Archive for the Music category
October 18th, 2008
Two things go perfectly together, tonight. First, this interview with Berkeley Breathed, on bringing Opus to an end (killing him?!):
Breathed says it’s the anger that led him to close the book on “Opus,” that the increasingly nasty political climate has made it too difficult to keep his strip from drifting into darkness. Breathed has described his work as a hybrid of “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz’s gentle humor and Michael Moore’s crusading social justice. Perhaps losing touch with his inner Charlie Brown, Breathed has said that “a mad penguin, like a mad cartoonist, isn’t very lovable,” and wants Opus to take his final bow before bitterness changes him forever.
And yes, it’s a repeat, but apt:
October 17th, 2008
Much like Friday Notes, it’s a mess. Most Weekend Music comes from a theme that’s built over the week, but this is just what’s been in rotation lately.
First, we have my favorite track from the last couple of weeks - Aesop Rock’s None Shall Pass. Incredible flow with some thought behind it:
You might have heard about the Obama radio spot cut by an old bluegrass talent, week before last. His name is Ralph Stanley, and this is him many years ago:
And a classic that’s been appealing, lately:
Bonus earworm - Lil Mama’s Lip Gloss:
October 15th, 2008
Some songs are great, but get so driven into the ground by repeated play that you one day you realize that you just can’t listen to it anymore. But then - after a bit of time - you hear something on the radio that’s starting with the same chords, but isn’t quite right with the rhythm, and . . . you discover that someone’s rehabbed the played-out original with an excellent cover. This happened with I Turn My Camera On (it was Apple that ruined it, right? Just like 1,2,3,4 and Feed Good, Inc.?).
Here’s Spoon’s original
And Rock Kills Kid’s cover
October 13th, 2008
be ashamed of you.
Mike suggests a much more on-point song by Hank:
October 11th, 2008
Amy Winehouse/Tears Dry On Their Own
Bat for Lashes/What’s a Girl to Do?
Miranda Lambert/Gunpowder & Lead (ignore the video, dig the music)
October 10th, 2008
It’s a mix, tonight:
Klaxons/Golden Skans
Bob Dylan/Tangled Up In Blue
Jens Lekman/Postcard to Nina (really, give this one a listen)
October 4th, 2008
That was a long way.
Smack, crack, bushwhacked.
Tie another one to the racks, baby.
Hey kids, rock and roll.
Nobody tells you where to go, baby.
What if I ride? what if you walk?
What if you rock around the clock?
Tick-tock. tick-tock.
October 3rd, 2008
There’s a roadtrip in my (very near) future, and of course this requires roadtrip music. Something with motion, maybe a little poppy, and yes - something you know (most of) the words to. I have hundreds in my all-purpose roadtrip playlist - this is what a random sample (of YouTube available songs) turns up:
Guns ‘n Roses/Locomotive
The Cure/In-Between Days
Divinyls/I Touch Myself
October 1st, 2008
This is one of those songs where fans of one might be vaguely aware of the other version, and as soon as anyone who hasn’t heard the other hears it, it’ll be dismissed out of hand. A shame, as the two sides might actually get something out of giving the other a chance.
The original Dear Prudence:
The 1983 cover by Siouxsie and the Banshees:
(This song (along with many other Siouxsie songs), takes me back to the end of a very very long festival day. I was so worn out by the time this set came on that I took most of it in while lying down . . .)
September 27th, 2008
Oh, the iterations this entry went through. From a band I just discovered a few hours ago to . . . well . . Bruce. And what I’m going to leave you with isn’t even embeddable. Tonight’s track is the warble-to-make-you-feel-old I’m On Fire.
