The Friday Five: March 2, 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:
“Nice Guys” by We Are Scientists (from Barbara, 2010)
I love tripping over songs that I forgot about. Ironically, the music blogosphere completely forgot about We Are Scientists by the time this release came out, which is a damn shame as it contains some of their strongest songs.
“The Stars of Track and Field” by Belle and Sebastian (from If You’re Feeling Sinister, 1996)
Oh, the toothache! Now with 90% more trumpet!
I kid, because I care. I stumbled onto Belle and Sebastian during my stint working at a record store in the mid-’90s. Yes, an actual record store.
“Long Kiss Goodnight” by The Notorious B.I.G. (from Life After Death, 1997)
Goddammit, Diddy is one annoying motherfucker.
“Leave in Silence (longer)” by Depeche Mode (from A Broken Frame, 1982)
Just lovely.
“Granny” by Dave Matthews Band (from Warehouse 8, Volume 3, 2007)
“Love! Baby!” Nothing like wrapping up another Friday Five with a little bit of love. To quote my friend Dennis, “Hope you all hear something good this weekend!”
What’s on your shuffle today?
The Friday Five: December 4, 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:
Great Lake Swimmers – “Unison Falling Into Harmony” (from Lost Channels, 2009)
Largely overlooked in favor of the indie folk-pop of Fleet Foxes, Canada’s Great Lake Swimmers released one of the most lush, yet intimate folk-rock records of the past year.
U.S.A. for Africa – “We Are the World” (from We Are the World: U.S.A. for Africa, 1985)
I’m fairly certain I could fill an entire page writing about “We Are the World”, what hearing it again reminded me of was the time in which Michael Jackson could do no wrong and how, even at eleven, I was in awe of his considerable talent.
Miles Davis – “All Blues” (from Kind of Blue, 1959)
To say Miles is a force in my life and my musical DNA would be an understatement, I even named my son after him. Part of Davis’ magnum opus, “All Blues” is eleven and a half minutes of pure bliss.
The Notorious B.I.G. – “Sky’s the Limit” (feat. 112) (from Life After Death, 1997)
I never connected with the tunes on Life After Death nearly as much as I did Ready to Die.
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention – “Happy Together” (from Fillmore East, June 1971, 1971)
It occurred to me as this track started – and it is a brilliantly crass take on The Turtles classic – that only one of the artists featured on the Five this week is still with us. Not the thought I want to leave you with on a Friday, so I highly suggest hitting play on the track above and regaling in the joy. Baa-Ba-Ba…
Okay, so who’s next!
Ickmusic’s Friday Five: October 3, 2008
Is it October already? I swear it was just August a few minutes ago. One thing that I’ve found since I started The Five is that I am hyper-aware of the passage of time. And time in the final week of the quarter is even more precious so with that I’m going to keep this brief!
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. Destroyer – “Sick Priest Learns to Last Forever” (from Destroyer’s Rubies, 2006)
I picked this up on the suggestion from more than one of the popular blogs of the day and can’t say too much about it as I’ve only listened to it three or four times. It’s not even that I dislike the record; it’s just a matter of time vs. desire.
2. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble – “Pride and Joy” (from Greatest Hits, 1995)
There’s always time for some Stevie Ray Vaughan.
3. The Notorious B.I.G. – “Mo Money Mo Problems (feat. Mase & Puff Daddy)” (from Life After Death, 1997)
I’ve been watching the VH1’s 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs (see the entire list here) series this week and have been pulling up and listening to my favorite Hip-Hop tracks of the past 20 years. This is on my list (though it’s not on VH1’s) without a doubt. Play this one in a club to this day and everyone knows every line of Biggie’s rhyme.
4. Snoop Dogg – “Who Am I (What’s My Name?)” (from Doggystyle, 1993)
Another classic Hip-Hop cut, this time from the Westside courtesy of one Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr., better known to you and I as the one and only Snoop D O Double G. 15 years on this George Clinton fueled track still inspires some serious ass wiggling.
5. Metallica – “Harvester of Sorrow” (from …and Justice for All, 1988)
That should read from the last decent record Metallica produced, but I digress. …and Justice for All is the last Metallica record that I truly enjoyed beginning to end. The Black Album was alright, but it was Bob Rock‘s version of the band and therefore not as good.
That said, what’s playing in your shuffle today?