Radiohead - "Life In A Glass House"
Yo La Tengo - "Moonrock Mambo"
X - "How I (Learned My Lesson)"
Ida - "Lovers Prayers"
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - "I Fought The Law" (live)
Outkast - "Spaghetti Junction"
David Cross - "Phone Call From A Cranky Terrorist"
Some cuts from the two David Cross albums on my iPod have popped up on the way to work before and sometimes it can be a drag interrupting the tunes, but mostly its a humorous aperitif. And Cross's bits are so funny it's usually the latter. Today is no exception with this routine which features Cross ripping into the proliferation of wannabe stars in Hollywood. The centerpiece is his riff on how they all become crazy waiting around years for their big break, and then wind up being actually cast in a movie - - as a crazy strung-out loser on Hollywood Blvd. In other words, they wind up playing themselves and the irony is lost on the poor souls. Funny, true and sad, that's what Cross does best. And yes, this is the correct name of the track. I had to check but all the tracks on the album, Shut Up, You Fucking Baby!, are randomly named and have nothing to do with the routines. Most of them, like this one, have names that you could imagine would go with cliched bits by much lamer comics. Other examples include: "My Wife's Crazy!", "Flying On A Mexican Plane," and, pardon me, "Diarrhea Moustache."
Peter Bjorn & John - "Amsterdam"
A commenter recently wondered what happens after I write "And then I got to work." I do appreciate the interest in my not-too-exciting real life. And I'm not purposely concealing what I do for a living because it involves state secrets or something illegal or illicit. But I am enjoying the relative anonymity. (I'm sure astute Googlers could figure it out.) Anyhoo, here's a clue of sorts. Today when I got to work I had to write something down. On this piece of paper were some words. Among those words was an ampersand - - much like the ampersand that is part of the name of the band Peter Bjorn & John. (A band which also seems to forgo commas.) A co-worker commented, "Huh, you don't see someone hand write an ampersand that often." So, there you have it: What I do for a living involves occasionally writing ampersands. Now you know.
Superchunk - "The Popular Music"
Weezer - "Take Control"
Nina Simone - "Isn't It A Pity"
Richard Thompson - "Let It Blow"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 12
Total minutes of music (approx.): 64
Song with the most previous plays: "Let It Blow" - 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: The NYC Sweat Tour '08 continues... And today's commute was actually interrupted by a trip to the barber where I was told that I have way too much hair for this kind of weather. Guess a trim was overdo.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking (Day 63)
Lou Reed - "Strawman"
I would have posted earlier, but I'm finally dry enough not to risk potential electrocution by touching the computer keyboard. It is freaking hot as balls in NYC today and, yes, on cue my subway decided to stop moving about 15 minutes into my commute. For those of you who do not know the joys of riding the New York City subway let me just quickly explain the situation. Sometimes a train will just stop. Sometimes the conductor will explain why the train has stopped. Sometimes they won't. During today's stoppage everyone on my train was told "We are stopped due to a signal outage up ahead. They train will be moving shortly." The train will be moving shortly seems to me to imply that the train will, in fact, be moving shortly. It implied that for the 35 minutes I waited, on the stopped train with my back facing the open car doors and the hot sun streaming onto me. I was forced to take the conductor at his word because getting off the train is just going to mean finding a bus or walking 25-30 minutes (in the heat), to another subway line. It appears my tolerance for waiting patienly like a sheep in the hot sun is 35 minutes, because I finally decided to risk it on foot. After a 15 minute walk I got to another stop where the same train was actually running - - like the sweat down my back. (If you must know, there was a power outtage which caused the delay.) Now this would definitely count as a "Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today" but I felt the need to vent right away, because I was only really halfheartedly listening to my iPod during this whole mess and I don't have any real thoughts about today's songs. I was mostly cursing under my breath and/or listening for possible constructive announcements about the subway delays that never came. Hey, at least this song is from Lou Reed's New York. What a a coincidence, that's the same city I loath right now! The line of the song that sticks out: "If you're like me I'm sure a minor miracle will do. A flaming sword or maybe a gold ark floating up the Hudson." Um, gold ark, please. Presumably they don't have signal delays.
Jeff Tweedy - "Blue Eyed Soul" (live)
Pavement - "So Star" (live)
The Rosbuds - "Warm Where You Lay"
Cat Power - "The Moon"
Rilo Kiley - "Smoke Detector"
Tom Petty - "Saving Grace"
The Books - "There Is No There"
Dan Zanes - "Hey Little Red Bird"
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - "The Unwanted Things"
Steve Earle - "What's A Simple Man To Do" (live)
Snow Patrol - "Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking"
Norah Jones - "Be My Somebody"
Luna - "La Poupee Qui Fait Non"
Colin Meloy - "The Engine Driver" (live)
Sloan - "In The Movies"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 16
Total minutes of music (approx.): 88
Song with the most previous plays: "Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking" - 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I learned that when sweet, innocent looking old laidies get very hot they curse like sailors.
I would have posted earlier, but I'm finally dry enough not to risk potential electrocution by touching the computer keyboard. It is freaking hot as balls in NYC today and, yes, on cue my subway decided to stop moving about 15 minutes into my commute. For those of you who do not know the joys of riding the New York City subway let me just quickly explain the situation. Sometimes a train will just stop. Sometimes the conductor will explain why the train has stopped. Sometimes they won't. During today's stoppage everyone on my train was told "We are stopped due to a signal outage up ahead. They train will be moving shortly." The train will be moving shortly seems to me to imply that the train will, in fact, be moving shortly. It implied that for the 35 minutes I waited, on the stopped train with my back facing the open car doors and the hot sun streaming onto me. I was forced to take the conductor at his word because getting off the train is just going to mean finding a bus or walking 25-30 minutes (in the heat), to another subway line. It appears my tolerance for waiting patienly like a sheep in the hot sun is 35 minutes, because I finally decided to risk it on foot. After a 15 minute walk I got to another stop where the same train was actually running - - like the sweat down my back. (If you must know, there was a power outtage which caused the delay.) Now this would definitely count as a "Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today" but I felt the need to vent right away, because I was only really halfheartedly listening to my iPod during this whole mess and I don't have any real thoughts about today's songs. I was mostly cursing under my breath and/or listening for possible constructive announcements about the subway delays that never came. Hey, at least this song is from Lou Reed's New York. What a a coincidence, that's the same city I loath right now! The line of the song that sticks out: "If you're like me I'm sure a minor miracle will do. A flaming sword or maybe a gold ark floating up the Hudson." Um, gold ark, please. Presumably they don't have signal delays.
Jeff Tweedy - "Blue Eyed Soul" (live)
Pavement - "So Star" (live)
The Rosbuds - "Warm Where You Lay"
Cat Power - "The Moon"
Rilo Kiley - "Smoke Detector"
Tom Petty - "Saving Grace"
The Books - "There Is No There"
Dan Zanes - "Hey Little Red Bird"
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - "The Unwanted Things"
Steve Earle - "What's A Simple Man To Do" (live)
Snow Patrol - "Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking"
Norah Jones - "Be My Somebody"
Luna - "La Poupee Qui Fait Non"
Colin Meloy - "The Engine Driver" (live)
Sloan - "In The Movies"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 16
Total minutes of music (approx.): 88
Song with the most previous plays: "Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking" - 6
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I learned that when sweet, innocent looking old laidies get very hot they curse like sailors.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Waiting On The Guns (Day 62)
Stars - "What I'm Trying To Say"
Lou Reed - "Hold On"
So I've been uploading some random CDs recently and adding songs to the iPod. The reason is both to inject some new blood into the playlist, and also to revisit some older albums that I probably haven't heard in some time. Just few examples of these recent uploads: Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation, Sebadoh's III, Silkworm's In The West, and the album containing this song on today's playlists, Lou Reed's New York. When New York came out in 1989, it was about the same time that I was beginning to fall in love with the Velvet Underground. But Lou's solo work didn't have the same arty guitar sound that basically spawned indie rock, and it was often punctuated by his talky singing style and either a love of atonal avant gardism or 50s doo wop music or both. In other words, it was a much more eclectic beast and not as easy to love, but New York was one of his more focused solo albums. The gritty rock sounds is backed by his wry lyrics that really captured late 80s NYC - - from HIV to homelessness. The politics may be a bit dated, but I think the record really holds up both sonically and thematically. NYC may be cleaner on the outside, but Lou knows what lurks below the gleam coming off the new condos going up all over town.
Ry Cooder - "Strike!"
Illinois - "Missing a Piece" (live)
Pixies - "Nimrod's Son"
LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
I already blogged a while back about the polarizing nature of online tastemakers, Pitchfork. But today I was thinking about it again, because I recalled they picked this very track as the Best Song of 2007. At the time, I remember thinking that it was an odd choice. Today, I'm wondering if Pitchfork really is smarter and cooler than me. (Okay, obviously, they're cooler but really - - smarter?) This song from LCD Soundsystem (really the work of an electronic noodler with a real sense of melody named James Murphy), starts slowly and then builds repetitively like the long lost brother of an 80s New Order tune. It never quite ends up "blazing like a house of fire" as Pitchfork claims but at 7-and-a-half minutes it is a mini-epic that does kinda get in your head. My problem is that I don't even like it as much as other tracks on the Sound of Silver album like "North American Scum" or "Watch The Tapes." Since I wasn't blogging last year, I got out of the inevitable Best Of list making. But I thought I might give it a shot in honor of "All My Friends" popping up on the shuffle. So, here then are some of my Favorite Songs of 2007 (in no particular order):
Camera Obscura - "I Need All The Friends I Can Get"
R.E.M. - "Mr. Richards"
Bishop Allen - "Flight 180" (live)
The Flying Burrito Brothers - "Hot Burrito #2"
Art Farmer - "Blues March"
The Wedding Present - "Waiting On The Guns"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 12
Total minutes of music (approx.): 51
Song with the most previous plays: "Waiting On The Guns" - 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Really, New York Times? You Don't Mess With The Zohan?
Lou Reed - "Hold On"
So I've been uploading some random CDs recently and adding songs to the iPod. The reason is both to inject some new blood into the playlist, and also to revisit some older albums that I probably haven't heard in some time. Just few examples of these recent uploads: Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation, Sebadoh's III, Silkworm's In The West, and the album containing this song on today's playlists, Lou Reed's New York. When New York came out in 1989, it was about the same time that I was beginning to fall in love with the Velvet Underground. But Lou's solo work didn't have the same arty guitar sound that basically spawned indie rock, and it was often punctuated by his talky singing style and either a love of atonal avant gardism or 50s doo wop music or both. In other words, it was a much more eclectic beast and not as easy to love, but New York was one of his more focused solo albums. The gritty rock sounds is backed by his wry lyrics that really captured late 80s NYC - - from HIV to homelessness. The politics may be a bit dated, but I think the record really holds up both sonically and thematically. NYC may be cleaner on the outside, but Lou knows what lurks below the gleam coming off the new condos going up all over town.
Ry Cooder - "Strike!"
Illinois - "Missing a Piece" (live)
Pixies - "Nimrod's Son"
LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
I already blogged a while back about the polarizing nature of online tastemakers, Pitchfork. But today I was thinking about it again, because I recalled they picked this very track as the Best Song of 2007. At the time, I remember thinking that it was an odd choice. Today, I'm wondering if Pitchfork really is smarter and cooler than me. (Okay, obviously, they're cooler but really - - smarter?) This song from LCD Soundsystem (really the work of an electronic noodler with a real sense of melody named James Murphy), starts slowly and then builds repetitively like the long lost brother of an 80s New Order tune. It never quite ends up "blazing like a house of fire" as Pitchfork claims but at 7-and-a-half minutes it is a mini-epic that does kinda get in your head. My problem is that I don't even like it as much as other tracks on the Sound of Silver album like "North American Scum" or "Watch The Tapes." Since I wasn't blogging last year, I got out of the inevitable Best Of list making. But I thought I might give it a shot in honor of "All My Friends" popping up on the shuffle. So, here then are some of my Favorite Songs of 2007 (in no particular order):
Modest Mouse - "Dashboard"
The New Pornographers - "Myriad Harbor"
Of Montreal - "Suffer For Fashion"
Feist - "1234"
Girzzly Bear - "He Hit Me"
The Arcade Fire - "Intervention"
The National - "Mistaken For Strangers"
Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
The Besnard Lakes - "For Agent 13"
Ryan Adams - "Two"
Rilo Kiley - "Silver Lining"
Beirut - "Nantes"
Iron & Wine - "Pagan Angel And A Borrowed Car"
What I miss?The New Pornographers - "Myriad Harbor"
Of Montreal - "Suffer For Fashion"
Feist - "1234"
Girzzly Bear - "He Hit Me"
The Arcade Fire - "Intervention"
The National - "Mistaken For Strangers"
Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
The Besnard Lakes - "For Agent 13"
Ryan Adams - "Two"
Rilo Kiley - "Silver Lining"
Beirut - "Nantes"
Iron & Wine - "Pagan Angel And A Borrowed Car"
Camera Obscura - "I Need All The Friends I Can Get"
R.E.M. - "Mr. Richards"
Bishop Allen - "Flight 180" (live)
The Flying Burrito Brothers - "Hot Burrito #2"
Art Farmer - "Blues March"
The Wedding Present - "Waiting On The Guns"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 12
Total minutes of music (approx.): 51
Song with the most previous plays: "Waiting On The Guns" - 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: Really, New York Times? You Don't Mess With The Zohan?
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Reinvent The Wheel (Day 61)
The Kinks - "This Time Tomorrow"
The Books - "That Right Ain't Shit"
The Beastie Boys - "Mark On The Bus"
Rufus Wainright - "Imaginary Love"
Pavement - "Conduit For Sale!"
Pixies - "Monkey Gone To Heaven"
Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Travelin' Band"
I know, kinda random. But, hey, who can't use a little CCR on their way to work? This band will always remind me of an insanely fun road trip to New Orleans from Ann Arbor, MI for (you guessed it) spring break. Not sure who brought along the cassette of CCR's Chronicles Vol. 1, but it was a nice addition. (Lest you think my friends and I were all classic rock loving frat boys, know that the recently released album Slanted and Enchanted was also in the rotation. Ok?) But what I was specifically thinking about this AM while listening to "Travelin' Band" however was the cover of the 1970 album the song first appeared on, Cosmo's Factory. Anyone remember this?
It's so bad it's great. The album is named after CCR's rehearsal space and this is obviously a picture of the band hanging out in this oh-so-artless room. I love how lame it looks. The big blue curtain. The red rug. The 10-speed bike. And absolutely no groupies or drugs. I'm kind of nostalgic for this sort of album cover. Everything today is so art directed in an attempt to impress upon the buyer how cool the band is. I guess CCR was pretty confident that everyone already knew they were pretty cool. Bonus aside here: This image also reminds me of this awesome blog I just came upon: For Those Who Tried To Rock. The site is attempting to collect pictures, sounds and bios from any group of music-loving kids who ever tried to form a rock band and become the next big thing. It's amazing. Here's a sample line I lifted from the most recent entry about The Explosions from Cherry Hill, New Jersey: "...a particular triumph [was] when we forced the band hired to play my bar mitzvah off the stage and did our version of 'Brown Sugar.'"
Versus - "Circle"
Low - "Cue The Strings"
The Lemonheads - "Poughkeepsie"
Deerhunter - "Spring Hall Convert"
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - "Honey Child What Can I Do?"
Maritime - "Someone Has To Die"
Beck - "Hell Yes"
Pixies - "Into The White" (live)
Bright Eyes - "Reinvent The Wheel"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 16
Total minutes of music (approx.): 58
Song with the most previous plays: "Reinvent The Wheel" - 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I stopped to get a bagel and coffee. (Reason for long-ass playlist revealed!)
The Books - "That Right Ain't Shit"
The Beastie Boys - "Mark On The Bus"
Rufus Wainright - "Imaginary Love"
Pavement - "Conduit For Sale!"
Pixies - "Monkey Gone To Heaven"
Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Travelin' Band"
I know, kinda random. But, hey, who can't use a little CCR on their way to work? This band will always remind me of an insanely fun road trip to New Orleans from Ann Arbor, MI for (you guessed it) spring break. Not sure who brought along the cassette of CCR's Chronicles Vol. 1, but it was a nice addition. (Lest you think my friends and I were all classic rock loving frat boys, know that the recently released album Slanted and Enchanted was also in the rotation. Ok?) But what I was specifically thinking about this AM while listening to "Travelin' Band" however was the cover of the 1970 album the song first appeared on, Cosmo's Factory. Anyone remember this?
It's so bad it's great. The album is named after CCR's rehearsal space and this is obviously a picture of the band hanging out in this oh-so-artless room. I love how lame it looks. The big blue curtain. The red rug. The 10-speed bike. And absolutely no groupies or drugs. I'm kind of nostalgic for this sort of album cover. Everything today is so art directed in an attempt to impress upon the buyer how cool the band is. I guess CCR was pretty confident that everyone already knew they were pretty cool. Bonus aside here: This image also reminds me of this awesome blog I just came upon: For Those Who Tried To Rock. The site is attempting to collect pictures, sounds and bios from any group of music-loving kids who ever tried to form a rock band and become the next big thing. It's amazing. Here's a sample line I lifted from the most recent entry about The Explosions from Cherry Hill, New Jersey: "...a particular triumph [was] when we forced the band hired to play my bar mitzvah off the stage and did our version of 'Brown Sugar.'"
Versus - "Circle"
Low - "Cue The Strings"
The Lemonheads - "Poughkeepsie"
Deerhunter - "Spring Hall Convert"
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - "Honey Child What Can I Do?"
Maritime - "Someone Has To Die"
Beck - "Hell Yes"
Pixies - "Into The White" (live)
Bright Eyes - "Reinvent The Wheel"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 16
Total minutes of music (approx.): 58
Song with the most previous plays: "Reinvent The Wheel" - 8
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I stopped to get a bagel and coffee. (Reason for long-ass playlist revealed!)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
You May Be Blue (Day 60)
The Starlight Mints - "Zillion Eyes"
Os Mutantes - "A Minha Menina (My Girl)"
These guys just keep popping up on the playlist. (Look below, more Os Mutantes!) Truth is, in a random fit of iPod song-ripping I took a bunch of their albums from my wife's cousin. Besides the fact that said cousin lives in Portland and has pretty impeccable taste in music, I'd recently read an article about the over 40-year-old Brazillian pop band in which Devendra Banhart (yup, him again) described them as such: "They didn’t sound like the Beatles, but they were innovative, masterful musicians the way the Beatles were, traversing styles from song to song or even from verse to verse, mixing psychedelia, African tribal modes, tango, ragas, Motown, even polka." I haven't really immersed myself in the catalog completely, but when the songs do pop up, I'm into it. This one in particular, I like a lot. It's from their 1968 eponymous album and it has a very 60s fuzzy guitar, pop sound and along with the Portuguese vocals I always think it would make a great kitschy song for a soundtrack. (In all honesty, at first I did think it was from one of the Wes Anderson soundtracks on the iPod.) One more Os Mutantes fun fact: the name of Beck's 1998 album Mutations (my personal favorite of his) is an homage to the group.
Mojave 3 - "Ghost Ship Waiting"
Yo La Tengo - "Song for Mahila"
The Wrens - "Crawling"
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead - "Days Of Being Wild"
Vetiver - "You May Be Blue"
Talking Heads - "Happy Day"
Ryan Adams - "My Blue Manhattan"
Dan Zanes - "Sweet Rosyanne"
A Dan Zanes song calls for an update on what the kids are listening to. Only the 10-week old is not really listening to anything, and the 2-and-a-half-year-old has actually been off music of late. (Damn you, Caillou!) Although in the car recently I begged her to give "Daddy's music" another try and I eased her into it with a song off of Springsteen's We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. The song was "Froggie Went a Courtin'" (another version of which is on Dan Zanes' Rocket Ship Beach, although there it goes by the title "King Kong Kitchie"). Clearly it was a perfect segue. When we got home she wouldn't let me turn off the car until the song was over! Perhaps it's time for a rock block of Pavement...
The Apples In Stereo - "My Pretend"
Rivers Cuomo - "Chess"
Os Mutantes - "Panis Et Circensis"
X - "Motel Room In My Bed"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 14
Total minutes of music (approx.): 48
Song with the most previous plays: "You May Be Blue" - 16
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: While reading about the ridiculous amount of hype the Yankees' YES network heaped on yesterday's first start by Joba Chamberlain, I was reminded of another ridiculous (although sublimely humorous) moment in self-indulgent Yankee history. (BTW, Mets beat the Giants last night 9-6.)
Os Mutantes - "A Minha Menina (My Girl)"
These guys just keep popping up on the playlist. (Look below, more Os Mutantes!) Truth is, in a random fit of iPod song-ripping I took a bunch of their albums from my wife's cousin. Besides the fact that said cousin lives in Portland and has pretty impeccable taste in music, I'd recently read an article about the over 40-year-old Brazillian pop band in which Devendra Banhart (yup, him again) described them as such: "They didn’t sound like the Beatles, but they were innovative, masterful musicians the way the Beatles were, traversing styles from song to song or even from verse to verse, mixing psychedelia, African tribal modes, tango, ragas, Motown, even polka." I haven't really immersed myself in the catalog completely, but when the songs do pop up, I'm into it. This one in particular, I like a lot. It's from their 1968 eponymous album and it has a very 60s fuzzy guitar, pop sound and along with the Portuguese vocals I always think it would make a great kitschy song for a soundtrack. (In all honesty, at first I did think it was from one of the Wes Anderson soundtracks on the iPod.) One more Os Mutantes fun fact: the name of Beck's 1998 album Mutations (my personal favorite of his) is an homage to the group.
Mojave 3 - "Ghost Ship Waiting"
Yo La Tengo - "Song for Mahila"
The Wrens - "Crawling"
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead - "Days Of Being Wild"
Vetiver - "You May Be Blue"
Talking Heads - "Happy Day"
Ryan Adams - "My Blue Manhattan"
Dan Zanes - "Sweet Rosyanne"
A Dan Zanes song calls for an update on what the kids are listening to. Only the 10-week old is not really listening to anything, and the 2-and-a-half-year-old has actually been off music of late. (Damn you, Caillou!) Although in the car recently I begged her to give "Daddy's music" another try and I eased her into it with a song off of Springsteen's We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. The song was "Froggie Went a Courtin'" (another version of which is on Dan Zanes' Rocket Ship Beach, although there it goes by the title "King Kong Kitchie"). Clearly it was a perfect segue. When we got home she wouldn't let me turn off the car until the song was over! Perhaps it's time for a rock block of Pavement...
The Apples In Stereo - "My Pretend"
Rivers Cuomo - "Chess"
Os Mutantes - "Panis Et Circensis"
X - "Motel Room In My Bed"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 14
Total minutes of music (approx.): 48
Song with the most previous plays: "You May Be Blue" - 16
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: While reading about the ridiculous amount of hype the Yankees' YES network heaped on yesterday's first start by Joba Chamberlain, I was reminded of another ridiculous (although sublimely humorous) moment in self-indulgent Yankee history. (BTW, Mets beat the Giants last night 9-6.)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Her Disappearing Theme (Day 59)
Broken Social Scene - "Her Disappearing Theme"
Pixies - "Broken Face" (live)
Bob Dylan - "From a Buick 6"
You have to forgive this song for not necessarily standing out. After all it is on the same album as Dylan classics like "Like A Rolling Stone," "Tombstone Blues," "Ballad Of A Thin Man," "Queen Jane Approximately" and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues." That album is, of course, 1965's Highway 61 Revisited. Still, the lyrics are great. (Shocker!) And the repeated refrain about the narrator's "soulful mama" (not to be confused with the "graveyard woman" who keeps his kids, natch) is the memorable: "Well, if I go down dyin', you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed." But today, the line that stuck out most of all was this one: "She walks like Bo Diddley and she don't need no crutch." Of course, Bob Diddley died yesterday. A true rock & roll pioneer, Bo is actually famous for his very own beat. The New York Times today tries to describe the Bo Diddley beat as follows (sing it with me): "bomp-ba-domp-ba-domp, ba-domp-domp." Of forget that, just listen to the master:
This little beat (or shuffle), inspired countless rock songs. The Times even points out a bunch, including: U2's "Desire," The Who's "Magic Bus," and David Bowie's "Panic In Detroit." My favorite example, however, is the Buddy Holly song "Not Fadeaway." Although (FULL DISCLOSURE ALERT), it's the Grateful Dead version that I love. I did my time with the good ol' Grateful Dead in concert and this was always one of my favorite encores. (Be patient, the band noodles around for the first 20 seconds or so, but that beat does kick in.):
RIP, Bo.
Los Lobos - "Rita"
Blonde Redhead - "The Dress"
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Butch Vig mix)
One more bit of news related to a song on today's playlist (courtesy of the NYT):
The National - "Driver Surprise Me" (live)
Tortoise - "Spiderwebbed"
Thelonious Monk - "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 60
Song with the most previous plays: "Her Disappearing Theme" - 4
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: This nice weather is starting to make me nervous.
Pixies - "Broken Face" (live)
Bob Dylan - "From a Buick 6"
You have to forgive this song for not necessarily standing out. After all it is on the same album as Dylan classics like "Like A Rolling Stone," "Tombstone Blues," "Ballad Of A Thin Man," "Queen Jane Approximately" and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues." That album is, of course, 1965's Highway 61 Revisited. Still, the lyrics are great. (Shocker!) And the repeated refrain about the narrator's "soulful mama" (not to be confused with the "graveyard woman" who keeps his kids, natch) is the memorable: "Well, if I go down dyin', you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed." But today, the line that stuck out most of all was this one: "She walks like Bo Diddley and she don't need no crutch." Of course, Bob Diddley died yesterday. A true rock & roll pioneer, Bo is actually famous for his very own beat. The New York Times today tries to describe the Bo Diddley beat as follows (sing it with me): "bomp-ba-domp-ba-domp, ba-domp-domp." Of forget that, just listen to the master:
This little beat (or shuffle), inspired countless rock songs. The Times even points out a bunch, including: U2's "Desire," The Who's "Magic Bus," and David Bowie's "Panic In Detroit." My favorite example, however, is the Buddy Holly song "Not Fadeaway." Although (FULL DISCLOSURE ALERT), it's the Grateful Dead version that I love. I did my time with the good ol' Grateful Dead in concert and this was always one of my favorite encores. (Be patient, the band noodles around for the first 20 seconds or so, but that beat does kick in.):
RIP, Bo.
Los Lobos - "Rita"
Blonde Redhead - "The Dress"
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Butch Vig mix)
One more bit of news related to a song on today's playlist (courtesy of the NYT):
The ashes of Kurt Cobain were stolen from the Hollywood home of his widow, Courtney Love, The Guardian of London reported. Ms. Love, left, told authorities that the ashes had recently been stolen from a heart-shaped handbag in a secret hiding place in a wardrobe. She said that she was suicidal as a result of the theft, The Guardian reported, and that the ashes had been taken by an acquaintance. “I can’t believe anyone would take Kurt’s ashes from me,” she said. “If I don’t get them back I don’t know what I will do.” Most of the ashes of Cobain, the lead singer and songwriter for Nirvana, were scattered at a New York Buddhist temple and in the Wishkah River near Aberdeen, Wash., where he lived as a boy. He committed suicide in 1994.
The National - "Driver Surprise Me" (live)
Tortoise - "Spiderwebbed"
Thelonious Monk - "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 9
Total minutes of music (approx.): 60
Song with the most previous plays: "Her Disappearing Theme" - 4
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: This nice weather is starting to make me nervous.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Gone To Earth (Day 58)
Beirut - "Nantes"
The American Analog Set - "Gone To Earth"
Today's Song With The Most Previous Plays comes courtesy of a very cool band that I've been listening to for a while that virtually defines, for me, low-key alt-rock. At times they are sort of post-rock or Tortoise-like, and at others they are reminiscent of Yo La Tengo's minimalist sound on And Nothing Turns Itself Inside Out. In any case, their groovy downbeat always seems to put me in a good, but mellow mood. The band was founded by Andrew Kennedy in Austin, TX in 1995, who is actually now a member of the Broken Social Scene. The last AmAnSet album was 2005's Set Free. I hope they re-group, there will always be a place on the soundtrack of my life for this beautiful sounding band.
Willie Nelson - "Over You Again"
Grandaddy - "Nebraska"
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - "Heart In The Hand Of The Mat"
Midlake - "Jugler"
Serge Gainsbourt - "Marilou Reggae"
Pernice Brothers - "Automaton"
Grizzly Bear - "Shift"
Two pieces of awesomeness I'd like to mention here. (Incredibly, neither of which is this band itself. In case you're not familiar, run - - don't walk - - to your nearest purveyor of music and purchase the album Yellow House.) No, this is a word about two amazing places on the Web for inspirational live performances (that most of you already know about). The first is: Daytrotter. This website collects recordings made at a studio above a pizza place in Rock Island, IL by bands who stop by for a jam as they tour through the heartland of America. Incredible bands, incredible songs - - all, incredibly, free. The version of "Shift" on today's playlist is one such recording. The second is: the Take Away Shows at La Blogotheque. The dudes (or dudettes) at this Parisian weblog shoot videos of bands in unusual, urban environments. It's also very cool, and below is Take Away version of the same Grizzly Bear song. I know I'm probably late to the party, but I was thinking this AM that there could be other losers out their like me... and I just want to help.
Thelonious Monk - "Gallop's Gallop"
The Clientele - "The Garden At Night"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 42
Song with the most previous plays: "Gone To Earth" - 10
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I read a NY Times piece that not-so-nicely describes the song "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" on the new Weezer album as: a "kind of 'Bohemian Rhapsody'-style epic that high school drummers compose during chemistry lab." But then it also goes on to claim the song's a parody. Weird. Then again, they also kinda like the new Journey album...
The American Analog Set - "Gone To Earth"
Today's Song With The Most Previous Plays comes courtesy of a very cool band that I've been listening to for a while that virtually defines, for me, low-key alt-rock. At times they are sort of post-rock or Tortoise-like, and at others they are reminiscent of Yo La Tengo's minimalist sound on And Nothing Turns Itself Inside Out. In any case, their groovy downbeat always seems to put me in a good, but mellow mood. The band was founded by Andrew Kennedy in Austin, TX in 1995, who is actually now a member of the Broken Social Scene. The last AmAnSet album was 2005's Set Free. I hope they re-group, there will always be a place on the soundtrack of my life for this beautiful sounding band.
Willie Nelson - "Over You Again"
Grandaddy - "Nebraska"
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - "Heart In The Hand Of The Mat"
Midlake - "Jugler"
Serge Gainsbourt - "Marilou Reggae"
Pernice Brothers - "Automaton"
Grizzly Bear - "Shift"
Two pieces of awesomeness I'd like to mention here. (Incredibly, neither of which is this band itself. In case you're not familiar, run - - don't walk - - to your nearest purveyor of music and purchase the album Yellow House.) No, this is a word about two amazing places on the Web for inspirational live performances (that most of you already know about). The first is: Daytrotter. This website collects recordings made at a studio above a pizza place in Rock Island, IL by bands who stop by for a jam as they tour through the heartland of America. Incredible bands, incredible songs - - all, incredibly, free. The version of "Shift" on today's playlist is one such recording. The second is: the Take Away Shows at La Blogotheque. The dudes (or dudettes) at this Parisian weblog shoot videos of bands in unusual, urban environments. It's also very cool, and below is Take Away version of the same Grizzly Bear song. I know I'm probably late to the party, but I was thinking this AM that there could be other losers out their like me... and I just want to help.
Thelonious Monk - "Gallop's Gallop"
The Clientele - "The Garden At Night"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 11
Total minutes of music (approx.): 42
Song with the most previous plays: "Gone To Earth" - 10
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: I read a NY Times piece that not-so-nicely describes the song "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" on the new Weezer album as: a "kind of 'Bohemian Rhapsody'-style epic that high school drummers compose during chemistry lab." But then it also goes on to claim the song's a parody. Weird. Then again, they also kinda like the new Journey album...
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