• Friday Five

    The Friday Five: September 4th, 2009

    The world will look up and shout

    Hallo. Pete here, filling in for Michael on the Friday Five!

    Michael said his ass was kicked 10 ways from Sunday, and he’s not gonna be able to deliver in a reasonable amount of time today. So I’m giving him the day off, poor fellow.

    I’m gonna hit you with 5 random tunes that came through my air space today, then you do the same, okay? It’s a deal?  Good.

    1. Megadeth – “Mechanix” (mp3) -I am by no means an expert – or even a fan- of Megadeth. But when I came back from lunch today, a co-worker (I’ll call him Jeff, ’cause that’s his name) brought up a Megadeth song with some very difficult to understand lyrics. Some of the words he perceived to possibly be German. So he sent over the mp3, and by utilizing Google and my ears, I discovered that this is indeed the English language, only with Dave Mustaine singing as nonsensically as possible. Cool tune, and I guess it’s the same as Metallica’s “The Four Horsemen” – though I’m too confused to comprehend it at the moment.

    2. Linton Kwesi Johnson – “Hurricane Blues” / Always happy to hear LKJ come on the iTunes. You want politically charged talking reggae poetry, Linton’s your man.

    3. Bap Kennedy – “Drunk On The Blood of Christ” / A reader, Brad, recommended Bap’s Lonely Street album a few weeks ago, and I’m glad he did. Great stuff.

    4. Kraftwerk – “Computer Love” / Just picked up this classic album recently, along with some other pioneering electro stuff (like Cybrotron’s ‘Clear’ album).

    5. Roadside Graves – “Valley” / Greg over at Captain’s Dead recommended this album just yesterday. I listened to this sucker 2 times straight through. Rootsy, raw rock ‘ roll. Just the way I like it. Track down the album ‘My Son’s Home‘.

    What’s shuffling in your corner of the world? Do share…

  • Acoustic

    The Backroom

    I finally bought a capo for my guitar, so I pulled out this enormous stack of songs w/ the chords transcribed. I went on a frenzy about 10 years ago and printed a bunch out. I had completely forgotten about this Bap Kennedy tune. In fact, I had completely forgotten about Bap Kennedy.

    This song comes from his 1998 solo debut, Domestic Blues, which he recorded after several albums with the band Energy Orchard. This is one of those songs that carried me through a breakup back in the day. I found it therapeutic to play sad and lonesome tunes on the guitar in my 700 square foot apartment on the railroad tracks.

    Now I see the tune a bit differently. He’s just infatuated with a stripper. We’ve all been there at one time or another.
    “Dude, I think she digs me!”

    Lovely tune still…

    Listen: Bap Kennedy – The Backroom (mp3)

    Check out Domestic Blues (click the cover):