Just One Track

Stutter-step

The Editor — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:57:25 +0000

Wow, talk about a busy month. I managed to rack up a boatload of frequent flier miles and get gold status at a hotel chain just from the last few weeks of travel. This has meant little time to sit down and write the entry to go with a daily post. Well, I’m sure I could be posting an entry but they’d be more incoherent than usual and probably contain some sort of travel-related rant. I’m going to backfill the last few weeks and then go to semi-regular posting schedule. Sorry to the eight or so of you reading. However, this should give the spammers plenty of time to hammer my comments section.

McDonalds is the place to rock

The Editor — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:05:21 +0000

There were a lot of reasons to think the whole Wesley Willis phenomena was creepy. More than a few stories were written that even on his best days Willis didn’t exactly know what he was doing. Questions about any money he was making and where it went always floated over his releases. That said, his best songs were just fun. The Casiotone background sounds got old fast so the discs haven’t aged all that well.

PLAY:

DOWNLOAD: Wesley Willis - Rock n Roll McDonalds

Don’t call it a comeback

The Editor — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:18:38 +0000

Best. Opening Line. Ever.

PLAY:

DOWNLOAD: LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out

I gotta go now, I wish I could stay

The Editor — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:50:56 +0000

I am very, very excited to have a new Was (Not Was) album after 20 years of radio silence. After a few listens it sounds as good as their old material. Sweet Pea and Sir Harry sound as good as they ever have and the songwriting is still sharp and funny without being trite. I love the verse from “Semi-Interesting Week” -

On Wednesday I was riding on the Subway/Just minding my own business like I do/When this skinhead psycho with the brains of bat/Called me good-for-nothing dirty Jew/I assured him I had showered just that morning/after killing and dismembering his mom.

As good as that track is, it’s been all over the radio and the best part of a Was (Not Was) album is to see what other collaborators turn up. On first blush it sounds novelty-ish but the Kris Kristofferson vocal on “Green Pills In The Dresser” is turning into my favorite because it slides into my playlist of Country and Trip-Hop so easily. I can wedge it between Merle Haggard and 45 Dip and it fits perfectly.

PLAY:

DOWNLOAD: Was (Not Was) - Green Pills In The Dresser

Bring a flashlight and a mirror to observe

The Editor — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:19:18 +0000

This song brings back memories of sitting in a college dorm room playing Sega and arguing with floormates about who was going to run and get dinner. Of the many Ministry/Al Jourgenson side projects that popped up in the 90’s this and Pailhead were the best. Pailhead only lasted for one EP but Al and Jello Biafra got along well enough to crank out a few Lard releases. “Can God Fill Teeth?” is probably the best combination of Biafra’s spoken word ranting and vintage Ministry thrash. Also - if you listen to the instrumentation in the background you’ll hear the seeds of “Jesus Built My Hotrod.”

PLAY:

DOWNLOAD: Lard - Can God Fill Teeth?

Why do they spare that one?

The Editor — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:03:19 +0000

Trying to pick a song from Nina Simone’s catalog to feature is a fun challenge. There are so many wonderful albums and styles to pick from it takes a while just to narrow a search down to a dozen songs, let alone one. In the end I have to go with her live rendition of “Pirate Jenny” from 1964’s Nine Simone In Concert. It’s six plus minutes of theater, music and tension. The sparse arrangement is haunting and as she pounds her piano you can almost HEAR the sparks dance off her fingers and reflect the gleam in her eyes. When she sings “There’s a ship - the black freighter” the hair on my arms still goes up and I look over my shoulder to make sure there’s nothing stalking me from a dark corner. I can only imagine how powerful it mist have been to be in the audience when she performed this song.

PLAY:

DOWNLOAD: Nina Simone - Pirate Jenny (Live)

Another will be holding my bouquet

The Editor — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:52:42 +0000

When Country fans think of Kitty Wells they usually think of “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.” It endures as one of her best songs but I have always had a morbid fascination with her song “I Gave My Wedding Dress Away.” At first blush it seems like a standard broken-hearted lament but only a verse or two in the ‘what the HECK!?!?’ factor kicks in. The idea of a big sister giving up a boyfriend to a younger sibling isn’t all that odd Wells’ delivery hits so close to home with just enough of a creep factor to make the hair on my arms stand every time I hear it - and not always in a bad way. When I played it for a friend years ago her eyes glazed over for a moment - she said she was instantly taken back to sitting with her grandmother listening to old 78’s. She probably couldn’t have directly remembered the song if asked but a few bars and she instantly recalled the song and the story. More proof that a good song can stay with you for decades, even if you originally forget about it.

PLAY:

DOWNLOAD: Kitty Wells - I gave my wedding dress away