Day 60: Colin Meloy

I'm gonna have to start doing some older artists to spotlight. I appear to have a theme going with newer artists. But, I guess you write about what you know.

This week's artist spotlight is Colin Meloy, frontman of The Decemberists and Tarkio and well-documented logophile. His songs are wordy and often times head-shakingly obscure, but somehow they manage to resonate on a deeper level than the surface story. Part of that has to do with his vocals, which really emote the emotional depth to the yarns he spins.

I've assembled a list of songs he's done from Tarkio to The Decemberists. I was debating whether or not to include his cover series (Morrissey, Sam Cooke and Shirley Collins) but decided against it. With so many good songs that he wrote, why pick ones he didn't?

YouTube:
(All songs by The Decemberists unless otherwise noted)
01. July, July!
02. Tarkio - Keeping Me Awake
03. Valerie Plame
04. California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade
05. Sons and Daughters
06. On the Bus Mall
07. Tarkio - Tristan and Iseult
08. Red Right Ankle
09. Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
10. O Valencia
11. The Bagman's Gambit
12. The Rake's Song
13. Raincoat Song
14. The Crane Wife 1 and 2
15. Song for Myla Goldberg
16. Apology Song
17. Tarkio - Caroline Avenue (N/A on imeem, "I Know Very Well How I Got My Name" instead)
18. Margaret in Captivity
19. The Sporting Life
20. Tarkio - Better Half

imeem: External:

Day 60: Colin Meloy

Fondly,
Erik

Bonus Vids!


And I know I said no covers, but:


(Image by Matthew Hickey, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 59: LSD, Man

Alright druggies, today is your day. Set up your black lights. It's time to expand your minds.

I'll never claim to be an expert on psychedelics, but on this day in 1943, Dr. Albert Hofmann first discovered the psychedelic effects of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD). For this day I've assembled a list of songs that will either mellow you out or blow your mind, depending on what type of trip you're having. Enjoy, man.

YouTube:
01. Pink Floyd - Time
02. Outkast - Love Hater
03. The Dukes of Stratosphear - Collideascope
04. The Velvet Underground - Heroin
05. Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes
06. 13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me
07. Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child
08. Tim Buckley - Starsailor
09. Radiohead - Motion Picture Soundtrack
10. Sigur Ros - Hjartad Hamast
11. Elliott Smith - Ostriches & Chirping
12. DJ QBert - Inner Space Dental Commander
13. Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
14. Neutral Milk Hotel - Marching Theme
15. The Beatles - A Day In The Life (N/A on imeem, "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow" instead)
16. This Heat - Independence (N/A)
17. Jonny Greenwood - Henry Plainview
18. Miles Davis - Black Satin
19. J Dilla - Won't Do
20. Beach Boys - Vegetables
21. King Crimson - In the Court of King Crimson

imeem: External:

Day 59: LSD

Far Out,
Erik

Bonus Videos!


And


And Finally


(Image By Dave, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 58: Wildcard (12)

Greetings All! This week's Wildcard has a bunch of good songs (in my opinion, of course). I hope you enjoy it. For those new to the blog, the schedule/format can be found here. And old Wildcards can be found here.

YouTube:
01. The Thermals - Here's Your Future
02. Kate Nash - Foundations
03. Coconut Records - Minding My Own Business
04. Blackstreet (feat. Dr. Dre) - No Diggity (It's available on imeem. But there's also an a capella version, which is oddly sweet, that can be found here.)
05. Jamiroquai - Cosmic Girl
06. The Gap Band - You Dropped The Bomb On Me
07. Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Love Land (N/A, man, great song)
08. EPMD - Richter Scale
09. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Festival Thyme (N/A)
10. Windmill - Tokyo Moon (N/A on imeem, "Fit" instead)
11. Band of Horses - Is There A Ghost
12. The Early November - Decoration (Man, this band got a really bad reputation)
13. Broken Social Scene - Almost Crimes
14. Bush - Everything Zen
15. Bad Company - Bad Company
16. Billy Idol - Dancing With Myself
17. Constantines - Brother Run Them Down (N/A, and N/A on imeem ["Hard Feelings" instead]. For some reason this song is harder to find than it should be. Listen to it as Last.fm here.)
18. Little Brother (feat. Darien Brockington) - Slow It Down
19. Paula Abdul - Straight Up
20. Yes - Your Move (Awesome version, with "All Good People")

imeem: External:

Day 58: Wildcard (12)

Thinkin' of a Master Plan,
Erik

Bonus Vid!


(Image By Tuffer, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 57: The Dictionary

Wow, a lot of things happened on this day in history: Lincoln was shot, the Donner Party set off on their voyage, the Titanic hit the iceberg, Lars Ulrich filed a lawsuit against Napster, etc... The event I think makes for the most fodder for a list, however, occurred in 1828, when Noah Webster copyrighted his first edition of the Dictionary.

To celebrate this event, I've assembled a list of songs containing impressive words. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to make your voice heard! And enjoy.

YouTube:
01. Elvis Costello - Radio, Radio
Word: anaesthetise
02. Deep Puddle Dynamics - The Scarecrow Speaks
Words: eloquence, halfheartedly, clearheadedness, cadence, enunciation, pretentiousness
03. The Decemberists - Los Angeles, I'm Yours (Colin Meloy is impressive)
Words: oligarchs, truncated, demure, elan, languor, divans, dalliant, dolor, iniquity, abhor, retching
04. Aesop Rock - Dryspell
Words: descension, polarized, symmetricating, opulence, sardonically, zephyr
05. Lou Reed - The Original Wrapper
Words: sanctimonious, pugnacious, lugubrious
06. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks (Cover Only [but a really good cover])
Words: slipstream, viaducts, avarice
07. Donovan - Atlantis
Word: antediluvian
08. Bruce Hornsby - Spider Fingers (N/A on imeem, "Tessellate" instead)
Word: prestidigitation
09. The Hold Steady - Sequestered In Memphis
Words: subpoenaed, sequestered
10. Bruce Springsteen - Blinded By The Light
Words: calliope, fleshpot, bombardier, avatar

imeem: External:

Day 57: The Dictionary

See, Now You're Smarter,
Erik

Bonus Vids!!

Word: tessellate

And

Word: bon vivant

(Image by John Keogh, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 56: Alternative Rock/Protogrunge

This week's genre tour comes by request from a friend of mine; he wanted an Alternative Rock-type list, so I tried to come up with some jams. What he was asking for is a relatively narrow genre that pretty much only existed in the 80s during the era between the post-punk movement and the rise of grunge.

Early Alternative had a relatively broad range of sound from more noise in bands like Sonic Youth to more folk in groups like the Violent Femmes. The list is sort of short, but I think it encapsulates the genre pretty well.

YouTube:
01. The Replacements - Unsatisfied
02. R.E.M. - So. Central Rain
03. Meat Puppets - Plateau (N/A on imeem, "Original Love" by The Feelies instead)
04. Pixies - Debaser
05. Pavement - Old to Begin (N/A)
06. Dinosaur Jr. - Little Furry Things (N/A on imeem, "No Bones" instead)
07. Violent Femmes - Add It Up
08. Throwing Muses - Not Too Soon
09. Hüsker Dü - Never Talking to You Again
10. Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot

imeem: External:

Day 56: Alternative Rock

Soy Bomb,
Erik

Bonus Vid:


(Image by Heather Powazek, Licensed Under Creative Commons)