Friday, January 06, 2006

Friday Random Ten

This week's album cover comes from Swamp Dogg, a man whose style and name suggests he's somehow related to Snoop. An uncle, maybe, or perhaps even the Dogfather's father. Who knows? In any case, Swamp Dogg appears here on one of his many, many disturbing album covers, riding what is apparently a refugee from the Eighth Avenue subway line here in New York.

As always, the appearance of a ridiculously sublime or sublimely ridiculous album cover here at LLatPoN can only mean one thing -- it's time for the Friday Random Ten. You know the drill, so here we go.

1. Al Green, "Simply Beautiful" -- What a beginning. This is a slow, sultry song from the Reverend Green, one that combines his sex-you-up goodness with some lush instrumentation. 10/10

2. The 6ths and Katherine Whalen, "You You You You You" -- The Billie Holiday-ish vocalist from the now defunct Squirrel Nut Zippers appears here in Stephin Merritt's side project from the Magnetic Fields. Confused? You won't be after the next episode of "Soap." 8/10

3. Loretta Lynn, "Don't Come Home a-Drinkin' with Lovin' on Your Mind" -- A classic country tune from Lynn here, one that borders on Lurleen Lumpkin levels of country excess but still manages to sound sincere. 7/10

4. Esquivel, "Estrellita" -- The master of '60s bachelor pad music, Esquivel gives us a sparse, almost haunting song here instead of his usual space-age wackiness. I think I miss the space-age wackiness. 6/10

5. Marvin Gaye, "Trouble Man" -- Like I've said before, I'm a big fan of the music from blaxploitation films, and this song is one of many good reasons why. It's the theme song to a film coincidentally titled Trouble Man, a movie that not only features a lead character named "Mr. T" but also co-starred Paul Winfield as a man called Chalky. One of my favorite Marvin Gaye tunes, and that's saying a lot. 10/10

6. The Rolling Stones, "Under My Thumb" -- A classic from the Stones and the days when an antifeminist anthem could be considered a counterculture hit. 7/10

7. Jungle Brothers, "What U Waitin' 4?" -- Despite the title, which was apparently stolen from the Artist Formerly Known as Sane, this is a nice little hiphop groove from the early '90s. Does anyone know what happened to these guys? 8/10

8. DJ Shadow, "Fixed Income" -- This song always makes me feel like I'm driving a deserted highway at night. I'm surprised David Lynch wasn't somehow involved in its creation or distribution. Very nice stuff. 9/10

9. Superchunk, "Cast Iron" -- A great bit of punk pop from Chapel Hill's finest. This song always makes me nostalgic for the South. 8/10

10. The Decemberists, "The Mariner's Revenge Song" -- I normally love this band, but this song grates on my nerves. Between the accordion and the entire maudlin-dying-mother theme, it just seems a little too self-consciously precious to me. It grates at the beginning, and nearly nine minutes later, it's not any better. 5/10

Alright, that gives me a 7.8 for overall coolness on the day. As usual, I blame the low scores on the East German judge.

Think you've got the goods? Give us your own random ten, and if you damn well feel like it, toss in a coolness self-audit as well. You'll feel better when it's all out there in the open. Trust me.

6 comments:

Thrillhous said...

Having trouble getting the internets to work for me today, but here's your fix for the weekend.

1) Aquatarkus - ELP at their instrumental finest. 8/10

2) Aenima - Tool. Probably my favorite of their songs, and I like them a lot. 10/10

3) Manhattan Project - Rush. Good, not great. 7/10

4) Believer - Ozzy. Now this baby's great. 10/10

5) Animal - Def Leppard. Color me embarassed. 2/10

6) Your Saviour - Temple of Dog. Have I told you how much I hate British spelling? "Saviour" my ass. 8/10

7) Blood and Tears - Danzig. Pretty good ballad. 8/10

8) Foolin' - Def Leppard. Okay, here's the reason I have their greatest hits. Awesome! 10/10

9) Ten Years Gone - Zeppelin. A little thin. 6/10

10) American Life - Primus. No clue on this one, but since I own it, it must be okay. 5/10

Have a great weekend!

The Doc said...

Wow, where the heck is everybody? Has the rat-riding Mr. Dogg has scared everyone away? Well, he doesn't frighten me. I'm here, and sticking out my first FRT of 2006. That'll show him.

1. Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin. Good way to start off the list, although it loses a little impact without the follow-up. 8/10.
2. I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) - Otis Redding. I am a sucker for slow R&B ballads, and this one is a great one. 9/10.
3. The End - The Beatles. Featuring one of my favourite drum solos. Go Ringo! 10/10.
4. For No One - The Beatles. 2 Beatles in a row, this one with harpsichordy goodness. Meh. 6/10.
5. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye. One of his greatest songs. 10/10.
6. Stray Dog & The Chocolate Shake - Grandaddy. As far as pop music goes, you could do a lot worse than Grandaddy. 7/10.
7. Nature Boy - David Bowie & Massive Attack. I hated Moulin Rouge, but I love this song. Funnily enough, most people I know who like the movie can't stand this song. 8/10.
8. Broken Face - The Pixies. AWESOME! 10/10.
9. Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine. The last time this showed up, I lambasted it. But it's actually not that bad. It's not great, either... 6/10.
10. How Soon Is Now - The Smiths. Could this be the ultimate Smiths song? Yes, it could. 9/10.

This gives me an average of 83/100, which is better than any of the class marks I got this semester. I may not be learned, but I am moderately cool, by music standards as measured by me...

Otto Man said...

Wow, where the heck is everybody? Has the rat-riding Mr. Dogg has scared everyone away?

I'm wondering the same thing. Support your local FRT, people! If not, we'll go the way of the Mom and Pop business crushed by Wal Mart.

teh l4m3 said...

I'm okay with your Loretta score -- you could have even gone lower. Not her best.

You are too kind to the Decemberists. "...[T]oo self-consciously precious..." could apply to all of their songs. And Colin Molloy's diction (and voice) just makes me want to tear off my skin, gouge out my eyeballs, and suck out my brain with a vacuum cleaner

alex supertramp said...

I'm late -- but there has been the shiznit ...some foreign dude had a stroke, some other foreign dude is claiming victory for insurgents, DeLay is a douche (wait, that isn't news), Mrs thouse's boy got kicked off the team, and some sick motherfucker killed the house of freaks and his family ... that is just fucking sad..

so before I get all FRT on your asses ... a little homage, "The Righteous Will Fall - House of Freaks form the excellent 'Tantilla'.....

1- Mexican Song - Armchair Martian, that Snodgrass and company aren't better known is a fucking shame, because their amazing mix of punk sentiment, country twang, and soulful desolation are true Americana - and this is a personal fave. 9/10

2-Monkey's Paw - House of Freaks, yes, of course I cheated, fuck you, his whole family was killed.8/10

3-God Only Knows - Giant Drag, hell yeah, Annie Hardy doing a pretty true rendition of a Beach Boys classic.. the more I hear these guys the more I like 'em ...8/10

4-TAking us home - the samples, these guys are a total nostalgia trip for me, but holy shit they are good, mixing a wonderful collection of jazz, blues, pop, world and jammyband with positive if melancholy lyrics and emotive vocals ..I heard they just released a new one and I'm all over that shit.8/10

5-Many rivers to cross - Jimmy Cliff, blues gospel and reggae meet at the crossroads of gorgeous.11/10

6-LA City - Ox, Canadian's not only kick ass at pop but fucking rule at Americana (sounds f'd huh?) - must be all that cold ass weather and desolate but amazing nothing for miles on end, and maybe that BC green?....8/10

7-Crystal Meth Freak from California - Michael Holland, I don't know anything about this guy, just some track I picked up on a whim on a music blog...a rousing bluegrass influenced folk stomp with an infectious beat and hilarious lyrics -- the song of a new generation, meth rocks!8/10

8-Sweet Love - Commodores, sweet love and sweet jesus! a funky soul hit from yesteryear with some gospel leanings that make me wet, and so damn happy! Take a ride on that magic carpet and you'll know it is for real.10/10

9-Out on the Tiles - Led Zeppelin, I'll catch much flack from thouse, but zep III is the shit for me, with the more folksy instrumentation it get a little light but hits me like it should, and this little stomper gets my ass a' shakin!8/10

10-Rock the Nation - Spearhead, holy fuck step back, I rule the FRT on Saturday! one of the best albums of the decade, with the perfect mix of political vitriol, positive vibe, reggae flair, and funky ass soul -
fuck the constitution
are we part of the solution or are we part of the pollution
sittin' by and wonderin' why,
things ain't the way we like to find them to be, to be
for you and for me the people over there and the ones in between
check our habitation are we a peace lovin' nation
peace lovin' nation.
step to that FRT shit....11/10

Mrs_Thrillhous said...

1. James - Tomorrow
Woo hoo! 10/10
2. Kula Shaker - Great Hosannah
Run-of-the-Mills for them. 7/10
3. David Bowie - Golden Years
The music player hiccupped! If I remember correctly... 8/10

4, 5. Depeche Mode - Dreaming of Me, Master and Servant
Saw them recently. Gore needs to drop the dark skirted winged death angel thing. 8/10, 7/10
6. Radiohead - You
Bringing back the good parts of high school--it was almost time to leave home! 8/10

7. Tom Petty - Something in the Air
I think this is a new song for a best-of album. It sounds like a jingle. 1/10
8, 9. Les Miserables - Building the Barricade, Look Down
Best musical ever! I just saw it for the 6th time. 7/10, 8/10
10. Destiny's Child - Sweet Sixteen
Where did this come from??? 1/10