Friday CJ Random 11

It’s one more random than 10!

Inspired by Danny Gans, I have decided to christen my office The Brando Circle Jerk Theatre. I realize what the name implies, but please, no unzipping until the captain has turned on the unzipping sign.

There’s a Hollywood-quality storm going on today, which is one of my favorite times to listen to music.

1) “The Revolution Starts Now,” Steve Earle. For a country that was founded on revolution, we’ve really come to hate revolutionaries. I think that’s the crux of most of Earle’s recent music.

2) “Back to the Lake,” Guided by Voices. I can’t see how to get back to the lake because it’s shrouded in mist right now. Luckily it’s not green, or I would be worried I was starring in the real-life remake of The Fog. Marquette definitely gives off that Fog vibe, but I’m not sure if there were many pirates on Lake Superior. If there were, they probably went, “Arrg, eh?” As for the song, this is like a Friday night with me: three minutes of bliss that you wish would go on longer. That joke is dedicated to The Lovely Becky.

3) “Explode and Make Up,” Sugar. I never thought the 90s had a unique sound when I was going through them. It seemed like bands just pulled their sounds from bits and pieces of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. But Sugar definitely sounds of the 90s: the crunchy guitar chords and thick drums.

4) “Born to a Family,” The Go-Betweens. A nice bit of Aussie pop that can make the sun shine even on a cloudy day.

5) “Magic,” The Cars. Whenever I hear this song, I am always in eighth grade again, wearing corduroy Op shorts and Pony sneakers and parting my hair down the middle. The production is Exxon Valdez-slick, but the guitar riff and the way the bass chimes in between the chords hits a sweet spot for me.

6) “Flavor of the Month,” The Posies. This has been the greatest year of music acquisition I have ever had. I’ve managed to catch up on a lot of bands I missed back in the day, and I’m often scratching my head: how did I overlook this? That goes especially for The Poises. They play classic power-pop, Big Star with bigger guitars that would easily help me pass the days on a desert island. Although I’d need to make some type of coconut charger for my iPod.

7) “Army Corps of Architects,” Death Cab for Cutie. Talk about music for a rainy day. Classic DCFC, with a slow, chiming guitar riff and melancholy Ben Gibbard vocals. They do that voodoo that they do so well.

8) “Hounds of Love,” Kate Bush. A great blast from the 80s. I have to thank TLB for this one. She was a big Kate Bush fan when we met, and I had the natural teenage boy reaction to Bush’s lilting, theatric pop: that’s girly music. But because I love and respect TLB, I gave Kate Bush a shot, and this song in particular got the scales to fall from my ears. It manages to sound orchestral and kick ass at the same time.

9) “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone,” Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. Already on my cannot be overplayed list. Bounces with the energy of an eight-year old after four bowls of Cookie Crisp, but without making you want to give him a Flinstones With Insulin vitamin.

10) “Let’s Call It Love,” Sleater-Kinney. How many female groups have recorded a song longer than ten minutes that can out-cock-rock just about any boy band on the planet? I know of only one. Crazy drum fills, searing guitar licks, and a female singer howling about how much she needs some lovin’? For ten minutes? I don’t need a cigarette, I need the whole damn pack. In fact, just leave the carton.

11) “Add It Up,” Violent Femmes. I really could use a couple slow songs and maybe a roast beef sandwich before another fast song about sex, but the iPod wants it now. The Violent Femmes feature the most in-your-face brush drumming in rock history. This one reminds me of piling into a car to go to a high school party, singing along at the top of our lungs, hoping we’d get to add it up later, even though we were much more likely to wind up dancing with ourselves. Hands-down the best thing to ever come out of Wisconsin (not that the list is that long….that’s my worm on the hook for billy p.)

I am sadly bacheloring it this weekend, as TLB is gone until Sunday. I’ll probably do my usual: play a lot of videogames, watch a lot of football, and have a tea party with the cats. I hope your weekend is as exciting as mine.