Playlist #272

Happy Monday! I’m currently at the beach, and genius that I am I left my laptop at home. So, this is all being done on my phone. Please forgive any glaring spelling or punctuation errors in this week’s playlist.

  1. Toby Keith and Willie Nelson, “Beer for my Horses”: It’s a tale as old as time: we’re gonna be out there fighting the good fight, so my men need whiskey and my horses apparently need beer.
  2. The Ides of March, “Vehicle”: A nice little slice of soul that I learned of courtesy of a band my dad’s cousin plays in. It’s a damn fine song.
  3. The SteelDrivers, “Heaven Sent”: Another song learned of courtesy of Cousin David. Apparently written (at least in part) by Chris Stapleton? You learn something new every day.
  4. The National, “Lucky You”: A beautiful and melancholy song that just reminds me that life is short and you should tell folks you love them. I’m not sure that’s even subtext to the song, more just what it makes me feel.
  5. Blues Traveler, “Hook”: I’m someday going to put together a playlist of songs about writing songs, and this one will go on there.
  6. The Georgia Satellites, “Keep Your Hands to Yourself”: Yeah, the old saying goes why buy the cow when you get the milk for free, but these guys really belabor the point. This song is the classic rock equivalent to Beyoncé’s “All the Single Ladies.”
  7. The English Beat, “Save it for Later”: I’m not generally a fan of the 80s or their bands, but these guys are pretty damn good. Production values feel very much of their time, but the song itself is timeless.
  8. The Breeders, “Cannonball”: A stone-cold 90s classic. If you don’t like that bass line, check to make sure you still have a pulse.
  9. The Both, “Milwaukee”: There are few things in the world that cannot be made better with the combination of Ted Leo and Aimee Mann.
  10. Johnny Rivers, “Seventh Son”: Still absolutely adore the live version of this song. It just kicks a tremendous amount of ass and doesn’t let up for a second.

Playlist #88

Happy New Year! In addition to the playlist this week, I have CD’s for sale! That’s right, I put together the EP that I released last January and the two singles I released over the course of the year. For $10, you can have a copy of it all for yourself! Email me at crookedhalo42 [at] gmail dot com and we can set it all up.

And now, on with the playlist!

  1. The English Beat, “Save It For Later”: Who doesn’t love some second-wave ska? I know I do.
  2. Loreena McKennitt, “The Mummer’s Dance”: Celtic electronica? In this economy?
  3. Jason Isbell & Elizabeth Cook, “Pancho & Lefty”: Gotta love a Jason Isbell cover of a Townes Van Zandt song.
  4. Fleetwood Mac, “Little Lies”: Only recently discovered that this song was a Fleetwood Mac song.
  5. America, “Ventura Highway”: I just want to drive along the coast with this song cranked way up.
  6. XTC, “Dear God”: A song that demands God explain why bad things happen to good people.
  7. Wilco, “Say You Miss Me”: The yearning and pleading in this song get me every time.
  8. Van Morrison, “I Love You”: I’ve had a difficult time listening to Van Morrison the past few years. His weird anti-vaccine views and his persecution complex have kinda gotten on my nerves. But this song is still tremendously sweet.
  9. Tom Waits, “Jockey Full Of Bourbon”: I’m not really sure what good a jockey full of bourbon would do, unless this is really a song about peeing ’cause you had too much bourbon.
  10. Semisonic, “Never You Mind”: I love this song for nothing else if not the reference to Spock’s brain.