Shuffle-up five songs. Describe them so that we may learn.
- Kristin Hersh - Silver Sun. The same week the Throwing Muses put out their blistering self-titled 2003 'comeback' album, their singer, Kristin Hersh, put out a solo album of eerie, gloomy acoustic tunes called "The Grotto". This is from that album. It's really quite beautiful (and Andrew Bird's in there playing violin), but it's really quite cold, too.
- Portishead - Over. Speaking of gloomy and beautiful... Portishead kindof owned that category, in the mid 90s. And this is one of my favorite songs from their second, self-titled, album.
- The Cure - Charlotte Sometimes (live). Gloomy and beautiful, right. This one is just dripping with that creepy unsettled feeling that defined their early 80's sound, which I love. Maybe this song's is a little too filled-out though - I can generally do with fewer keyboards - when compared to the rest of their stuff from '81. But, overall, a nice 2nd-era Cure tune.
- Kristin Hersh - Vitamins V. The iPod is clearly in a mood. This is also from "The Grotto", and so: gloomy and beautiful. The 'Vitamins V' are vodka and valium. That's partially what this song is about, and is exactly what it sounds like.
- John Mayall - All Your Love. I play this song on guitar, constantly, sloppily. Wish we lived out in the country, so I could crank my amp and get some of that lovely feedback Clapton gets on the breaks. It wouldn't sound any better to anyone listening, but it would be a lot more fun for me.
Do it!
Using my actual iPod this time, which has a fairly limited range compared to the overall collection (but far less likely to bore me with weird stuff I’ve never heard of).
Beatles – It’s Only Love
John Lennon was notoriously displeased with this song. I guess I have to attribute that to his overall post-Beatles backlash; I’ve always found something elegant about this lyrics. But maybe that’s because I like the music; if all we cared about with pop music was the lyrics, we’d just read the liner notes and call it poetry.
Belle and Sebastian – Big John Shaft
A just-okay installment from the just-okay Storytelling album.
Beatles – I’m Looking Through You
Speaking of lyrics, Sir Paul really ought to be proud of the line “Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight.”
Igor Stravinsky – Firebird Suite (1919)
I’ll admit: I never really listened to the Firebird music until I watched Fantasia 2000. I don’t really know what the original ballet is about, but Disney’s simplistic circle-of-life vignette provided just the hook I needed to pay attention to the music. Which I suppose was Walt’s original intention.
Chuck Berry – I’ve Changed
Though he rightly belongs on the Mount Rushmore of rock and roll, it took me a while to realize how much Chuck Berry was fundamentally a blues musician. He shows his hand with straight-up numbers like this one, but even his more popular (and frankly, better) hits are still at their heart up-tempo Chicago blues.
Has my phone been hacked by News International yet?
Radiohead – True Love Waits
There are many Radiohead songs that have been played live over the years but never been released (“on the shelf” in Thom Yorke’s words) and this is one of them. The only official version is this live acoustic belter from a gig in 2001. Great chords, interesting lyrics and I’d still love to hear a full-band version.
Queens Of The Stone Age – Feel Good Hit Of The Summer
Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, Marijuana, Ecstasy and Alcohol … Co…co…co…co…cocaine! Much fun has been had singing along to this at parties, I can tell you. Typical pounding QOTSA rocker from their 2000 album ‘Rated R’. Requires plenty of volume.
The Beatles – Hey Jude
Requires so explanation whatsoever. The ‘na na na na-na-nas’ are timeless IMHO and crop up all over the place in my music collection.
Spoon – Don’t You Evah
I find the guitar sound on this album (2007’s ‘Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’) just perfect – it resonates perfectly with my middle-aged ears. The best thing about this song, and the band in general, is that when I play one of their songs people go ‘Who’s this? They sound great!’. I still like the fact this band are a bit of a secret here in the UK. Love them to bits, especially this album and last year’s ‘Transference’.
Sufjan Stevens – Chicago
Great song from an otherwise overblown album that promised much but failed to deliver IMHO, despite much hype from elements of the UK music press (Uncut I’m looking in your direction). He comes across as a bit of a delicate flower who takes everything very seriously indeed which makes some people grind their teeth. BTW, if this song sounds familiar it might be because it featured in the great film ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ a few years ago. It has an almost gospel quality about it and the backing singers remind me of a US band called The Polyphonic Spree who enjoyed a small amount of success a few years ago.
However, Sufjan’s 2010 album ‘Age of Adz’ is meant to be very good indeed so I may give it a listen when I get the chance.
First time shuffling with Spotify:
(1) “Filthy Bird”, Robyn — the version off of Storefront. (Speaking of RH, check out him and Joe Boyd at NPR for some truly breathtaking “Terrapin”.) A song that has lots of moments of beauty without, I think, ever really coming together properly.
(2) “Climbin on Top of the Hill”, Blind Boy Fuller. Cool, another tie-in to the RH/Joe Boyd link — at that NPR spot, Boyd says Syd discovered the names of Pink Anderson and Floyd Council in liner notes to a Fuller record. This is a very different song from “Sittin on Top of the World”. Not really “blues” at all. Great listening though.
(3) “The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band”, Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. I like all the instruments in the bluegrass band but what I really like is the fiddle, when it comes in strong between verses like it does here.
(4) “She Reached for a Light”, Robyn Hitchcock. Pretty unbearably bad outtake from the 90’s. Let’s pass over this in silence.
(5) “Phonograph Blues,” Robert Johnson. The answer’s I love my phonograph, I’m about to lose my mind.
“The answer’s I love my phonograph, I’m about to lose my mind.”
i do love how out there his lyrics sometimes were. “did he just say that?”
(If you’re using Spotify, come by my profile and peruse the playlists.)
“I still like the fact this band are a bit of a secret here in the UK. ”
here, too. they’re pretty popular with the indie rock crowd, but haven’t had a lot of mainstream success.