Friday Random Ten

There's nothing like seeing the eyes of a child delighted by the magical whimsy of music. And, indeed, this album is nothing like that.

I don't have much to add about this trainwreck, except for my fervent hope that that man is Deborah's father.

We might as well just move along to the Friday Random Ten.

1. Dead Kennedys, "Kill the Poor" -- One of Jello Biafra's subtler songs. I guess the ham-handed politics aren't surprising when you realize he wrote "California Über Alles" to mock the evil, right-wing, fascist tendencies of, uh ... Jerry Brown. Seriously? Governor Moonbeam? OK, then. 5/10

2. The Red Paintings, "Mad World" -- One of the many cover versions of the Tears for Fears classic. It's not the most well-known -- that would be the Sacre cover from the Donnie Darko soundtrack (and some new XBox ad, I think?) -- but all things considered it's almost as good. A little more emotion, but still in the creepy acoustic mood. Very nice. 8/10

3. Lou Rawls, "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" -- What a great fucking song. Not much to add about this, except if you watch the commentary tracks for the movie Anchorman, you'll be treated to a ten-minute segment where they ignore the movie and just interview Lou Rawls. He spends half his time wondering why the hell he's there. Hilarious. 9/10

4. Thom Yorke, "Black Swan" -- This is from his recent solo album, which I found pretty underwhelming. This is one of the better tracks, one that sounds like a leftover song from Kid A. Eh. 4/10

5. San Francisco Seals, "Don't Underestimate Me" -- Some rollicking indie rock from Barbara Manning. Nothing too spectacular, but solid enough. 6/10

6. Groove Armada, "My Friend" -- I think I'd like this little bit of technopop a bit more if it wasn't currently being used in 90% of the ads on TV. They're approaching Bob Seger levels of commerical overexposure. 5/10

7. Modest Mouse, "Bukowski" -- I've never actually read a single thing by Charles Bukowski and I can't say that this song makes me want to dive into his realm of assholery. Great tune, though. 8/10

8. Nina Simone, "See-Line Woman" -- Sweet. If I had to pick a paragon of musical coolness, Nina Simone would be at the top of my list. She could do it all, from heartbreaking ballads to funky soul numbers like this one. Such a great song I'm tempted to take the score up to eleven, but I'll respect the system. For now. 10/10

9. The Fugees, "Take It Easy" -- Well, there's a coincidence. Right after Nina Simone, I get a little bit of Lauryn Hill, a later-generation badass who once crooned, "So while you imitatin' Al Capone / I be Nina Simone and defecating on your microphone." One of the Fugees lesser songs, though. 5/10

10. Ray Charles, "What I'd Say?" -- I know this is a standard and one most folks might consider tired, but give it another listen. The organ work is absolutely blistering. I know subjects of Oscar-winning biopics aren't usually deemed cool, but I can live with your scorn. 8/10

Well, that gives me a 6.8 average. That means I'm more than two-thirds cool! I bet I could make Deborah happy. Well, two-thirds happy. Bemused, I guess.

Alright, let's see what you've got. Feel free to drop your own FRT in the comments, with or without the coolness self-audit. Or just mock me for my Bizzaro Ratings where the DKs aren't cool and Ray Charles is.