“The color of the dream I had”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – “One Rainy Wish” from Axis: Bold As Love [1968]
Jordy and I were Google-chatting yesterday and he revealed that he had never “gotten” Jimi Hendrix. I was pretty sick of Hendrix after playing awful covers of “Fire,” “Hey Joe,” “Purple Haze,” and “Voodoo Child” in the basement with my middle school [...]

“I’ll climb the hill in my own way”

Pink Floyd – “Fearless” from Meddle (1971)
This song is motivated by one of the coolest guitar rhythms in the Pink Floyd canon. Its insistence is a terrific counterpoint to the drifting of the preceding track, “A Pillow of Winds.” And these touching vocals are some of the last vestiges of the psychedelic Floyd [...]

“e.g. self-satisfied, smug”

The Kinks – “Plastic Man” from The Great Lost Kinks Album (1973)
The Fall – “How I Wrote Elastic Man” from 50,000 Fall Fans Can’t Be Wrong comp (2004) [originally released in 1980]
Another Kinks/Fall pairing. Are these songs related at all? If so, Mark E. Smith must be a huge Kinks fan.
Those [...]

“If I’m buried ‘neath the sod/but the angels won’t receive me”

The Pogues – “If I Should Fall From Grace With God” from If I Should Fall From Grace With God (1987)
Irish folk-punk is a pretty perplexing genre. Bands like the Dropkick Murphys or the Tossers are incredible for two songs, sort of funny for the next five or six, and then incredibly irritating after that. [...]

“If you had a room/he’d paint it white”

Wire – “106 Beats That” from Pink Flag (1977) and “Marooned” from Chairs Missing (1978 )
Wire are minimalist geniuses. Check out “106 Beats That,” which goes from a fast punk rant (the likes of which inspired the best American hardcore band) to some kind of mellow melodic, droney thing. All in about 73 seconds. Its [...]

“And I would rather be anywhere else”

Elvis Costello – “Oliver’s Army” from Armed Forces (1979)
Since Elvis Costello, there has not been another artist who could incorporate such bile into such delicious pop songs.
This tune, for instance, positively shimmers with brilliance.
Check out the slightly perplexing music video
Buy it here
Posted by Jordy

“Listen while I talk to you”

No, not that Shake. But “Shake,” the decent Sam Cooke composition made first great and then absolutely fucking brilliant by the Big O, Otis Redding.
Sam Cooke – “Shake” (1964)
Sam’s original version of today’s featured tune is a passable dance number in the blues vein. Here is a quote from the excellent Sam Cooke comp, Portrait [...]

John Fahey – “Beverly” from Return of the Repressed: Anthology (1994)
Here’s one of my favorite Fahey tunes (c. 1971) from the excellent Anthology. This genius melody has a real melancholy positivity about it. I hope it starts your week right.
More Fahey at SWR
Buy it here
Item: I just ordered a USB turntable and [...]

“When my boots hit the boards, I’m a brand new man”

Steve Earle – “Guitar Town” from Guitar Town (1986)
If you sped this song up, it would sound just like punk rock. Add solid guitar work and witty lyrics and you’ve got one of the most vigorous and respectable country musicians of the last 25 years (pictured above with sometime-mentor Townes Van Zandt).
Steve Earle [...]

“You are my center when I spin away”

Liars – “A Visit From Drum” from Drum’s Not Dead [2006]
Radiohead – “Videotape” from In Rainbows [2008]
Jordy once closed an email with the salutation, “well, i’m going to see radiohead in like five minutes, so bye.” What a jerk. Now I get to be that jerk.
I saw Radiohead in Charlotte, NC, on Friday night. It [...]

Tom Waits to tour US this Summer

Tom Waits – “Long Way Home” from Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, & Bastards (2006)
My main man Tom Waits has recently announced a Summer tour and I’ll be damned if his bus isn’t rolling down my stretch of I-10. Sorry to all you chumps in LA and NYC. Maybe next time.
I just hope those jag-offs [...]

“If you’re ever feeling blue/then write another song…”

Belle & Sebastian – “Judy and the Dream of Horses” from If You’re Feeling Sinister (1996)
Enjoy the drunkest two minutes in sports with this classic from the Scottish pop masterminds. I think that Jordy hates this song.
Mint juleps not included
Posted by Glenn

“Looking back in time”

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – “How Near How Far” from Source Tags and Codes (2002)
When this album came out, it was much-needed assurance to me that the purity and brilliance of guitar rock was alive and vigorous and not something that had flourished and died in the 1970s.
While Trail [...]