Get It Like You Like It (Day 116)

Islands - "Rough Gem"
The White Stripes - "The Same Boy You've Always Known" (live)
Minutemen - "The Big Blast For Youth" (live)
Gang Of Four - "To Hell With Poverty" (live)
That is kind of an odd trio of very punk-y live recordings that popped up in consecutive order today. I guess The White Stripes tune is not that strange (good song from White Blood Cells), but unfortunately I don't know where this particular recording comes from. I ripped it from a co-worker who had a bunch of tunes simply labeled "White Strips B-Sides" - - but I don't think this is any kind of official release. The there's the Minutemen. What a wild, raucous piece of music. Now just about everything this punk trio touched was raucous, but this track has a stinging cacophony highlighted by a very James Chance-like avant garde blast of saxophone near the end. I was digging it. Meanwhile, I have it on the Post-Mersh, Vol. 3 compilation, but it originally appeared on 1984's The Politics of Time and was recorded September 24, 1983 at the Longshormen's [sic] Ball in Wilmington, CA. And then, finally, this very groovy recording by Gang of Four from a 1979 Peel Session that's not quite as urgent as their other stuff, but still totally post-punk.
Mercury Rev - "Endlessly"
Just a note here about what was a tough transition: I occasionally enjoy the dream pop of this Buffalo-band. But when you're getting your day started nicely with some punk rock (and have only had 2 of the necessary 4-5 cups of coffee), a song that steals the melody from "Silent Night," yet manages to make that X-mas tune sound like a rave highlight, is not going to go over well. Zzzz
The Hold Steady - "Lord, I'm Discouraged"
Sparklehorse - "Knives Of Summertime"
DJ Shadow - "Why Hip Hop Sucks in '96"
The Wrens - "Yellow Number Three"
The Clash - "Hateful"
Ben Harper - "Get It Like You Like It"
Nirvana "Polly" (demo)
Tom Waits - "Fannin Street"
The Kinks - "Big Sky"
The Elected - "Go On"

And then I got to work.

Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 15
Total minutes of music (approx.): 49
Song with the most previous plays: "Get It Like You Like It" - 7
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: There is so much crazy wrapped up in McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, but I will limit myself to one jaw-dropper I read in the NY Times on the way in today:

Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, though she never followed through and it was unclear which books or passages were in question.

Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said.

The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment for this article.

Excuse me, book-banning? Don't let the librarian glasses fool you...