Friday CJ Random 11

It's one more random than 10.

Here’s what blarted out of my iPod and mind today:

1. “Save It for Later,” The English Beat. I thought I once read that this song was about abstinence, but I don’t think that’s true. However, if it was, at least it would make abstinence catchy.

2. “Ramp of Death,” Steven Malkmus. There was a time I loved Pavement. Like listen to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain on repeat love. But in the last few years, I feel like I’ve outgrown them, the way I outgrew D&D and Republicanism. Since all Steven Malkmus solo stuff sounds just like Pavement, but with a jammy, Phishy sheen, I think I’ve outgrown him as well.

3. “Boring,” Blink 182. Speaking of stuff you outgrow...Okay, confession time, I really liked the first two Blink 182 albums. They were catchy, harmless punk pop. Now they are hard for me to listen to. Especially because, as is the case here, they would do things like add sound effects to suggest horse fellatio. I will now be watching Site Meter for that search term.

4. “Do Ya,” Matthew Sweet. This is a cover of the ELO classic from the Late Night With Conan album. It lacks the chocolate production sprinkles of the original, which is both good and bad. At least it didn’t make me think of Conan O’Brien’s hair, until just now.

5. “Love Dance,” The Minutemen. Bands I’m Supposed to Like but Really Don’t, Part I. I love punk. I like noodles. I appreciate jazz. I do not love, like, or appreciate punky jazz noodling.

6. “River Man,” Nick Drake. Matthew Sweet and Nick Drake back-to-back weeks. My iPod is manic/depressive, much like its owner. This song is way too pretty for the death gray weather we’re having today.

7. “Carry That Weight,” The Beatles. One serious downside to the iPod shuffle is that it grabs stuff out of context. This is muchos awesomos but doesn’t work nearly as well outside of side 2 of Abbey Road.

8. “Secret Handshake,” Bob Hillman. This is the only artist on the playlist I will be having dinner with this evening. You should go to Bob’s MySpace page and hear some of his catchy, clever tunes.

9. “Ticket to Ride,” The Beatles. TLB dislikes The Beatles, to the point where we can’t discuss the subject because it results in Palestinian/Israeli-type clashes. So we have agreed to live in a two-state model. This song is one my favorites, mostly because of the awesome guitar riff.

10. “Cycles Per Second,” the dbs. Bands I’m Supposed to Like but Really Don’t, Part II. I only recently “acquired” this album, after seeing the dbs mentioned in reverential critical tones over the years. But I really don’t like their tone.

11. “Slow Turning,” John Hiatt. A fellow Hoosier! I was surprised to learn he was from my home state, because he didn’t have the tell-tale webbing between his fingers. Given that he’s probably rich from song royalties, he was probably able to have his professionally removed. I had to chew mine off. The phrase “Slow Turning” reminds me of that, because it was a slow process to turn my hands into something human-looking, instead of Black-Lagoon looking. One of his best songs.


Two weeks and still no Rush. That's more shocking for me than Jane's Addiction's Nothing's Shocking. I was also hoping for something relevant to MLK weekend like "Pride (In the Name of Love)", especially since my iPod is black. But instead my iPod is more interested in equine fellatio than civil rights. Maybe my iPod is Clarence Thomas.

Have a great weekend.