The Friday Five: February 3, 2012
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:
“Like a Virgin” by Madonna (from Celebration, 2009)
Goddamn it, Madge. I want to run that Seth Myers skit where he rattles off a rapid-fire salvo of insults followed by the quizzical “really?” So, tell me, Madonna: why do you find it necessary to include your name in your lyrics, is it because you are worried someone might mistake it for an Avril Lavigne or Gwen Stefani tune? Oh, and M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj? Really? REALLY?
“Picture in an Exhibition” by Death Cab for Cutie (from Something About Airplanes, 1998)
Is anyone else looking forward to the next Death Cab for Cutie record?
“Deep” by Pearl Jam (from Vault #1: 1992-01-17: Moore Theater, Seattle, WA, USA, 2011)
This is an amazing show. Well worth seeking out.
“1901 (Alan Wilkis remix)” by Phoenix (from 1901, 2009)
It’s been awhile since we’ve visited with Alan Wilkis! If you haven’t been keeping up, he is in the midst of a new project called PRINTS, where he shares his funk with the likes of Bay-area rapper, Lyrics Born. Hit the link and dig in!
“A Letter to Elise” by The Cure (from Wish, 1992)
“And every time I try / to pick it up like falling sand / as fast as I pick it up / it runs away through my clutching hands” No one, but no one, does resigned desperation like Robert Smith. i can’t quite say why, but I’ve always held this song as the example of why I love The Cure as much as I do. Along with the equally forlorn “Pictures of You,” it ranks among my favorite songs, period.
What’s on your shuffle today?
5 Comments
Anonymous
1) Terence Trent D’Arby — “Sign Your Name” (Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’Arby, 1987).
2) Joe Lovano and Greg Osby — “The Wild East” (Friendly Fire, 1999).
3) Buddy Guy — “Rememberin’ Stevie” (Dam Right I Got The Blues, 1991).
4) Oleta Adams — “Circle Of One” (Circle Of One, 1990).
5) Ani DiFranco — “Gravel” (Living In Clip, 1997).
Mike Duquette
The next Death Cab record, made by a single Ben Gibbard, will be SO SAD.
1. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, “Texas Flood” (Live @ The Spectrum, Montreal – 8/17/1984): from the bonus disc from the “Couldn’t Stand the Weather” reissue a couple years back. SRV reminds me of how fun it is to pick between notable guitarists’ textures. I couldn’t be asked to put his into words anymore than I could verbally describe Prince or Hendrix or Clapton, but it’s sure fun to think about.
2. Maroon 5, “Don’t Know Nothing”: been awhile since I listened a lot to their latest album, from which this comes. I blame this on my intense dislike of “Moves LIke Jagger.” Bleaugh.
3. The Bangles, “Angels Don’t Fall in Love”: from the wonderful “Different Light.”
4. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, “The Tears of a Clown (Stripped Mix)”: one of those little iTunes projects that Universal does with the Motown catalogue every now and then. It’s nice to hear Smokey’s beautiful voice rise above the arrangement, but there’s no bassline! That’s super weird to me.
5. Huey Lewis & The News, “Couple Days Off”: one of my least favorite singles from the band. “Hard at Play”? More like “Hardly at Play,” AM I RIGHT?
Blerd
1: “Ebin” by Sublime: And today’s five opens up with a song about Brad Nowell’s friend being a white supremacist. Okay…
2: “Call On Me (1984 Version)” by Michael Jackson: A nice mid-tempo ballad that Motown recovered from the vaults and put out in the summer of 1984 to cash in on the “Thriller”/Victory Tour rage. How sad is it for us older folks to think of an event like “Motown 25” and realize that half the people who appeared on that damn show are dead now?
3. “Guilty Cocker Spaniels” by Modest Mouse: Dear Isaac Brock: please put the whiskey down and put a new album out, please. Thank you.
4. “Nail It To The Wall” by Stacy Lattisaw: A great singer even as a young girl-she had a solid decade-long run before willfully walking away from the record industry. This is a solid dance track-kinda splits the difference between Janet Jackson and early Vanessa Williams.
5. “Hot On A Thing (Called Love)” by The Chi-Lites: One of the Seventies’ great vocal groups goes disco. This is actually a pretty smokin’ track.
Anonymous
1. “100 Years” – Five For Fighting – The Battle For Everything
2. “Goin’ To Acapulco” – Jim James & Calexico – I’m Bot There, Disc 1
3. “Tumbling Dice” – The Rolling Stones – Forty Licks, Disc 2
4. “Thin Blue Flame” – Josh Ritter – The Animal Years
5. “Rumble” – Link Wray – Pulp Fiction:Collectors’ Edition
Dennis Corrigan
A fine Friday good evening:
1. “Lost Without You” by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers from the Live Anthology. My only complaint about this excellent set is there’s no version of “You Wreck Me”. Other than that, it’s fantastic and the never released originals (like this improvised tune) and covers are a huge reason why.
2. “Memphis” by Joe Jackson, originally on the Mike’s Murder “soundtrack”, this oe from the Steppin’ Out Best of collection. I’ll never forget JJ telling the tortured story of this soundtrack (he was asked to do it, then most of it got axed before it was released) and then finishing by saying “the movie sucked anyway” before launching into this at Merriweather Post Pavillion c. 1986
3. “Born to Lose” by the Heartbreakers from the No Thanks! The ’70’s Punk Rebellion box set
4. “Movie Set” by Seth Swirsky from Watercolor Day. Recently discovered Swirky’s other project, the Red Button, which I highly recommend
5. “Up On Crutches” by The Sea and Cake from Everybody. More power pop goodness.
Hope you hear something great this weekend – Go Giants!