Randomly Musical

Since I loved writing the last playlist shuffle post I decided to make a habit of it. Let's say the last Monday of each month I will turn the 'ol iPod on shuffle and take 10 songs to reminisce.

Let's go!

1) I Alone - Live
Always had a somewhat love-hate relationship with this song. It was one of the biggest hits for Live (my favorite band during the Throwing Copper-era of the 90's) so I had problems admitting it was one of my favorite songs...you can't like the single!!! Deep down, waaay down, though, I've always loved this song. It's loud, it's explosive, it's what every teenager wants to hear.

2) Motor Running - Jeff Maher
A local hit! Jeff is the Uber Girlfriend's dad and local bard down in the SouthCoast. Last summer he got the music recording bug and started to hone his production chops. This is the demo version of the song which ended up having mandolin and bass and some keys I believe. Nothing compares to the song where he makes monkey noises though...with the utmost professionalism mind you.

3) Willie and Laura Mae Jones - Dusty Springfield
Dusty in Memphis is one of my new favorite female-vocalist albums. It's got a country, blues feel to it with a pop punch. Until I bought the album, Dusty Springfield had always been that southern belle who sang "The Preacher's Son". Now she's my favorite female British vocalist...amazing to think I can change a person's nationality.

4) Play the Game - Queen
Everyone goes through a Queen phase...everyone. Mine happened junior year of high school and ended probably a few days after buying their greatest hits album for a nominal fee of nothing. Don't get me wrong, I love Queen. They wrote some great songs, but I just can't get behind a band that (no matter how inadvertently) is the soundtrack to every junior league baseball game ever.

5) Since You're In Love (Live) - Jesse Malin
He's friends with Ryan Adams and, I'll be perfectly honest, that is the reason I bought one of his albums (The Heat). The song is a mediocre tune along the lines of "Play the Game" but the monologue prior to the song gives boosts it to "awesome". Why do you still call yourself "Music Television" when you have no actual music videos and you schedule is filled with no-talent ass clown reality shows, MTV? Answer Jesse Malin that!!!

6) The Spirit of Radio - Rush
Oh, sweet Jesus I hate Rush. This is yet another side-affect of being horribly OCD with respect to my music collection. I always keep everything on my iPod...horrible, brain-melting Rush included. In grad school one of my professors had a playlist of the 1000 greatest classic rock songs and it found it's way into my hands. On the surface it sounds awesome. Not having to buy a complete Kansas album and only listening to "Dust in the Wind" while dreaming about "Blue" Palasky? Priceless. Unfortunately, some asshat decided Rush should be on this list too and here we are listening to some piped in crowd noises and Neal Peart "sing"...he sounds like a lady for godsakes!!!

7) Onset - Buckcherry
This is off Buckcherry's sophomore effort, 15, that I probably have listened to three times. The album, of course, is infamous for it's song (and subsequent softcore porn music video) "Crazy Bitch" with it's award-winning prose:

You're a crazy bitch
But you fuck so good so I'm on top of it
When I dream I'm doing you all night
Scratches all down my back to keep me right on.

Classy?

8) Diamond - Spin Doctors
The iPod just keeps pumping out the mediocre hits today. This is from the Spin Doctors sub-par 3rd album Here Comes the Bride. I don't remember if this was before or after Chris Barron had a rare vocal chord paralysis. Either way, this album is very underwhelming. A couple of the tunes have a unique quirk to them...not this one.

Random FYI: The Spin Doctors are responsible for the soundtrack to Michael J. Fox's last sitcom, Spin City. If you've never seen/heard the show fix it...it's awesome

9) For Celebrations Past - Screaming Trees
Speaking of vocal paralysis...how did Mark Lanegan not die? I've always pictured him as the "eight ball" to Layne Staley's "heroine shooters". In my mind the Screaming Trees are a hidden gem of the 90's. Their hit song, "Nearly Lost You", was really all people heard from the band (even though they released 7 albums) and that's a shame. Sweet Oblivion was a great album filled with all the same Seattle grunge as those other plaid-covered tree-huggers. So much so that, as an homage, I performed one night at an open mic as The Whispering Shrubs.

10) Blue Monk - Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane
Always finish strong they say. You don't get much stronger than the jazz powerhouse of Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane assaulting you with jazzy-ness. In college I took a jazz appreciation course because I just didn't appreciate that much...now I appreciate the crap out of jazz. Monk is by far my favorite jazz musician and I can't really tell you why. It could be that he's got a blues jump to him. It could be all those dissonant chords melding to resolution. It could be that his name is Thelonius Sphere Monk (seriously, that's his real name).

But you know what didn't kill him? Smokin'