NOVEMBER - 42 Songs in 16 Days

Damn, 42 songs to go and my bandwidth is already half chewed up for the month. I still intend on making my goal, so this might get a little trickier for you readers out there. Once I post a new batch of songs, I'm probably going to have to remove the tracks for my previous post. In other words, get 'em while they're hot. All the songs for the past two posts are gone now, and tonight's won't be up for very long either.

Before I post tonight's music, I have to say thanks to any readers out there who have followed THIS LINK to buy shirts from my Ebay sale. There are more shirts available now, and I'll be adding another dozen or more designs in the next week or two. If you do wind up buying a shirt and you are a reader, let me know in the Notes section from your Paypal payment and I'll try to throw in some goodies with your order.

Stick these in your ears:

"Could We" by CAT POWER: I love crazy women. Let's just get that right out there. I don't particularly want to be in an actual relationship with a crazy woman, but I love a gal with a batshit look in her eye. Fiona Apple looks like she's going to claw your eyes out. Something about that is sexy to me. Now Chan Marshall isn't that kind of crazy, but there's something there in her music that points in a certain direction. Between the mostly dark and somber songwriting and her history of strange behavior at her concerts, it's nice to hear this new approach she's taking on her upcoming album "THE GREATEST." I can't speak for the whole record, but from what I've heard it has a more upbeat, even bouncy and soulful (in a classic 60s, Memphis horns kind of way) sound. On "Could We," she sounds like she's spinning with joy as she sings, ""Thank you. It was great. Let's make another date real soon."

Chan, call me. It has been too long.

(While I'm at it, I may as well throw out the first track from "THE GREATEST" to leak its way onto the net, the gorgeous title track. Take note of her backing vocals where she sings "greatest, greatest, greatest" along with what sounds like a lap steel guitar. Gets me every time. I've always loved her voice and thought she'd be great in a more R&B setting, and this song is further proof.)

"Rear Wheel Skid" by the FACES: I was skipping around through my library last week trying to find some fresh material for my DJ gig on Friday, when I double clicked on a Faces song I'd only heard once or twice. This mostly instrumental jam is a little askew from the normal Faces sound. This needs to be on the soundtrack to a nice bloody bar brawl.

"Theme from 'The Warriors'" by BARRY DE VORZON: Suddenly, the whole world is back in love with the 1979 cult classic directed by Walter Hill (he did "48 HOURS" and a bunch of crap). There's even a planned Hollywood remake in the works, with Tony Scott (whose latest movies have gotten a little too stylized and hyperkinetic) in the director's chair. I've always liked the theme song, though it feels like it goes on too long without much happening. I love those late 70s electronic soundtracks by the likes of John Carpenter and Goblin, who did some of the creepy music for George Romero's "DAWN OF THE DEAD."

And that, ladies and gentleman, gives me the opening to include a picture of one of my all-time favorite things: Zombies.



I've been immersed in zombies for the past couple of weeks since my friend Brian bought DVDs of "LAND OF THE DEAD," "DAY OF THE DEAD," Lucio Fulci's "ZOMBI 2," and the videogame "STUBBS THE ZOMBIE" (where you play a brain-eating zombie out to rescue your lost love and avenge your death). Oh yeah, and he rented the classic crapfest "RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD." So in honor of our obsession with the walking dead, enjoy a little Italian proggy goodness with GOBLIN's "L'alba Dei Mori Viventi."

While we're on the subject of zombie music...

"M1A1" by GORILLAZ: One of my favorite songs from the GORILLAZ' debut album happens to feature a prominent sample from my favorite George Romero gorefest, "DAY OF THE DEAD." The opening of this track is also the opening to that movie. As creepy as it sounds here, it's even creepier on film, with a man shouting into what he thinks is an abandoned Florida city, looking for survivors. Guess what he finds instead.

"Love Buzz" by SHOCKING BLUE: You might know Shocking Blue as the group who performed "Venus," the song that BANANNARAMA made re-famous in the 80s. Shocking Blue did it better. Some of you may even know them as the group who performed "Love Buzz" before NIRVANA rode its greatness on their debut album, "BLEACH." Again, Shocking Blue did it better. (If Mike is reading this, the lead singer of Shocking Blue is a female. Told yer ass.)

"Fire" by THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN: VH1 Classic used to show the "video" (it was actually footage from the movie "THE COMMITTEE," which also featured a score from PINK FLOYD) for this song and from what I remember, it whips ass. Picture this guy in an aluminum pre-MF DOOM mask, with a ring above his head covered in flames, bellowing "I am the god of hell fire!" I don't think this was a huge hit in 1968, but I can only imagine whoever did hear that coming out of their radio back then was probably a little shocked.

"Life and Limb" by FUGAZI: A Top Five band for me, without a doubt. Fugazi changed my life. Why don't people buy their albums anymore? I'm not sure what the word is on whether they're kaput, but I really hope they're not done. I never got the chance to see them live. They came to Omaha when I was younger, but I was too young to go. "Life and Limb" is from their wildly overlooked last album, "THE ARGUMENT."

Need some more Fugazi in your diet? Check out "Number 5" from the "FURNITURE" E.P., which was released concurrently with "THE ARGUMENT."

"Lush and Green" by GRANDPABOY: If the voice behind Grandpaboy sounds familiar, that's because it belongs to ex-REPLACEMENTS frontman PAUL WESTERBERG. His records under the Grandpaboy moniker have been a sort of return to form, at least if you're one of those fans who have been a little wary of his solo material. I know I'm one.

Sometimes I wonder how many people out there aren't aware of The Replacements. I'm going to take a sort of a poll by posting a couple of their songs and seeing how many downloads they get. If you haven't heard these songs, you should really check this band out. If you can, I'd rec' starting with "LET IT BE," which features a ton of great songs, including their cover of the KISS classic, "Black Diamond." Their "HOOTENANNY" album from 1983 is home to the classic "Color Me Impressed," while the oft-maligned "DON'T TELL A SOUL" had a few greats among a lot of filler. "Talent Show" is probably my favorite song from that record. For obscurity's sake, here's the "TIM" version of one of the band's few hits, "Can't Hardly Wait."

Get 'em all. Let God sort 'em out.