the shins

Playlist #229

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday, folks! Here’s this week’s playlist:

  1. Genesis, “Just a Job to Do”: The number of songs Phil Collins has written over the years about being a criminal just trying to do a (rather sinister) job is not a huge number, but it’s not a non-zero number, either. Was he secretly a hitman in the 1970s? Only he knows for sure.
  2. Margaret Glaspy, “These Days”: A lovely cover of the old Jackson Browne tune. It’s very sparse and slow, and I kinda dig it.
  3. Bruce Springsteen, “Born in the USA (Electric Nebraska)”: If Bruce had pursued this sound on Born in the USA rather than the athematic, keyboard-heavy style he used, maybe there’d have been fewer misunderstandings about what the song is actually about.
  4. The Cars, “Since You’re Gone”: Oh, 80s drum programming, never change.
  5. Andrew Bird, “Fake Palindromes”: This suprisingly uptempo song is so good, and apparently twenty years old now! Wow.
  6. Earth, Wind & Fire, “September”: No, it’s not the 21st of September, but Monday is the 22nd, so that’s too late. Therefore, have some EWF.
  7. The Shins, “Australia”: Is this song actually about the continent/island/country Australia? If so, what is it trying to tell us about it? I have no idea, but it’s a good song that I haven’t listened to in far too long.
  8. Veruca Salt, “Volcano Girls”: A 90s rock girl explosion of sound and energy, rather like a volcano.
  9. The National, “Terrible Love (Alternate Version)”: Still one of the best songs these guys have ever done, and the best version of the song.
  10. The Mystiqueros, “Good”: Back when I played with the group of musicians up in DC, this was one of the songs they played all the time. It’s a great song if you’ve got a group that can harmonize well.

Playlist #168

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Tuesday, folks! We’re back from the beach, and for once I did not get sunburned! Don’t forget that the new Eddie Hazzard book is now available on the ‘Zon.

  1. Foo Fighters, “Best Of You”: “I’ve got a confession to make”: I didn’t realize this song was over 20 years old. It somehow seems older? And yet somehow also timeless. David Grohl is a pretty good songwriter.
  2. Sonic Youth, “Teen Age Riot”: Never really got into noise rock when I was young and malleable, so it’s kind of strange that I started listening to them this week and didn’t hate it. Still don’t fully understand the genre, but that’s on me, not them.
  3. Bob Dylan, “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”: Dylan rarely writes straightforward love songs, and calling this one is maybe a bit of a stretch. It’s easier to decode than many of his other songs: “She doesn’t have to say she’s faithful/Yet she’s true like ice, like fire,” is a damn good line.
  4. Fleetwood Mac, “Silver Springs”: Man, the 1997 live version of this song is just gloriously mean. Stevie Nicks sings it directly to and at Lindsey Buckingham, a great big lyrical fuck you the likes of which you rarely get even in the best sad songs.
  5. Wilco, “Livid”: Wilco’s new EP is pretty good, if sadly short.
  6. Flying Burrito Brothers, “Dark End of the Street”: These guys were putting the country in country-rock well before that was even a genre.
  7. John Prine, “The Great Compromise”: I’m still discovering amazing songs written by this guy. He left us far too soon.
  8. The Shins, “Phantom Limb”: I kinda like the Shins still. They didn’t change my life, contrary to what the movie Garden State would have you believe, but they’re good.
  9. Violent Femmes, “American Music”: The snide condescension in the vocals on, well, all Violent Femmes songs sustains me in my dark moods.
  10. The Velvet Underground, “Rock & Roll”: Why does this song include a Bb6? What is the point of that damn chord other than to infuriate me when I try to play the song?