December 4, 2007

Return of the Random Ten

Sorry, after yesterday's maudlin posting, I'm going to take a couple of days of frivolity...more emotion is unlikely to come 'round anytime soon...to quote one of my favorite movies, strangers with this kind of honesty make me go a big rubbery one...

though most of your folks 'round here - at least most of you who comment - are far from strangers...

Random ten songs from the iTunes...
  • "Reveries (edit)" by Dimitri from Paris - outstanding little groove from a great album Sacrebleu...not enough folks know about Dimitri, and seeqpod doesn't find much of his work, which is a crime...fun electonica with influences of chill and old school Paris fun
  • "Uninvited" by Alanis Morrissette - not all the Unpluggeds from MTv worked, but Alanis's did...this one's a little bit of a downer for my tastes...she can be a bit emotional at times
  • "Jealousy" by Liz Phair - Liz won't be making any of my seeqpod lists for you folks (not the still-in-school ones, anyway) because she is as vulgar and sexually open as just about any artist, but it totally works...this ones' from Whip-Smart which is a lesser album than either Whitechocolatespaceegg or Exile in Guyville...I lost track of her after she went pop a couple of albums later, but those first three were a totally awesome shot across the bow of the 90's...this one's fun but not the best on the album...
  • "Extraordinary Girl" by Green Day - I'll put American Idiot up against just about anybody's nonimee as best album of the past five or ten years...the rock opera that works as an album and hasn't been turned into an actual rock opera yet...let's call it a concept album then...
  • "Decatur, or, round of applause for your stepmother!" by Sufjan Stevens - though Illinoise might edge into the discussion for me...love the weird instrumentation with banjo thrown in for good measure...he can be way too literate and uppity at times, but when he hits it right, it's hard to find prettier music
  • "Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground - this one doesn't fit after the last, but it's a hell of a grovve in its owen right...sums up the early 90s to me...loved the couple of hits that these guys had, and the schtick with the big schnoz worked for me...a little on the blue side of the equation, but who cares
  • "Beeswing" by Richard Thompson - one of the prettiest songs I've ever heard...real melancholy from the master of it...a tale of love lost and regret years later...wondering where she ended up and knowing that you can't hold on to what can't be held...a similar sentiment to "Love is a Rose" by Neil Young
  • "Everybody Knows" by Ryan Adams - it's taken me a while to come around the Easy Tiger and the highlights aren't quite on par with Ryan Adams's absolute best, but there isn't a stinker on the album...this one's damn pretty
  • "Wabash Cannonball" by Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys - the whistle in the background is hokey and a big gimmicky, but it's old timey and high and lonesome like nobody's business
  • "Prologue" by Loreena McKennitt - the only one that I don't know by name on today's list...I need to drop a random ten from the school computer sometime soon to show how different my music there is compared to what I have at home...the stuff at home is only what I love listening to...the school stuff is at times intentionally weird, intentionally annoying, a mix made to make people wonder what is coming out of the speakers next...as I listed to the McKennitt track, though, I remember her lovely voice la-la-la-ing its way through this track...pleasant and moody enough to fit on The Book of Secrets Album but not enough to get heavy play like "The Highwayman" on the same disc
All in all, a good, solid list for me...a couple of outstanding tracks with good role players filling in admirably...

More randomness tomorrow...

Oh, and I tried to seeqpod this list but to no avail...the first three songs struck out...another time, then...

6 comments:

DanEcht said...

I completely agree about American Idiot...some people say it's not that great...I beg to disagree. Jesus of Suburbia = amazing.

wv: apysnil

joey said...

i love easy tiger. granted, that is about how much ryan adams i know, but its a great album

DanEcht said...

Loving Loreena Mckennitt...looking forward to tomorrow's randomness.

kind of good wv: lsryrasm

DanEcht said...

A side note: definitely heard the lyrics to the highwayman as a story somewhere before. Can't remember exactly where, though.

DanEcht said...

My last post, I swear: read the poem before, that's where I recognize the lyrics from. Good stuff. Can't find Beeswing on Seeqpod, sadly

PHSChemGuy said...

Dan, I don't know what poem The Highwayman is from, but I love the sound of Lorenna McKennitt's albums. I wouldn't want to have a dozen of them, but a couple are really nice to play from time to time.

Give an email and I'll send you a copy of Beeswing. It's a beautiful, sad song.