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.
Music time! Sometimes I have no idea where I’m going to start the mix until the moment I start working on this post. This week was not one of those times. Ask anyone who’s been around me the past two weeks what I have been listening to incessantly, and they would say “the new Girl Talk.” If you do not know Girl Talk, it is time for you to know Girl Talk. He’s a mash-up DJ, but somehow that moniker doesn’t quite seem to do him justice. This isn’t cheap DJ crap. The way Girl Talk constructs his mixes is nothing short of genius, and he separates himself by pulling from so many genres, so many eras, that the listener literally has no idea where he’s going to go next. Indeed, half the fun of listening to him is picking apart the layers and all of a sudden realizing “Holy crap, he’s got three songs going, but I think he’s using the percussion from Nine Inch Nails ‘Closer’…” That sort of thing. And if you haven’t heard, the new album is available to download for freeeeeee. So go get it. It’s separated into individual tracks, but really only for navigation, as it’s a continuous mix, so we’re not starting with a certain Girl Talk “song.” Instead, I’m going to post the opening segment, and then the eighth segment, which is my current favorite, where new rap sensation Dominique Young Unique’s vocals are accompanied by…oh, just listen. Makes me grin from ear to ear every time. Then shuffle, then the first ten that come up, etc. More videos after the jump.
1. Les Miserables – Original Cast Recording – “Lovely Ladies”
2. Tegan and Sara – “I Won’t Be Left”
3. Nina Simone – “My Man’s Gone Now”
4. How To Dress Well & cokc dokc – “Walking This Dumb”
5. The Knife – “Heartbeats”
6. The House Floor – “Axis”
7. Deer Tick – “Ashamed”
8. Poe – “Could’ve Gone Mad”
9. Journey – “If He Should Break Your Heart”
10. U2 – “Zoo Station”
Speaking of gays [imagine that], gays can kiss longer than straight people, so nyah. Good thing, because two polls now show that marriage equality has majority support, so there’s a lot of kissyface in our future. The Religious Right are victims now, in Canada and Indianapolis, where they were asked to make gay cupcakes. I discussed the need for minorities to stand up for each other, specifically as regards moderate and liberal Muslims vis a vis the gay community. Oh, and I went off on Chris Barron of GOProud, which led to a Twitter Fight, which led to a nice discussion about BBQ. He’s a fun sparring partner, I’ll give him that.
Then a crazy guy in Saxby Chambliss’s office decided to leave threatening anti-gay comments on JoeMyGod, so that was embarrassing for big old homophobe Saxby. Speaking of homophobes, HomoCon is tomorrow! YAY! Okay, that’s all.
Music this week is from that old gay classic musical RENT. I happened to be listening to the Original Cast recording last night, and I really don’t have to set it up for you, because you’re all gay and stuff, so you can probably sing the entire show all the way through in your sleep, and some of you probably know the blocking. Anyway, one of my very favorite moments in all of musical theater is after the first “La Vie Boheme“, when Mimi and Roger sing “I Should Tell You” to each other. [Insert flutter, sigh and single tear here.] So we’ll start with that, hit shuffle on the old iTunes machine and, oh look, it’s like, my favorite Tori Amos song ever, and also some other stuff. More videos after le jump.
1. Jay Brannan – “Bowlegged and Starving”
2. Tokyo Police Club – “Tessellate” [Remix by Tom Campesinos!]
3. Banjo or Freakout – “Joy to the World”
4. 10,000 Maniacs – “Gold Rush Brides”
5. Tori Amos – “Lust”
6. Fever Ray – “If I Had A Heart”
7. Lightning Dust – “Never Seen”
8. U2 – “Numb”
9. David Mead – “Girl on the Roof”
10. Port O’Brien – “In the Meantime”
Time for the weekly wrap-up and then some music, so let’s go.
Ken Mehlman is gaygaygaygayGAYgaysuper-duper gay. Ann Coulter made fun of Joseph Farah and his WorldNetDaily on Fox News, without shame. Exodus International has no money, and still, no shame. NOM and Ed Whelan figured out why Ted Olson is so gay for marriage equality: his hippie liberal wife made him do it. Gary Bauer came up with a measuring system where each and every 9/11 victim is three feet long, which helps Muslims figure out how far away from “Hallowed Ground” they have to build their mosques. Memphis gay leaders pulled an inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance because the City Council wouldn’t give it a fair hearing, which led one Memphis resident (and a personal friend of mine) to stay until the bitter end to give the Council a bit of what-for. And of course, Peter LaBarbera, Molotov Mitchell and Ugandan MP David Bahati are still insane. Oh, and Wayne put up a music post of his own last night, so if you haven’t been there, go.
Instead of picking one song and hitting the iTunes shuffle from there, this week is going to be a little bit different. As a songwriter and composer, I’ve always paid particular attention to lyrical narratives, and the way that songs can work together to form an arc. The other night, my iTunes did something that I found magical when it played three random songs in order, which I then listened to in that order again, and again, and again, about eleventy times. The three songs are “Transatlanticism” by Death Cab for Cutie, “1000 Oceans” by Tori Amos, and “Run” by Snow Patrol. Aside from being three amazing, heartwrenching songs, when played together, they indeed form an arc. Sometimes there are deep oceans, but there are also lighthouses.
So those three songs, and then we’ll hit shuffle on the last one and see what happens. Ready, set, go. More videos after the jump.
“Transatlanticism”
“1000 Oceans”
“Run”
1. Dar Williams – “In Love But Not At Peace”
2. Janelle Monáe – “Faster”
3. The National – “Racing Like A Pro”
4. Imogen Heap – “Tidal”
5. Damien Rice – “Eskimo”
6. Neil Young – “Harvest”
7. Suzanne Vega – “Blood Sings”
8. Marissa Nadler – “True Love Will Find You In The End” [Daniel Johnston cover]
9. Van Halen – “Dreams”
10. U2 – “Dancing Barefoot” [Patti Smith cover]
No word on where that Van Halen came from, but I’m okay with it if you are.
It’s not, like, Kentucky bluegrass. Rather, it’s Mumford & Sons, an English band who just happens to have a passionate connection with the music, and they make it their own. This is one of the many songs that made me coin the term “bluegrasm.” Because that’s what they give you, if you’re into that sort of thing. ”Sigh No More” is a hopeful love song — not about any one particular love, but about the idealized Love and the possibilities it brings. That seems appropriate this week, I think. So, we’ll base the iTunes shuffle off that and see what happens. More videos after the jump.
1. Robyn – “Handle Me”
2. U2 – “Acrobat”
3. Prince – “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?”
4. Katzenjammer – “A Bar In Amsterdam” [Norwegian girls with banjos!]
5. Neko Case – “Magpie to the Morning”
6. M.I.A. – “Bird Flu”
7. Cat Power – “Wonderwall” [Oasis cover]
8. Kristin Hersh – “Gin”
9. Imogen Heap – “Between Sheets” [Instrumental version]
10. Phil Collins – “True Colors”
One of my favorite songs of the past few years is “Challengers,” by The New Pornographers. At least once every few months, I have a day where I listen to this song on repeat, and it happened this past week. If you are not familiar, The New Pornographers are an indie-rock supergroup featuring Dan Bejar (Destroyer, Swan Lake, etc.), Neko Case, Kathryn Calder and others. ”Challengers” is one of Neko’s songs, and both the song and the video are breathtaking. Also, I have a banjo fetish, and this song makes good use of it, so there’s that. So that is our song for the week, upon which the rest of the shuffle is based. Talk about whatever if you want. More videos after the jump.
1. Beck – “Derelict”
2. The National – “Gospel”
3. Ra Ra Riot – “Oh La”
4. James Taylor – “New Hymn”
5. Suzanne Vega – “Solitude Standing”
6. Frank Sinatra – “My Kind of Town”
7. The Cure – “(I Don’t Know What’s Going) On”
8. U2 – “Love is Blindness”
9. Bette Midler – “Shiver Me Timbers”
10. Dar Williams – “Midnight Radio”
Janelle Monae is one of the coolest artists out there right now. She’s like Erykah Badu’s brilliant and slightly off-kilter little sister, a comparison that makes sense when you consider the fact that the two artists have been touring together this year. You might remember, earlier this year, when Janelle Monae took to Twitter to express solidarity with girls like Constance McMillen and Ceara Sturgis, who just wanted to wear their tuxes and go to their proms in peace. Janelle, of course, often wears a tux when she performs, and she looks damn good. I guess there’s some speculation out there about her sexuality (who cares?), but she did an interview with Rolling Stone the other day where she explained, “I only date androids. Nothing like an android — they don’t cheat on you.” The answer might not make sense if you’re not a fan, but Janelle has created an entire world around her music, and yes, it involves androids.
“Mushrooms & Roses” is one of my favorite songs from her new record, The ArchAndroid, and it’s more evidence that Janelle Monae can write and perform any genre of music you want, and it will be awesome. So let’s start the shuffle with that. More videos after the jump. Open thread slash confessional booth below.
1. Rufus Wainwright – “April Fools”
2. The Beatles – “Fool on the Hill”
3. Frank Sinatra – “Luck Be A Lady”
4. Glen Phillips – “Crowing”
5. Cry Cry Cry – “The Kid”
6. Jane Siberry – “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree”
7. Josh Ritter – “The Curse”
8. Ron Sexsmith – “One Last Round”
9. Tori Amos – “Almost Rosey”
10. U2 – “Ultraviolet (Light My Way)”
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!
