The Friday Five: July 24, 2009
Friday Five : ˈfrī-(ˌ)dā,-dē ˈfīv : On the sixth day of every week I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have 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:
Editor’s Note: I’m packing up and heading out early this morning to head to Hershey to see Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews Band tonight. In my absence Matt from Addicted to Vinyl has agreed to fill-in… see ya’ll next week!
Thanks Michael!
I want to start off this edition of the Five by paying tribute to one of Michael’s picks last week – “So Little Kindness” by Huey Lewis & The News. That sucker is proof positive that Huey and the boys still are, and will always be, the coolest. You’ll find that one on Time Flies….The Best of Huey Lewis & The News, if you missed it, but you can also find it on Plan B, their latest studio album to date, and one that comes highly recommended by yours truly.
On with this week’s Five!
Elizabeth and the Catapult – “The Hang Up” (from Taller Children, 2009)
We’ve got a venue here in Cleveland called The Winchester that is a wonderful place to see live music, and a place that you can always count on seeing someone cool in addition to whoever you came out to see. For those that love discovering music, (and isn’t that why we’re all here?) The Winchester is a godsend. I was out for the evening to see Greg Laswell, and also Elizabeth and the Catapult who were on the bill in the opening slot. I had heard the name, definitely was curious to see the band, and instantly became very happy that I had made an effort to get there early. I hope that Verve/Forecast has the horsepower to get this band some exposure, because with the right promotion, I think you’ll be hearing a lot more about Elizabeth and the Catapult in the next year.
Greg Laswell – “High and Low” (from Through Toledo, 2006)Prior to this week’s show, I didn’t own any of Greg Laswell’s stuff, something that very quickly changed after the show. “High and Low” was one of those songs that I instantly remembered liking from when I saw Laswell earlier this year. As someone that really loves sad and dreary songs, “High and Low” is one of the better sad songs I’ve heard in a long time.
Go-Go’s – “Beneath The Blue Sky” (from Talk Show, 1984)
I’ve been talking lots about The Go-Go’s and Jane Wiedlin in the past week with a good friend of mine, who apparently loves The Go-Go’s just a little bit more than I do – as demonstrated by her Go-Go’s inspired email address. Talk Show is arguably the best known album in the Go-Go’s catalog, and yet it is one of the only ones that is out of print. What’s up with that? It’s been on CD at least twice – the original issue, and a mid-90s reissue that quickly went out of print. Insert massive amounts of music fan regret here – I had the reissue, and sold it at some point when I needed money for a car repair job. Little did I know that they were planning to yank it from the store shelves. This is one of my favorite albums from the 80s, although truthfully, I’m more of a Bangles fan.
Rick Springfield – “Oblivious” (from Venus in Overdrive, 2008)
Snicker all that you want, but Rick Springfield has put out some great albums over the years – Living in Oz is probably my favorite from back in the day, and towards the end of the 80s, he dropped Rock of Life, another classic that not enough people heard. The good news is that he’s still making albums that are worth hearing, as recently as last year’s Venus in Overdrive. I never got around to writing about this one for my own site, but I really enjoyed the album a lot. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to it, and this one caught me by surprise on shuffle. Springfield has written some wonderfully dark songs that capture the essence of the inner romantic turmoil that one often faces. This is probably one of his best recent songs in that category. On a side note, I haven’t heard Springfield’s newest release, My Precious Little One. I guess I’m not quite ready to hear Rick singing kid tunes. Maybe next week? We’ll see.
Def Leppard – “Stand Up (Kick Love In Motion” (from Adrenalize, 1992)
While reading a Def Leppard show review earlier this week, I had to snicker at the following comment from one of the readers:
Onto Poison, I don’t like that they had to hold back as to not upstage Def. How could you not let Bret out on the catwalk to do Every Rose?
Answer: They’re probably worried that he’ll hurt himself. I like the Poison hits (which I grew up with) as much as anyone else, but the thought of those serious musicians in Poison “holding back” is comical. By the way, I’ve heard from several people (and it’s mentioned in the review above) that Bret’s voice is pretty roached this summer. That’s kind of a bummer, because Poison do put on a fun show normally, and it sounds like the shows this summer have been average at best.
Speaking of average, I’ve always been a big Def Leppard fan and it bums me out that Joe Elliott just can’t cut it live these days vocally. Sure, he was never the greatest singer, but you could always count on a great live show from Def Lep, and that’s unfortunately no longer the case. I did see them live in 2002 on the X tour, and they kicked ass. On that tour, they were opening most nights with the entire first side of High n’ Dry, which was just as awesome as it sounds like it would be. After that, I saw them a couple more times, including a tour with Journey, who with newly recruited lead singer Jeff Scott Soto, blew the Leps off the stage on a nightly basis.
Adrenalize is the last Def Leppard album that I really enjoyed, and it still gets a good amount of play even now in my world. On a related note, I do highly recommend the new deluxe edition of Pyromania, which has a kick ass second disc featuring a full live show from ’83. And as one that has had that live show on boot for years, it is a classic, let me tell you!
What’s on your shuffle? Thanks to Michael and Pete for the opportunity to guest here today on the Five!
Something like that, right? Is that what you want?
“Daddy, what’s stream of consciousness?”
My nine year old daughter was in the back seat of our minivan as we were heading home from summer day camp and laid yet another way beyond her age question on me. For a moment, my thoughts went back to when she was four years old and asked me if George Bush was a Christian. And if he was, why would he send people to kill other people if it was murder and breaking one of the Ten Commandments? I think Jean Piaget, developmental psychologist of the early and middle 20th Century, was rolling in his grave to hear a four-year-old express a question dripping with formal operational thought.
I actually could’ve used Piaget in answering not only the question from five years ago, but the current one that had piqued her curiosity.
“Why do want to know, hon?” I asked her.
“Well, we were talking about rap music today at camp and one of the counselors said that rap was cool because it was like stream of consciousness. So I want to know what that is.”
So, I spent the next few minutes explaining to her what it meant…how random thoughts can be strung together in a seemingly related way to express a thought or mood. Or both.
“Let’s listen to a song like that.”
I knew she’d make this request and I had the perfect one in mind…the Song of the Summer of 2009.
American Sam Spiegel (aka Squeak Spiegel) and Brazilian Ze Gonzales (aka Zegon) came together in 2007 to create a massively cool indie hip hop band called N.A.S.A. No, it’s not your father’s space agency but actually North America-South America…a sisterhood and brotherhood of unity that, quite frankly, our country could really use right now. All of their music reflects this mood quite wonderfully.
On February 17, 2009, the duo released The Spirit of Apollo. There are several great tracks on this record as well as a collection of guest stars like David Byrne, John Frusciante, Tom Waits, Santogold, George Clinton, and a wide variety of rappers and hip hop artists.
The track that really grabbed me, and officially became OCD (Obssesive Compulsive Disorder) song #1 of 2009 (review of OCD #2 to appear here soon) – and what I played for my daughter to illustrate the beauty of stream of consciousness – was “Strange Enough”, featuring the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard (Wu Tang Clan), Fatlip, and the seriously stunning on several levels Karen O (lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). What an absolute fucking corker of a song!
I think I have played this track every day at least once since it came out in February and, for whatever reason, it has become synonymous with this summer. Virtually everyone I have played it for has downloaded it. It’s rhythm is tight. The mood is intense and the lyrics are just plain cool. “Freak show pantie lover…but I’m getting too old for this like Danny Glover” or “Wild boy cowboy entertainer…insane…Purple Rainer”(special shout out to our Prince loving host of this site) are just two examples of how much fun this song is.
And Karen O’s bit is mega fucking cool. Towards the end of her rap, which is essentially the chorus of the song, she breaks down and giggles, asking Squeak and Zegon, who were presumably in the control room while she did her part…
“Something like that, right? Is that what you want?”
To which, the reply from Fatlip is:
“Perfect.”
No shit. Track of the Summer. Period. Heck, it might even be the Song of the Year but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We still have five months left of 2009. And there is this track (serendipity!) on the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album…
Hear: Strange Enough
Buy: Spirit of Apollo
Visit: N.A.S.A. Official Site
The Friday Five: July 17, 2009
Friday Five : ˈfrī-(ˌ)dā,-dē ˈfīv : On the sixth day of every week I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have 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:
Raphael Saadiq – “Never Give You Up” (feat. Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton)(from The Way I See It, 2008)
Raphael Saadiq took Neo-Soul to a whole new level with this record. Classic soul with a killer Stevie harmonica solo.
Huey Lewis & The News – “So Little Kindness” (from Time Flies… The Best of Huey Lewis & The News, 1996)
Everyone’s favorite little bar band and the subject of the latest installment of Rock Court over at Popdose (link)
Prince – “Dig U Better Dead” (from Chaos and Disorder, 1996)
Not my favorite, but one of the better tracks from this lackluster effort.
Fall Out Boy – “What a Catch, Donnie” (from Folie à Deux, 2008)Patrick Stump does his best Elvis Costello, only to be trumped by the man himself making an appearance.
Guns N’ Roses – “Paradise City” (from Appetite for Destruction, 1987)
Nice way to tie it up!
What next on your shuffle today?
Video: Old Californio – “Chilao”
I stumbled upon Old Californio’s YouTube page tonight, and they just uploaded a bunch of sweet video action from a recent in-studio performance at SoCal’s KPFK.
If you don’t have their Westering Again album, which came out earlier this year, youse a fool baby. Buy It.
Here’s a kickass tune called “Chilao” which isn’t on the album but I sure wish it was! It sums up everything I love about these guys: the earthy Southwest vibe, the unique arrangements and instrumentation… Gah! I love ’em!
Wilco w/ Feist on Letterman
Before I venture off to watch Paul McCartney on Letterman, I thought I’d post last night’s Letterman, in which Wilco and Feist took over the Ed Sullivan Theater for a nice version of “You and I”. The band is clearly completely in synch and enjoying their time together. The vibe is relaxed, loose, and just pretty damn nifty.
Hello In There
I was eating dinner with my family earlier tonight at one of those Pay-$9.00-and-gorge yourself types of restaurants (rhymes with “Pete Potatoes”). Sitting in the booth behind me was an old gentleman – probably 80 or so. He sat there alone, eating his dinner. On my trips to the salad bar, and the soup bar, and the drink refills, and taking my 3 year old to the rest room (so she could tell me that she didn’t have to go) – on my way back from those trips – I’d see him. He’d look up my way with a vacant look in his eyes, and I’d purse my lips into a respectful smile and pass by. He didn’t look happy, nor did he look sad. Just – vacant. Expressionless. He was just having dinner.
It was late afternoon, and the hot desert sun was creeping down the western sky outside. The sunlight was beaming through a window, moving down on his booth, and the last time I passed him, the bright sun was shining directly into the old timer’s face like a spotlight. He sat there unfazed, finishing his meal.
For some reason, the image of the sun on the old man’s face made an imprint in me. I felt compassion for him. Not knowing a thing about him, I thought of the worse case scenarios – that here was an old man in the twilight of his life, eating alone on a Sunday night. Maybe he’d recently lost his wife. Maybe he was a sad and lonely man. Maybe the only human interaction he has left in his daily life is a dinner at a local restaurant. Maybe it would make his day if a random stranger approached him and said “How ya doing?”
I immediately thought of the John Prine song, “Hello In There”, this verse in particular:
So if you’re walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don’t just pass ’em by and stare
As if you didn’t care, say, “Hello in there, hello.”All it takes is a hello. Taking a minute or two out of your life to look someone in the eye and let them know someone in this world cares.
So did I act on it? Of course not. We rarely do in this day and age, right? As we got up to leave, the old timer’s booth was empty, and an opportunity was lost. And I felt a tinge of shame. I still do tonight.
Maybe I read too much into it. Maybe he has a rich and fulfilling life. Or maybe he’d rather just be left alone. The frustrating thing for me is that I didn’t take the time to find out.
John Prine | Hello In There – from John Prine
The Friday Five: July 10, 2009
Friday Five : ˈfrī-(ˌ)dā,-dē ˈfīv : On the sixth day of every week I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes and share my five and drop a little knowledge and insight for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes we have 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:
Foo Fighters – “My Hero” (from The Colour and the Shape, 1997)
One of, if not my absolute favorite Foo Fighters track.
Warrant – “Heaven” (mp3) (from The Best of Warrant, 1996)
We all have our musical skeletons, mine just happen to have lots of hair… 20 years (!!!) later I still love this tune.
Jason Mraz – “Butterfly” (from We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., 2008)
Don’t let his sensitive singer-songwriter facade fool you, Mr. A-Z can write some downright dirty tunes. Our example today: a romantic ode to a lapdance…
Wilco – “I’ll Fight” (from Wilco (The Album), 2009)
I just got around to listening to this record yesterday and am looking forward to listening to it again.
Lazlo Bane – “Overkill” (mp3) (from 11 Transistor, 1997)
I vividly recall the first time I heard this… catching the video (when MTV still cared enough about the ‘M’ to do so) and being glued to the television. Opening on the familiar chord progression followed by Colin Hay in a bellboy outfit and giving to what, to this day, is one of my favorite covers ever. Mr. Hay even comes in after the bridge to lend his signature vocal to the final verse. Brilliant finish to today’s five!
Okay, I’ve shown you mine, now show me yours!
Ick’s Pick: Deer Tick’s Born on Flag Day
Deer Tick is a band that I tracked down because of all the buzz – on the blogs, on Twitter, in the pages of Rolling Stone. I guess I assumed they’d be too “indie” for my tastes, but never judge a book by its cover. What I found instead is the best damn country album I’ve heard all year. No, not Country with a capital C, but country in a raw, dirty, gritty sense – stripped down and real.
The deal sealer for me is the raspy voice of one John Joseph McCauley III. Yeah, I’m a fan of the raspy voiced singers – the Bruces, the Prines, the Earles (and add to the list lately Mr. Ryan Bingham). So hearing a new band that plays with some kick and some twang, with a lead singer that’s anything but smooth & polished – but rough around the edges – that’s always what I’m happy to find.
McCauley and his band mates are only in their early 20’s – but the feel of their latest record, Born on Flag Day, sure doesn’t sound like it came from a bunch of guys fresh out of their teens.
With new music, you tend to have those “oh, this sounds like ___” moments – and this record certainly does have its derivative moments: “Houston, TX” has a bass line reminiscent of the Dead’s “Friend of the Devil”. “Song About A Man” brings Dylan to mind. And the gorgeous 60’s style ballad “Stung” sounds like a country cousin of “You Belong To Me” – if the cousin drank whiskey and raised hell.
There are a lot of standout moments for me on this album…
The opener, and maybe the most “mainstream” of the songs, is “Easy”. Feedback gives way to a twangy guitar solo, the first verse, and lets loose with an explosive chorus: “And you don’t know how easy it is / No you don’t know how easy it is / You were never there/ No never there”.
The late night tavern feel of “Little White Lies” – starting off with a slow tempo, the lazy pedal steel, and launching into an uptempo stomper. Great harmonies by Liz Isenberg.
“Friday XIII”, a catchy shuffle of a tune with some great vocal tradeoffs between McCauley and Isenberg – that traditional banter a la classic Johnny and June Carter Cash. The effects on McCauley’s vocals make me visualize one of those classic old mics from the Elvis days. In fact, those vocal effects show up throughout the album. Sort of a distant echo.
“The Ghost” has one of the more classic country vibes. The rhythm and vocal delivery are punchy and fun. One of my favorites right now…
Hidden in the latter half of the last track, “Stung”, is an intimate, impromptu version of “Good Night Irene” (starting around the 6:00 mark). Beer cans are crackin’, rowdy friends are hollerin’… but the by end, everyone’s singing along, enjoying themselves – and McCauley has them right where he wants them. A lot like the album…
Buy this album: Born On Flag Day
Randoms:
- Deer Tick has has been covering John Prine’s “Unwed Fathers” (including this week’s stop in Phoenix, which I missed). And I hear they cover the Boss too.
- I think I’ve nailed down McCauley’s voice: a mix between Eddie Spaghetti of the Supersuckers and Serge Bielanko, (formerly) of Marah. Anyone?
Discovering Discovery
As side-projects go, the pairing of Rostam Batmanglij (keyboardist for Vampire Weekend) and Wes Miles (vocalist for Ra Ra Riot) makes perfect sense. The results however, are as far as you can imagine from the twee indie pop of the pair’s respective bands. Trading in guitars, violins and afro-beat for synths and 808 drum machines, Discovery is an unabashed love letter to the days of electro-pop past.
The record opens with the one / two punch of the jubilant summertime “Orange Shirt” followed by the equally brilliant (and insanely catchy) “Osaka Loop Line”. “Can You Discover?” is a chopped and screwed re-imagining of Ra Ra Riot‘s “Can You Tell”. Angel Deradoorian of Dirty Projectors lends her vocal shine to the hook of “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”. The dynamic “So Insane” is easily my favorite track of the bunch and is shaping up to be a contender for my summertime jam. The record covers the hipster spectrum from reggae-tinged (“Swing Tree”) to R&B through twee-tinted glasses (“Carby” (featuring Batmanglij‘s bandmate Ezra Koenig)) to a timely (albeit, ironic) cover of The Jackson 5 hit “I Want You Back”. The record wraps just shy of 30 minutes and almost begs an immediate second (and third) listen straight away.
It’s not ground-breaking but Discovery‘s LP could very well be the indie-pop record of the summer.
You can stream the entirety of LP at Discovery‘s Official Site.
Discovery – “Osaka Loop Line” (mp3)
Buy LP: Amazon (available for only $3.99!)
Links: Official Site | on Last.fm | on MySpace
New from The Heavy: Sixteen
The pride of Noid, England, The Heavy hit my radar back in January ’08 with a hard funkin’ tune called “That Kind of Man”. So when I heard they were getting set to release a new full length album, The House That Dirt Built, my ears perked up. The record doesn’t drop until October, but we do have a chance to hear the first single – “Sixteen”. If this tune isn’t heavily influenced by the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins version of “I Put A Spell on You”, I don’t know what is, people.
Listen: Sixteen (mp3)
Watch: Video of “Sixteen”
Visit: Official Site | MySpace
