the strumbrellas

Playlist #226

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday, folks! I spent the weekend bouncing between anxiety, a deep well of sadness, and blinding, incandescent rage. Why? No idea. But let’s listen to some music to soothe the soul.

  1. The Mountain Goats, “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton”: Early Mountain Goats, while lacking the polish and full band of later releases, is the best Mountain Goats. And this is the best of early Mountain Goats, for the inclusion of the “Hail Satan” near the end if nothing else.
  2. Gov’t Mule, “John the Revelator”: Who knew I’d like Gov’t Mule? Probably a number of people knew this, and they just refused to tell me. I’m disappointed in all of you.
  3. Cassandra Jenkins, “Only Relaxation”: Relaxing, piano-based Americana to soothe the weary soul.
  4. Joy Division, “She’s Lost Control”: And then some new wave, because I like to create those whiplash effects.
  5. Woody Guthrie, “Deportee (Woody’s Home Tape)”: Not for nothin’, but Abrego Kilmar Garcia was immediately detained by ICE again just this morning in Baltimore. They couldn’t even let this dude spend a whole 48 hours out of custody before they just had to grab him again.
  6. Margaret Glaspy, “Jesus, Etc. (Feat. Norah Jones)”: I do love me a Wilco cover.
  7. Josh Ritter, “The Curse”: The saddest song about a mummy coming back to life and then sapping the life energy out of the Egyptologist who found his tomb.
  8. William Elliott Whitmore, “Diggin’ My Grave”: You’ll hear the banjo differently after this song, and that ain’t a bad thing.
  9. The Strumbrellas, “Spirits”: Strummy guitars, shout-along chorus, nifty little piano interlude? Yeah, it’s got all those. Good stuff.
  10. Fleetwood Mac, “Rhiannon”: Do I really need to talk about this song? I can’t imagine that none of you out there in the world haven’t heard this song already.

Playlist #160

/ xeyeti / Leave a comment

Happy Monday, folks. If you’re like me, you spent the weekend thinking about music, coughing, and playing video games. You also came up with this playlist. You are very talented and quite handsome, I must say.

  1. Seven Mary Three, “Water’s Edge”: This is just the grunge version of Richard Marx’s “Hazard,” isn’t it? I’m pretty sure it is.
  2. Onnu Jonu Son, “True Love Will Find You In the End”: Icelandic dude who has one of those great raspy, lower-register voices that feel folky and lived-in. So do his songs, including this lovely cover.
  3. Rhiannon Giddens, “Yet To Be (feat. Jason Isbell)”: I am a sucker for a good duet, and these two knock it out of the park.
  4. Adeem the Artist, “Nancy”: I like his new album, though I liked White Trash Revelry more. This one strikes me as “Laid” by James only ’90s country styles.
  5. Pearl Jam, “Wreckage”: Dark Matter was a surprisingly good album. It feels like classic Pearl Jam without really sounding anything like classic Pearl Jam. This one is a predominantly acoustic number, a strange thing on any Pearl Jam album but a welcome departure from their riffy electric assault.
  6. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “The Body Electric”: They just really get the folky country style, like they’ve lived it and it’s written in their bones.
  7. John Prine, “Souvenirs”: Is that really how you spell the word “souvenirs?” Why did I think it had more vowels in it, especially in the back half? I am just left confused.
  8. The Strumbrellas, “Spirits”: It’s one of those 2000s-era, over-produced pop-alternative bands with strummy acoustics and shouted team-style vocals, and I can’t get enough of it, apparently.
  9. Willie Nelson, “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”: You can’t go wrong with the Red Headed Stranger, either the singer (Willie) or the album.
  10. The Ink Spots, “Java Jive”: I am 90% sure most of my jazz and classical music knowledge came from watching cartoons as a child. Loony Tunes, Little Lulu, Tom & Jerry…everything I know about some genres of music came from these shows, including this song. “I like coffee, I like tea/I like the java jive and it likes me.” Yes indeed.