Category Archives: Music

Here, you should listen to this right now because it’s a song that changed my life. Maybe it will for you as well. Or you might just hate it.

Shuffle: Little Stereo + Kicking

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Soft Machine
Soft Machine

“Little Stereo”
by Teddybears (ft. Daddy Boastin)
from the album Soft Machine
2007
Buy the album on Amazon

Car therapy, it’s a thing. Windows down, music playing just a little too loud, driving just a little too fast, and with shuffle determining your fate.

I was deep in a funk this morning, feeling down on myself for a shitty show, being sick for weeks on end and general nonsense at the office.  And then I got hit with a one-two punch of pure joy.  Having a great song come up on a shuffle is the best.  Experiencing a completely unrelated, yet equally great track right on its heels is the jam.  And when all of that happens in a car where you can sing as loud as you want, off-key, out-of-time and with all the wrong lyrics rolling off of your tongue, that’s car therapy.

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Bryan Adams and Pee-wee Herman and reggae

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I was doing a search for rock-ish versions of Christmas songs, and found this pretty comprehensive list. I’ve also got a few random Christmas songs by bands I like in my library. I didn’t listen to all the songs on the page, but generally – meh (and to be clear, I have a serious addiction problem to collecting Christmas music). Give me my favorite band doing a Christmas song and I will still pick Bing Crosby or John Denver and the Muppets any day.

At the very end of this list, however, was this gem, which is new to me. I don’t know why Bryan Adams was the person picked to sing about “Reggae Christmas”, but what I do know is that Pee-Wee Herman has dreadlocks, and so all is right in the world.

Album of the Month: Gish

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Gish

Gish
by Smashing Pumpkins
1991
Buy the reissue on Amazon

If I’m ever put on the spot with one of those “top ten albums of all time” questions, without hesitation, I’ll name Gish and then I’ll stumble around for while and name off albums that happen to be on high rotation at the time of the inquiry.  But Gish is always there.  In my mind it’s timeless and that has a lot of to with the lyrics. I don’t understand any of them. Continue reading Album of the Month: Gish →

November Five-Star Shuffle: “Solid”

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Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia

“Solid”
by the Dandy Warhols
from the album Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
2000
Buy the album on Amazon

It was bound to happen sooner or later, but I reached a five-star song on shuffle that I’m demoting after having listened to it again.  Not to say “Solid” isn’t a good song,  but I definitely gave it a bonus star just because I wanted to remember it as the theme song to the television series Undeclared.  If you haven’t seen the show, Undeclared is a Judd Apatow produced comedy set during the freshman year of college.  There are only a handful of episodes so it’s definitely worth cruising through on a binge weekend.  Plus it features Seth Rogen before he was super popular, and Charlie Hunnam before he was a Son of Anarchy.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Solid” →

November Five-Star Shuffle: “The Promise”

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When In Rome
When In Rome

“The Promise”
by When In Rome
from the album When In Rome
1988
Buy the album on Amazon

Aaah, one of my favorite songs ever, and a must-sing entry in the Chris/Chrance karaoke playlist. This is a song I listen to when I need a pick me up, and a song I sing when I need an ego boost and want to get the crowd in a good mood. Most people don’t know it by name, but as soon as that intro piano tinkle comes on, everyone of at least a certain age has their synapses fire with happy recognition.

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November Five-Star Shuffle: “Country Feedback”

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Out of Time
Out of Time

“Country Feedback”
by R.E.M.
from the album Out of Time
1991
Buy the album on Amazon

Damnit. I wanted to start off Monday morning with a good rocking pick, and then this came up (actually, “Jane Says” came up but it’s already been posted, and so did “Under the Bridge” but I feel like karaoke rules sort of apply to MNP as well, so I may let Lance post that one). I couldn’t hit skip forever though, so here we are.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Country Feedback” →

November Five-Star Shuffle: “Burn”

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Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers

“Burn”
by Nine Inch Nails
from the album Natural Born Killers Soundtrack
1994
Buy the album on Amazon

Not necessarily what I was hoping for, but a great track nonetheless. This was originally released on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack (one of the picks I ran out of time to do for October Soundtracks), and is also on the deluxe edition of The Downward Spiral. There were bits of NIN woven throughout that soundtrack, but this was the only new NIN song, and it’s fantastic. If you need a song to listen to when you’re feeling pissed at the world, or even just need a workout song that will get you moving (just try not to run faster at the 2:30 mark), this is the one.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Burn” →

Album of the Month: Violent Femmes

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Violent FemmesViolent Femmes
by Violent Femmes
1983
Buy the album on Amazon

I was planning on a different Album of the Month, but then my friend new Kelsey and I were talking about our top 5 bands. I had mostly not heard of hers (because I’m old) and she had mostly not heard of mine (also because I’m old). Violent Femmes were on my list, and though my main thought was trying to hold back from screaming out on the subway “how do you not know who the Violent Femmes are?!”, my other thought was “if their first album is not a perfect album, then brother, I don’t know what the hell is.” So Kelsey, this is for you.

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November Five-Star Shuffle: “The New Fuck You”

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Ghetto Blaster EP
Ghetto Blaster EP

“The New Fuck You”
by Street Sweeper Social Club
from the EP Ghetto Blaster
2010
Buy the EP on Amazon

Here’s a secret about blogs: you can both write posts ahead of time and have them post in the future, or you can backdate late posts to make you look like you’re on top of your shit.  My intent with this post was to do the former… knock out a couple of posts in one night to hit my minimum of two a week so I could take my time on the monthly entry, but then this song came up on shuffle and Boots and Tom wouldn’t let me front… so here it comes two posts back-to-back.  Oh shit… “Balloon” by Catherine Wheel just came up while I was writing this graph.  Thank god I already wrote about it, otherwise I wouldn’t sleep tonight… whiskey is delicious.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “The New Fuck You” →

November Five-Star Shuffle: “I Can See Clearly Now”

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Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank

“I Can See Clearly Now”
by Johnny Nash
from the Grosse Pointe Blank Soundtrack
1972
Buy the album on Amazon

Okay, so this came on shuffle and I was “Oh man, I might have rated this too high… riding the way from a great film.”  Then I also thought, “This is unfortunate, I just reviewed the album.”  But fuck it.  This is a magnificent song.  I’m a few drinks in.  I still stand by that statement.  I wasn’t in a great mood when I started playback, but within fifteen seconds this song had changed my mood.  That, my friends, is the power of music.  The power to change your mood from bad to good, or from sad to glad, from peaceful to menacing or even from flaccid to erect.  You know I’m right.  Whiskey is delicious.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “I Can See Clearly Now” →