Be Careful (Day 86)

Fourth Of July - "Be Careful"
Well, from an extra-long playlist to a super-short one... Today was one of those days that family obligations interrupted my commute. I snuck in 20 minutes of listening after parting ways with the wife and baby. Kicking things off was this one-dimensionable, but very likable song by an indie band from Lawrence, Kansas. I found them on some blog, and I really like them because you can tell from one listen that this is obviously the handy work of a shaggy bunch of guys (and girls) who grew up listening to a steady diet of Pavement (naturally) and just want to make cool, but fun music for their friends. Turns out, my suspicions are totally right. Check out their video:



Townes Van Zandt - "When He Offers His Hand"
I know, I said something about doing a long Townes post yesterday, but now that he's on the playlist again I'm not in the mood. But I will mention this: Steve Earle (a pretty good songwriter in his own right), once said, "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." What did Townes think about that? The fellow Texan replied, "I've met Bob Dylan and his bodyguards, and I don't think Steve could get anywhere near his coffee table."
Ida - "First Take"
The Black Keys - "Strange Desire"
Another band that I like, but I just haven't spent that much time with is The Black Keys. They do tend to get lost in the whole garage rock revivial (The White Stripes, Kings Of Leon, et al) for me, but this is a really good electric blues song in the great tradition of Led Zeppelin.
Pavement - "Easily Flooded"
Yet another Pavement outtake (this one from the Wowee Zowee reissue). Any Pavementt-heads know anything about it?
[UPDATE: This song is obviously called "Easily Fooled." Thank you comoprozac for correcting me. The weird thing is that "Easily Flooded" is totally what it's labeled on my iPod. Anyway go read his take on the song. (At least one of us knows what the hell they're talking about.) All this illustrates that as much as I like Pavement, I suck at remembering the names of their songs.]

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 5
Total minutes of music (approx.): 18
Song with the most previous plays: "Be Careful" - 7
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7 (Short, but sweet!)
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: It was hardly direct.