My iTunes library, as of September 21, 2010, has 20,548 songs in it. Some are novelty downloads, some i have because i'm a completionist, some i rarely (if have ever) listened to. So, in this new blog segment, i will let shuffle pick out random songs (without personal editing to hide embarrasing and/or lame songs), and i will write about what i think of them, plus any details i an give about how it was procured. At current rate (and if my iTunes never repeats a song...) this will be the third in at least a 4,000 part series.
Brian's Note: Last time i forgot to talk about how i got the albums - i'll try and not make the same mistake again.
PS: I'm going to try and do this column thrice a week.
Song #1 - "Either Way" - Wilco
The first song off of their "back to basics" 2007 album, Sky Blue Sky, this is a pleasant if not super song. Although this does start the trend on this album of having really strong second-halves of songs, which has everything to do with guitarist Nels Cline, appearing on his first Wilco studio record. Cline, a jazz-rock guitarist by trade, has some truly stunning, fascinatingly constructed solos that let Jeff Tweedy make the ends of his songs really interesting and not the boring "one chorus/fade out" that so many songs do post-guitar solo. I pre-ordered this album through the aforementioned Rock and Groove Records in Bergenfield, NJ, and got the "deluxe" edition that came with a DVD featuring some live performances in a studio. A nice little DVD, but probably not worth the extra $4-5 bucks it cost me.
Song #2 - "Two of Us" - The Beatles
From the 2009 remastered Let It Be. I first heard Let it Be on vinyl via my parents' record collection, but i most associate it with a cassette version i got at the late, great Flipside records in Closter, NJ in first grade (i think). I remember thinking how intimate this song sounded, of course not using that word, as i had no idea what intimate meant, i just felt that this song sounded like it was telling a story that really happened to Lennon and McCartney, and it represented friendship for me, as silly as that sounds. And i loved the banter at the beginning and end. I used to think that wearing raincoats was cool because of this song. The remaster sounds great.
Song #3 - "Futuristic Rhythm" - Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project
Sadly, most people know Ralph from his nephew, Patrick, who plays drums in the Black Keys. Ralph is the man - he has played many of the horn parts on Tom Waits albums that you know and love. He's also played with Black Francis, Jonathan Richman, They Might Be Giants, and smart people everywhere. This is from his standards album (called, shockingly, Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project), and it is a damn fine album at that. A really fun cocktail party record. Downloaded from eMusic before interviewing him for the FrankBlack.net podcast - one of the best fact-checking purchases ever.
Song 4 - "Mash" - J Dilla
Ah, Dilla, sampling Frank Zappa. I downloaded Donuts from eMusic after seemingly every person i trust musically raved about it. I don't love it as much as they do, mainly because i wish it were more filled out, but the scraps are all really enjoyable, and if i was a more ambitious musician, i would use these as the base for something else.
Song 5 - "Slow Down" - Backbeat Band
Ah, the Backbeat band - Greg Dulli, Dave Grohl, Thurston Moore, Mike Mills, et al. Assembled to provide the soundtrack to the (early Beatles bassist, painter, and tragic figure) Stuart Sutcliffe biopic Backbeat, this crack band recorded 12 songs the Beatles covered in their early days (they couldn't get rights to the originals, and the covers better fit the time period). They do it relatively straight too, only occasionally showing their indie-rock ambitions (like at the beginning of the guitar solo here). If i'm not mistaken, this was another Flipside purchase - in fact, from birth until probably sophomore year of high school 90% of my music was purchased there.
That was fun!
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
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