Nothing quite embodies the wild world of Dixieland jazz like a group of geriatric, white Shriners at a funeral. Look at them. The liveliest one of the bunch is the dude in the coffin. The rest exude the kind of excitement and joy you'd only see in a urologist's waiting room. (Please insert your own "eight balls" joke here.)
I'd always thought jazz was all about free flowing music and improvisation, but these guys look about as spontaneous as the Nixon Library. Mr. Magoo on the left can't even find the photographer, so how's he supposed to find the rhythm? Welcome to Squaresville, baby. Population: You.
Anyway, the appearance of the mighty mighty Eight Balls can only mean that once again it's time for the Friday Random Ten. You know the drill, so let's do this thing.
Here's mine:
1. Hank Williams, "No No Joe" -- A great little bit of Cold War country, this is Williams' ode to Joseph Stalin. "The Kaiser tried it and Hitler tried it / Mussolini tried it, too / Now they're all sittin' around a fire and did you know something? / They're saving a place for you." Man, I bet Stalin cried like a Trotskyite when he heard that part. 7/10
2. The Flaming Lips, "Pilot Can at the Queer of God" -- I have absolutely no idea what this song's about, and I say that having read the lyrics. Whatever. It's still a nice chunky rocker. 8/10
3. Fishbone, "Subliminal Fascism" -- Once upon a time, these guys seemed to be at the forefront of a great fusion of punk rock, funk, and hiphop, with a sharp political edge. Of course, once upon a time, the Commodore 64 seemed to be at the forefront of home computing, too. 3/10
4. Wolf Parade, "Shine a Light" -- Have I bored you yet with descriptions of how great this band is? Yes? Suck it. 8/10
5. Elvis Presley, "It's Now or Never" -- I have a soft spot for the cheesier songs in the King's repertoire, and this one certainly qualifies, what with the mariachi sounds and the "Five Neat Guys" making an appearance on backing vocals. Still, I suppose this isn't even remotely cool. 2/10
6. Curtis Mayfield, "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue" -- I pretty much love everything Curtis Mayfield ever recorded, but this is a bit of a sprawling Black Power anthem, moving through soul lyrics to congo drums to funk groove to a harp interlude (?) and back again. Not great, but I refuse to give Mayfield anything less than a 5/10.
7. De La Soul, "I. C. Y'All" -- A pretty solid collaboration with Busta Rhymes from Art Official Intelligence. This song has more bottom end than Louie Anderson. Oh, that's right. I went there. 8/10
8. Parliament, "Flash Light" -- The gold standard of funk. I made this my cellphone's ring tone last summer, and ever since, I haven't been able to hear the original without wanting to check the caller I.D. 7/10
9. João Gilberto, "Falsa Baiana" -- A nice bit of classic bossa nova from one of the masters. I may not understand a single word, but my body is still always possessed by the power of Latin rhythms. 6/10
10. Stereolab, "The Seeming and the Meaning" -- One of the most inventive and unique bands around, here with one of my favorites, a tune from the Peng! album. Scorching and sweet at the same time, this is Stereolab at its finest. 10/10
Alright, that gives me an underwhelming 6.4 on the coolness scale. It seems that I, as part of the MTV Generation, really can feel neither highs nor lows. What's that feel like? Eh.
Let's see what you've got. Break out your iPod (or steal a friend's), give us the first ten songs that pop up, and, if you damn well feel like it, throw in a Coolness Self-Audit as well.
9 comments:
{Sounds of Mike coming down from hyperventilation} . . . OM, you had me worried, man. When I wake up on Friday morning and I don't have my FRT, that's like a Friday morning without my shot of meth, or without my electroshock adminstered by the aliens that live in my head. Anyhow . . .
As usual, I know almost none of the songs on this list, but the funk seems to be present. I haven't heard Subliminal Fascism in a long time (that's on "Truth & Soul," right? I'm at work and the disc is at home, and I'm obviously too lazy to look it up while mid-comment), but I always liked that song, as well as much of the 'Bone's arsenal.
You saying all that stuff has aged poorly or just that tune? You're not hating on Boning In The Boneyard or Party at Ground Zero, are you? Please say it ain't so, Otto. This could throw my most-basic assumptions about the late 80's/early 90's into a vortex of depression.
I may have to give Angelo & Walter & Fish & The Boys a spin tonight, but for now I defer to you.
And this is the third time you've said you have a soft spot for Fat Elvis, but you always dis him with the scores. I say embrace the cheese, baby. Give the King the credit he deserves. Look at in that so-sappy-it's-cool-way, like Neil Diamond's inexplicable resurrection from a boiling vat of yellow fondu in the mid-90s.
(I still don't think he's cool, but how can I buck a trend with so much mo'?)
Sorry for the scare, Mike. It was a late night and a slow morning.
I think only Subliminal Fascism hasn't aged well. These days the fascism is pretty bald-faced.
Mike, I too was skeptical about the return of Neil Diamond, but after my mother forced me to listen to it over Thanksgiving, I have to say, it's pretty damn good. I was shocked.
1. Risingson – Massive Attack. The highlight of last week comes back to kick off this week’s list. I ain’t complaining. 9/10.
2. Introspection – Thelonious Monk. A fine jazz tune from the deft fingers of Monk. A little straightforward, but still nice. 7/10.
3. Break You Off – The Roots. Hell yes! I haven’t heard the new Roots album because I’m a bad person, but I have Phrenology to help me get through the next few months. 8/10.
4. Ain’t It The Life – Foo Fighters. Actually, no it isn’t. I listen to the Foo Fighters to rock, and this little interlude just isn’t doing it. 5/10.
5. Cello Suite #4, Allemande – Yo-Yo Ma. Do you know what cool is? J.S. Bach is cool. The man could write any song for any instrument and it would be solid gold. Yo-Yo Ma’s got the skills too. 8/10.
6. You’re Gonna Change (Or I’m Gonna Leave) – Tom Petty. From the tribute to Hank Williams. Imagine Tom Petty doing a tribute to Hank Williams. You’ve now heard this song. It’s good, but it’s not AMAZING. 5/10.
7. The Green World – Gorillaz. I’m pretty sure this has come up before, but I’m too lazy to look it up. Pretty good song, though. 7/10.
8. Suppose They Close The Door – Sloan. Andrew from Sloan took 2 different songs, tape spliced them together to do the choruses and verses, and created this Beatlesy masterpiece. 8/10.
9. It’s Not Up To You – Björk. Hmm. Originally I was going to give this song a lower rating, but it’s growing on me as I listen to it. Good stuff. 7/10.
10. Give Up The Funk – Parliament. Oh, you cannot deny the glory of P-Funk. 10/10.
That’s a respectable 7.6 for me, significantly up from last week. Bodes well for the weekend, I think.
I was worried too. I have a Random Ten that will lay waste to the lot of you...
I just have to write it up.
Mike-
New Raconteurs video. It's a kickass live version of "Level", one of my favorites off the album.
Nice link, Mr. F. And one of my faves too.
Read it and weep...
1. "Crooked Teeth" - Death Cab Pretty good tune. I'm happy to see a solid band like this make headway into the crapfest that is popular music. 7
2. "Street Fighting Man" - Stones Since this is a "Hot Rocks" and radio staple it's easy to dismiss this song as overplayed. It's been a while since I've heard it, and, damn, this is good shit. Songs like this are the reason why I always rank the Stones ahead of the Beatles. 10
3. "I Walk the Line" - John Cash The Man in Black. 'nuff said. 8
4. "Dollar Bill" - Screaming Trees The Guinness Book Twins back for an encore. 7
5. "Ball and Biscuit" - White Stripes Is it blues? Rock? Whatever. It kicks total and complete ass. Jack and Meg at the top pf their game. 10
6. "Perfect Strangers'" - Deep Purple For the crunchy blues riffs of "B&B" to transition straight into Jon Lord's majestic keys? "Oh, yeah..." 9
7. "Oh!" - Sleater Kinney Always a big fan of good chick-rock. File under Magnapop. Another one from the well-stocked AA library. 7
8. "4 Degrees" - Tool Starts out eerily like a Stone Temple Pilots tune, then shifts into typical Tool. Which is a good thing. 8
9. "Juicebox" - The Strokes Another fake-out. Opening bassline fools me into thinking it's Tad's "Jack Pepsi" every time.... 7
10. "Police and Thieves" - The Clash When you hear a song like this, it's easy to forget this was considered a punk band. Sort of. Well, they had mohawks. At least Joe Strummer did... 9
8.2 average. Kneel before Zod.
Furious-
I'm at work, where my computer couldn't play a video if you injected it with a new processor.
I'll check it out at home. Funny that you had Deep Purple on your FRT: I always think of DP when I play Store Bought Bones, which I cranked at ear-shattering volume last night, as part of my "I have pre-game 1 of the LCS nerves" routine last night.
And speaking of shattering: Ball & Biscuit, baby! You can't go wrong with that.
And I'll find a soapbox where I can shout it . . . and I think I got a thing or two to say . . .
Oh, jeez, Furious. Now I have to leave work now so I can go home and have my Jack fix.
I don't have a list. I just want to tip the hat for O.M.'s incredible collection of wacky album covers. Must've been collecting them for decades. Plus, there's the fun narrative that goes with them.
The 8 Balls just may be the best so far. There's almost a macabre, "American Gothic"-like quality to them.
Furious & OM-
Pretty sweet version of Level. They captured that dirty guitar groove really well there. Nice.
Somehow, I wasn't able to see the video though. Just audio. I'm gonan go see if I can find it on YouTube . . . at least before Google screws it up like everything else it touched (as any one on Blogger can tell you).
Post a Comment