So it is almost the weekend, and I am doing the Random Ten on time again [!!!] because I remembered how to put headphones in my ears while I’m working. Towleroad reported yesterday that Conor Oberst, aka Bright Eyes, along with a group of fellow Nebraska musicians, has written a letter to the Omaha city council condemning the effort by some in that body to block a nondiscrimination ordinance that would make Omaha a more friendly, progressive place for LGBT people to live and thrive. As we all know, cities that attract artists and LGBT people tend to be the most successful cities on a lot of fronts. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read your Richard Florida.

So, in considering what to start the Random Ten with, why not Bright Eyes? I am and always have been a shameless Bright Eyes fan boy, and if you have never heard “First Day Of My Life,” and moreover, if you have never seen the video, get ready for warm fuzzies. So we will watch that, we will have a moment and reflect, then we will hit shuffle on the old iTunes, see where we are ten songs later, listen to some more music, etc. More videos after the jump! PS, I totally stole the picture of Conor that Towleroad used, because oh, he is so cute.

Also, before we get to the shuffle, here is a video of otters holding hands. It’s topical, I promise.

1. Rage Against The Machine – “Clear The Lane”
2. Willie Nelson & Kid Rock – “Last Stand In Open Country”
3. Siouxsie and the Banshees – “Switch”
4. Chris Isaak – “Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing”
5. Ray Charles – “Come Back Baby”
6. Lightspeed Champion – “Tell Me What It’s Worth”
7. Local Natives – “Cubism Dream”
8. David Wilcox – “How Did You Find Me Here”
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “The Righteous & The Wicked”
10. Lightspeed Champion – “Dry Lips”

Oh, the David Wilcox song. Wow. Haven’t listened to it in years. One of my favorites.

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She’s gone.

The world has lost a legend.

“Sunday Kind of Love” is probably my favorite right now. So let’s start with that, hit shuffle on the iTunes and listen to the first ten random songs that come up and stuff. More videos after the jump!

So long, Etta.

1. Big Head Todd & The Monsters – “Fortune Teller”
2. The Civil Wars – “Oh, Henry”
3. Béla Fleck – “Home Sweet Home”
4. Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians – “The Wheel”
5. Tori Amos – “The Needle And The Damage Done” [Neil Young cover]
6. Deer Tick – “The Dance Of Love”
7. Widespread Panic – “Party At Your Mama’s House”
8. Susie Hansen – “Frank Sinatra Cha Cha Cha”
9. Dax Riggs – “Say Goodnight to the World”
10. Tori Amos – “Icicle”

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Lookie there, you all get two Random Ten’s this week, because I didn’t have time on Friday afternoon. So it’s technically the end of the holiday weekend for many people, so here’s your music post! Let’s start with Nina Simone, just because she’s been coming up a lot lately, and also she’d be really kind of pissed off if she saw how far we really are from achieving Dr. Martin Luther King’s dreams and goals. “Lilac Wine?” Yes. Then we hit shuffle on the iTunes, see where things are ten songs later, blah blah blah. More videos after the jump!

1. The Fiery Furnaces – “Waiting To Know You”
2. Lady Gaga – “Electric Chapel”
3. The Chemical Brothers – “The Private Psychedelic Reel”
4. Dawes – “God Rest My Soul”
5. Freelance Whales – “Location”
6. The Doors – “Spanish Caravan”
7. The Chemical Brothers “Under the Influence (Mix 2)”
8. Mates of State – “Sway”
9. Tori Amos – “Leather”
10. The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”

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This was supposed to go up yesterday, but I am having massive internet outage problems and working on getting new service, etc., and I didn’t have time to post this before the coffee shop closed. Anyway, here is your Weekend Random Ten, one day late, and let’s see, we will start with…I dunno. Let’s see. How about The Civil Wars? Have I started with this song before? Probably. Do I care? No. They are incredible. Then we hit shuffle on the old iTunes, see where we are ten songs later, listen to some music and it’s already the weekend, so whatever. Ready, set, go!

1. No Age – “Teen Creeps”
2. Drive-By Truckers – “You Got Another”
3. J. Roddy Walston and the Business – “Full Growing Man”
4. Tori Amos – “Take To The Sky (Russia)”
5. The Depreciation Guild – “Trace”
6. Carolina Chocolate Drops – “Sourwood Mountain”
7. Japancakes – “Only Shallow” [My Bloody Valentine cover]
8. Stereolab – “Captain Easychord”
9. The Byrds – “Have You Seen Her Face”
10. Incubus – “Aqueous Transmission”

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Okay, so music time, and I’m breaking my own rule for the Random Ten. Usually my rule is that the song we start with has to be IN my iTunes, therefore I hit “shuffle” off of that song, etc. This week, though, was the Kennedy Center Honors, and one of the people recognized was the great singer and actress Barbara Cook. The people they brought together to pay tribute to her were absolutely stunning, and this is one of the best eleven minutes of music I’ve seen and heard in ages. It’s all good, but let’s just say that Glenn Close is followed by Sutton Foster, who is followed by Patti LuPone, who is then followed by Audra McDonald. I have watched/listened to this about twelve times at this point and will likely listen many more times. So that, then shuffle on the iTunes, see where we are ten songs later, then Happy New Year and stuff. More videos after the jump!

1. Tori Amos – “Here. In My Head”
2. Tori Amos – “Sweet The Sting”
3. Carly Simon – “Coming Around Again/Itsy Bitsy Spider”
4. Messiaen: Catalogue d’oiseaux / Book 3 – 6. L’Alouette Lulu [performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard]
5. The Beach Boys – “Sloop John B”
6. Asobi Seksu – “Thursday”
7. Rage Against The Machine – “Freedom”
8. Emiliana Torrini – “Sunny Road”
9. The Beatles – “Carry That Weight”
10. St. Vincent – “Cruel”

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Hi, I know this is the Weekend Random Ten before Christmas, but if you came here for Christmas music, you know, sorry. Just not in the mood right now, and not for “bah, humbug!” reasons. I just want to listen to something else. I’ve featured my buddy Amy LaVere here before, and I found her newest record Stranger Me in one of the many weird nooks and crannies in my truck last night, so I’ve been listening to it today. It was in my player and on my iTunes non-stop this summer and she’s been touring the world with the record ever since. If you have not heard her yet, do give it a listen. We in Memphis are incredibly proud of our music. I was thrilled to see that American Songwriter included one of the songs from the record in their list of the Top 50 Songs of 2011. We’re not starting with that song, though. Rather, we’re going to kick things off with the closing track on the record, “Let Yourself Go (Come On),” because that’s the one I want to listen to and I make the rules for this post. Then we’ll hit shuffle on the old iTunes and see where we come up ten songs later, yadda yadda, listen to music, etc., and then you all have a wonderful weekend. If you’re celebrating Christmas, have yourself a merry little one. More videos after the jump!

1. R.L. Burnside – “Walkin’ Blues”
2. Brooke Waggoner – “Go Easy Little Doves, I’ll Be Fine”
3. White Hinterland – “Calliope”
4. Cold War Kids – “Hospital Beds”
5. Sam Bush – “Memphis In The Meantime” [John Hiatt cover]
6. Diamond Rings – “You Oughta Know”
7. Mavis Staples – “You Must Have That True Religion”
8. Robert Belfour – “Pushin’ My Luck”
9. Mike Bloomfield – “Cherry Red” [orig. by Big Joe Turner]
10. Brandi Carlile – “I Will”

Wow, a very Blues and a very Memphis shuffle right there! How incredibly appropriate. And ooh, that Brooke Waggoner song.

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It’s almost the weekend, so music time! I’m sort of throwing this one together, and I really didn’t take much time to think what I’d start with this week, but here is a Tori Amos song that is really special to me. “Roosterspur Bridge.” Just something about it. Then we hit shuffle on the old iTunes, see where we are ten songs later, etc., etc., and then it’s time for the weekend. More videos after the jump!

1. Mates of State – “Change”
2. Bob Dylan – “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”
3. Matt Morris – “Live Forever”
4. Tori Amos – “Liquid Diamonds”
5. The Beatles – “Because”
6. Brandi Carlile – “Us Again”
7. Christine Kane – “She Don’t Like Roses”
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Breaking The Girl”
9. Lisa Hannigan – “An Ocean And A Rock”
10. Miles Kurosky – “The World Won’t Last The Night”

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Okay, it’s almost the weekend, so music. I was thrilled to learn this week [maybe I just hadn't been paying attention] that Ani DiFranco is coming out with her first new record in about three years. If you have ever been an Ani DiFranco fan, you understand that she used to put out a couple records a year at times, so while I’m quite sure she very much deserved the break between 2008′s Red Letter Year and this new record ¿Which Side Are You On?, it was a bit strange going that long without new music from her. It’ll be released in January and there’s more info about the record here. For now, let’s listen to the title track, which I’ve seen her perform live before. It’s a reconfiguring of Pete Seeger’s labor protest song “¿Which Side Are You On?” which keeps the chorus intact, but updates the verses for our times. We need more protest songs and protest singers, really. I worry whether they’d even get noticed in our consumer-driven culture, though. Anyway, let’s listen to that, then hit shuffle on the old iTunes, see where we end up ten songs later, yadda yadda, etc.

Now for the shuffle and ooh, it’s a bonus Random Twelve! Why? Because the second Brandi Carlile song is a hidden track that comes after the first one on the CD. That makes eleven. Then, the second Pete Yorn song is a hidden track that comes after “Simonize.” Two hidden tracks! So, Random Twelve!

1. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – “Black Water”
2. Jolie Holland – “Your Big Hands”
3. Glenn Gould – J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Variatio 3 a 1 Clav. Canone All’Unisono
4. Solo Andata – “A Ballet Of Hands”
5. Brandi Carlile – “Hallelujah” [Leonard Cohen cover]
6. Brandi Carlile – “Forever Young” [Alphaville cover]
7. Duke Ellington – “Rhapsody In Blue” [Gershwin]
8. Counting Crows – “Up All Night (Frankie Miller Goes To Hollywood)”
9. Animal Collective – “My Girls”
10. Sigur Rós – “Untitled 4 (Njósnavélin)”
11. Pete Yorn – “Simonize”
12. Pete Yorn – “A Girl Like You”

I’m posting a ton from this mix, because it is that awesome. Really, now that I think of it, I’m giving Counting Crows the shaft, because gahhhh, but everything else gets posted. Click on the Counting Crows song if you really want to hear it, okay? I am not kidding when I say that this mix is worth listening to in full. The songs with lyrics really work together if you listen to them in the order that I’m posting them, and then there are all these lovely instrumental pieces!

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It’s almost the weekend, which means music time! I’ve started the Random Ten with this song before, but I don’t care. It just keeps coming up in my life and is working its way into becoming one of my favorite songs of all time. It’s “Challengers” by The New Pornographers [prominently featuring Neko Case], and aside from the song being incredible, the video is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. So we’ll start with that, hit shuffle on the old iTunes, see where things are ten songs later, listen to music, yadda yadda, the end. More videos after the jump!

1. Spoon – “I Could See The Dude”
2. Coldplay – “God Put A Smile Upon Your Face”
3. She & Him – “Thieves”
4. Jethro Tull – “Bourée” [J.S. Bach]
5. U2 – “’40′”
6. Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians – “Love Like We Do”
7. Trisha Yearwood – “Little Hercules”
8. Lucero – “All Sewn Up”
9. Micah P. Hinson and the Red Empire Orchestra – “I Keep Havin’ These Dreams”
10. David Wilcox – “Johnny’s Camaro”

So, um, WOW, first of all, great shuffle. But I have to admit that there are tons of songs on my iTunes that I’ve downloaded because they sound interesting but have never gotten around to listening to, and that’s the case with the Micah P. Hinson song. May I just say, “WOW”?! Amazing new discovery.

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Short week, therefore Friday music shuffle comes on Wednesday afternoon. Last week I started the Random Ten with one of the songs another singer, Lee Taylor, and I played this weekend at our first gig together, John Legend’s “Ordinary People,” which, if you haven’t heard it, is incredible, so go back and check it out. This week I was planning to start with another incredibly beautiful, magical song by My Brightest Diamond, called “Inside A Boy,” which has been a favorite of mine since it came out, and I still am going to start with that. But I realized that it was a perfect pairing, like a perfect wine, with another song that Lee and I play — indeed, it’s the first song that came together almost immediately the first time we rehearsed it, and may end up being our recurring set closer, at least for a while — and that’s “Nature Boy,” one of the finest songs ever written. I’ve chosen the Sarah Vaughan version, because I like it. So My Brightest Diamond, Sarah Vaughan, then we hit shuffle on the old iTunes jukebox and see where things end up ten songs later, listen to music, yadda yadda, then gobble gobble. More videos after the jump!

1. Pink Floyd – “On The Turning Away”
2. Ricardo Villalobos – “Easy Lee”
3. Junkyardmen ft. Mose Vinson – “What Is Your Life”
4. Pat Green – “Southbound 35″
5. Tori Amos – “Hey Jupiter”
6. The Seldom Scene – “Take Him In”
7. Kaki King – “So Much For So Little”
8. Daddy Mack Blues Band ft. Billy Gibson – “You Really Got Me” [The Kinks cover]
9. Green Day -“Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)”
10. OK Go – “I Want You So Bad I Can’t Breathe”

The blues. Lovely. Let’s listen.

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