Friday Music Day

Friday Music Day: June 10, 2011

94 Comments

I think this is the best song I've heard all year: "Wicked Games" by Canadian R&B singer the Weeknd. (Warning! Foul language!)
I love that it nearly shares a title with the Chris Isaak song, which had a foreboding feel, but never went this dark. This is so dark it's evil. If any other R&B sounded like this, I'd actually give the genre a better chance.

I left my girl back home
I don't love her no more

I keep listening over and over and over, dreaming about CJ.

You can get the whole album for free direct from him. Nothing else this great on one inattentive listen through.

There's a video on vimeo, too, which is pretty awesome, but it's got nudity and drug use, so you'll have to put in the legwork.

What've you got?

[PS. Soundcloud embeds don't seem to work, or this would have been even cooler.]

94 thoughts on “Friday Music Day: June 10, 2011”

  1. Zombies -- TIme of the Season
    Jackson 5 -- I Want You Back
    Huey Lewis & The News -- Back in Time
    Dave Mathews Band -- Halloween
    Regina Spektor -- Aching to Pupate
    Jim Croce -- I Got A Name
    Tegan & Sarah -- I Know, I Know, I Know
    Ben Folds -- Silver Street
    Warrant -- Cherry Pie
    Billy Ray Cyrus -- Could've Been Me

        1. I wonder how much hate for Billy Ray's music is based on his personality and Achy Breaky Heart, which is not only awful, but was overplayed on top of it.

          1. I would say "most." For all I know, he's awesome in the world of country, but his long-term career was killed because of one megahit.

            1. the Barenakedladies have a song about that called, "Box Set." One of the lyrics goes:

              I never thought I'd be regretful, of all my past success
              But some stupid number one hit single, has got me in this mess

              The song was on their first album, oddly enough.

              1. They performed on Weird Al's short-lived Saturday morning show in the '90s, and told the producers "We'll play anything but 'Million Dollars.'" The producers tried to cancel their appearance but Al understood and wouldn't hear of it.

        1. Beau (like me) is obsessed with Back to the Future so I won't begrudge him "Back in Time."

          I'll come out and say it, too...I don't get the hate toward DMB. I can take him or leave him. I don't know where the strong negative reactions come from.

          1. I'll go you one step further. I even /gasp/ enjoy DMB on occasion. Nothing groundbreaking there, but it's not like they're John Tesh or Kenny G.

            pretty sure with that last bit I set myself up for a fall...oh well, "you pays your $ and you takes your chances".

              1. I haven't heard the tune and this is not a commentary on talent or lack thereof, but the particular euphemism "the bomb" to describe John Tesh makes me chuckle.

                  1. That belongs to him?! Holy crap. That's the kind of tune that becomes so ubiquitous, it's easy to forget that at some point, someone had to write it.

                2. Now hang on, "the bomb" refers to the soundtrack, not Tesh.

                  Yeah, Tesh's NBA jingle was $$$. I'm not going to comment on his new age pablum, but the guy can swing a soundtrack. Actually, there are a lot of composers that way, come to think of it.

          2. My dislike of DMB is largely based around the high number of Trustafarians who listen to them. I could take or leave the music, but those guys ruin everything. I wanted to cry when I saw one walking around wearing nothing but a blanket wrapped around his waist and a life jacket at the last Ween show I saw.

          3. I think I can chime in here and give my reasons for vitriol towards DMB: Back in the day when I was in college where people still discussed music, people would ask me if I enjoyed DMB. Upon saying no, that's not my thing (which should have been obvious because these conversations always happened at the DQ where I had some music playing.) I was met with extreme shock and sometimes outright anger at not liking it. (this is true for the Beatles, too.) So ever since those days, I've hated DMB. A few years after college I went to a wedding for my now-wife's friend who had a DMB cover band as their entertainment. I didn't know hate could dig that deep.

              1. I do suck.

                To be fair to the Beatles, I've never seen a Beatles cover band at a wedding before.

                1. I actually have. They were really bad...let this be a lesson to brides everywhere; your closest friend who's in a band is not necessarily in a good band.

          4. I'm also obsessed with BttF, so I won't begrudge anyone "Back in Time" either. Its tough, though, with Chris Berman's stated love of HLatN.

  2. 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' - U2
    'Fire Escape' - Fastball
    'The Morphine Song' - Ray Davies
    'I Wont Back Down' - Tommy Petty
    'Truth Hits Everybody' - The Police

    'Little Wing' - Jimi Hendrix
    'Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad' - Derek and the Dominos
    'Footstompin Music' - Grand Funk Railroad
    'I Love A Rainy Night' - Eddie Rabbitt
    'Chasing Cars' - Snow Patrol

  3. .

    * Sang Real - Dredg - Catch Without Arms (1)
    * Shaking Through - R.E.M. - Murmur
    * No Shelter - Rage Against the Machine - Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium
    * Mugam Beyati Shiraz - Kronos Quartet - Floodplain (Rahman Asadollahi)
    * God Smack - Alice in Chains - Dirt
    * New Millenium Homes - Rage Against the Machine - The Battle of Los Angeles
    * Conquest - The White Stripes - Icky Thump
    * Suffer - Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
    * Fell on Black Days - Soundgarden - Superunknown
    * Zachary's Dream (Daniel Bernard Roumain Remix) - Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble - In C Remixed (Terry Riley)

    1. Just got the new Dredg album, and it may have the worst album title ever - Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy. WTF? (also the music isn't that great)

    1. Superunknown, Gish, Dirt.
      Well, raid the box of tapes from my High School minivan!
      (Could have been more, but neither RATM song was from one of their first two albums, and that R.E.M. song wasn't on the mix I made.)

    2. Ah, God Smack...the good song that named a terrible band.

      Dirt is one of my most-spun CDs of all time. Depressing as hell, of course, but even today I listen to it occasionally. Ditto Superunknown.

  4. After hearing the wake-up song on the radio alarm clock, mega-points again to Rick Springfield for correctly using (and pronouncing) "moot" in a song lyric when 98% of Americans would use "mute".

    A little birdie told me I have a ticket to a September concert with my favorite daughter for my birthday present...

    1. An ex-coworker of mine:

      "Mute" for "moot"
      "Future" for "feature"
      "Schpiel" for "spiel"
      "Supposably" for "supposedly"

      Eventually, I learned to tune her out. Then she transferred, which was even better.

        1. Huh, I thought that was when it was pronounced only as speel. Probably old Germans in 'Sconsin, too, and people are blending the usages?
          To get a definite, we'd have to get some Scottish curlers to tell us how it's pronounced.

          1. I suppose it is possible that we pronounce it wrong down here. But then, what Americans curl better than Sconnies?

      2. Unless it was typed, and unless she was talking about curling matches, your co-worker was good on spiel.
        Shpeel is an accepted pronunciation, coming from the Yiddish "Shpil".

        I looked it up as I didn't know what the problem was with that one. Coming from the white side of Germantown, USA, I've always pronounced it "Shpeel". And I use it frequently instead of "rant" to indicate something maybe not quite as incensed as a rant, but more just long and rambling, as was the usage among the old-timers* in NU.

        *So named not from their age, but their desire to listen to "Old-Time Music" (Polkas, waltzes played on accordions and tubas, etc.) on KNUJ radio.

          1. Given the etymology, it may just be non-Anglicized.
            I never took German: would standard pronunciation for a word starting with Sp be "Shp" or "Sp"?

            1. Sp is typically pronounced as "shp-" in German, ja. As in spitzen. ("Bitte meinen bleistiff spitzen" was the first German phrase we learned.)

              2. ja. "Spiel" is "play" or "to play" (spielen) or "game"

                --ballspiel is "ball game"

              3. "Bitte meinen bleistiff spitzen" was the first German phrase we learned.

                I think ours was "Wo ist die Toilette, Bitte?" (or perhaps "Sprechen Sie Englisch?")

            1. Dictionary.com lists both pronunciations but mine is listed first, so I'll hang my hat on that for now.

              Still, my entire world has been rocked by this development.

  5. .

    01. Kreator - "As the World Burns", Terrible Certainty
    02. Anthrax - "Cadillac Rock Box", We've Come For You All
    03. Dark Tranquility - "Tongues", The Mind's I
    04. Judas Priest - "Demonizer", Angel Of Retribution
    05. Primal Fear - "In Metal", Devil's Ground
    06. eXodus - "Tempo Of The Damned", Tempo Of The Damned
    07. In Flames - "Everything Counts", Whoracle
    08. Meshuggah - "Re-inanimate", Catch Thirtythr33
    09. Dark Tranquility - "Constant", The Mind's I
    10. Light This City - "Guiding The North Star", Remains Of The Gods

  6. Bond, "Hymn", Born
    Simon & Garfunkel, "Bookends Theme", Bookends
    Bond, "Ride", Shine
    The Cranberries, "Put Me Down", Everyone Else is Doing it, So Why Can't We?
    Nirvana, "Come As You Are", Nevermind
    Parents, "Star Light, Star Bright", My First Nursery Rhymes
    Clear, "Concerns", Clear
    Marty Haugen and David Haas, "Let All the Earth / Psalm 66", Psalms of the Church Year
    Blue October, "What If I Could", Foiled
    Green Day, "When I Come Around", International Superhits!

      1. It's possible that we have. I listen to a lot of Bond when I'm working, too. When I was in school, I would have worn out the record working on physics homework if I didn't have the CDs in mp3 format.

  7. .

    1. Cake - Comanche / Motorcade of Generosity
    2. Tom Waits - I'll Be Gone / Frank's Wild Years
    3. Merle Haggard - Pretty When It's New / I Am What I Am
    4. Ismael Miranda - Yo No Soy Juguete / Salsa: A Musical History
    5. The Randies - Up in Lights / Saw the Light

    6. Little Junior Parker - Walking the Floor / More Dirty Laundry: The Soul of Black Country
    7. Johnny Cash - On the Evening Train / American V: A Hundred Highways
    8. Johnny Cash - Saginaw, Michigan / Bootleg, Vol. 1: Personal File
    9. Johnny Cash - Big River / Bootleg, Vol. 2: From Memphis to Hollywood
    T. Bill Frisell - Struggle / History, Mystery

    2. After years of having every Cake album but the first, I finally picked up Motorcade. It's...Cake. They never really change very much.

      I do a pretty good impression of Tom Waits. Maybe now I can convince someone in Hollywood to make a Waits biopic and I can play him. Hmm.

        1. I bought it the day it came out, yeah. It skews strongly toward the ballad side of things, which isn't really what draws me to them, but I like it fairly well.

  8. Foo Fighters - "Halo" One by One
    Li'l Wayne - "A Milli" Tha Carter III
    Foo Fighters - "Another Round" In Your Honor
    Eminem - "Going Through Changes" Recovery
    MGMT - "Time to Pretend" Oracular Spectacular

    The National - "Sugar Wife" Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers
    Spoon - "You Got Yr. Cherrybomb" Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
    Michael Bublé - "You Don't Know Me" It's Time
    The Strokes - "Last Night" Is This It
    Ha Ha Tonka - "Hole My Fee To The Fire" Novel Sounds from the Nouveau South

    1. Eminem - "Going Through Changes" Recovery

      How do you feel about Recovery? I have listened through once or twice, but the album hasn't made it onto my itunes yet.

      2. It's alright, not my favorite of his. I would just like him to branch out a bit ( more stuff like his verse on "Renegade"), and not always be so dreary and angry. The whole album is like it has a storm cloud over it.

        1. always so dreary and angry

          i hear his next project is nothing but bubblegum pop love songs and power ballads.

          2. I believe that's what happens when you do a commercial despite vainly declaring your hatred of commercials.

            1. I remember an interview with the lead singer of Everclear on MTV years ago where he called someone a "rock and roll cliche" and a "sellout." Then they went to a Gap commercial with Everclear performing a Christmas song for their upcoming sale.

  9. Bookended by (very different) 'Sconnie bands:

    1. The August Teens “Pizza in Your Heart” A Kiss in Wisconsin
    2. Pantha du Prince “Abglanz” Black Noise
    3. Ken Nordine “Chartreuse” Colors
    4. The Bottle Rockets “Headed for the Ditch” Brand New Year
    5. The Weepies “Be My Thrill” Be My Thrill

    6. Two Fingers “Twelvses (Two Fingers Remix)” Instrumentals
    7. Black Dice “Gag Shack” Repo
    8. Current 93 “The Autistic Imperium Is Nihil Reich” Black Ships Ate the Sky
    9. Steve Reich “It's Gonna Rain, Part II” Early Works
    T. Cyclo. “id#00” id
    E. Peaking Lights “Amazing and Wonderful” 9E6

    Also, Steve Reich following a song with “Reich” in the title.

  10. You Can't Hold The Hand of A Rock And Roll Man - Okkervil River - The Stage Names
    Psychotic Girl - The Black Keys - Attack and Release
    Nicotine Bomb - Mission Of Burma - On off On
    Revolutionary Generation - Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
    I Held Her In My Arms - Violent Femmes - Add It Up

    They'll Never Take Her Love From Me - Hank - 24 Greatest
    Don't Let It Get You Down - Spoon - Kill the Moonlight
    Very Ape - Nirvana - In Utero
    Snake And Martyrs - TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
    Here Today - The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

    b. O'Malley's Bar - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads

    I'm meat, and I approve this list.

    1. I saw Okkervil River with Titus Andronicus last night. Okkervil was so loud, like way too loud. Now maybe I am getting too old but when they were much louder than the punk-ish band playing before them it doesn't make any sense.

      Also, Titus Andronicus is awesome live and everyone should go and see them.

      1. I've seen Okkervil River 4 times, and the last time they were bad enough that I don't really want to see them again. The first two times I saw them they were opening for other bands (John Vanderslice and The Decemberists), and put on a great show. The third time they were headlining at a dive bar, and very drunk, but awesome. The last time they just... I don't know. It was like they were trying too hard to play well, and they sucked because of it.

        Titus Andronicus were definitely awesome live.

        1. Okkervil was so loud, like way too loud. Now maybe I am getting too old

          I couldn't get the ringing out of my ears after I saw Built To Spill this last year, not from them but from some garage noise band that opened for them in Abq. That put me off shows almost completely, until the Hold Steady came passing through.

        2. My pals and I actually left before their set was over, it was that bad.

    2. i'm hungry joe, and i approve [of] this list. seriously, good stuff.

      that cave song is epic.

  11. AMR, have you heard the Frank Ocean album nostalga, ULTRA.? It's pretty good dark R & B, and should be available for free on the Interwebs. I think it's the best album from all the OFWGKTA stuff I have heard. The song "Novacane" is really great. I haven't heard the Weeknd album yet, but one of my good friends said they're cut from a pretty similar cloth.

    01. The Wrens - "Happy" from The Meadowlands
    02. Queens of the Stone Age - "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire" from Songs for the Deaf
    03. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Contender" from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
    04. Gunplay - "On My Lap" from Inglorious Bastard
    05. The Angels of Light - "Jennifer's Sorry" from How I Loved You
    06. Bright Eyes - "Devil in the Details" from Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
    07. Marnie Stern - "Vault" from This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
    08. Heidecker & Wood - "Cross Country Skiing" from Starting from Nowhere
    09. CunninLynguists - "Predormitum (Prologue)" from Oneirology
    10. Devin the Dude - "Ain't Goin' Nowhere" from Gotta Be Me

  12. 1. Los Angeles, I'm Yours -- The Decemberists
    2. Egyptian Shumba -- The Tammys
    3. Next Exit -- Interpol
    4. Blackout -- Pavement
    5. We Dance -- Pavement
    6. Downed -- Cheap Trick
    7. Kaw-Liga -- Hank Williams
    8. Radio Sweetheart -- Elvis Costello
    9. Man in Black -- Johnny Cash
    10. Down By the River - Neil Young

    Bonus: Forests & Sands -- Camera Obscura

  13. .

    1. Alanis Morisette Hands Clean
    2. AC/DC What Do You Do For Your Money Honey
    3. Toto Waiting For Your Love
    4. Dan Fogelberg Gypsy Wind
    5. Dropkick Murphys Cadence To Arms

    6. R.E.M. Drive
    7. 2Pac Toss It Up
    8. Guns N’ Roses Rocket Queen
    9. Duke Ellington Perdido
    10. CCR Long As I Can See The Night
    BT: Ween Ocean Man

  14. .
    .
    01 Chuckin' - Kenney Burrell - Blue Lights, Vol. 1
    02 The Gash - Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin
    03 Lead a Normal Life - Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (3)
    04 When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy - Capt. Beefheart - Shiny Beast
    05 Drive South - John Hiatt - Slow Turning
    06 Take a Chance With Me - Roxy Music - Avalon
    07 She Loves the Way They Love Her - Zombies - Best of
    08 12-Step Program (To Quit You Babe) - Nick Lowe - The Impossible Bird
    09 Where That Love's Been Gone - Pogues - Pogue Mahone
    10 A Popsong - Wreckless Eric - Best of

  15. Dr Dog "Drop Me Off" Fate
    Magnetic Fields "Chicken With Its Head Cut Off" 69 Love Songs
    Swan Lake "All Fires" Beast Moans
    Belle and Sebastian "You're Just A Baby" Tigermilk
    Joanna Newsom "Have One On Me" Have One On Me
    Sam Roberts "The Resistance" Chemical City
    Bright Eyes "At The Bottom Of Everything" I'm Wide Awake Its Morning
    Islands "Swans (Life After Death)" Return To The Sea
    Paul Westerberg "Making Me Go" Come Feel Me Tremble
    Sugergrass "Sun Hits The Sky" In It For The Money

  16. I have no iPod so thinking of lists generally wears me out, but I'll mention that I am constantly spinning Susan Tedeschi this week, in particular Live from Austin, Texas.

  17. Knockin' On Heaven's Door Television The Blow Up
    Clouds American Music Club Engine
    These Were My Walls Atlas Sound Bedroom Databank Vol. 1
    This Perfect Day The Saints Eternally Yours
    Ooh La La Faces Five Guys Walk Into A Bar...

    The Red Shoes Kate Bush Directors Cut
    In Particular Blonde Redhead Live in SF - 12.04.2000
    Pablo Picasso The Modern Lovers The Modern Lovers
    After Hours The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground
    Floater (Too Much To Ask) Bob Dylan Love And Theft

    Bob Bookends. The Television cover of "KonHD" is on a very short list of greatest Dylan covers ever.
    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sELD8fD6opk

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