santana

Playlist #283: Covers and Covers and Covers

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Happy Monday, folks! Though it’s a bit of a dreary one here in Northern Virginia. I assume it’s because of the Nor’easter or the El Nino or whatever. I’ve spent the morning jamming to an old collection of Elton John Covers (it’s called Two Rooms, if you’re curious), and it is the most 1991 collection I have ever heard. Anyway, here’s some covers!

  1. Kate Bush, “Rocket Man”: Why did she make this a reggae song? Why is there Northumbrian pipe in the last minute and a half of it? Because she’s Kate Fuckin’ Bush, that’s why.
  2. Santana, “Oye Como Va”: If you’re gonna cover Tito Puente, you go hard with it.
  3. Wilco, “Thirteen”: There are approximately seventeen billion covers of this Big Star tune, and each one offers just a little something different than the others. There’s a broken vulnerability to the music and Jeff Tweedy’s vocals here that I really like.
  4. Joe Cocker, “The Letter”: I always associate Joe Coker with powerful covers of others’ songs. He and his band just rip into this one for a barnstormer of a live show.
  5. Sturgill Simpson, “In Bloom”: Did you know this grunge mainstay could sound all country and soft? Neither did I until Sturgill Simpson covered it.
  6. Cake, “I Will Survive”: Dripping with 90s irony and not looking to make any friends, this song challenges the listener to meet it on its own terms and just rocks out with trumpet and electric guitar in the extended coda.
  7. Johnathan Coulton, “Baby Got Back”: Who doesn’t love the quirky white boy covering the Sir Mix-A-Lot classic?
  8. Harvey Danger, “Save It For Later”: Did you know Harvey Danger recorded more songs than just “Flagpole Sitta?” Did you even know the name of that song was “Flagpole Sitta?”
  9. Luna, “Most Of The Time”: I’ll admit, I did not expect this band to have a male lead singer. I guess that’s one of my own biases I need to reassess.
  10. George Harrison, “If Not For You”: Yeah, I’m ending the list with not one but two Dylan covers. Which I can do because it’s my website and my playlist. I can do whatever I want, and I want to end with a beautiful George Harrison cover of a great Bob Dylan song. So sue me.

Playlist #90

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Happy Monday, folks! As per usual, here’s a new playlist for your listening pleasure.

  1. Harry Styles, “Two Ghosts”: I think I might actually like Harry Styles? Is there a doctor I should see about this?
  2. Spoon, “I Can’t Give Everything Away”: The elusive piano-led Spoon song. It’s more downbeat than a lot of their stuff, but I like it.
  3. Jay Farrar, “Feel Free”: I’ve probably mentioned this before, but for the longest time I thought NPR stood for “Non-Profit Radio.” It does not.
  4. Louis Armstrong, “Mack The Knife”: As I said on Twitter the other day, there is no more baller moment in music than when Louis tosses it to himself for the trumpet solo at the end.
  5. Better Than Ezra, “At The Stars”: Always kinda feel like Better Than Ezra should’ve been bigger than they were, even though they’re really just a solid alternative band.
  6. Calexico, “Cumbia De Donde”: I really dig the way this band combines traditional Hispanic music with indie rock. It works really well.
  7. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Someday Never Comes”: Literally the only good song on Mardi Gras. But damn, what a song.
  8. Supertramp, “Goodbye Stranger”: Sorry, lady, I can’t be tied down. Gotta move on to the next chick. Real classy, guys.
  9. Santana, “The Game Of Love (Featuring Michelle Branch)”: Fun fact: the name “Branch” in Portuguese is “Branco,” so my wife’s name came up a lot in the Portuguese music press when this song came out. Strange but true.
  10. The Offspring, “The Kids Aren’t Alright”: 90s kids remember when these dudes were all the rage. I think the lead singer has a PhD? It’s weird.

Playlist #52

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This marks the one-year anniversary of me starting this playlist project. It’s kept me writing here for the whole year, which I like. I’ve even gotten back into working on Novel #7 (I’m well-past the halfway point, I think).

For this playlist, I thought about doing a retrospective, selecting my favorite songs from other playlists. But I decided against that. I’ll do another post later this week where I examine the playlists as a whole, looking at who got played the most and how many songs I repeated (I think just one? I’m not sure, but I’ll find out!).

Anyway, remember there’s the Patreon. I’m about to post April’s song. I’m pretty proud of it. Anyway, without further ado, here’s this week’s playlist:

  1. Dr. Dog, “Lonesome”: I love the guitar in this one. Pretty sure it’s a dobro or resonator.
  2. Andrew Bird, “Atomized”: Andrew Bird has a new album coming out this summer. I’m stoked. If this song is any indication, it’ll be a great one.
  3. Jorge Orozco, “Gran Vals”: Orignally composed by Francisco Tarrega, this is the song that Nokia got its ringtone from. It’s a very pretty song.
  4. Langhorne Slim & the Law, “Put It Together”: I’m a sucker for a shout-along chorus.
  5. The Doubleclicks, “This Is My Jam”: I like jam. Who doesn’t like jam? Commies, that’s who.
  6. Dolly Parton, “Jolene”: This is the slowed down version, the one from the 45 played at 33 1/3 RPM. It’s haunting.
  7. Aimee Mann, “Phoenix”: What is it about the way Aimme Mann writes and plays songs that just captivates me? I just love everything about her sound.
  8. Sam Cooke, “A Change Is Gonna Come”: Some days, you just need to let Sam take you home.
  9. Santana, “Evil Ways”: The way they add the, “baby,” to the end of certain lines in this song amuses me to no end.
  10. Bob Dylan, “Paths Of Victory”: My love for Dylan is no secret at this point. Someday, I’ll figure out an arrangement of this song for the guitar (rather than the piano he plays in this version). Until then, I’ll just have to sit and marvel at how well that man puts words together.