• Friday Five

    The Friday Five: March 27, 2009

    To Our Members, We're the Fourth Emergency Shuffle.

    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:

    “Contact” by Phish (from Junta)

    It’s samba time! I love this side of Phish, the kitschy lyrics and overt melodies (“Hula Hana of Kamana Whala Hula Bay” is clearly quoted during one of Page‘s solos) and a funky twist in the middle and the sing a long. Hopefully you all got in on the free offer of the first three nights of their reunion tour!

    TV Mama” (mp3) by Shuggie Otis (from In Session: Great Rhythm & Blues)

    Ickmusic favorite Shuggie Otis delivers a solid 12 bar blues with some tasty slide work.

    “Better Than Heaven” by Bloc Party (from Intimacy)

    This record never really connected with me. There are a couple of really good songs (this being one of them) but most of the tracks seem very disjointed and cold. The exceptions really being this track and “Biko”.

    Baby’s Coming Back” (mp3) by Jellyfish (from Bellybutton)

    … Excuse me, time to do the Peanuts dance, care to join me?

    Rainy April Day” (mp3) by Fury in the Slaughterhouse (from The Hearing and the Sense of Balance)

    This track is a sober condemnation of Kurt Cobain‘s suicide. It’s not a great selection to close out an otherwise upbeat Friday Five, but you can’t end them all with rainbows, unicorns and trombones!

    What’s shuffling you down to the weekend?

  • Friday Five

    The Friday Five: February 6, 2009

    I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old shuffle for dinner.

    52 Weeks, 261 Songs and a full year later ‘The Friday Five’ is officially a year old. It has been consistently one of our most popular features and for that I want to thank the folks that take the time every week to play along. The coming weeks will bring a slight facelift to the five as well as a few guest spots. This week we’ve got a short but sweet list…

    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:

    Rich Girl” (mp3) – Hall & Oates (from Greatest Hits: Rock ‘n Soul, Part 1)

    Hall & Oates never fails to bring a smile to my face.

    “1999” – Prince (from Purple Storm in the Coachella Valley)

    Live from Prince‘s headline set at last years Coachella festival.

    The Brainsong” (mp3) – Fury in the Slaughterhouse (from Mono)

    I never really understood why Fury in the Slaughterhouse wasn’t huge in the states. Has anyone else ever heard of this band, or am I the only one?

    “Footprints” – A Tribe Called Quest (from People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm)

    Kicking off with a sample of the Stevie Wonder‘s “Sir Duke” this is real hip-hop. Q-Tip is in perfect form spitting a wicked rhyme as only he can over the bouncy funk track.

    “Losing a Whole Year” – Third Eye Blind (from Third Eye Blind)

    I’ve found out that there is a new genre definition for all the alternative bands of the mid-90’s that we all love (or love to hate), it’s called Post-Grunge

    Tag! You’re it!