Friday CJ Random 11

It's one more random than 10!

I don't know if The Uncanny Canadian is doing a poop shoot at Three Bulls today, but last week's was very good. Of course, he had to one-up me by doing 12 songs, but it's not the size of the playlist, it's the sway of the shuffle. At least, that's what my wife tells me.

Anyway, here's this week's random music:

1) “Echoes Myron,” Guided by Voices. The best British Invasion song recorded 30 years after the British Invasion. A great bouncing bass line, catchy vocals, and an outro guitar that I wish wouldn’t end. One of my favorite songs ever.

2) “Lover’s Spit,” Broken Social Scene. I think the piano in this song is in the key of D, because it just makes me weep instantly. I can’t tell if this is really about oral sex or if I’m projecting (again).

3) “Let It Die,” Feist. First time I’ve heard this song (I “acquired” it from a friend). I need to listen to it more. Reminds me of Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” but without the shredding of the Pope’s picture.

4) “Paperback Writer,” The Beatles. I wish I could turn that guitar to 11. Funny this came up today because The Lovely Becky and I had a long talk last night about the novel I need to write.

5) “Passenger Side,” Wilco. I hate sitting on the passenger side, too, just like Jeff Tweedy. No one does the “I just woke up and recorded this great song” sound like him.

6) “Noah,” Devendra Banhart. Another one I haven’t listened to but should. Thought this was M. Ward for a second because it also sounds like it’s sung by a 60-year-old hobo rather than a guy who hasn’t reached 30. A slow, croaky bit of folk. Nice.

7) “Giving the Dog a Bone,” AC/DC. And now for something completely different....I think this would be an awesome song for a Milk Bones commercial. I really shouldn’t like this as much as I do, but it touches my inner Beavis.

8) “The Village Green Preservation Society,” The Kinks. That’s more like it. Such great music and clever lyrics. God save little shops, china cups, and virginity. This is one of those songs the conservative munchwagons at National Review would cite as supporting conservative values, because they are born without the irony gene.

9) “Exhuming McCarthy,” REM. I like the sound sample from the Army-McCarthy hearings: Have you no decency, sir? The answer: no. Maybe that’s why Ann Coulter hearts McCarthy so much.

10) “Star Bodies,” The New Pornographers. Here’s my token rated song. I wonder if, once I’ve rated every song, my iPod will just start playing stuff I don’t even have loaded onto it. The harmonies here between Neko Case and Carl Newman kick ass, as do the drums.

11) “Twice as Hard,” The Black Crowes. This would play in the scene of the Cameron Crowe movie where Chris Robinson sits on his couch, looking at a picture of Kate Hudson as he says, “How did I let her get away?” Then he looks in a mirror and says, “Oh yeah, because I’m ugly and smell like Lenny Kravitz. I should have shaved the beard. And showered occasionally.”


Matthew Sweet’s hit streak ends at four, which I think is two more than his professional hit streak (I kid, I kid!). Still no Rush, which surprises me. I anticipate I’m being set up for an all-Rush shuffle, where I will have to talk about related items like Dungeons and Dragons, Piers Anthony novels, and the three decades of torment I’ve endured for liking their music.