Jenny Kinniff

So the Top 5 songs run is nearly over and we are moving on. I say nearly over because Colmus sort of placemarked his Top 5 this evening with an email saying it was coming tomorrow, complete with mp3's. I suppose this will pass, and there is a chance of an HSV Top 5 coming as well. Is this true? Anyway, I have this great list from Jenny, and I have been wanting to get it up here, so now is the perfect time and it should offer a break from these Top 5 songs (although they too have been great). I don't know about the other chumps around these parts, but I will be commenting on this list next week.


I didn't have a personalized picture of Jenny because I don't take pictures of anything, but I stole both of these off her facebook page (technology!). I've included a picture of what Jenny looks like, but also of her diorama entitiled "Twin Peeps" submitted for this, which I think is awesome. I hope you won a major award, Jenny. Anyway, I know Jenny through Mike because I have known Mike a long time. She is amazing and has to be the coolest librarian anyone knows. Even if you don't know her, she would be the coolest librarian you knew if you did. Also, I doubt I have told her this, but she has one of my favorite laughs of anyone that I know. This list re-motivates me to check out new things. Strangely, for a librarian there are very few books included. Very few meaning none. Whoa! Here. We. Go.

Jenny says:

Just to keep things fresh, I won’t repeat any other recommendations that have already been made, even though I love Murakami and Junot Diaz and Lost (among lots of other stuff mentioned). So here are my never-before-seen-on-this-fine-blog recommendations:

Music:

Janet Weiss: I thought about making this one “Sleater-Kinney” since she drummed for my favorite band, but Janet’s awesomeness can’t be contained by one band. I think S-K are sometimes seen as being riot grrl leftovers from the 90s, but they made really catchy, loud, smart rock and roll. Recommended albums: One Beat, The Woods, Dig Me Out. Janet’s in another great band, Quasi, with her ex-husband Sam Coomes. Recommended Quasi album: Field Studies. Also drums with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.

Palomar: I first heard Palomar at a live show at the Talking Head and I thought “Damn, the sound in here sucks.” Three women singing delicate harmonies over sometimes loud guitars was too much for the crappy sound and acoustics. Thankfully, the Ottobar has done them better since. Recommended albums: Palomar III and All Things, Forests.

Movies:

Clue (1985): This is a childhood favorite that I’ve probably seen 20 times b/c I made my parents rent it constantly. I LOVE it—it is so gloriously cheesy and the ending(s) are ridiculous, but how could you not love a movie that features Jane from the Go-Gos, Martin Mull, Tim Curry, and is based on a board game? Answer: You can’t. You can’t not love it.

Dead Man: A Jim Jarmusch film (1995) featuring Johnny Depp going on a bizarre spiritual quest with a mysterious Indian named Nobody in a 19th century gold rush town. They run into Iggy Pop in the woods. Weird stuff happens.

Bande a part (Band of Outsiders): For a while Mike was on a kick of renting obscure old French and Italian movies, resulting in me taking many unplanned naps on the couch. This one (Godard, 1964) rules, though—French teens/20somethings try to rob someone and flirt with each other. Most of the time they hang out talking, smoking, and dancing in cafes.

TV:

Mad Men: A Manhattan advertising agency in 1960. It’s hard to believe it’s the same country: unbelievably chauvinist men, women whose only power is their sexuality, and everyone smokes and drinks all day long. Jello molds and life’s disappointments abound. It’s an amazing show.

Comedy:

Mike Birbiglia: The comedian of choice for adorable nerds—he doesn’t really swear or talk about anything remotely vulgar, but manages to be hilarious nonetheless. He was a year ahead of me at my college, where he won “Funniest Act on Campus” with a passionate ode to Carlos, his bouncy ball from when he was a kid. Recommended album: Two Drink Mike.

Activities and Websites:

Letterboxing: I am on a never-ending treasure hunt of finding hidden packages from strangers in trees, under rocks, and in streetlights all over the country. In letterboxing, you carve your own stamp and you find other people’s stamps. You leave your stamp in their hidden notebook and put theirs in your notebook. Go to www.letterboxing.org to find out more!

Camping/Hiking: Toasted marshmallows, crackling fire, pretty hikes…what’s not to like? Maryland has lots of good places, too. Recommended: Susquehanna State Park, Catoctin National Park, Gambrills, Billy Goat Trail outside DC, Harper’s Ferry area (www.thetreehousecamp.com).

GoodReads (www.goodreads.com): Track what you’re reading and what you want to read, and see what your friends are reading. Get on it! I want to see what you’re reading!

The jESKA Top 5

I'm actually starting to go a little mad over these top 5 lists (no offense, to anyone) and I think a week is all that should've occurred with these top 5s. I'm tired of thinking about what my top 5 songs "of all time" would be and why, and can't even imagine attempting a top 60 minutes, despite what I said about in a previous comment. Also, I'm pretty sure this is still a fairly inaccurate compilation on that front, but Adam badgers like no other so without further ado (& in no particular order) :

Blue Valentine (written and performed by Tom Waits, 1978)



Another Tom Waits. I feel a little like I'm punishing some of you b/c of the frequency of Tom Waits songs in these Top 5s, but I just couldn't help it. I love this song. I think one of the things I like so much about Tom Waits in general is that he creates songs and stories and sounds that aren't necessarily reflective of his own story but of a story that he wants to convey. I think it's a natural inclination for singer/songwriters to write what they know (or close to it), and that's what most of them do and I really appreciate that he creates really distinct characters with his songs.

California (written and performed by Joni Mitchell, 1971)



I don't even know how to put into words why I love this songs so much. It's the sort of song that I could listen to at anytime, and it's especially pleasing to unexpectedly hear it because it always puts me in good mood. This is from her acclaimed album Blue which ranks on several top album lists. And for you jazz buffs out there, it might interest you to know, "the album was influenced by jazz, particularly the music of Miles Davis. Mitchell used alternative tunings on her guitar to allow easier access to augmented chords and notes in unexpected combinations."

Crazy (written by Willie Nelson; as performed by Patsy Cline, 1961)



Maybe this one's too cliche and cheesy for some but seriously, it's iconic, beautiful, and moving and I think deserves to be in some top 5 list or another. It does fall into the performance vs. singer-songwriter category and it determined that I stand differently on that debate than I thought I would. I really wanted to opt for Willie but her performance of this song is what propelled it to stardom, even though I'm a huge Willie Nelson fan (which I guess is one of the few musical contributions from my family, since I haven't shared this bond with anyone else to date). He has much more to offer the world than On the Road, Again and To All The Girls I've Loved Before.

Kodachrome (written and performed by Paul Simon, 1973)



Does everything look worse or better in black and white? I can't decide anything else after this stupid list, so why don't you duke it out amongst yourselves and tell me.

Tonight You Belong to Me (written by Billy Rose & Lee David, 1926; as performed by Bernadette Peters & Steve Martin from The Jerk, 1979)



Ukulele and cornet, esp. the cornet -- need I say more? Maybe. Bernadette & Steve are just adorable in this scene. You know how there's always that stupid question in stupid quizzes of "what is your ideal date?" -- this would certainly be mine. Sigh, if only I knew how to play the cornet.

The Chris Laun Top 5

First I'd like to start this by saying talking about something related to these top 5 lists. Mike Ward issued a challenge to some of his friends a few months ago to create their favorite 60 minutes of music. The best definition that someone came up with was "songs you wouldn't skip when they came up on your Ipod." So far I think only Ward, Myers, and Colmus have participated in this project and they've each exchanged their CD's. I've been laboring over mine off and on for a few months now but this blog spurred me to finish it up this weekend. I also found a website that can help take this to the next level. Drop.io is free and you can create your own private playlist without having to signup for anything. So if you're interested in hearing mine the link is drop.io/laun60min. Only catch is you need the password and the only way to get it is by sending me your own 60 minute playlist. If you decide to do your own, make sure you rename the songs so that we don't see the song titles cause part of the experience is not knowing what's coming next. Here's a sneak preview of mine:

(Note: Not sure if these are exactly my top 5 but it's close and I thought these would be more interesting to read about than me explaining why I like a Beach Boys song)

Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen



Last week I thought it might be neat to do a spinoff series on these lists and discuss our favorite moments in music that didn't make the cut for our top 5 or even the top 60 minutes. Looking back on Eric's first list, the end of "Only In Dreams" is one of these cases where the ending might be my favorite Weezer moment but it's not my favorite Weezer song. "Born to Run" has the luxury of meeting both requirements. This whole song gets me amped up but especially so on that last verse, after the bridge is finished building up and falling down and Bruce counts it back in and the strings come up playing along with the main riff. "The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive..." I could listen to that part over and over and I've done it before. I'm a fan of epic and triumphant songs and "Born to Run" is that in spades. There are some classic songs that you know so well that they've lost their power to excite you when you hear to them but, for me, this is not one. My favorite rock song ever.

Ana Ng - They Might Be Giants



TMBG can be a pretty polarizing band. Their fans tend to be among the nerdier types and some could say they're too goofy/quirky/weird. Some might even say that they hate the way the two John's sing. I love it all. I came pretty late to the popular music game. In middle school I listened to a lot of Weird Al and Dr. Demento and through them I stumbled across TMBG so that makes them the band that I've been actively and consistently listening to the longest. Myers and Ward had their memories of listening to their mom's music that took them back to their childhood. TMBG remind me of staying over my friend Matt's house and listening to them all night or debating with my brother which of us got to buy "Apollo 18" so we didn't have duplicate copies. So definitely there's some "comfort food"iness to them but there is one thing that I think is too often overlooked: John Linnell just might be the most infectious songwriter ever. And he does it without ever sounding like anyone other than John Linnell which is perhaps even more impressive. I think most people would name "Birdhouse In Your Soul" as their clear #1 song but "Ana Ng" is my favorite. Here's some things that I love about it: 1) How the verses start on a minor chord and then two lines in switches to major which instantly changes the feeling, 2) The two-chord accordion bit that comes in halfway through the second verse which you expect to keep repeating but disappears as ominously as it came, 3) How the lyrics seem nonsensical on the surface but it's about the person on the exact opposite side of the world from you who you'll never meet 4) "And it sticks like a broken record/Everything sticks like a broken record/Everything sticks until it goes away." I still think that's as clever as I did in middle school.

Let Down - Radiohead



It was difficult for me to single out a Radiohead song but eventually I realized that this one has always been my favorite. I can remember the moment in college when I was listening to this in my car and I noticed for the first time that the vocal track that starts the last verse doesn't continue singing the lyrics on the second half of the verse. Another track comes in to do that. But the first vocal keeps going in the background and winds up with this beautiful falsetto counter-melody repeating "You'll know where you are" and it carries on even into the chorus. This is another one of those favorite musical moments. When I heard it I rewound the CD over and over and I felt like I had unlocked some sort of secret. This is one of those songs that I could listen to repeatedly and never hear it the same way twice. So many twinkling guitars and keyboards that aren't even playing in the same time signatures but somehow it all works together to create this big sonic blanket that surrounds what is otherwise an acoustic pop song.

Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush



I don't think this one will be for everyone. What happened was one day I surfing the internet and found someone's list of some of the best music videos ever so I was watching the ones I had never seen and I came across this. When it first came on I was like "WTF???" It's just Kate Bush doing some ridiculous dancing with lots of smoke and video/lighting effects. But as the video progressed I became mesmerized and then I had to watch it again. And then I had to watch it every day. And then I got the mp3 and listened to it at work and in the car. And then I found 3 different versions of the song so I could listen to them in a row and pretend I wasn't quite as obsessed. It's hard to predict what will cause me to go nuts over a song and before now I've never thought deeply about why this one strikes such a chord with me. I love how the great the chorus melody is and yet how the chords don't change exactly when you expect they will. It made me want to learn the song so I could figure out what was going on. Another thing this is I have a soft spot for female singers that sing with quirky vocalizations (Regina Spektor's "Us" is another example of a song that was met with a similarly strong obsession). I think this probably stems from my siblings and I listening to the soundtrack to Les Miserables all the time when we were younger. Eponine was one of the most tragic characters as she suffered from loving a man who didn't think of her that way and then later she dies. I related to that (first part anyways) and always had a soft spot for her. She had a high squeaky voice that might have irritated some but I thought was adorable. The same can be said about Kate Bush.

Tired of Sex - Weezer



One thing I realized in creating my top 60 minutes CD is that I'm a big fan of first tracks on CDs. 6 of the 15 songs are album openers and there were more that were on my short list that didn't make the final cut. Not sure if it's purely coincidence or if there's something about the opening of my favorite CDs that I gravitate towards. Part of this is because a lot of artists put one of their stronger songs first to pull you in. I think I read that Weezer sequenced Pinkerton in more or less chronological order of when the songs were written and "Tired of Sex" was written after the success of the blue album led Rivers Cuomo to have a lot of anonymous sex. I can't say that I relate to the lyrics personally but what has always appealed to me about this song is the production and arrangement. The drums sound HUGE. There's a lot of unpleasant feedback and reedy keyboards. The whole thing is rowdy as shit. The song starts out brimming with tension and you can tell it just wants to kick into high gear at any moment. Then the first chorus ends and it does. Then the second chorus hits takes it up to rowdy mach III. Then somewhere between the noisy solo and when the vocals come back for the third chorus it's reached mach V. And then it climaxes and everything drops out. When the band comes back in, the drums are playing half-time. The band is still rocking but they're bringing it back down to earth. It's like the arrangement itself is a metaphor for sex. Those first two Weezer albums are two of my all time favorites but of all those songs "Tired of Sex" sounds like it was the most fun to play.

There's more songs that I would love to write about so maybe I'll but some descriptions in the comments of my 60 minute mix. I know Myers has his online now too. So if you get yours together you'll have at least two at your at your fingertips immediately.

The Ricky B. Top 5

Like I told Adam the other day, I didn’t grow up suckling on my mother’s musical teat like some of you guys so these are all songs that I’ve loved since high school or later. Ironically all of these songs are about a man’s love for his mother.


It’s Your Thing – The Isley Brothers



This song is about the many Isley Brothers and how much they all love their shared mother. They love mum so much that they declare that they have no right to tell her whom she can or cannot “sock it to” (whatever that means). Presumably the boys mean that only she, their highly revered mother, has the right to chose whose feet she dresses with socks.

Let's Spend the Night Together – The Rolling Stones



What nice little boys, those Rolling Stones. It’s admiring how much they just want to spend some more time with their mums. In this lovely little number, they urge their mothers to come over to their homes and have a sleepover party. Any good boys will be sure to have plenty of tea and biscuits ready for their hungry mums.

This Time Tomorrow – The Kinks



This one’s a bit depressing, but The Kinks are realists. They imagine a world (a very real one at that) in which their mothers may some day pass on. Two brothers ponder what life will be like without their dear mother, and they realize that life will be sad. Very sad, indeed.

I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend – The Ramones



Now here are nice young men who know the true value of a good mother. They admire and respect their mothers so much that they profess to wish that all young women were just like their own mothers. They plead “do you love me, babe?” because they know that the perfect women will love them just as much as their mothers do.

Don’t Worry Baby – The Beach Boys



These young fellows prove that in order to make a great song, you need to be in a band with you brothers and your band name needs to start with “The”. Don’t worry baby is a very touching yet sad song because The Beach Boys had no mother. She was poisoned by some rancid meat and died when the boys were just three (all of The Beach Boys are twins, or quintuples or what have you). This song imagines what would life had been like if she hadn’t been tragically killed, a sweat counterpoint to This Time Tomorrow.


I truly do love these songs, but I left one out that I love more than all of them because I didn’t want to (further) insult a good friend. However, one of my all time favorite songs is Chris Myers’ My Drug Addiction. I thought about including a full review of the song, but I think I’ll save that for a full album review later on.

The Adam Hopkins Top 5 (and 1/2)

This EricHop Top 5 idea has been such a raging success that we are going to continue it into next week. If you want to submit one, I suggest you think about it pretty soon. We'll post them until we don't have them anymore. The first day without a Top 5 and this thing is over. I've already heard that Ricky B, Chris Laun, and George French are going to do it, and Heather V. and JESKa are on the fence, but seem like they could be convinced. I have a superb list from Jenny (I just read the whole thing today) and it is great! We'll be posting that as soon as the Top 5 fizzles out. Also, Colmus has decided to modify his, but we'll have that when he gets it together as well. Wonderful things happening in the recommend blogsphere. I shouldn't have used the word blogsphere.

My Top 5 could not possibly be a Top 5 favorite songs of all-time. That would have stressed me out to no end. There are periods of my life when I obsessed over particular songs, but would be embarrassed to include them as part of my Top 5 list here. Songs like Guns N' Roses "Estranged," Arrested Development's "Mr. Wendel," and Death Cab For Cutie's "Styrofome Plates" will not be talked about for this reason. My Top 5 list is basically five songs that I could justify being favorites right now. "Right Now" by Van Halen will not be on this list. Like TJ, I had something that more looked like a Top 25 list and whittled it down from there. I also discovered that a few albums that I would easily put in my Top 10 or so (like Erykah Badu's "Mama's Gun") don't have single songs that make the cut. They work too well as a whole album, and to pick one song wouldn't make sense. Also, a second disclaimer: I have limited myself to pop songs. I am considering doing a Top 5 for jazz and classical as well that will put my readers right to sleep. Wordiness. These are not in any order of favorites, but they are in a playlist-type order, which is the succession of songs that I think sounds the best. Wordiness. Here we go:

God Only Knows (The Beach Boys, from Pet Sounds, 1966):



Contrary to the albums I referred to above (where the album would be a Top 10, but no one song would make the cut for this list) Pet Sounds would be a Top 10 album and I can pick one clear-cut better-than-the-rest song from it. God Only Knows is obviously this song. Bono once said "the string arrangement on God Only Knows is fact and proof of angels." Bono did not get a song on this Top 5, and this statement isn't a contributing factor to my love of it. I might even think it is a stupid thing to say. Regardless, the string arrangement is really nice, so he might have been on to something there. However, how could he mention the string arrangement and not the awesome horn and harpsichord parts? Go back to the Joshua Tree, dude. I think this song is as close to perfect as they come, especially as spring-time is approaching full force. If this doesn't make you feel great and crack a smile you probably don't have the ability to smile. The wikipedia article here is pretty informative. This has placed well in all kinds of Top 500-y song list from places like Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. Add a Friends Recommend placement to that list. That is valid, right?

True Love Waits (Thom Yorke, from Radiohead's I Might Be Wrong (live), 2001):



Oh boy, this was a tough one. But at the same time it was an obvious one for me. I love all Radiohead from all time periods. My favorite album being KID A, with OK Computer a close second, and Amnesiac a close third. They are all masterpieces to me. This comes as no suprise. What may come as a suprise is that this song isn't on any of them. It is only found in live acoustic versions sung and played by Thom Yorke alone. So it really isn't even a Radiohead song, it just happens to get played at Radiohead shows. All of my Top 5 picks draw some sort of stong emotion when I listen to them. God Only Knows makes me feel happy to a degree that few other songs could. True Love Waits, while fitting nicely in that TJ definition of happy-sad doesn't really make me feel sad at all. It's more of a nostalgic/reflective feeling. There are so many Radiohead songs that could have easily been in here. The song KID A got strong consideration, as did Like Spinning Plates, Fake Plastic Trees, Airbag, Wolf At The Door, and a couple others. What True Love Waits has that these others don't is that bare-bones stripped down nothing-to-hide-behind feeling. It is just a guy and his guitar in all of it's imperfection. You can even hear him straining to hit some of these notes. What I love about Radiohead studio albums is that someone obviously brought in a song or an idea and the whole band continued to build on that idea, adding effects, instrument parts, textures, cut-up drum beats, and all kinds of weird sounds. This lets us see Thom Yorke for the great songwriter that he is without any of that extra stuff. Don't get me wrong (I might be wrong...get it?), I love all that other stuff. But this is great for the song, and for the feeling it gives me and that's what gets it into this list. Wordiness.

Stephanie Says (The Velvet Underground, from VU, 1985):



I've got to say this...I don't know a whole lot about this song. I'm not even going to research it, really. All I know is that it was recorded somewhere around 1968, and not released until 1985. Can you believe this? These guys sat on this amazing song for almost 20 years before doing anything with it. Crazy. My love of this song developed from The Royal Tenenbaums. Wes Anderson has been discussed at length in this blog, and we don't need to talk about him more here. I will just note his perfect use of pop songs in his movies, and this is one such example. The Baumer and Royal are on the roof of the Tenenbaum house and Baumer just told his Dad that he's in love with his (adopted) sister Margo (which is sick, and gross). Royal calls her a "hell of a broad" or something like that, and Mordecai (Baumer's hawk who had gone missing for some time) flys back to his arm with Stephanie Says playing in the background. It is a perfect movie moment for me, and I have loved the song since I saw it in theaters with Prevas the first time.

Hurt (Nine Inch Nails, from The Downward Spiral, 1994):



Hurt (Johnny Cash, from American IV: The Man Comes Around, 2002):



Hurt is a song that I have loved since my middle school years, dating back to when I owned NIN's The Downward Spiral the first time. I sold it to a pawn shop in 10th grade, because NIN wasn't Screaching Weasel or on Lookout Records. I came to my senses in grad school and bought the album again, only to love it more than I did originally. The whole album is awesome. This song is another real emotion-surfacer. There is a reason for including both versions of this song (is this cheating?). I would have never thought that any artist could record this song more appropriately than Trent Reznor's original recording, or evoke the kind of emotion that he does in the original. Johnny Cash proved that wrong on his 2002 version, from which Hurt was one of his last hits before his death in 2003. When Trent Reznor first heard of Cash covering his song, he was "flattered" but worried that "the idea sounded a bit gimmicky." He became a fan of Cash's version, however, once he saw the music video with his response being "Wow. [I felt like] I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore." Cash completely does the song justice. Brother Eric likes the Cash verison way better, but I just can't decide so I've included both. A nerdy note. One of my favorite parts of the NIN version is the use of a minor #11 chord (the first chord in the song). Johnny Cash takes out the #11 making it a much more normal sounding chord. It works for his version, but I really miss that note. Also, Cash changes the lyric "crown of sh*t" to "crown of thorns." This is interesting, but I'm not sure why. If you don't hear the emotion in these two versions you probably can't hear. Johnny Cash sounds like he is dying (sadly, he sort of was) and Trent Reznor sounds like he is already dead (yet somehow still singing). Perfect. And wordiness.

Anywhere I Lay My Head (Tom Waits, from Rain Dogs, 1985):



This is the most recent favorite for me. I partially included it because of the debate started by TheChristopherMyers in Eric's Top 5. I am in the camp of a Tom Waits song is really only a Tom Waits song if he is singing it. Nobody in the world could do it like he does. If you need an example of this check out Scarlett Johansson singing this very song on youtube here. It really sucks in comparison...I didn't even get through the whole thing. The greatness in Waits' voice can't even really be explained, so I won't try. I will say that I didn't get it at first, but now I can't get enough of the guy. Back when LaLa.com was still used (do people remember this?) TJ suggested I get Rain Dogs. I listened to it a couple of times, thought it was OK and put it on the shelf. When Laun recommended it for this blog I took it back out and completely fell in love with it. I especially love this song, and think it might be the best album ending I have ever heard. It is perfect happy-sad, with the great New Orleans horn ending that rivals Eric's pick of In An Aeroplane Over the Sea. And when I say it rivals it, I mean that these Waits horns are better. Awesome.

Well this was hard. Very close runners up for anyone who made it this far were Marvin Gaye' "What's Goin' On?", Sufjan Stevens "John Wayne Gacy Jr.", Tom Waits "Martha" (but it is just too sad), Flaming Lips "Do You Realize?", Al Green "Let's Stay Together", Andre 3000 "Hey Ya" (yeah, I know), Regina Spektor "Fidelity" (again, yes I know), Beck "Debra", Dismemberment Plan's "The City" or "The Ice of Boston" or "Gyroscope" or any number of others, Bjorks "Hyperballad", Modest Mouse's "Gravity Rides Everything", Postal Service "Sleeping In", Paul Simon "Hearts and Bones", and OMG Michael Jackson "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough".

The TJ Top 5

i thought this task was going to be easy. it was even more difficult than me trying to type this posting with perfect posture. very difficult things for me. one thing i found very interesting was that my top 5 songs weren't necessarily by bands who i would call my top 5 bands... i mean... maybe.... but maybe not... weird that those two don't go hand in hand. while i was compiling the list of 5, it accidentally stretched to about 18 songs or so. so i had to really edit there and i attempted to break down those 18 into categories and not put in more than one from each cateegory - so some great tunes were left out. i must say though, with all this tom waits trashing going on, i was tempted to fill my list with his songs... which could almost be feasible, but i refrained. i would like to retort, however, that the beegees might go on my bottom 5 bands list... so perhaps me and chris/mike make a nice yin and yang here? but still, if i ever ran into a Bee or a Gee, they'd better be carrying cupcakes or be saying something real nice about my mom or something... otherwise i might do something mean like trip them - and i don't want to be a mean person

without further time awaisted: the top 5 (in alphabetical order by the artist name)


martha my dear - the beatles :



here we have 2 and a half minutes of musical perfection. the beatles were really faultless on this whole album... but this particular song just can't be more in the pocket. its a bit wonky, and real happy and i think gives some pretty good advice. at the 1 minute mark when the drums come in i really challenge anyone not to bob their head along. i actually didnt really learn to appreciate this particular song until later on in my beatles enjoyment. it perhaps was an acquired taste. i hope you enjoy... i suggest listening two times in a row. if you put your iTunes on repeat 1 it really does a nice job at swinging it back around.


one down, one up - john coltrane :



this one was too easy for me actually. john coltrane is my hero, and while people often say that live coltrane really outweighs any studio sessions... i sometimes disagree; in particularly with regards to this song. a note before you listen: this is a song that requires your attention. it needs to be loud and you need to actually LISTEN as opposed to just have it on and HEAR it. if you attempt the latter, i think you wont make it through the 15 or so necessary minutes to hear the whole crescendo, decrescendo and then reee-crescendo. the whole band is on point in this song and i used to listen to it over and over focussing on each instrument one time through... now thats a bit much... but if youre really bored and have 75 minutes on your hands its a great idea.


underground - kimya dawson :



kimya dawson recently got quite a bit more popular with the movie JUNO. but her recordings i find great across'd the board. this song, however, is my favorite of hers. she jumps between happy and sad songs, and sometimes straddles that fence with a great happy-sad song; which is the case here. the last verse in particular always gets me, when she talks about sinusitis and waking up in the middle of the night... it's really turns a tj mushy. there is not many musical artists who are more honest than kimya dawson and you really get it here i think


bed for the scraping - fugazi :



this one had to fight pretty hard for seat no. 5 on the list. i really like it a lot, but then again i really like fugazi a lot. this particular song i think nails this genre of music perfectly. these guys just exude the right sort of energy and do so flawlessly in this song. structurally there isn't a whole lot going on here... i think it is just a good reminder that its not necessarily what you say, but how you say it (when it comes to music... not really a love poem or a eulogy or anything)


don't know why i love you - stevie wonder :



speaking of creating the right kind of energy... stevie wonder could really bring it as good as anyone. this particular song starts so gently and just builds and builds until its brimming. there were a few stevie songs i was juggling for this spot, but this short, simple one came out on top. if you like this, i suggest you go watch some stevie wonder youtube clips after this - i just start feeling better when i watch this guy perform or banter with diana ross or something.

so that's my list... i don't know if "OF ALL TIME" is an appropriate ending to the "TOP 5" statement in my case... but these songs are certainly my current TOP 5.


for those songs that were left out - they are also real great and just barely missed the 5 seat, i will just list them here if anybody is interested (this doesn't count for my 5 right? riiiight guys?)

paloma negra - lila downs
persian march - johann strauss
prelude and fugue no. 7 in A Maj - Dmitri Shostakovich
i got a woman - elvis presley (live comeback version)
hummingbird - langhorne slim
come on up to the house - tom waits
shenandoah - keith jarrett from the melody at night with you album
carry stress in the jaw - mr. bungle

The Ward Top Five

Hey Everyone, It's Mike.
Today I will be talking about my Top Five. OK, let's jump right in:

Your Song - Elton John (1970) from the album Elton John


If this song were a movie, it'd be Adaptation. (The movie about the movie you are watching being written.) The song is about the song being written. More specifically, the song is about his struggle with writing a song for someone else. It's all very self aware when you think about it. It's also one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. As for my own experience and appreciation for this song, I grew up playing piano and I loved many of his songs. Your Song, though, wasn't really among my faves until I actually started learning a bunch of Elton John songs years later. It was through studying this song, learning the changes, that I really began to appreciate how amazing Your Song is. "I hope you don't mind that I put down in the words: 'How wonderful life is while you're in the world'." That chorus is absolutely killer. I almost wonder if he's talking about a separate song here. I'd like to hear it, because this one is about as good as it gets.

Gypsy - Fleetwood Mac (1982) from the album Mirage


As all of these songs will reveal, this one also had roots in my childhood. Gypsy reminds me of being a kid, riding in the backseat of the my mom's car. I loved this song at a very young age. Some of these songs evoke a feeling that's hard to put into words, but I like whatever it is. The riff for this one is really great. I could listen to the riff alone, all day, and probably not get tired of it. Also, Stevie Nicks has a line I really love: "Lightning strikes maybe once, maybe twice. And it lights up the night, and you see your gypsy." I think of her singing this line to some fictional guy. I interpret it as: "Love only happens once or twice in life. (You most likely won't find anyone like me again.) I'm your gypsy." Another great thing about this song is the performance itself. Lindsey Buckingham's guitar work on this is pretty fantastic. Overall, the arrangement is just great. Also, Stevie Nicks has one of the best Wikipedia entries I've ever read. Check it out.

Telephone Line - Electric Light Orchestra (1976) from the album A New World Record


So many of my favorite songs are written out of despair and loneliness. Loneliness has been an impetus for great music for hundreds of years. Here, Jeff Lynne sings about someone who doesn't have an answering machine and won't pick up the phone. I love the lyrics to this song. Really beautiful and heartbreaking words. "I'll tell you everything/If you'd just pick up that telephone." and "I'll just sit tight in shadows of the night/And let it ring for evermore." I always picture Lynne sitting in this library to an English mansion, all the lights are off, and the moon is casting its light through these enormous windows. In Batman Returns, there's a shot of Bruce Wayne sitting in his library, with the moon shining through the windows. So, kind of like that. Whoever this is about, Jeff Lynne definitely gave it his all to win that person back. All of the melodies in the song are just perfect.


Linda Ronstadt - Blue Bayou (1977) from the album Simple Dreams


This is a cover of a Roy Orbison song. So far all of these songs I've listed were songs I knew of at a very early age. However, I've loved this song longer than any other. I don't know of a time when I didn't know this song. It was the first song I ever loved. I remember thinking, even at that young age, that this is my song. My mom had it on cassette and would play it all the time, and I would hear it on tv, in commercials. Anyway, growing up this song would appear now and then, and I would never tire of it. My dad used to constantly play the Roy Orbison Black and White concert (which used to air on PBS all the time). I love that version as well. But really, this Ronstadt vocal performance is top notch. I can't think of too many that would equal it. I don't think I can think of any that surpass it. It's like she really means every word. When she comes in with "I'm going back some day..." it sends chills up my spine. Such an amazing delivery. I also came to appreciate the song on a different level years later. I never got that it really is a country song, with country pedal steel. Also, the longing theme never really caught on with me. The hopefulness of a better life exists somewhere.

The Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love (1977) from the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack


So at first glance, some may write this song off. It's from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Guess what, though? The Bee Gees songs on there are brilliant. This may be my favorite song of all time. Again, like with the rest of these songs, I was really young when I knew this song. My parents owned the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. I bought it years later when I was in college. Still it wasn't until maybe a few years after that that I had an enormous appreciation for this one. It's just got everything there. The lyrics are great, the harmonies are great. The vocal performance is beautiful. I never tire of this song, which I think is one of the biggest criteria for one's fave song.

So there you have it. All pretty songs. No rockers. I peaked at age 6.

The Chris Myers Top 5

Okay, I'm not going to fool around today. My song descriptions will be long enough as it is. Here's my Top 5 of all time.


Bowling Green (written by Terry Slater & Jackie Ertel, as performed by Glen Campbell, 1967)



If you're a song and you want to find the quickest way to my heart, make sure its named after a girl or a town, and you'll already be halfway there. I'm not too sure who had the biggest hit with this song, but I've gotta believe it was Glen Campbell. The Everlys do a fine version of the song, but Campbell owns this. I don't know that I like too many songs that have a bendy acoustic guitar riffing throughout the whole thing, but the bendy stuff in this song is pure intoxication. Whoa nelly! The harmony vocal is so understated and perfectly executed that its the sorta thing that takes a dozen listens before you even realize its there. Its what you associate with Simon & Garfunkel or Steven Tyler...not Glen Campbell, necessarily. Biggest shocker about this song? Neko Case does a cover of it and it sorta sucks.

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If Not For You (written by Bob Dylan, as performed by George Harrison, 1970)



This recording is proof positive that the performance is so much more important than the songwriting. Give me the name of any Bob Dylan or Tom Waits song and I'll name you someone who performed it better. Have you heard Dylan's "Nothing Was Delivered"? Try the Byrds' version. Waits' "Old '55"? The Eagles. Dylan's original version of INFY is fine, but the Phil Spector co-produced Harrison version launches this song into Top 5 material for me. Its not even that Harrison gives the ultimate vocal take. Its still fairly wonky. Its not as crooked as Dylan's, but it arguably has a lot more soul. And then there's the production. The rhythm acoustic, the slide guitars, the harmonica, the organ, the piano...everything fits perfectly without ever feeling cluttered. And the way the song builds on top of itself with each verse is something that I use when modeling most of my recordings. Its the perfect cure for solving the case of a song that might seem too repetitive. It was 2000 when I first listened to this album and halfway through this song, I knew for sure that George had the best post-Beatles career. Perhaps my love of cover songs could be traced back to this one? That is if I could find a way to discount "Smokin' In The Boys Room." If you ever date me, I'll probably want this to be "our song."

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Your Bright Baby Blues (written and performed by Jackson Browne, 1976)



Jackson Browne was a slow-burner throughout my early years. I got to hear a lot of him in my mom's car as a kid. You might be pick up on a pattern here. "Running On Empty", "Somebody's Baby", "Doctor My Eyes"...these were the ones I liked as a kid. Otherwise, my mom would play a lot of his more recent work, which I thought sorta sucked and prevented me from exploring deeper. Then I heard "The Pretender," which floored me with how many appropriate "-ender" words a guy could use in a single chorus. Then I realized that he co-wrote the Eagles' "Take It Easy," another one of my favorites. Everything culminated with "These Days" (made more popular by Nico) and this one, "Your Bright Baby Blues." This is the moment when JB became one of my favorite wordsmiths. He's got plenty of clunkers, but when he's on, he's WILD! Just like "These Days," this song is one zinger after another. These are the sorts of lines that kick me in the gut everytime I hear them. And not to beat a dead horse...its not just about the songwriting. His performance just totally sells the song. He means everything he's putting out there. You might think its corny, but I think its perfect. I'd list out some of my favorite lines, but I swear to God, its the whole fucking song.

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Mr. Natural (written by Barry and Robin Gibb, as performed by the Bee Gees, 1974)



Wikipedia calls this one a "rock-and-roll infectious tune" and I can't say it much better than that. Mom's car, hated this artist as a child, etc. To become a Bee Gees fan, you must first decide that they're disco bullshit. Second, discover that their early stuff is pretty great British pop rock. And then you slowly tiptoe album by album up to Saturday Night Fever, at which point you decide that its actually all pretty awesome. This song was released on the cusp of the disco changeover, and its truly a rock-and-roll infectious tune, all about crying in the rain and looking happy on the dance floor. It was only upon watching the video for this song that I realized that Robin sings the first verse and Barry sings the second. The Brothers do this quite a bit and I never pick up on it until I actually see them performing. Non-duet multiple singer songs are some of my favorites. The song is fun. I don't need to dissect it any further.

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I Don't Know How To Love Him (from Jesus Christ Superstar: Original London Concept Recording, written by Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber, as sung by Yvonne Elliman, 1970)



Mom, car-rides, etc. When I grew into my rebellious teenage years, we re-imagined a modern adapation with Chris Cornell as Jesus Christ and Corey Glover from Living Colour as Judas Incidentally, Glover later did take on this role, but I never got to see it. I've seen the musical countless times, and although its solid through and through, its really the first half of the soundtrack that's truly a masterpiece. My mother never liked the Mary Magdalene love songs for whatever reason, so as a kid, I was more into the Judas stuff...."Strange Thing Mystifying," "Damned For All Time/Blood Money," etc. But with time, I couldn't follow suit anymore. Whether its my propensity for lady singers or simply for love ballads, I couldn't deny that "Everything's Alright," "Could We Start Again?" and this song were the true greats. Beyond this soundtrack and her work on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, I couldn't tell you anything about Yvonne Elliman. Its odd that I haven't explored her more, because what I've heard is some of the most beautiful lady-singing that I have ever heard. Perhaps the fact that she's singing this song to Jesus will enhance or dehance the experience for some, but I tend to listen to it as just a love song and it breaks my heart everytime. This performance is ten times better than the movie soundtrack version. The arrangement, the drum part, the weird flute thing. After the instrumental break at 2:25, listen to her sing "I never thought I'd come to this" and tell me it doesn't send shivers down your spine. The way she meanders on "this" is pure emotion. Total awesomeness. Favorite song of all time.

The Eric Hopkins Top 5

Brother EricHop presented me with an idea for a week-long blog series for me and my fellow Friends Recommends bloggers. The assignment to name our top-5 songs of all time and discuss them. Simple, right? Not so simple for me, but I don't have to post until Friday (thanks BrotherHop) so I have a little bit more time to think about it. Apparently TheChristopherMyers and Wardo think about this every morning when they wake up, so they should have no problem. Today we hear from idea originator Eric Hopkins, with his top-5 songs of all time. These are some great songs, and better late than never (my fault!), right?

Exciting note: I've received a Colmus list. It should go up next week after these top-5's conclude. From here on out you're hearing from Eric:

This is a little long. And if I was coming to this blog and saw a post this long, there is a chance I wouldn’t read it. Maybe you should come back each hour and read a paragraph. Here are what I think are my five favorite songs, in no particular order:

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, 1998)



The first time I heard this song was in Matt Davis’s car. He had a tape of the album playing when he picked me up on what, in my memory, was one of the first perfect days of spring. I immediately asked him what the song was. At the time I heard it, it was the song I always wanted to hear, and the title song introduced me to one of my favorite albums. All the instruments belong and contribute to the song. Even though one person wrote the song on guitar, the band parts don’t seem like a second thought created to accompany the song. NMH made me want every song to have a saw in it. To answer Adam’s question, best horn solo ever, man. The lyrics are straight from the soul and it just seems like a song that took as long to write as it takes to play, like it just unfolded out of Jeff Mangum’s mind as he strummed and sung it for the first time.


Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones from Beggars Banquet, 1968)



To me, this song has the same feel as the NMH song, but in a more “jammy” way. I still think of it as a song that was crafted as it was written, but instead of it coming from one person, I think of it more like these guys were sitting around in a room on the drug of their choice and then some dude just starts picking up the bongos. I did see the Goddard movie “Sympathy for the Devil” which I think was half about the Stones recording this song and half about rebels spray painting propaganda on brick walls, but I saw this 9 years ago and only remember Keith Richards lying next to a speaker in the studio listening to a mix of the song and a rebel guy in a military uniform spray painting propaganda (in French?) on a brick wall. I love the guitar solo, Keith Richards played both this solo, and the awesome bass part on the recording, and Mick’s first person lyrics as the devil are great. Apparently Mick was reading The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (Megan recommend!!!) when he wrote the lyrics to this song. I think I might check out this book. Lots of girlfriends helped in the creating of this song. Mick’s girlfriend gave him the book he was reading and apparently Keith Richards’s girlfriend came up with the great Whoo hoo background vocal part.


Only In Dreams (Weezer from Weezer “The Blue Album”, 1994)



This is the perfect rock song. It has everything in it. The best bass line ever, distorted parts and clean parts, loud parts and soft parts, and high background vocals. The best part of the song is that it ends with and amazing build up that starts with bass and minimal guitar, that builds to some great two guitar parts and then the best two guitar solo ever. The lyrics are pretty special as well “You can’t resist her. She’s in your bones. She is your marrow”. It is sad to think that a song this good was on a bands debut album, and instead of continuing to make more songs this good, they end up with “Beverly Hills”. Weezer could have written my favorite and least favorite song.


A Sight for Sore Eyes (Tom Waits from Foreign Affairs, 1977)



Any bloke on this blog, with an opinion of Tom Waits, will tell you that the Island records years and after are his best. I prefer the albums he released on Asylum in the 70’s, which have the best piano bar ballads you will ever hear, A Sight for Sore Eyes is one of these. The song is a tale of s man sitting at a bar talking to an old friend from the neighborhood about what happened to the people from the old gang. If that content doesn’t make for the best piano bar ballad ever, the lyrics also include a toast to baseball greats DiMaggio, Drysdale, Mantle & Whitey Ford. As for the piano, the intro is Auld Lang Syne, and the piano in the rest of song has a lullaby feel. Talk about a great song, a lullaby about the old gang!


Desolation Row (Bob Dylan from Highway 61 Revisited, 1965)



This song is everything I love about Bob Dylan. It is early Dylan at his best, an eleven-minute stream of classic, abstract and poetic Dylan lyrics. And, there is a kick ass harmonica solo. According to the wikipedia entry for the album, the song was recorded with a second guitar player who was flown in to accompany Dylan on the track. Takes 6 and 7 were spliced together and used for the album track. I would assume that it was recorded without any overdubs, because I think Dylan recorded most of his earlier albums live in the studio with the whole band. Man, the song is over 11 minutes and I could listen to it back to back. These long lyrically driven Dylan songs are very relaxing to listen to and I always loved to put them on and forget about everything.

Wizard People, Dear Reader

Hello, friends. You may remember me from such softball fiascos as "Running Facefirst Into Eric Hopkins," or "Right Field Massacre '08." Or for those of you lucky enough to not be on our softball team last year, I had a list up a few months ago. I woke up this morning and checked ye olde Friends Recommend, and after seeing Jessica's very well-written tome on Rachel Getting Married, I thought maybe I should just leave well enough alone this week. I also considered anti-recommending mine and Adam's entire fantasy baseball team, but I figured that he could handle that on his own. So what the hell do I talk about now? Well, you're in luck today folks.

I heard about this "movie" from Chris Laun when we were both living together in the cesspool that we affectionately referred to as the "Pirate Ship." Does everyone remember watching the Wizard of Oz whilst listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon? This is kind of like that, only better. This is the OK Computer to WoO/DSotM's Palbo Honey (like that Radiohead reference everyone?). So what are we talking about here?

This is Harry Potter for anyone who wants Harry Potter to be the funniest movie you've ever seen. Some dude decided to do a narration of the whole movie (i.e. a book on tape) that syncs up with the movie as its running. The general storyline is pretty similar to the original, but the narrator gives everything a comical twist. I'm not really sure how to explain it. Harry is often prone to fits of rage. I've seen the movie this way at least ten times, and I would consider it one of the top 5 funniest movies that I have ever seen.

I'm not nearly as eloquent as Mike Ward writing about peanut butter, so luckily I found a few of my favorite clips on youtube:







If you are looking to give this a try, you can download the audio tracks here: You'll need 2 cd's, and when you start the movie start the cd player immediately.

Enjoy!

Debate Club

Posted by Jessica c/o Adam:

Perhaps some of you thought I was joking when I said I was going to not only add Rachel Getting Married to my queue, but bump it all the way to the top. I was not. I debated announcing this again when I received the hot topic in my little mailbox so that I might hold a public viewing, but I didn't want my goal of actually watching the movie and attempting to form my own opinion on it be derailed by a peanut gallery. According to Netflix, I will rate this movie 3.5 stars, this has me wondering how Netflix thought Ward or Rick would rate the movie prior to them actually viewing it. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

There is an aspect of Ward's original post on this topic that I originally glossed over (and perhaps you did too) that is really pivotal to his review: watching a movie after hearing rave ( and/or even "reverse") reviews on it. I get both sides of the coin with this little gem. "Part of the reason [Mike] hated this so much is because this movie received all kinds of accolades, with reviews calling the movie "brave" and "raw", etc." and yet I'll be viewing it knowing that Mike hated it and most certainly does not recommend it for viewing. I'm sure I'm not alone in having more than one movie ruined for me after missing the bus -- something about great expectations, blah blah blah. However, having gotten this far without yet viewing the movie I suspect that Netflix is pretty dead on with it's guess.

I was a little worried because as soon as I hit play all that running through my head was the critical acclaim vs Mike's reverse recommend and it took about 10 or 15 minutes for the story to pull me in. However it did, and I was able to watch the movie like it was any other on my long Netflix queue instead of like the project it's become. And, I ended up genuinely liking it and probably would've liked it even more had I watched it under different circumstances. In fact, I would even go as far as giving it a 3.7 or 3.8 if I were allowed [insert rant here about the Netflix rating system and how there's so much in between a 3 and 4 and 4 and 5], yet it is also a movie that I would never actually recommend to anyone either (along with You Can Count On Me, Happy Endings, Winter Passing, We Don't Live Here Anymore, Junebug, and countless others).

Here's the tricky thing about movies like Rachel Getting Married, at least for people who aren't professional movie reviewers, they're poignant only in as much as you can relate to them. That, and in as well as they're told. While watching this movie I couldn't help but think of one of the main guidelines my creative writing teacher refrained over and over again in college: you get to the universal through the specific -- that was a big selling point for me. It's very specific, if that makes any sense at all. I also thought the acting was fantastic. These characters, unlikeable though they may be, were complex, unique, and human (my guess is this translates into "raw" in movie review lingo). It wasn't the Hollywood pitfall of bad guy vs. good guy which doesn't give you anyone to root for. And for me, that was another big selling point. Not to say that there's anything bad about a Hollywood bad guy vs. good guy movie, there are lots of great ones I'm sure will be pointed out in the comment section here. But, in a movie where you can't relate to the characters or the story, it would help to have at least one guy that redeems it for you. And while the shaky camera work was over the top and annoying at times, I understand why it was chosen over the steadiness provided by dollies. It not only lends to the whole unsteadiness of the characters and plot, it also makes it feel like it less of a Hollywood movie and more like someone we could know. So, I can understand why someone (perhaps even several people) might not like the movie so I wouldn't recommend it even though I think it's a worthwhile viewing.

All in all, what I've learned from this is that reverse recommending is the way to go. It certainly induces debate in a way that everyone agreeing how awesome Radiohead is does not. (I kid, sort of.) Also, were it not for Ward's strong opinion on the movie I probably never would've viewed it all and I'm glad that I did, so thanks Mike! With that in mind, Crash (not the 2004 Crash, the 1996 Crash featuring James Spader and Holly Hunter) is one of these flicks that a couple of my friends saw during high school in the theater and actually walked out of because they hated it so much. It's been over a decade and I have yet to view this one because I'm sort of scared that I might actually hate it, and then what would there be left to debate?

sometimes i wish we were an eagle

i wanted to recommend in a more current event type of way. this will have to be quick because heaven knows people like their friends recommendings to come in the morning with their cereal and showering, and i need to certainly shower. i am also going to make a cereal quesadilla this morning due to some recent recommendings, so that takes a couple extra minutes to heat up the ole quesadilla maker.

my recommend comes relative to a new album that came out just this past tuesday. the artists name is Bill Callahan. here is a picture of him:


and here's a picture of the new cover of the album that came out just 2 days prior:


here is a link for a track on the new album. this ones called EID MA CLACK SHAW. click HERE to hear.

bill callahan used to write music under the name SMOG. he's from not too far from you fine folk as he grew up in silver spring maryland. apparently when he was a teenager his parents thought he lost his direction and sent him off to work on a freighter of some sort. it is legend that his boat came riding back in on the same smog he left on... hence his early pseudonym/band name. either way, the guy is a pretty weird guy and i like him. for being so small he's got a rich, deep voice and plays some pretty simple, pretty great stuff. this album is not my particular favorite yet, as i've only had 2 days to listen to it, but i do enjoy it enough to suggest you people delve in to something new and good. unfortunately, this one is not on emusic for all you emusicians out there. if you do like this disc, i stronly suggest A RIVER AINT ENOUGH TO LOVE or SUPPER or DONGS OF SEVOTION (though i hate that title almost enough to not have bought it myself, the content is far superior than that title).

anyways, i saw bill callahan play last year and it was really strange because he's odd, it started at like 2am on a weeknight, i went with a friend whose ex-boyfriend showed up and she left half way through the show upset, the guys next to me got into a fistfight and callahan just watched the whole thing and slowly stopped playing and looked sad.... all in all, a very weird night and i'll go back to see him again when he comes to the record store just a few blocks from my work on saturday.

ok, i must get to showering and to work. if you finished reading all of this and didnt listen to the link, i suggest you go back and do that now... thats my second recommend, that you go do that now.

A Heads-Up

Keeping this short, so it doesn't interfere with Wardo's excellent grocery store post today. We will have two special guest bloggers on Friday, so make sure when you read one you scroll down and read the other. I can tell you why this happened, but it isn't very exciting. JesKA will weigh in on this heated Rachel Getting Married debate (she actually watched the thing because of an anti-recommend) and George French is going to be recommending who-knows-what. This will be great. Also, Jenny has decided to step up and save this blog with a new list coming soon!

Shopping Enhancement

Hey everyone,
I'm here with a fresh Wednesday.
Today I wanted to talk about something that hasn't been touched upon here yet: the grocery store. Hopefully this post will enhance your shopping experience while making you a more informed buyer.

Firstly, I hate grocery shopping. The Giant that I go to is constantly out of the things I like to buy. I also don't like the lines at the check out. But, one way I've discovered to make things less miserable is to bring along an ipod. If you've never listened to an ipod while grocery shopping, I strongly urge you to give it a try. Through research, I've found that listening to Hall and Oates, and Huey Lewis and the News will actually make things a lot more enjoyable while food shopping. I have done this [created a H and O/HLATN playlist] a few times, and the first time I did it, it was hard not to smile at everyone. It also felt a bit surreal at first, but that's also part of the fun. Here are recommended choices:

Hall and Oates:
Kiss On My List
Private Eyes
I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
You Make My Dreams Come True

Huey Lewis and the News:
The Heart of Rock and Roll
If This Is It
Heart and Soul
The Power of Love

For Good Measure:
Kenny Loggins - The Heat Is On

Doobie Brothers - What A Fool Believes

Once you have that squared away, here are some tested, surefire Mike Ward recommends that you can't go wrong with...

Peanut Butter:
I use Skippy's Extra Crunchy. They seem to have the crunchiest of any of the other peanut butters on the market, so for that reason I buy their product. Word of warning, though: Do Not Buy Reduced Fat! The packaging looks almost identical, but they are so so different. The reduced fat version of extra crunchy actually barely tastes like peanut butter. It's really really awful. I've accidentally bought it a couple times and was miserable for a week while eating it.

Drinks:
This past week I bought something that I have not seen in my grocery store before: Minute Maid's Pomegranate Lemonade. I drink a lot of iced tea (Turkey Hill's Green Tea), and Limeade (Paul Newman) and Lemonade, so finding this was right up my alley. I'm happy to report that this new drink is actually quite good, and I would recommend you check it out.

Bread:
I eat a lot of peanut butter sandwiches and I've run the gamut of bread. It took me a long while to find the bread I like, but for my peanut butter sandwiches, Dutch Country's Whole Wheat is the absolute best. Whenever this is on sale, my store is always out of it, and I get a little irritated because I then have to go a lesser brand.

Quesadillas:
Here's something a few of you know: I eat a ton of quesadillas. This is another thing that took me a while to figure out all the best components, but now I can make an awesome quesadilla. If you make quesdaillas, then I'm assuming you have one of these:


It's essential to making a really good one. Here's a quick rundown of what I use:

Beans - Goya brand Black Beans
Tortillas - Mission brand
Cheese - Sargento Classic Mild Cheddar shredded cheese
Sour Cream - Daisy brand
Hot Sauce (this is critical!!) - Chalula brand (regular)

The Chalula sauce is actually one of my favorite condiments. It goes great on plenty of things, but especially here for quesdillas.

Snacks:
I am not that big of a snack person, but wanted to share this recent fave of mine: cheese and crackers. More specifically: Cracker Barrel pre-sliced cheese squares, and Carr's Table Crackers. I urge you to try this! It's so good! I don't have to tell you how nice it is not having to slice your own cheese. It's basically open and go without the fuss of a cutting board or knife.

Frozen Food:
I don't buy frozen food very often at all. But, one thing that I discovered, which I am a huge fan of is this frozen pizza called Palermo's. I buy the "Cheese and Tomato" and it's the absolute best frozen pizza I've ever had. Next time you're in the market for a frozen pizza, check it out and tell me what you think.

So hopefully this has been helpful, and maybe you'll check out one of these things. If you do try the ipod or buy one of these, I'm curious about feedback. Maybe I'll expand on shopping a bit more down the road.

Til next week...

I'm a fool to do your dirty work

Hey all. Let's blog it!

I'm not going to mince words today. I'm a hired gun. Adam brought Wardo, t.j. and me in so that he could sit back on his laurels, while we do his dirty work. Well, I'm done. All of Adam's friends took time out of their day to recommend some truly great stuff to him. He skimmed over the stuff, cracked a few boner jokes and moved on to the next schlub. It would be an injustice to Adam's friends if anyone other than Adam took care of their requests. They [read: WE] didn't recommend shit to Mike Ward. What do we care what he has to say on the matter?

So: fresh start for me. I'm cutting off ties with the old lists. I am a rogue blogger now. I might talk about my own Recommends or I might call on you to tell me personally about some stuff that you think I might enjoy.

Anyhow, I guess I should tell you how Adam and I first met. It must have been, what, 5 years ago? Adam had taken to hanging out down by the train yards. He had just quit his teaching position at Goucher and really needed something to which he could relate. He went to the yards looking for trains, but he found me instead. Its funny how things work out.




Alright, today's recommend came via email. These are the easiest kinds of recommends. Sometimes someone will just email me an mp3 thinking that I would like it. I take the next 2 to 6 minutes (anything longer and I'll definitely not like it) and form my opinion on the song. They're not always corkers, but I do enjoy figuring out what it is about the song that would make someone assume that I would like it.

Recently, I was emailed this Sibylle Baier song called "Tonight." Have a listen:




Ms. Baier recorded this song along with an album's worth of material in early 1970s Germany. Similar to the tale of my travels, she decided to give up her aspirations of being a songwriter/actress and moved to America to raise a family. Listening to "Tonight," you can certainly already hear her desire to have nothing more than just a real nice home life.

Some 30 years later, her son [the weird Tarzan baby looking kid above] compiled the recordings and gave them out to friends and families. Eventually, the recordings ended up in J Mascis' hands and the Orange Twin label soonthereafter released them.

Don't be fooled by the somber mood of the recording. I hear it as being a significantly happy/content song. The singer arrives home totally broken apart after [among seemingly some other stuff] possibly wrecking her car. She finds "him" sitting at the kitchen table ready, willing and able to listen to let her cry out all the sorrows that she bears. Its also possible that he wants her to sing her troubles to him, which is extra great. Who wouldn't want to come home to that?

This is my most favorite lyric of the last [insert undefinable length of time]:

There he unforeseen sat in the kitchen buttering himself a bread

At the risk of sounding like I don't appreciate "unforeseen sat" enough, I must say that "a bread" is just so super fantastic. I can't vouch for how well Ms. Baier knows or knew English, but its tiny things like "a bread" that make me regret having English as my primary language. Songwriters take plenty of liberties when trying to make words fit correctly, but I can almost guarantee that if I were writing this song, I would have said "some bread" instead. And that's why I admire this song. Pure delight.

I would consider that line to be Exhibit A in determining why this song might be appropriate to send to me. Exhibits B through D would be that its a lady singer, its about a domestic situation and the song came fairly close to never being available for mass consumption.

For all those, this song gets an A-.

Namaste!