Friday, May 12, 2006

Friday Random Ten

With the forthcoming Superman Returns getting all of comic-book geekdom into a frenzy, I thought it might be a good time to revisit the Man of Steel.

As true fans will remember, the photo used on this album cover comes directly from the movie where Richard Pryor pulled off the "Office Space" embezzlement. I want to say it's Superman III, ... but isn't that the one where he fights Mr. T? And now that I think about it, I don't remember Superman bearing that much of a resemblance to Martin Mull either....

Anyway, it's time for the Friday Random Ten. Bring it on!

1. Earl Hooker, "Sweet Black Angel" -- For my money, Hooker's one of the better guitarists in the Chicago style. But this cut off the otherwise great Two Bugs and a Roach is fairly uninspired. And a little too downtempo for a guy who normally brings the heat on the guitar. 6/10

2. The Roots, "Boom!" -- Well, here's a second crappy-song-by-a-favorite-band entry. The Tipping Point is a great disc, but this track is just awful. The breakdown they do halfway through is so, so very beneath this band's talent. Hate to say it, but: 3/10

3. Annie Ross, "Twisted" -- A great little bit of sassy-gal '50s jazz, with some fast-paced if almost-too-cutesy lyrics. "I heard little children were supposed to sleep tight / That's why I drank a fifth of vodka one night." On the bright side, for once, this is my favorite song by the artist. 6/10

4. Eric B. & Rakim, "Paid in Full" -- Ohhhhhhhh, snap. One of the best tunes by one of the best hiphop acts of all-time. From the opening lines ("Thinking of a master plan / Ain't nuthin' but sweat in the palm of my hand") and the walk-like-a-panther rhythms, this song is all up in your grill. 10/10

5. Green Day, "Are We the Waiting / St. Jimmy" -- For some genetic indie rock problem I have, I really really want to hate Green Day. But the American Idiot album is great. Good punk/pop, with a coherent album and some nicely political songs to boot. But cool? Eh. 6/10

6. Weezer, "Say It Ain't So" -- Another great song off a great album. Nothing's worked quite as well as this first album, which is a keeper all the way through. 8/10

7. Travis Morrison, "What's Your Fantasy?" -- In the spirit of the Gourds' cover of "Gin and Juice" and Dynamite Hack cover of "Boyz in the Hood," we have another white folk cover of a hiphop bragfest. This time it's Ludacris who gets the royal treatment. You may disagree, but I for one love this shit. 9/10

8. Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, "Express Yourself" -- The R&B classic that N.W.A. later turned into a hiphop sample staple. A great walking bassline and some sharp horns make this song, like much of their stuff, absolutely smoke. 9/10

9. Blondie, "Dreaming" -- A classic '80s tune. 8/10

10. Soundgarden, "The Day I Tried to Live" -- Ah, Superunknown. Another great song off a great album. In fact, this may be my favorite Soundgarden song. Discuss. 10/10

After a craptastic beginning there, I managed to pull out a 7.5 average. Woohoo!

Alright, you know what to do. Drop your own random ten, with or without a side serving of coolness self-awareness, in the comments below.

9 comments:

Dr. Milton von Fünkdoctorspock said...

Faulking hell! I don’t have my ‘pod because I’m going to a wedding, but because of my unhealthy addix to the FRT I must participate. Thus, this will be the Fünkdoctorspock’s not-so-random FRT, and as such, I will not rate these songs, because if I have a choice I’m obviously picking songs heavy on the h-o-t-n-e-s-s. I’m also only picking stuff available free online, just to prove that in these modern times one is not lost when one’s ‘pod battery runs out.

1. Wolfmother, “Where Eagles Have Been”- Holy f*ck! They’re called Wolfmother, and more importantly, they sound like they should be called Wolfmother. Zeppelinesque start segues into Sabbath riffs and finishes with the afternoon delight of hard rock: a keyboard solo making sweet, sweet love to a shredding guitar solo. Also of note: the song is called ”Where Eagles Have Been.” Awesome. The entire album can be streamed at nme.com.

2. The Raconteurs, “Store Bought Bones“- So there’s this guy named Jack White. Maybe you’ve heard of him. I don’t believe in magic, but when Jack picks up a guitar it’s not going to be a fair fight. More full albums at nme. God bless the British.

3. Grandaddy, “Elevate Myself”- Not happy to see these guys break up. Quality rocking for more than a decade. Last album is a fittingly likable farerwell. Still at nme.com. I promise to leave soon.

4. Sigur Ros, “Complete Iceland Concert”- This is a video, the quality of which is excellent. The music, of course, is also excellent from start to finish. Guitars were meant to be played with bows and drum sticks. www.sigur-ros.co.uk/media/dldvideo.php

5. This American Life- Just pick an episode. They’re all great. It’s possible that everything that’s ever aired on NPR is available free online. They do good things for a lot of people, e.g. Dr. Milton von Fünkdoctorspock. www.thislife.org

6. Gnarls Barkely, “Crazy”- This will be the hottest single until Outkast’s new album, and might threaten to hold the title after Idlewind drops. Funky. From NPR’s new music show. www.npr.org/programs/asc

7. The New Pornographers, “Live in Washington, DC”- I like this group a lot. Very poppy (in a good way). Great concert selections on All Songs Considered. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, White Stripes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and many, many more. www.npr.org/programs/asc

8. The Pipettes, “Your Kisses are Wasted on Me”- Sweet mercy these gals be good lookin’. And the songs are crazy catchy. I might camp out to be front row when they come here. Seriously. Rose is real dreamy-like. And I heard she likes doctors. www.myspace.com/thepipettes

9. Broken Social Scene, “Almost Crimes”- I’m only just getting into them, which is unfortunate because I’m really liking what I hear. www.arts-crafts.ca/bss/

10. Sunset Rubdown, “Stadiums and Shrines II”- Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, keyboardist) has a side project, and that side project has me convinced that Wolf Parade will be restaurant quality for a long, long time. This one’s growing on me with each listen. Insound has tons of indie rock free for download. I think you can even put the songs on yer ‘pod. www.insound.com

Dr. Milton von Fünkdoctorspock said...

By the by, the real question with that album cover is whether Alla is the chick or the dude. If it's the dude, I'd like a copy.

Otto Man said...

Man, that story creeps me out, Wild Beast.

What can I say? Daddy drank.

Otto Man said...

By the by, the real question with that album cover is whether Alla is the chick or the dude.

The chick. She was apparently the Soviet Union's answer to Donna Summer in the late '70s. Sheesh, no wonder that country collapsed.

Thrillhous said...

As usual, you people are all nuts. What happened to the good old days of butt rock?

(That said, thanks Dr. M for the infotainment about free music downloads!)

Okay, here's your man music for the weekend (women may enjoy this too, but it's best if they're with their manly man; pregnant women should stay away).

1) The Show Must Go On - Floyd. The wall, bla bla bla. 5/10

2) Always Somewhere - Scorpions. Oh man, what a great song!!! Lemme tell you, when you are stuck living in Asia for acouple years like I was, you get real familiar w/ the Scorps. This might be their best song ever. 10/10

3) Harold Land - Yes. Best song off their first album. It's about some guy. Some guy named Harold Land. 10/10

4) Soul on Fire - Danzig. And now for my favorite Danzig song of all time! What a week I'm having. See, it's a good idea to only have 20 albums on your computer. 10/10

5) Beyond and Before - Yes. The second best song on Yes' first album! My pants are chafing me! 9/10

6) Intro - Alice in Chains. Bummer, this 30-second noisefest is right before the totally awesome Hate to Feel. 1/10

7) I Don't Know Anything - Mad Season. Great tune, but not pants-chafing great. 7/10

8) Grand Designs - Rush. Okay, sometimes they're pretentious, and this is one of those times. 5/10

9) Have a Cigar - Pink Floyd. I used to hate this one, but now I like it a lot. Did you know it's sung by a guy who ain't even in Floyd? 9/10

10) Big City Nights - Scorps. What a way to end!!! It's, like, Friday, and I live in (near) a big city. What are the odds? 9/10

Take a picture, folks. You don't see a beauty FRT like this every F.

TravisG said...

Yeah, Wolfmother actually lives up to the hype, such that it is, and Broken Social Scene is pretty awesome, too, despite their awful name. I've had some of that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah stuff for a while, but started really digging it this week, oddly enough. I heard one of their songs come up on the iPod was just like, "Oh."

"The Heart of Saturday Night," Tom Waits -- A little dull on a dreary Friday afternoon. 4/10

"Modern Love," David Bowie -- This would be a much better song to karaoke than "Let's Dance," because that's like seven minutes long, as I found out the hard way. On the plus side, some college girl followed me around for the rest of the night, empirically proving that I've still "got it." 6/10

"Ground Zero Bullhorn Speech," George W. Bush -- No, no, you don't understand. I can explain. (Actually, no I can't.) N/R

"Lady Rose," Mungo Jerry -- Their other song, apparently. 3/10

"Hey Student," The Fall -- Second only to Butthole Surfers in work-listening enjoyment, although for different reasons. 7/10

"Rosas," Le Oreja De Van Gogh -- Gack. What the fuck is this? Seriously, I'm not even kidding. I have no idea what this is or why I've got it. 0/10

"Munde Bhangra Paunde," DJ Kucha -- That makes two in a row that will be deleted once I get home. 2/10

"White Rabbit," Jefferson Airplane -- I have the overwhelming urge to ask one of you to throw my radio into the tub with me. 9/10

"Dead Pop Stars," Altered Images -- Not all early-80s pop is dreck. Some of it is pretty great, like all of their stuff. 8/10

"Do They Owe Us A Living," Crass -- Holy crap. Crass fucking rules. 9/10

"Frankie Teardrop," Suicide -- Holy crap. Suicide fucking rules, too. What a strong finish. 9/10

Otto Man said...

I'm with the good doctor on Wolfmother and BSS, and I'm starting to think the Raconteurs might actually live up to the hype. But you're on your own with the New Pornographers, Felicity. A little too precious for my tastes.

Glad to hear CYHSY has worn you down, Travis. Don't try to fight it -- it's impossible. Sort of like George Costanza's technique for wearing down women's resistance to him.

Pooh said...

Pandora? Good god yes!

Dr. funkdoc? Gnarls Barkley, hells yeah, just did a post on them yesterday.

as for my FRT:

1. "Torture" - Method Man. Sadly (or perhaps gladly) not the "Torture" interlude intro to "M.E.T.H.O.D. Man" on Enter the 36 Chambers. 7/10.

2. "Mr. Moses" - The Clancy Brothers. Because who doesn't love Judeo-Gaelic protest songs about the silliness of British occupation? 4/10.

3. "Don't Want to Fall In Love" - Jane Child. The horror. (Alternatively ClubMTV Party-2-Go Roolz!) 2/10.

4. "El Amor De Mi Vida" - Warren Zevon. This whole album is so haunting, since the whole thing happened under the cloud of Warren knowing he was dying, and soon. Strangely, it seemed that everyone around him was more emotional about it than he was. If you remember his final appearance on Letterman for example. 8/10.

5. "Everyday I Have the Blues (Live) - B.B. King. I always like B.B. less on the live stuff when he tries to get all swingy and jazzy. This is one of those tracks - it just doesn't have that blues bounce to it. 4/10.

6. "Pick Up the Pieces" - Average White Band. Best. Bumper Music. Ever. 9/10.

7. "Killafornia" - Cypress Hill. Temples of Boom, and unfortunate time for Cypress fans, a very fortunate time for local pot dealers, I'd imagine. 3/10.

8. "Malted Milk" - Clapton (Unplugged). For my money ($28 or so, since I had to purchase it twice after the first one got stolen pre-iPod) one of the better albums of the 90's. A man, a guitar and the blues still works, dudes. 8/10.

9. "I'll Be There" - Rappin' 4-Tay. Classy...9/10.

10. "Space Invaders" - The Pretenders. Nice little "Sopranos" themed instrumental outro. 6/10.

6.0 avg. Not good, but better than Willie Harris.

The Doc said...

Let me be the fourth to echo the praise of BSS; they are truly magnificent. Despite what Otto says, Dr. F., I will gladly stand by you in your appreciation of The New Pornographers. And thanks for the links - that's plenty of procrastination fuel for this weekend.

1. In The Garage - Weezer. The weakest song off the blue album. 6/10.
2. Settle for Love - Joe Ely. I do love the country-rock stylings of Joe Ely; he can write the crap out of a song when he puts his mind to it. This song, however, is not a cool song. 5/10.
3. Kathleen Edwards - Summerlong. This lady is one hell of a singer-songwriter. This song is moderately cool, if a bit predictable in its folk-rockiness. 7/10.
4. Time After Time - Willie Nelson. When I first saw that Willie had done a cover of the Cyndi Lauper classic (one of the best pop songs ever written), I did a triple take. This song, however, is breathtaking, and I would gladly have it on the soundtrack to my life. It transcends cool. 10/10.
5. Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk - Parliament-Funkadelic. I do love me some P-Funk, and this song, while not in the ranks of classic songs, is still pretty funkin' awesome. 8/10.
6. Erotic City - Prince. Oooh, more funk for my buck, even if this is on the pop side. If you were trying to shake it sultry-style, you could do far worse than this. 7/10.
7. A Night Without You - The Hanson Brothers. Ramones-style punk played with more actual talent than the Ramones ever had. 8/10.
8. West of The Fields - R.E.M. Early, pre-stadium rock R.E.M. Good example of the talent they had at the beginning of their careers, and it makes me wonder where the hell it all went. 7/10.
9. New Way Home - Foo Fighters. Final track off their best album. Not particularly cool or not cool, but excellent music. 6/10.
10. Song For The Dumped - Ben Folds Five. Oh yeah, this is the way to end it off. I always wished I'd gone to a Five concert so I could sing along to the chorus of this song. 10/10.

Kind of all over the place today, but leaves me with a total of 73/100. Not bad!