar. Hot and sweaty.
Simon & Garfunkel – Mrs. Robinson
My mum used to play this song a lot when I was little so it evokes memories of my 70s childhood. I didn’t get to see The Graduate until a few years ago and it gave this song the meaning that I’d been missing. I try to bang it out on my acoustic occasionally but you forget what a great guitarist Paul Simon is so my attempt is distinctly average.
Big Audio Dynamite – E=MC2
Released 25 years ago? Really? That makes me feel old. OK, this was a post-Clash almost-hit for Mick Jones and his B.A.D. collective. Contains a bunch of samples from the infamous film ‘Performance’ that starred Mick Jagger as a washed-up junkie. B.A.D. have reformed for this years festival circuit apparently but I was never a massive fan even though I love early Clash.
Bright Eyes – Land Locked Blues
By all accounts Conor Oberst is a bit of a dick but ‘I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning’ is one of my favourite albums and one of the most American sounding I own I guess (it’s American folk and I can’t say my music collection is busting with sounds of this genre). The album is perfect from start to finish and is one of those that has to be played in full. This song, which features Emmylou Harris, is a great example.
“And the world’s got me dizzy again
You think after 22 years I’d be used to the spin
And it only feels worse when I stay in one place
So I’m always pacing around or walking away
I keep drinking the ink from my pen
And I’m balancing history books up on my head
But it all boils down to one quotable phrase
If you love something, give it away”
The song builds to a horn-infused crescendo – well worth 5 minutes of your day.
He really moves me, even if he can be a dick.
Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue
Well whaddya know! Some more American folk, this time from Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis! Awesome. I’m a big fan of her work (and her voice … something about the higher notes that resonates nicely with me) and this song is from her solo album of the same name. Just he voice, some guitar and some lush-sounding backing vocals. Worth checking out.
God Save The Queen! :)
1. “Astronomy Domine” as covered by Robyn Hitchcock and his Heavy Friends at the “Games for May” concert. This is the first song I think of when I think of Piper. The Heavy Friends include some very accomplished guitarists and drummers.
2. “Farewell Whisky”, John Hatcher (which, cool, I see it came up on a previous shuffle of mine). Nice old time music, a different (superior) tune to the one that is online a lot under the title “Farewell to Whiskey”. From the “Great Big Yam Potatoes” compilation.
3. “Midnight Train”, Country All-Stars. (Such a bland, non-specific name for such a distinctive band!) This is the kind of country music I want to be able to play. Awesome fiddle solo.
4. “Morning Dew”, the Dead. This song would be better if it were an instrumental. The lyrics are silly and the singing just distracts from the music.
5. “Heart of Things”, Kimberly Rew. I like Rew’s solo records. He’s a totally earnest singer and songwriter. Sort of singsongy, easy to follow. And great, complex guitar solos.
Bonus track. “That Funny Melody”, Country All-Stars. Sweet. (My link is to a different version — picture more banjos and mandolins.)
welcome back to the web, Mr Modesto.
I like Rew’s solo records.
i didn’t even know there were such things!
Two that I know of, “Tunnel into summer” (2000) and “Great central revisited” (2002). I had a vague notion he was going to release another record last year but I don’t think that happened. Check out “The Radio Played Good Vibrations” from Tunnel into summer — it’s pretty representative.
Huh, that link did not work properly. http://www.box.net/shared/pt027rj3ap
My Old Kentucky Blog says he has five solo releases.
Once again: http://www.myoldkentuckyblog.com/?p=11732
First, totally agreed about the De La Soul skits. They’re awful. I blame Prince Paul.
I’ll shuffle up tomorrow.