![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Triday Fandom Ren
Apr. 13th, 2007 09:32 am1. "Eve of Destruction" - Barry McGuire - Those Classic Golden Years 08
An historical document.
2. "It's So Easy" - Buddy Holly - The "Chirping" Crickets
Said it before, I'll say it again, I love his songwriting, I recognize his importance, but apart from "Peggy Sue," I find his own performances lacking. I'm not sure I've ever heard a version of this great song that I actually really thought lived up to it. Or most of his others.
So, even though I'd rather hear other people do his songs, not many have done them better (except "Not Fade Away"), and I'll listen to him.
3. "Don't You Think It's Time You Stopped Your Crying?" - The New Colony Six - Breakthrough
Sweet, silly, muffled late-60s garage-pop.
4. "Sail On Sailor" - The Beach Boys - Holland
A rip someone did off a vinyl copy -- I own it in digitally mastered form in two places, but, even with surface noise, it sounds better in this rip.
Early 70s Boys, Brian helping out but not in control. Van Dyke Parks helping on this song, too. Strange extended version of the band, bringing in outside, much more "ethnic" players, trying to be an R&B band. Winds up actually working - some of the sweetest, mellowest, most-groovin' music of their career.
5. "Work Work Work" - The Stiffs - 7" single
Period punk. Young, loud, snotty, treble pushed way up, tight. Good and gets better as it goes. Then even better. As if the opening was a fakeout ("Oh, just another okay song like this"), and then the song gets louder, with more and deeper instruments filling it out, ending strong. Nice job.
6. "High Fidelity" - Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Get Happy!!
Berit hates EC, except for "Pump It Up." This causes problems sometimes, given my reverence. She finds his voice unbearably depressing, no matter how "uptempo" a song of his may be. If he's singing it, it's a dirge.
One afternoon, while we were doing some work up at my dad's, repairing a front walk, she had made a remark about how depressing Costello is, and I felt compelled to defend him by going through his catalog in order, searching for the "happy" songs of his. Which, uh, did turn out to be a near-impossible task, taking most of the afternoon. I wasn't very successful, but it made trowling concrete go fast.
When I got to this album, and named it, noting, "See, this album is called Get Happy!!, and it's meant as a big cheery R&B album!" she only noted, "That implies that one has to be made to get happy, and so one isn't. It's depressing."
Costello's titles didn't help my case much.
IAN: "So, see, not all of the songs on Punch the Clock are depressing!"
BERIT: "Yeah, sure, okay, so what's the next album called?"
IAN: "Uh . . . Goodbye Cruel World."
BERIT: [uncontrollable laughter]
At the same time, if you are also a Costello fanatic, don't confront her about this, and please feel some sympathy for her, as she has to put up with my music geekery -- in the first year we were together, I forced her to listen to the collected works of David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Elvis Costello, and The Residents, one after the other, in chronological order, COMPLETE. That's asking plenty (she likes most of the Bowie, a little of the Zappa, almost none of the Costello and Residents) for the supposed benefit of "getting to understand me better."
And this is a great, if depressing, pop song by EC.
7. "Strange Angels" - Laurie Anderson - Strange Angels
Laurie Anderson sings! And it's beautiful!
Up there in my favorite albums. Nothing on earth sounds like her Big Science, it was incredibly important, and "O Superman (for Massenet)" is one of my favorite recordings ever, but this album is one I pull out when I want an emotional ride.
8. "God's Got a Crown" - Arizona Dranes - Arizona Dranes (1926-1929)
20s gospel recording. Exciting and vibrant. Sloppy in a good way.
9. "Backstage" - Gene Pitney - 22 Greatest Hits
What a great voice! What an odd song!
Well, it's a simple "I'm a big star, but offstage I'm lonely" story, but with an odd arrangement and chords.
The songs Pitney sings are almost never as good as he is.
10. "Kiss, Kiss, Kiss" - Yoko Ono - Onobox 4: Kiss, Kiss, Kiss
I own a lot of Yoko's music. I like it. I own a lot more of it than I do of John Lennon's solo work. I like it better.
I get tired of defending her. She writes lovely songs (unfortunately, she does have a bad habit of dropping at least one horribly clumsy lyric per song, though not in this one) and sings them well (if, at times, yes, eccentrically). That's all.
An historical document.
2. "It's So Easy" - Buddy Holly - The "Chirping" Crickets
Said it before, I'll say it again, I love his songwriting, I recognize his importance, but apart from "Peggy Sue," I find his own performances lacking. I'm not sure I've ever heard a version of this great song that I actually really thought lived up to it. Or most of his others.
So, even though I'd rather hear other people do his songs, not many have done them better (except "Not Fade Away"), and I'll listen to him.
3. "Don't You Think It's Time You Stopped Your Crying?" - The New Colony Six - Breakthrough
Sweet, silly, muffled late-60s garage-pop.
4. "Sail On Sailor" - The Beach Boys - Holland
A rip someone did off a vinyl copy -- I own it in digitally mastered form in two places, but, even with surface noise, it sounds better in this rip.
Early 70s Boys, Brian helping out but not in control. Van Dyke Parks helping on this song, too. Strange extended version of the band, bringing in outside, much more "ethnic" players, trying to be an R&B band. Winds up actually working - some of the sweetest, mellowest, most-groovin' music of their career.
5. "Work Work Work" - The Stiffs - 7" single
Period punk. Young, loud, snotty, treble pushed way up, tight. Good and gets better as it goes. Then even better. As if the opening was a fakeout ("Oh, just another okay song like this"), and then the song gets louder, with more and deeper instruments filling it out, ending strong. Nice job.
6. "High Fidelity" - Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Get Happy!!
Berit hates EC, except for "Pump It Up." This causes problems sometimes, given my reverence. She finds his voice unbearably depressing, no matter how "uptempo" a song of his may be. If he's singing it, it's a dirge.
One afternoon, while we were doing some work up at my dad's, repairing a front walk, she had made a remark about how depressing Costello is, and I felt compelled to defend him by going through his catalog in order, searching for the "happy" songs of his. Which, uh, did turn out to be a near-impossible task, taking most of the afternoon. I wasn't very successful, but it made trowling concrete go fast.
When I got to this album, and named it, noting, "See, this album is called Get Happy!!, and it's meant as a big cheery R&B album!" she only noted, "That implies that one has to be made to get happy, and so one isn't. It's depressing."
Costello's titles didn't help my case much.
IAN: "So, see, not all of the songs on Punch the Clock are depressing!"
BERIT: "Yeah, sure, okay, so what's the next album called?"
IAN: "Uh . . . Goodbye Cruel World."
BERIT: [uncontrollable laughter]
At the same time, if you are also a Costello fanatic, don't confront her about this, and please feel some sympathy for her, as she has to put up with my music geekery -- in the first year we were together, I forced her to listen to the collected works of David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Elvis Costello, and The Residents, one after the other, in chronological order, COMPLETE. That's asking plenty (she likes most of the Bowie, a little of the Zappa, almost none of the Costello and Residents) for the supposed benefit of "getting to understand me better."
And this is a great, if depressing, pop song by EC.
7. "Strange Angels" - Laurie Anderson - Strange Angels
Laurie Anderson sings! And it's beautiful!
Up there in my favorite albums. Nothing on earth sounds like her Big Science, it was incredibly important, and "O Superman (for Massenet)" is one of my favorite recordings ever, but this album is one I pull out when I want an emotional ride.
8. "God's Got a Crown" - Arizona Dranes - Arizona Dranes (1926-1929)
20s gospel recording. Exciting and vibrant. Sloppy in a good way.
9. "Backstage" - Gene Pitney - 22 Greatest Hits
What a great voice! What an odd song!
Well, it's a simple "I'm a big star, but offstage I'm lonely" story, but with an odd arrangement and chords.
The songs Pitney sings are almost never as good as he is.
10. "Kiss, Kiss, Kiss" - Yoko Ono - Onobox 4: Kiss, Kiss, Kiss
I own a lot of Yoko's music. I like it. I own a lot more of it than I do of John Lennon's solo work. I like it better.
I get tired of defending her. She writes lovely songs (unfortunately, she does have a bad habit of dropping at least one horribly clumsy lyric per song, though not in this one) and sings them well (if, at times, yes, eccentrically). That's all.
