It's Friday. There's booze and music and even a little embarrassing dancing. Shit gets busted, confessions are made and someone just might piss hisself. It's a party, right? Well...sorta. But this is a party of one. Drinkin' alone outta loneliness. Drinkin' hard outta heartache.
It's a blues party.
If you're sittin' around, cryin' 'bout it, you mights well do it right. I just hope this little playlist gets you off on the right foot.
Little Boy Blue--Bobby "Blue" Bland Ask Her for Water--T-Model Ford Stay All Night-- Buddy Guy Big Fat Mama--Mississippi Fred McDowell Little Brown Hen--Snooky Pryor You Set Me Free--Snooky Pryor Gospel According to John--Soledad Brothers Penthouse Pauper--CREEDENCE!!! The Devil Jumped The Black Man--Lightnin' Hopkins Pony Blues--Honeyboy Edwards 61 Highway--Mississippi Fred McDowell Sugar Bab--Pink Anderson You never Miss Your Water--Lightnin' Hopkins Blues In The Bottle--Steve James Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues--Skip James Sweet Home Chicago--John Hammond It Serves You Right to Suffer--John Lee Hooker Baby Please Don't Leave Me--Buddy Guy Old Black Mattie--R.L. Burnside
This is in no way meant to be a "blues greatest hits" list. It is merely a little list that got me through last Sunday. It took me from pillar to post. I cried. I drank. I hollered. I drank. I broke a chair. I drank. I said fuck it. I drank. I felt holy. I blacked out.
In fact, the only artist on this list that really needs a soap-box freak-out is Buddy Guy. Buy Sweet Tea. Here's "Baby Please Don't Leave."
long before she was the impossibly intriguing love interest in the science of sleep, before she was in 21 grams, charlotte gainsbourg was just (no, never just!) the daughter of serge gainsbourg and jane birkin.
i continue to be surprised by the great reach of the weirdo-musician-with-hot-woman phenomenon. it's easy enough to explain (talent, charisma, attention, drugs, temporary insanity...) but that doesn't mean it necessarily makes sense. nonetheless, without this phenomenon, the world wouldn't have charlotte gainsbourg, and we'd be poorer for it. so to all you weirdo musicians out there who may someday record a song called lemon incest with your daughter: i salute you?? hmm. anyway. this is not about serge, who was an intriguing, widely-influenced musician who managed to stir up controversy at every turn. maybe not musical controversy, but controversy all the same. this is not even about jane, who is a talented human, humanitarian, and also a serious weirdo in her own right. (although that bit about naming her nipples gestures at a fairly interesting woman, don't you think?) so it all sort of makes sense when you think about the fact that she was married to a man who sang a song about anise lollipops as a metaphor for um... well, surely you can figure out what "ani loves suckers" might indicate. anyway. this is about charlotte, wonderful charlotte, who managed to walk away from that train wreck of an origin story with an absolutely amazing range of talent. there's the whole movie thing... and then there's her music. 5:55, is in pretty much constant rotation as far as my listening habits go. when it came out in 2006, people mentioned it being her first album in 20 years. for a woman born in 1971, that has a special ring to it in and of itself. the album begins with the lovely, haunting, eponymous track, which may or may not slip right past your consciousness. in fact, that's something this album as a whole can do - it will either push in between your ribs like a knife and pierce your heart, or it will breeze right past you, a breathy, french ode to love and lust and heartbreak and the mystery that is life. it should be mentioned that the music for this album is provided by air - which may or may not give you some perspective as to where it all comes from. charlotte's voice is breathy, sensual, sweet, often shy, a lot like her mother's and, without a doubt, totally foreign. it always seems (to me, anyway...) that the greatest gift that multilingual lyricists give us is perspective - seeing and hearing things through foreign filters, but in our own tongue. this whole album is a range of such revelations, with songs like beauty mark and set yourself on fire, both of which are ultimately, heartbreakingly human. but the star of the show? the one that stops my heart, that makes me put this whole album on repeat for hours on end? the operation. please to enjoy:
If you're like me, then you have a strange fetish for musicians that play the same instrument as yourself. For me, that is piano. I've never had formal training, but growing up with an opera singer and professional pianist/organist for a mother, well, something is bound to rub off.
Of course, my mom being the classical nut that she is, I grew up listening strictly to Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, and other amazing composers that are also dead. So I had to discover a lot of this on my own; the first real rock piano player I was exposed to (and enjoyed) was NOT Billy Joel, Elton John, or Bruce Springsteen. It was a middle-eastern born boy with an overbite from Godtopus himself.
Freddie Mercury You can't deny his charisma, or his songwriting. Hell, Mercury is a legend. Queen, Don't Stop Me Now
Jerry Lee Lewis This man doesn't need an introduction. And if he does, then you need some serious schooling on the roots of rock, honey. Jerry Lee, Great Balls of Fire *Note Dick Clark, and how ancient his ass must be.
Nick Cave For me, Nick is the epitome of an artist, one whose means of creation just happens to be music. That, and he is deliciously curmudgeonly. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Mercy Seat *This is from a Japanese TV show, and is a hilarious set-up for Nick's performance; do yourself a favor and listen to the exchange between Nick and the host. Also, check out the fucking amazing piano that he is playing. I'm lusting after it something fierce.
Tori Amos I worship at the altar of the Almighty Amos. I always have, and I always will; I don't give a shit what direction she takes. But this song, from her most recent collection, is a really interesting choice. My inner Southern girlie does what the kids call "squee" when I hear this. Tori Amos, Big Wheel
Diana Krall I really wanted to do a jazz pianist post, and that still might happen, but I had to add two of my favorite jazz pianists because this list would feel so incomplete without them. Diana, who by default would be the coolest woman ever simply by being married to Elvis Costello (shut it you), is not only cooler than cool, but can play her ass off. Not many people can do a Joni Mitchell cover, especially Case Of You, and not only pull it off, but in my opinion give it just the right amount of emotional impact. She kicks. Diana Krall, Case Of You
Natasha Khan Run, do not walk, to check out Bat For Lashes. This song isn't as piano heavy (it has more organ), but the rest of the songs on the album are much more plunk. This one is just badass, and the video rocks. How can you not love mask wearing bikers that do wheelies and claps on beat? The answer is, "You can't." Bat For Lashes, What's A Girl To Do
Ray Charles The TRUE king. Truly, for truth. Ray Charles, Georgia On My Mind
Armando "Chick" Corea Chick is my other jazz pianist addition, and this video is pretty charming. His touch is amazingly light, facile, and extremely quick. Also, he might be cheesy, but you cannot deny Bobby McFerrin's incredible talent. This duet is really nice, especially for any jazz lovers in the house. Chick Corea and Bobby McFerrin, Armando's Rhumba
Ben Folds My hometown boy! If you have never seen Ben in concert, you are missing out on probably one of the best live shows. Try to see him in the smallest possible venue. Ben Folds Five, Brick
Marketa Irglova Oscar winner. Actress. Musician. That's a hell of a resume for this up and comer. Marketa's voice is simple and proficient, and her voice is somewhat ethereal and childlike. Very nice combination. The Swell Season, The Hill *Please excuse the video; it had the least cheese factor. Sheesh.
Honorable Mentions: John Lennon Trent Reznor Cat Stevens Billy Joel Bruce Springsteen Tom Waits Thelonious Monk Art Tatum Natalie Merchant Zakk Wylde
I’ll be heading off to my fourth consecutive year of Lollapalooza on Friday. I never had the privilege of going when it was a touring show, I only caught it when it stationed itself in the great Chi-town. Some people might say Lolla has turned into a corporate hungry event with overpriced everything. I am not a fan of any of that type of garbage and I’ve managed to have a good time every year and not get into any fist fights. Here’s a playlist of bands that have played Lolla the past three years. Hopefully I’ll be back next week with a recap of 2008, as long as I don’t die of alcohol poisoning or sun stroke.
2005: Billy Idol – Hot In the City (video below) Pixies – Where Is My Mind The Black Keys – Just Couldn’t Tie Me Down G. Love and Special Sauce – Rodeo Clowns
2006: The Flaming Lips – She Don’t Use Jelly Violent Femmes – American Music Ohmega Watts – That Sound Lyrics Born – I Like It, I Love It (Jimmy Kimmel performance below)
2007: Interpol – Evil (video below, it creeps me the fuck out) Amy Winehouse – Valerie Rodrigo & Gabriela – Diablo Rojo TV on the Radio – Staring at the Sun
Hello, boys and girls. Today I decided to introduce you to some songs that have to do with women. Not just women in general, but an ideal or actual woman that someone wrote about who affected them. In some cases, we have an actual name given to the woman, although we have found all through history that the real name is not always given (see “Layla” by Derek and the Dominoes, written by Eric Clapton, about George Harrison’s wife, Patti Boyd as an example). In other cases, it’s the relationship with the woman (as in “She’s My Ex” by ALL, listed below).
It’s hard for me to nail down in words, but most of the time I feel that when men write about women, there’s a lot of unknowns or mystery in the songs, maybe even confusion or hurt because of misunderstanding or a lack of knowledge when the songs involve love or intimacy. Think about this when you look at the lyrics of the songs that are familiar to you. I intend to show how men are more specific in fleshing out the subject when they are talking about men in another post.
Remember as always with me, it’s not only the lyrics but the combination of music and lyrics.
“V” – Golden Smog
When I was down, she was full of advice She said she’d been there once or twice With a ring on the side of her nose Wearing other people’s clothes
V is a woman who used to wait on the guys at the bar, and when I mean wait, I mean she served them cold beverages. Then, on a cold December day, V up and went away. Where did she go? The song never knows, but V used to light the place up so much the boys in Golden Smog wrote a song about her.
“Lovely Rita” – The Beatles
Here’s one of my favorite Beatles songs. Rita is a meter maid. Written by one of the masters of silly (and quite honestly, very cheesy) love songs, Paul McCartney.
“Sara Smile” – Hall and Oates
Probably one of the best examples of White Boy soul out there. This is always a favorite of mine due to the vocals and the smooth music.
“She’s My Ex” – ALL
Both ALL and the Descendents (basically the same band with different lead singers) write some great tunes about women, and the relationships with them. Not quite “emo”, these guys were probably writing songs about not expressing their true feelings or being shy with innocent angst long before Rivers Cuomo came around with the truckload of female fear he delivers into those kinds of songs.
In this tune, the dude singing the song is still in love with his ex, but you sort of get the feeling that if he had a woman who appreciated his love, he’d forget her despite the fact that, “she’ll be my ex til I say when, until I get her back again.” Right click on the muxtape link and open a new tab to listen to this song while you read.
“Margaret Says” – The Vulgar Boatmen
This is probably one of the better tunes about a woman that I enjoy. A very nice description of Margaret’s personality. The album this is on, You and Your Sister, will get a proper review from me at some point.
“Angelyne” – The Jayhawks
Lots of regret in this one. Beautiful, sad vocal harmonies as well.
“Evangeline” – Matthew Sweet
Matthew writes a tune about a girl he’s infatuated with, but she’s in love with another “man.” The man, in this case, happens to be God above.
“Annie Mae” – The Twilight Singers
The music in this song is so funky, it makes me feel dirty. Sort of how the person singing this probably makes Annie Mae feel. Coming around when he’s lost, and not sticking around too long.
“Caroline” – Concrete Blonde
How about a song written about a woman by a woman? I love the sound of the bass in this tune. Caroline left, and instead of the confusion you get from a male songwriter, you get poetry that lets you know how she feels.
“Josephine” – Slobberbone
This is actually, it’s a Mulehead song, but I only know the Slobberbone version, and it kicks ass! A story of a guy who loves this girl Josephine, but he can’t even talk to her. Spray paints her name in a bright color on the water tower, goes to jail for it, and with his one phone call he dials her up and then can’t say anything.
“Jackie O” – John Mellencamp
I’m not sure what to make of this song. It’s kind of got this goofy 60’s pop sound to it, and appears to use a xylophone or some kind of wacky organ in the mix. Nice tune, overall. Can your daddy get us backstage passes? You know how we love to dance. With all his political power it would seem to me that you could dance better than you do.
“Jennifer Grey” – Total Passover
Okay, so I’m self-promoting here. But this song is about Jennifer Grey, the actress, and focuses on her role in Dirty Dancing. Nobody puts baby in the corner. Also on the muxtape.
“Sharon Needles” – Earl Lee Grace
The Dwarves’ Blag Jesus decided to make a bluegrass album in the 90’s. This is one of my favorite tunes off it about a girl who had a lot of fun in high school named Sharon Needles. Sharon Needles went to the prom with her dad, he could not get none so he went away mad.
“Yankee Rose” – David Lee Roth
A metaphorical woman. Mostly great because it was the song used in the video that returned David Lee Roth to us in all of his greatness. Give me a glazed donut and a bottle of anything…TO GO!
Other honorable mentions:
“Josie” – Steely Dan “Lesbian Nun” – Dwarves “Liza and Louise” – NOFX “Maggie May” – The Faces (live version) “Maybeline” – Chuck Berry “Sister Luck” – The Black Crowes “Somebody’s Baby” – Jackson Browne “There’s This Girl” – Sweet Baby
This post best enjoyed with Magic Hat #9 (a girlie beer)
Well, that's a bit of a dilemma for me, since I'm not really the kind of guy who hosts parties very often. We pretty much have two kinds of parties at the Meat Factory: summer barbecues and winter Christmas parties. We don't cotton to people coming over in the spring or fall. And while the Christmas parties can be fun...
Clearly, Christmas music is a little inappropriate for right now. So let's kick things off with Music for Summer BBQ's. Please note: there will be no Will Smith tracks on this list. Also note: if you were expecting Will Smith tracks, you are visiting the wrong motherfucking site... or at least reading the wrong motherfucking writer.
Be forewarned: I don't believe that party music needs a theme, a rhyme or a reason. If it makes people tap their feet, snap their fingers, shake their ass, pump their fist, throw a goat or bang their head, it goes on the list. Usually my friends are too sauced to pay much attention after the 3rd or 4th track anyway. This is just a sample of what you might hear at my place.
AC/DC: Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution - only one of the top three greatest AC/DC songs... ever.
The Gourds: Gin and Juice - a cover that borders on genius.
The Arcade Fire: Keep the Car Running - best track on Neon Bible.
Blackalicious: Powers - speaking of shaking your ass...
Monster Magnet: Space Lord - "Now open wide and SAY MY NAME!"
Prodigy: Smack My Bitch Up - Is this song misogynistic? More importantly, do I care? Also, this is an awesome video.
Rilo Kiley: Portions for Foxes - when Jenny Lewis belts out "C'mere!" during this, you're gonna wanna grab the person nearest to you and lay one on them.
Roots Manuva: Witness (1 Hope) - not even worth listening to unless you have some really kickin' bass.
Mr. Bungle: The Girls of Porn - because all parties need a little Patton... and a little porn.
Filter: Hey Man Nice Shot (Horns Remix) - track this remix down - it's a vast improvement. Sadly, no video.
Kanye West: Stronger - two words: DAFT PUNK. Speaking of which...
Daft Punk: One More Time
Fishbone: Party at Ground Zero - because the world needs more bonin'
Say Anything: Woe - "I can't get laid in this town, without these pointy fuckin' shoes..." I love this lyric
So there's a glimpse into what it's like to party at my house. Just picture me drunk, probably something spilled on my shirt, stuffing my face. Chances are Ervie's there, and chances are he's ripped the sleeves off his t-shirt and he's making somebody blush.
Just a quickie. I gotta stump for some homeboys: Josh Lederman y Los Diablos. I've been listening to them all day after they came up in a Pandora playlist. I won't rehash their website (click here), but I'll say a few things.
First, if you like the Pogues, the Old 97's and the accordion, you'll dig this band. Lotsa drinkin'. Lotsa heartache. Losta jig-worthy tunes. I'm still not sure if it's to their credit or their, well, discredit, but the four records that I've had lined up back to back to back to back are extremely consistent, sounding like one very, very long LP. But it doesn't ever get monotonous as they mix the waltzes and dirges up with the doodly doodly music (as a friend's proud Irish American father categorizes all St. Patrick's Day tunes).
However, if you have to start somewhere try this: The Town's Old Fair. These guys tend toward the autumnal. Hard lessons learned. Often times, they've learned these lessons in the bottle or the sack. I can endorse both methods. Your Bluest Friend is a sad little drinkin' number and I've Been Down So Long is just flat drunk. Fish's Eddy is a bouncy tune, set to the time of screwing on the road. If you're from the Boston area, you'll enjoy this for all the local spots mentioned.
But my favorite song on this disk is The Olive Tree. I could jig all day long to this song:
