Playlist #139: Boxing Day

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Tuesday! Of course I didn’t post a playlist yesterday, it was Christmas. I was eating my own weight in ravioli. But today is Boxing Day, and since I can never let a day where I can purposefully misunderstand the purpose of the day for a giggle, here’s a list of boxing-themed songs for this week’s playlist, the last of 2023!

  1. Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”: You knew this was going to be the first, most obvious song on this list, right? Of course you did.
  2. Mark Knopfler, “Song For Sonny Liston”: A biographical look at the life of boxer Sonny Liston.
  3. The Gaslight Anthem, “Boxer”: I’m not really sure what this song has to do with boxing or being a boxer, but the chorus does include the line, “Remember when I knew a boxer, baby.” So there’s that.
  4. Bruce Springsteen, “The Hitter”: Bruce takes a look at an aging, worn-out fighter.
  5. The Extra Lens, “Cruiserweights”: John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats is apparently so engaged with the sport of boxing that he formed a second group, the Extra Lens, that recorded an entire album about a boxer.
  6. Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger”: It would have been very easy to just make this playlist all songs from the Rocky movies. Don’t think I didn’t think about it.
  7. Rush, “Cinderella Man”: A song about a man trying to achieve his dream against staggering odds and prog rock.
  8. Rachel Platten, “Fight Song”: Isn’t boxing just fighting with rules? I’m pretty sure it’s just fighting with rules.
  9. Ben Folds Five, “Boxing”: Apparently this song is designed to be an imagined conversation between Muhammad Ali and Howard Cossel, the sportscaster, who apparently made his name commentating on boxing matches.
  10. The Boxer Rebellion, “Spitting Fire”: The Boxer Rebellion was a fight between a small group of Chinese kung fu experts (called the Order of the Holy Fist, or “Boxers”) and the English, all about opium. It…didn’t go well for the Boxers.

Playlist #138

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy first Monday of Winter Break! We’re cozy, the cat is crazy, and I’ve got a new playlist for ya.

  1. Josiah and the Bonnevilles, “Anti-Hero (Country Version)”: It’s a Taylor Swift cover! Who doesn’t love one of those? This one is mostly acoustic with some nice harmonies.
  2. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, “Look What You’ve Done To Your Brother”: The band cuts loose and rocks out hard on this one.
  3. Dawes, “That Western Skyline”: I love the harmonies on this one. It’s such a great song. Such a shame that they never did anything near as good as this song. It’s a hell of a way to kick off your first album, though.
  4. The Horrible Crowes, “Sugar”: It’s always interesting to hear Brian Fallon singing in a lower register.
  5. The Minus 5, “I Don’t Want To F**k Off Anymore”: I love the banjo in this song, and also the dark humor of the whole thing.
  6. Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, “Rude”: The best version of this song that there is.
  7. Blind Lemon Jefferson, “Match Box Blues”: See previous statement.
  8. Billy Preston, “Nothing From Nothing”: Billy Preston maybe isn’t known for his solo work, but damn maybe he should be.
  9. Counting Crows, “A Long December”: I always like listening to this song this time of year. Puts me in a reflective frame of mind.
  10. James McMurtry, “Choctaw Bingo”: This song is always so much fun.

Best Albums of 2023

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Ignore all of those other best-of lists you’ve seen around. This ain’t those. It is, however, my ten favorite albums from this year.

It was a tricky list to put together, if for no other reason than the fact that my sense of time has gotten all out of whack over the past few years. “Wasn’t that new Wallflowers album from early this year? Wait, it was 2021? What?” Or, “Oh, that new Taylor Swift album – not one of the re-records – was…no, that was last year. Damn.” I kinda had to scrabble around to find 10 albums I really liked.

And it shouldn’t have been that hard! Both the National and Josh Ritter had new albums out this year. Those are usually shoo-ins. But this year…eh. Neither of them really wowed me.

Anyway, here are ten albums that did wow me, in no particular order.

  1. boygenius, the record: I kinda low-key love this album. Three brilliant musicians coming together and just showing everyone how it ought to be done.
  2. Peter Gabriel, i/o: If an album takes twenty years to complete and comes out in not one, not two, but three slightly different mixes, you’d be understandably trepidatious about the album. But no, it’s really damn good. It’s vital and deep and rewards relistens.
  3. Wilco, Cousins: While not as essential as their best work, it’s more cohesive and concise than last year’s Cruel Country. Good, but also kinda forgettable.
  4. The Gaslight Anthem, History Books: A damn sight better than their last album, Get Hurt. It’s energetic and loud and exciting.
  5. Slowdive, everything is alive: I’m not usually one for shoegaze, but these songs are great. It’s slow and pensive and gets under your skin.
  6. New Pornographers, Continue as a Guest: I love the band, I hate the name. That will always be the case. But with A.C. Newman and Neko Case on the roster, you know the songs are going to be good and the vocals are going to be stellar. And they are.
  7. M. Ward, supernatural thing: M. Ward just cranks out good stuff whenever he decides to drop into the recording studio. Nothing spectacular or mind-altering, just really good songs that you can listen to over and over again.
  8. Noah Kahan, Stick Season: Vermont Hozier, as he’s apparently known, puts out some somber, low-key songs that stick to your brain and just burrow in.
  9. The Mountain Goats, Jenny From Thebes: I love me some Mountain Goats. This one is heavier on the piano and keyboards than previous entries, and the usage of horn sections and strings (freakin’ strings! On a Mountain Goats record!) add some new flair and textures to the always-excellent songwriting.
  10. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Weathervanes: I know I said this list isn’t in any particular order, but this is my absolute favorite album of the year. The more I listen to the work of Jason Isbell, the more I’m convinced he’s the best songwriter of the current generation. He creates characters and situations full of anger, fear, distrust, love, longing, a sense of loneliness, isolation, and rising above it all. All in a single record. Soaring choruses, thoughtful verses, and a band that is as simpatico as humanly possible just makes this one of the best records out there.

Playlist #137: Weather, Frightful, Etc.

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday, folks! It’s the last week before Winter Break, so it’s time for a Holiday-themed playlist! I promise there’s no Wham! on here. I’m not a monster.

  1. Paul McCartney, “Wonderful Christmastime”: Okay, I’m a little bit of a monster.
  2. Darlene Love, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”: Simply the best Christmas song ever written. I will hear no arguments.
  3. The Beach Boys, “Little Saint Nick”: Beach Boys harmonies just sound better when they’re telling reindeer to run.
  4. Bing Crosby, “Winter Wonderland”: I’m not against old-fashioned Christmas songs. I like a lot of ’em. Bing Crosby’s stuff is always a swingin’ good time, for instance.
  5. Elton John, “Step Into Christmas”: I’ve never fully understood the premise of this song. Is Christmas a physical location into which one can step? What are the boundaries of Christmas? Enquiring minds want to know.
  6. Robert Earl Keen, “Merry Christmas From the Family”: REK takes a slightly more cynical approach to the holidays than a lot of these others, but it’s still a good time to get together with family members and drink lots of spiked eggnog.
  7. Gayla Peevey, “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas”: Who doesn’t, honestly? They’re way cooler than a puppy and they can eat a watermelon whole.
  8. Ringo Starr, “Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On”: If there’s one Beatle who seems well-suited to singing Christmas songs, which are inherently kinda cheesy and goofy, it’s the dude who sang “Yellow Submarine” and “Octopus’s Garden.”
  9. Frank Sinatra, “Mistletoe and Holly”: Another holiday classic, I think we can all agree.
  10. Chuck Berry, “Run Rudolph Run”: You need more Chuck Berry in your life, admit it.

Playlist #136

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday, folks! It’s time for a brand-spankin’-new playlist for your ears’ enjoyment!

  1. Silverchair, “Tomorrow”: I never really listened to these guys back in the day. They were still in high school when they got signed. High school! Back in high school, I was worried about pimples and whether or not my girlfriend would leave me, not signing record contracts and going out on tour.
  2. Peter Gabriel, “Olive Tree”: When an artist takes twenty years to record an album, then releases it with at leas three different mixes, it’s usually a bad sign. This album is an exception to that sort of thinking. Gabriel has put together a beautiful, thoughtful, and touching set of songs. “Olive Tree” is a standout, but honestly I could have put virtually any song from this album in this spot and said the same thing. It’s just so damn good.
  3. Gorillaz, “Tomorrow Comes Today”: Heard it as an interstitial on NPR this morning, and now it won’t stop playing in my head. So you get to hear it, too.
  4. Drive-By Truckers, “Used To Be A Cop”: These folks are such good storytellers. You almost manage to feel sorry for an ex-cop who got kicked off the force for…reasons.
  5. XTC, “The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead”: I have an unabashed, non-ironic love for XTC. They just made such fun, joyful music. It’s fantastic. This song is fantastic. Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding deserve better.
  6. Michael Penn, “No Myth”: This dude just always amazes me with his way with a melody or a lyric. He’s great. This song is peak ’80s but also great.
  7. Sting, “All This Time”: One of my favorite lines of all time came from this song: “Men go crazy in congregations/They only get better one by one.”
  8. Norah Jones, “The Long Way Home”: Who doesn’t love a Tom Waits cover? No one. No one doesn’t love a Tom Waits cover.
  9. Mark Knopfler, “We Can Get Wild”: This man just struggles to write a bad song, y’know? Yeah, they’re out there, but they’re few and far between. He just crafts with such a high level of skill and thought that even his bad songs have something interesting going on in them.
  10. James McMurtry, “Just Us Kids”: This guy tells fun stories about losers and folks who think they’re winning, even if only in their surface thoughts.

Playlist #135

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Cyber Monday, folks! That’s the Monday after Thanksgiving where everyone buys all their cybers for the coming year. I suppose you could buy one of my books if you were so inclined. Or you can order a CD directly from me! Anyway, here’s a new playlist for ya!

  1. Blind Melon, “No Rain”: Best video featuring a girl dressed in a bee costume you will ever see.
  2. Jason Isbell, “Relatively Easy”: The more I hear songs by this guy, the more I love him. The more I listen to particular songs by him, the more I’m convinced he’s probably one of this generation’s best songwriters.
  3. Adeem the Artist, “Dirt Bike”: Adeem the Artist has found ways to distill youth and youthful energy into each one of their songs and make it sound humble, playful, innocent, and nostalgic. It’s a good skill to have.
  4. Natalie Layne, “Grateful For (Piano Version)”: I didn’t realize this musician was a Christian ArtistTM until I had already downloaded the song. It’s a good song despite this fact? I dunno. Listen and judge for yourself.
  5. Iron & Wine, “Judgement”: Speaking of judgement…
  6. Gin Blossoms, “Just South of Nowhere”: Why do I like this song so much? Is it because it feels very much like a late-night drive where things are just starting to go off the rails and there’s very little you can do other than hold on and pray for dawn? Probably.
  7. Andrew Bird, “Frogs Singing”: I just love the harmonies and the rhythm of this one.
  8. The Avett Brothers, “Will You Return?”: Every time my wife hears them count in at the beginning of this song, she gets so excited that it’ll be OutKast’s “Hey Ya,” and every time she is disappointed.
  9. David Gray, “What Am I Doing Wrong?”: Sell, Sell, Sell is still the peak of early David Gray. I will not be taking any questions at this time.
  10. Pearl Jam, “Porch”: It’s hard to tell with Eddie Vedder’s singing what the actual lyrics are to any given song, but I don’t think this song mentions porches or sitting on them or even standing on them even once. Just a real missed opportunity, that.

Playlist #134

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving Week, everyone! Well, to everyone except those of you who don’t have to go to work this week. You guys suck.

  1. Iron & Wine, “About A Bruise”: Started listening to the live album Who Can See Forever this morning, and it’s pretty damn solid. The version of “About A Bruise” from that one is excellent, but so is the the original studio recording from Beast Epic, which I’ve included here.
  2. Elvis Costello, “Blame It On Cain”: We seem to forget, because he just seems like an amiable old fart nowadays, but Costello was a firebrand and a troublemaker back in the day, and this song is a good reminder of that.
  3. Dolly Parton, “Long As I Can See The Light (Featuring John Fogerty)”: Dolly finally released her long-threatened rock’n’roll album, Rockstar. It’s alright. There are some great tracks on there (like this one and her rendition of “Purple Rain”), though most of it feels too slick and over-produced for my tastes.
  4. Them, “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”: Who doesn’t love a Bob Dylan cover first thing in the morning? Nazis, that’s who.
  5. Thom Yorke, “And It Rained All Night”: Thom Yorke’s first solo album, The Eraser, is weird. It’s all electronic squiggles and squelches and super-processed drum loops and for some reason I can’t stop listening to this particular track from it.
  6. Townes Van Zandt, “Racing In The Streets”: I always like hearing Townes interpret someone else’s song. This Bruce Springsteen cover is a good example of why.
  7. XTC, “Senses Working Overtime”: I just love the transitions between verse and chorus on this song.
  8. Leo Sayer, “More Than I Can Say”: 70s soft rock called, and it said, “Whoa, whoa, yay, yay.”
  9. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, “Everything Is Broken”: Two Dylan covers on one playlist? Is he mad? Doesn’t he know what horrors that might unleash?
  10. Kendrick Lamar, “DNA.”: This one is just on here to throw you off at the end of the playlist and get you ready for your racist uncle at Thanksgiving Dinner telling you everything was better before they came to the US.

Playlist #133

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday, folks! We’re closing in on Thanksgiving Break, a time when I won’t have to go to school for several days straight and will most likely wreck my sleep schedule. But so it goes! Here’s this week’s playlist for your listening pleasure.

  1. Noah Kahan and Hozier, “Northern Attitude”: So I was reading a thing that talked about Noah Kahan and referred to him as “Vermont Hozier,” and that piqued by interest. His style is different than Hozier’s, more earthy and folky. But I’m down with that. This is a duet he did with Hozier.
  2. Brian Fallon, “Forget Me Not”: I just love the way he shouts “Stacy!” at the beginning of each verse. Cracks me up every time.
  3. The Smashing Pumpkins, “Today”: I can only handle Billy Corrigan’s singing voice in small doses, but this song ain’t so bad.
  4. Iron & Wine, “Call It Dreaming”: The outro to this song reminds me very much of the Elton John song “Levon” for reasons I cannot really explain.
  5. Jackson Browne, “Downhill From Everywhere”: It’s a song about saving the oceans.
  6. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “A Thing About You”: I just love the energy of this song, and the guitar solo is one of the more raucous ones ever committed to Heartbreakers tape.
  7. Waxahatchee, “Sparks Fly”: I like how deceptively simple their songs are. There’s more detail and intricacy to them than it appears at first listen.
  8. Wilco, “I Might”: I feel like The Whole Love is an underrated Wilco album, if such things even exist. It’s not the first one I’ll reach for when I’m in a Wilco mood, but it’s definitely in the top five or six.
  9. Tom Waits, “16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought Six”: “Gonna whittle you into kindlin'” is just such a baller line.
  10. Sturgill Simpson, “Keep It Between The Lines”: I’ve liked everything I’ve ever heard by this guy, but A Sailor’s Guide to Earth is still his best, I think.

Playlist #132

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy beginning of November, folks! The days are shorter, the nights are longer, and the sun sets at 5:00 now. These tunes ought to keep you going through the darkness, though.

  1. Golden Earring, “Twilight Zone”: I guess I’d never really thought much about the chorus to this song, but holy crap did I apparently not know, like, any of it. “It’s just like steppin’ into the Twilight Zone/This is a madhouse, feels like bein’ cloned/My beacon’s been moved under moon and star/Where am I to go now that I’ve gone too far?” Like, I had never in my life parsed even half of those lyrics. This song is just wild, man.
  2. The Beatles, “Now And Then”: Anyone with even a passing interest in my writings or who I am as a person knows that the Beatles are my all-time favorite band. Sure, it’s a cliché, but when your father is a Boomer, you have to expect things like this. And this is billed as the “final” Beatles song. Well, the last one made featuring original work from all four Beatles, I’m sure. And it’s not bad! Like “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love,” it was made using an old demo Lennon made that the other three built around, but they had to use Peter Jackson’s AI unmixer to isolate Lennon’s vocals on the track. The result is that he comes through real clear, more so than on the two Anthology songs. Is it the best Beatles song? No, far from it. Is it still pretty damn good? Yes.
  3. The Rolling Stones, “Bite My Head Off”: Everything old is new again. The Stones put out a new album (only their second or so of the 21st century?), and it’s not bad. It’s not essential, but they left that behind decades ago and are mostly coasting on cool factor now. And that’s okay. If I were in the Rolling Stones, I’d be coasting by on having written some of the best damn rock’n’roll songs of all time, too, by the time I hit my 80s. Not working on new material. This one features Paul and Ringo from the Beatles, even! Pauls’ bass riff at the end is nasty stuff, and I love it.
  4. P!nk, “Who Knew”: Why does she spell her name with an exclamation point? I have no answer. But I kinda dig this song anyway.
  5. Semisonic, “Only Empathy”: Semisonic always hits a bright, warm spot in my heart, and their new album positively glows with energy and love. I particularly like this song.
  6. Tom Petty, “There Goes Angela (Dream Away)”: I always have a place in my heart for Tom Petty music, especially from the Wildflowers/She’s the One era. This particular demo/home recording is simple and gorgeous.
  7. Josh Ritter, “Getting Ready To Get Down”: If I understand the lyrics to this one correctly (and I’ll be the first to admit that my literary analysis skills have waned over the years), I’m pretty sure this is the story of a young woman who discovers she’s a lesbian, gets sent to Bible college, and comes back even more lesbian. Hey, even some of those “little Bible college[s] in Missouri” will teach you something about the world if you’re not careful!
  8. Cory Branan, “When In Rome, When In Memphis”: I absolutely love the chorus and coda to this song. “When I go, I ghost” is just a great lyric.
  9. The National, “Wake Up Your Saints”: High Violet is still the best the National album and even its outtakes and bonus tracks prove that.
  10. Bob Dylan, “False Prophet”: For a while there, I was concerned that Dylan had lost a step or two. I mean, I get one album of Sinatra covers, but three? And one of them was a freakin’ triple album? That seems excessive. But Rough and Rowdy Ways was a fun album full of the Dylan lyricism and in-jokes I’ve come to expect from the man, and I just have to stand in awe that even as he eases into his 80s he’s still releasing exciting and interesting new stuff. The Stones could probably take a tip or two.

Playlist #131: My Alternative Heart

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday, folks! Or as I like to call it, “Dear God, why did I think owning that many books was a good idea?” Moving is hard, y’all. But hey, I have a new book coming out Wednesday, and a new playlist featuring some great songs from the ’90s for you today, so it can’t be all bad, right?

  1. Eve 6, “Inside Out”: These guys were apparently barely out of high school when they recorded this album. Their Twitter feed is still pretty damn solid to this day.
  2. Better Than Ezra, “Desperately Wanting”: Still really digging on this song and it’s still a helluva lot of fun to play.
  3. Bush, “Everything Zen”: Why is this song so long? Why did it need to keep going on and on? I think that everything time I listen to the song. “Oh, it’s still happening? I thought this song would’ve been over after the first two and a half minutes.” But no. It goes on for a full four and a half minutes. Unbelievable.
  4. The Cranberries, “Zombie”: Still just one of the best anti-war songs I’ve ever heard.
  5. Everclear, “I Will Buy You A New Life”: I will maintain for the rest of my days that this guy just needs therapy rather than to write another song about how daddy didn’t love him or he was poor or whatever.
  6. Foo Fighters, “Monkey Wrench”: Nothing really gets your blood pumping like a Foo Fighters song.
  7. Gin Blossoms, “Found Out About You”: For the life of me, I will never understand how I did not instantly grasp this band with both hands when their first album came out. Why I waited until nearly three decades later to even begin to appreciate their stuff is a question for the ages.
  8. Semisonic, “California”: My wife said, “Oh, I’d forgotten they did this song.” I sang along to the course, with the weird (and weirdly unnecessary) pronunciation of “Californ-i-uh.”
  9. Spacehog, “In The Meantime”: Can we stop for a second and talk about how this band’s name is basically “Intergalactic Penis?” Because that is all I can ever think of when I see their name.
  10. Primitive Radio Gods, “Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand”: And the award for most awkward song title goes to…