Today's random ten

Today's random ten songs from the home iTunes...

• "Top of the World" by Dixie Chicks - beautiful song, great performance showcasing Natalie Maines's voice...more dramatic music than most of their oeuvre...four stars
• "Down by the River" by Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - from their Live at Radio City two-disc set, interesting cover of Neil Young's great song...odd bent notes all over the place making the song far creepier than the original performance...three stars
• "Feels Good" by Tony! Toni! Tone! - Ah, the very early 90's...working at WNAS and playing this cd single to death...nice bit of just pre-New Jack soul...this club remix isn't as tight as the single version, but it's still not bad...three stars
• "Scarecrow" by Beck - I remember buying the Guero album in Dallas on a trip for the NSTA conference...good times...great album...good song...four stars
• "One True Vine" by Wilco - This is off of the Sky Blue Sky bonus disc, but I have absolutely no idea why they left it off the original album. It fits beautifully and would have been a spectacular closer - slow, aching, heartbroken. Sky Blue Sky is one of my favorite albums by my favorite band, one of their most cohesive and singularly voiced. Four stars
• "Cry Freedom" by Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - After the Crash album, I pretty much gave up on the DMB.I've nothing wrong with the direction they took; I just didn't want to go with them. This cover of a song from Crash is still pretty, though. Three stars
• "Milkcow Blue Boogie" by Elvis Presley - He's the king of rock and roll, the biggest thing in American popular music between Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, and I have two cds worth of his music. This comes from The Sun Sessions which collects many of his original recordings at the earliest, most playful part of his career. It's easily my favorite of his periods. This particular track opens with "this don't move me. Let's get real, real gone" - one of my favorite phrases to open a song ever. Three stars
• "Angry World" by Neil Young - This is newish Neil from his Le Noise album. The feedback has finally been tamed and turned into music for the old man without Crazy Horse, the first time I can remember him doing that solo. Three stars
• "I Don't Want to Let You Go" by Weezer - from the Raditude album. I'm not a big Weezer fan, but I always like whatever I find. I should probably hunt down Pinkerton at some point. Four stars
• "Ocean Crossing" by Arlo Guthrie & Pete Seeger - I grew up on Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie; Peter, Paul, and Mary and Bob Dylan. Mom's a folkie from back in the day, and this music just feels comforting to me. Yeah, Arlo can be goofy and silly and sappy sometimes - as he is here - but it feels like home. Three stars