Friday random ten feat. Words I Hate

Of all the words in the American lexicon, the one I hate most would have to be "consumer". Let's get this straight, all you corporate fat-cats: I take great pride in the fact that I don't define my life based on the mindless intake and depletion of resources. Steve Jobs refers to iTunes users as "music consumers", which drives me up the effin' wall. I do not "consume" music - I "enjoy" music, it "enriches my life experience".

Hell, even organizations such as NPR refer to their listeners as "news consumers"...what the hell is wrong with "listeners"? Or, heaven forbid, "citizens interested in substantive issues that affect society as a whole"? You know who has "news consumers"? Faux News, that's who - and I'd appreciate it if I weren't grouped in with that lot.

Anyway, on with the FRT:

1. Sleater-Kinney - Heart Factory.

Cool...this song fits well with the theme of anti-mindless consumption screeds I started off with. On the subject of S-K, check out this video Carrie Brownstein did with Fred Armisen called "This Is Nice"...it's nice!

2. Hum - Stars.

This wonderful song is currently being raped and left for dead all in the name of "growing the brand" for Cadillac.

3. Nirvana - On A Plain.

In my opinion, the best song on Nevermind. As opposed to the song that dragged them reluctantly into the old main stream, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which is probably the song that holds up the worst on the entire album.

It's safe to say don't quote me on that.

4. Coldplay - Trouble.

Well, there it is...not much to say about this one. Let's just move forward to the next song...which reminds me: it's "for-ward", not "fo-wad". If I hear the phrase "moving fowad" one more time, things will happen.

Oh, things will happen.

5. Keane - Somewhere Only We Know.

Not a huge Keane fan, but for some reason this one strikes a chord with me. Needs a nice, Bohemian Rhapsody-esque gong at the end, though.

6. Bjork - Venus As A Boy.

I like her fuzzy sweater on the album cover. There's just no substitute for Icelandic wool.

I hear their hot dogs are good too.

7. Beck - Burnt Orange Peel.

Soon after I heard this CD, I called it the most important American album in the last ten years. I'm backing away slightly from that statement now that my initial infatuation with it is over, but I'd still say everyone really ought to give this CD a listen.

8. Breeders - Drivin' On 9.

I wish the Muppet Show was still on back when Last Splash came out. They totally could have done this song on a rural highway set with frogs and bears and all kinds of crazy, fuzzy shit.

9. Pixies - Holiday Song.

Oooh - Sort of a twofer. And it's not even Tuesday! When I'm king, the classic rock DJs will be the first ones against the wall.

10. Dead Souls - Nine Inch Nails.

A Joy Division cover. Better than the original, I'd say, although I'm not a big JD fan, so take that with a grain of salt.

I hope this post has provided a "synergizing", "paradigm-shifting" experience for all of you "blog consumers". In an effort to give you a "value-added, interactive experience", I'll include this link to the industry buzzword generator. If you hear any douchebags uttering the phrases it might generate, let me know and I'll add them to my "Against the Wall" list.



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Now playing: Radiohead - 15 Steps
via FoxyTunes

The Friday Random Ten

First, and this has nothing to do with music, but it's been screwing with my head since I first saw it, check this little mental test out:



Christ, this is worse than those magic-eye things!



It took me three views to get it to change from clockwise to counterclockwise, and then once I finally got it going counterclockwise, I couldn't get it going back the other way.

So, which way do you spin?

OK, enough, let's get to the musics:

1)Modest Mouse - One Chance.

God, I love MM. So why haven't I picked up We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank? Because mind your own business, that's why!

2)Tori Amos - Cruel.

Ahhh...this is off of her first album to be roundly dissed by critics. I think these critics were pretty unfair - most of the material here is actually adventurous and progressive. Except for that stupid song about Jackie O.

3)RHCP - Give It Away.

There's a special place in my heart for this band and this song in particular. Aside from the fact that it's a good song that reminds me of good times, it was featured on the Simpsons, where Krusty suggests, a la Ed Sullivan, that they change the lyric from "What I've got, you've got to get and put it in you" to "What I'd like is I'd like to hug and kiss you". To this day, I still sing that version of the lyric.

4)Coldplay - We Never Change.

Wow, that really threw the brakes on. I like this whole album, by far the least pretentious of all the Coldplay catalog.

5)Jimi Hendrix - Manic Depression.

By far my favorite Hendrix song. The swirling beat, the driving beat, the bong-rattling bass...what's not to love?

6)Pixies - Ed Is Dead.

It just wouldn't feel like an FRT without either the Pixies or the White Stripes showing up. This is not one of my favorites by the Pixies.

7)The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??

The Oklahoma boys ask some questions that we all know the answers to but do our best to ignore.

8)CSS - Alala.

I can't get enough of this song.

I just played it three times.

Awesome.

9)PJ Harvey - That Was My Veil.

Goddamn, PJ is amazing.

10)Pop Will Eat Itself - Not Now James, We're Busy.

This is, bar none, the best song ever about James Brown's arrest on domestic battery charges.

All in all, a fine Random Ten this Friday. And it was even two-fer free...can't beat that!

1)

Friday random 11

Man, where does the week go? I'd meant to do a post earlier this week, but I've been driven to distraction all week trying to figure out why a company named Franco-American would make Italian-style food.



It just makes no sense...I can only assume this is some sort of front for al Queda or the CIA or something. On a tangential topic, wouldn't it have been great if, instead of the endless parade of "I don't recalls" of former AG Gonzales, he'd just kept singing "Uh-oh, Spaghettios!"? I think he totally could've pulled that shit off.

Anyhoo, on with the musics!

1)Sleater-Kinney - It's Enough.
No, no, ladies...it's never enough S-K for me.

2)Helium - Pat's Trick.
I remember I first heard of Helium when I saw them on 120 Minutes...damn, that makes me feel sort of old to see that written out.

3)Pixies - Dig For Fire.
I have no idea what this song means, but I likes it anyways.

4)Coldplay - Shiver.
This band wasn't half bad before the singer met Gwen Paltrow.

5)10,000 Maniacs - The Painted Desert.
Great song from back before Natalie's head grew three sizes.

6)Lusine - Make It Easy.
A spacey, kind of mellow techno type of deal here. I imagine this is the sort of thing aliens listen to while they're flying around in their little saucers.

7)The White Stripes - Jimmy the Exploder.
An early Stripes song, from back when they wore their blues influences even more on their sleeves. P.S. get well soon, Meg.

8)Morphine - Thursday.
Badass song about cheating, and then having to leave town because the woman's husband found out. I have the feeling Mark Sandman totally lived like this.

9)Nine Inch Nails - The Hand That Feeds.
I have no strong feelings about this song one way or the other.

10)Radiohead - Pyramid Song.
Ah, this is one of my favorite songs ever, and a perfect one to go out on. Just beautiful!

11)Flight of the Conchords - Business Time.
Sorry, but this song came up next, and I just got it and love it so much, I was left with no choice but to extend the FRT to an FRE (Friday random eleven). If you haven't checked out the awesome show Flight of the Conchords, well, what the hell is the matter with you? Don't give me some BS excuse about "I don't get HBO" or anything like that. We live in the You Tube era, people...you no longer need cable to see shows on cable. Hallelujah!

Friday random ten

Come on baby, daddy needs a new pair of everything:

1) Beastie Boys - Jimmy James.

This song lifts a sample from the ubiquitous (I can't believe I spelled that right on the first try!) drums of "Happy Birthday" by Jimi Hendrix, and it just doesn't get much better than that.

2) Nine Inch Nails - Something I Can Never Have.

Well, that's a comedown. I had this CD on heavy rotation the year it came out, and haven't really played it much since. This song holds up well, even for a cynical member of Generation X such as myself.

3) Bjork - Violently Happy.

This FRT is turning into a real roller coaster. Twists and turns, fast then slow then fast again. Do you want to go faster? Raise your hands if you want to go faster!

4) Third Eye Blind - How's It Going To Be?

I have an unexplainable soft spot in my heart for this band...on paper, I should hate them. But Lord help me, I don't. I know what I hate, and I don't hate this.

5) Pixies - Vamos.

Without a doubt, my all-time favorite bilingual song. I have great memories of speeding down a deserted Wisconsin highway in the dead of night in a car jammed full of people on a mission to find out why they don't put Spam in the meat department. Here's a video, featuring Frank Black and Kim Deal looking like your parents:


6) Soul Coughing - $300.

I think this is from the band's farewell album, before their singer left like so much Natalie Merchant. Now he's playing very small college venues. Sad, really.

7) Sleater-Kinney - Wilderness.

Another farewell offering. These ladies are now on an "indefinite hiatus", a goal to which I aspire.

8) Portishead - Wandering Star.

These guys have a license to be awesome, and they exercise it with extreme prejudice. Whatever that means. I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

9) Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 Pathetique, 2nd movement

I'll spare you the jokes regarding a "second movement", and just tell you that I impressed myself by being able to name this piece without visual confirmation. Yes, I'm good...plaque good.

10) White Zombie - Super Charger Heaven.

And our roller coaster rockets through the tunnel of Hell before coming to a stop in front of a buncha corndog- eatin' yokels. Please wait until the ride has come to a complete stop before exiting, and we'll see you next week...if you dare!

Friday random ten

Ok, I just got a Wii yesterday, so lets hurry up and get this over with and get back to the Wiimotes.

1)PJ Harvey - Dry.

My favorite Peej song ever. This song always sort of interested me because it was released on her second album "Rid of Me", rather than her first album, which was titled "Dry". She's a weird one, I guess.

2)Rage Against the Machine - Vietnow.

I'm enjoying a little resurgence of enjoyment of RATM )does that make sense?), due to the fact that I recently got to see my reserved little librarian friend rock out spontaneously in public when she heard one of their songs while walking down the street a couple of weeks ago. Good stuff!

3)Coldplay - Yellow.

Not a big fan of this song...I can see what they're going for, but I just don't think they pull it off. It's a little embarrassing to admit it, but I really like this album, but I think it's one of those deals where it's not so much about the album, but more about good memories I associate with it; namely, a family trip a few years ago to the Southwestern desert.

4)Blind Melon - Tones of Home.

This is an album I'm not embarrassed to admit that I really like. Most people have only heard their one popular song "No Rain", but that's really one of the weaker songs on the album in my opinion.

5)7 Year Bitch - Sore Subject.

One of the bands that came out of Seattle in the 90's, 7 Year Bitch is a girl band, or, more to the point, a grrrl band, so really, how bad could it be?

6)Violent Femmes - Kiss Off.

My admiration of these native Milwaukeeans has fallen significantly with their big sellout to the Wendy's corporation (much to the dismay of most of the band members*), but is tempered by the idea that the executives who approved the deal most likely have no idea that they are shilling their hamburgers with a song about masturbation. Haw haw!

7)Beck - He's a Mighty Good Leader.

What is it about Beck that he can write better folk songs than most folk artists, and better country songs than most country "artists"? Must be the Dianetics.

8)Third Eye Blind - Narcolepsy.

Imagine my disappointment when I first got through this song and their was nothing in it about intercourse with corpses! This song is a fairly bland, but not unamusing, offering, but it does start to rock right towards the end.

9)Portishead - Glory Box.

Mmmmmmmmmellow. Very cool song.

10)Pearl Jam - Oceans.

Oh yeah, I remember this song...haven't heard it in years. Along with the previous song, combines to bring this FRT to a nice, relaxing end.

Well, see you suckers later, I'm off to my video gam...errr, aerobic workout!

*"For the fans who rightfully are complaining about the Wendy's burger advertisement featuring Blister in the Sun, Gordon Gano is the publisher of the song and Warners is the record company. When they agree to use it there's nothing the rest of the band can do about it, because we don't own the song or the recording. That's showbiz. Therefore when you see dubious or in this case disgusting uses of our music you can thank the greed, insensitivity and poor taste of Gordon Gano, it is his karma that he lost his songwriting ability many years ago, probably due to his own lack of self-respect as his willingness to prostitute our songs demonstrates. Neither Gordon (vegetarian) nor me (gourmet) eat garbage like Wendy's burgers. I can't endorse them because I disagree with corporate food on culinary, political, health, economic and environmental grounds. However I see my life's work trivialized at the hands of my business partner over and over again, although I have raised my objections numerous times. As disgusted as you are I am more so."

Friday random X

Let's go crazy, roman numeral style!

I. Tori Amos - Twinkle.

I've been to a couple of Tori concerts in my time, and the thing I love best about them is when she sings these quiet songs accompanied only with her soulful piano playing. I've never heard this particular song live, but I really want to.

II. Nirvana - I Hate Myself and I Want To Die.

No Kurt, tell us how you really feel. This is the rockingest cry for help EVER!

III. Pixies - Monkey Gone To Heaven.

A good Pixies song, but a little overplayed.

IV. The White Stripes - Hotel Yorba.

I double-dog dare you not to tap your foot along with this rollicking number. This is one of the best songs off of White Blood Cells, along with 'We're Going To Be Friends', 'Fell in Love with a Girl', 'Now Mary', 'Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground', 'I'm Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman"...well, it's a pretty damn good album.

V. The Rolling Stones - Jumping Jack Flash.

Ha - this reminds me of that wonderfully horrible Whoopie Goldberg movie that I watched on cable over and over again in my youth.

VI. Sleater-Kinney - One More Hour.

Heavens to betsy, I love this song!

VII. Ministry - Cannibal Song.

With an intro of crows, rats, and back alley jazz saxophone, how could you go wrong? Well, I suppose stretching a two and a half minute song for over six minutes would be one way.

VIII. Weezer - No One Else.

This song reminds me of a friend who would regularly, in the same breath, say that he wanted a strong, independent woman in his life, but also wanted a woman who would be so committed to him that she would set aside her interests to help him in his aspirations for a musical career...funny guy, that one.

IX. Rage Against the Machine - Darkness.

Why can't these boys just sing a happy song every now and again? Maybe a 'Happy, Shiny People' cover or something?

X. Primus - Those Damned Blue Collared Tweekers.

Having lived in a few small towns in my life, I can certainly appreciate some of the sentiment in this song.


Feel free to drop in your own FRT if you wanna...

Friday random ten

Never mind the bullocks, here's the music:

1) The Go! Team - Huddle Formation.

Oh, awesome! I just reviewed this song in my previous post. I've probably played this at least 20 times since then...still love it.

2)Pavement - The Unseen Power of the Picket Fence.

Nothing gives you indie cred like ripping into the sacred cow of REM...this is off the excellent No Alternative cd.

3)The Black Crowes - Hotel Illness.

As a rule, I abhor southern rock (Skynrd, Allman Brothers, et al.), but I loves me them Black Crowes...must be all that weed they smoke.

4)Ben Folds Five - Selfless, Cold, and Composed.

Fancy song with strings and everything, I immediately like this song just by its virtue of not being 'Brick'...god I hate that song.

5)Rage Against the Machine - Bullet In The Head.

If the past six years have taught me anything, it's that RATM was just a few years ahead of its time.

6)Depeche Mode - Blasphemous Rumors.

Oh Lordy, is this a little embarrassing...from RATM to DM, you can't say that I don't have any range.

7)The Breeders - Dedicated.

This is actually a very good song off of what I feel is a very underappreciated album, Pacer.

8)Cake - Satan is My Motor.

Wow, another Cake song about cars...funny, they really don't seem like car guys.

9)Balloon Guy - Minding My P's and Q's.

This is another great (now defunct (I think)) Minneapolis band who, along with BFF and February, prove that there's more to this music scene than Wendy and Lisa and The Jets.

10)Helium - Skeleton.

This is a fun, and sorta creepy, group of fine young women out of LA, I believe...their cd's can be pretty uneven, but with flashes of greatness.

Wow, only two girl bands this time - that's got to be a record low for me.

It's Friday...it's random...there are 10

Let's get right to it, why not?

1)PJ Harvey - Highway 61 Revisited.

I really enjoy this Bob Dylan cover by Peej. She takes a classic song by a musical icon, put her own unique interpretation on it, and nailed it. I actually travel on Highway 61 on a fairly regular basis, and this version goes through my head whenever I do...sorry Bob.

2)Beck - Atmospheric Conditions.

The last song on his folksy "One Foot in the Grave" album, a fitting mellow, dreamy send off.

3)Foo Fighters - Low.

Hard to believe that the drummer for such an iconic band can accomplish so much on his own (take that Ringo!), unless you heard Dave Grohl sing "Marigold" back when was still with Nirvana and recognized his talent. Recognize, dammit!

4)Peter Gabriel - Stigmata.

From "The Last Temptation of Christ" album. Nice psuedo-Middle-Eastern flavor, and good to fall asleep to...but not in a bad way. My roommate in college introduced me to this album, which I am to this day grateful to him for. He also introduced me to "Catching Up with Depeche Mode", but you can't win 'em all. ::Shudder::

5)Bob Mould - Can't Fight It.

Ahhh...you can't go wrong with a little Bob Mould. And you can't go even wronger with Husker Du (Please excuse the absent umlauts).

6)10,000 Maniacs - Verdi Cries.

My favorite 10,000 Maniacs song. No, I'm not a sissy-boy, but thanks for asking. I have to go weep softly in the corner now.

7)Veruca Salt - Earthcrosser.

Last song on "Eight Arms to Hold You", their uneven but ultimately endearing (to me anyway) follow-up to the muy excellente "American Thighs". Louise Post rocks.

8)Weezer - The World Has Turned and Left Me Here.

The title is the first line - just like Emily Dickinson would do. I wonder if I'm the first person to compare the two? Great song, by the way.

9)Beastie Boys - Shadrach.

"Riddle me this, my brother"...great opening line. From the album that marked the transition from frat-rock to...well, something else, I'm not sure what.

10)Sleater-Kinney - Buy Her Candy.

Funny story about this song...it's more complicated than it sounds, apparently. Harder than "Surf Song", at any rate.




So...anyone can sit there and complain about how sucky my list is (which it totally is not!) - can you do any better?