Ickmusic’s Friday Five: February 22, 2008
First was Kevin, then came Lucy, third in line was me. And this Friday were mixing up some starfish & coffee, maple syrup and jam, some Butterscotch clouds a tangerine and a side order of ham so pull up a seat and join in the jam.
Previously on the ‘Friday Five’, LL was doin’ it (and doin’ it and doin’ it well), Alice brought the realness, Raekwon and his Clan-mates shared his love of 32 flavors, the Fab Four started a revolution and Miles gave us a lesson in love. If you’ve missed the ‘Friday Five’ to date its quite easy, I hit the shuffle button and share the first five tracks along with thoughts, quips and memories.
The rest is up to you; feel free to add your random five in the comments.
Here are this week’s tracks:
1. Herbaliser – A Little Groove (from If Ya Can’t Stand Da Beatz, Git Outta Da Kitchen)
Now there’s nothing like a little acid jazz groove to start the shuffle! I bought in on the whole Acid Jazz movement in the 90’s and I’ve got hours upon hours of Ninja Tune records to prove it. Out of the many faceless groups the UK duo of Ollie Teeba and Jake Wherry stand out for their hip-hop leanings and the fact that they are one of the only artists still around.
2. The Doobie Brothers – Without You (from Listen to the Music: The Very Best of the Doobie Brothers)
Not my favorite track, that honor would be reserved for the classic Michael McDonald vehicle “What a Fool Believes”, but this is a nice slice of rock n’ roll to get the juices flowing. Jeff “Skunk” Baxter is the star in this one serving up some tasty licks.
3. Madhouse – Two (from 8)
A slice of funk from His Royal Badness’ and his band of new power jazz cohorts is next on the skillet. While the fusion of jazz and funk never really caught on en masse, this record is a must for all Prince fans.
4. Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence (Live) (from Condemnation)
I’ve never had the chance to actually see Depeche Mode live and recordings like this make me regret that. There is something so very pure in David Gahan’s voice and while very synth driven the music still retains some fluidity and is clearly ‘live’.
5. Iron & Wine – Jesus the Mexican Boy (from The Sea and the Rhythm)
This track struck a chord as I look out the window at the snow falling. Something about Sam Beam’s music always equates itself back to weather. This is a nice coda to an interesting shuffle.
What’s cooking in your shuffle this afternoon?
5 Comments
whiteray
It’s midafternoon in the Midwest, and we get:
1. “Painted Smile” by the Moody Blues from “Long Distance Voyager” (1980). One of the lesser tracks on one of the Moodys lesser albums.
2. “Anything” by Kate Earl from “Fate Is The Hunter” (2005). Not sure where I got this; it’s plaintive confessional pop, from what I can tell.
3. “Katten” (“The Cat”) by Sebastian from “Ulvehøjen” (1977). Sebastian is one of Denmark’s cherised singer/songwriters. I recently got his 30-cd set of three box sets covering his career.
4. “Bumble Bee” by Big Mama Thornton from “Ball and Chain” (1968). A sassy blues from an elemenatl force of nature.
5. “Loving Arms” by Darden Smith from “Little Victories” (1993). If there were any justice in this world, Darden Smith would be more famous than, well, anyone else. As to this track, well, for the Texas Gal and me, it’s our song.
Thanks to ickmusic for asking and to all the others who share . . .
Pete
Here’s my limited iPhone playlist for this overcast, drizzly afternoon in the Arizona desert… Full iTunes version coming later….
1. Bruce Springsteen – “The E Street Shuffle” – E Street SHUFFLE?? Huh? Is this karma, kismet (or whatever you call it) or what? Opening track of Bruce’s excellent 1973 sophomore album, ‘The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle’.
2. The Clash – “Lover’s Rock” – I’ve had another ‘London Calling’ track, “Revolution Rock” streaming in my head all week, so it’s fitting that I get a LC track. Thank you, music gods.
3. Prince – “Cindy C.” – ah, ‘The Black Album’, feeding my horndog tendencies since the late 80’s. Prince’s ode to Cindy Crawford…”Your furry melting thing awaits me, and my six string”…
4. Marvin Gaye – “Right On” – from ‘What’s Going On’. It’s just smart and right not only to have this album, but to listen to it on a pretty frequent basis (especially in 2008, where PLENTY is not right with the world)…
5. The Rolling Stones – “Little T&A” – from ‘Tattoo You’. I’ll listen to Keef anywhere, any time.
Charlie
1. Cinderella – “Bad Seamstress Blues”.
2. Citizen Cope – “Brother Lee”
3. Earth Wind & Fire – “Brick House”
4. George Michael – “I Can’t Make You Love Me”
5. The Cure – “Friday, I’m In Love”
KathyB
1. “Are You Alright” – Lucinda Williams. Love her.
2. “Bring Back the Magic” – Jimmy Buffett. Yes, I am a proud Parrothead.
3. “She’s No Lady” – Lyle Lovett. I’ve played the Pontiac album so many times that I would have worn it out if it were on any medium other than compact disc. I put this song on an anti-wedding mix that I made in protest of an ex-friend’s then-upcoming nuptials (which were subsequently canceled, so it was probably prophetic).
4. “The Modern Man” – James Cloninger. This is probably something that nobody else has in their collection–he’s an online friend who writes musicals, and this is him singing one of the songs from one of his shows, “For Better or Worse.” It was one of the first songs I ever downloaded, back in 1999.
5. “The Greatest” – Cat Power.
Completely agree about Darden Smith.
Jim Russell
Well, I didn’t get to the Friday Shuffle until Tuesday (oh, wait, it’s after 12 — Wednesday), but better late than never.
Hey, whiteray, I wouldn’t call “Long Distance Voyager” a lesser Moody Blues LP. I’d put that one in my top three for that band. I do agree that “Painted Smile” isn’t the best on the album, though.
OK, what were my last five?
1. Curtis Mayfield / Think (from “Superfly”) — a beautiful instrumental track, starting out dominated by some pretty acoustic guitar, but you know sooner or later Curtis will bring in the horns.
2. Esteban Jordan y Pura Jalea / Squeeze box man (1978) — I have a hard time keeping track, but I must have picked this up from Soriano’s Crud Crud blog. Fantastic track — a psychedelic twelve-bar blues featuring a power trio of drums, electric bass and accordion. Think Cream’s “White Room” with a squeeze box instead of Clapton.
3. Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim / This happy madness (1967) — a great pairing. Jobim is brilliant, and Sinatra is, well, Sinatra.
4. Los Lobos / Las amarillas (1988, from “La Pistola y el Corazon”) — these guys always make me smile. I like them better en Espan~ol.
5. Axiom Funk / Under the influence (1995, from “Funkcronomicon”) — obscure P-Funk offshoot. This is one of the more laid-back funk tracks. I’m fairly sure George and Bootsy are both on this track.