5.30.2008

There's only one girl in the world for you, and she probably lives in Tahiti.

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Minimal chatter tonight. I've been staring at my screen for hours now. I just want to get this stuff out there to you.

"Whole Wide World"
"Veronica" by WRECKLESS ERIC: "Whole Wide World" is easily in the running for Top 100 Songs of All Time. Recorded for Stiff Records with Ian Dury and Nick Lowe as the backing band, it was pretty much the only hit for Wreckless Eric (Eric Goulden). It also acts as the backbone for one of the only memorable scenes in the quite boring Will Ferrell movie Stranger Than Fiction.

"Gobbledigook" by SIGUR ROS: Sigur Ros are playing, like, 3 shows in America on their upcoming tour. One of those shows is in my town, Omaha, NE, at a beautiful theater with great acoustics. Naturally, I will not be in town for this historic show. Fuckin' figures. Here's the first release off their upcoming album.

"Anna" by THE BEATLES: The other day I pretty much sealed up the remaining holes in my Beatles catalogue, and in doing so stumbled upon this fantastic Arthur Alexander cover (music geeks will recognize that name as the same man who wrote "Soldier of Love") from Please Please Me.

"Love Loves to Love Love" by LULU: The number of songs I swear I've posted before, and then discover I never have, is epic, and this track is from that list. A mix tape staple for me from the early 2000's, this one was sampled by Fatboy Slim on an early single.

"The World Has Turned and Left Me Here"
"Holiday" by WEEZER: I'm closing things out tonight with a couple of favorites from Weezer's debut "Blue" album, as a sort of response to my lack of desire to hear what the band might bring on their upcoming "Red" album. Of course, even back when this album came out and "Undone (The Sweater Song)" was becoming a massive hit, I was uninterested in hearing them until I won their album in a music trivia contest. It was "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" and "My Name is Jonas" that endeared me to them. Their songwriting took a leap forward with the darker, more personal follow-up Pinkerton, but Rivers Cuomo has retracted that sort of confessional writing and the band's music has, in my opinion, been in decline ever since.

5.28.2008

Back upon the mended road, I pause. . .

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"Ooo Baby Baby"
"Savoy Truffle" by ELLA FITZGERALD: It's pretty much indisputable that Ella was possibly the greatest jazz vocalist of all time. I like to imagine alien civilizations coming to Earth long after we've extinguished the human race and stumbling upon her rendtions of The Great American Songbook. If this is the only evidence they find of our existence, they will be rightfully fooled into thinking our culture was deep, luscious, delicate and advanced beyond words. Hell, I'd be happy to know they stumbled upon her 1969 album Ella, which features Fitzgerald covers of pop classics by the likes of Burt Bacharach, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles and Smokey Robinson.

"O Mexico" by DOSH: Martin Luther King Chavez Dosh (is that not one of the greatest fucking names EVER?) is an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist who is probably best known, for now, as Andrew Bird's percussionist of choice. "O Mexico" is from his 2006 album The Lost Take, and is pretty representative of the awesomeness to be found within its folds. Dosh's latest release, Wolves and Wishes came out a few weeks ago. While I haven't heard it yet, I just discovered its release on eMusic, so by the time I finish writing this post, it will be in my possession. Highly recommended. Learn more at Dosh's site.

"Lilywhite" by CAT STEVENS: Goddamn. How do I listen to Cat Stevens for decades and not stumble on a brilliant, beautiful song like "Lilywhite" until now? I guess that's the great thing about being a music fan. . . even the stuff you love can resurface and surprise you all over again.

"Still in Love With You" by THIN LIZZY: The more I listen to Thin Lizzy, the more I think they're going to have to become a monthly, if not weekly, feature here. So many good songs. So underrated. Beat me to the punch and go buy all their albums, or at least the Vagabonds boxed set. You will not be disappointed. Phil Lynott shares vocal duties here with Scottish singer/songwriter Frankie Miller.

"Straberry Fields Forever" by NOEL HARRISON: Re-Pimped from the Iron Leg blog.