• Indie

    Some People

    Heard this a while back on Elton John’s Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music. It quickly turned into a favorite of mine, and some friends too. Killer moment when the bass and drums kick in. Great, talented artist, this Parker Millsap.

  • Friday Five

    The Friday Five: October 21, 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:

    Beyond the Invisible” by Enigma (from Le Roi est Mort, Vive le Roi!, 1996)

    Much like the Gregorian Chant fad their first record inspired, I now look back at this and think, “what the hell were we all thinking?”

    Roy Rogers” by Elton John (from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)

    Not my favorite Elton tune, but I can dig it.

    True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper (from Now That’s What I Call the 80’s, Volume 2, 2009)

    Like nails on a chalk board. Don’t get me wrong, I love Cyndi Lauper, but this song just grates on my nerves.

    Normal Like You” by Everclear (from So Much for the Afterglow, 1997)

    iTunes clearly doesn’t like me very much this morning.

    Play Thang” by Jodeci (from Forever My Lady, 1991)

    I was hoping for some redemption, but clearly I just need to put this week’s Friday Five to bed and go back to listening to the brilliant new Julian Velard record.

    What’s on your shuffle today?

  • Friday Five

    The Friday Five: February 19, 2010

    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:

    “Another Day” by Dream Theater (from Images and Words, 1992)

    Oh Dream Theater, how your melodrama seems to haunt the Friday Five. You may recall that this tune reared its ugly head back in October, where I speculated on David Fosters’ involvement in the high gloss production of the power ballad. Upon further research, it turns out that it was producer Jay Beckenstein — of the Smooth Jazz/Fusion group Spyro Gyra — that supplied the soprano saxophone solo. This doesn’t change the fact that this tune is a sappy lump of crap on an otherwise quality record.

    “The Best of My Love” by The Eagles (from On the Border, 1974)

    I unapologetically will proclaim my love for this song, though. Penned by Henley, Frey and J.D. Souther, this holds some magical nostalgia for me as I can recall listening to this, followed by England Dan & John Ford Coley’s “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” and “She’s Gone” by Hall & Oates in the back seat of my mothers Pontiac.

    “Stuck With You” by Huey Lewis & The News (from Fore!, 1986)

    Come on, how can you resist?

    By the by, Huey and the boys recently spent some time in Ardent Studios in Memphis cutting a new record paying tribute to the Stax catalog.

    “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” by Black Sabbath (from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, 1973)

    I had nearly given up on this week’s shuffle providing some bite; enter my favorite Sabbath tune. I will admit that my introduction to the song came by way of Anthrax’s faithful cover on their I’m the Man EP. I had heard the tune before, both on Ozzy’s Speak of the Devil and a mix-tape a friend had made me with the original Sabbath version, but it was Anthrax’s take that sold me on the song originally. To this day, I’ll reach for this one when I want to bring the RAWK.

    “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” by Elton John (from The Greatest Hits 1970-2002, 2002)

    The Saturday nights of my youth were often spent glued to the radio, listening to the “All-request Saturday Night with Dr. John Barron.” This track would make its weekly appearance and signal the start of the more rock-oriented portion of the evening.

    What’s on your shuffle today?