pixies

Playlist #123

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Happy Tuesday! We spent Labor Day going through our Dining Room in preparation for moving next month. It was a bear. Here’s some songs!

  1. Smash Mouth, “Walkin’ On The Sun”: The lead singer for this band died over the weekend. I think we can all agree that this one and “All Star” are both fun. I prefer this one of the two.
  2. Jimmy Buffett, “Margaritaville”: Jimmy Buffett also passed away over the weekend. “Margaritaville” might be the most obvious choice for a Buffett song, but it’s still one of my favorites (though it’s no “Cheeseburger in Paradise”).
  3. Hall & Oates, “You Make My Dreams (Come True)”: Heard this one at the diner during family dinner yesterday afternoon. It’s still a banger.
  4. Husker Du, “Sunshine Superman”: Who doesn’t love a hardcore cover of a Donovan song?
  5. Slowdive, “andalucia plays”: Just heard about these guys over the weekend. They’re pretty cool, in a shoegaze-y sort of way.
  6. Better Than Ezra, “At The Stars”: This song will never not be good to me.
  7. Pixies, “Where Is My Mind?”: The soft/loud dynamics of this band were trendsetting for a reason. This song rocks.
  8. Peter Gabriel, “Intruder”: You know that ’80s gated reverb drum sound? The one that dominated ’80s music? It starts with this song.
  9. Nina Simone, “Feeling Good”: The slow burn of this song, the build…it’s just so damn good.
  10. Merle Haggard, “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink”: Someone recently pointed out that country music from back in the day was all anti-authoritarian, anti-rules, pro-individuality, and contemporary country is all about licking authority’s boots. They’re not wrong.

Playlist #113

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By the time you see this, I’ll be in Oklahoma for my grandmother’s funeral. It’s going to be rough, but I’m glad I get to be back home for it.

  1. John Mellencamp, “Circling Around The Moon”: I have a soft spot in my heart for the Mellencamp album Mr. Happy Go Lucky. It’s very much of its time, with the drum machines and nods to rap and hip-hop in the music.
  2. M. Ward, “Hi-Fi”: M. Ward always delights and always puts out something clever and ephemeral.
  3. Matchbox 20, “Damn”: I don’t know why I like Matchbox 20 so much. I can’t explain it.
  4. MILCK, “Quiet (Stripped)”: A more subtle, acoustic version of this song that I liked very much when I heard the original version.
  5. Molly Lewis, “Our American Cousin”: Who doesn’t love a song about Abraham Lincoln’s trip to Ford’s Theater?
  6. The Mountain Goats, “Wage Wars Get Rich Die Handsome”: When doesn’t a Mountain Goats song make you want to eat the rich?
  7. The Mystiqueros, “Good”: I learned this song years ago at the Mansion on O Street from the band I used to play with on Sundays. It’s a pretty decent little number.
  8. The Yardbirds, “Smokestack Lightning (Live)”: Who doesn’t love the Yardbirds?
  9. Rhett Miller, “Terrible Vision”: This song is sad and beautiful and I love it.
  10. Pixies, “Debaser”: Why. not round things out with some screaming?

Playlist #12

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It’s the Wife’s birthday this weekend, so this week’s playlist is all songs she likes!

  1. The Pixies, “Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf Mix)”: Preferred version of this song. Dunno why. But it feels suitably surf-y and UK-y.
  2. Arcade Fire, “Intervention”: I think it’s the organ that does it in this one. I do know that this is probably off her (and my) favorite Arcade Fire album, Neon Bible.
  3. AC Newman, “Take On Me”: A beautiful, slowed down cover of the a-ha classic, complete with the really high “in a day or twoooooooooooo”s.
  4. Elliott Smith, “Baby Britain”: I think the Wife was the one who introduced me to Elliott Smith. This song is great, if for no other reason than the fact that he references both Revolver and the song “Crimson and Clover.”
  5. The Cure, “Just Like Heaven”: I did not care much for the ’80s when I was a wee lad. The music felt overproduced, all artifice and no substance. I’ve since learned that I was not even close to 100% correct on that second point (the jury is still out on the first point). This song is really good, either way.
  6. Annie Lennox, “Walking On Broken Glass”: For a song about the torture of a love affair gone bad, this song is very upbeat and fun.
  7. The Flaming Lips, “Free Radicals”: “You think you’re radical/But you’re not so radical/In fact, you’re fanatical/Fanatical (Fuck!)” may be the best chorus of the twenty-first century.
  8. The National, “Slow Show”: Okay, no, it’s “I wanna hurry home to you/Put on a slow, dumb show for you and crack you up.”
  9. REM, “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville”: Why do I love songs where the first part of the title is in parentheses and why have I not written one yet? Oh, right, because it will never be anywhere near as good as this song.
  10. The Magnetic Fields, “Epitaph For My Heart”: I’m reasonably certain this is her favorite Magnetic Fields song. It’s the one she plays every time we listen to that band.