Friday Random Ten

The Scene Is Now "Anthracite" The Oily Years (1983-1993)
Robbie Fulks "In Bristol Town One Bright Day" Couples in Trouble
Nina Simone "Blues for Mama" The Very Best of Nina Simone: Sugar in My Bowl
Galaxie 500 "Melt Away" This Is Our Music
Spearhead "Ganja Babe" Chocolate Supa Highway
Otis Redding "Don't Leave Me This Way" The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968
Neil Young "Sedan Delivery" Live Rust
Sonic Youth "Bull in the Heather" Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star
Miles Davis "All Blues" Kind of Blue
Bobby "Blue" Bland "Farther Up the Road" Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues

bonus
Kate Bush "Sat in Your Lap" The Dreaming

Not too shabby--heavy on the blues, fitting for a 4th in the age of Bush, as a too many acre fire blazes mere miles from where I sit. Then there's radical shifts like Galaxie 500 to Spearhead, not so radical shifts like Neil Young and one-time tour mates Sonic Youth bumping shoulders. Classic Miles. Damn catchy Kate to take us out.

Friday Random Ten

Spoon "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine" Gimme Fiction
XTC "Omnibus" Nonsuch
Son Volt "Out of the Picture" Trace
The Mekons "Spit" Honky Tonkin'
New Order "Procession" Substance
Ito-k "Wishing" Freedom of Choice
Helium "Pat's Trick" What's Up Matador?
Laurie Anderson "Coolsville" Strange Angels
Richard & Linda Thompson "The Great Valerio" I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
Bob Dylan "I Can't Get You Off of My Mind" Timeless: Hank Williams Tribute

bonus
Ella Fitzgerald (Layo & Bushwacka Mix) "Angel Eyes" Verve Remixed 2

Oh well, not the strongest of weeks, despite many favored artists and even favored albums. In some ways my fave here is the Helium cut, and that sort of says it all. And in a very high and funny voice, too.

Friday Random Ten

Crooked Fingers "The Rotting Strip" Bring on the Snakes
Memphis Jug Band "Memphis Shakedown" Harry Smith's Antholgy of American Folk Music, Volume Four
Marshall Crenshaw "Girls..." Marshall Crenshaw
The Magnetic Fields "Take Ecstasy with Me" Holiday
Deana Carter "The Cuckoo Bird" Songcatcher
Moby "I Like to Score" Songs 1993-1998
The Mekons "Chop That Child in Half" Original Sin
Alison Krauss & Union Station "Every Time You Say Goodbye" (live) This Is Americana
Passengers "Slug" Original Soundtracks 1
Superchunk "Under Our Feet" Indoor Living

bonus
The Magnetic Fields "How Fucking Romantic" 69 Love Songs

Now that's some mighty fine random, starting off with a true Sad Bastard Music (thanks for the term, Marty) anthem, if that's not an oxymoron. But it's one of those weeks were the songs I don't recognize as well are still quite good--Memphis Jug Band, Deana Carter--and then you have to admire the range, as even the two MF songs are about as different as they could be. And even Eno sneaks in.

Friday Random Ten

Pavement "Passat Dream" Brighten the Corners
Neo Psuedo "Rare Time" Laughing Symbols No So No
Neil Young "Red Sun" Silver & Gold
The Velvet Crush "Goin' to My Head" Free Expression
Duke Ellington with Charles Mingus and Max Roach "Solitude" (Alternate Take) Money Jungle
Philip Glass "Opening" Rare on Air, Vol. 2
Freedy Johnston "Until the Sun Comes Back Again" Blue Days, Black Nights
Suzanne Vega "Calypso" Solitude Standing
Okkervil River "Get Big" Black Sheep Boy
Wilco "At Least That's What You Said" A Ghost Is Born

bonus
Guided by Voices "Little Lines" Mag Earwhig!

Trying to do whatever the opposite of outdo is to last week, this list's best cut I won't even make you guess--it's the Velvet Crush (from a great unknown pop album, actually). But when you pull the Spiral Stairs cut from a Pavement CD to open, that has to be a hint, and sure enough, Ellington shows up (again) with an alternate take. The Okkervil River and Wilco are solid, but not even the 4th best cut on either album. And if any of you know Neo Psuedo, you win a prize.

Friday Random Ten

J.B. Lenoir "Alabama" The Soul of a Man
Luna "Broken Chair" Rendezvous
Ani DiFranco "Rock Paper Scissors" Revelling: Reckoning
Built to Spill "Don't Try" Ancient Melodies of the Future
Victoria Williams "TC" This Moment in Toronto
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic "The Fendamental" Sonic Geology
Neko Case "Outro with Bees" Blacklisted
Tommy Keene "Compromise" Ten Years After
Talking Heads "Mind" Fear of Music
Uncle Tupelo "The Long Cut" 89/93: An Anthology

bonus
Headless Household "News Flash" iTems

One brilliant song. My guess is you'll pick it out. Oh well.

Friday Random Ten

They Might Be Giants "32 Footsteps" They Might Be Giants
Ed's Redeeming Qualities "Spider" At the Fish & Game Club
Ani DiFranco "Pulse" Little Plastic Castle
Silvio Rodriguez "Playa Giron" Voices--Hannibal Records
Ed's Redeeming Qualities "Blood Bank Man" It's All Good News
Duke Ellington with Charles Mingus and Max Roach "REM Blues" Money Jungle
John Hiatt "Everybody Went Low" The Tiki Bar Is Open
Fountains of Wayne "Radiation Vibe" Fountains of Wayne
Lester Flatt & the Nashville Grass "Intro--Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms" Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival
Salif Keita "Sumun" Folon...the past

bonus
John Hiatt "Crossing Muddy Waters" Crossing Muddy Waters

Back to the old double stutter. Still, these are two of my favorite John Hiatt's, and "Everybody" runs into "Radiation Vibe" surprisingly well, if not as well as it mixes with Eno's "King's Lead Hat" (do try that segue at home). Otherwise, more miss than hit, even when it pulls up a gem of an album like Money Jungle.

Friday Random Ten

XTC "Rocket from a Bottle" Black Sea
Elvis Presley "Tomorrow Night" The Sun Sessions
XTC "Chain of Command" Drums and Wires
Luna "This Time Around" Bewitched
Dave Brubeck Quartet "Take Five" Time Out
Neko Case "Set Out Running" Furnace Room Lullabye
Billy Bragg "That's Entertainment" Workers Playtime (bonus disc)
Graham Parker "I Was Wrong" Human Soul
Graham Parker "Release Me" Burning Questions
The Who "Rael 1" The Who Sell Out

bonus
Space Negros "Sweep" Dig Archaeology

Nothing like a :38 bonus. I never quite get the artist stutter iTunes likes to pull sometimes, but it's better when it takes me to my younger self; when I did college radio people joked the station should have been called WXTC. Oh, and if you don't know that Luna tune, you really really should.

Friday Random Ten

Talking Heads "(Nothing But) Flowers" Naked
Geoffrey Oryema "Payira Wind" Beat the Border
Big Star "Morpha Too" #1 Record/Radio City
The White Stripes "Take, Take, Take" Get Behind Me Satan
Nicky Skopelitis "Ghost of a Chance" Ekstasis
The Band of Blacky Ranchette "Under the Table" Still Lookin' Good to Me
M.I.A. "Fire Fire" Arular
Old 97's "Can't Get a Line" Satellite Rides
Galaxie 500 "Ceremony" On Fire
Habib Koite & Bamada "Wassiye" Ma Ya

bonus
The Band of Blacky Ranchette "Bored Lil' Devil" Still Lookin' Good to Me

OK, the repeat of the Howe Gelb side project is a bit odd, but otherwise there's a wide world of music here, something that doesn't always represent in my random ten. And it's as if the T-Heads to start got the old iTunes thinking that way.

Friday Random Ten

Steve Earle "Go Amanda" Jerusalem
Guided by Voices "Take to the Sky" Under the Bushes Under the Stars
The Magnetic Fields "My Only Friend" 69 Love Songs
Pixies "Where Is My Mind?" Surfer Rosa & Come on Pilgrim
James Brown "Doing It to Death" The CD of JB
Maria McKee "Opelousas (Sweet Relief)" Sweet Relief--A Benefit for Victoria Williams
Meat Puppets "Up on the Sun" Up on the Sun
The Mekons "Not Long Ago" New York
Urge Overkill "Tin Foil" Exit the Dragon
Son Volt "Dead Man's Clothes" Wide Swing Tremolo

bonus
The Clash "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)" London Calling

OK, distinctly underwhelming, with nods to the Pixies in a song too famous from soundtracks and Maria McKee doing Vic. And then the Clash nail it with their most radio-ready tune that even sub-political is still a blast.

Friday Random Ten

Richard Thompson "That's All, Amen, Close the Door" Mock Tudor
David Byrne "Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open)" The Complete Score from "The Catherine Wheel"
Thurston Moore "Ono Soul" Son of Swag
Ryuichi Sakamoto "Neo Geo" Neo Geo
Lucinda Williams "Blue" Essence
Preston School of Industry "Tone It Down (Pablo Wrong Remix)" Matador at Fifteen
Nerf Herder "You're Gonna Be the One Who's Sorry" Nerf Herder
The Folk Implosion "Wet Stuff" Kids sdtrk
Shawn Colvin "Steady On" Steady On
Daniel Johnston "Despair Came Knocking" Continued Story/Hi, How Are You (The Unfinished Album)

bonus
Roger Miller "Manic Depression" The Big Industry

Wow--seven ofthese 11 are known for their work in a whole band (or more famous band) as well as (or more so than) as a solo artist/member of a second band. Can you name them all?

And I hope you non-Santa Barbarians know Nerf Herder, probably most famous for the theme for Buffy, but a fine, fun band beyond that too.

Friday Random Ten

Suzanne Vega "Honeymoon Suite" Nine Objects of Desire
Otis Redding "Pain in My Heart" The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968
The Handsome Family "Somewhere Else to Be" Last Days of Wonder
The Mar-Keys "Bo-Time" The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968
Tiny Lights "Singing at Your Door" Prayer for the Halcyon Fear
Superchunk "Sprung a Leak" No Pocky for Kitty
Carmaig De Forest "Kiss Me Seven Times" El Camino Real
The Flamin' Groovies "Yes It's True" Groovies Greatest Grooves
The Clash "Spanish Bombs" London Calling
Patti Smith "People Have the Power" Land (1975-2002)

bonus
Kronos Quartet with Hassan Hakmoun "Saade (I'm Happy)" Pieces of Africa

Starts with a song set in a bed in France and ends in Africa. Gets stuck in America's soul. Worse things happen.

Friday Random Ten

The Beatnigs "Jazzy Beats" The Beatnigs
Rhett Miller "The Believer" The Believer
XTC "Chalkhills and Children" Oranges & Lemons
Ani DiFranco "Shameless" Dilate
Glenn Gould "Allego molto from Sonata No 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27, No. 1" Thirty-Two Short Films about Glenn Gould
Camera Obscura "Come Back Margaret" Let's Get Out of This Country
Glenn Gould "Well Tempered Clavier, Book II, BWV 883 Fugue in F sharp minor" Partita Nos. 5 and 6
Pavement "Starlings in the Slipstream" Brighten the Corners
Van Morrison & the Chieftains "She Moved Through the Fair" Irish Heartbeat
Guster "Ruby Falls" Ganging Up on the Sun

bonus

Tom Verlaine "Shingaling" Songs and Other Things

If iTunes had to pop two Goulds, it picked a fine two. Plus the best cut from Verlaine's last, and faves by DiFranco and Pavement. Given what can happen in a random world, this isn't so bad.

Friday Random Ten

Lucinda Williams "Those Three Days" Live @ the Fillmore
Shout Out Louds "Meat Is Murder" Our Ill Wills
Lucinda Williams "Abandoned" Lucinda Williams
The Vanduras "The Big Hurt" In the Dark
John Hiatt "Thunderbird" Master of Disaster
John Hiatt "Lincoln Town" Crossing Muddy Waters
Lou Reed "Sex with Your Parents (Motherfucker) Part II" Set the Twilight Reeling
Silkworm "Hangman" What's Up Matador?
Pine Valley Cosmonauts (with Chris Ligon) "Great State of Texas" The Executioner's Last Songs Volume I
The Arcade Fire "Une Anee Sans Lumiere" Funeral

bonus
Patti Smith "Dancing Barefoot" Land (1975-2002)

Ok, that's just perverse this week--a double stutter on artists, one of the weaker cuts from one of last year's best albums (the Shout Out Louds), and a Lou Reed song all too appropriate for this week of Spitzer. iTunes is iNsane. At least there's a classic Patti Smith to end with.

Friday Random Ten (Thursday Night Edition)

Ensemble Romulo Larrea et Veronica Larc "Che Tango Che" Un Siecle de Tango
The Clash "1977" Clash on Broadway
Built to Spill "Big Dipper" There's Nothing Wrong with Love
They Might Be Giants "I Should Be Allowed to Think" Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants
Moe Tucker "Poor Little Fool" Dogs Under Stress
Sex Pistols "Bodies" Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols
Coolbone "The Saints" Big Ol' Box of New Orleans
Lionel Hampton "White Christmas" Jingle Bell Jazz
Archers of Loaf "Death in the Park" Vee Vee
Peter Case "Anything" Torn Again

bonus
Steve Earle & the Del McCoury Band "Dixieland" The Mountain

A bit of the all-over. Built to Spill wins song of the litter. And I forgot to turn my Christmas music off. (Oh, I posted this early as I'm busy most of Friday morning.)

Friday Random Ten

Parkas "Start Your Own Country" Loose 4: Start Your Own Country
The Clash "London's Burning" Clash on Broadway
T Bone Burnett "Fatally Beautiful" Twenty Twenty: The Essential T Bone Burnett
Glenn Gould "Partitia III in A minor, BWV 827: III, Courante" Gould Plays Bach Partitas Nos. 3 and 4
Jon Rauhouse "Untitled Pedal Steel Guitar Riff" Down to the Promised Land: 5 Years of Bloodshot Records
John Wesley Harding "Here Comes the Groom" Here Comes the Groom
The Mekons "We're Just Outside London" Pussy King of the Pirates
Dr. Lonnie Smith "He's a Mighty Good Leader" Boogaloo to Beck
James White & the Blacks "Contort Yourself" (original version) Rough Trade Shops: Post Punk Vol 1
Charlie Parker "Wonderful Work" Be Bop Revisited

bonus
Lucinda Williams "Words Fell" World Without Tears

Compared to the past few weeks, this is a masterpiece. A bunch of quick blasts that couldn't be more different (Gould, Rauhouse, Mekons with Kathy Acker), classic punk and post-punk, two of my faves by T Bone and JW Harding, a weirdo cover of Beck, and I haven't got to Lucinda or Charlie Parker or the Parkas, thank you, Ahab.

Friday Random Ten

Patty Loveless "Sounds of Loneliness" Songcatcher
Buena Vista Social Club "Orgullecida" Buena Vista Social Club
Brian Eno "Ali Click" (Darkly Mad Mix) Ali Click ep
Sleater-Kinney "Funeral Song" One Beat
Tommy Page "I'll Be Your Everything" Just Say Sire: The Sire Records Story
Pavement "Grounded" Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins
Lloyd Cole & the Commotions "From the Hip" 1984-1989
Built to Spill "Car" There's Nothing Wrong with Love
Gumball "Butterfly Potion" Wisconsin Hayride
My Morning Jacket "Anytime" Z

bonus
The Clash "Ghetto Defendant" Clash on Broadway

Built to Spill takes the best of show prize--all that great guitar and a wonderful woozy lyric--then there's an odd take on some elsewhere better presented Pavement, a raucous Eno remix, solid Sleater-Kinney and Lloyd Cole.

But that Tommy Page. I've got a lot of digging to do to get out of that uncool hole.

Friday Random Ten

James Brown "Prisoner of Love" The CD of JB
Prince "I Wanna Be Your Lover" The Very Best of Prince
Feist "The Limit to Your Love" The Reminder
The Silos "Tell Me You Love Me" Bloodshot Records Sampler 7
The Holmes Brothers "Love Train" Speaking in Tongues
Matthew Sweet "Beware My Love" In Reverse
Chet Baker "I've Never Been in Love Before" The Best of Chet Baker Sings
The Candyskins "I'd Love to Take You Home" Astrosheen
Mint Juleps "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" The Big Stiff Box Set
Bill Nelson "Love's Immortal Shining Angel" Heartbreakland

bonus
R.E.M. "The One I Love" Document

OK, it's not really Friday and clearly it's not just random--for the old iPhone, where I can fit only 10% of my music, I've been making playlists. This random list comes from the smart search for "love" since we just had Valentine's Day.

More on the lack of posting and the delay in this post going up eventually; it's nothing bad, just a conference for work.

Friday Random Ten

Ernest Phipps & His Holiness Singers "Shine on Me" Anthology of American Folk Music
The Pogues "The Old Main Drag" Rum, Sodomy & the Lash
Lou Reed "Sad Song" Between Thought and Expression
Mott the Hoople "All the Young Dudes" [Alternate Version: David Bowie & Ian Hunter vocal] All the Young Dudes
Jack Logan "Would I Be Happy Then?" Bulk
Shirley Horn "Return to Paradise" Verve Unmixed
Built to Spill "Fling" There's Nothing Wrong with Love
Stephin Merritt "At Madam Plum's" Showtunes
Bettie Serveert "De Diva" Log 22
Split Lip Rayfield "Honestly" Should Have Seen It Coming

bonus
Memphis Jug Band "Memphis Shakedown" Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, Volume Four

Not exactly a stunning return to randomness. That "All the Young Dudes" is probably the best cut, with the Pogues coming up on the outside (but stumbling a bit), and Jack Logan surprising.

Friday Random Ten

Otis Redding "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" The Complete Stax/Volt Singles: 1959-1968
Psapp "The Words" The Only Thing I Ever Wanted
The Pretenders "Message of Love" The Singles
Gomez "Get Myself Arrested" Bring It On
The Mekons "Brutal" The Curse of the Mekons
Johnny Cash "I'll Fly Away" Unearthed: My Mother's Hymn Book
The Mekons "Road to Florida" So Good It Hurts
Remmy Ongala & the Orchestre Super Matimila "Mrema" Mambo
Kathleen Edwards "Back to Me" Back to Me
Lambchop "Nothing but a Blur from a Bullet Train" Aw C'mon

bonus
Bill Nelson "New Moon Rising" Blue Moons and Laughing Guitars

Had a good week last week, doesn't that count for something? Even the two Mekon cuts aren't exactly their top-drawer stuff. That's not to say classic if over-played Otis Redding is anything to sneeze at, or that Kathleen Edwards doesn't purr up a righteous storm, or that Remmy Ongala doesn't grind a mighty groove. And Bill Nelson, who I loved without musical bounds back in the early '80s, well, that e-bow of his always makes me feel young and stupid. I only get to use one of those adjectives about myself these days.

Friday Random Ten

Ali Farka Toure with Ry Cooder "Sega" Talking Timbuktu
Brian Eno "Blank Frank" Here Come the Warm Jets
Eyuphuro "Oh Mama (Oh Mother)" Mama Mosambiki
Sex Pistols "God Save the Queen" (demo) D.I.Y.: Anarchy in the UK--UK Punk I (1976-77)
Truckee Brothers "Gritty Pretty" Double Happiness
Victoria Williams "Let It Be So" Musings of a Creek Dipper
Andrew Bird "Opposite Day" The Mysterious Production of Eggs
Joshua Redman "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" Timeless Tales (For Changing Times)
Wilco "Via Chicago" Summerteeth
Guided by Voices "Pimple Zoo" Alien Lanes

bonus
The Flamin' Groovies "Tallahassee Lassie" Groovies Greatest Grooves

Well, Flamin' Groovies two weeks in a row. There's certainly worse repeats than that, especially in a week with a wonderful world music flavor, the Sex Pistols anthem (in a slightly different guise), wonderfully weirdos like Andrew Bird and Victoria Williams, one of my favorite Wilco songs (and that means something), one of the Truckee's best, an Eno back from the fantastic first four, a fun Redman jazz workout, and 40 seconds of Robert Pollard doodling better than most people's finished compositions.

I'll take it.