Friday Five

The Friday Five: October 14, 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:

“Come See About Me” by Tedeschi Trucks Band (from Revelator, 2011)

“Mary Ann” by Bob Dylan (from Dylan, 1973)

“Get Up to Get Down” by Brass Construction (from Phat Trax: The Best of Old School, Volume 1, 1997)

“(He’s) Seventeen” by The Supremes (from The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 2: 1962, 2005)

“Nasty” by Janet Jackson (from Control, 1986)

What’s on your shuffle today?

11 Comments

  • Phil

    I had trouble posting what I thought was a stellar Friday Five last week, so I hope this one goes through. Ping me if you’d like to see last week’s shuffle.

    The Police – “Don’t Stand So Close to Me ’86” (Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings, 1993)
    Ugh. An absolutely horrible remake of the original. ‘Nuff said. Next.

    U2 – “Promenade” (The Unforgettable Fire, 1984)
    For some reason I seldom reach for The Unforgettable Fire when I want to satisfy an itch to listen to U2, and I’m not really sure why. It may be that I’m not as familiar with this disc as I am their others. Or it may be the lack of big “hits” on it, although these days I would count that as an advantage over having to wade through track after track that corporate radio has played into the ground. Weighing in at only 2:34, “Promenade” is a segue track of sorts, of which there are several on this very short album. As such, I don’t really have much of an opinion on it one way or the other, although Bono’s soaring vocals mix well with the ethereal instrumentation.

    Arcade Fire – “Modern Man” (The Suburbs, 2010)
    I acquired this album from a friend, and after having only listened to it once—and only half-heartedly then, I must admit—I promptly forgot that it was in my collection. That’s unfortunate since if the rest of the album is like “Modern Man,” I really need to dig it out and give it a good honest listen. Simple and catchy, this song is exactly how I like my pop tunes.

    The Cure – “Untitled” (Disintegration, 1989)
    “Untitled” suffers from a different fate than that of “Promenade.” At one point I had very nearly worn Disintegration out, but coming in at 72 minutes long, by the time I made my way to this final track on the album, I hardly ever made it all the way through its repetitive droning. And although it feels happy and hopeful in light of the somberness of the majority of the tracks, I never really felt that it measured up to rest of the album.

    King’s X – “Move” (Live Love in London, 2010)
    Excellent live version of one of my favorite tracks off the 2008 XV album. I only regret that I didn’t get to see these guys on tour for the two opportunities that I’ve had in the last decade. Here’s hoping I get another chance soon.

  • dslifton

    “Baby Plays Around” – Elvis Costello. His occasional attempt to write the perfect torch song. I think he succeeded with this one.

    “Great Long Pistol” – Jerry Irby & His Texas Rangers. Some cool old western swing song from 1948 that I got from mp3s of all of the Bob Dylan Theme Time Radio Hour shows.

    “The Reasons” – The Weakerthans. I know some people who consider them one of the best power pop bands, but for me they’re just OK. They’ve got everything right, but don’t have the songs.

    “Submarines Of Stockholm” -A. C. Newman. Hard to tell where this begins and the New Pornographers end. In other words, me likey.

    “Judge Of Hearts” – Willie Hobbs. I’m guessing I got this from some obscure soul mix I found online, because I know nothing about this song or the artist. Got a touch of Percy Sledge about it.

  • Caryn Rose

    My five:
    “Into Your Shtik,” Mudhoney – appropriate since I just finished Mark Yarm’s “Everybody Loves Our Town” oral history last night
    “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” – Rick Derringer – What can I say, I am large, I contain multitudes
    “Haiti,” Arcade Fire – perfect feel for today’s gray and rainy
    “4th of July,” Soundgarden – I was an enormous Soundgarden fan, and was shocked by how much I learned about them in “Everybody Loves Our Town”. And, happy to have learned more (although not happy to have confirmed Cornell’s drug problems)
    “King Only,” Twilight Singers – this is one of those psychic ipod moments, where it plays a song you need to hear but didn’t know that you did until it showed up

  • David_E

    1. “Fever” — Little Willie John. Great. Now I’m in comedic interlude in a late ’80s chick flick.
    2. “I.G.Y.” — Donald Fagen. I have heard this more in J.C.Penney than I have on the radio. Don’t care. Still love it.
    3. “Brother Don’t You Walk Away” — Hooters. I think Zig Zag may have been their strongest album.
    4. “Eloquence” — Jason Faulkner. Not his strongest, but not bad.
    5. “Don’t Go Into That Barn” — Tom Waits. Great. Now I’m in a bizarre carney interlude in a late ’80s David Lynch film.

  • Mike Duquette

    1. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, “More Love”: off to a slow start with a fine-if-not-astounding late-period Miracles tune.
    2. The Jacksons, “Walk Right Now”: now we’re cookin’. The Jacksons’ TRIUMPH always finds something new to surprise me with, and a relisten of this song is the ticket.

    3. Kanye West, “See You in My Nightmares (feat. Lil Wayne)”: I’m an uncharacteristic defender of 808s & Heartbreak, but this is one of the clunkier tracks – maybe too synth-oriented, if that makes sense.

    4. Madonna, “Express Yourself”: I love this track, but not this particular version (the Q-Sound mix from THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION). However, I totally reminded you that Q-Sound was a thing! ’90 music gimmicks, guys!

    5. Oasis, “The Shock of the Lightning”: I’m not sure who cared for Oasis by the time this came out in 2008, but the chord changes are making me happy. So they’re good for that.

  • Anonymous

    1) Cassandra Wilson — “Never Broken” (Traveling Miles, 1999). Over a chilly soundscape of murky basslines, eerie string instrument accompaniment and acoustic guitar, Wilson offers hushed, assuring vocals. Kind of a dark lullaby.
    2) Bonnie Raitt — “I Will Not Be Denied” (Nick Of Time, 1989). One of the more underrated tunes on this album. Lot of sass and steadfast spirit. Good stuff.
    3) Sade — “Cherish The Day” (Lovers Live, 2002). Great, romantic tune about appreciating the little things and moments in time. Shortly after the applause, Sade Adu notes that “especially in these times,” she says it is a real privilege to be performing on stage. A pointed and poignant nod to 9/11.
    4) Alicia Keys — “Someday We’ll All Be Free” (America: A Tribute To Heroes, 2001). Incredible transition from the last song. Few songs give me chills but this is one of them. On solo piano, Keys delivered a powerfully robust and uplifting cover in the benefit concert that took place 10 days after 9/11. On a night of strong performances by various artists, Keys had the best performance of the night.
    5) Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers — “You Got Lucky” (Greatest Hits). Just when I think my iPod shuffle made a coherent connection between songs (with the last two), this selection reminds me of the randomness of the shuffle. Not a bad tune but not one of the best in Petty’s back catalog.

  • EightE1

    Geez … a 60-percent crap Friday Five. Hope this isn’t how my weekend is going to go.

    Weezer, “Unspoken.” And just a little boring.

    The Jayhawks, “Cinnamon Love.” My favorite song from the new record. Parts of this song sound damn near menacing.

    Das Racist, “Punjabi Song.” Whatever.

    Ride, “Beneath.” Bless my stony, shoegazin’ little heart. When I’m in the right mood, this stuff’s all I want to listen to.

    Jimi Hendrix Experience, “She’s So Fine.” Worst song on Axis: Bold As Love, a record I really enjoy.

  • Mike

    01-“Longview” by Green Day: Some songs sound as good as the first time you heard ’em.
    02-“I Wish I Knew” by Boz Scaggs: “Dig” (released about 10 years ago) was a pretty good album…so was the more recent album of standards.
    03-“We Can’t Go Wrong” by Cover Girls: Some songs *don’t* sound anywhere near as good as the first time you heard ’em.
    04-“Ooh Baby Baby” by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: One of the few times Smokey used his falsetto as opposed to his natural singing voice (which, contrary to popular opinion, is NOT a falsetto…)
    05-“Feelin’ So Good” by Jennifer Lopez featuring Fat Joe & Big Punisher: Two things save this song from my trash heap: Big Pun and the Strafe “Set It Off” sample. Guaranteed to get a party started no matter the context.

  • Dennis Corrigan

    Here’s my headed out on a rainy evening Friday Five

    1. “(I Never Knew You) Harry” by Seth Swirsky from Watercolor Day.  Swirky’s homage to Harry Nilsson from my favorite record of last summer.  A cheery start to blechy evening
    2. “Dream On” by Aerosmith from their first one.  My kids are addicted to the Glee version.  I feel like that’s a sad comment on my parenting to date
    3. “Brave New World” by Michael Penn from March.  There was a time in the early 90’s when this album was in my highest rotation along with Crowded House’s Woodface and Smithereens 11.  You were almost guaranteed to find one if not all in the CD changer at any moment.
    4. “It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine” by Blind Willie Johnson from Dark Was the Night.  This bit of deep blues will blow you away.  
    5. “Waltz Across Texas Tonight” by Emmylou Harris from Wrecking Ball.  From the rough blues from the Delta to the beauty of Emmylou’s voice with Daniel Lanois’ production.

    Hope you hear something good this weekend!

  • Anonymous

    Is it still Friday…anywhere?    I guess not, but here goes…

    1.  “Back Door man” – The Doors – The Very best of the Doors.
    2. “This Wheel’s On Fire” – The Band – Music From Big Pink, Disc 1

    3. “Handyman” – James Taylor – JT

    4.  “So Far Away” – Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing

    4.  “Rock Me Right” – Susan Tedeschi – Just Won’t Burn

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