Playlist #84: Covers!

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Happy Monday! It’s December now, somehow, and as usual I have a new playlist for you. But this one is all cover songs!

  1. The National, “Ashamed Of The Story I Told”: They don’t even really change all that much about the song, except the drum pattern is completely different and it somehow manages to totally change the feel and nature of the song.
  2. Johnny Cash, “Hurt”: It’s downbeat, somber, and a little harrowing. It’s also one of those covers that I would argue is better than the original.
  3. Old 97s, “Mama Tried”: The original Merle Haggard version is damn good (as are most Merle Haggard songs), but this one has the slightest edge on it, I think.
  4. The Byrds, “My Back Pages”: The Byrds could have easily just been a Bob Dylan cover band and I’d have been happy with that. They manage to transform every single Dylan tune they cover into a jangly, poppy slice of ’60s joy.
  5. Pomplamoose, “Maneater”: Watch out, boys, she’ll break your heart, huh? I’m more concerned with being eaten, personally.
  6. Spoon, “Held”: I just love the grit and thump of this song. So good.
  7. The Dirty Knobs, “Rumble”: Mike Campbell (formerly of the Heartbreakers) and some buddies got together to form this band, and they covered Link Wray’s ode to distortion and fuzz here. I love everything about the story of how this song got created, from Wray punching holes in his amplifier’s speaker with a pencil to radio stations refusing to play it because they thought it might incite juvenile delinquency.
  8. Jesse Malin, “You Can Make Them Like You”: Malin has been using this Hold Steady track as his closer for years, usually just him and an acoustic guitar. It’s pretty great.
  9. Tom Waits, “The Return of Jackie And Judy”: The Ramones were pretty ballsy. Case in point: they reference the two main characters in this song going to a Ramones show in the song. The chutzpah.
  10. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “I Put A Spell On You”: Fogerty and Co. had a good ear for an excellent cover song, and this rendition of the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic is no exception.

Playlist #83

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Happy post-Thanksgiving Monday, folks. I know we’re all still waking up from the Turkey Coma and preparing to buy all the things (it is Cyber Monday, after all), but in the meantime I whipped up a new playlist for your aural enjoyment.

  1. Neil Young, “Rockin’ in the Free World”: The anti-consumerism, anti-capitalism of the song – especially the video – just hits the exact right spot for late-80s Neil.
  2. Arlo Guthrie, “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”: Is there a more famous song about an event that sorta, kinda, maybe sorta actually happened? It’s one of the best shaggy dog stories ever.
  3. Stephen Stills, “Wooden Ships”: I love this solo acoustic version of the song. It’s just gorgeous.
  4. Tom Waits, “I’ll Be Gone”: “Tonight I’ll shave the mountain,” Tom begins, and it just gets weirder from there. But it’s a Tom Waits song, what did you expect?
  5. The Gaslight Anthem, “Boxer”: “You’ve got your pride and your prose/Tucked just like a Tommy gun,” the song begins, and I have a little point of contention to raise with Brian Fallon: who, exactly, tucks a Tommy gun under their arm or their jacket or wherever? Are Tommy guns really that common anymore? I wouldn’t think they are.
  6. Soul Coughing, “True Dreams of Wichita”: One of my favorite songs ever. Can’t really explain why.
  7. Jackson Browne, “Fountain of Sorrow”: No one writes a sad, bittersweet song like Jackson Browne. No one.
  8. The National, “Lucky You”: In my mind, this is the song where the National became the National. It’s the final track on their second record, Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers, and it perfectly encapsulates what (especially early) the National was all about.
  9. Peter Gabriel, “San Jacinto”: I can’t explain what it is about this song that appeals to me. It’s probably the build to the end and the refrain of “I hold the line.”
  10. Pink Floyd, “Wish You Were Here”: Early last week, we sat and watched a series of videos on the Polyphonic Youtube page about most of the songs off the Wish You Were Here album. They’re the reason we listened to the album on our way to Ohio Wednesday. It still reigns as one of the best albums ever, and this song is the keystone to the whole thing. Everything else revolves around this one track, either building to it or coming back down from its height.

Playlist #82: Give Thanks!

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Happy Monday, everyone! It’s a short week here, as Thanksgiving is this Thursday. A two-day work week? How will I ever survive? With a new, Thanksgiving-inspired playlist, that’s how!

  1. Neil Young, “Harvest Moon”: What is Thanksgiving if not a harvest festival? One without sacrifice to the harvest gods, that’s what. And you can’t tell me that’s right. The old gods grow hungry and angry. Hangry old gods. Don’t ignore them this year, I beg you.
  2. Alanis Morissette, “Thank U”: I’m not 100% sure why Alanis is thanking India and disillusionment, or quite what she’s thanking them for, exactly, but it’s a good song anyway.
  3. Wilco, “The Thanks I Get”: Yeah, this one was just featured a few weeks ago on another one of my playlists. It still slaps. What else do you want?
  4. Dido, “Thank You”: Remember when this song was everywhere for, like, a month in 1999? Man, turn of the millennium was a weird time. We were all pretty sure society itself was gonna collapse when January 1, 2000 rolled around, so we just listened to damn-near anything.
  5. Glen Phillips, “Thankful”: I always really enjoy Glen Phillips songs. They’re quirky and catchy and I just really dig them, okay?
  6. John Mellencamp, “Thank You”: I was listening to Mellencamp for most of the weekend (the newly-released extended version of Scarecrow, which is alright), so it only seemed appropriate to include one of his tunes on this list. Thematically appropriate, too.
  7. The National, “Sailors In Your Mouth”: It’s a Thanksgiving song, I swear.
  8. The Flaming Lips, “Thank You Jack White (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus)”: It’s truly, deeply weird, as all good Flaming Lips songs are.
  9. The Beatles, “Thank You Girl”: Sure, this is less about giving thanks in the traditional Thanksgiving sense of the word, and more “thanks for the sex stuff, lady friend.”
  10. The Band, “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)”: And to round things out, here’s another song about harvesting. I’m pretty sure King Harvest is some sort of simulacrum, a wicker and cornhusk concoction – or maybe even abomination – brought to life to bring the horror of the new harvest straight to you.

Playlist #81

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You can tell it’s gonna be a Monday when you realize you wrote down this week’s playlist in the spot for next week’s playlist in your bullet journal. But hey, here’s ten songs in a specific order for you to listen to this week.

  1. Laser the Boy, “Don’t You Know Who I Am”: Laser, lead singer/guitarist for the Doubleclicks, has come out with a new solo single! And it’s really damn good. Like, really good. I’m a little jealous.
  2. Glen Phillips, “I Am A Riot”: You could almost see the first song on the list and this one as a question and answer. That amuses me.
  3. Natalie Merchant, “Cowboy Romance”: Last night before bed, I was watching an old NPR Tiny Desk Concert featuring Ms. Merchant, and man does her voice just get me right in the feels.
  4. Fleetwood Mac, “Rhiannon”: Speaking of singers who just hit you right in the emotions…
  5. Florence + the Machine, “Shake It Off”: Is this just the week I feature women who sing really powerfully in a variety of different ways? I guess so.
  6. Mavis Staples, “Wrote A Song For Everyone”: Yup. There’s a definite trend here. And a CCR cover.
  7. Lizzo, “Good As Hell”: I swear, I didn’t do this on purpose.
  8. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins, “Born Secular”: Honestly.
  9. David Bowie, “Modern Love”: Is it the best David Bowie song? No. Is it a great David Bowie song? I would argue it is, but I might also be in the minority on that opinion. I dunno.
  10. Cat Power, “The Greatest”: Okay, just one more for the road.

Playlist #80

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Good afternoon, guys, gals, and enby pals! It’s another week, so here’s another playlist.

  1. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, “That’s All”: The woman who really ought to receive more credit for creating rock and roll.
  2. Spoon, “My Mathematical Mind”: Anyone who knows me knows my mind is not mathematical at all.
  3. Uncle Tupelo, “Moonshiner”: Never was a song about bootlegging and making your own whiskey up in a still in the woods so melancholy.
  4. Joe Walsh, “Rocky Mountain Way”: “And we don’t need the ladies/Crying ’cause the story’s sad.”
  5. Jesse Malin, “Addicted”: You gotta be real careful listening to this song while driving, or you’ll find yourself doing 90.
  6. Robert Johnson, “Cross Road Blues”: Does it get any better than Robert Johnson? No, it does not. This man was taken far too young.
  7. Chris Isaak, “We Let Her Down”: I played a song for my wife that I wrote and recorded the other day. “It sounds like Chris Isaak,” she said. And I agreed and was happy about that.
  8. The Minus 5, “Dear My Inspiration”: Had this song stuck in my head all morning. That’s not a bad thing. Scott McCaughey writes a damn catchy tune.
  9. T. Rex, “20th Century Boy”: C’mon, guys, it’s the 21st century now. Aren’t we due for an update?
  10. Townes Van Zandt, “Pancho And Lefty”: Is there a better story song about desperados trying their damnedest to escape their own sins, only to fail because of human frailty and the desire to get out a little bit ahead and yet still find yourself isolated and alone and incapable of feeling anything?

Playlist #79: George Harrisongs

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Over the weekend, I listened (and re-listened) to the new reissue of the Beatles’ Revolver, and damn if that isn’t a great album. That sent me down a little Beatles rabbit hole, leading me to re-listen to the reissue of Let It Be and even some other, random Beatles albums (like the Yellow Submarine soundtrack). And it got me thinking about my favorite Beatle, George Harrison, and how John Lennon (and Paul McCartney, to a lesser extent) used to shit all over his songs. And that annoys me, because George wrote some bangers. Here’s a list of some of them, minus all the really obvious songs.

  1. The Beatles, “It’s All Too Much”: The real impetus behind this playlist. This song is crazy in all the best ways. It’s got feedback and a bizarre keyboard/organ track, weird vocal chants, and those hand claps . . . it’s as weird and noisy as the Beatles ever got, honestly, and I don’t understand why more folks don’t talk about this song and how great it is.
  2. The Beatles, “For You Blue”: I do rather love Lennon’s lap steel in this one.
  3. The Beatles, “Long, Long, Long”: Such a melancholy, downbeat song. So beautiful, though.
  4. The Beatles, “Blue Jay Way”: “There’s a fog upon LA,” this song begins, and it just gets weirder from there. Everyone always talks about how experimental Lennon was, but let’s not forget that George did stuff like this and introducing the western pop music world to the sitar.
  5. The Beatles, “I Want To Tell You”: One of George’s Revolver offerings (the other being the obviously great “Taxman”); I feel this one gets overshadowed by its better-known brother.
  6. The Beatles, “Old Brown Shoe”: Only officially released as a single and on the Hey Jude album here in the US. I always loved this song; the old vinyl record my dad had of the album had a scratch in this particular track and so it always skipped at one point in the song.
  7. George Harrison, “Bangla Desh”: Okay, so without this song, we wouldn’t have stuff like “We Are the World” and “Don’t They Know It’s Christmas?” and yeah, the world would be better off without those sanctimonious circle jerks, but this song is pretty great and spawned the equally awesome Concert for Bangladesh.
  8. George Harrison, “Not Guilty”: Low-key and mellow, and I love that keyboard part. The little between-line riff that he plays on the guitar is pretty great, too.
  9. George Harrison, “Sue Me, Sue You Blues”: Originally written for Jesse Ed Davis, George released his version in ’73 and it’s a sarcastic, sardonic “fuck you” to Paul McCartney in particular and the rest of the Beatles in general (except for Ringo. Everyone loved Ringo).
  10. George Harrison, “Crackerbox Palace”: Everyone always talks about how funny the Beatles were. John had the zany wit, McCartney had your dad’s sense of humor, and Ringo was a loveable goofball. But George? George was the dry, sarcastic, sardonic one, the one with the gallows humor, the guy who would have been great to watch a political debate with and spend the whole time slagging off on the candidates and their obviously hollow promises and posturing. And this song is a great example of all that.

Playlist #78

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Wednesday is the new Monday, am I right?

  1. Vaydra, “Talk To God”: The new single from the lady who sings with my brother, except it’s not the band they’re in together but a different band she formed that plays psychedelia. It’s pretty good. Check ’em out.
  2. Jake Blount, “The Downward Road”: Heard this guy on a Vox video talking about the importance of the banjo in historically black music. The song itself is pretty cool, drawing from traditional African American folk music and contemporary rap and hip-hop. I dig it.
  3. Glen Campbell, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”: Glen Campbell died in 2017 from Alzheimer’s, and he wrote and recorded this song just before that happened. It’s a stark look at what Alzheimer’s and dementia do to a person, erasing their personality and memories until there’s nothing left there. But it doesn’t really hurt them, it hurts the people around them who watch that person erode. It is one of my greatest fears that I’ll get dementia or Alzheimer’s and become a burden to those I love and not even know it.
  4. Rilo Kiley, “The Moneymaker”: I hadn’t listened to this album since the year it came out (which was . . . holy crap, 2007?!). This song holds up, I think, though the More Adventurous album is still my favorite of theirs.
  5. Stevie Ray Vaughn, “Pride and Joy”: Sometimes, you need some low-down, dirty, Texas blues (or “blooze”). This is one of those times.
  6. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Straight Into Darkness”: Tom Petty is one of those guys who, even when he put out a mediocre album, it still has great songs on it. ‘Cause a mediocre Tom Petty song is better than about 70% of everything that comes out.
  7. Aimee Mann, “Looking For Nothing”: If you told me the only musician I was allowed to listen to for the rest of my life was Aimee Mann, I would not be entirely disappointed with that. You could do much worse.
  8. Drive-By Truckers, “Everybody Needs Love”: They do.
  9. Brian Fallon, “If Your Prayers Don’t Get To Heaven”: This dude absolutely loves the early ’60s girl groups and doo-wop and I am freakin’ here for it, yo.
  10. Led Zeppelin, “Fool In The Rain”: I love the drumming on this one.

Playlist #77

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Happy Monday! Today brings with it ten fresh, exciting songs in the form of today’s playlist!

  1. Queen, “Face It Alone”: A “new” Queen song with previously-unreleased Freddie Mercury vocals? Count me in.
  2. HAIM, “Now I’m Into It”: Heard it in She-Hulk this weekend. Dig it.
  3. The Rolling Stones, “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)”: How ballsy do you have to be to name a song “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo?” That’s not a song title (or a chorus), that’s the filler my father sings when he can’t remember the lyrics to the song.
  4. Langhorn Slim & the Law, “Put It Together”: I love the piano in this one. I wish I could play like that.
  5. M. Ward, “One Hundred Million Years”: “And this love, this love between you and I/Is older than that burning ball of fire up in the sky.”
  6. Pearl Jam, “Spin The Black Circle”: Sometimes, you just have to put on a loud, angry song, crank up the volume, and headbang. I do still have enough hair to headbang, right?
  7. The Wallflowers, “Some Flowers Bloom Dead”: And sometimes you need some rootsy rock and roll.
  8. Wilco, “Tried And True”: And sometimes you need to feel like you’re tripping out on shrooms while listening to the Beach Boys.
  9. Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”: “There is a crack, a crack in everything/That’s how the light gets in.”
  10. The National, “Fake Empire”: I’ve been reading a book about the making of the album this song is from, Boxer, and I really just want to sit and listen to the record on repeat.

Playlist #76

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Happy Indigenous People’s Day! This is your annual reminder that Christopher Columbus can suck it. I also have that neato Halloween story you can read available for the low, low price of $0.99! Anyway, on with the playlist!

  1. Adeem the Artist, “Going To Hell”: Just found out about this artist over the weekend, and I already love their work. They’re a non-binary pansexual folk musician, a combination of words that either piqued your interests or sent you running for the hills. This is their best song, if you ask me, though the one about Toby Keith is a close runner-up. Features the line, “Love ain’t just a feeling, it’s a god dang magic spell.”
  2. Counting Crows, “Hard Candy”: Sometimes, you just need some electric 12-string jangle in your music. This is a good song for that.
  3. Soul Asylum, “Runaway Train”: Did you know the album this song is off of, Grave Dancers Union, came out 30 years ago this past weekend? Doesn’t that make you feel old, especially since I’m pretty sure 1992 was actually only 10 years ago, if my brain is processing the passage of time correctly (spoiler: it isn’t).
  4. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Angel Dream”: I will always love the She’s the One Soundtrack. It’s so damn good, better than it has any business being.
  5. James Taylor, “Fire And Rain”: I mean, you can write some pretty songs about drug addiction, as it turns out.
  6. Green Day, “Hitchin’ A Ride”: Have I mentioned how much I enjoy the extreme tonal shift between songs on a playlist? Because I love it.
  7. U2, “Seconds”: Early U2 > Late U2. Fight me.
  8. The Who, “I Can See For Miles”: Sir, you’re farsighted. You cannot read a book right in front of your face. You probably need eye surgery.
  9. The Doubleclicks, “Oh, Mr. Darcy”: Everyone needs that one aloof asshole that you fall head over heels in love with but don’t want to admit it and then in the end you do admit it and they admit they love you and I think I’m starting to see the appeal of Jane Austen.
  10. Dan Auerbach, “Shine On Me”: I like this song, I really do, but I do not understand the wisdom of getting Mark fucking Knopfler to record a guitar track for your song and then not making it the most obvious part of said song. I just . . . how do you bury this at the bottom of the mix?!

Playlist #75

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It’s a dreary, rainy Monday, but that does not stop the rock! Here’s this week’s playlist, hot off the presses.

  1. John Fullbright, “Paranoid Heart”: Okie singer/songwriter who just released a new album last Friday. It’s pretty damn good. The man knows how to write a song, and his backing band is strong.
  2. Wilco, “Remember To Remember Me”: Speaking of new albums, Wilco released a 20th anniversary edition of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot that contains loads of previously-unreleased stuff, including this early version of what later became “Hummingbird.”
  3. Jonathan Coulton, “Je Suis Rick Springfield”: Aren’t we all, just a little bit, Rick Springfield?
  4. David Gray, “Nemesis”: One of the more subdued songs from Draw the Line, but still a good one.
  5. Bon Iver, “Blood Bank”: Years ago, one of my coworkers asked me to help him record a little demo EP. We did it in my classroom at school. This was one of the songs we recorded (along with a Wilco tune and one by Trampled by Turtles. It was . . . eclectic).
  6. Modest Mouse, “Fire It Up”: Gotta get the blood pumping somehow.
  7. Moby, “Extreme Ways”: “Then it fell apart like it always does.”
  8. The Gaslight Anthem, “Placeholder”: This song is very evocative of the Anthem’s sound and style circa The ’59 Sound, and I am here for it.
  9. The Rolling Stones, “Play With Fire”: Maybe crotch fire. God only knows what venereal diseases Mick Jagger and the boys had back then.
  10. Peter Gabriel, “Intruder”: Hey, we hear you like gated reverb. Have a lot of it.