Friday Five

Ickmusic’s Friday Five: October 31, 2008

Tell me something, Billy. How come a cute little shuffle like this can turn into a thousand ugly monsters?

I thought it only appropriate to celebrate Halloween with a special playlist:

Match ANY of the following conditions

NAME contains Halloween
NAME contains Trick
NAME contains Treat
NAME contains Haunt
NAME contains Black

iTunes only came back with a measly 180 tunes, at least ¼ of which were “Black Sweat” or “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?”. I will readily admit to skipping each of these tracks at least once in the course of this shuffle. For those who have not joined in the Five, here’s how it works: … I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five with some words (and on occasion the song itself) for each track.

Then it’s your turn! You can play along with the themed playlist or just share the first five of your shuffle, either way the fun is in playing musical voyeur for the day.

Here are this week’s tracks:

1. AFI – Bleed Black (from Sing the Sorrow)

This is certainly a fitting start to the Halloween edition of the Friday Five. Creepiness abounds in the atmospheric info and acoustic breakdown mid-way through the tune. Off to a good start!

2. Billy Bragg & Wilco – Black Wind Blowing (from Mermaid Avenue Volume 2)

While I own both volumes of the Mermaid Avenue series they do not see the light of day very often. I’ll have to make a mental note to bring them out of hiding more often.

3. Dave Matthews BandHalloween (mp3) (from Before These Crowded Streets)

This song is definitely in my Top 10 DMB tracks. Live, there are not many other tunes that can touch the focused energy that goes into the performance. While it’s true that Dave usually mangles the lyrics and just sings nonsense save for specific lines (think of it as Dave’s “Yellow Ledbetter”) there is something to hearing him spew the venomous lyrics (“Tell us are you satisfied with f**king?”, Love is Hell, My Love is Hell“) written for the woman who turned down his proposal of marriage three times.

I’ve only heard the song live once on 12.21.2002 and it came as a the first encore after a blazing set featuring a 15 minute jam with James Brown on “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine”. Dave walked out wearing a Santa hat and the crowd expected “The Christmas Song” (it was even on the printed set list), he must have been possessed by the devil that night as he tossed the hat across the stage and the band kicked into a sick version of the track. And since it’s Halloween and you all deserve a treat, here is a recording of that very version.

4. Run-D.M.C. – It’s Tricky (from Can’t Hardly Wait)

Back in the day (or is it’s tha day) this was my jam! One of the first rhymes that I learned from start to finish and could flow unaccompanied, this is still one of my favorite hip hop jams.

5. AC/DC – Back in Black (from Back in Black)

Man, this shuffle kicked all sorts of ass. Short of “Hell’s Bells” or Type O Negative’s “Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)” I can’t think of a better track to close this Halloween Friday Five.

So what’s keeping the lil ghosts and ghouls busy in your neck of the woods?

Happy Halloween!

5 Comments

  • whiteray

    As my player only sorts for one word at a time, I thought I’d do two tricks, two treats and a haunt, if I have one.

    “Trick or Treat” by the Robert Cray Band from “Sweet Potato Pie,” 1997. Good bluesy R&B with, I believe, the Memphis Horns. Mmmm!

    “I’d Rather Trick On Own Self” by Terry Evans from “Mississippi Magic,” 2001. Atmospheric blues . . . with just a hint of “Loan Me A Dime” as an antecedent.

    “Have You Ever Been Mistreated” by Joe Hunter, John’s Island, S.C., Spring of 1970. More blues . . . raw stuff. Not sure where I got this, but it cuts right to the quick.

    “Mean Mistreating Mama” by Elmore James, probably a Fire records session, maybe around 1962. This came from a “Best Of” CD that, frustratingly, had no discographical notes at all. I was — and continue to be — annoyed.

    “The Ghosts That Haunt Me” by the Crash Test Dummies from “The Ghosts That Haunt Me,” 1991. Canadian group, the Dummies saw quite a bit of airplay in the early 1990s on a Twin Cities radio station that’s one of my favorites.

    Happy Halloween, all!

  • Pete

    The quick “I gotta go trick or treat with kids” version….

    1. “Black & Blue” – KO and the Knockouts
    2. “Blackout” – The Scorpions (Scorps!!)
    3. Pot Kettle Black – Wilco
    4. “Proud to Be Black” – Run DMC (Michael had the other one from Raising Hell)
    5. “Black M.F. in the House” – New Power Generation (remove Tony M from this record and it’s pretty damn funky)

  • KathyB

    This actually came back with a pretty good selection (out of 192 tracks), with a bunch of my favorite artists:

    1. “Black Honey” by Graham Parker from “Heat Treatment” (1986)

    2. “Long Black Limousine” by the Flying Burrito Brothers

    3. “Blacklisted” by Neko Case from “The Tigers Have Spoken” (2004)

    4. “Desperation Samba (Halloween in Tijuana)” by Jimmy Buffett from “Last Mango in Paris” (1985). A song that’s ended up on a few Halloween mix tapes I’ve put together.

    5. “Black Roses” by Whiskeytown, live at Gunnerz 10/29/97. I don’t know where I got this track. I do know that I’m a Whiskeytown track whore, and will grab just about anything I can find from them, from whatever show, no matter what the quality.

  • Gavinsdad

    1)Another Tricky Day by THE WHO from Face Dances
    2)The Black Angels Death Song by The Velvet Undergroud from Self Titled with Nico
    3) Black Diamond by KISS from Double Platinum
    4) Sweet Black Magic by Ryan Adams from Gold ( bonus disc)
    5) Gimmie Gimmie Shock Treatment by The Romones from Mania

    Unbelievable Mix if I have to say so myself.

    Have a good one

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