I hope that this will be an ongoing series of entries to help all of you suffering from iPod malaise. There are a lot of great songs out there that we've all forgotten to add to our libraries. Here are a few initial gems that are perfect for this time of year:
Revolution Blues: Neil Young
The best Neil Young song you may have never heard. Some of us suffered for years, listening to out scratchy LPs, waiting for On the Beach to be released on CD. In this day of instant gratification however, you don't have to feel the pain. Within seconds, you can be listening to this bleak and beautiful song that is the best love song Charles Manson never wrote. It may seem a bit dated at times, but change there will never again be a lyric as cool as '10 million dune buggies coming down the mountain'. Play it loud!
Love --> Building on Fire: Talking Heads
You've always wanted to like the Talking Heads, haven't you? You know they're cool, you know that you'd love them if you just gave them a chance. Here's the perfect entry point - not as iconic as either Psycho Killer or Once in Lifetime, but a great little gem for a stroll down a sunny sidewalk. It's silly and earnest, campy and compelling. Only David Byrne can demonstrate putting his heart on his sleeze with line like "It goes, tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet like little birds'. A perfect example of the crazy thoughts that flow from our brains when we're in love.
Start Choppin': Dinosaur Jr.
An early 90s classic that should never be forgotten. It's got all of the various ingredients of a great grunge song, but is so much more than that. It's sad, high speed car crash of a song pushed along by the crunch Crazy Horsey guitars and J. Mascis' singing which runs the gamut between Lenonard Cohen-lite to pure chalkboard scratch. On one listen, it can be very relaxing and yet 10 minutes later, it's totally jarring. Download it and pretty that you're hanging out with me at McGill in 1993.
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3 comments:
Nice choices, Scott! I look forward to more installments. The Talking Heads song is something of a rarity, one that, as a devout fan, I've long owned and loved. My band even covered this one when we were performing in the early 80's, and I've been thinking of recording a version on my own as I explore my new synth/studio software.
I'm really glad that you liked it Michael - thanks for commenting. It's so cool that your band played TH songs. I'll try to pick 3 songs per month (whatever I'm listening to at the time). Some will be obivous, hopefully a few surprises. I used to spend countless hours listening to music - now it's a few songs on the ipod at the gym - that's it.
Strangely enough, I have a Pearl Jam cover of the Talking Heads song, and it's good.
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