• Friday Five

    The Friday Five: March 4, 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:

    “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel (from Turnstiles, 1976)

    I was going to wax poetic about Billy, but I just read this brilliant review of his upcoming Last Play at Shea and would rather you take the moment to go read Jeff Giles’ thoughts. It’s okay, I’ll wait.

    Okay, you’re back? On with the five!

    “Push” by Matchbox Twenty (from Yourself or Someone Like You, 1996)

    You know what? I still kind of like this tune.

    “Real Vacation” by Caleb Hawley (from Steps, 2009)

    No truer words have been spoken.

    So, for those of you that partake in the American Idol, you might recognize the name Caleb Hawley. He managed to make it all the way to the Las Vegas stage, before being given his walking papers. It’s a damn shame, really. Rather than wallow, get over to iTunes or Amazon and pick up Steps, and his latest We’ve All Got Problems, and celebrate a great singer/songwriter.

    “Cold Truth” by  The Guggenheim Grotto (from …Waltzing Alone, 2006)

    “Hey Maria, I’ve been thinking, been thinking bout moving … far away, cross the sea, maybe, somewhere cold and magnificent.” From Caleb to the duo that introduced me to him! Over the course of the last year I’ve had the pleasure of seeing The Guggenheim Grotto perform five or six times, and this song specifically at least three or four times. Like most tunes by the duo, it is beautifully simple, with soaring vocal harmonies.

    “Down By the Water” by The Decemberists (from The King Is Dead, 2011)

    Until hearing The Damnwells’ No One Listens to the Band Anymore I was pretty certain that I was going to crown The King Is Dead my favorite record of the first quarter of 2011. The funny thing is, I wouldn’t categorize myself as a fan of the band. I listened to Hazards of Love a few times, and while I liked what I heard, nothing stuck. Flash forward to the band’s latest, which managed to grab me by the ears with its none too subtle nod to a certain little band from Athens, GA. If you haven’t given this a listen for fear of shanty songs and prog-rock leanings, fear not! This is one of the best records of 2011.

    What’s on your shuffle today?