Bruce Springsteen - Brilliant Disguise

halloween is a fucking childrens holiday. there is REAL terror in this song. you don't think so? put on your fucking mask and go back to the costume party. the grownups are talking.

Afghan Whigs - You my flower

"so what, you made me smile. i had smiled at lesser things before i ever thought of you."

nice.

Frank Black and Moris Tepper - I Burn Today (Henry Rollins)

i kinda feel the same way today.

So Sad About Us

Jad Fair and Lumberob at SXSW

Teenage Fanclub - The Concept

this is how i discovered teenage fanclub. 'bandwagonesque' is actually a real important album to me. i remember my own songwriting took a turn after hearing it. i saw you could be a cool rock band and still write songs that were catchy as fuck. power-pop will always be my fave music.
this is from snl. pre-nirvana. i still think it's really cool.

Can - Spoon (Live)

see? jam bands can be good!
but god damn are those germans serious.

lesson #6: the music was never ending

lets get right to it.

1. john o'dreams-christy moore's version of a bill caddick song. i've recently been getting serious about irish music. this, to my untrained ear, is a perfect irish ballad. sad, wistful, gentle. the loose arrangement (this was a tape of a rehearsal, there is a discussion toward the end of the song) give it a' that's the way it goes' feel that i like. and the lyric...sigh... 'sleep is a river, flow on forever, and for your boatman, choose old john o'dreams. nice. and christy moore's voice is something i treasure.

2. do ya-elo. really, have you heard it lately. it's everything that's great about rock. it's got bravado, vulnerability, and it's catchy as fuck! i remember i saw matthew sweet close his set with this song. it was brilliant. then he laid the guitar on an amp, walked offstage, and let it feedback for what felt like 20 minutes. that was genius.

3. one step up-bruce springsteen off of his, arguably, best album 'tunnel of love'. remember when a song like this could be a semi-hit? true it has one of springsteens most memorable melodies, but the words are brutal. 'i'm the same old story, same old act..." "when i look at myself i don't see, the man i wanted to be, somewhere along the line i slipped off the track..." then there's the devastating closing line "last night i dreamed i held you in my arms, the music was never ending, we danced as the evening sky faded to black, one step up and two step back". another one of springsteens broken dreams.

4. vfw-dead milkmen from big lizard in my backyard. cuz' sometimes i like to feel like a pissed off young man. which is totally different from how i feel most of the time.

5.i burn today-frank black. do you guys know 'honeycomb'? great album. dan penner and spooner oldham are all over it. i kind of take frank for granted so i wanted to include him here. he's always good, and always interesting. and his voice moves me on a very basic level. even when he's not screaming. he's got a new album out that's supposed to be real good. i don't have it, but i just talked myself into it!

take it for what it is.

couldn't get things right

elliott doesn't look great in this clip. doesn't sound his best either. but this song is so sad and so perfect i had to post it. elliott smith died 4 years ago today.
he makes me feel better about feeling sad.

Left Banke

like i said, i love a good pop song. one of the great all time melodies.

Archers Of Loaf - Harnessed In Slums

i often think about how bands that were really great become just footnotes in the history of rock. but, you know, this is better than any beatles or zeppelin song. shame.

Pete Townshend - Slit Skirts (live1986)

i remember when i used to think this was such a 'grown up' song. now i'm older than he was when he wrote it! still great, despite the horns...

this is a drinking song

i chose this for a couple of reasons. first, because it's one of the finest love songs ever written. you know, right>
second, because i love the transformation of pollard from drunken fool into a perfect example of what's right about the world. one second he's talking about microbrews and the next...this.

english beat-save it for later

damn, i love a good pop song.

if i'm not smiling, i'm just thinking

you have to love a song that begins "thank you kindly, for thinking of me" with a ragged 3 part harmony.

glad and sorry, happy or sad, when all is done and spoken, you're up or i'm down.

glad and sorry is the name of the song by the faces.

it strolls along, gently, good naturally, but not stupidly. it knows what it's doing and where it's going.

the piano part kinda sounds like something charlie brown and his gang would bop too.

ronnie lane wrote this. he's my current obsession.

i don't really know what to say. i came home from work and i played this song 5 times and all was clear. i'm listening to it as i type this. which is probably this makes no sense. fuck it. i'm gonna listen.

well said pt.4

Music is moonlight in the gloomy night of life. ~Jean Paul Richter

Fleetwood Mac -

one for my sister in law, who loves this song. me too. the ending is intense. hard to watch.
the mac are ok. most of their stuff is ear candy (quality ear candy, i think) but this song is like punk. raw and direct.

Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley from Austin Pickers 1984

townes suffered from depression. it's all over his face in this performance. it's almost painful to watch. he barely opens his eyes, his voice quivers, near tears, the guitar gets sloppy. through this, he creates a moment of unbearable beauty. i almost wish it hadn't been taped. but his voice with blaze foleys' is perfection.

Dee Dee Sharp-Goodnight My Love

i hum this song at least once a day.

Ronnie Lane. Ooh la la

i picked up a faces best of today and quickly learned that ronnie lane is the songwriter i've been looking for all my life.
really?
ronnie lane?

p.s. i know it cuts off a touch early but it's a great performance. isn't it?

townes van zandt-she came and she touched me

i had a series of bad dreams last night. i woke in a hateful mood.

i went for a walk in the park near me. my brain scanned and found this song.

She came and she touched me with hands made of heaven

reflections sent spinnin 'through a face laced in mist

Now I stand where she left me

buried deep 'neath her shadow

and the mirror plead sadly does it all come to this

and I wonder: Will she call my name?

The wind careens madly

through wide windows paneless

fragrancies mingle in a room full of shade

The peons pick partners

and waltz cross the ceilings

but the violins whisper that I've been betrayed

tryin not to look ashamed

The drunkards drink deeply

from cups full of nothingness

ghost lovers laugh at the games that they play

the moments do somersaults

into eternity

cling to their coattails and beg them to stay

saying I got nothing to hide

Illusions projected on walls made of Tiffany

mad menuets to a sad satin song

A harlequin mandolins

harmonize helplessly hoping that endlessly won't last for long

Praying that their God ain't dying

Then I turn and I see her

in a dress made of moonlight

teardrops like diamonds run slow down her face

her arms surround me

like chains made of velvet

and the demons fall faithfully into their place

and the rivers run with jewels

Now the morning lies open

the night went quite quickly

memory harmlessly fractures and fades

All the poets do push-ups on carpets of rubber foam

loudly they laugh at some joke that's been made

and the wise men speak like fools.

and i've felt better the rest of the day.

Richard Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights

i love a good breakup album, and "shoot out the lights" is one of the finest!
this song is harrowing. the solo is mind blowing. very un-thompson, noisy and angry. like his fingers are working against him, but he's still making a beautiful racket.
crazy.

They Might Be Giants - Lucky Ball and Chain

my fave tmbg song! no one makes you feel so good while making you feel so rotten. fellas after my own heart!

Clancy Brothers - The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

sometimes it's easy to forget we're at war.
a beautiful song. listen to it.