lucinda williams

Playlist #248

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Tuesday, folks. Here in Northern Virginia, it’s freezing and icy outside, but inside it’s so warm I’m starting to sweat and I blame the Brancos. Here’s a playlist to help you make it through the snow days you’re almost assuredly going through if you live in the United States.

  1. Lucinda Williams, “How Much Did You Get For Your Soul”: Lucinda cuts right to the point with this one, a solid rocker and protest song of the old school.
  2. Khatumu, “matador”: More songs should reference bullfighting.
  3. Cat Power, “Nothing Compares 2 U”: I am a sucker for a Prince cover, or a cover of Sinead O’Connor doing a cover of Prince. I’m not picky.
  4. Drive-By Truckers, “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac”: There need to be more songs about how little bullshit Carl Perkins was willing to listen to.
  5. The Mountain Goats, “Training Montage”: Of course it’s the Mountain Goats coming up with a song that’d sound great under a training montage. And that line at the start of the chorus? “I’m doing this for revenge” is just one of my all-time favorite lines from anything.
  6. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, “King Of Oklahoma”: It’s been a minute since I listened to this song and I somehow forgot how much I absolutely love it. I heartily recommend digging through your own old playlists and finding some hidden gems among them,.
  7. Van Morrison, “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In HeavenWhen You Smile)”: This song sounds absolutely nothing like anything else on this album, but I love it and the other songs on that record still. That’s a talent.
  8. David Bowie, “The Next Day”: I someday hope to have even half the chutzpah David Bowie possessed so I can remix the cover to one of my most beloved albums and reuse it for a latter-day masterpiece.
  9. Michigander, “Better”: I always look forward to anything this guy does because his songs are so well-constructed and hit the right spot in my brain every time.
  10. Dan Auerbach, “Shine On Me”: Today is a day that needs sunshine. This song is audio sunshine.

Playlist #190

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday, folks. It’s the last week of school for the calendar year before we’re off until after the start of the new year. I, for one, am ready for that break. In the meantime, these are the songs that are keeping me going.

  1. Rilo Kiley, “More Adventurous”: Was just thinking about this song last night, and suddenly I’m in a Rilo Kiley mood and want to go back and re-listen to their entire catalog. There are worse problems to have.
  2. Lucinda Williams, “Rebels”: Lucinda Williams released a Tom Petty covers album a few years ago, and it sounds…well, exactly like what you think a Lucinda Williams covering Tom Petty album would sound like. Which is not a bad thing.
  3. Elvis Costello, “Less Than Zero”: Why is this man so spiky all the time? What is he trying to prove? That he feels stuff just as much as the punk rockers, even though he looks more like Buddy Holly? Man, I dunno, but he writes damn good songs.
  4. Van Morrison, “Steal My Heart Away”: Down the Road continues to be a banger of an album, even 22 years later.
  5. 10,000 Maniacs, “Trouble Me”: Can Natalie Merchant do anything wrong, musically? I’m not sure she can.
  6. Cake, “Never There”: I still admire their effort to bring back the donkey call in every song. I may do that on my next album.
  7. Doc Watson, “Beaumont Rag”: Just some pickin’ an’ grinnin’.
  8. Peter Gabriel, “I Have the Touch”: Just the nervous energy of this song has me thinking he smoked two packs of cigarettes and drank about a gallon of coffee before he sat down to write and record it.
  9. Pearl Jam, “Given to Fly”: I dunno why, but I kinda appreciate Pearl Jam’s chiller, more subdued moments now that I’m older. Is this what it means to age gracefully? Do you stop wanting to kick out the jams?
  10. MC5, “Kick Out the Jams”: No, I can still kick them out. It’s all good. Haven’t aged too much yet.