It's a whole new month in The Listening Room. What a perfect excuse to refresh your iPods with some new music. Perfect may be overstating things a bit. It is as much an excuse as I would ever need. Do you need some suggestions? We've got them.
These may not be the best songs ever, they may not even be our favorites, but they kept us entertained last week. You could do worse than to try a few of them out and see what they do for you.
DJRadiohead: "Running the World" from Jarvis by Jarvis Cocker
I was very late to the Pulp party, to the point where I am only now buying their proper albums. I have been listening to This is Hardcore and We Love Life over and over. I recently got a copy of the UK-only solo album from frontman Jarvis Cocker, Jarvis as well as Pulp's Different Class (Deluxe Edition).
Among the many wonderful songs on Jarvis is a song I am now claiming as my official mantra for a new political party I am forming. It's a little "lefty" for me but it reflects my anti-authority leanings. The BBC banned this song. It should also be noted, friends, that it uses a word that means very different things in the US and the UK. Jarvis is using it in the UK sense.
A. Hathaway: “Machine” from Awake by Josh Groban
Guilty pleasure week. Actually, I haven't been listening to anything until Friday night. But, I put the song on repeat and listened to it five or six times so maybe that makes up for Sunday through Thursday.
A departure from what he usually belts. Has much more of a pop feel to the song. A little fast paced. I didn't like it at first, but as this type of thing usually goes, it grew on me. I know Josh Groban isn't for everyone. Well, unless you are female and between the ages of 12 and 55. I have a feeling most people, fan or not, wouldn't like this song — but I do. So there!
Pico: "Draconian Blump" from Nonkertompf by Mike Keneally
Out of a true grab bag of spontaneous, totally instrumental ideas — "songs" makes it sound too well-formed — comes a track that's highly reminiscent of Miles' In A Silent Way-era experimentations. It's more amazing when you consider that this wasn't a bunch of seasoned musicians getting together to bounce ideas off each other; Keneally played all the instruments and dubbed them together. While Mike is better known as a shredder (he was a stunt guitarist for Zappa), his guitar here is pure pre-Mahavishnu John McLaughlin. Not even Johnny Mac himself plays such incisive guitar like that anymore and it's a pity.
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Article comments
1 - Pico
"Future Games", now there's a blast from the past. But not quite that far back.
You see, I picked up Bob Welch's fine, overlooked 1979 solo release The Other One when it came out and he remade that song for this album. I've since heard the original, but I'm still partial to the later rendition. It just sounds a bit more developed to me. But regardless, a good song.
2 - Pico
Oh, and where's that slacker Saleski?? ;&)
3 - DJRadiohead
"Hypnotized" might be my favorite Fleetwood Mac song ever, and it will never be included on any compilation.
4 - Glen Boyd
Future Games and Hypnotized are both amazing songs. I stil prefer the original on Future Games though, though the remake is also good. That whole era gets really overshadowed by the Nicks/Buckingham era (as do the Danny Kirwan and Peter Green eras). Too bad too--lotta great music there thats been mostly undiscovered by most who weren't around to hear it the first time.
-Glen
5 - Holly Hughes
Lisa, I'm with you on "Basher." I came late to Nick Lowe and that was my introduction. I have since bought every album the guy ever made (including all the "unofficial" Rockpile albums released as Dave Edmunds LPs) -- and that has meant hunting for a lot of out-of-print CDs, which I (ahem) was compelled to acquire from some less-than-strictly-legal sources.
I still hang on to "Basher" for sentimental reasons, but I now notice that it selected the more popular, more commercial, safer tracks from his albums. Lowe's range is incredible, everything from folk rock to punk to R&B to alt-country, and as I delved deeper, some of the most obscure tracks have become my favorites, and you won't find them on "Basher." Still, that's the usual "greatest hits" issue -- with some artists it's a useful winnowing of the material, with others it's like a movie trailer that gives away all the best lines.
For somebody who never set himself up as an artiste, the quality of Nick Lowe's output over the years is astounding. The fact that he's not more well-known is just criminal.
6 - DJRadiohead
I had never heard "Hypnotized" until I was working at a classic rock station in college. Great song.
7 - DJRadiohead
I know it's a little off topic, but every time I see the band name Black Flag I think of the Kings' X song of the same name.