Song of the Week 11/26/10

Tired Pony - "Dead American Writers"



There are certain years where I sit down to write this list and it just pours out of me. I’ve found myself up at 1:00 a.m., pouring another glass of Diet Coke just because I know I’ve struck a rich vein of creativity and I don’t want to lose it by going to sleep. Other years, errrrr, not so much. This year, for example. It’s been like, well, I can’t even come up with a good cliché to describe how hard it’s been to extract the words from my brain and get them to come out my fingers into this here ancient keyboard. When you’re checking your Twitter feed once every six minutes or so because you’ve written only a sentence in a half hour and you’re desperate for anything to take your brain away from writing…well, it’s not good. In the midst of my mind needing some Metamucil, I started looking over the lyrics to Tired Pony’s “Dead American Writers.” And I’ll be damned if Gary Lightbody didn’t nail the pains of writers block in a song, um, about dead writers. Check out the first and second verses:

“Here's to every time that you rock a boat
Here's to every word that you ever wrote
There were clues but it was never clear
You've got to choose your own way out of here

I've been waiting for the spark myself,
I've been scrambling in the dark for health
I have read your words a thousand times
All this spark but smashed up love and crime.”

Waiting for the spark myself. Fucking a, Gary, I feel your pain.

Song of the Week 11/19/10

Bruce Springsteen - "The Promise"

The epic day I went through on Tuesday to get this new Springsteen box is a tale that I don't feel like repeating. But after 9 hours of travels, frustration and unexpected purchases, it was worth it. And this song (and video) are just stunning.

You can check out more about the box set in my last two podcasts. Oh, and I might have more to say on December 10th.

Song of the Week 11/12/10

Warren G and Nate Dogg - "Regulate"

My pals Allison and Melanie (along with their respective roommates and significant others) out together a master list of songs to choose from for our initial foray into doing a 90s themed party. You can see the playlist for the Class of 2000 (Re)Union below. Out of the 100 songs I downloaded to flesh out my library, this jam based on Michael McDonald's "I Keep Forgetting" brought me the most joy.

Song of the Week 11/5/10

Extreme - "More Than Words"

You know what? This is a perfect song to play at a wedding/enagagement celebration. (Even if your guitar player ends it a bit too early.)

Class of 2000 (Re)Union (a.k.a. Party Like It's 1999) 11/4/10

As this has been a year of going out of my comfort zone, why not expand that to DJ-ing a night devoted to a lot of 90s pop, hip-hop & R and B? It was a lot more fun than I expected it to be--and hopefully we'll do it again. Thanks to Allison and Melanie (and assorted others) for getting the ball rolling and coming up with a wide ranging list of tunes.

Garbage - "Only Happy When It Rains"
Nada Surf - "Popular"
Meat Puppets - "Backwater"
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
The Breeders - "Cannonball"
"Beverly Hills 90210 Theme"
The Flaming Lips - "She Don't use Jelly"
Spacehog - "In the Meantime"
Letters to Cleo - "Here and Now"
The Cardigans - "Lovefool"
Oasis - "Don't Look Back in Anger"
Gin Blossoms - "Found Out About You"
Live - "All Over You"
Everclear - "Santa Monica"
Fastball - "The Way"
Marcy Playground - "Sex and Candy"
The Offspring - "Come Out and Play"
Rancid - "Ruby Soho"
Blink 182 - "What's My Age Again"
Lit - "My Own Worst Enemy"
Toadies - "Possum Kingdom"
Candlebox - "Far Behind"
Cracker - "Low"
Spin Doctors - "Two Princes"
Better Than Ezra - "Good"
Weezer - "Buddy Holly"
The Presidents of the United States of America - "Lump"
Divnyls - "I Touch Myself"
James - "Laid"
Ace of Base - "The Sign"
Hanson - "MMMBop"
Backstreet Boys - "I Want It That Way"
Wilson Phillips - "Hold On"
Amy Grant - "Baby Baby"
Britney Spears - "Baby Hit Me One More Time"
No Doubt - "Spiderwebs"
The Breeders - "Divine Hammer"
Chumbawamba - "Tubthumping"
Cornershop - "Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)"
Skee-Lo - "I Wish"
Coolio - "Gangsta's Paradise"
2Pac & Dr. Dre - "California Love"
Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg - "Nothing But a G Thing"
House of Pain - "Jump Around"
Six Mix-A-Lot - "Baby Got Back"
Heavy D - "Now That We Found Love"
Montell Jordan - "This Is How We Do It"
Boyz II Men - "Motownphilly"
Mary J. Blige - "Real Love"
Mariah Carey - "Fantasy"
Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy & Mase - "Mo Money, More Problems"
Paula Abdul - "Opposites Attract"
Spice Girls - "Wannabe"
TLC - "No Scrubs"
En Vogue - "Don't Let Go"
Janet Jackson - "That's the Way Love Goes"
Aaliyah - "Are You That Somebody"
Salt-N-Pepa - "Shoop"
Freak Nasty - "Da Dip"
Dee-Lite - "Groove Is in the Heart"
Pras, Mya & ODB - "Ghetto Superstar"
Lauryn Hill - "Doo Wop (That Thing)"
ODB - "Got Your Money"
Positive K - "I Got a Man"
Tag Team - "Whoomp! There It Is"
Biz Markie - "Just a Friend"
Warren G & Nate Dogg - "Regulate"
Jodeci - "Lately"
Seal - "Kiss From a Rose"
Lisa Loeb - "Stay"
Semisonic - "Closing Time"