Song of the Week 10/28/11

Mike Viola - "Me and My Drinking"

Mike Viola has a knack for crafting great classic pop songs that have a healthy (well, perhaps unhealthy) dose of darkness to them. "Me and My Drinking" from Electro De Perfecto is another shining example of his art.

I would suggest not listening to this song in a darkened bedroom late at night if you're depressed and alone. It's not for the faint of heart, or those with booze issues.

Song of the Week 10/21/11

Wilco - "Dawned on Me"



I can honestly say that this song may have saved my life. I was upstate yesterday morning, driving to get a blood test at 6:05 a.m. I had slept about two hours the night before and couldn't have any caffeine before this blood test. I felt myself drifting off when WDST out of Woodstock started playing "Dawned on Me." I received an instant jolt of energy as well as something to focus on. That helped me when I saw that deer out of the corner of my eye. It didn't move into the road but at least I was aware enough to not under or overreact.

And it was kind of humorous That I heard "Dawned on Me" in a car for the first time just as it was dawn.

Song of the Week 10/14/11

Ryan Adams - "Ashes & Fire"



I've only listened to this new Ryan Adams album once so far, so I think it's still too early for a proper review. I can say that I never realized how distinctive Norah Jones' piano playing can be. I would hear the piano on almost every track (except this one) and think, "Is that Norah again?" I'd check the credits, and yup, it would be.

I heard "Ashes & Fire" Thursday night on WFUV, then when I listened to the album earlier today and then downstairs at Starbucks like an hour ago. So it's another obvious SOTW.

Song of the Week 10/7/11

John Denver - "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

Some times a video says it all.

Who doesn't love a road trip sing-a-long?

Party Like It's 1999 10/7/11

Wow, who knew we could get such a great turnout for a gig that didn't start until 11 p.m. Thanks again for coming out. Our next edition is November 23rd, the night before thanksgiving.

Here's what you heard last night until the wee hours.

R.E.M. - “Losing My Religion”
Cracker - “Teen Angst”
Sugar - “A Good Idea”
Paul Westerberg - “Waiting for Somebody”
Soul Coughing - “Circles”
U2 - “Even Better Than the Real Thing”
B.A.D. II - “Rush”
Fatboy Slim - “Praise You”
DNA featuring Suzanne Vega - “Tom’s Diner”
O.M.C. - “How Bizarre”
Cardigans - “Lovefool”
No Doubt - “Just a Girl”
New Radicals - “You Get What You Give”
Sister Hazel - “All For You”
Spin Doctors - “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”
Stroke 9 - “Little Black Backpack”
Depeche Mode - “Personal Jesus”
Crystal Waters - “100% Pure Love”
Blur - “Girls and Boys”
Snoop Dogg - “What’s My Name”
2pac & Dr. Dre - “California Love”
Montell Jordan - “This Is How We Do It”
Mark Morrison - “Return of the Mack”
Notorious B.I.G. - “Juicy”
TLC - “No Scrubs”
Warren G. & Nate Dogg - “Regulate”
Destiny’s Child - “Say My Name”
Bell Biv Devoe - “Poison”
MC Hammer - “U Can’t Touch This”
Spice Girls - “Wannabe”
Mariah Carey featuring O.D.B. - “Fantasy (Remix)”
Aaliyah - “Are You That Somebody”
Mary J Blige - “Real Love”
Monica - “Don’t Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)”
Usher - “Nice n Slow”
Pras featuring Michel, ODB & Mya - “Ghetto Superstar”
Wreckx-N-Effect - “Rump Shaker”
Backstreet Boys - “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”
NSync - “I Want You Back”
Third Eye Blind - “Semi-Charmed Life”
Rancid - “Ruby Soho”
Green Day - “Basket Case”
Nirvana - “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Blink 182 - “All The Small Things”
Weezer - “Buddy Holly”
No Doubt - “Spiderwebs”
Chumbawamba - “Tubthumping”
Ace of Base - “The Sign”
The Fugees - “Ready or Not”
En Vogue - “Free Your Mind”
Naughty By Nature - “Hip Hop Hooray”
Cypress Hill - “Insane in the Brain”
Coolio - “Gangsta’s Paradise”
Arrested Development - “Tennessee”
Biz Markie - “Just a Friend”
Blackstreet - “No Diggity”
Salt N Pepa - “Shoop”
Aqua - “Barbie Girl”
La Bouche - “Be My Lover”
Janet Jackson - “If”
Dee-Lite - “Groove Is in the Heart”
SWV - “Right Here/Human Nature”
R. Kelly - “Bump n Grind”
Madonna - “Take a Bow”
Duran Duran - Ordinary World”
Lisa Loeb - “Stay”

Song of the Week 9/30/11

KISS - "100,000 Years (Live)"



Over the past two years I've acquired a bunch of vinyl -- perhaps reacquired is a better word, because 90% of this as-yet-to-be fully listened to catalog features albums that I had as a kid or a teenager. I usually end up listening to these albums when I'm working on the computer in my little micro-office in the bedroom or while I'm cleaning parts of the apartment. Today while doing dishes and putting away laundry I listened to KISS Alive!, the 1975 double album that kickstarted their career. (It was the next-to-last piece of vinyl I had yet to play. The last? ELO's double-LP opus Out of the Blue.) It's the first time I've listened to it since 1976 or 1977. Back then my cousin Bob and I were big KISS fans and between us had almost their entire catatlog on (wait for it) 8-track. While I think KISS is just a goofy money machine now, when I was eight years old they were mysterious, dark and scary (especially when Gene Simmons was sticking out his tongue).

When I got to side 3, I looked at "100,000 Years" and thought, "How the hell can KISS have a track that clocks in at over 10 minutes long?" When the song started I realized exactly why -- it was the showcase for solos featuring Gene Simmons' mediocre bass skills, Peter Criss's somewhat capable drumming and Paul Stanley's annoyingly high-pitched stage banter. I stopped washing my silverware and started laughing at how ludicrious it was. And I think you should get a laugh out of it too. So here's "100,000 Years" from that 1975 tour. Seriously, this is just so stupid.

Song of the Week 9/23/11

R.E.M. - “It Happened Today”



I had a feeling that this day would come soon. I wasn’t sure if it was this year, but after R.E.M. decided to not tour behind this year’s Collapse Into Now it seemed that a decision to split was inevitable. The hints were there in all the songs. The music that Peter Buck and Mike Mills composed quoted parts of the band’s catalog (“Blue” sounding like a sequel to Out of Time’s “Country Feedback,” “Oh My Heart” coming off like an Automatic For the People outtake) while Michael Stipe’s lyrics contained many references to people moving on with their lives (“Walk It Back” -- Time, time, time it cannot revive/You, you can't turn away/You asked me to stay/but something needs to change; “All the Best” -- “Let's sing it a rhyme/Let's give it one more time/Let's show the kids how to do it fine, fine, fine, fine.”). I wanted to ignore these signs and hope for more from this late career renaissance. I’m in the critical minority on this, but I think 2008’s Accelerate is one of their Top 5 albums ever and that Collapse Into Now keeps growing in stature every time I listen to it.

Full disclosure -- I am friends with Scott McCaughey, who’s been a touring and recording member of R.E.M. for 17 years. During the decade I’ve known Scott I’ve gotten to see him play with the band three times. The pure joy he displayed performing his friends songs made me smile every time. I sent Scott a brief note on the day the split was announced. I told him how sorry I was to hear the news and hoped that he and everyone around the band was feeling okay. I added, “I'm sure it's a weird time since they're you're friends and bandmates. But at least they're going out on a high note with the last two albums.” He wrote back to me, “I do appreciate your comment about going out on a high note -- I feel that way too.”

One of those high notes is “It Happened Today.” It includes more of those foreshadowing lyrics from Stipe (“And close in on a promise after, after all I've done today/I have earned my voice”) and the last 1:50 features Stipe, Mills and guest vocalist Eddie Vedder doing a wordless chorus that pulls you in and takes you to majestic heights. It’s a stunning moment in a career filled with plenty of them. I’ve never met Eddie Vedder, but from all accounts he’s a man that has respect and enthusiasm for the acts inspired him growing up. I saw his unbridled joy inducting--and singing with--R.E.M. at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies a few years ago. So I can imagine that he was honored, thrilled, and perhaps a bit nervous when they band asked him to sing on “It Happened Today.” I’m sure he wanted to deliver for R.E.M., and most certainly does with a magnificent vocal turn on it. It’s no surprise that on Wednesday night Vedder lead Pearl Jam through a powerful cover of “It Happened Today.” (I posted it below--It’s worth watching.)

Honestly, I’m still processing this decision. I can’t yet put into words just how much this band has meant to me. Right now, all I can say is thank you to Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Peter Buck (and Bill Berry too) for many years of providing comfort, inspiration and joy.

Song of the Week 9/16/11

Bright Eyes - "Landlocked Blues"

Another year at the ACL Festival, another three days of great music. There were multiple highlights, but this was my favorite song of the weekend by far. Just a killer performance of one of my favorites from I'm Wide Awake It's Morning.

Song of the Week 9/9/11

Average White Band - "Pick Up the Pieces"



I heard this song on WCBS-FM when I woke up yesterday. And then I heard it as I was going to sleep. That was kind of bizarre, especially with all the 9/11 stuff about picking up the pieces of our lives 10 years ago. Totally weird.

Song of the Week 9/2/11

Suicidal Tendencies - "Institutionalized"



Okay, one of the best moments of the year was watching my bandmates play this off the cuff with my friend Ed singing this at our friend Michael's birthday party Tuesday night. It was definitely unexpected.

Song of the Week 8/26/11

The Kinks - "Lost and Found"



A hurricane? Hitting New York? Finally, a reason for this 80's-era Kinks song to be SOTW. I have loved this track from the moment I first played Think Visual in 1986. One of my Top 3 Kinks songs ever. (The others being "Celluloid Heroes" and "Days.")

Song of the Week 8/19/11

The Kinks - "Sunny Afternoon"



I heard this great Ray Davies song last week (not sure where, maybe WFUV or WCBS-FM) and I found myself humming it while walking to the train one morning. I heard it at work today and it seemed like a perfect track for what is a perfect summer day.

Song of the Week 8/12/11

Sir Mix-A-Lot - "Baby Got Back"

Saturday at my friend Michael's wedding, I witnessed an eight year-old shaking his whole body and coping the dance that the girls in this video do.

There's something I'll never unsee.

Song of the Week 8/5/11

Steve Perry - "Oh Sherrie"

There's nothing like watching one of your friends attempting to hit the high notes in the opening lines of this hit from 1984. As they say in the Mastercard ads, it was priceless. Thanks for the fun, Captain Quinn.

Oh, and I totally forgot about the insane intro to this video--that is priceless too.

Party Like It's 1999 8/5/11

Well, that was a glorious good time. Very happy to see a bunch of new faces enjoying the tunes. Hopefully we'll have a September edition. If not, definitely in October.

Here's what you heard:

Alice in Chains - “Got Me Wrong”
Incubus - “Drive”
Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Breaking the Girl”
Sebadoh - “Ocean”
Pavement - “Gold Soundz”
Superchunk - “Hyper Enough”
Sugar - “Helpless”
Matthew Sweet - “Sick of Myself”
Stone Temple Pilots - “Interstate Love Song”
Filter - “Hey Man, Nice Shot”
Pearl Jam - “Corduroy”
Smashing Pumpkins - “Cherub Rock”
White Zombie - “More Human Than Human”
Soundgarden - “Spoonman”
Soul Asylum - “Misery”
Aerosmith - “Cryin’”
Counting Crows - “Einstein on the Beach”
Dead Eye Dick - “New Age Girl”
Firehouse - “Don’t Treat me Bad”
Nelson - “Love and Affection”
Tesla - “Signs (Live)”
Local H - “Bound For the Floor”
Presidents of the United States of America - “Peaches”
Green Day - “Basket Case”
Radiohead - “Just”
Primus - “Wynonna’s Big Brown Beaver”
Goldfinger - “Here in Your Bedroom”
311 - “All Mixed Up”
Hole - “Doll Parts”
10,000 Maniacs - “Because the Night (MTV Unplugged)”
Len - “Steal My Sunshine”
Jamiroquai - “Virtual Insanity”
James - “Laid”
Eve 6 - “Inside Out”
Tony! Toni! Tone! - “Feels Good”
Crystal Waters - “100% Pure Love”
Ini Kamoze - “Here Comes the Hotstepper”
Inner Circle - “Sweat (A La La La La Long)”
Fatboy Slim - “Praise You”
Robin S. - “Show Me Love”
La Bouche - “Be Mu Lover”
Right Said Fred - “I’m Too Sexy”
Real McCoy - “Another Night”
Heavy D & Da Boyz - “Now That We Found Love”
Lauryn Hill - “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
Mary J. Blige - “Real Love”
Blackstreet - “No Diggity”
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - “Summertime”
Bell Biv Devoe - “Poison”
Boyz II Men - “Motownphilly”
Dee-Lite - “Groove Is in the Heart”
Digital Underground - “The Humpty Dance”
Mariah Carey - “Fantasy”
Ace of Base - “The Sign”
Spice Girls - “Wannabe”
Hanson - “MMMbop”
Chumbawamba - “Tubthumping”
Freak Nasty - “Da Dip”
Culturebeat - “Mr. Vain”
Salt N Pepa - “Shoop”
TLC - “Creep”
Kris Kross - “Jump”
House of Pain - “Jump Around”
Nirvana - “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Blur - “Song 2”
Blink 182 - “What’s My Age Again”
No Doubt - “Spiderwebs”
Alanis Morissette - “You Oughta Know”
Britney Spears - “…Hit Me One More Time”
Backstreet Boys - “I Want It That Way”
NSYNC - “I Want You Back”
Wilson Phillips - “Hold On”
Janet Jackson - “Love Will Never Do (Without You) (Single Mix)”
Warren G & Nate Dogg - “Regulate”
Notorious B.I.G - “Juicy”
Notorious B.I.G. with Puff Dady & Mase - “Mo Money Mo Problems”
Naughty By Nature - “O.P.P.”
MC Hammer - “U Can’t Touch This”
Coolio - “Gangsta’s Paradise”
Sublime - “Santeria”
Cardigans - “Lovefool”
Blind Melon - “No Rain”
Sixpence None the Richer - “Kiss Me”
Amy Grant - “Baby Baby”
The Cure - “Friday I’m In Love”
Spice Girls - “Say You’ll Be There”
SWV - “Right Here/Human Nature”
Next - “Too Close”
En Vogue - “Don’t Let Go (Love)”
Extreme - “More than Words”

Song of the Week 7/29/11

Sleeper Agent - "Get It Daddy"

Sleeper Agent is a bunch of kids (yeah, I called a bunch of folks in the early 20s kids) from Kentucky that make music that sounds like a cross between Southern rock and The White Stripes. The trading off of vocals between Alex Kandel (she's 18, for goodness sake) and Tony Smith is like nothing else that's on the radio these days. I say that because it's the first time in ages that a band I would be interviewing for the hard/alt rock part of my job appealled to me personally. You can get their album Celebrasion on iTunes now--it's out everywhere else on September 27th.

Song of the Week 7/22/11

The Vaccines - "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)"

The past week I spent a lot of time at ye old work desk plowing through albums I'd been sent over...well...the past year? Maybe longer? There was a mess of discs to listen to, much of them pure crap. The Vaccines' What Did You Expect From the Vaccines? was by far the best of lot. Quick, catchy pop-punk songs that are witty? Hell yeah. The opening track "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" is the best 1:28 song I've heard in a long time.

Song of the Week 7/15/11

Tears for Fears - "Head Over Heels"

I heard my favorite Tears for Fears song in three different places this week--two of them being two different drug stores. Guess this song helps Duane reade and Walgreens sell those boxes of candy near the register.



BONUS: Oh, why not throw this one in too.

Song of the Week 7/8/11

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - "Stove to a Whale"



Ted Leo is one of the few musicians that I've been turned onto during the past decade that I respect even more for his non-music deeds. The man is very hysterical (but at times, deadly serious) tweeter. He wrote an incredibly honest essay about how hard it is to survive as an indie musician that made a lot of bloggers think. He also made one of the best videos of the past five years.

Leo increased my respect for him even more with his his pre-show prep over the past week. He announced that the Pharmacists were going to play their 2001 album The Tyranny of Distance in its entirety at their free South Street Seaport show. Sure, lots of bands have done this "entire album to mark its 10th anniversary." But Leo explained his reasons for it better than any other act I've seen tackle this album performance gimmick and shared some great tour stories and photos about the experience on his website. His writing about the Tyranny tour genuinely got me excited for the show -- and he and the band delivered the goods. It was, simply put, one of the best shows of the year. And the epic "Stove to a Whale" had me bobbing my head so much I think I pulled a muscle.

(If you'd like to check out some great pics and videos from the show, check out Brooklyn Vegan. And if you'd like to hear the second time they did the Tyranny set, head to the WXPN website.)

BONUS: Leo played during the 2003 blackout at the Seaport. This video below features them rocking out "Stove to a Whale" on a Starbucks generator. For real.

Song of the Week 7/1/11

Chris Rea - "Fool If You Think It's Over"

It's my favorite radio week of the year -- the WCBS-FM A to Z week. There's always a few songs that come around that make me exclaim, "Holy shit, I haven't heard this in forever!!!" And this 1978 hit from Chris Rea was the biggest "holy shit" moment of the week. Well, so far. There's still two days to go and as I write this they are in the R section. Plenty of songs and letters to go.

(By the way, the drum machine sound--which might be real drums, I suppose--on this track? Priceless.)

Song of the Week 6/24/11

Sugar - "If I Can't Change Your Mind"

I had the opportunity this week to interview Bob Mould about his great new book See a Little Light. That drove me to dive back into Mould's catalog and to order the reissue of Sugar's Copper Blue on vinyl. 19 years later and the whole package still delivers a powerful punch and remains one of my favorite albums of all time. Mould talks a little bit about the video for "If I Can't Change Your Mind" in the book and how it was a tease about his sexuality. So I had to hit YouTube to refresh my memory. See if you can spot the tease yourself:

Song of the Week 6/17/11

Clarence Clemons & Jackson Browne - "You're a Friend of Mine"



I've been thinking for a few days about what to write about the passing of the Big Man. And words still escape me. So I think the best thing to do is to direct you to what Caryn Rose (who, like me is a Mets and a Pearl Jam and a Bruce Springsteen fan) wrote for Backstreets. (Scroll down towards the bottom.) It's an amazing summation of a larger than life figure that almost brought me to tears when I read it Saturday night.

Song of the Week 6/10/11

Fountains of Wayne - "A Dip in the Ocean"

I wish I had a clip of a YouTube video of this song to show you. You'll just have to trust me when I say that "A Dip in the Ocean" is quite fantastic. It totally erases the fact that FOW released a really bad album a four years ago. It's on their new album Sky Full of Holes, which is due out August 2nd. I'll update this post then with a proper link.

Since I don't have "A Dip in the Ocean," how about an amazing medley instead?

Song of the Week 6/3/11

Dawes - "So Well"

I've grown to like this L.A. quartet after seeing them last year at ACL and playing as part of the amazing Middle Brother show a few months ago. They've played "So Well" at both shows I've seen so far and it's a track where the comparisons to The Band seem spot on. (And I don't even mind that the opening guitar line sounds lifted from "Wish You Were Here.") The entire new album Nothing Is Wrong is definitely on the short list for this year's RT20.

(In doing some YouTube digging, I discovered that they were playing this song 18 months before this album was released. Wow.)

Song of the Week 5/27/11

Lady Gaga - "The Edge of Glory"



You might be asking yourself, "WTF," as the kids lingo goes these days. Yes, I bought the Born This Way. IT WAS 99 CENTS PEOPLE. Seriously, how much of a risk is it to buy a digital download of an entire album when it's that cheap. It's not a great album by any standard, but it does have some excellent moments. The half-sung in German "Scheiße" is a hoot and the Madonna-ripping title track is decent. But holy cow, "Edge of Glory" is the best 1986 song that I've heard since, well, 1986. Imagine a single from a sports-themed 80s flick like Vision Quest or Rocky III with a sax solo by the E Street Band's Clarence Clemons. You have just created this song in your mind. I, without any irony whatsoever, love it.

Songs of the Week 5/20/11

Scorpions - "Wind of Change"



I have to say, I found myself pretty excited to play this as part of my "end of the world" set at Party Like It's 1999 the other night. But, I probably should have played U2's "Until the End of the World." Oh well. The next rapture I'll do that.

Party Like It's 1999 5/20/11

After a few technical snafus (which wiped out most of my awesome rapture set), things seemed to go okay Friday night. The next edition of Party Like It's 1999 is Saturday, June 18th at The Bell House.

Here's what you heard Friday night:

Pearl Jam - "Last Exit"
Living Colour - "Time's Up"
Soundgarden - "Blow Up the Outside World"
Scorpions - "Wind of Change"
Van Halen - "Right Now"
Stone Temple Pilots - "Vaseline"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Give It Away"
Beastie Boys - "Intergalatic"
Lo Fidelity All-Stars - "Battleflag"
Lucas -"Lucas With the Lid Off"
Sublime - "What I Got"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
Dave Matthews Band - "What Would You Say"
Blues Traveler - "Run-Around"
Barenaked Ladies - "One Week"
Chumbawamba - "Tubthumping"
Harvey Danger - "Flagpole Sitta"
Blink 182 - "Dammit"
Green Day - "Basket Case"
The Offspring - "Self Esteem"
Ricky Martin - "Living La Vida Loca"
Spin Doctors - "Two Princes"
Third Eye Blind - "Graduate"
Eve 6 - "Inside Out"
Lit - "My Own Worst Enemy"
Toadies - "Possum Kingdom"
Nirvana -"Lithium"
Marcy Playground - "Sex and Candy"
Oasis - "Wonderwall"
Sugar Ray - "Fly"
Proclaimers - "500 Miles"
Mr. Big - "To Be With You"
Alanis Morissette - "You Oughta Know"
Spice Girls - "Wannabe"
Backstreet Boys - "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
NSYNC - "I Want You Back"
Ace of Base - "All that She Wants"
LFO - "Summer Girls"
Blackstreet - "No Diggity"
Will Smith - "Getting Jiggy Wit It"
Britney Spears - "...Baby One More Time"
TLC - "No Scrubs"
Salt-N-Pepa - "Shoop"
Notorious B.I.G. - "Juicy"
Kris Kross - "Jump"
Snoop Doggy Dogg - "Gin and Juice"
Warren G and Nate Dogg - "Regulate"
En Vogue - "Don't Let Go"
Mariah Carey - "Fantasy"
Technotronic - "Move This"
Madonna - "Vogue"
Wreckx-N-Effect - "Rump Shaker"
Cypress Hill - "Insane in the Brain"
Blur - "Song 2"
Weezer - "Buddy Holly"
No Doubt - "Spiderwebs"
Gin Blossoms - "Hey Jealousy"
Meredith Brooks - "Bitch"
Michael Jackson - "Black and White"
Naughty by Nature - "O.P.P."
Bell Biv DeVoe - "Poison"
Sir Mix-A-Lot - "Baby Got Back"
Aaliyah - "Are You That Somebody?"
Outkast - "Ms. Jackson"
Janet Jackson - "(Love Will Never Do) Without You"
Hanson - "Mmmbop"
New Radicals - "You Get What You Give"
Fastball - "The Way"
Green Day - "She"
James - "Laid"
Mariah Carey - "Always Be My Baby"
Savage Garden - "Truly Madly Deeply"
P.M. Dawn - "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss"
Seal - "Kiss From a Rose"
Counting Crows - "A Long December"
Lisa Loeb - "Stay"
Extreme - "More than Words"
Boyz II Men - "End of the Road"

Song of the Week 5/13/11

Okkervil River - "Wake and Be Fine"

My first exposure to this track came FIVE months ago when Will Sheff and co did the song on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. I have to say, I didn't like it. And I didn't like the studio version I finally heard last month. Then I heard Sheff play an acoustic version of it on WNYC's Soundcheck Wednesday afternoon. With the many, many, MANY layers of production stripped away my ears grasped the basics of the song. Since that moment I've come 180 degrees on "Wake and Be Fine" and I Am Very far as a whole. It's an album that is the very definition of a grower.

And how can you not like a deluxe version of an album that comes in a pine box?

Song of the Week 5/6/11

The Blues Brothers - "Everybody Needs Somebody"



We might not have done as great a version as these guys, but I think Col. Boyd and I started off Derby Day Live Band Karaoke in fine fashion with our take on this soul and cinematic classic.

Derby Day 2011 5/7/2011

This year at Col. Boyd's annual Derby Day Party, I did a rock version of Party Like It's 1999. Check out the playlist below.

Social Distortion - “Bad Luck”
Sonic Youth - “Bull in the Heather”
Pavement - “Gold Soundz”
The Pixies - “Dig For Fire”
The Replacements - “Merry Go Round”
They Might be Giants - “Birdhouse In Your Soul”
Elastica - “Connection”
All - “Million Bucks”
The Get Up Kids - “Mass Pike”
Bad Religion - “Infected”
Superchunk - “The First Part”
Fountains of Wayne - “Radiation Vibe”
Lemonheads - “Mrs. Robinson”
Cake - “Never There”
Dismemberment Plan - “The Ice of Boston”
Jawbox - “Savory”
The Breeders - “Cannonball”
Juliana Hatfield Three - “My Sister”
Buffalo Tom - “Sodajerk”
Sebadoh - “Ocean”
Dinosaur Jr. - “Feel the Pain”
Dandy Warhols - “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth”
Smash Mouth - “Walking on the Sun”
Wilco - “Nothingsevergonnastandinmyway(again)”
Old 97’s - “Nineteen”
Tom Petty - “You Wreck Me”
Gin Blossoms - “Found Out About You”
The Wallflowers - “Sixth Avenue Heartache”
Ben Folds Five - “Song for the Dumped”
Edwyn Collins - “A Girl Like You”
Beck - “Loser”
Butthole Surfers - “Pepper”
Fun Lovin’ Criminals - “Scooby Snacks”
Goldfinger - “Here in Your Bedroom”
Reel Big Fish - “Sell Out”
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - “The Impression That I Get”
Barenaked Ladies - “Brian Wilson”
Letters to Cleo - “Here and Now”
Cracker - “Low”
R.E.M. - “Man on the Moon”
Radiohead - “Paranoid Android”
Soul Asylum - “Somebody to Shove”
Spacehog - “In The Meantime”
Soul Coughing - “Circles”
Jesus Jones - “Right Here, Right Now”
Beastie Boys - “So Whatcha Want”
The Flaming Lips - “She Don’t Use Jelly”
Teenage Fanclub - “What You Do to Me”
Hole - “Celebrity Skin”
Everclear - “Father of Mine”
Better Than Ezra - “Good”
Stroke 9 - “Little Black Backpack”
Whale - “Hobo Humping Slobo Babe”
Jane’s Addiction - “Been Caught Stealing”
Lit - “My Own Worst Enemy”
Blink 182 - “What’s My Age Again”
Blur - “Song 2”
Green Day - “Longview”
No Doubt - “Just a Girl”
Alanis Morissette - “You Oughta Know”
Veruca Salt - “Seether”
The Offspring - “Come Out and Play”
The Presidents of the United States of America - “Lump”
Weezer - “Say It Ain’t So”
Foo Fighters - “My Hero”
Danzig - “Mother”
Stone Temple Pilots - “Plush”
The Smashing Pumpkins - “Today”
Nirvana - “In Bloom”
Oasis - “Live Forever”
Superdrag - “Sucked Out”
James - “Laid”
Divinyls -“I Touch Myself”
The Proclaimers - “500 Miles”

Song of the Week 4/29/11

The Baseball Project with Craig Finn - "Don't Call Them Twinkies"

I was very fortunate to witness the first live performance of this song with The Hold Steady singer Friday night at The Bell House. Enjoy it below.

Party Like It's 1999 4/23/11

Damn.

This was a crazy night.

We're back on May 20th at The Bell House. I hope I live through it.

Here's what you heard for 6 hours:

Soundgarden - “Black Hole Sun”
Guns n’ Roses - “Don’t Cry”
AC/DC - “Money Talks”
Alice in Chains - “Would”
U2 - “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”
King Missile - “Detachable Penis”
Porno for Pyros - “Pets”
Nine Inch Nails - “Closer”
Smashing Pumpkins - “Cherub Rock”
Collective Soul - “Shine”
B.A.D II - “Rush”
Matthew Sweet - “Sick of Myself”
Lenny Kravitz - “It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over”
Soul Asylum - “Runaway Train”
R.E.M. - “Losing My Religion”
Oasis - “Don’t Look Back in Anger”
Juliana Hatfield Three - “Spin the Bottle”
Meat Puppets - “Backwater”
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”
Marcy Playground - “Sex and Candy”
Fiona Apple - “Criminal”
Natalie Imbrugila - “Torn”
Alannah Myles - “Black Velvet”
Meredith Brooks - “Bitch”
Alanis Morissette - “Hand in My Pocket”
Len - “Steal My Sunshine”
Sugar Ray - “Fly”
Sixpence None the Richer - “Kiss Me”
Mandy Moore - “Candy”
Lauryn Hill - “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
Sublime - “Santeria”
O.M.C. - “How Bizarre”
Rusted Root - “Send Me on My Way”
Third Eye Blind - “Semi-Charmed Life”
Spin Doctors - “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”
Lit - “My Own Worst Enemy”
Weezer - “Buddy Holly”
Blink 182 - “All the Small Things”
Hanson - “Mmmbop”
Backstreet Boys - “I Want It That Way”
N’ Sync - “Tearing Up My heart”
Spice Girls - “Wannabe”
Shaggy - “Boombastic”
En Vogue - “Don’t Let Go”
Coolio - “Gangsta’s Paradise”
Bell Biv Devoe - “Poison”
Dee-Lite - “Groove Is in the Heart”
Digital Underground - “The Humpty Dance”
Haddaway - “What Is Love”
Culture Beat - “Mr. Vain”
La Bouche - “Be My Lover”
2Pac & Dr. Dre - “California Love”
Paperboy - “Ditty”
Aaliyah - “Are You That Somebody”
Naughty by Nature - “O.P.P.”
Nortorious B.I.G. - “Juicy”
Beastie Boys - “Sabotage”
Nirvana - “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Green Day - “Basket Case”
Rancid - “Ruby Soho”
Barenaked Ladies - “One Week”
Fastball - “The Way”
No Doubt - “Spiderwebs”
House of Pain - “Jump Around”
Kris Kross - “Jump”
Britney Spears - “…Hit Me Baby One More Time”
Mariah Carey - “Always Be My Baby”
Janet Jackson - “Love Will Never Do (Without You)”
Bobby Brown - “Humping Around”
Madonna - “Vogue”
Technotronic - “Move This”
Jane Child - “Don’t Wanna Fall in Love”
Vanilla Ice - “Ice Ice Baby”
Six Mix a Lot - “Baby Got Back”
Notorious B.I.G. with Puff Daddy & Mase - “Mo Money Mo Problems”
Michael Jackson - “Black and White”
George Michael - “Freedom ’90”
Salt-N-Pepa & En Vogue - “Whatta Man”
Ace of Base - “Don’t Turn Around”
TLC - “Waterfalls”
Wilson Phillips - “Hold On”
Lisa Loeb - “Stay”
Faith No More - “Easy”
Seal - “Kiss From Rose”
Extreme - “More Than Words”
R. Kelly - “I Believe I Can Fly”
Boyz II Men - “The End of the Road”
Semisonic - “Closing Time”

Song of the Week 4/22/11

En Vogue - "Don't Let Go"



Someone at Saturday's Party Like It's 1999 requested this song (which I've played almost every time) in the middle of some uptempo sing-a-long numbers. I somehow shoehorned it in and holy crap, the place went nuts. It was fantastic. Damn I love En Vogue, and this song in particular.

Song of the Week 4/15/11

Foo Fighters - "Dear Rosemary"



Between the live version in the above YouTube clip that was posted over two months ago and the studio version of the Foos new album Wasting Light, I've listened to this duet between Dave Grohl and Bob Mould over 60 times. And I still can't get enough of it. It's the best Foo Fighters song since "Monkey Wrench" in my opinion. I loved "The Pretender" from their last album, but damn, this is just amazing. I tweeted one day that this song gave me goosebumps. It's still doing that. If it's released as a single, don't be surprised to see this at numberone come December.

Song of the Week 4/8/11

The Hold Steady - "The Sweet Part of the City"


(Fast foward to 4:00 in for the music to start)

Friday night I went with my co-worker Kerry to see The Hold Steady at Terminal 5 in Manhattan. If you've never been there, let me sum it up for you four words -- large, noisy metal box. Basically, it's the worst large sized venue in the five boroughs. But I hadn't seen The Hold Steady in four years and having someone else who really wanted to go tipped the scale in favor of making the trek to the way West Side.

I spent some time revisiting their back catalog the past week, even spinning their weakest album by far -- 2010's Heaven is Whenever. The album is filled with some total clunkers ("Rock Problems?" really?) so I hadn't really explored it since the month it was released. I had forgotten just how much I liked the opening song "The Sweet Part of the City" -- and how much it made me think of Led Zeppelin. In fact, there were three or four songs that sounded kind of Zeppelinesque Friday night. I never really noticed it before with the crazy good keyboards over top all of the songs. The band is doing this spring tour without a keyboardist, so it's all guitar all the time. I don't think that's a good idea in general (I found my mind filling in the keyboard parts in my head), but it worked just fine on "Sweet Part."

Song of the Week 4/1/11

BOAT - "Landlocked (featuring John Roderick)"



BOAT's new album Dress Like Your Idols is one of the best of the year. And this duet with The Long Winters John Roderick makes me burst with joy. Listen ASAP, and then go buy it.

Song of the Week 3/25/11

Bell X1 - "Safer Than Love"



Bell X1 is an Irish band that I've had the pleasure of interviewing on their past two albums. The guys in the band are funny and self-effacing and at the same time serious about their music. "Safer Than Love" is my favorite song on Bloodless Coup, probably because it sounds like it could have been made in 1985. And I mean that in the best way. It's not a kitschy retro tribute. It's a really fantastic song that just so happens to feature a drum machine and keyboard sounds that make me think of having A Flock of Seagulls haircut.

Song of the Week 3/18/11

Simple Minds - "Don't You Forget About Me" One of the fun things about being in Bunnie England and the New Originals is when we attempt to add new songs to our master live band karaoke list. Everybody has strong opinions, so getting four of us to agree on a song to take a stab at can take a while. The past month we made a concerted effort to add a bunch of new tunes to our list, with the focus being on songs of the 90s (one one for the 00s). Yet it was an offhanded suggestion by our drummer Scott Treude that lead to us trying out "Don't You Forget About me." I'm still surprised how quickly it came together--and how easy it is for me to sing. We opened our show with it at The Rock Shop last night and I had five people come up to me afterwards and say, "Wow, that sounded really good!" Guess we've found our new set opener.

Song of the Week 3/11/11

Meat Loaf - "Two Out of Three Ain't bad"

So if you go to a meatloaf dinner party and then a karaoke night afterwards, what else is there to sing, really?

Song of the Week 3/4/11

Middle Brother - "Blue Eyes"

In July 1986 I saw Bob Dylan and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform together at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC, as those in the Capital District call it) in Saratoga Springs. It was not only the first time I drank vodka, it was the first concert I attended that was hyped up because of the promised crossover between the two artists. Alas, the vodka robbed me of remembering much of the first few songs. What I can recall is that it didn't mesh as well as I had expected. That's the problem with many high profile collaborations and "supergroups"--they never live up to our expectations.

Saturday night I had a belly full of fried chicken, not vodka, when I went to the Middle Bother/Dawes/Deer Tick show. This was a show that outpaced all my expectations. Middle Brother is the collaboration between Deer Tick's John McCauley, Dawes's Taylor Goldsmith and Delta Spirit's Matt Vasquez. These three singer-songwriters crafted an album that equals and at times surpasses the work of their main bands. It is, bluntly put, supergroup that is indeed super. The relaxed and friendly vibe of their self-titled debut carried throughout the night, as Deer Tick and Dawes delivered outstanding performances that proved the buzz behind both is well deserved. Vasquez's bandmates were back in California working on Delta Spirit's next album, so he delivered a miniset backed by Deer Tick. Vasquez is one of my favorite new frontmen of the past 5 years. He's got stage presence by the truckloads, and when he led the band through a fast-paced and raucous take on Bruce Springsteen's "Racing in the Street" I wanted to jump for joy. (Alas, fried chicken + a hurt Achilles heel = no jumping.)

After that miniset almost the entire roster of musicians came out to perform a passionate and fun take on Sam Cooke's "Bring It on Home to Me." I thought they couldn't top that the rest of the night, yet I was mistaken. Deer Tick delivered for the rest of their set, obviously energized by the on stage collaboration. Dawes were just as good as when I first saw them at last year's ACL. And the Middle Brother set was just a ball. Everyone on stage was in good spirits (and drinking good spirits) and that vibe was infectious. The only downside of the night came when country parody act Johnny Corndawg did a mini set with Dawes that ground the momentum to a halt. Yet that misstep couldn't detract from what is easily the best show I've seen so far this year.

One of my favorite parts of Saturday night's show was whenVasquez and Goldsmith both messed up the lyrics to "Blue Eyes." (That didn't really matter, because the riff in the song is so catchy that I found myself humming it in my head the entire car ride home.) See for yourself:

Party Like It's 1999 2/24/11

Wow, a lot of folks came out on a rainy Thursday. That's awesome. Our next edition should be in late March or early April at The Bell House. Here's what you heard and/or danced to:

Faith No More - "A Small Victory"
Temple of the Dog - "Hunger Strike"
Foo Fighters - "Learn to Fly"
Soundgarden - "My Wave"
Jane's Addiction - "Stop"
The Afghan Whigs - "Debonair"
Bad Religion - "21st Century Digital Boy"
Stone Temple Pilots - "Interstate Love Song"
Alice in Chains - "No Excuses"
Tom Petty - "You Wreck Me"
R.E.M. - "What's the Frequency Kenneth?"
Weezer - "My Name Is Jonas"
Extreme - "Hole Hearted"
Blind Melon - "No Rain"
New Order - "Regret"
Morrissey - "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get"
Oasis - "Live Forever"
Wax - "California"
The Presidents of the United States of America - "Peaches"
Soul Asylum - "Misery"
Soul Coughing - "Circles"
Squirrel Nut Zippers - "Hell"
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "The Impression That I Get"
Whale - "Hobo Humping Slobo Babe"
Folk Implosion - "Natural One"
Primitive Radio Gods - "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand"
Sneak Pimps - "6 Underground"
White Town - "Your Woman"
O.M.C. - "How Bizarre"
Sugar Ray - "Fly"
Sublime - "Doin' Time"
Sponge - "Molly"
Tracy Bonham - "Mother Mother"
Hole - "Doll Parts"
Meridith Brooks - "Bitch"
Macy Gray - "I Try"
Dionne Farris - "I Know"
Sophie B. Hawkins - "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover"
Jane Child - "Don't Wanna Fall in Love"
Notorious B.I.G with Puff Daddy & Mase - "Mo Money, Mo Problems"
En Vogue - "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)"
Ace of Base - "Don't Turn Around"
Spice Girls - "Say You'll Be There"
Paula Abdul - "The Promise of a New Day"
T.L.C. - "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"
Prince & the New Power Generation - "Sexy MF"
Michael Jackson - "Black or White"
Janet Jackson - "Escapade"
Montell Jordan - "This Is How We Do It"
Snow - "Informer"
Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch - "Good Vibrations"
C+C Music Factory - "Gonna Make You sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"
Bell Biv Devoe - "Posion"
Bobby Brown - "Humpin' Around"
Culture Beat - "Mr. Vain"
Wreckx-N-Effect - "Rump Shaker"
Shaggy - "Boombastic"
Vengaboys - "Boom Boom Boom Boom"
Aqua - "Barbie Girl"
Backstreet Boys - "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
N' Sync - "Tearing Up My Heart"
Britney Spears - "...Baby One More Time"
Salt-N-Pepa - "Whatta Man"
TLC - "No Scrubs"
Janet Jackson - "If"
Mariah Carey - "Fantasy"
No Doubt - "Just a Girl"
House of Pain - "Jump Around"
Kris Kross - "Jump"
Spice Girls - "Wannabe"
Spin Doctors - "Two Princes"
Blink 182 - "All the Small Things"
Blur - "Song 2"
Rancid - "Time Bomb"
Hole - "Violet"
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Dee-Lite - "Groove Is in the Heart"
Salt-N-Pepa - "Shoop"
Dr. Dre - "Nothing But a G Thing"
Coolio - "Gangsta's Paradise"
Warren G. & Nate Dogg - "Regulate"
Eminem - "My Name Is"
Skee-Lo - "I Wish"
Wilson Phillips - "Hold On"
La Bouche - "Be My Lover"
George Michael - "Freedom 90"
Chumbawamba - "Tubthumping"
New Kids on the Block - "Step By Step"
Tom Cochrane - "Life Is a Highway"
Duran Duran - "Ordinary World"
R. Kelly - "I Believe I Can Fly"

Song of the Week 2/25/11

Culture Beat - "Mr. Vain"



I can state this with 100% certainty: I had never heard this song until my partners in Party Like It's 1999 suggested it for the playlist. And I hadn't played it until their friend Gary suggested it last night. And it went over like gangbusters. Who knew?

Song of the Week 2/18/11

The Commodores - "Easy"

Fridays in the office we have a tradition of playing tracks from the 70s and 80s, songs that I could never crank up on the old iTunes if a certain person was on the floor. This past Friday I decided to play "Easy" and our brand new co-worker Michelle said, "Oh, I really like that song." Which was surprising, since she was born the year I graduated high school.

(Shudder.)

I heard "Easy" again Saturday night before going out, and listening to it all the way through almost made me miss my bus.

Gotta love Lionel Richie's 'do in this clip:



BONUS: Damn, I love this Faith No More cover perhaps even more than the original.


And I'd totally forgotten this performance on The Tonight Show where they look about as displeased to be appearing as any musical guest ever:

Song of the Week 2/11/11

Janet Jackson - "Love Will Never Do (Without You)"

As you can see in the post below this one, I played this song at my DJ gig Friday night. The version I spun was the single version, which is the same one that is used in the Herb Ritts-directed video below. It was seeing that clip in the winter of 1990-1991 in the cold clutches of Ithaca, New York that I decided a) that beach looked awesome; b) Janet Jackson looked totally hot for the first time ever; and c) I really needed to get Rhythm Nation. I had heard enough great cuts from it by that point that I was finally able to overcome my anti-Top 40 mindset I had evolved into since my junior year of high school. And with this DJ gig (and the continuing Party Like It's 1999 series at the Bell House--come down Thursday!) I've been able to rediscover songs from that era.

Ooey Gooey After Party 2/11/11

This night of spinning at the Bell House was kind of a mixture: one part Party Like It's 1999 + one part the 80s stuff I used to spin at various Brooklyn haunts + one part 80s stuff I never thought I'd play in public = a decent night of fun. Thanks to the folks at The Skint for inviting me to entertain the post-comedy masses.

The Cult - "She Sells Sanctuary"
The Cure - "The Catch"
Nada Surf - "Popular"
Liz Phair - "Never Said"
Smash Mouth - "Walking on the Sun"
Spacehog - "In the Meantime"
Elvis Costello - "Veronica"
Michael Penn - "No Myth"
Foo Fighters - "Big Me"
Third Eye Blind - "Jumper"
Harvey Danger - "Flagpole Sitta"
Ugly Kid Joe - "Everything About You"
Green Day - "When I Come Around"
Letters to Cleo - "Here and Now"
No Doubt - "Spiderwebs"
Go-Go's - "Head Over Heels"
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - "I Love Rock n' Roll"
Madonna - "Like a Virgin"
Janet Jackson - "Nasty"
Sheila E. - "The Glamorous Life"
Olivia Newton-John & ELO - "Xanadu"
Dee-Lite - "Groove is in the Heart"
Digital Underground - "Humpty Dance"
Tone Loc - "Wild Thing"
Prince - "1999"
Tears For Fears - "Everyboday Wants to Rule the World"
Duran Duran - "Rio"
Chaka Khan - "I Feel For You"
Montell Jordan - "This Is How We Do It"
Heavy D & Da Boyz - "Now That We Found Love"
Naughty by Nature - "O.P.P."
Salt n Pepa & En Vogue - "Whatta Man"
Notorious B.I.G. with Puff Daddy and Mase - "Mo Money Mo Problems"
Outkast - "Ms. Jackson"
Janet Jackson - "Love Will Never Do (Without You)"
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam - "Head to Toe"
Run D.M.C. - "It's Tricky"
Boyz II Men - "Motownphilly"
Bell Biv DeVoe - "Poison"
Spice Girls - "Wannabe"
Hanson - "MMMBop"
New Kids on the Block - "Step by Step"
Backstreet Boys - "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
George Michael - "Freedom '90"
Depeche Mode - "People Are People"
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Relax"
Dexy's Midnight Runners - "Come On Eileen"
Chumbawamba - "Tubthumping"
Blink 182 - "What's My Age Again"
Rancid - "Roots Radicals"
Jesus Jones - "Right Here Right Now"
Ace of Base - "The Sign"
Destiny's Child - "Say My Name"
TLC - "No Scrubs"
Madonna - "Holiday"
Kris Kross - "Jump"
Bobby Brown - "My Prerogative"
Toni Tony Tone - "If I Had No Loot"
2Pac & Dr. Dre - "California Love"
Beastie Boys - "Intergalactic"
Biz Markie - "Just a Friend"
Michael Jackson - "Beat It"
Hall & Oates - "Private Eyes"
Bananarama - "Venus"
George Michael - "Faith"
A-Ha - "Take on Me"
Belinda Carlisle - "Heaven Is a Place on Earth"
Wilson Phillips - "Hold On"
The Cardigans - "Lovefool"
En Vogue - "Don't Let Go (Love)"
REO Speedwagon - "Keep on Loving You"

Song of the Week 2/4/11

Johnny Nash - "I Can See Clearly Now"

Dammit. I've had this song in my head at various points for 5 days now. Who knew that a sing-a-long at Jonah and Kathryn's would warp my mind so much.

Wow, Johnny's looking funky here:

Song of the 1/28/11

Don McLean - "American Pie"



With the anniversary of Buddy Holly's death today, and the lengthy Facebook discussion I had about the song feeling three times as long when you hear it when you're sick (and I've heard it three times during this cold), it seemed natural to make this the Song of the Week.

I really loved this song from when I was a kid up until I DJ'ed at a bar called American Pie my senior year of college. Then I started hating the song with a white hot passion. It was a combination of playing it every shift at midnight and watching idiotic people doing shot after shot during the entire song that turned me off. The cherry on top of the hatred pie was the dbag bar owner. Alas, he was not the first dbag bar owner I would ever meet.

Song of the Week 1/21/10

Philip Baily & Phil Collins - "Easy Lover"

I heard this song three times this weekend. WTF?

Song of the Week 1/14/11

Pete Yorn - "Precious Stone"



It's been another week of revisiting last year. I downloaded a World Cafe podcast of Pete Yorn performing at the NPR program's Philadelphia venue World Cafe Live. That take on "Precious Stone" is pretty fucking great and caused me to listen to nothing but Yorn's music on my commute to work for three days straight. His self-titled album (or, The Black Album, since it was produced by Frank Black) is his best ever and deserves to be heard by a wider audience.

Song of the Week 1/7/11

Bruno Mars - "Grenade"



It's rare that the number-one song in the country is also a SOTW. (So rare that it's never happened before.) I spent the past few days listening through some 2010 albums I bought post-Christmas and Doo-Wops & Hooligans was amongst that collection. "Grenade" first caught my ear when Mars was on Saturday Night Live back in October (especially when he sang a few lines of "Nothing on You" as the song's intro). After I listened to Doo-Wops & Hooligans for the first time, I ended up hearing "Grenade" in a store. And then on Church Ave coming out of a car. Finally I saw the video that night on MTV Hits. It's weird how once the floodgates are opened a song will show up everywhere.

"Grenade" is one of the few current songs that I can completely grasp why it's a number-one hit. Mars sings his lungs out and the production is great. And plenty of people (including yours truly) have been in love with a person yet known that the object of their affection doesn't feel as deeply. It's got an appeal to a wide demographic.

Also, who the hell would pull a piano around all day?

Song of the Week 12/31/10

Spice Girls - "Wannabe"

Why? Well, people like dancing at Party Like It's 1999 nights at The Bell House. Just watch:



Our next night is February 24th. Come on down!

Party Like It's 1999 12/30/10

This night was wack. Seriously. Look at how packed The Bell House was.



Damn.

Our next edition is February 24th.

Here's what you heard last night:

The Wallflowers - "One Headlight"
Dan Baird - "I Love You Period"
The Black Crowes - "Jealous Again"
Aerosmith - "Cryin'"
Counting Crows - "Mr. Jones"
Toad the Wet Sprocket - "All I Want"
The Verve Pipe - "The Freshman"
Pearl Jam - "Better Man"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Breaking the Girl"
R.E.M. - "Monty Got a Raw Deal"
Lemonheads - "Into Your Arms"
Stroke 9 - "Little Black Backpack"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Today"
Veruca Salt - "Seether"
Danzig - "Mother"
Third Eye Blind - "Graduate"
Eve 6 - "Inside Out"
Blues Traveler - "Run Around"
Dave Matthews Band - "Ants Marching"
Matchbox Twenty - "Real World"
Everclear - "Father of Mine"
Screaming Trees - "Nearly Lost You"
R.E.M. - "Shiny Happy People"
Beastie Boys - "Sabotage"
Sublime - "What I Got"
Blind Melon - "No Rain"
Alanis Morissette - "Ironic"
The Cure - "Friday I'm In Love"
Gin Blossoms - "Hey Jealousy"
Jesus Jones - "Right Here Right Now"
Lucas - "Lucas With the Lid Off"
New Radicals - "You Get What You Give"
Hanson - "Mmmbop"
Mandy Moore - "Candy"
Ace of Base - "The Sign"
Spice Girls - "Wannabe"
Christina Aguilera - "Genie in a Bottle"
Britney Spears - "Hit Me Baby One More Time"
NSYNC - "Tearing Up My Heart"
Chumbawamba - "Tubthumping"
Snow - "Informer"
Will Smith - "Getting Jiggy With It"
Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch - "Good Vibrations"
Blackstreet - "No Diggity"
MC Hammer - "U Can't Touch This"
Naughty by Nature - "Hip Hop Hooray"
Salt N Pepa & En Vogue - "Whatta Man"
Digital Underground - "Humpty Dance"
LL Cool J - "Doin' It"
Notorious B.I.G. - "Juicy"
Craig Mack - "Flava in Your Ear"
ODB - "Got Your Money"
Outkast - "Ms Jackson"
House of Pain - "Jump Around"
Sir Mix A Lot - "Baby Got Back"
Montell Jordan - "This Is How We Do It"
Heavy D & The Boyz - "Now That We Found Love"
Boyz II Men - "Motownphilly"
Prince and the New Power Generation - "Cream"
TLC - "Creep"
Backstreet Boys - "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
En Vogue - "Free Your Mind"
Arrested Development - "Tennessee"
2Pac & Dr. Dre - "California Love"
Puff Daddy - "All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)"
Blur - "Song 2"
Nirvana - "Smells like Teen Spirit"
The Offspring - "Come Out And Play (Keep 'Em Separated)"
Blink 182 - "What's my Age Again"
Rancid - "Time Bomb"
Third Eye Blind - "Semi-Charmed Life"
No Doubt - "Just a Girl"
Green Day - "Longview"
Weezer - "My Name Is Jonas"
The Rentals - "Friends of P"
Candlebox - "Far Behind"
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
Everclear - "Santa Monica"
Hole - "Violet"
Garbage - "When I Grow Up"
Madonna - "Ray of Light"
Fatboy Slim - "Praise You"
Dr. Dre - "Ain't Nothing But a 'G' Thing"
Ini Komoze - "Here Comes the Hotstepper"
Jay-Z - "Hard Knock Life"
Aaliyah - "Are You That Somebody"
Skee-Lo - "I Wish"
Destiny's Child - "Say My Name"
4 Non Blondes - "What's Up"
En Vogue - "Don't Let Go"
The Fugees - "Killing Him Softly"
Extreme - "More than Words"

Song of the Week 12/24/10

Roger Hodgson - "Had a Dream (Sleeping With the Enemy)"



As much as I know that it's not doing any favors for artists, I can't help but love the Amazon MP3 albums for five bucks deal. I've gotten many classics from my teens using this bargain price, finally scoring digital versions of cassettes and vinyl I never upgraded to CD. Roger Hodgson's 1984 solo debut In the Eye of the Storm is the latest Amazon deal I downloaded in my iTunes.

I'm not sure exactly when I picked up the vinyl (I'm thinking late 1984 or early 1985). I do know it came after I heard "Had a Dream (Sleeping With the Enemy)" one late night on the Albany rock station PYX 106. It might have been their Headphones Only program, which exposed me to a bunch of prog rock I hadn't heard before. And Hodgson -- the guy that was in Supertramp that sang "The Logical Song" and "Breakfast in America" -- definitely indulges in his prog rock side on this entire album. (When I first heard the intro to "Had a Dream" I thought it was a Roger Waters solo track.) Four tracks clock in over 7 minutes, with opener "Had a Dream" coming in at 8:26. After listening to it on my iPod on the snowy journey home Sunday evening, I wanted it to be 18:26. It's proggy but oh so catchy.

And wow, I never knew that the video for "Had a Dream (Sleeping With the Enemy)" was rather insane:

Co-Songs of the Week 12/17/10

Sweet - "Ballroom Blitz"

The B-52's - "Love Shack"

As of Saturday afternoon I was pretty sure this was going to be another Weezer-related blog entry after seeing them play Pinkerton in its entirety that night at Roseland. Yet as great as that was (one of my Top 5 concerts of the year, for certain) the time we had at Shenanigans afterwards was even more fun. Moria, Allison, Susan and I trekked there from Manhattan and were joined by Heather to enjoy a few hours of karaoke with Eddie Mac. As I planned, I did Weezer's "Say It Ain't So." What I had not planned on was Susan signing us up to do "Love Shack." Even I was surprised at the quality of my Fred Schneider impression. It sort of went like this:



Okay, it wasn't exactly like that. But it was pretty darn close.

I feel like I'm kind of accepted by the Shenanigans crowd and staff now as a regular: Eddie Mac came over and shook my hand and remembered my name; I got a buyback; and one of the great singing regulars, Erin, grabbed me to say "You missed my birthday party two weeks ago. You should see the cake." She showed me a picture of the cake -- it looked like a leather jacket, and it seriously looked too good to eat. After that conversation Allison said to me, "That's the woman that does 'Ballroom Blitz' so well." In my somewhat altered state I said, "Well, maybe we can get her to do it again." After Erin sang, I grabbed her and said everyone needed to see the pic of her birthday cake -- and that my friends loved it when she sang "Ballroom Blitz." Erin totally was into changing her second song and nailed it. It didn't look like this, but it sounded this good:



It was a fantastic night with a great group of women. More Shenanigans will have to be had in '11.

Song of the Week 12/10/10

Bastards of Melody - "Unproductive"

The last line in this track from the new Bastards album Hurry Up and Wait is "Why are you so unproductive?" And holy crap, did I say that a lot getting this year's RT20 done. Look for it to be online NEVER because I'm so sick of it.

Or, just after Christmas.

The 21st Annual Reynolds Top 20 List

21 vs. 21: The Year the RT20 Became Legal

2010: Vuvuzelas, Critical Pigeons and Double Rainbows

2010's Top 20 Albums

2010's Top 20 Singles

Other Musical Stuff From 2010
--Compilations, Reissues, EPS, Soundtracks, Etc.
--Concerts
--Discovery of the Year
--ReDiscovery of the Year

2010's Top 10 Visual Aids

21 vs. 21: The Year the RT20 Became Legal!

Wow. I can’t believe the RT20 is now old enough to legally drink! Dudes, let’s take this pile of papers out and get it wasted on shots of Rumple Minze and a case of Coors Light and then watch it throw up in the bathroom!

Whoa, my 21 year-old self grabbed the keyboard for a second. It’s amazing to think that I wrote out my first list in 1990 when I was 21 years-old. Do the math—I’ve been doing this thing for half of my life.

(Other things I’ve done for this half of my life: breath, eat, sleep, crap, brush my teeth, shower, shave, listen to Neil Young, fail miserably with the opposite sex, drink beer.)

(Hold on. Yeah, that list made me get up from the keyboard and punch the chair behind me. Better now, thanks.)

The number 21 made me think about what it takes to get the RT20 finished now, and what it took keep my 21 year-old self going. Let’s break it down list style:

List at 21: Made partially under the influence of Rolling Rock.

Steve at 21: Bloodstream partially replaced by a stream of Rolling Rock.

List at 21: Is distributed in 13 states in the U.S.

Steve at 21: Was excited when he drank 13 beers on the Micwaber’s beer list.

List at 21: Struggles to make cracks about 21 year-old singer Taylor Swift.

Steve at 21: Struggles with his crack addiction.

(Umm, let’s move on.)

If I had to rank this year’s list in degree of difficulty to finish, it would be in the top two. (The other being the 2002 edition when I got the flu and finished it a month late.) Perhaps it’s the hangover from devoting so much effort to the 20th anniversary edition. Maybe after 21 years it’s time to retire it? Or is it that I’ve done so much writing for my daytime job that my brain just doesn’t want to work in concert with my fingers anymore. Or could it be that recording podcasts (RT20podcast.com) seems much easier and more fulfilling? It’s certainly a less solitary process (well, except for the editing) and I always seem to gleam something new after each one. I certainly don’t have the answers.

Enough with the downer talk—I’m here to say that my 40th year on the planet was perhaps the best of my life. Seriously. I lost a ton of weight and seem to be keeping it off with (you’re gonna be shocked) actual physical activity, i.e. working out. I think it’s going to stick (unlike my previous two weight loss attempts) because I’ve gone to workout when it was 35 degrees. At 5:30 in the a.m. Which is quite insane.

Before I wrap things up, I need to give a shout out to three people that played a big part in making my 40th a great year to be alive. Allison Keiley, who reignited my love of corned beef hash and helped me escape the comfort zone (a.k.a., the rut) I’d lived in for a decade. Captain Jon Quinn, whose infectious enthusiasm at 6:15 in the morning made me actually enjoy exercise for the first time in 13 years. And Heather Scott, who played the 15 year card to make this fall an outstanding time. I couldn’t have made it through this year without the three of you, so thanks a bunch.

2010: Vuvuzelas, Critical Pigeons & Double Rainbows

I had a pretty great 2010. Well, maybe as not a great a year as Taylor Swift or Eminem or Train and its singer Pat “Lizard Face” Monahan. (Seriously, how in the hell was that turd “Hey, Soul Sister” the most downloaded song of 2010? The stupidity of the U.S. will never cease to amaze me.) Still, I had some of the best experiences of my life, at an age I never thought I’d see. I learned a great deal about myself and what my brain and body are capable of. (Some days, like when I juggled four Scrabble games and two Words With Friends games at the same time, quite a lot. Others...well, can one person’s extreme laziness on a Sunday afternoon in the late winter suck away the ambition of others within a 3 block radius? If yes, I apologize to a great swath of Brooklyn.)

So at this point you’re probably saying to yourself, “Steve’s that’s great and all, but I don’t care. Where are the jokes about bands you hated 10 years when they were popular and for some reason you still hate them with the same amount of vitriol even though they’re no longer commercial viable?” To that, my friends, I say turn to page 12. For the rest of us, let’s go through a handy checklist of cultural signposts that we observed this year:

Meat dresses = awesome.
Seriously. I was totally dismissive of Lady Gaga until I saw this picture. I can't imagine a more ingenious stunt to pull at an awards show. Perhaps the only thing that could top it is if Bjork showed up at an event wearing an actual dead swan as a gown. (Now that would get PETA to stop writing letters.) The meat dress taps into so many taboos about our bodies, our way of eating and our perception of proper attire that it goes beyond a simple promotional appearance. I’m not exactly sure what that “beyond” might be. All I know is that it’s smart and funny, which is great combo. It’s rare (ha, ha, ha) that someone has changed my opinion about them with cuts of beef. But I’m pretty sure that if some crooked politician gave me a half a cow, I’d vote for them for the next decade.

Pigeons are as sick of "Use Somebody" as the rest of us humans.
I don’t think there was a story that made me laugh harder than Kings of Leon having to flee the stage at an amphitheater outside St. Louis because a pigeon shit into the mouth of their bassist. Their drummer Nathan Followill later had one of the best lines ever when he tweeted, “You may enjoy being shit on but we don't.” Which begs the question—do Kings of Leon have a group of fans that are sexual deviants? Was “Sex on Fire” some sort of message to them? What about other tracks like “Pistol of Fire,” “Soft” and “Joe’s Head?” What kind of sick people are following the Followills?

Going viral has nothing to do with getting sick and sitting in your doctor's office for hours hoping for a cure to make you stop coughing.
That bed intruder song guy. The dude that cried on Intervention. The “Rent is Too Damn High” guy running for governor of New York. Mr. “Pants on the Ground.” No one knows their names (okay, you might know the bed intruder song guy, but you’ll forget once the calendar turns over to next year) yet I imagine 75% of the people reading this can picture each and every video these guys starred in on YouTube. If Andy Warhol was alive right now I imagine he’d be stunned by the amount of flash-in-a-pan media creations that our junk culture kicks up to the surface day after day, week after week. (Warhol would probably also say, “Geez, how long have I been napping? And why is it so dark in here?”)

Rock bands should stop doing this Broadway musical shit right fucking now.
I know that we can’t get Congress to extend well needed unemployment benefits because they only care about wealthy folks whose jobs are just seeing how much dough they can bleed out of the lower classes, or provide health care for the folks that worked at the World Trade Center after 9/11, or repeal a law that shames the brave men and woman that have given greatly to our armed services in defending our country. So how about we shoot lower—how about a law that forbids any rock band from turning an album into a Broadway musical? Oh, and can we throw in a earmark to that bill that will prevent any singer and guitarists from a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame act from composing songs to be sung by Peter Parker? C’mon, we’ve got another week before you go off to your luxurious homes, you do nothing, partisan-paralyzed bunch of whiners. This is a bill we can get passed with 60 yes votes in the Senate.

No major sporting event should be held in South Africa until every TV has built in EQ filters.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to look back on my life at some point and go, “Yup, it was that summer of 2010 when my tinnitus turned from that high pitched noise to that oh-so-comfortable bee setting up shop in my upper eardrum for the past 40 years.” And then my doctor will say something and I’ll yell at her, “What did you say? Who are you? Who am I?”

Katy Perry's breasts are armed & dangerous—and nothing our children should see.
They shoot fireworks. They scare the shit out of Elmo. They make Snoop Dogg do subpar rhymes. Those boobs have caused more havoc than Janet Jackson’s nipple. If given the chance, they could probably find and assassinate Osama Bin Laden, stop the Wikileaks guy and scare the glasses off Kim Jong Il.

People take their late night talk shows a bit too seriously.The amount of web space and ink spilled covering the fall out of NBC’s decision to yank Jay Leno’s 10:00 p.m. show and move him back to late night made for the most entertaining January I’ve seen in ages. It made everybody hate Leno even more, which was joyous. Conan O’Brien did one of the classiest (and funniest) sign offs of recent TV history. Better still, it actually made David Letterman seem alive behind the desk for the first time in years. Of course, it was only white guys between the ages of 35 and 54 that cared about what happened. Everybody else just watches their clips on YouTube the next morning.

Musically, 2010 was The Year of Returns. North Carolina’s Superchunk reappeared after a nine year gap in between albums to deliver one of the great works of their highly respected career. Guster had only four years of silence, but their long struggle to create their best album must have made them feel like they’d taken twice as long. Both of those pauses were well worth the final product.

Lastly, I just want to tell you both good luck. We’re all counting on you.