Ickmusic’s Friday Five: September 12, 2008
Ah Friday it’s time to relax and you know what that means a glass of wine, your favorite easy chair and of course the Friday Five shuffling on your home stereo. So go on indulge yourself, that’s right, kick off your shoes, put your feet up, lean back and just enjoy the melodies. After all, music soothes even the savage beast….
Last week’s Five (and ½) brought back the straight shuffle with turns from every genre and era. 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. Billy Joel – Matter of Trust (from The Bridge)
I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but this is hands down my favorite Billy Joel tune. It brings me back to being a young man and living for the radio on Saturday afternoons. I realize looking back at the last few weeks that Mr. Joel popped up last week as well. We’ll have to see next week if he can take the Shuffle Triple Crown.
2. City and Colour – The Death of Me (from Bring Me Your Love)
I just picked this up from emusic last week and have not had a chance to give it a proper listen. I was a huge fan of Dallas Green‘s first record Sometimes. For those not familiar City and Colour is the mostly acoustic and decidedly singer-songwriter slanted side project of Canadian post-hardcore band Alexisonfire‘s singer/guitarist Dallas Green (the name comes from his own name as he felt uneasy “putting the album out under the name Dallas Green”).
3. Joey Scarbury – Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not) (from America’s Greatest Hero)
I wish I could say that I dislike this song. I don’t and I suspect that many of you dig it too.
4. John Williams – The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme) (from Star Wars Trilogy: Anthology)
Performed majestically by the London Symphony Orchestra this is easily one of the most instantly recognizable sections of movie score ever. My sci-fi geek roots are certainly showing today!
5. Jshua – Forever (from The Rose Line)
Occasionally I get the opportunity to listen to music well before its release date, and this is one of those cases. Multi-Instrumentalist Jshua blends Soul, Funk, Beatlesesque progressions and a certain sense of grandeur usually reserved for compositions by a certain diminutive fan of purple. I truly cannot wait to share this one with the rest of the world.
May the Shuffle be with you…
12 Comments
Thierry
“Matter of Trust” is my favourite Billy Joel song as well! I think it has to do with the video – I remember REALLY loving it as a child and watching it religiously every time it came on. I don’t know why, but there was just something cool about it.
Michael
Oh Yeah! The video definitely had a bit to do with it. I did not have MTV in those years but I had an aunt that would record 6 hours at a clip and sent the tapes over and I remember this one specifically.
Off to YouTube!
Oz
Greatest American Hero. That was incredible.
Kelly
1. “See You ‘Round Like a Record” by Little Nell from Fever. A friend of mine put this on a mix she made me for my 30th birthday a few months ago. It was stuck in my head for weeks. Random fact about Little Nell – she was on the 1972 Australian Olympic swim team. From Olympic swimmer to vamping it up as Columbia. Quite the career, I say.
2. “Truth is You Lied” by Jill Sobule from Grace of My Heart Soundtrack. This is one of my favorite movies and you should watch it right now if you’ve never seen it. Jill appears at the beginning of the film, singing this sweet little ditty.
3.”The Same Mistake” by Jon Brion from Meaningless. I love this album so much and I’m really happy that I bought it when it first came out. This isn’t one of my favorite tracks, but it’s still damn good.
4. “Lady Ice” by Arcadia from So Red the Rose. I wasn’t into Arcadia as much as Duran Duran (okay…I don’t even remember hearing anything from them, outside of maybe one song, back in the day). I love them now, and that’s what matters, right?
5. “Ballad to an Amber Lady” by Marissa Nadler from Ballads of Living and Dying. This song screams fall to me. Actually, all of Marissa’s stuff makes me want to curl up in front of a fire with a cup of hot cider and a good book. Cozy music, that’s what this is.
Owen
1. Wilco – Handshake Drugs (from A Ghost is Born)
2. Matthew Ryan – The Dead Girl (from May Day) “I won’t be going easily. I won’t be going lightly. I won’t be going peacefully. I won’t be going cleanly.”
3. Hasss Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard – Figurines (from Gladiator Soundtrack) Juba to his dead friend Maximus “I will see you again… but not yet. Not yet!”
4. Third Eye Blind – Wounded (from Blue)
5. Matthew Sweet – Byrdgirl (from Sunshine Lies)
Gonzo
1. The Clash – The Right Profile
Can never go wrong with London Calling!
2. Felix da Housecat – “Madame Hollywood” – I got this for free in college, but I don’t think I’ve listened to the cd more than twice. Maybe I should give it a go.
3. Megadeth – “Lucretia” from the Rust in Peace album. I don’t revisit my metal days often, but when I do, this album is definitely near the top of my list.
4. Aesop Rock – “No City” Not much to say, but a good track from a great contemporary MC.
5. Suicidal Tendencies – “Suicidal Failure” – another album I have on my Zune but never listen to when I running. Maybe I should clean those out of the damn thing.
whiteray
Late Friday afternoon, and I’m hearing:
1. “Rhythm of the Rain” by the Cascades, Valiant 6026, 1963. A lilting oldie, one that I only remember from oldies radio. Sweet pre-Beatles pop.
2. “Ooh! My Soul” by Little Richard, Specialty 633, 1957. If this doesn’t wake you up, better take your pulse, see if you’re already dead.
3. “Turn On A Friend (To The Good Life)” by the Peanut Butter Conspiracy from “The Great Conspiracy,” 1968. Psychedelic pop from a band with one of the silliest names ever.” Fun, though.
4. “Days Go By” by J.J. Cale from “Guitar Man,” 1996. Laid-back and bluesy tune about laying back and altering one’s mind with light pharmaceuticals.
5. “29 Ways” by Marc Cohn from “Mark Cohn,” 1991. Modern-day street corner sounds.
Have good weekends, all!
shqippy
Pandora.com has been playing “A Matter of Trust” on my Prince station lately.
Anne
Greatest American Hero always makes me think of 40 year old Virgin now. What a great song and a great movie!
1. “Closer” by Jars of Clay from Closer-EP, 2008. I like these guys. Christian rock that is not boring or annoying.
2. “Fascination” by Alphabeat, 2008.
3.”See You” by Foo Fighters from The Colour and The Shape, 1997. This is not the first time FFs have come up in a Friday shuffle and considering how much I have of them, it won’t be the last.
4. “Song for the Fireflies” by Josh Ritter from Golden Age of Radio, 2001. I don’t tend to listen to this album as much but it is still excellent.
5. “3 x 5” by John Mayer from Room for Squares, 2001.
Michael
I kid you not, I did a search for some video of the old show and it turns out that they are actually remaking the show into a movie.
http://www.movieweb.com/news/40/31140.php
I wonder if anyone tapped Joey to do an updated version? Maybe have T-Pain do a guest vocal?
KathyB
I also have “The Greatest American Hero” in my iTunes. I loved that show. I didn’t put the song in my iTunes until it appeared on an episode of “Gilmore Girls” when Lane’s band had to perform the song for a gig. But “The Greatest American Hero” was one of my favorite shows when it was on, so I’ve got a fondness for anything related to that show.
1. “A Kiss to Build a Dream On” by Louis Armstrong, from the “Sleepless in Seattle” soundtrack. I’ve never seen the movie. I should probably retag this with the album it originally appeared on, but it’s so hard to tell with older recordings.
2. A snippet of dialogue from a 1972 performance of “Follies” with the original Broadway cast. Actually, more like an entire scene from somewhere in the middle of the show.
3. “Ballad of the Runaway Horse” by Rob Wasserman with Jennifer Warnes, from Wasserman’s “Duets” (1987?) I believe this album is out of print. Pity. It’s got some amazing stuff on it, including Aaron Neville’s sublime “Stardust” (also available on the “Rain Man” soundtrack), Rickie Lee Jones’s lullaby “The Moon Is Made of Gold,” and Lou Reed combining with Wasserman on an almost unrecognizable version of “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road).”
4. “Oxycontin Blues” by Steve Earle, live at Austin City Limits, 2007.
5. “Sitra Achra” by Juez, from “Shemspeed Alt Schule” (2004) The album cover describes it as “Breakbeat klezmer jazz,” which I guess is an accurate description.
whiteray
Hi, KathyB:
From what I’ve been able to tell, “A Kiss To Build A Dream On” was first released on a 45 as Decca single 9-27720, recorded in New York City on July 24, 1951. Hope that helps.