The Friday Five: January 28, 2011
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:
It’s been one of those days, here’s what just shuffled up:
“White Summer / Black Mountain Side” by Led Zeppelin (from Boxed Set, 1990)
“Taking It Away” by The Jesus and Mary Chain (from Hate Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1995)
“Who Will Survive in America” by Kanye West (from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010)
“The Stars Are Underground” by The Frames (from Dance the Devil, 1999)
“P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” by Michael Jackson (from Thriller 25, 2008)
What’s on your shuffle today?
7 Comments
grayflannelsuit
1. “Another Life”, Iron Maiden – probably my favorite song off the awesome Killers album. The dual guitar attack of Smith and Murray is at its peak here.
2. “Hey Girl”, Small Faces – a damn fine slice of mid-’60s British rock.
3. “Stella By Starlight”, Booker Ervin – A truly underrated saxophonist. This is from one of his excellent “Book” series for Prestige in the ’60s.
4. “Save a Prayer”, Duran Duran – One of the better examples of how much Duran Duran learned from Japan’s albums.
5. “Stinkfist”, Tool – Never been a huge Tool fan but this is a good one. Tool does the sinister, dark boiling thing very well.
Mike
Who will survive in America? Who will survive in America? Who will survive in America? Fucking LOVE that song.
My Five:
1) “Funky Piano” by EPMD (from “Business As Usual”, 1990)- It’s amazing how some old-school rap sounds so great despite some glaring deficiencies on the part of the emcees. Erick Sermon had a speech impediment and he was still dope! This song is, in fact, quite funky…but there’s very little piano on it.
2) “Light Up My Room” by Barenaked Ladies (from “Stunt”, 1998)- Ed & Steven’s harmonizing here is spine-tingling. Love this song.
3) “Oh God” by Jamie Cullum (from “Catching Tales”, 2005)- This is the worst of his three major-label albums, but there’s still some good stuff on here. I’ve always liked this guy, but seeing him in concert greatly increased my respect for him. This guy’s a showman.
4) “Scared of Lonely” by Beyonce (from “I Am…Sasha Fierce”, 2008)- I thought most of “I Am” sucked. Seeing “Single Ladies” win a Grammy as Song of the Year was the most insulted I’ve ever been by an awards ceremony-and that includes “Don’t Worry Be Happy” as Record of the Year AND Milli Vanilli as Best New Artist. This is the album’s best song, and it was written by Beyonce’s not as successful but arguably more talented sister Solange.
5) “The Worst is Over” by Laura Izibor (from “Let the Truth Be Told”, 2009)- I bought this album after walking into a Newbury Comics and hearing it being played over the PA. Laura’s an R&B singer from Ireland who favors Joss Stone vocally. I still need to give this album a listen straight through.
Anonymous
1. “Raise Your Hand” by Eddie Floyd
2. “Bad Company” by Bad Company
3. “Your Latest Trick (live)” by Dire Straits
4. “It’s Too Late” by Derek & The Dominoes
5. “Eye Of The Hurricane” by David Wilcox
Mike Duquette
Today’s Friday Five came from my on-board iTunes rather than my iPod, so some more eccentric stuff (for me, anyway) came up. Anything to distract from the snow outside!
Brad Fiedel, “Attack on Dyson (Sarah’s Solution)”- a track from the score to “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” underscoring a tense scene when Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) attempts to assassinate the programmer responsible for the impending robot apocalypse (Joe Morton). Fiedel’s Terminator scores are largely non-thematic (save for the killer main title), and this one relies more on mood sounds, electronic percussion and such.
The Jackson 5,” Corner of the Sky”- from the just-alright “Skywriter” album; I think MJ is kind of on auto-pilot here. And Motown tried really hard to make “Pippin” (the musical this song originates from) work. Maybe too hard.
Sting, “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free” – on different days, this is either one of my favorite Sting singles or one I wish he’d done better. The needle was leaning toward the latter until Branford Marsalis’ saxophone kicked in. Why aren’t those two collaborating more?
Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band, “I’m on Fire (Live)”- from the “Live 1975/85” box, probably one of my favorite tracks from the “Born in the U.S.A.” album. I wish this take was a little faster – just a little – but it’s still solid.
Was (Not Was), “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” – a straightforward (well, as straightforward as the Was-es could get) cover of The Temptations original.
whiteray
I actually got here on Friday this time!
1. “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama, 1984. I went through a period a few years ago of catching up on the pop stuff I’d ignored during the ’80s. This is a remnant of that phase. It could be worse.
2. “Swan Silvertone” by Boo Hewerdine from “Ignorance,” 1992. I learned about Hewerdine through Darden Smith and the “Evidence” album they did in 1989. I don’t buy much of Hewerdine’s stuff anymore, but I still listen to Ignorance. It’s tuneful, if a bit twee at times.
3. “Africa” by Toto, 1982. This is not one of the pop hits I ignored during the 1980s. How could anyone with an ear have ignored this? It was all over. And nearly thirty years later, it’s pretty good.
4. “A Friend and Nothing More” by Michael Stanley from “Michael Stanley,” 1972. Before the Michael Stanley Band, he released a folky singer/songwriter-ish album. It’s a little soft but tuneful, and this is one of the better tracks.
5. “Kind Hearted Woman” by Muddy Waters, 1948. I think this was released on the Aristocrat label, but wherever it was released, it’s superb electrified Delta blues, kind of a signpost on the way to the classic Chicago sound.
Anonymous
Quick 5 from me:
1) Strange Loop – Liz Phair
2) Only Love – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (Hell yeah)
3) The Cave – Mumford & Sons
4) Something So Strong – Crowded House
5) On and On – Girl Talk
Have an awesome weekend!!!
EightE1
Sade, “Your Love Is King.” Aw, yeah, boy. Some smoove jazzy groove from Mizz Adu. Niiiice.
Def Leppard, “Let It Go.” I think this might’ve been the first Lep song I heard, as a wee pup, in the early days of MTV. Rick Savage scared me back then. Great fucking song, though.
Nas & Damian Marley, “Nah Mean.” Huh! [pause] Huh!! Love this album; not real big on either on their own (love Nas, but he’s too spotty; Marley never did much for me), but together they’re unstoppable.
Joan Osbourne, “I’ll Be Around.” Spinners cover by the “One of Us” chick. I truly believe that she has more to offer than her records have alluded to. I point to her summer touring with the Dead as proof (I really liked what I heard from that tour, though I’m not sure how many agree with me), as well as stuff like this. Slow burn, brothers and sisters. Very cool, underrated stuff.
Bob Dylan, “Lonesome Day Blues.” Live version from Tell-Tale Signs. This was my favorite song from Love and Theft, and it’s my favorite from this Bootleg Series set. He sounds like he’s gonna gnaw the carotid of the next person who approaches him.