At long last, I'm proud to present the many, many, many facets of Roger. Those moods, clockwise from the upper left, are apparently sleazy, skeezy, cheesy, saucy, spacy, and hey, who farted? Look upon them, ye who enter here, and marvel! Bask in the might of their awesome power and their infinite variety!Alright, time for the Friday Random Ten:
1. Midlake, "Young Bride" -- Holy shit, what a great start. I just discovered this band, and I do believe I'm smitten. Midlake sounds like an odd blend of the airy vocals of Electric Light Orchestra, the offbeat oldschool instrumentation of Arcade Fire and Camper Van Beethoven, the bass and drum beats of the Strokes, and a mystery ingredient that I do believe is Krusty Brand Children's Cough Syrup. Whatever it is, it works. Seriously, stop reading this right now and go listen to this on iTunes. And then listen to their song "Roscoe" too. Wash, rinse, repeat. 10/10
2. Peter Gabriel, "Digging in the Dirt" -- Alright, I've been outed as a closet Gabriel fan. This is a nice funky number from Us, which I think is going to be used as the theme song for the new Courteney Cox show on F/X. Nice choice, folks. 8/10
3. Sam Cooke, "Little Girl" -- He may have been the Man Who Invented Soul, but this is a pretty lame standard number. Eh. 4/10
4. Amy Winehouse, "Rehab" -- Winehouse is apparently the shite right now over in the U.K., a white Brit R&B star who sounds a little like Mary J. Blige and has all the sauciness you'd expect. Plus, it's a song about resisting an intervention. Awesome. 7/10
5. Encore, "It's Time" -- This little hiphop number is catchy as hell. I don't know much about Encore, but if this is a representative sample, I may need to see if they have a promotional pamphlet or the like. 9/10
6. John Lee Hooker, "Back Biters and Syndicators" -- This bluemaster's blood is 100% Type Cool Positive. 10/10
7. The Beatles, "Penny Lane" -- While I like Magical Mystery Tour, this is a song I remember our dirty filthy hippie music instructor used to have us sing in grade school. Plus, it's a Paul song. It is, therefore, irretrievably uncool. 1/10
8. Beck, "The New Pollution" -- Ah, yes, that'll cleanse the palette nicely. Beck may have been seduced by the Dark Side of Scientology, but he's still putting out incredible music. This is from Odelay, which is now my second-favorite CD of his, right behind the life-affirming, thetan-crushing genius of Guero. 7/10
9. Carly Simon, "Why?" -- In my defense, this comes from a CD of music sampled for hiphop tunes. And yet, even I still think I deserve your scorn. 1/10
10. Django Reinhardt, "Blues Clair" -- Good Lord, could that Belgian gypsy play. Reinhardt's skills let him do a wide variety of things with a guitar -- from blistering fretwork to plunking rarely-heard chords, to even making and deep-frying fresh julianned potatoes! Amazing. 10/10
Man, I was all over the place today. I've seen the dizzying highs, the terrifying lows, and the creamy middles. And once again, I wind up two-thirds cool with a 6.7 average.
Let's see what you've got. Drop your own FRT in the comments, or whatever other musical snark you'd like to spread.
8 comments:
Despite lots of big changes in my life, my love for totally awesome music has never faltered. Behold!
1) Yes - Time and a Word. Kinda sappy. 8/10
2) WASP/NIB - Sabbath. Totally crazy freakin' awesome! Love the Geezer solo. 11/10
3) Territories - Rush. From their 10% more pansy album, Power Windows. Too much keyboard, Geddy. 5/10
4) I've Had Enough - Who. I've had enough of Quadrophenia, that's for sure. Must delete. 2/10
5) Dusty - Soundgarden. One of the few SG tunes I really don't like. 3/10
6) That's the Way (live) - Zepplin. They can't all be Stairway. 1/10
7) Excerpts from the 6 Wives of Henry the 8th - Rick Wakeman. Now this guy knows how to make some keyboard love! 7/10
8) Keep on Loving You - REO. Very confusing. He calls his girlfriend a snake coiled up in the grass and hissing, yet he wants to keep on loving her. Dude's desperate. 8/10
9) Candy Store Rock - Zepplin. Not great, but it gets the bad taste of "That's the Way" out of my mouth. 6/10
10) Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull. Okay, new bad taste in my mouth, kind of like cigarette ashes mixed with raisins. 1/10
Hmm. These songs are not as rockin as I'd expected.
I really like "Roscoe," but it never occurred to me to look for other stuff by Midlake. I'll put that on the ol' to-do list.
Have you heard Stylophone? They're sort of like a cross between T. Rex and Thin Lizzy, although not nearly as good. But still, it's better than most of the other crap that's out there.
That "Rehab" song is pretty awesome. I just found it the other day.
Excerpts from the 6 Wives of Henry the 8th - Rick Wakeman.
Ah, so you're the guy who owns that. Mystery solved. Creepy, but solved.
Stylophone, eh? If they're even remotely Lizzyish, I'm in.
Thrill, baby, great to have you back at the FRT. Not for the tunes, necessarily, but for the . . . (warning, Zep reference) Presence.
Did I spell that correctly?
I actually knew a guy at college who liked Prog Rock and he was into the 6Ws of H8. And that's all I have to say there.
Not even a good Rush tune from you this week. Maybe you are a bit out of practice.
OM, not sure what was funnier, the album cover or your write-up. Good one this week. And yes, that Belgian Gypsy could play some mo fo guitar!
Love Django even more than I love Nina. And if she was alive she'd come kick my ass for saying so.
(Django, on the other hand, wouldn't have cared either way. Not sure he knew he had fans.)
otto man- my favorite Beck album is One Foot in the Grave. I recommend you acquire it...posthaste!
And now, my FRT. Shazzam!
1)Luscious Jackson- Faith. Damn that's smooth! Mellow, but I'm in a mellow mood at the moment, so it's OK! (8/10)
2)Soundgarden- Show Me. From the No Alternative CD, on wich there is no weak track...so I guess, by default, this rocks. D-FAULT! D-FAULT! D-FAULT! (Better than 'Dusty', at any rate). (8/10)
3)Manic Depression- Jimi Hendrix. Pro'ly my favorite Hendrix song of all time. Hendrix is god...I'm surprised he didn't rise from the dead after choking on his puke. Hmmm, I wonder how the institution of Christianity would have turned out if Jesus had died that way... (10/10)
4)In the Cold, Cold Night- White Stripes. Who says Jack White is an egomaniac? He let Meg have a whole song all to herself! She delivers on it, too. (7/10)
5)Corvette Bummer- Beck. Whoa, speak of the Scientologist! This awesome song is off of the Loser EP import...so I think I'm gonna have to give myself +1 for indie cred. (9/10)
6)Breaking the Split Screen Barrier- The Amps. Kim Deal's project after the Breeders. Is it good? you ask. It's Kim Deal, dumbass. What do you think? I reply. (9/10)
7)Slow Like Honey- Fiona Apple. A little of the good old torchsongery. Very nice! (8/10)
8)I Am Punch- Soundbull. Local Minneapolis band I'm not sure anyone has ever heard of. Too bad, they're pretty good. Maybe not plaque good, but good nonetheless. (7/10)
9)I Walk the Line- Johnny Cash. Oh yeah, he's the man! The man that sticks it to The Man, man! Near perfect song. (9/10)
10)Floyd the Barber- Nirvana. Ooo...old school grunge! Pretty good, too. A little disturbing, too. (7/10)
What rhymes with WOO-HOO? 8.2, that's what.
Good run there, SSB. No inflated scoring either, you earned that one.
Imagine Fiona doing "Cold, Cold Night"? Need tissues?
my favorite Beck album is One Foot in the Grave. I recommend you acquire it...posthaste!
Not my favorite, but certainly a worthwhile choice. And I'm solidly pro-Amps.
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