Friday Five

The Friday Five: July 15, 2011

Friday Five

Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.

The Five:

“Behind the Wheel (Vince Clark remix)” by Depeche Mode (from Remixes 2: 81-11, 2011)

Both Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder make appearances on this second remix collection from Depeche Mode.

“Kept” by Matt Nathanson (from Modern Love, 2011)

I first discovered Matt Nathanson through his appearance on Live From Daryl’s House; and no sooner completely forgot about him. Save for his big hit “Come on Get Higher,” I’d be hard pressed to name another song. His new record, however, is quite good.

“Baba O’Riley” by Pearl Jam (from Live at the Gorge 05/06, 2007)

This is probably my favorite Pearl Jam cover. I remember buying a bootleg import back in the early ’90s that closed with an insanely raw version of the tune.

“Colonized Mind” by Prince (from Lotus Flow3r, 2009)

ZZzz …

“Michelle (1965 stereo mix)” by The Beatles (from Rubber Soul, 2009)

Let me take this space to express my extreme jealousy of those of you getting to see Macca at Yankee Stadium this weekend.

What’s on your shuffle today?

20 Comments

  • dslifton

    “Believe What You’re Saying (Campfire Mix)” – Sugar. Not so much a remix as a version with the guys in the band not named Bob Mould’s parts taken out. And yes, I understand that by saying, “parts taken out” I’m setting myself up for a zinger.
    “Hey Ya” – Drive-By Truckers. From a compilation of live covers that I downloaded about a year ago. Love that these guys are such big music fans.
    “How To Fight Loneliness” – Jeff Tweedy (Boulder 1-8-11). Solo version of one of Summerteeth’s most chilling songs.
    “Swingin’ Party” – Paul Westerberg (9-17-96). A few weeks before this show, I saw him play at the old Capitol Ballroom in DC. I was thrilled that he did this song, not just because it’s one of my favorites of his, but because I could finally see how to play it on guitar.
    “First Song” – Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny. Michael Parr gets his wish of a Friday Five from me without any Springsteen connections.

  • Chris Holmes

    1. Winard Harper Sextet, “Soul Time” from A Time for the Soul – Good, modern hard bop with some outstanding drumming from Winard.
    2. Los Lonely Boys, “Señorita” from Los Lonely Boys – These guys have bucketloads of talent, as evidenced on their first album and this song. Their songwriting is just too damn inconsistent.
    3. Neil Finn, “King Tide” from Try Whistling This – I must have listened to this album 100 times when it came out, and I was never even into Crowded House that much.
    4. The Darkness, “Love Is Only a Feeling” from Permission to Land – I don’t care if it’s a joke, homage, pastiche, or whatever. Good songs are good songs.
    5. Spirit, “Love Has Found a Way” from Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus – Talk about your underrated albums and bands.

    • Michael Parr

      I saw Los Lonely Boys a few years back, opening for Santana, and was blown away. I can say, with very little hesitation, that they totally stole the show.

      Oh, and that Darkness record is still one of my favorite rock records of the last ten years.

  • BillC

    Nightwatchman-Tom Petty and Heartbreakers from Hard Promises-Good song, been overplayed.
    Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing-Buffalo Springfield from Retrospective.  Very enjoybable, pretty song.
    Ages of You-REM from Dead Letter Office-Never been much of an REM fan. 
    Stuck In a Rut-Bottle Rockets from Warren Haynes presents.  Sort of sums up my day and my Five.
    Lead me to That Rock-Homeland Harmonies. No idea where I got this or what it is.  Basically a gospel harmony from what sounds like a 30’s or 40’s country/swing band.

  • Phil

    Foo Fighters – “My Hero” – 1999-ish live acoustic performance on The Howard Stern Show that I “found” on the interwebs back in the day. The quality is terrible, but I really like the simplicity of Dave Grohl with nothing but an acoustic guitar in his lap screaming his head off.

    Counting Crows – “Monkey” from Recovering the Satellites – Typical Duritz tune from a pretty good album (if I recall correctly) from one of my guilty pleasures. I don’t buy into Duritz’ whole tortured artist schtick, but I do think he’s a great writer, and he has a very good awareness of lyrical rhythm in his songs.

    Brian Posehn – “Cuddling” from Fart and Wiener Jokes – WTF?! I thought I had deleted that! A track from an album I borrowed from a friend mainly for the song “More Metal Than You.” Pretty funny guy, but I think he tries too hard sometimes, and his delivery seems forced.

    Andrew Peterson – “Lay Me Down” from The Far Country – Peterson is a Nashville-based Contemporary Christian artist of the acoustic, singer/songwriter ilk. I got this album as a free download from NoiseTrade, mostly for my wife, for whom I’m constantly looking for good music that I can also listen to since she doesn’t share my eccentric tastes. Peterson has a good voice, and the song is decent with good production and instrumentation. If you’re into that kind of thing. Not something I would listen to all the time, but good for a change of scenery.

    U2 – “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” – This is a stripped-down acoustic version of the song from the How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb bonus DVD featuring just Bono and The Edge. I used to love U2 (with the exception of The Joshua Tree, weird, huh?!), but lately I think they’ve lost the plot. All That You Can’t Leave Behind and HTDAAB are both listenable, and to be completely honest, I actually had them in heavy rotation after their respective releases just to try to prove to myself that I still liked the band, but I completely ignored No Line on the Horizon when I heard the first single. Totally forgettable. Is this even the same band?!

    And just so you don’t start thinking that I have a wuss music collection, the very next songs that came up were At The Drive-In’s “Initiation” and an unreleased King’s X tune from a 1987 bootleg. That means I’m cool, right? Right?! Meh.

  • Anonymous

    “Ripe” by Givers from In Light (2011). I just discovered this band and I’m in love with their new record.
    “Black Cherry” by Goldfrapp from Black Cherry (2003). Very few artists put me in a good mood like Goldfrapp does.
    “What We Do” by Devo from Something for Everyone (2010). Have you seen the badass video for this song yet? No? Go look that shit up. It’s awesome.
    “Love of My Life Worldwide” by Erykah Badu from Worldwide Underground (2003). This, ladies and gentlemen, is the fucking jam.
    “Heads Will Roll” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs from It’s Blitz! (2009). This is one of my favorite songs of theirs. It makes me dance a little every time I hear it.

  • Anonymous

    1.  “Second Hand News  –  Fleetwood Mac  –  Rumours
    2.  “I Got The Feelin’  –  James Brown  –  20 All Time Greatest Hits
    3.  “Dreamboat Annie”  –  Heart  –  Dreamboat Annie
    4.  “Early In The Morning”  –  Eric Clapton  –  Just One Night, Disc 1
    5.  “Baby, It’s Tonight”  –  Jude Cole  –  A View From 3rd Street

  • EightE1

    I’ve had Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You” in my head all day.  SOMETHING in my Five has to pull me out of that particular earworm-hole.

    Night Ranger, “Rock N Roll Tonite.” Tasty rock candy from the new record.

    Mountain, “Sittin’ on a Rainbow.”  Much love for Leslie West, who’s going through some tough medical stuff at the moment.  This comes from Climbing! and I gotta tell you, there’s only one thing missing, and that’s more cowbell.

    Journey, “The Place in Your Heart.” My favorite Augeri-era tune, from their worst record EVAH, Generations.

    Bob Dylan, “I Shall Be Released.”  From the Budokan live record, ’77 or ’78.  I dunno.  I kinda like this record, though few true Dylanphiles do.  The women backing vocals and sax are sorta cool.

    Dawes, “My Way Back Home.” Gotta give this record a full listen.  Everything I’ve heard thus far I’ve really liked.

  • Anonymous

    1. Aimee Mann — “Long Shot” (I’m With Stupid)
    2. Black Keys — “Remember When (Side B)” (Attack & Release)
    3. Cassandra Wilson — “You Don’t Know What Love Is” (Blue Light ‘Til Dawn)
    4. Miles Davis — “Shhh/Peaceful” (In A Silent Way)
    5. Branford Marsalis — “Dance Of The Hei Gui” (I Heard You Twice The First Time)

  • Mike Duquette

    First Five with a new iPod! (160 GB classic, 30 gigs full)

    1. The Smiths, “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby (U.S. Mix)” – from Louder Than Bombs, one of my favorites of theirs. Those last few non-LP singles.were fantastic.

    2. Pearl Jam, “Release (Live at the Orpheum)”: from the live show in the Vs./Vitalogy box. Ten was always my favorite of theirs, and I don’t see myself changing my mind.

    3. George Michael, “You Have Been Loved”: we need more voices like his in pop music.

    4. a-ha, “Nothing to It”: a demo from the first album – slight but catchy.

    5. Yazoo, “Only You”: my girlfriend just got me the Yazoo box for my birthday. I love this song, the box, the girl who gave it to me, and you all for sharing Fives. Happy weekend to all!!

  • Dennis Corrigan

    WInding down for the weekend:

    1. “Walk Away Renee” by the Left Banke  I can’t say anything more about this song that what appeared over @Popdose:twitter a couple of weeks ago here http://bit.ly/lnsYme  Saw Southside Johnny do a killer version last month.
    2. “Final Straw” by R.E.M. from Around The Sun. Ugh, this is just a wretched record.  Trying to blot this out by think about the Lifes Rich Pageant remaster.  
    3. “Femme Fatale” by the Velvet Underground & Nico from their eponymous release.  Oft covered, notably by R.E.M.
    4. “The Love You Save” by the Jackson 5 from Hitsville, USA The Singles Collection.  Finally something up tempo
    5. “Murder By Numbers” by the Police from Synchronicity – apparently that’s what my Friday FIve is doing to me tonight.  

    Oh, well, 3 for 5’s not a bad night in the show.  I hope you all hear something better this weekend

  • B-Rock

    Let me give it a shot…

    1. Peter Bjorn and John – “I Know You Don’t Love Me”  (Gimme Some)
    One of the rare occasions in the CD era where the last song on the disc is the best.

    2. King Floyd – “Groove Me”  (One-hit Wonders compilation)
    One of those “happy accidents” of music history where the DJ inadvertently played the wrong side of the 45 and it turned into the biggest and only hit for Mr. Floyd.

    3. Wild Flag – “Glass Tambourine”  (Future Crimes single)
    Sleater-Kinney never appealed to my tastes, but, strangely, this has got me pumped for the full album in September.

    4. Paul McCartney – “Every Night (Live)”  (McCartney)
    This live bonus cut from the recent remaster has a nice groove and reminds me how much I’ve always felt Paul doesn’t get the same respect as John or George.

    5. Bruce Springsteen – “The Wrestler”  (Working On A Dream)
    Strange how this should pop up after we had a discussion at the office this week over the importance of a good soundtrack and how it sets the mood of a film.  From the Motown that inspired ‘The Big Chill’ to the eclectic mix served up in ‘The Big Lebowski, music can shape characters, as well as, feed the story.  Springsteen’s contribution plays over the closing credits, putting the cap on a fine film.

  • Shannon J

    “Money (That’s What I Want)”, The Beatles, from With the Beatles.  Cool growly John vocals.  This song reminds me of Animal House & that other John.

    “The Night Before”, The Beatles, from Help!   Smooth Paul vocals…

    “Cassidy,” Grateful Dead, from Dead Reckoning. I don’t listen to the Dead all that much anymore, but I still really enjoy Reckoning.

    “Wait,” The Beatles, from Rubber Soul. Dual lead vocals!  I think the universe is telling me something… not quite sure what, though.

    “Perfect Situation,” Weezer, from Make Believe.  Didn’t someone here mention that Weezer didn’t have consistently good albums after the first few? I agree, though I do think this song may be one of the better ones post-Green-Album.

  • Zack Stiegler

    1. Lee Scratch Perry- Fire
    2. Public Enemy – Megablast (Madd Skillz remix)
    3. NWA-Something 2 Dance 2
    4. Prince – Sacrifice of Victor
    5. Prince- Bob George

    Ain’t that a bitch?

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