ipod/MP3 Friday Shuffle — Happy Birthday Grant McLennan Edition
Today, let’s pay tribute to the late, great Grant McLennan, one of the two songwriters who fueled the wonderful Australian band, The Go Betweens. Their warm and pensive melodic guitar songs often had subtle undercurrents of The Velvet Underground and post-punkers. Both McLennan and his partner, Robert Forster, played literate and humanistic songs, sometimes sparely and sometimes with grandeur, but almost always extremely compelling. In honor of Grant, please grab your iPod/MP3 player, hit shuffle and share the first ten tunes that come up.
- Sex Pistols — New York (Never Mind The Bollocks): Yes, the music sounds comparatively tame 33 years after the fact, but in the context of the 1977 rock scene, the Pistols were a gob of fresh air. And the music does still rock and Johnny Rotten sounds more menacing that almost anyone he inspired. This is a lesser number from one hell of a rock and roll album. One other thing — the most important aspect of the Sex Pistols’ legacy is how they fueled the D.I.Y. movement. The number of Brits who saw them and formed a band is staggering, and one of those bands, Buzzcocks, put out Spiral Scratch, the first true indie release, and started a movement that CHIRP is effectively part of.
- Blue Oyster Cult — Godzilla (Spectres): This hilarious tribute to everyone’s favorite mutant dinosaur killing machine awakened by nuclear testing showed that the Cult could not only traffic in subtle black humor, but also in up front fun. I’m baffled why this was never released as a single. If you want to explore some truly cool ’70s heavy metal, BOC is the place to start.
- Original Sins — Rather Be Sad (The Hardest Way): John Terlinsky, who later went on to do the Brother JT thing, led this great garage rock band during the late ’80s and early ’90s. Terlinsky is a really good songwriter, with a strong sense of melody, and then throws in some fuzzy guitars and the requisite garage rock organ on this tale of a guy who’d rather be sad, because he knows he’s going to get hurt by love in the end.
- The Brothers Johnson — The Devil (Look Out For #1): This is about as funky as George and Louis Johnson got, in a cautionary tale of how sinning will get “your ass burnin’” for a really long time. These guys were funk lightweights, but working with mentor Quincy Jones, they often threw melodic twists into their songs that gave them a distinctive stamp. There are a couple of those on this tune to render it above average.
- Scritti Politti — Small Talk (Cupid & Psyche 85): Green Gartside’s transformation from ultra-leftist amelodic post-punker to subtly poltiical smooth synth-soul star is one of the more amazing stories of the ’80s, well chronicled in Simon Reynolds’ excellent book Rip It Up & Start Again. This is the album where the transformation was complete. Gartside’s airy tenor vocals managed to thread his wordy lyrics through some of the happiest darn white R & B you’ve ever heard. Dated, yes, but still catchy as hell.
- The Sames — There’s No Mystery Here (You Are The Sames): At one level, this is a fairly standard indie rock record, released in 2005, tailor made for college radio airplay. But this North Carolina band both fits in with and stands out from The Shins and The Arcade Fire and other contemporaries. How? By writing excellent songs, each which has a strong chorus or memorable instrumental hooks that really stick. If they were on Sub Pop, I think The Sames would have been big, as this was one of the best albums of 2005.
- E’Nuff Z’Nuff — In Crowd (Strength): This is not a cover of the ’60s hit by Dobie Gray. Blue Island’s pride and joy jumped on the hair metal bandwagon and was touted by Rolling Stone magazine as the next big thing. For some reason, perhaps because they were not sexist enough or didn’t have an androgynous frontman, they didn’t take off. And once you stripped away the bad make up and ignored the garish clothes, E’Nuff Z’Nuff were a Beatles/Cheap Trick inspired hard rock band with some metally trappings (especially in the flashy guitar solos). This is the best song on their second album, with strong vocals from Donnie Vie.
- Fine Young Cannibals — Love For Sale (Red, Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter): This album, which benefited AIDS research, is chock full of great modernized versions of classic Cole Porter tunes. I believe this is the final recording by the Cannibals, and they play this song in a jazzy acoustic guitar dominated arrangement, with Roland Gift emoting in characteristic fashion.
- Eleventh Dream Day — There’s This Thing (Lived To Tell): Wow, when my iPod is in Friday Shuffle mode, it loves Eleventh Dream Day. Not that I have a problem with it. This is a percussive cooker that uses a pretty basic blues chord progression and a variation on the Bo Diddley beat. You can actually dance a bit to this one.
- The Beat Farmers — California Kid (Tales Of The New West): The first Beat Farmers album came smack dab in the middle of a country rock revival in the mid-‘80s. Unlike the ’70s country rock, the bands tended to rock a bit more. The Beat Farmers were a bit less countrified than Jason & The Scorchers and The Long Ryders, but could twang away pretty well. This song spotlighted their drummer Country Dick, who had a rumbling baritone voice that was perfect for this tale of a horny outlaw.
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What They're Saying
Mike G, on Feb 12, 06:03 AM, wrote:
Damn Fridays. I’m free from the former 9 to 5, but as a contractor I’ve still got to go into the office once a week for meetings. That just so happens to be Friday. Oh well, may as well make the best out of it with some fine tunes.
1) We Versus The Shark – Suddenly It’s A Folk Song (Murmurmur) [Future of the Left cover]
2) Why? – This Blackest Purse (Eskimo Snow)
3) Lifetime – Bedtime (Background)
4) Dinosaur Jr. – Crumble (Beyond)
5) Bad Religion – Believe It (The New America)
6) 8 Bit Weapon – Sk8 Bit Demo (Vaporware Soundtracks)
7) Lifetime – Bubby Trucks Tricks (Hello Bastards) [Any mix with two Lifetime tracks is A-OK by me]
8) Aloha – Summer Lawn (Some Echoes)
9) Braid – You’re Lucky To Be Alive (Movie Music Vol. One)
10) The Dismemberment Plan – The Face of the Earth (Change)
Paul Leddy, on Feb 12, 06:33 AM, wrote:
Nice mix this morning…
1. The Concretes-Seems Fine
2. Cycles-Bonnie “Prince” Billy
3. Josh Ottom-The Easy Way Out
4. Moby-If Things Were Perfect
5. Pinkle-Nothing at All
6. Silent Anticipations-Michael Hedges
7. California Wives-French Words
8. Dan Zanes and Friends-Wild Mountain Thyme (W/ Dar Williams)…what can I say, I have kids.
9. Tune Up (Take 5)-Wes Montgomery
10. Billie Holiday-Billie Holiday (interesting I have 2 jazz tunes back to back…but a nice final track)
Scott McK, on Feb 12, 06:45 AM, wrote:
I have to disagree that Nevermind The Bollocks has grown to sound tame, I really do. Really.
1. Nomo – All the Stars (Ghost Rock): The interwoven drum patterns on this song are effectively hypnotic.
2. Urban Dance Squad – Fast Lane (Mental Floss For The Globe): My iPod hasn’t played these guys for years, but they’ve come up twice for the Friday Shuffle. They successfully brought some hip-hop sensibilities to 90s punk/funk.
3. Starflyer 59 – Fell In Love At 22 (Fell In Love At 22 EP): I think that this band is criminally ignored. Jason Martin has been writing consistently good to great power pop since 1993.
4. Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes (Antics In The Forbidden Zone): Ant’s 1st band, Bazooka Joe, played as headliners at The Sex Pistols’ very 1st gig.
5. Zee Avi – Let Me In (Zee Avi): A bona fide YouTube success story.
6. The Stooges – Loose (Fun House): Iggy was the pre-Johnny Rotten Johnny Rotten. Or, Johnny was the post-Iggy Pop Iggy Pop. Dangerous vocals all around.
7. The Walkmen – Summer Stage (The Walkmen): Slow burner of a last track on their 1st EP, sets the stage for good things to come.
8. The Pulsars – Owed To A Devil (Pulsars): Ahead of their time electro-pop Chicago band led by Dave Trumfio, who had worked with the likes of The Mekons and Wilco before releasing this record with his brother.
9. Portishead – Numbed In Moscow (Sour Times): A minimalist re-working of their track ‘Numb’, that was available on the CD Single for ‘Sour Times’.
10. Big Audio Dynamite II – I Don’t Know (The Globe): Something else from the punk/funk era, featuring Mick Jones of The Clash fame. This song takes a bit to get going and then morphs into a pedestrian dance track.
Tony Breed, on Feb 12, 08:41 AM, wrote:
Love that version of “Love for Sale”! A strong point on a generally very good album.
1. Has It Come to This? — The Streets — Original Pirate Material
2. The Silent Day — Shellyan Orphan — Century Flower
A really beautiful song about death and loss
3. Whammy Kiss — The B-52’s — Whammy
4. Lucifer Sam — Pink Floyd — The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
5. Movie on the Way Down — Jim O’Rourke — Eureka
6. Six To Wan — Hugh Reed & The Velvet Underpants — Take A Walk On The Clydeside
An album introduced to me by DJ Barb Wire. The band name made it in as a punchline to the tribute comic I wrote when Barb died last year
7. Would I Lie To You? — Eurythmics — Be Yourself Tonight
8. Bored (Dance Mix) — Emotional Rescue — Emotional Rescue
Another band introduced to me by Barb Wire.
9. From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea) — The Decemberists — Picaresque
10. We’ve Got Four Big Clocks (and they’re all ticking) — Laurie Anderson — United States Live
Hmm now I’m thinking about Barb. (And as I write this I’m listening to Shelleyan Orphan/The Silent Day and feeling moody. OK that just ended and now it’s the B-52’s which is just silly. Anyway, here’s to you, Barb.)
swanksalot, on Feb 12, 01:28 PM, wrote:
1. Jules Dupont Gregorian Chant- Benedicamus Domino (Exultemus…): A Treasury Of Gregorian Chants
2. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy- I Am Drinking Again – I See a Darkness – a little too melancholy for this afternoon, but a strong track nonetheless.
3 Clark, Gene- The True One: No Other -state of the nation, circa 1974, complete with slide guitar.
4. Van Ronk, Dave- Sprig of Thyme: Inside Dave Van Ronk – No Dave Van Ronk, no Bob Dylan. Simple as that. Bet Dave Van Ronk was fun to drink whisky with.
5. Joni Mitchell- Happy Birthday 1975: Mingus – a rousing Happy Birthday sung to Charles Mingus, with the additional refrain, How Old Are You? Mingus sings back, 54, motherfucker, but Joni Mitchell corrects Mingus, 53! You were born in 1922. Such an odd little track…
6. Drake, Nick- Summertime: Tanworth In Arden – more melancholy, can barely even hear Nick Drake’s voice.
7. Rolling Stones- Street Fighting Man: Beggars Banquet – hard to listen to this song, because as good as it is, we’ve all heard it too frequently. I tried to listen to it as I have never heard it before, but this is difficult task.
8. The Open Mind- Magic Potion: Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond garage rock paean to drug use. This could very well be a contemporary band like The Killers, Brian Jonestown Massacre or Queens of the Stone Age.
9. King Oliver’s Creole Jazzband- Southern Stomp (1st take): Louis Armstrong And King Oliver – Hey didn’t New Orleans win some sort of sporting event? Whatever, never need an excuse to listen to Louis Armstrong and King Oliver
10. Flaming Lips- Man From Pakistan: Hear It Is The Flaming Lips – This was the iteration of The Flaming Lips I first knew: psychedelic punk rock, outsider music, and catchy as hell.
Not the best playlist, but such are the fickle gods of randomization
Michael A, on Feb 14, 08:03 PM, wrote:
1. Chris Connelly – No On is Scared (Private Education): I really, really wish Chicago would take notice of their most intriguing and acrobatic singer/songwriter. While I’m not as big of a fan of Private Education as his most recent releases, any album under his namesake inevitably moves me. Pay attention people.
2. KRS-One – The MC (I Got Next): Maybe not KRS’s finest moment, 1997’s I Got Next was actually rather solid. It doesn’t overreach or over-preach. Instead, it’s just a solid set of mid-90s rap; a scene sorely missed these days.
3. Van Morrison – Astral Weeks (Astral Weeks): Is their a more appropriate album for Valentine’s Day Weekend? The opening verse of this opening track was always my favorite moment on this flawless record.
4. J Dilla – Walkinonit (Donuts): The flip-track to the perfect post-hop three-minutes of “Workinonit.” What is there not to like about Donuts? Crazy to think it’s now been four years since it dropped.
5. Byard Lancaster – In Lovingkindness (Personal Testimony (Then and Now)): One of a slew of great avant-garde spiritual jazz releases in recent years by Porter Records, Lancaster’s over-dubbed flute playing flutters beautifully on this searching 5-minute piece. An overlooked figure in the 60s Philly jazz scene, Lancaster sounds very much the amalgam of the great players he assisted in his youth: Sunny Murray, Bill Dixon, Sun Ra and McCoy Tyner.
6. Andrew Hill – The Groits (Alternate Take) (Andrew!!!): Backed with a killer group – John Gilmore, Bobby Hutcherson, Richard Davis and Joe Chambers – Chicago-bred Hill does what he does best: cerebral, complex and passionate piano-led post-bop. I especially dig these more mellow and hypnotic tracks, which really let Hill’s unpredictable melodies jump to the forefront.
7. Valet – Tame All the Lions (Blood is Clean): I always under-appreciate Valet. I never think I’m that into Honey Owen’s atmospheric drone-pop, but it never ceases to impress and hypnotize me when it comes up randomly. She maybe Grouper’s only real competition in this field.
8. Zelienople – Aging (Give It Up): Released way too quietly in the waning moments of 2009, the Chicago trio outdid themselves once again with this spectacular collection of psychedelic post-jazz-rock-drone-whatever. Though it’s much more dense, comparisons to latter-day Talk Talk always jump to my mind.
9. Gang of Four – 5.45 (Entertainment!): We all know the story. Gotta love that melodica though.
10. Dara Puspita – Kaau Berdusta (A Go-Go & EPs): Indonesia’s best girl group of the 1960s (and beyond?)!
Steve, on Feb 17, 09:27 PM, wrote:
This was actually really fun.
1) The Sounds – Reggie – Swedish new wave pop rock, fantastic live
2) Iron Maiden – Wrathchild
3) Lil Wayne – Got Money
4) Ani DiFranco – Independence Day
5) Led Zeppelin – The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair – off the excellent BBC sessions
6) Susan Tedeschi – Voodoo Woman
7) Muse – Exo-politics
8) Thievery Corporation – The Outernationalist
9) Aesop Rock – Super Fluke
10) Das Pop – Underground