Friday Music Day

FMD – Fun times with Pandemic Music?

15 Comments

Any new musical discoveries during this pandemic/quarantine? Trying to discover new music or leaning on old standbys? Earlier this week I was working at home, all alone and it was pouring rain outside. So I listened to Elliot Smith's debut, Roman Candle. Perfect for an isolating raining day.

My love for Van Halen's first album is well known and I thought, since Eruption is such a great intro to You Really Got Me, what other songs would it be a great intro to. The cool thing with streaming music services, is that it's really easy to find out so I created a bunch of playlist pairing a song with Eruption.

I discovered, to no surprise, that Eruption before a quiet song just doesn't work. I thought perhaps the daring difference would be kind of cool, but nope, it's just too discordant. Also pairing Eruption with any other classic rock song works pretty good. Eruption leading into Welcome to the Jungle doesn't miss a beat.

It also works pretty well with some GBV songs, particularly Motor Away and I am a Tree. It really works with a song called Soul Barn, which is an amazing toss-off song buried on a demo release. In all cases, if the production were better, all these combo's would be really cool

Any way, long way to say so stay safe and listen to music, it can really be a balm in these trying times.

Drop 'em if you got 'em.

15 thoughts on “FMD – Fun times with Pandemic Music?”

  2. 1. Coldcut “I Miss You Blobula ‐ Q-Bert Mix” More Beats + Pieces
    2. Priscilla Ahn “Elf Song” When You Grow Up
    3. Blanck Mass “Rhesus Negative”* World Eater
    4. Robyn “Be Mine! (Live Acoustic)” The Cherrytree Sessions EP
    5. Bonny Billy & the Picket Line “Ohio River Boat Song” Funtown Comedown

    6. Fever Ray “Plunge (Faka Remix)” Plunge Remix
    7. Deathproof “Occultation 4” Occulting Disk
    8. Mix Master Mike “Atmosfear”* Valuemeal 12 Inch Combo Deluxe
    9. HEALTH “MEN TODAY” DEATH MAGIC
    T. Sylvan Esso “H.S.K.T.”* Sylvan Esso

    Now I'm going to listen to some Pharaoh Sanders albums on Youtube.

    *Notes:
    3. The first Blanck Mass sounded like a more ambient version of his main band F--- Buttons. This just sounds like F--- Buttons (which might be better).
    8. The 15-minute A-side. I think the B-sides are the album versions from Anti-Theft Device. I see it ultimately got CD release on the reissue of the Return of the Cyklops EP. Listen to the full thing here, starting with a Kevin Spacey sample from the movie Se7en.
    T. Stands for "Head Shoulders Knees Toes". One reason I consider the album disguised children's music.

  3. I’ve been playing these 3 nearly perfect pop albums that were all released in 1991.
    Jellyfish Bellybutton
    Trash Can Sinatras Cake
    The Posies Dear 23
    Unfortunately, ‘91 was also the year that grunge rock reared it’s head so these gems all ended up being overlooked. They’ve all aged very gracefully. There’s a certain timeless quality about them.



    1. I think Jellyfish's videos distracted from how good their music was. It got them lumped into that "gimmick" category.

      1. Totally agree. The album covers are pretty awful, too. But, the music, man. It can stand right alongside their influences.

        1. So I took a deeper dive into Jellyfish. I can see why you dig them Bootsy, definitely an early 70's vibe.

          1. I have one album that I'm pretty sure I grabbed on 6's recommendation. I liked it, but I only went through it a few times. Should dust that one off.

  4. 01. "Country" – Alex G – Rocket
    02. "Jimmy Fallon Big!" – Japanese Breakfast – American Sound
    03. "Why Don't You Write Me?" – Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
    04. "A Thousand Times" – Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam – I Had A Dream That You Were Mine
    05. "May It Always Be" – Bonnie "Prince" Billy – Ease Down The Road
    06. "Wolf" – Sylvan Esso – Sylvan Esso
    07. "The Big Guns Of The Highsmith" – Lightspeed Champion – Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You!
    08. "First Week, Last Week… Carefree" – Talking Heads – Talking Heads: 77
    09. "Untogether" – Belly – Star
    10. "Wanna Be" – The Internet – Hive Mind

  5. Today's 100% artist benefited Bandcamp purchases:

    • Okoshiyasu!! Otoboke Beaver (Remastered 2018), 12" colour [yellow] vinyl LP (Third edition), by Otoboke Beaver (plus 3 digital singles for £1 each)
    • If Blue Could Be Happiness, by Florist (Digital Album)
    • Southside Desire's Killer Beach Party, 7" VINYL (limited)

    1. I ordered a couple used records from Mill City Sound in Hopkins. Songs in the Key of Life and Aerosmith Rocks!

      1. Nice. Any ‘70’s Stevie is worth owning. And Rocks does exactly what its title states. Their last great album.

        1. My favorite 70's Stevie is probably Music Of My Mind. His first album with total freedom, and he just got weird with it. Songs In The Key Of Life is an opus though.

            1. You're preaching to the choir (from "As"). Slap an extra year on there and you can throw in Fulfillingness' First Finale. That's a hell of a run.

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