Friday Five

The Friday Five: November 18, 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:

Girls on Film” by The Wesley Willis Fiasco (from The Duran Duran Tribute Album, 1997)

I’m now racking my brain, trying to recall how Wesley Willis came up in a recent conversation with Jeff Giles and Mike Heyliger.

“Toothache (Chemical Brothers remix)” by The Charlatans (from The Jackal, 1997)

Another track from 1997? This track is like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, two great tastes that taste great together.

In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (from The Social Network, 2010)

It almost looks like there is a thread of logic running through today’s Friday Five. 1997 Tune; 1997 soundtrack tune; 2010 soundtrack tune; okay, I’ll admit it is a bit of a stretch. As for this tune, I don’t have much to say other than how odd is it to say OSCAR award winner, Trent Reznor?

Nocturnal Transmission” by BT (from Ima, 1996)

… And back to the ’90s! During said decade I harbored a secret affinity for all things techno. Specifically the ambient sub-genre, which this track falls solidly under. I’m not sure what the hell I was doing that would enable me to sit for long sessions … oh, wait, yes I do. Anyhow, I still have a small collection of my favorites from the likes of BT and Aphex Twin that I’ll spin once in a while.

Wave of Mutilation” by Pixies (from Doolittle, 1989)

Whether is be the original, or the “UK Surf” version, “Wave of Mutilation” is one of my favorite songs.

What’s on your shuffle today?

23 Comments

  • dslifton

    “Army” – Ben Folds. Live version with full horn section from the new retrospective
    “Song Four” – Pete Droge. Was a big fan of Pete’s first two records. This is one of the better songs off the third.
    “Rockin’ Daddy” – Eddie Bond. Some classic Sun Records rockabilly.
    “Wrecking Ball” – Rowland Salley. Chris Isaak’s bass player put out a pretty good album of originals a few years ago. He’s not much of a singer but he’s a pretty good songwriter.
    “Take Good Care Of My Baby” – Badfinger. From the CD that accompanied their biography. A solid Pete Ham song that sounds kind of like early Bee Gees with a little more guitar crunch.

  • Mindy Milburn

    1. Video Killed the Radio Star – Pentatonix
    2. I Love You but I Don’t Know What to Say – Ryan Adams
    3. Miles to Go – Dave Barnes
    4. Drumming – Florence and the Machine
    5. Funhouse – Pink

  • Phil

    At the Drive-In – “Skips on the Record” (Acrobat Tenement, 1996)
    At the Drive-In. Love the attitude. Hate the out-of-tune guitars on their debut. And you can’t blame it on the usual culprit Omar Rodríguez-López since he was playing bass at the time.

    I Mother Earth – “Three Days Old” (Scenery and Fish, 1996)
    iTunes is at it again. This week it’s a another selection from I Mother Earth’s second release. This particular tune has too many thematic shifts for me to really get into. Your mileage may vary.

    Switchfoot – “Twenty-four” (The Best Yet, 2008)
    Switchfoot is one of those CCM bands that I really used to like (around the New Way to be Human era) but is becoming much harder to stomach of late since becoming so popular. I purchased this “best of” collection for my pre-teen son who began to listen to some of their songs a couple of years ago. “Twenty-four” comes from the fourth release The Beautiful Letdown, which was the last major release from the band that I purchased, and is the band’s typical radio-friendly ballad, not that that’s a bad thing. Had I known at the time that The Best Yet was the usual last-ditch effort to cash in on the band by the record company after Switchfoot ended contract relations with Columbia/Sony, I would have refused to buy it.

    King’s X – “Prisoner” (King’s X, 1992)
    One of my all-time favorite King’s X tunes from their often-overlooked—though at one point most popular and best-selling—self-titled fourth release. This was the last album on which the band would work with manager/producer Sam Taylor, citing the usual creative differences reason. Seeing as the band’s next release was the stripped-down, grunge-ish Dogman, and hindsight being what it is, it’s not hard to believe that now. King’s X retains that classic King’s X sound from the first three albums, but introduces a bit of a darker side, both sonically and lyrically. Guitarist Ty Tabor’s playing is excellent throughout the entire album as it is here on “Prisoner,” making the album worth checking out if for that reason alone.

    Toad the Wet Sprocket – “Scenes from a Vinyl Recliner” (Bread and Circus, 1989)
    I first heard this song on a live bootleg of a Glen Phillips solo concert, and I much prefer that stripped-down acoustic version to the one on the TTWS debut album. That being said, I love the song, and in typical Glen Phillips fashion, the lyrics and song title become deep and weighty as you dig into them, with the allusions to the “circus” portion of the album title (itself a phrase that has come to mean to placate the masses) and the hint of comfortably and safely watching the misfortunes of others from the outside. Deep.

    Hey, no Rush or Geoff Tate this time. I guess that’s something.

  • Anonymous

    1) Gary Bartz — “Among The Twelve Tone Row” (The Red And Orange Poems, 1995).
    2) Jeff Bridges — “I Don’t Know” (Crazy Heart soundtrack, 2010).
    3) Joe Lovano — “Web Of Fire” (Tenor Legacy, 1994).
    4) Beth Orton — “She Cries Your Name” (Trailer Park, 1996).
    5) Dixie Chicks — “Easy Silence” (Taking The Long Way, 2006).

  • Mike

    “Long Island Degrees”-De La Soul: Can we get a new album? Please?
    “Kate”-Ben Folds Five: Group singalong!
    “I Like It Like That”-Salt ‘n Pepa: Man, this stuff sounds SO dated now! Still fun to listen to, though.
    “She’s Like The Wind”-Patrick Swayze and Wendy Fraser: Wow. This is kind of embarrassing. Anyway, I remember Z-100 in NYC used to play a parody of this song called “She Passes Wind.” Awesome sauce.
    “Beautiful Life”-Jody Watley: Total soft spot for this lady. Anxiously anticipating her new album.

  • Pete

    1. Guy Clark – “Texas 1947” (from The Essential Guy Clark, 1997)

    2. Chet Baker & Gerry Mulligan – “Nights at the Turntable” (The Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker, 1996)

    3. Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers – “The Magnificent Seven” (The Sandinista Project, 2007)

    4. Phish – “Ocelot” (Live, 8-9-2010 in Telluride, CO)

    5. Galactic – “Do It Again” (Ya-Ka-May, 2010)

  • Ian Lozada

    “Exit”-U2, Having come to actually buy U2 albums fairly late, I can honestly say I’ve never sat down and listened to this one before.  It feels like something they cobbled together out of odds and ends, really.
    “Rise Again”–The Hard Ups.  My brother’s first band, this one was a live cut from a Meany Fest show.  This recording actually might be off a camcorder I was running, come to think of it.
    “Pride And Joy”, Stevie Ray Vaughan.  For years, this and Queen’s “Tie Your Mother Down” were my “songs I play in guitar stores so as not to embarrass myself.”  Eventually I replaced it with Love Struck Baby instead.
    “You’re Gonna Get It”, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings.  The meter says I haven’t played this one before. Sounds very early Motown.
    “Zero”, The Donnas. Another one I’ve not heard before.  I suspect there’s a lot of that on my iPod.  Like much of the Get Skintight album, it suffers from thin production.  It’s like they said, we’re done with playing good records (Spend the Night, Gold Medal), we’d rather sound crappy like we did on The Donnas Turn 21.  Let’s go back to the juvenile lyrics, too.

    • Michael Parr

      “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” “I’m Coming Out,” “Le Freak,” and “Finish What Ya Started” are my standard “songs I play in guitar stores so as not to embarrass myself.” 

  • Dennis Corrigan

    1. “Snatchin’ It Back (live)” by Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes from the Best of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.  Originally from a promo record recorded at the Bottom Line.  This is one of those songs of musical discovery – I heard it on here and went looking for the original recording by Clarence Carter.  Needless to say, I found a whole lot more there and now I love me some Clarence Carter.
    2. “Walking On The Spot” by Crowded House from Together Alone.  I criminally neglected to rip this underrated CD into my iTunes library until about a year ago.
    3. “Stand On It”by Bruce Springsteen from taken from Tracks.  Man, I must have bought every 45 from B.I.T.U.S.A. just for the B sides like this one from “Glory Days”
    4. “Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” by Traffic.  Originally from the album of the same name, this one from the Steve Winwood Millennium Collection.  See you in about 12 minutes
    5. “Leave My Woman Alone” by Ray Charles from The Birth of Soul box set.  And we’re back with a nugget from the Genius

    Hope you hear something great this weekend!

    • Michael Parr

      Don’t you hate it when 10+ minute tunes pop up in the Friday Five? That BT track is eight minutes and I almost hit the “next” button twice. You back in CT this weekend, Dennis? 

      • Dennis Corrigan

        I had a 25+ minute live version Dazed & Confused pop up once.  I didn’t skip it, but I didn’t stay in the room with it!  We’re in CT for a couple of days before heading off for the holiday in a couple of days.

  • Anonymous

    1. “So Sad To Waatch Good Love Go Bad” – The Everly Brothers – All-Time Original Hits
    2. “She Thinks I Still Care” – James Taylor – Live    (My iTunes must think it’s Oldies Night!)
    3. “South Of The Border” – Chris Isaak – Baja Sessions
    4. “Miss Love” – The Subdudes – Annunciation
    5. “Who Do You Love” – George Thorogood – The Baddest of george Thorogood & The Destroyers

  • EightE1

    Tom Petty, “Wildflowers.” Some days, I could just sink into this song.

    Uncle Tupelo, “Sauget Wind.” Uncle T.! Haven’t listened to them in forever. “It’s a long way to heaven and a short way to hell.” Hell yeah. A dark night of the soul, set to music.

    LL Cool J, “I Need Love.” Aw yeeeah.

    The Clash, “Police & Thieves.” A head-bobber, a consciousness-raising jam, just too cool.  Apparently, Junior Murvin (who wrote and first recorded the song) hated this version: “They have destroyed Jah work!”

    Dion, “Your Own Back Yard.” Mr. DiMucci testifies on the ravages of addiction, and Phil Spector gives him plenty of space to do so.  Born to Be with You is a masterpiece, in case you’re wondering.

  • Shari Schultz

    New York, New York Ryan Adams La Maroquinerie, Paris, France 6-03-07
    Jungleland Bruce Springsteen Milwaukee 10.02.75
    The Poet Ryan Bingham Junky Star Rock
    When You Call My Name Dawes Madison 2009-10-24
    To Meet You Teitur Poetry & Aeroplanes

  • Mike Duquette

    I did this week’s Five on a theme: in honor of that Slate piece on live albums (http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/11/best_live_albums_from_axl_to_zeppelin_.single.html), nothing but live tracks today! Thankfully I don’t own anything by Live, so it was easy enough to type the word into iTunes and get the results I wanted.

    1. Billy Joel, “Captain Jack” (Philadelphia 4/15/1972): from the famous Sigma Sound radio show for WMMR-FM, this version was the one that got heavy rotation in the Northeast and pushed Joel closer to his deal with Columbia. Just released officially on the Legacy Edition of “Piano Man,” and worth picking up for that bonus disc alone.

    2. Daryl Hall & John Oates, “Family Man” (Liberty Park, NJ 7/4/1985): a great bootleg that I have the just as great Addicted to Vinyl to thank for.

    3. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, “I’m on Fire” (Giants Stadium 8/19/1985): from the classic Live 1975-85 box – one of my favorite songs from Born in the U.S.A., though not terribly deviant from what you hear on the album.

    4. Ozzy Osbourne, “Mr. Crowley” (Blizzard of Ozz Tour, 1980): from the Legacy Edition of “Diary of a Madman.” Not a whole heck of a lot to say about this one, either.

    5. Sting, “We Work the Black Seam” (Paris 12/23/1985): this version from “Bring on the Night” is a half-step lower than the album version, and has a lot of neat little extras if you know that version inside and out: some extra lyrics, a bit more vocal urgency from Sting, and some typically gorgeous sax work from Branford Marsalis, who gets a good two or three hooks in on his horn.

  • Anne Van Lieshout Woods

    It’s been a while since I have posted on this….

    1.  The Bad Actress–Josh Ritter, album–Hello Starling
    2.  Same Old lines–Rod Thomas, album–Same Old Lines
    3.  No Surprises–Candy Butchers, this is a live version of the song and I know nothing about Candy Butchers.
    4.  17-Kings of Leon, album–Only By The Night
    5.  Riverside–Ollabelle, album–Riverside Battle Songs

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