NOVEMBER - 27 Songs in 10 Days

If you've been following my posts this month, you've seen me reference the EBAY STORE I've been setting up for the record store where I work. While business has been going fairly well, I can't say running the store hasn't had its fair share of hassles. The real fun is in dealing with the poor translation in communication with foreign customers. Last week I had a frustrating exchange with a potential Italian customer, who kept sending me gibberish messages like, "Pear tree, chip axes cash? CHIP AXES EURO?" I finally threw in the towel and sent him something he probably stared in as much confusion at: "Sorry Mauro, I only accept Paypal. Seventeen maids a runnin."

If you're out there Mauro, I'm sorry. It wasn't meant to be.

You don't love me. You jus' love my bloggy style:

"Muzzle of Bees (live)" by WILCO: This performance was ripped from the recently released DVD "Burn to Shine 2 - Chicago." This DVD is #2 in a series of films put together buy FUGAZI's Brendan Canty which document a collection of bands playing over the course of one day in a house that is about to be demolished. The DVD features a number of great performances from the likes of Shellac and Tortoise, but Wilco's is really the standout track. Buy the DVD at one of many places.



"Go! Go! Go!" by ROY ORBISON: This one goes out to my friend James Myers, who calls me about once a year to have me debunk some myth about Roy Orbison. A few years back, he wouldn't believe me when I told him that Roy wasn't blind. It took me emailing him a photo of Orbison enjoying one of his favorite pasttimes -- driving a go-cart -- to win the argument. About two years later, it was whether or not Roy was an albino. He wasn't, but he was a hell of a singer. Even when the guy got old, he could still do his thing. I was always a big fan of one of his final songs, the Bono/Edge penned "She's a Mystery to Me", and I will always have a soft spot for that first TRAVELLING WILBURYS album, where Orbison joined up with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne. My mom had it on cassette, and hearing "Handle With Care" always makes me think of family road trips. I think Orbison died before the making of the video for this one. I seem to remember his parts in the video being played by an empty rocking chair and a well-lit photo of the nonblind, non-albino.

"Before I Lose My Style" by SPACE NEEDLE: This one kind of reminds me of that aforementioned Orbison ballad. My friend Matt threw this on a tape for me when we both were becoming mesmerized with indie rock. This fuzzy, rusty, droning thing of beauty always seemed like the great Indie Prom Song.

"The Book of Love" by NOW IT'S OVERHEAD: I'm surprised I haven't already posted this one. In the same vein as the above track, this is a pretty little slow dance number, perfect for that hipster wedding. Probably my hipster wedding, if I ever find a girl who doesn't care that no one else in the room will know the song we're dancing to. "The book of love has music in it, in fact it's where music comes from."

"Do You Wanna Touch Me" by JOAN JETT: I won't go again into my explanation of how I first fell in love with Joan Jett when I was a kid. I will say that this song, a GARY GLITTER cover, was a whole lot of in-your-face sexuality for me to be taking in at such an early age. To this day, Jett's vocals make my spine tingle. I recently uncovered the Gary Glitter original (much in the same way police recently discovered the dirty bastard himself, trying to escape Vietnam), and was pleased to find that Jett's version still lays his to waste.

"I Turn My Camera On (John McEntire Remix)" by SPOON: A bouncy, disco funk version of one of the coolest songs on SPOON's "Gimme Fiction." I'm probably the 4,000,000th blogger to say that it's a great album, so forget I even brought it up. Throw this on in a room full of hipsters and see if you can guess the first one to come up to you and say, "What the hell is THIS?"

"The Spider and the Fly" by the ROLLING STONES: Since Britt Daniel of Spoon has an obvious love of the Stones, I figured I'd finish with one of their older, lesser known songs. I hadn't heard this song much until a few years ago, when I was sort of dating a girl who found it incredibly sexy. The song, not me. One should always take notice when the person they like finds a song about infidelity incredibly sexy.

"She Thinks I Still Care" by GEORGE JONES: Okay, if I'm going to finish with a song after talking about relationships, it should really be this one by George Jones. I remember hearing this one when I was a kid, and Jones's soaring voice immediately made me overcome any reservations I might have had about country music. This raggedy motherfucker who looks like a ball sack in a Western shirt. . . he sings like an angel.