Best of the Week: March 23-27

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Have a Great Weekend,
Erik

Day 45: Sufjan Stevens

This week's artist spotlight is modern-day songsmith Sufjan Stevens. In my opinion he is one of the best musicians/songwriters around these days (even though he hasn't released a legitimate album in about 4 years).

His brand of baroque pop deals with the history and struggles of America. Whether conflicts of tribes and settlers or personal conflicts of faith and family, his music illuminates both what we see outside and what we see when we look inward.

I've compiled my list of favorite tracks here. He may not have a lot of albums, but he certainly has a lot of great songs. (imeem came through pretty surprisingly; a few of these songs are really rare. The only one it didn't have was "Ring Them Bells," a Bob Dylan cover done for the film I'm Not There. The imeem list includes "You Are The Blood," a Castanets cover off of Dark Was The Night instead.)

YouTube:
(All Songs By Sufjan Stevens, Unless Otherwise Noted)
01. The Star-Spangled Banner (Francis Scott Key) and Amazing Grace (By John Newton)
02. Say Yes! To Michigan
03. That Dress Looks Nice On You
04. Happy Birthday
05. Casimir Pulaski Day
06. Opie's Funeral Song
07. Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Step-Mother!
08. The Mistress Witch from McClure (or, The Mind That Knows Itself) (Sufjan starts at around 6:20)
09. In the Devil's Territory
10. Adlai Stevenson
11. Come On! Feel The Illinoise!: Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition/Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream
12. We're Goin' to the Country! (Cover only...)
13. To Be Alone With You
14. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (Most disturbing song ever? It could be argued.)
15. Majesty Snowbird
16. For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti
17. No Man's Land
18. Romulus
19. Woman at the Well
20. Ring Them Bells (By Bob Dylan)

imeem: External:

Day 45: Sufjan Stevens

God'll Ne'er Let You Down,
Erik

Bonus Vids!

#50.2 - Sufjan Stevens - The Lakes of Canada
by lablogotheque

And


(Image by Joe Lencioni, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 44: Spring's Been Springing

This list is a little late, but still in a respectable timeframe to be relevant. Last Friday was officially the first day of Spring. Today's list is my Spring mix.

Spring is the hardest season to make a list for; and the hardest to make artsy. With Fall and Winter you can work a lot of sad songs into the mix (and coincidentally a lot of emotional music like folk or indie, for example), because they're pretty sad seasons. Summer can also have some darker songs in it, because Summer is hot and mischievous and miserable, not unlike Hell. But Spring, Spring is happy. Spring is the end of sadness and cold and the rebirth of green and vegetation and flowers; not a whole lot to hate here (it's a season for Pop music). Spring is the season in which one falls in love. So the list reflects this.

Seasonal mixes are purely subjective, so don't hate on this list if you have a totally different definition of what constitutes a good Spring song. With that little disclaimer, here's my list. Get Happy!!!

YouTube:
01. The Hush Sound - We Intertwined
02. Catch 22 - Motown Cinderella
03. Billy Joel - Tell Her About It
04. Regina Spektor - Us (She's the best)
05. Ben Folds - Zak and Sara (He's the best)
06. Outkast - Hey Ya! (The best pop song of the new millennium? It could be argued.)
07. The Beatles - Getting Better
08. The Cure - Boys Don't Cry
09. Belle & Sebastian - Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying (Scottish as fuck)
10. Feist - 1234
11. OK Go - Here It Goes Again
12. Smash Mouth - All Star (Oh shit! The Dane Train?!)
13. The Smiths - This Charming Man
14. Tegan & Sara - Back In Your Head (Man, this song is better when you don't have to look at them)
15. Vampire Weekend - Walcott
16. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get
17. Jens Lekman - Kanske Ar Jag Kär I Dig (What a cool version!)
18. Ryan Shaw - We Got Love
19. Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance
20. Prince - Raspberry Beret (N/A, really?!)
21. of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
22. The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
23. Simon & Garfunkel - 59th St. Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (Is that a didgeridoo? And some sort of bizarre melodica? It's like a crazy Seuss concert!)
24. Spiral Staircase - More Today Than Yesterday
25. Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday

imeem: External:

Day 44: Spring Mix

Spring!!
-Erik

Bonus Vids!


And, we can't forget, Spring is a rainy season:


(Image by Pamela Heywood, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 43: Wildcard (9)

Yay! A new Wildcard! If you're new to this blog. I encourage you to go back and Check out the last 8 Wildcards. I don't think you'll be 100% disappointed. Now for this week's: a lot of newer (last 1-2 years) music. I hope you enjoy.

YouTube:
01. Jackson 5 - (Stop!) The Love You Save
02. People Under the Stairs - Swan Fever
03. Streetlight Manifesto - 9mm and a 3-Piece Suit
04. Fall Out Boy - 20 Dollar Nose Bleed
05. Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy
06. Noah and the Whale - 2 Atoms in a Molecule
07. Dave Clark Five - Till The Right One Comes Along
08. Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why (This Video is Perfect)
09. Calexico - Sonic Wind
10. Wilco - Far, Far Away
11. Collective Soul - Shine
12. The Uglysuit - Chicago
13. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Think I Wanna Die
14. Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
15. Bishop Allen - Rain
16. Blondie - 11:59
17. Elton John - Someone Saved My Life Tonight
18. Joni Mitchell - California (Cool Performance! And I think everyone has an aunt that looks like Joni Mitchell.)
19. Ludacris (feat. Common & Spike Lee) - Do The Right Thang
20. Dan Deacon - Snookered

imeem: External:

Day 43: Wildcard (9)

That Felt Good,
Erik

Bonus Vid! This Had Been Stuck In My Head So Bad!!

Rob Roy "Fur In My Cap" Directed By Ethan Lader

(Image by Phil Hilfiker, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 42: The Unfu**ables

I apologize for the ambiguity of the title, but I wanted to keep it PG-13. This list is a dedication to ugly musicians. Those who, despite being musically gifted, may still have to pay/beg for sex on occasion. And there's no shame in it. Ugly people can be great talents.

Why this list today? Well, today is Ric Ocasek's 60th (!) birthday. For those unaware, Ric Ocasek was the ghoulish frontman of The Cars. I've sort of had the concept for this list in the back of my head for a while, but didn't have the time to pull it out. But here's my chance.

A quick note: There's a difference between being ugly and aging poorly. A lot of people consider Keith Richards ugly, but I disagree. Because back in the 60s he wasn't that ugly. Going by these standards we could judge Justin Timberlake on the same plane as John Lennon's corpse. That just doesn't seem fair. If at your most attractive you're still relatively horrifying, then you're ugly. And it's OK. Be proud of who you are.

Also, physical deformities are NOT exempt. I don't care if you were born with bad bone structure, a second face, or Marfan Syndrome (two people on the list): I sympathize with you, but it doesn't make you any less ugly.

Finally, what do we do about women? It was tough for me to come up with any girls for the list. People usually go right to Patti Smith, because she's kind of awful now. But she's like a female Keith Richards; in the 60s she was just fine. Adele? I mean she's bigger. But if she lost the weight she could be pretty cute. She has a nice face. Amy Winehouse? Yeah, she's horrifying now because of drugs. But, when she was on the top of her game, she was kind of a babe in her own way. So let it go... And here we go:

YouTube:
01. Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated (Joey Ramone)
02. Lyle Lovett - If I Had A Boat (Lyle Lovett)
03. Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened (Bradford Cox)
04. Motörhead - Overkill (Lemmy Kilmister)
05. Kiss - Lick It Up (They were all fuck ugly, but especially Gene Simmons)
06. Pogues - Dirty Old Town (Shane MacGowan)
07. Rush - Fly By Night (Geddy Lee)
08. Public Enemy - Fight the Power (Flavor Flav)
09. Steely Dan - Kid Charlemagne (Donald Fagan, only because he kind of looks like Rick Springfield with a melting face in this picture)
10. Dio - Rainbow in the Dark (Ronnie James Dio [PS Note how he signs headshots])
11. System of a Down - Aerials (The Whole Band)
12. Marilyn Manson - The Dope Show (Marilyn Manson [ugly even without all the makeup])
13. Lil Jon - Stop Fuckin' Wit Me (Lil Jon, haha)
14. Asia - Heat of the Moment (Steve Howe)
15. The Cars - You Might Think (Ric Ocasek)

imeem: External:

Day 42: The Unfu**ables

Go Take A Shower,
Erik

Videos of some Excluded but not Forgotten!


And Finally.


(Image by Jim Loter, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 41: Hip-Hop (1)

This week's genre tour is hip-hop. But this hip-hop genre tour is a little different, because it's done by (mostly) white people. I wanted to do a hip-hop list, but I didn't know how to refine it. I thought maybe East Coast/West Coast, and that may happen down the road, but I figured white rap is a pretty special genre in itself. Now don't give me shit because these guys aren't all the traditional definition of white guys. Brother Ali for example: I don't care if you're born to Wesley Snipes and that chick from A View to A Kill, if you're albino, you're white. With that said:

YouTube:
01. Beastie Boys - What Comes Around
02. Brother Ali - Dorian
03. Atmosphere - Guns & Cigarettes
04. Dirt Nasty - 1980
05. Deep Puddle Dynamics - I Am Hip-Hop (Move the Crowd)
06. Cage - Shoot Frank
07. El-P - Up All Night
08. Andre Legacy - Mondrian
09. Eminem - As the World Turns
10. Eyedea & Abilities - Kept
11. Fort Minor - S.C.O.M (N/A on imeem, "Dolla" instead)
12. Mickey Avalon - Jane Fonda
13. Sole - Tourist Trapeze (N/A)
14. Aesop Rock - Battery
15. Sage Francis - Runaways

imeem: External:

Day 41: Hip-Hop (1)

Whiteness,
Erik

Bonus Vid (good shit!):


(Image by white_fundude, Licensed Under Creative Commons)