I left my iPod at home today for no good reason.
Looks like I'll be listening to 1) Youtube, 2) Pitchfork, 3) the few CDs I keep at work for such unfortunate happenings.
What's your backup?
Category Archives: Friday Music Day
FMD: Still Willing
I think I've got two more weeks left on this Will Oldham ride before I burn out.
I'm now much more fond of the latest Bonnie "Prince" Billy album than I had been.
It's Singer's Grave — A Sea of Tongues, and it's mostly a re-recording of songs from Wolfroy Goes to Town, which was the second of his really lackluster post-Beware long-players.
Almost every song that's on both albums is improved, though "Quail & Dumplings" (the only great song on Wolfroy) is just equally good. And the two new songs, "Mindlessness" and "Whipped" are up there with "Q&D" as the best on this album.
FMD: Fixed on Oldham
So, basically all I've listened to in the last week has been my "will Oldham" genre on my iPod.
To spur discussion, let me point you to something Joe Posnanski wrote about Bruce Springsteen. No, not this one.
Rather, this one, about the first "Rock" song he "heard", meaning "felt and related to".
In Pos's case, it was "Born to Run" by the aforementioned Bruce.
I could think harder and deeper, but for me, the answer might be Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike" or "Would?" by Alice in Chains.
Do you have one?
Maybe first "Hip-hop" song? First "Country" song? First "Techno" song? First "Noise" song? First "____" song? (What genre is Coil, anyways?)
Here's a list of mine:
Hip-hop: Naughty By Nature "Ghetto Bastard (Everything's Gonna Be Alright)"
Country: Meat Puppets "Comin' Down" or Metallica "Mama Said"
Techno: Nine Inch Nails "March of the Pigs"
Noise: Ryuichi Sakamoto "Coro" (Maybe)
FMD 82115: Oldham
Been increasing my Will Oldham consumption recently.
Magoo, he has lots of songs about wives and marriage.
"Rich Wife Full of Happiness" "Werner's Last Blues to Blokbuster", others.
But rather than looking for more examples, I should just post this.
FMD: THR’s Bday.
It's THR's birthday today. He had another surgery on his knee yesterday, this one of the "no-cutting" type where he was put under and then had his knee forced. There was a risk of a torn tendon or broken femur, but it sounds like he was pleased with the results.
I've forgotten his birthday so many times in the last 15 years, as it's three days after my anniversary. This year, I remembered and got the card in the mail on Tuesday. Last night, I found it still in the mailbox, shoved into the back by the two days' mail. Crap.
More on theme, Steve Reich's Drumming is pretty good, even if it lags when it shifts into a Music for 18 Musicians feel in part 3. Also, they could have fit "Clapping Music" onto the disc.
FMD: Comin’ Down
For hiking in the mountains, there's no better song to keep in mind than "Comin' Down" by the Meat Puppets.
Picking slowly up the rockslide
One thing always seems apparent
If the climb becomes too much
I can always turn around
FMD: SUMMIX2015
So, yeah, that took a bit longer than I you would have liked. Sorry, you guys. Anyway, here we go: your 2015 WGOM Summer1 Mix:*
| 1. | Gosh | Jamie xx |
| 2. | Townie | Mitski |
| 3. | Pedestrian At Best | Courtney Barnett |
| 4. | Shut Up And Dance | WALK THE MOON |
| 5. | Turbo Killer | Carpenter Brut |
| 6. | Harlem Roses | Vinny Chase ft. Kid Art |
| 7. | Hey Darling | Sleater-Kinney |
| 8. | Jackrabbit | San Fermin |
| 9. | Nothing To Say | Black Diet |
| 10. | Valerie | Mark Ronson Ft. Amy Winehouse |
| 11. | Tongues | Joywave Tongues Ft. KOPPS |
| 12. | King Kunta | Kendrick Lamar |
| 13. | Ain't Gonna Drown | Elle King |
| 14. | Let The Good Times roll | JD McPherson |
| 15. | I Miss Your Bones | Hospitality |
| 16. | Pink Slime | La Luz |
| 17. | I Wanna Get Better | Bleachers |
| 18. | Dream Lover | Destroyer |
| 19. | Blood Hands | Royal Blood |
| 20. | Like No Other | EULA |
| 21. | Chateau Lobby #4 (In C For Two Virgins) | Father John Misty |
| 22. | Living The Dream | Sturgill Simpson |
| 23. | Hold Back The River | James Bay |
| 24. | When I'm Blind | Built To Spill |
*The methodology was pretty simple: The first pick on everyone's list got in, and after that, all other submissions went into a general pool. The selection process ended up being fairly impartial as by the time I finally got to listening to the songs, I had no idea who had submitted what3. Anyway, I went through the general pool a few times and rated4 each song5. All songs submitted totaled a bit over 2 hours; I figured an hour and a half was plenty. The lowest rated supplemental songs based on the flawed perceptions of the curator were redacted until the 90 minute threshold had been reached. From that point, songs were organized in a hopefully aesthetically pleasing sonic arrangement6.
1 AMR claimed summer was already over. The (un)official end to summer is Labor Day weekend. Duh2.
2 Actually, is that a foregone thing? I don't remember school starting before then, but spooks' kids are already going back? Is that crazy?
3 The list I gathered at the time of submission didn't note submitters, only which songs were automatically included. In addition, I pretty much listen to zero commercial radio, nor do I come across "contemporary" music in daily life, so if any of these songs are actually popular, I have no idea.
4 I guess I'd describe that my ratings process, as it applies to the theme of "Summer Mix", had a critical standard on par with the definitions of such intangibles as "MVP" or "pornography".
5 Ratings were tweaked as further listens warranted.
6 I'd like to think the flow is halfway decent.
Oh yeah, post yer 10s below.
FMD: Off to Alaska
1. I'll be away from (most of) the internet next week. Someone want to claim next week's FMD?
2. So Pepper, CoC, and I missed the Lydia Loveless concert on Sunday night, and freealonzo and Scot gave it mixed reviews. May this offer us all consolation. Recorded last year, so it doesn't have any of those new songs I want to hear.
3. In last week's comments, I mentioned the May death of Michael Kandel, who recorded as Tranquility Bass. His debut album was released on astralwerks, and it seems that so much that was on astralwerks is out of print but not reclaimable by the original artists (or even Rhino?). Maybe it's on iTunes or something. You should pick up a used copy if you find it. Go ahead and listen to it all:
FMD: MidJuly
So, how soon will we have a mixtape, hj?
FMD: Midsummer
Two shows in the Twin Cities coming up in the next eight days:
7.16 (Thursday). Colin Stetson at the Cedar.
7.19 (Saturday). Lydia Loveless at the Turf.
I should probably go to one or both of those.
Outstaters note:
Lydia's playing LaCrosse WI on the 18th, Fargo on the 20th, Grand Forks on the 21st, Ames on the 24th.