cassandra jenkins

Playlist #226

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday, folks! I spent the weekend bouncing between anxiety, a deep well of sadness, and blinding, incandescent rage. Why? No idea. But let’s listen to some music to soothe the soul.

  1. The Mountain Goats, “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton”: Early Mountain Goats, while lacking the polish and full band of later releases, is the best Mountain Goats. And this is the best of early Mountain Goats, for the inclusion of the “Hail Satan” near the end if nothing else.
  2. Gov’t Mule, “John the Revelator”: Who knew I’d like Gov’t Mule? Probably a number of people knew this, and they just refused to tell me. I’m disappointed in all of you.
  3. Cassandra Jenkins, “Only Relaxation”: Relaxing, piano-based Americana to soothe the weary soul.
  4. Joy Division, “She’s Lost Control”: And then some new wave, because I like to create those whiplash effects.
  5. Woody Guthrie, “Deportee (Woody’s Home Tape)”: Not for nothin’, but Abrego Kilmar Garcia was immediately detained by ICE again just this morning in Baltimore. They couldn’t even let this dude spend a whole 48 hours out of custody before they just had to grab him again.
  6. Margaret Glaspy, “Jesus, Etc. (Feat. Norah Jones)”: I do love me a Wilco cover.
  7. Josh Ritter, “The Curse”: The saddest song about a mummy coming back to life and then sapping the life energy out of the Egyptologist who found his tomb.
  8. William Elliott Whitmore, “Diggin’ My Grave”: You’ll hear the banjo differently after this song, and that ain’t a bad thing.
  9. The Strumbrellas, “Spirits”: Strummy guitars, shout-along chorus, nifty little piano interlude? Yeah, it’s got all those. Good stuff.
  10. Fleetwood Mac, “Rhiannon”: Do I really need to talk about this song? I can’t imagine that none of you out there in the world haven’t heard this song already.

Playlist #189

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday! I survived being sick all last week (yesterday, I still didn’t have much of a voice, and every about fourth word was just a wheezy silence), missed going to what turned out to be a fun wedding up in New York, and actually caught up a bit on sleep? That last one can’t be right.

  1. Waxahatchee, “Crimes of the Heart”: Spent a good chunk of the weekend just listening to Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood, and I really dig the almost primitive simplicity of the three chord structure she tends to use on her songs. Also, makes it really easy to play along!
  2. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Buffalo”: I’m down for any song that seeks to examine, however tangentially, the Plains’ Indians’ hunting of the buffalo.
  3. Cassandra Jenkins, “Petco”: Can you find transcendence in the eyes of a lizard behind glass at a pet store? It’s more likely than you think thanks to drugsTM!
  4. Joel Adam Russell, “Knock the Boy Out of You”: A simple country song about toxic masculinity and calling out the asinine behavior of so-called “alpha males.”
  5. Tom Petty, “You Saw Me Comin'”: An unreleased Wildflowers outtake that is easily good enough to be on the album proper.
  6. Yo La Tengo, “Pass the Hatchett, I Think I’m Goodkind”: A mostly-instrumental tune with a great groove and a sinister vibe.
  7. Neko Case, “Dirty Knife”: Speaking of vibes, Neko Case remains brilliant at crafting them, and this song is a great example.
  8. Hank Williams III, “Atlantic City”: Trying real hard to outdo grandpa’s wild ways, Hank III takes a rip-roaring turn through Springsteen’s song about need and hunger.
  9. Linda Ronstadt, “Silver Threads and Golden Needles”: This woman takes a great song and turns it into a stone-cold classic.
  10. Lizzo, “About Damn Time”: I need this kind of jumped-up energy to get me through today.