35 thoughts on “Friday Music Day: April 29, 2011”

  1. So Sad to Say - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
    Shock and Awe - Neil Young
    Whip You With a Strap - Ghostface Killah
    Black and Tan Fantasy - Duke Ellington
    Missed the Boat - Modest Mouse
    Caravan (live) - Van Morrison with The Band
    Lucid Dreams - Franz Ferdinand
    Revolution - The Beatles
    Wonderwall (live) - Radiohead
    Islands - The XX

    And, in honor of Rene Tosoni, his walkup music from last night (seriously):
    Benny Benassi - I Love My Sex

  2. .

    01. Megadeth - "FFF", Cryptic Writings
    02. Shadows Fall - "Idle Hands", The Art Of Balance
    03. Nevermore - "Insignificant", Dead Heart, In A Dead World
    04. Arch Enemy - "Aces High", Black Earth
    05. In Flames - "Artifacts Of The Black Rain", The Jester Race
    06. Blind Guardian - "Punishment Divine", A Night At The Opera
    07. In Flames - "Dead God In Me", The Jester Race
    08. Metal Church - "Cannot Tell A Lie", Blessing In Disguise
    09. Cage - "Fall Of The Angels", Hell Destroyer
    10. Moonsorrow - "Kylän päässä", Voimasta ja Kunniasta

  3. Townes Van Zandt "Be Here To Love Me" Our Mother The Mountain
    Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes "Janglin'" Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
    Destroyer "The Space Race" City of Daughters
    Bright Eyes "Shell Games" The People's Key
    Walkmen "Wake Up" Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me is Gone
    Donna Fargo "Happiest Girl in the Whole USA" 40 All-Time Country Hits
    Swan Lake "Spanish Gold, 2044" Enemy Mine
    Lightnin' Hopkins "West Coast Blues" The Complete Aladdin Recordings
    Superdrag "Licker" 4-Track Recordings
    Pavement "Loretta's Scars" Slanted & Enchanted

  4. The Beatles: Something
    Green Day: The Judge's Daughter
    The Lovin' Spoonful: Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?
    Jewel: Pieces Of You
    Creedence Clearwater Revival: Chameleon
    Celine Dion: Power Of Love
    Ben Folds: The Luckiest
    Brooks & Dunn: Days Of Thunder
    Rilo Kiley: My Slumbering Heart
    Johnny Cash: Sunday Morning Coming Down

    1. Oooh, that was my second-favorite track off that Jewel album. It was a live recording, right in the middle of the LP,
      "Amen" was my favorite. I really haven't cared much for her work since then, and I have heavily mocked her most recent hit single "Satisfied" for being one of the worst lyrics I have ever heard.

  5. .

    * As Ugly As I Seem - The White Stripes - Get Behind Me, Satan
    * Sanibel - The Goslings - The Grandeur of Hair
    * Days of Being Wild - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Source Tags and Codes
    * Sadly, the Future Is No Longer What It Was - Leyland Kirby - Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was
    * Metro - System Of a Down - Dracula 2000 Soundtrack
    * Lifter - Deftones - Adrenaline
    * No Poetic Device - A.F.I. - Black Sails in the Sunset
    * Dammit, I Changed Again - The Offspring - Conspiracy of One
    * Aurora Borealis - Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
    * A Number of Microphones - Propellerheads - Decksanddrumsandrockandroll

    1. I was thinking about the Meat Puppets just yesterday. There was an ad for Too High To Die in Spin back in 1994 or so that quoted Kurt Cobain and Dave Pirner. I owe a lot to that ad. That ad, with the quotes and the album title and the artwork (pink photo, guy in a old fashioned gingham dress, sun washing out his face), and I knew I had to have the music. I didn't have MTV, so I didn't know when "Backwater" became a hit, but a co-worker at the grocery store bought it and lent it to me. A week later, he let me keep it in exchange for taking his shift. I really loved that album. Enough shine (especially on the guitars) to make it sound professional, enough flat brotherly harmonization to keep it rough. Lyrics that teetered between non-sequitir and poignancy. I especially loved the final song (not counting the bonus "Lake of Fire"), "Comin' Down": it taught me that sometimes it's good to give up. That song in particular, as well as the album in whole, taught me not to reflexively turn away from country sounds, even if all I had been exposed to was Faith Hill and Garth Brooks country-pop.

      The Meat Puppets were my first concert, summer of 1994, opening up for Stone Temple Pilots at Roy Wilkins. Were the Meat Puppets not on that bill, I doubt that I would have gone.

      I don't think they toured to MN again until 2007. As that show at the Varsity came closer, I was psyched. I was psyched to hear these songs live that I had lived with, not just for the summer, but now for more than a decade: through senior high, college, marriage, and family-raising. I was psyched to show Curt and Cris how much those songs meant to me. I was psyched just that Cris was well.

      And then... the opening band was better than them! I had never heard of Ha Ha Tonka before I bought the tickets and hadn't sought out anything about them before the show. But they grabbed my attention and never let go.

      The Meat Puppets have been back to town twice since that show in 2007. I caught them the first time, but missed them the second. The other show I was at had Retribution Gospel Choir opening. And when I've seen HHT play, Linfinity, Young Man, Rocky Votolato, So So Radio, and the Spring Standards have shared the bill, and now they're some of my favorites as well.

      And I keep thinking back to that ad in Spin, and if it hadn't grabbed me, I might lump the Meat Puppets in with the Lemonheads or Jawbox, or some other 90's alt bands that I never really thought about much. And I might not yet have heard of HHT at all.

      2. "Comin' Down": it taught me that sometimes it's good to give up.

        hmm, i always took a different meaning from that song, i guess. much less deep than that, at least.

        1. Well, he's seen the mountaintops, he's put the work in on the rockslide, but I don't sense that he's accomplished his goal.
          "If the climb becomes too much, I can always turn around." Sometimes, you just don't get to scale the mountain. (Which is literally useful. Keeping that in mind probably kept me from heading alone to the peak of Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake even after I'd drank all my water.)

          The mentions of the "worthless piece of paper which gives meaning to my name." After I graduated college, I spent one semester working for a postgraduate degree in math. Once it was mostly clear to me that academia wasn't right for me, I needed to let myself quit. If I went on, would it be for something I wanted and felt strongly about, or just an accomplishment for its own sake, for my pride. And then I drew in my mountain-hiking (not climbing) experience in. Sometimes, you've got to know when to turn around.

          And, "I will go again, but for now I'm coming down," but I felt in that a subtext that I later saw Frost* make explicit in his "Road Not Taken":

          I kept the first for another day!
          Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
          I doubted if I should ever come back.

          Yeah, I probably put more weight into the lyrics of this song than Curt did.

          *I read short Frost poems to the kids, because it's as close to penetrable verse as I can find.

      3. The Meat Puppets opened for The Hold Steady at First Avenue in December and it was pretty humorous to hear Craig Finn talk about how the Meat Puppets were the first band he ever saw at First Ave.

      4. One other thing about Too High to Die and it's successor, No Joke! (which I loved nearly as much). Both were the product of a lot of work in the studio, and reading recent interviews with Curt, that took the fun out of the music for him. So for the three post-reunion albums, they've been recorded quickly, and at low cost. Sadly, I think it shows. They're good enough, but not great: one step above demos. The songs aren't as tightly written as they were back then either. I haven't noticed anything I could dissect like I did "Comin' Down" above, or even "Scum" or "We Don't Exist."

        It appears they'll just keep on releasing one every second or third year, touring on 90%-95% old songs. I've resigned myself to the fact that they'll never have another great album. Curt's intra-Puppets projects -- Eyes Adrift, Volcano, Meat Puppets 2.0, his Solo album -- suffered from the same problem. Artistically, they could use something like a week with Rick Rubin or Steve Albini in a secluded studio somewhere. I do understand that it might not be possible personally, I just wish it weren't so. I've gotten so much out of their work in the 90s, but to be honest with myself, had the Meat Puppets been releasing albums of this quality all along, I wouldn't be a fan.

        (I read somewhere that Dave Grohl has a nice new studio at his home. They've worked together before, maybe that's the solution.)

  6. In honor of the Royal Wedding, an All-Brit random list today.

    “Time and a Word” – Yes, Time and a Word
    “A Moment Lost” – Enya, Amarantine
    “The Domes of G’bal” – Ozric Tentacles, Live at the Pongmaster’s Ball
    “How the Years Turn” – Roger Eno, Music of Neglected English Composers
    “Johnny on the Monorail” – The Buggles, The Age of Plastic
    “Black Cat” – Gentle Giant, Acquiring the Taste
    “Blown by the Wind” – Alan Parsons, On Air
    “Nine Cats” – Porcupine Tree, Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991-1997
    “Message in a Bottle” – The Police, Every Breath You Take: The Singles
    “Clarinet Concerto, Op. 31″ – Gerald Finzi, Clarinet Concerti

    Here’s to the happy couple! Yeah, whatever.

  7. 01. Poinciana - Cal Tjader - Breeze from the East
    02. Fools in Love - Joe Jackson - Look Sharp!
    03. Anywhere I Lay My Head - Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
    04. Is That Love - Squeeze - Singles 45's and Under
    05. The Girl in the Other Room - Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room
    06. Get Up Edina - Desmond Dekker - Israelites: The Best of
    07. Clothesline Saga - Bob Dylan & the Band - Basement Tapes
    08. Sweet Thing - Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues
    09. Il Treno Miltare - Ennio Morricone - The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
    10. Get Rhythm - Johnny Cash - The Essential Johnny Cash

  8. 1. Marchers in Orange -- Guided By Voices
    2. Flowers in the Dell -- Fred Eaglesmith
    3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps -- The Beatles
    4. Someone/Rock Stars on the Marie Celeste -- Mekons
    5. Walkin' After Midnight -- Cowboy Junkies
    6. Underneath Your Bed -- Jack Logan
    7. Old Angel Midnight -- Jack Kerouac
    8. We Live Again -- Beck
    9. Help -- The Beatles
    10. Sex Me -- Urban Guerrillas

    Bonus: Toolmaster of Brainerd -- Trip Shakespeare

  9. "Why We Tell the Story," Full Cast, Once on this Island Sountrack
    "Light and Day/Reach for the Sun," The Polyphonic Spree, The Beginning Stages Of...
    "Desiree," The Left Banke, The Left Banke Too
    "Tongue Tied," Cat, Red Dwarf Soundtrack
    "Ringfinger," Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine
    "Time Has Come Today," The Chambers Brothers, The Time Has Come
    "Adiemus," Adiemus, Songs of Sanctuary
    "Love is Like an Itching in my Heart," The Supremes, The Supremes
    "Hello Mary Lou," Ricky Nelson, More Songs by Ricky
    "Booyaka 619," P.O.D.

  10. 1. Ray Charles - "What'd I Say"
    2. The Replacements - "Left of the Dial" - Tim
    3. Mike Doughty - "I Hear the Bells" - Haughty Melodic
    4. The Hold Steady - "Soft in the Center" - Heaven is Whenever
    5. Johnny Cash - "Desperado" - American IV
    6. They Might Be Giants - "Snowball in Hell" - Lincoln
    7. Oasis - "Rock 'n Roll Star" - Definitely Maybe
    8. The Association - "Never My Love"*
    9. The Ting Tings - "Great DJ" - We Started Nothing
    10. Uncle Tupelo - "I Got Drunk" -89/93: An Anthology

    *Our first dance

  11. I went to the Pixies show on Sunday at the Roy Wilkins. That was a hell of a show. First concert I've been to that could redeem the Roy.

    1. Jesu - Your Path to Divinity - Jesu
    2. Elliott Smith - Waltz #2 (XO) - XO
    3. The Shins - A Comet Appears - Blanck Mass
    4. The White Stripes - Hello Operator - The White Stripes
    5. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Strange News From Another Planet - Tao of the Dead
    6. Blanck Mass - Land Disasters - Blanck Mass*
    7. Cults - Abducted - Abducted
    8. Viva Voce - They Never Really Wake Up - The Heat Can Melt Your Brain
    9. Radiohead - Idioteque - Kid A
    T. Jars of Clay - Fade to Grey - Much Afraid

    * AMR alert, I don't know if you've heard Blanck Mass, but it's one half of Fuck Buttons. He's got a similar sound to him. I've only heard a couple songs, and it's not quite as amazing as anything on Tarot Sport on first listen, but anything that sounds like his primary gig is gravy with me.

  12. On the bus in, my shuffler picked “Abglanz” by Pantha Du Prince, a German House/Techno artist. I thought it was fantastic. Lovely use of chimes* and something like a thumb piano or steel drums over a driving but not insistent bass pulse. It's a bit sad that it took three Animal Collective collabs (one remix for them, one remix by them, and Panda Bear was a featured vocalist on one of the songs from the same album) and remixes from Moritz von Oswald, the Sight Below, and Four Tet to get me to check him out. But now I've got something that, just from one track, makes me think it will be a lot of fun to explore. If the rest of it is as good, he's got at least two other long players available, as well.

    *I'm a sucker for wind chimes. My Grandma had a lot hanging around her house, and there usually wasn't a lot to do there, so when we'd visit, my sister and I and whatever cousins would play ad-hoc games outside, and just lie in the grass when we were tired. The chimes were always there and hearing them on records, like one particular track on Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II, brings me back. Even if we were usually very bored, I still have fond memories.

    1. Tricky vs. the Gravediggaz “Tonite Is a Special Nite (Chaos Mass Confusion Mix)” The Hell EP
    2. We™ “Latex=Porex” Decentertainment
    3. Eric Copeland “Puerto Rican” Puerto Rican 7"
    4. The Spring Standards “Goodbye Midnight” No One Will Know
    5. Justin Townes Earle “Christchurch Woman” Harlem River Blues

    6. Ha Ha Tonka “Caney Mountain (Live)” The Green Elephant, Dallas, 9/16/2009
    7. Ha Ha Tonka “The Horse in Motion” Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South
    8. Bear in Heaven “Ultimate Satisfaction” Beast Rest Forth Mouth
    9. The Spring Standards “Reply” No One Will Know
    T. Ha Ha Tonka “Walking on the Devil's Backbone” Daytrotter Session, 10/23/2009
    E. Patty Griffin “Top of the World” Live from the Artists' Den

    1. For some reason, I had to use the &trade; for the TM on We™...I could not use the <sup>TM<sup> markup.
      I thought that was odd, because it looked like someone was using superscript in yesterday's discussion of annotation.

      1. Thanks for explaining how to superscript; I need to read the whole page before posting (see my © which should have been © above).

  14. Fleet Foxes English House Sun Giant
    Angus & Julia Stone Silver Coin A Book Like This
    The Beatles A Day In The Life Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
    Radiohead Lozenge Of Love My Iron Lung
    Fleet Foxes Quiet Houses Fleet Foxes

    Arcade Fire Wake Up Funeral
    DeVotchKa How It Ends How It Ends
    Gorillaz Pirate Jet Plastic Beach
    Cake The Distance Fashion Nugget
    The White Shadow Narrow Grave Instrumentals

    BT: Daft Punk Da Funk Homework

  15. 01. Bun B ft. Jazzy Pha - "My Block" from II Trill
    02. Ghostface Killah ft. The Notorious B.I.G. & Raekwon - "Three Breaks" from Fishscale
    03. Glass Candy - "Digital Versicolor" from B/E/A/T/B/O/X
    04. T.I. ft. Governor - "Hello" from King
    05. UGK - "Wood Wheel" from Dirty Money
    06. Kool Keith - "Little Girls" from Sex Style
    07. dälek - "Spiritual Healing" from From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots
    08. The Soft Pack - "Pull Out" from The Soft Pack
    09. The Streets - "Lock the Locks" from Computers and Blues
    10. Third Sight - "Zodiak Killer" from Symbionese Liberation Album

    BT. Negativland - "Time Zones" from Escape From Noise

    Not sure, why but this Negtivland piece has been in my head all week. I love this album, and particular this track. The video I linked to is pretty neat, and it seems was done with input from the band.

    1. Either MixMaster Morris sampled Negativland, or they both sampled from the same source. Listen to his "Power." (As Irresistible Force.)

  16. While I'm praising things here, "Witches" on the new Low album C'mon strikes me immediately as one of the band's best songs yet. Violence, Childhood, Superstition. Sounds really familiar, though. Almost like a distilling of a bunch of their Trust-and-later highlights, with a dash of banjo behind it. Al Green references beat Beatles and Stones references.

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