music

Playlist #29

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Happy Monday! Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and with it my lack of desire to do anything other than lounge around in bed all day. It’s getting colder outside and the days are shorter, so let’s listen to some music, what do you say?

  1. The Cactus Blossoms, “Mississippi”: David Lynch put this one in the revival Twin Peaks series. I liked the song, didn’t care for the show.
  2. Calexico, “Guero Canelo”: As previously stated, I’m a sucker for basically anything these guys wanna do, music-wise.
  3. The Decemberists, “We All Go Down Together”: Watched The Suicide Squad over the weekend. Loved the movie, especially the soundtrack, which featured a Decemberists song at one point. Not this one (no, it was “Sucker’s Prayer”), but I love this song regardless.
  4. The Georgia Satellites, “Keep Your Hands To Yourself”: If there’s a better song about waiting until marriage, I haven’t heard it.
  5. Glen Phillips, “Revelator”: Did not realize until quite recently that this is, in fact, a Gillian Welch cover. Live and learn, I guess.
  6. Golden Smog, “Until You Came Along”: I love the harmonies in this song. Love them.
  7. The Grass Roots, “I’d Wait A Million Years”: Every single song I have ever heard by the Grass Roots has been a banger. This one is no different.
  8. Hockey, “Song Away”: I don’t remember where I first heard this song. Probably on a TV show or something. But I dig it.
  9. Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell, “This Must Be The Place”: I’ve said before that I dig it when Sam Beam (the guy from Iron & Wine) collaborates with pretty much anyone. I haven’t ever heard a bad song come from him collaborating, and if he and, say, Calexico wanted to spend the rest of forever working together again and again and again, I would not complain.
  10. The National, “Wake Up Your Saints”: “Wake up your saints, Jenny, I need them,” pleads Matt Berninger. Same, Matt. I could use a saint or two in my corner.

Playlist #28 – The Mansion on O Street

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Back in the day, I used to play on Sundays at a place up in DC called the Mansion on O Street. It’s a neat museum/hotel that features loads of nifty musical keepsakes. I sat in with a band that used it as a practice space on Sundays, having been invited by the flautist/singer of the group. It was loads of fun, and I’m kind of sorry I stopped playing with them after a while (mostly, they wanted to turn it into real rehearsal time, and I wasn’t a member of the band, so…). Anyway, here are some of the songs we used to play there.

  1. Brandi Carlile, “Turpentine”: Having recently re-discovered Brandi Carlile (due in large part to her involvement in the Highwomen), I have to say this song is a fun one to play. As with many of the songs we played, it was an easy one, with just a few chords, but the harmonies in the chorus were always great.
  2. Ethan Hipple and Podunk Road, “Cakewalk”: The other guitar player (who was actually a bass player by inclination and training) sang this one. It’s a fun country blues number.
  3. Bonnie Raitt, “Angel From Montgomery”: A John Prine cover. Beautiful. Another one where the harmonies really came through.
  4. 4 Non Blondes, “What’s Up?”: Like I was gonna put this song in any position other than number four.
  5. Gin Blossoms, “Until I Fall Away”: They were always impressed that I knew all the backing vocals to this song.
  6. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Breakdown”: You know me, I love a Tom Petty tune.
  7. The Animals, “House of the Rising Sun”: I have never been able to sing this one to my own satisfaction. The singer in the band, though, she could do it.
  8. Kate Wolf, “Across the Great Divide”: I prefer the version the band did to this version. This one is too polished and too ’80s-sounding. Our version was better.
  9. Linda Rondstadt, “When Will I Be Loved?”: The country covers band my uncle used to play in played this one every night, so I was pretty damn familiar with it when this group broke out in it and I was able to contribute to backing vocals.
  10. The Mystiqueros, “Good”: The band introduced me to this song, as to so many others. It’s beautiful, in large part due to the backing harmonies, which the band always killed.

Playlist #27

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Good evening! As we roll into November, I have a new playlist full of tasty treats for you.

  1. Drive-By Truckers, “Daddy’s Cup”: When I saw these guys live about 15 years ago, they played this song, and damn if it didn’t blow me away back then. Who knew racing cars could make for compelling family drama?
  2. Yo La Tengo, “Deeper Into Movies”: I always feel like I should listen to these guys more. They’re very good at what they do, and what they do is quite nice.
  3. Wilco, “Handshake Drugs”: I enjoy playing this one on the guitar. It’s only got four chords and two verses, so even my tiny brain can remember it all.
  4. Rockwell, “Somebody’s Watching Me”: One of my freshman students was singing this song the other day. “How do you know that song?” I asked, as she did not strike me as the sort to listen to music that was more than six months old. “TikTok,” she replied, and a little piece of my curmudgeonly heart died.
  5. Bill Withers, “Ain’t No Sunshine”: When he repeats the “I know” over and over and over again, two thoughts run through my mind: (1) he forgot the next line and (2) how did he not pass out?
  6. Bruce Hornsby, “The Great Divide”: This guy writes good songs. I should probably listen to more than just this one and “That’s Just The Way It Is.”
  7. Bush, “Glycerine”: First of all, Bush is pretty terrible. Second, while this isn’t necessarily a good song, it’s at least entertainingly bad.
  8. Carole King, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”: Still one of the best, most underrated songwriters out there. Is there a bad song on Tapestry? No, no there is not.
  9. Charlie Sexton, “Burn”: Charlie Sexton, 80s heartthrob, Dylan guitarist, guy who puts out an album every decade or so. We’re way past due for a new one, Charlie. Let Bob spin his wheels behind a guitar for a few months, go record something for us.
  10. Courtney Barnett, “Pedestrian At Best”: Australian musician who has a wonderful off-the-cuff, relaxed lyrical style that I enjoy listening to, even if her voice is an acquired taste (and one the Wife has yet to acquire).

Playlist #26 – Spooooooky Tunes

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Happy Monday, folks! As you probably known, this coming Sunday is Halloween, so for this week’s playlist I’ve put together songs from (mostly) 90s horror and Halloweenish movie soundtracks! I mostly wanted an excuse to put Toad the Wet Sprocket’s cover of “Hey Bulldog” on a playlist.

  1. Toad the Wet Sprocket, “Hey Bulldog”: From the I Know What You Did Last Summer soundtrack. Who doesn’t love a good Beatles cover?
  2. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “Red Right Hand”: From the Scream soundtrack. Who doesn’t love a song about the devil?
  3. D Generation, “Helpless”: From The Faculty soundtrack. This was the band Jesse Malin was in before he went solo. They’re very punk and snarly and sneering. It’s fun, but it’s not a Neil Young cover.
  4. Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble, “Willie the Wimp (And His Cadillac Coffin)”: From the From Dusk Till Dawn soundtrack. Vampires and Texas electric blues go together better than you’d think.
  5. Nine Inch Nails, “Dead Souls”: From The Crow soundtrack. Part of the impetus for this playlist was just a glut of fantastic 90s soundtracks. This one is more specific than it could’ve been, since I could have added stuff from Empire Records, or Reality Bites, or any other seminal Gen-X soundtrack.
  6. Stabbing Westward, “Torn Apart”: From the Spawn soundtrack. Y’know what’s super-nineties? Spawn. Like, the comic, the movie, the whole thing. So 90s.
  7. Danny Elfman, “What’s This?”: From The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. It’s classic Danny Elfman from a movie that, I’m ashamed to admit, I’ve never actually seen.
  8. Roger Daltrey, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”: From The Lost Boys soundtrack. Now, this one is a bit of a cheat, since The Lost Boys came out in 1987, but it’s Roger Daltrey and it’s my playlist, so deal with it.
  9. The Wallflowers, “Heroes”: From the Godzilla soundtrack. Soundtracks in the 90s were often an opportunity for a band to play cover songs. This isn’t the best David Bowie cover out there, but it is pretty solid.
  10. Heather Nova, “I Have The Touch”: From The Craft soundtrack. Who doesn’t love a Peter Gabriel cover? No one, that’s who.

Playlist #25

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Happy Monday, folks. Here’s a new set of tunes to carry you through the week:

  1. Ben Caplan, “Southbound”: My friend Brandon got me into this guy a while back. It’s a weird mish-mash of folk, singer-songwriter, and klezmer music, and it oddly works.
  2. Ben Harper & the Blind Boys of Alabama, “Well, Well, Well”: I’m a sucker for Gospel-inflected harmonies, and the Blind Boys of Alabama (all of whom are, quite literally, blind old dudes) do it better than anyone else. And it’s a Dylan tune, too.
  3. Taylor Swift, “exile (feat. Bon Iver)”: A “he said/she said” song featuring the guy from Bon Iver. It’s pretty damn good.
  4. Zager & Evans, “In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)”: Fantasy space opera nonsense about the far-flung year 2525. Futurama used it to great effect in one of their time traveling episodes.
  5. Young Dubliners, “Last House On The Street”: My uncle’s band, the Regular Joes, used to play this song at shows. I always enjoyed hearing them play it, and I finally tracked down the (tremendously hard to find) EP that it’s on and listen to…well, pretty much just that song over and over again.
  6. Stephen Stills, “Wooden Ships (Demo)”: I love this demo. If they’d released the demo as the finished version of the song, I think it would’ve been one of the best studio tracks ever.
  7. Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, “No Diggity (feat. Ariana Savalas)”: I dig me some ’40s-style, and I dig me the song “No Diggity.” Putting them together? *chef’s kiss*
  8. Robert Randolph & The Family Band, “Why Should I Feel Lonely”: If you ever wanna hear a guy just absolutely go to town on pedal steel guitar, Robert Randolph is your man.
  9. The Police, “Canary In A Coalmine”: There’s really not a bad song on Zenyatta Mondatta, is there? No, there is not.
  10. Jennifer Paige, “Crush”: For years, there was a song that came out back in like summer of ’98 that I heard on the radio over and over again that summer, and then…I forgot about it. And then I tried to find it again for years. I think this is it? I’m pretty sure this is it. It’s a great little pop song.

Playlist #24: Dance Dance Revolution

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Happy Monday morning and Happy Indigenous Persons Day! Today, I feel like dancing.

  1. Elliott Smith, “XO (Waltz #2)”: “Here it is, the revenge to the tune/You’re no good” is just one of the best lines ever.
  2. Bruce Springsteen, “Dancing In The Dark”: Who doesn’t want to drag Courtney Cox up onto stage to dance with the Boss?
  3. ABBA, “Dancing Queen”: Oddly enough, not the first song I thought of when I came up with this theme.
  4. Frank Turner, “Four Simple Words”: This is the song that inspired the playlist. “I want to dance/I want to dance/I want lust and love and a smattering of romance/But I’m no good at dancing/But I have to do something.” C’mon, that’s a great chorus.
  5. Van Morrison, “Moondance”: Van has gotten progressively weirder and more irascible as he’s aged, but this song (and the whole album of the same name) remains solid gold.
  6. jeremy messersmith, “It’s Only Dancing”: Dude decided a couple of years ago to decenter his ego by no longer capitalizing his name, which…that’s not how proper nouns work, Jer. That’s not how they work at all. Still a good song, though.
  7. John Mellencamp, “Dance Naked”: Excellent advice, as long as nobody’s watching.
  8. Dire Straits, “Walk Of Life”: I’m pretty sure the walk of life is a dance. If it isn’t, it ought to be.
  9. Calexico, “Sunken Waltz”: Any excuse to include a Calexico song on a playlist is fine by me.
  10. Tom Waits, “Tom Traubert’s Blues”: Included due to the “Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda/You’ll go waltzing Matilda with me” in the chorus. It’s sad and sweet and touching and heartbreaking all at once.

Playlist #23 – The All Bob Dylan Playlist

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A new volume of the long-running Bootleg Series came out recently, which means I found myself digging into some new-to-me Dylan music over the weekend. My poor wife, bless her, does not care much for mid-80s Bob Dylan (it is an acquired taste), and got really upset with me when she thought I was about to subject her to it yesterday (I wasn’t, in fact, because I know it’s not her thing and I’m not a complete asshole). But it did inspire me to create this week’s playlist, which is full of lesser-known Dylan songs that I really like. These are by no means unknown songs; I’m sure several of you will recognize several of these right off the bat. But they’re not usually going to appear on any best of or greatest hits collection.

  1. “Girl From the North Country (Featuring Johnny Cash)”: Yes, Cash screws up and sings the wrong verse as the second verse, and yes, Dylan does that weird Nashville croon thing that he did for a while in the late 60s and early 70s. But this is still just a gorgeous read on this song.
  2. “Blind Willie McTell”: The latest Bootleg Series features a full-band workup of this song, and while it’s a neat treat to hear, I still prefer this stripped-down, piano-and-acoustic-guitar-only version from Volume 3 of the Bootleg Series. It plays up the melodic relationship to “St. James Infirmary” more (by which I mean it’s just “St. James Infirmary” with different words), and Mark Knopfler’s guitar work is just beautiful.
  3. “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”: I’ve enjoyed playing this one on guitar for years (there’s even an old Youtube video of me doing it, if you’re so inclined), and the last verse, with its “I’m going back to New York City/I do believe I’ve had enough” just gets me every time.
  4. “Isis”: Yes, the name is problematic these days, but back when this song was written (for 1976’s Desire), that organization didn’t exist yet. It’s a story of grave robbery, revenge, and love.
  5. “Dead Man, Dead Man”: From the much-maligned “born again” series of albums in the late 70s/early 80s. This one’s a banger, if you ask me.
  6. “Up To Me”: From Biograph. It’s an interesting story song, though I still think I prefer the Roger McGuinn cover to the original.
  7. “Corrina, Corrina”: A subtle song from Dylan off of Freewheelin’. Yeah, I know Dylan’s usually about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but he manages to pull it off on this one. I like the faint drum and bass backing.
  8. “When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky”: Empire Burlesque suffers from 80s overproduction, but this song actually makes it work. The over-processed drum and the synthy horn section really work for me.
  9. “Song To Woody”: From his debut self-titled album. One of Dylan’s earliest originals, and still a sad, heartbreaking song.
  10. “Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)”: I love this song primarily for the guitar solo at the end. Whoever’s playing lead on this one just tears it up.

Playlist #22

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Happy Monday, folks. Have a list of songs.

  1. Jay Farrar, “Feel Free”: For years, I thought NPR stood for “Non-Profit Radio.” It made sense, right? That is not what it stands for, by the by.
  2. The Gaslight Anthem, “Mama’s Boys”: The most Rolling Stones-iest song they ever recorded. It’s fun to sing along at the top of your lungs as you drive way too fast down the road.
  3. Ra Ra Riot, “Ghost Under Rocks”: I don’t even remember how it is I came to know about this band, but I’ve always liked the promise of this song (even if I haven’t cared as much for the rest of their output).
  4. Lil Nas X, “THATS WHAT I WANT”: First off, can we discuss the lack of an apostrophe in the title? That always annoys me. Grammar aside, the song slaps.
  5. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (Featuring John Paul White), “Driver 8”: Did you know the REM song “Driver 8” had discernable lyrics hidden within it? And that they’re about a train driver? True story.
  6. ABBA, “Waterloo”: I’m a sucker for songs about historical subjects, and this is the second-best song about the Napoleonic Wars ever (the best is the 1812 Overture).
  7. The Mountain Goats, “Get Famous”: The continued prominence of the Mountain Goats gives me hope that even someone with a voice like mine could someday make it.
  8. George Harrison, “Cheer Down”: Not enough has been written about the wordplay and wry humor of George Harrison’s songwriting. This song is a great example of all that, and the guitar work is killer.
  9. Rhett Miller, “The El”: The way I found out about the Old 97s was by hearing this album by Rhett Miller first. Then I found Too Far To Care and it was all downhill from there for me.
  10. Gillian Welch, “Revelator”: So damn downbeat and depressing, melancholy and bittersweet and beautiful. So beautiful.

Playlist #21 – So Tired Edition

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As with so many other people my age (or just anyone who is living through these interesting times), I feel like I’m constantly tired. Here’s a list of songs to wake you up.

  1. The Beatles, “I’m So Tired”: My theme song for this week. This month. This year. This…decade, probably? God, was there ever a time I wasn’t tired?
  2. The Pretenders, “I Go To Sleep”: Wouldn’t it be lovely to just drift off to sleep right now? I think it would be.
  3. The Beastie Boys, “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”: NO! SLEEP! TILL BROOKLYN!
  4. The Barenaked Ladies, “Who Needs Sleep?”: The jauntiest song about insomnia ever.
  5. The Wallflowers, “Asleep At The Wheel”: For years, the Wife was always concerned I’d fall asleep while driving. She probably still worries about it, she just doesn’t bring it up anymore.
  6. Billy Bragg and Wilco, “California Stars”: Much as Woody Guthrie said, I’d like to lay my weary bones down. Not necessarily on a bed of California stars, but a regular bed, maybe? Yeah, a regular bed would be just fine.
  7. Hem, “I’ll Dream Of You Tonight”: I don’t often remember my dreams, which is probably a blessing since the ones I do remember are usually not at all pleasant. This is possibly something I should discuss with my therapist.
  8. Iron & Wine and Calexico, “Burn That Broken Bed”: I mean, if the bed is broken, you could just leave it out by the dumpster or something. Burning it seems extreme, guys.
  9. Josh Ritter, “Can’t Go To Sleep (Without You)”: Though I do not fault her for this at all, the Wife and I usually go to bed at vastly different times, and I frequently struggle to sleep until she is in bed. Dunno why.
  10. Cake, “When You Sleep”: Is this song about masturbation? I think this song might be about masturbation while you’re asleep, which is an impressive skill, I guess? I don’t know, I’m tired.

Playlist #20

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The school year is settling in (except for my freshmen, maybe), so here’s some tunes to cruise into mid-September to.

  1. Fleetwood Mac, “Tusk”: I love the drums on this one. The high school marching band that joins in halfway through is also pretty neat.
  2. Frank Turner, “Get Better”: “I’m trying to get better ’cause I haven’t been my best,” Turner sings, and damn if I don’t feel that most days.
  3. U2, “Hawkmoon 269”: Just what the heck is a hawkmoon, anyway? My Google-Fu is useless, at least since Destiny 2 released an exotic gun of the same name.
  4. Tom Waits, “(Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night”: I’m a sucker for any song title that starts with parentheses. And this song is just sad and sweet and gets me every time.
  5. Sublime, “What I Got”: I dare you not to sing along. You can’t not sing along.
  6. Walk the Moon, “Shut Up And Dance”: My niece likes this song. I think it’s pretty catchy, to the point that I find myself occasionally listening to it even when she’s not around (and sometimes putting it on a playlist, like this one).
  7. Elvis Costello & the Attractions, “Pump It Up”: It’s got a very insistent bassline and drumbeat that just gets into your brain and won’t let go.
  8. The Horrible Crowes, “Behold The Hurricane”: Brian Fallon just writes such catchy songs.
  9. Iron & Wine, “Claim Your Ghost”: Speaking of songs that are sad and sweet…
  10. The Jayhawks, “I’d Run Away”: The harmonies these guys got up to just send shivers down my spine.