Day 96: Wildcard (21)

This week's Wildcard is a compilation of the past 20 weeks of Wildcards. I chose 1 song from each list. And one bonus video. Enjoy! (Note: I'm not assembling anything else this week [vacation]) Take it easy!

YouTube:
01. Andrew Gold - Lonely Boy
02. MF Doom - Rhymes Like Dimes
03. Bedouin Soundclash - St. Andrews
04. Can - Vitamin C
05. Lucinda Williams - Right in Time
06. Television - Venus
07. Black Milk (feat. Royce Da 5'9") - Losing Out
08. Butthole Surfers - Pepper
09. Blondie - 11:59
10. Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street
11. The Streets - Don't Mug Yourself
12. EPMD - Richter Scale
13. Phil Collins - Take Me Home
14. The Ronettes - Be My Baby
15. Warren Zevon - Acidentally Like A Martyr
16. Pharrell - Angel
17. LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge
18. The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year
19. Belle & Sebastian - I'm A Cuckoo
20. Hüsker Dü - Celebrated Summer

imeem: External:

Day 96: Wildcard (21)

-Erik

(Image by Art G., Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 91: The Atomic Age

On this day in 1945, I would argue, America began a course of destructive events that would strip the world of its innocence forever; somewhere in the American Southwest the Trinity Nuclear test laid the groundwork for the technology that would be used in Nagasaki & Hiroshima.

When I say stripping mankind of its innocence, I mean it in the sense of not only an unprecedented capacity for mass destruction, but an ability for that destruction to be completely remote and impersonal. There is no understating the barbarism and brutality of war, but the ability to take the lives of 200,000 people in a single day without setting foot in the city escalated mankind's potential for chaos.

This chaos, this unbridled ability for carnage, permeated nearly every aspect of society, especially music. The loss of innocence and Cold War tensions were manifested heavily in (obviously) metal and punk, but surprisingly in pop music. I've put together a list of 10 songs about nuclear war. Enjoy.

YouTube:
01. Genesis - Land of Confusion
02. Randy Newman - Political Science (Raaaaaaaandy!!!)
03. The Clash - Stop the World (Not the greatest song by any means, but the lyrics are pretty phenomenal)
04. Can - Mushroom
05. Ozzy Osbourne - Thank God for the Bomb
06. Nuclear Assault - Critical Mass
07. Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes to Midnight
08. Nena - 99 Red Balloons
09. The Specials - Man at C&A
10. The Postal Service - We Will Become Silhouettes

imeem: External:

Day 91: The Atomic Age

Duck & Cover,
Erik

Video:


(Image by Jhayne, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 66: Krautrock

This week's genre tour is Krautrock; an interesting music experiment that existed primarily in Germany, obviously, in the late 60s and early 70s. Drawing influences from all over the place from pop music and jazz to bands like the Velvet Underground, Krautrock laid the groundwork for heaps of other genres (electronic, some hip-hop, ambient, post punk, etc.)

Now, Krautrock isn't for everyone. A lot of it is based on minimalism and repetition, which doesn't appeal to most. But be patient with it.

I've assembled a list of what I consider some essential introductions to the genre, in order to provide a decent cross-section to get a full feel of the breadth of Krautrock (it does not all sound the same). I am greatly indebted to the A.V. Club and its readers, for this article, which really helped flesh out the list.

YouTube:
01. Tangerine Dream - Sequent C
02. Harmonia - Notre Dame
03. Can - Mushroom
04. Faust - Jennifer
05. Amon Düül II - Deutsch Nepal
06. Kraftwerk - Ruckzuck
07. NEU! - Negativland
08. Popol Vuh - Through Pain to Heaven
09. Embryo - Ticket to India (N/A)
10. Agitation Free - Laila
11. Cluster - Marzipan (N/A)
12. Ash Ra Tempel - Day Dream
13. Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

imeem: External:

Day 66: Krautrock

Auf Wiedersehen,
Erik

Bonus Video!


(Image by Aenneken, Licensed Under Creative Commons)

Day 50: David Bowie

Wow! Day 50 already!? This week's artist spotlight is Mr. David Bowie. AKA: Dave Jay. AKA: Ziggy Stardust. AKA: The Thin White Duke. AKA: Major Tom. AKA: Aladdin Sane. AKA: Halloween Jack. Whatever his name, Bowie is a music man and a credit to his industry.

Glamorous, Androgynous, and Brilliant, Bowie's work has spanned over four decades and included nearly 30 albums. What makes him so special is his ability to be both artistically credible among critics and popular with a mass audience.

I've boiled down his career into 20 of my favorite of his songs (no easy feat). Some are more poppy, some more experimental. Some hits, some deeper cuts. But all of it great. Enjoy! As a side note, I'm not entirely convinced that Bowie isn't actually from space. Just sayin'.

YouTube:
(All songs by David Bowie)
01. Queen Bitch
02. Panic In Detroit
03. Suffragette City
04. The Man Who Sold the World
05. Space Oddity
06. Ashes to Ashes
07. Saviour Machine (N/A on imeem, "Motel" instead)
08. Subterraneans
09. Fantastic Voyage
10. Starman
11. Lady Grinning Soul
12. Look Back In Anger
13. Station to Station
14. Rebel Rebel
15. The Bewlay Brothers
16. Some Are
17. Teenage Wildlife
18. China Girl
19. Young Americans
20. Life On Mars? (Possibly my favorite song of all time)

imeem: External:

Day 50: David Bowie

Pretty Far Out,
Erik

(Also: I've reached my limit of songs I can upload to imeem without upgrading to VIP. So we'll see what happens from here. I may use 8tracks a bit more often here and there for songs I can't find on imeem.)

Bonus Vids!


Seems Obvious, But:


(Image by Observe The Banana, Licensed Under Creative Commons)