Tag Archives: alternative

November Five-Star Shuffle: “The Wrong Child”

Green“The Wrong Child”
by R.E.M.
from the album Green
1998
Buy the album on Amazon

Sorry to disappointment our adoring fans, because I know I am one day late on my 5-star entry for last week, so getting it in now. And what a punch in the gut depressing entry it is. I think I’ve mentioned before that I was a big R.E.M. fan in my youth, probably up until around Automatic for the People. I don’t remember if Green was their first album I had, and I might argue that Document or Life’s Rich Pageant are better albums, but Green is still the pinnacle of their albums for me. The one that had the most impact and stuck with me the most. In fact, thinking about it now, I should probably do it as an Album of the Month at some point, so let’s get to the song.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “The Wrong Child”

MVA 101: “Lucas With the Lid Off”

Lucascentric
Lucascentric

“Lucas With The Lid Off”
by Lucas
from the album Lucascentric
1994
Buy the album on Amazon

Music videoswere my primary form of music discovery back in the day.  Whether it was falling in love with metal bands watching “Dial MTV” or  learning about Madchester music on “120 Minutes,” I got more new music exposure via the boob tube than the boom box.

Most of the videos were cheesy, boring or both, full of concert footage, lip-synced performances or weirdly stretched-out, Vaseline-coated imagery.  But every once and awhile, music videos would stumble upon greatness and I think it’s time we called some of these out, particularly since nothing in the past 10 years is probably even watchable. Continue reading MVA 101: “Lucas With the Lid Off”

November Five-Star Shuffle: “Somebody to Shove”

Grave Dancers Union
Grave Dancers Union

“Somebody to Shove”
by Soul Asylum
from the album Grave Dancers Union
1992
Buy the album on Amazon

Soul Asylum is one of those bands that I never normally think about; they don’t really orbit in my 90s universe of music.  But occasionally a song of theirs will come up on the local 90s station or Pandora/Spotify/iTunes and I gotta give it up to them.  They’ve got some great tunes, and this is definitely one of them. Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Somebody to Shove”

They Might Be Giants: “Dead”

Flood“Dead”
by They Might Be Giants
from the album Flood
1990
Buy the album on Amazon

This is probably my favourite TMBG song. There’s something about it that’s so simple and so beautiful and so catchy. I actually made Lance try this with me once or twice at karaoke, acapella, looking at the lyrics on my phone, when there was a lull in songs in the queue, because I just want so badly for it to actually be in the book. It never ever will be, but this is one of those songs that we would totally add if we ever opened a karaoke bar, and that if we actually lived in the same city (or country) we would practice together until we could nail it. It’s such a fun song to sing (I can never decide which part I would prefer to do), even if it’s just doing it loudly in the car. If I’m in a place where I’m alone and can sing this, I will almost always do it a few times in a row when it comes on shuffle.

Continue reading They Might Be Giants: “Dead”

November Five-Star Shuffle: “Why Would I Want to Die”

Concrete Dunes“Why Would I Want to Die”
by Grandaddy
from the album Concrete Dunes
2002
Buy the album on Amazon

I love the idea of a monthly theme based on shuffling, and not being able to skip, but the problem is for me my 5 star playlist is only has 122 songs on it (vs. 2448 4 stars), so all of them are going to be things I love and almost never skip. I’m very restrictive about what makes 5 stars, whereas there are plenty of moments of potential embarrassment (if that’s what Lance was hoping for) in the 4 star list (I’m not entirely positive Lance and I use the same criteria for our rating system). But, this month is about the best of the best, so onward.

Continue reading November Five-Star Shuffle: “Why Would I Want to Die”

I’m Getting Too Old For Concerts

Afghan Whigs
Afghan Whigs courtesy Grantland

On Friday night I went to check out the Afghan Whigs in Austin, a band I’ve loved since the early 90s but never got to see live.  Greg Dulli’s voice is one of my favorites and I’ve often said if I had the chance to sing like anyone, it would be him.  His voice is so raspy and powerful, it’s just killer.  I was really excited to check them out at a venue I’d never been to be before.   Continue reading I’m Getting Too Old For Concerts

October Soundtracks: Until the End of the World

Until the End of the WorldUntil the End of the World
1991
Buy the album on Amazon

It’s been a long time since I saw this movie, and I don’t really remember it at all (confirmed by just watching the trailer), but I do remember I really liked it. I might have seen it in the theater when it was first released, though 1991 – I may not have entered my big Wim Wenders phase by then, ignited by Wings of Desire. I think I probably had though, because I remember the soundtrack coming out, and though not all of the songs made an impression, there have been a few that have stood out ever since I first heard it.

Continue reading October Soundtracks: Until the End of the World

Album of the Month: Girlfriend – Redux

Girlfriend
Girlfriend

“Nothing Lasts”
by Matthew Sweet
from the album Girlfriend
1991
Buy the album on Amazon

When Lance wrote up this album last week, it was pretty spot on. I completely agree with him that it’s one of the rare albums with nary a skippable song. I associate this album most strongly with my high school friend Joel Robinson (not of MST3K fame), as we had a shared love of it from the time it first came out. It is indeed a perfect album. I don’t want to rehash what Lance went into, but just to expand on a couple of points (and I’m going to ramble here entirely too long to just add it as an article comment)…

Continue reading Album of the Month: Girlfriend – Redux

October Soundtracks: Romeo + Juliet

Romeo + JulietRomeo + Juliet
1996
Buy the album on Amazon

I was a big fan of this movie when it came out and (though I still for some reason haven’t seen Strictly Ballroom) it made me an ongoing big fan of Baz Luhrman. It was the coolness and fun and frenetic energy of it, it was Leonardo DiCaprio, fresh from The Basketball Diaries, and the totally cute MSCL-era Claire Danes, and a great cast all around, like Harold Perrineau in drag and John Leguizamo being bad-ass, and it was the music (2 new Radiohead songs!), etc. On a personal level, I also really enjoyed it because in my sophomore year of high school, our theater department put on this play, and I was the Friar, and quite frankly, I didn’t really understand everything that I was saying. Seeing the masterful Pete Postlethwaite at work, it all became totally clear to me.

Continue reading October Soundtracks: Romeo + Juliet

Orphan Songs: “The Ballad of Winnie”

Pearls Before Swine
Pearls Before Swine

“The Ballad of Winnie”
by Tribe after Tribe
from the album Pearls Before Swine
1997
Buy the album on Amazon

Scattered throughout my digital library are lonely orphan songs which contain the only appearance from that particular artist in my collection.  Most of these come from a time when file-sharing was new and exciting.  You’d search for a bunch of random stuff you had heard about but had never seen in a store, or maybe had a jonzing for that catchy track you heard on the radio.  Every search was an attempt to fill up the empty hours at night and the megabytes on your hard drive.  Most of these songs have been lost to time,  played once and forgotten.  Most are missing key pieces of metadata.  But every now and then one of those songs will stick out.  It’ll make the move from computer to computer.  You might even end up buying a higher bit rate version later on iTunes or Amazon.  And if when it comes on shuffle, which is rare in a sea of complete discographies and ever-increasing collections, you’ll listen to it and remember. Continue reading Orphan Songs: “The Ballad of Winnie”