The Friday Five: September 23, 2011
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:
“Snaggletooth” by Motörhead (from No Remorse, 2001)
It’s too damn early for Lemmy. Thankfully, Motörhead tunes tend to be on the short side.
“Before You Were Born” by Toad the Wet Sprocket (from 1992-09-16: Fox Theater, Boulder, CO, USA, 1992)
This is from an excellent soundboard recording of an equally quality performance by Toad. Save for, of course, when Glen flubs the second line.
“Mighty Mighty” by Earth, Wind & Fire (from The Eternal Dance, 1992)
I’ve been listening to a lot of Earth, Wind & Fire lately.
“I Believe” by Chicago (from Chicago 18, 1986)
I spent the entire song waiting for a key change that didn’t happen.
“Traffic” by Ned’s Atomic Dustbin (from Brainbloodvolume, 1995)
Brainbloodvolume is a criminally overlooked record.
What’s on your shuffle today?
The Friday Five: March 5, 2010
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:
Editor’s Note: This week’s Friday Five comes courtesy of the iPod and was listened to in-between taking conference calls. The awesome side-effect was I went into each meeting with a smile as there wasn’t a stinker in the bunch.
“Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money (from Can’t Hold Back, 1986)
“Take Me With U” (feat. Apollonia) by Prince & The Revolution (from Purple Rain, 1984)
“Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins (from Chinese Wall, 1984)
“Suedehead” by Morrissey (from Viva Hate, 1988)
“The Authority Song” by Jimmy Eat World (from Bleed American, 2001)What’s on your shuffle today?
Editor’s Note, Part Deux: Thanks to Jason Hare for the on the fly proofreading. When you are done with the five, make sure you get your a** over to Popdose for this month’s episode of The Popdose Podcast which is all about a**holes!
The Friday Five: June 19, 2009
Friday Five : ˈfrī-(ˌ)dā,-dē ˈfīv : On the sixth day of every week I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have 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.
Editor’s Note: I’m happy to turn the reins over to Alan Wilkis for this week’s Friday Five. You can find my review of his stellar latest release Pink and Purple here. See you all back here next week… – Michael
The Five:
Did the iPhone shuffle today for a little Friday 5, and was quite pleased with the selection! It could have been scary, folks… like Norwegian Death Metal, followed by Japanese Noise, followed by Yanni (hey, you never know)… So, thank you SHUFFLE-GODS! – Alan
“In the Stone” (mp3) – Earth, Wind, and Fire
I LOVE EWF, and I especially love this song. The musicianship, production, songwriting, performances are all superb, as is the norm for them. I love how you can hear that the percussion + clavés were recorded in a big room, differently from the rest of the band – it creates such a cool sense of space in such a subtle way… I also love how on the verses, the bass and kick drum lock in so tightly and play something slightly differently every two bars – really keeps things interesting, but in a subtle way…“Journey to Reedham (7AM Mix)” – Squarepusher
I have a distinct memory of the first time I heard this song in college, and it was one of those rare instances of complete and utter musical jaw-dropping. It’s just total ear-candy, so fun to listen to LOUD and/or on headphones especially, drum-programming bliss and a great intro to the insane genius of Squarepusher… The melody and bassline are so simple and so repetitive, but beautiful, and somehow mesh perfectly with the frenetic, totally unpredictable, and awesome drum-programming – I really was floored the first time, and was once again, today.“Apeman” – The Kinks
The Kinks are just the best… I only discovered this song recently but it puts a gigantic smile on my face – instantly memorable, lyrics are hilarious & dripping w/Ray Davies’ characteristic wit… Has that “fed up with the world, I’m getting outta here” vibe – the perfect soundtrack to giving the finger to everyone as you quit your shitty job, Half-Baked style…“La Polka Du Roi” (mp3) – André Popp
André Popp is unreal… If you haven’t dug into him, get familiar! This man was a total crazy genius French composer, classically-trained but w/a real taste for modern tape experiments / studio tricks… He would invent really avant-garde/extremely forward-thinking methods, but he wouldn’t use them in cheesy pretentious ways – no “technique for the sake of technique” a la many others… Rather his music would still come out very listenable and accessible, and fun as all hell.On this song, he had the vocalist sing and record her part – he then played the recording of her voice in reverse and transcribed what the syllables sounded like in reverse. Then he had his singer learn the reverse-melody and reverse-lyrics, and record her singing that… And then played the new reverse recording in reverse, AGAIN! The lyrics wind up being a very peculiar-sounding, but still totally intelligible (if you speak French!)… He did this with a lot of his instruments as well… So weird and so ahead of his time… AND MIND YOU THIS IS LIKE DECADES BEFORE COMPUTERS… I’m talking razor-blade slicing two-inch tape for every little edit… And actually hearing the idea in his head and figuring out how to do it, rather than clicking a button on a laptop…
Also, coincidentally, David Lynch borrowed this technique for all the dream sequences in Twin Peaks… Wonder if he was a fan?
“High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In“ – Tortoise
Tortoise is hands down among my favorite bands in current existence, and are definitely SOMEWHERE on the all-time short-list for me, too… I like to describe Tortoise as the soundtrack to my imagination… I honestly feel like I’m dreaming when I listen to them – so many styles/sounds/genres/decades of music all mushed together seamlessly…This is the first track on their upcoming new record, and I’ve been waiting for this damn thing for YEARS!!!!! So there was quite a lot of anticipation for me, as you could imagine… And lo and behold, I hit play, and THEY DELIVERED… AS USUAL… All the trappings of what I love about Tortoise all boiled down into one awesome tune… Awesome SOUNDS, repetitive but very grooving feel, puts you in a trance and then keeps taking you up and up…
So, yeah, I love Tortoise…
What’s up next on your shuffle?
The Friday Five: March 20, 2009
For those who have not joined in the Friday Five here is all you need to know; each Friday I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have 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 more the merrier!
The Five:
“Golden Age” by TV on the Radio (from Dear Science)
I listened to this record quite a bit when it came out and the following month or so but can’t say that it’s gotten much play in 2009. I’ll have to remedy that this weekend.
“Turn on, Tune in, Find Joy” (mp3) by Freak Power (from The Rebirth of Cool 3)
This represents another random selection from my vast collection of mid to late 90’s trip-hop and abstract acid jazz. Freak Power was a collaboration between Norman Cook (better known as Fatboy Slim) and Ashley Slater.
“In Between Days” (mp3) by The Cure (from Staring at the Sea: The Singles)
It always struck me as odd how easily Robert Smith could whip out a sprightly and joyful pop tune. This ranks among my favorites.
“All About Love” (mp3) by Earth, Wind & Fire (from That’s the Way of the World)
I had a “Quiet Storm” listening marathon earlier this week and forgot all about this tune. Complete with the “Lemme take a minute and talk at you” break this is soulful music meant for making sweet love to your lady (or man, have mercy). This is baby-making music at its finest, dig it.
“Animal” by Def Leppard (from Vault: Greatest Hits 1980-1995)
Seriously, the lyrics to this tune make no damned sense.
What is bringing it home for you this weekend?
Ickmusic’s Friday Five: October 17, 2008
The days are getting noticeably shorter and the foliage here in New England has sprung to life with its blazing colors as autumn kicks into full gear. Creating a soundtrack to excursions around the area usually involves hours of scouring through the collection looking for the perfect tunes to provide a backdrop to the visuals. This also means I’m ready to take a break and let the shuffle drive.
Last week the shuffle racked up some great commentary from the usual crowd and a new face or two. 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 a bit of insight for each track.
Then it’s your turn! Just share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments and see what your fellow readers are listening to as well.
Here are this week’s tracks:
1. Tesla – Love Song (mp3) (from Time’s Makin’ Changes: The Best of Tesla)
This one showed up on last week’s Chartburn over at Popdose where it was promptly skewered. And while I may agree with some of the commentary (specifically the theory about the bands tour bus) I have to say that in it’s time this song f*cking ruled. I still to this day play the intro bit anytime I get my hands on a 12-string guitar.
2. Hammers of Misfortune – The August Engine Part 1 (from The August Engine)
The Hammers of Misfortune are one of two current generation heavy metal bands that I actually enjoy (the other being The Lord Weird Slough Feg, which shares a lead singer with the Hammers) and can listen to for more than a few minutes. Smart and straight forward and heavy as hell if you are a fan of classic heavy metal (Sabbath, Early Maiden, Judas Priest) I highly recommend checking out these two groups.
3. Earth, Wind & Fire – Wait (from I Am)
Who can resist a swinging ballad in 6/8 time? Seriously, this is by the numbers awesomeness. Huge 70’s brass section, vocal harmonies for days and a sickly sweet sentiment makes this a classic.
4. Foo Fighters – My Hero (from The Colour and the Shape)
Credit: WFMU’s Beware of the BlogWait, you mean to tell me that this song isn’t’ about presidential hopeful John McCain? Dave Grohl is my hero.
5. Band of Horses – Ode to the LRC (mp3) (from 2007-09-06: KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic)
From the audio associated with the video that Pete shared a couple of weeks back. It astounds me how perfectly they pull off the dynamic of the original track from my top record of 2007, Cease to Begin. I have to echo Pete’s gushing man-love for this band.
So what has got you shuffling towards the weekend?