Ickmusic’s Friday Five: June 13, 2008
Very often there is not much in the way of “Rock” in our “Indie Rock” but Saskatoon’s Junior Pantherz must have missed the memo. Pete beat me to the punch in posting a review of their latest record Rejoice, Remain but in the spirit of one-upping the boss man, I’ve invited the crew to log our first Special Guest Friday Five. Much to my pleasure the band accepted and drummer Arnold Van Lambalgen II turned in the following saying “he had fun doing it”.
For the uninitiated, the rules of the Friday Five are quite simple; first rule is you do not talk about fight… I mean, be honest! Open up whatever provides you with tunes and hit the shuffle button and let the music take you where it will and if you feel so inclined share the results with the rest of the musical voyeurs in the comments section.
Here are this week’s tracks:
1. My Morning Jacket – Sec Walkin (from Evil Urges)
“A song from their brand new album. Catchy as hell. Such a simple – yet powerful – song. It’s one of those tracks you put in on a Friday after a long work week.”
2. Sloan – Believe in Me (from Parallel Play)
“Canada’s best Indie Pop/Rockers have just released their 9th album…..and if the track above is any indication, I know we’ll see at least 9 more. I like them so much in fact; we named our band after one of their songs. They haven’t even sued us for defamation of character…….yet!”
3. The Mongrels – The Answer (from Oshawa)
“A band that you, your parents and your guitar teacher will all love. Equal part rock and soul, with TWO drummers! Can’t have too many drummers….”
4. Sly & The Family Stone – I Want to Take You Higher (from Stand!)
“No introduction needed. No explanation needed. A necessity. You dig?!”
5. Swervedriver – Duel (from Mezcal Head)
“They’ve just kicked off their reunion with a stop at Coachella. By the time you read this, I’ll be (safely) landed in Toronto ready to play a Junior Pantherz showcase and gearing up to see THE Swervedriver shortly after. I can hardly contain myself.”
I want to thank Arnie for playing along and Jesse at Killbeat Music for making this happen.
If you haven’t already, check out Junior Pantherz record Rejoice, Remain: Amazon | iTunes
Now what’s getting your weeking moving in the right direction?
10 Comments
Owen Brown
1. The Vines – Country Yard
Love the dreamy melodies. Wow. I just said dreamy…
2. Steve Earle – You’re Still Standing There
Great duet with Lucinda Williams. Growing up in my hometown of Nashville, Tennessee it was not too uncommon to see folks wearing “Steve Earle for Mayor” t-shirts. Great lyrics “I’ve spent my life following things I cannot see. And just when I catch up to them, they slip away from me” bear repeating.
3. Third Eye Blind – God of Wine
I watched a concert of theirs on Mark Cuban’s HD Net (They run great concerts most of the day on Sunday) and everyone in the audience knew every word to every song. It was freaky. Cool but freaky.
Slightly Less Than Useless Trivia: Stephan Jenkins (lead singer) graduated valedictorian, Berkley, Class of 1987.
4. Three Doors Down – Here Without You
So, at this point I think my iPod is telling me that my musical tastes aren’t quite as ecclectic as I thought…
5. Nickelback – Fight for All the Wrong Reasons
Confirmed.
jazzmaster
1. Prince – “Fury” – as performed on SNL. Good Lord! Why didn’t he record it like this?! That is just some bad ass guitar playing. I remember watching this with some friends (non-fans), and they were all like “Daaayuuuuum!”
2. Jeff Beck – “So What” (from ‘Jeff’) – Oh, Hell Yeah! It must be ‘Guitar God Friday’. 🙂 No one can combine distorted, powerful blues licks with techno beats like JB.
3. The Greenhornes – “Three Faint Calls” (from ‘Dual Mono’) – Brit pop at its best. The album isn’t that old, but has an old familiar quality. I got turned on to The Greenhornes because Holly Golightly (who sang with Jack White on “It’s True That We Love One Another”).
4. Allison Krauss – “This Time the Dream’s On Me” (from “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” soundtrack) – Wow. What a shift… But how beautiful. Allison has THE most angelic voice I’ve ever heard. Gorgeous. It’s nice to hear her do something jazzy for a change.
5. Brad Paisley – “Make a Mistake with Me (Instrumental)” (from “Mud on the Tires”) – OK… So ‘occassionally’ I swing the country way. However, this guy can tear up a guitar, too… And he has a damn good band.
ljhord
1. “Space Captain” by Joe Cocker from “Mad Dogs and Englishmen”, 1970.
2. “People Get Ready” by Eva Cassidy from “Songbird, 1998.
3. “Meet Me In The Bottom” by Canned Heat & John Lee Hooker from “Hooker ‘n’ Heat”, 1971.
4. “Jolene” by Ray LaMontagne from “Trouble”, 2004.
5. “Watching The River Flow” by Bob Dylan from “Greatest Hits, Volume 2”, 1971.
Skittles
Here’s my Friday Five on this lovely Friday the 13th:
1. “Magic Man” by Heart from These Dreams: Heart’s Greatest Hits. When I was a kid, I used to play my dad’s vinyl of “Dreamboat Annie” all the time. And there was a skip in this song that I still expect to hear, even when listening to my digital and/or cd versions. Great track from the Wilson sisters…one of my favorites.
2. “Undone (The Sweater Song)” by Weezer from Weezer (blue). This song screams high school to me. I think this was one of the first CDs I bought with money from my first job. Oh, the memories.
3. “Train in Vain” by Annie Lennox from Medusa. Annie’s lovely cover of The Clash’s fantastic song. One of the highlights of the disc, which is one of the best cover albums ever done, if you ask me.
4. “45” by Elvis Costello from When I Was Cruel. So, I saw Elvis live when he was touring with this album and his opening act was Billy Bob Thornton. Yes, that Billy Bob Thornton. At the time, he was still with Angelina Jolie and thought he was a rock star. His performance was the most excruciating 45 minutes of my life. Okay, maybe not the MOST excruciating, but definitely one of the worst opening acts I’ve ever witnessed. The mic stand had more stage presence. If Elvis had anything to do with selecting BB as the opener, it was brilliant…the crowd was extremely excited when BB left the stage and Elvis came on.
5. “Caramel” by Suzanne Vega from Nine Objects of Desire. This might be my favorite album of hers, and this song is one of the best.
whiteray
1. “You Got Some Inspiration” by Boz Scaggs from “Middle Man,” 1980. A believer for the most part in all things Boz, I have to admit that “Middle Man” wasn’t quite as good as I hoped at the time. It’s aged nicely, though.
2. “Helplessly Hoping” by Crosby, Stills & Nash from “Crosby, Stills & Nash,” 1969. One of the first songs I learned to play on the Alvarez guitar I got for my high school graduation in 1971. I still have the guitar. I still have the songbook. I still have the vinyl.
3. “Bright Suburban Mr. & Mrs. Clean Machine” by Country Joe & the Fish from “Together,” 1968. Satire? Novelty? Nostalgic irony? I dunno, but it never did work all that well.
4. “Woman, You Don’t Have To Be So Cold” by Little Milton from “Waiting For Little Milton,” 1973. She may be cold, but that’s okay, cuz Little Milton cooks!
5. “Kissing In A Tree” by Grace Potter from “Original Soul,” 2004. Speaking of cooking . . . Probably my favorite current artist. Man, can she sing!
KathyB
1. “Sweaters” by Beth Waters from “Beth Waters.” I’m pretty sure this was an iTunes single of the week once, but I really liked it because I rated it five stars (and Beth Waters always seems to be on my iTunes recommendations even though I’ve never purchased anything else from her).
2. “The Lighthouse’s Tale” by Nickel Creek from “Nickel Creek.” Love this song.
3. “Bye Bye Butterfly” by Chris Pierce from “Static Trampoline.” Wish I could say something about this song, but I’d have to listen to it to see if I recognize it.
4. “Anymore” by Matthew Ryan from “Dissent from the Living Room.” Ditto–except I have some idea what it sounds like, because I’m familiar with Matthew Ryan.
5. “Moon Over the Freeway” by The Ditty Bops from “Moon Over the Freeway,” either 2006 or 2007. I have the CD; I should just look up the date. It’s weird the kinds of things I remember and the things I don’t–I remember I bought the CD at Borders because I had a 40% off coupon, but I can’t remember what year. I only put this song in my iTunes a couple of months ago, though.
Gonzo
1. Kylie Minogue – “Cruise Control” A friend of mine got me into her recent albums. This song is an ok offering from Body Language.
2. Prince – “Lemon Crush” Is it bad? Good? Sometimes I can’t tell. I like the groove, the vox on the chorus are kind of lame. But I’ve always loved “If I’m workin’ / At my job-a / I’m a victim / You’re the robba”. The Batman album was also the first Prince LP that I owned.
3. The Roots – “Quills” from the solid Phrenology album, and has a nice sample/quotation from Swing Out Sister’s “Breakout”
4. Public Enemy – “Revolutionary Generation” – from Fear of Black Planet, the last truly great PE album.
5. Madona – “Pretender” – One of my lesser favorites from Like a Virgin, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Chuck
Here’s my Friday “The 13th”Five.
1. Doyle Bramhall II – Salt Shaker – From Doyle Bramhall II & Smokestack
2. Down – The Ghosts Of Mississippi – From Down II A Bustle In Your Hedgerow
3. Prince – Witness 4 The Prosecution
4. Stevie Ray Vaughan – Tightrope
5. The Dreaming – Beautiful
Jim Russell
Chuck: Doyle Bramhall II rocks — I just saw him play with Clapton’s band two weeks ago.
Jeez, look at this — I’m just barely making my Monday deadline for the Friday Five.
1. Les Baxter / Elephant trail (1959, from “African Jazz”) — Baxter lives in this bizarre musical space somewhere between Easy Listening and Trad Jazz that is somehow irresistible to me.
2. Nirvana / Oh me (1994, from “MTV Unplugged in New York”) — The Unplugged show was such an eye-opener back then, and acoustic Cobain still gets me.
3. Van Morrison / Almost Independence Day (1972, from “St. Dominic’s Preview”) — I know sometimes musicians come up with the same ideas independently, but it’s hard to believe that Pink Floyd never heard this song before recording “Wish you were here”. Listen to them back-to-back someday.
4. Jackie Lomax / Is this what you want (1969, from “Is This What You Want”) — The tough thing about recording for Apple Records in 1969 was that you were always compared to the Beatles. Of course, you shouldn’t make it worse for yourself by rewriting “I am the walrus” and passing it off as your own song.
5. Jethro Tull / Thick as a brick (side 2) (1972, from “Thick as a Brick”) — Back in the old vinyl days, you couldn’t make an album-long song even if you wanted to, because you had to flip the record over. It was nice to get Side 2 shuffled up, because this half *never* gets airplay, edited or not. (And, yes, New York radio stations will still occasionally play a good hunk of Side 1.)