Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Back From Bogota!

So Bogota was gorgeous and I made some great new friends and I experienced a completely different culture first hand and I had a brand new work experience unlike any I've ever gone through before. A slam dunk of a trip.

All that being said, it was good to get home and see Melody and Cashel and sit around and relax with them. It seems as if Cash got taller in the week I was gone. I told him to stop it!

549. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion - The Kinks from 'The Ultimate Collection (Disc 1)'

While I love The Kinks, this song is sort of nasty. It seems to be poking fun at a guy who loves fashion and underneath the whole song is a current of homophobia. Very catchy but mean.

550. It's Only Love That Gets You Through - Sade from 'Lovers Rock'

She is effortless. It is as if every sound you hear is coming directly out of her psyche, perfectly expressing some previously inarticulate need that had been etched over time into a multi-faceted diamond of tears, kisses, hurts, triumphs, and loss.

551. Grace - Jeff Buckley from 'Grace'

Pipes. Total pipes.

552. Murder Suicide Meteor Slave - Jeff Buckley from 'Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk'

Odd that the iPod would jump to another Buckley song but one from the unfinished vault of material he was working on when he died. He seems to be deliberately avoiding the kind of effortless beauty of the first album and the strain of that effort is all I can hear. On this whole sprawling album of strange material there is not one song I come away humming, as opposed to every song on 'Grace'. That isn't necessarily a negative, I enjoy antagonistic melody as much as the next post-punk but when you can break a heart like Jeff Buckley you might want to go for it.

553. Tell Your Granddad - Jesse Grieves from 'Colonial Box'

My friend Justin has been recording music since we were teenagers, sometimes we would record together, sometimes he would do it on his own. This particular song he played for me one lost afternoon at his house out in the middle of nowhere and it still makes me laugh to this day.

Tell your Granddad I love his daughter
Tell your Mother she should be a little calmer
Because I'm coming for her
But I'll take you

Ha!

554. Do You Want To Know A Secret - The Beatles from 'Please Please Me'

Pristine and perfect.

555. Enchanting Transylvania - Lenny Bruce from 'The Lenny Bruce Originals - Volume 1'

Again, impossible to explain. Just buy any live Lenny Bruce recordings you can find. You will not be sorry.

556. Rock Monsieur - Rock Failair from 'Boris Vian Et Ses Interpretes'

The joke here is that a 'croque monsieur' is a sandwich much like a grilled cheese. Get it? Rock Monsiuer? Mr. Rock? Poor poor French rockers.

557. Hain's Point - Rites Of Spring from 'End On End'

Again, the songs are forgettable but the sound and the delivery is so impassioned that it truly doesn't matter. Total commitment.

558. Trouble With Dreams - Eels from 'Live At Town Hall'

Life must be hard for a guy who has developed such a following that he can sell out Town Hall and gather them together to bum them out all at once.

559. The Heart Of Saturday Night - Tom Waits from 'The Heart Of Saturday Night'

No rasp, no engine blocks dressed up to sound like harpsichords, no creaking doors played in the key of E minor...just a great song sung really well.

560. Been A Son - Nirvana from 'Incesticide'

Killer melody. I remember getting this album and discovering Eugenius aka Captain America through the song 'Molly's Lips' and everything else on there pales in comparison. Still great, though.

561. Hypnotise - The White Stripes from 'Elephant'

I'm sorry, I had to duck under my desk to avoid the rampaging hype.

562. Message To The Boys - The Replacements from 'Don't You Know Who I Think I Was'

When The Replacements were putting together a batch of remixes and bonus tracks to be simultaneously released, the three living original members (Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, Chris Mars) got together and recorded two new songs to go along with it. This is one of 'em and it is a load of fun.

563. Holier Than Thou - Metallica from 'Black Album'

This is not a load of fun. Great, but fun? No.

564. Autumn Leaves - Rob Wasserman/Rickie Lee Jones from 'Duets'

You know what is most annoying about 'Autumn Leaves'? When they get wet they smell like shit. And when they are dry they blow away.

565. Son - Deconstruction from 'Deconstruction'

Dave Navarro organized this project right after Jane's Addiction first imploded and I think it is a very interesting album. Not sure to this day why I bought it seeing as I was not a Jane's Addiction fan but whenever I hear a song from it I am glad I own it.

566. Last Exit - Pearl Jam from 'Vitalogy'

I know Eddie Vedder has farted in his life and it probably was funny. I know he must have cracked a joke in his life and it probably was funny. There are four or five other members of the band who must have done at least one funny thing in their lives at one point or another.

Strange, but not ONE of those moments has ever made it onto an album. Heads up, Jam, life is FUN.

567. Carry That Weight - The Beatles from 'Abbey Road'

Pearl Jam could take a hint from these guys who on one album side introduced us to Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pam.

568. THE FAT SHIT! - Poppa Foxtrot 'Single'

I rest my case for funny music.