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Top-10
Monday, July 20, 2009
Top 10 Songs for the Moon; or, Songs to Make up for NASA's Loss of the Apollo 11 Footage (with video!)
Posted by Leilani Polk on Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 5:20 PM
Last Thursday, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to land on the Moon, NASA came out with the embarrassing news that it had somehow, over the years, managed to record over America's most important historical footage of said trip to the Moon's surface. You know, the famous footage of Neil Armstrong's "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," the one that all those conspiracy theorists say is faked Wag the Dog style? Yeah, that footage.
(Apparently, in the 1970s and '80s, NASA had a shortage of tapes, so it erased about 200,000 of them and reused them, including ones documenting the historical event.)
Luckily, NASA's news came with a Hollywood saves-the-day solution: those crafty preservationists who restored Casablanca are digitally sharpening and cleaning up grainy footage of the moon landing taken from four sources NASA scrounged from around the world. The results are said to be better than what TV viewers witnessed on July 20, 1969, and according to senior NASA engineer Dick Nafzger, "There's nothing being created; there's nothing being manufactured."
In honor of NASA's royal fuck-up, I've made up a playlist of songs dedicated to the moon. There are a great deal more than 10, and some are rather obvious, but headlines are better with nice round numbers ... and interesting how many of these songs were produced in the '70's. I guess a mission to the moon will inspire that sort of creativity.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Top 10 keyboardists, ever (with video).
Posted by Leilani Polk on Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 6:14 PM
Several days ago, while watching Marco Benevento fire up his piano on a YouTube video, I got to thinking --
He's among the most talented keyboardists around right now, in my humble opinion. He's pretty hip to current technology and usually incorporates it into his compositions. I've seen him play in his main band with drummer Joe Russo, the Benevento/Russo Duo, I've seen him perform as part of a Led Zeppelin tribute, Bustle in Your Hedgerow, I've seen him tear it up with Russo, Mike Gordon and Trey Anastasio during the GRAB tour, and I've seen him in his solo project, a trio with badass bassist Reed Mathis and drummer Matt Chamberlain. The following video Marco with his trio playing "Twin Killers" from a May 13 show in Philly.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Songs for hurricane season
Posted by autopsy4 on Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 7:03 PM
This is an annual post that I do on ninebullets.net that I thought I'd crosspost over here this year.
Ana, Bill, Claudette, Danny, Erika, Fred, Grace, Henri, Ida, Joaquin, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor & Wanda.
Those are this year’s list of hurricane names. There are six lists that rotate and they do not change unless there is a hurricane that is so devastating that the name is retired, then another name replaces it. Today is the official beginning of the 2009 Hurricane Season. Unless you live on the East or Gulf Coast, Hurricane Season probably doesn’t mean shit to you until we're knee deep in shit and CNN is into full sprint with their 24 hour coverage.
Monday, April 20, 2009
It's 420, time for another Top 10 list! Sorry, it's late -- what'd you expect?
Posted by Leilani Polk on Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 8:14 PM
It's 420. Another chance for a songlist. This one I think should be kinda special, since there's been 420 songlists since the dawn of mankind. Or since people started making lists and smoking pot and using "420" as code for pot-smoking. Ironic that by the time I get this thing up, it will actually be right around 4:20 p.m.
For those who are curious, the origins of the number 420 are smoke-shrouded in urban legend. I found a few things today in honor of the unofficial holiday, but my fave is the thoughtful piece by the Huffington Post on the meaning of 420. Not so surprising that the Grateful Dead were at least partially responsible for 420's propagation into pot culture. Here's an excerpt:
It was Christmas week in Oakland, 1990. Steven Bloom was wandering through The Lot - that timeless gathering of hippies that springs up in the parking lot before every Grateful Dead concert - when a Deadhead handed him a yellow flyer."We are going to meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais," reads the message, which Bloom dug up and forwarded to the Huffington Post. Bloom, then a reporter for High Times magazine and now the publisher of CelebStoner.com and co-author of Pot Culture, had never heard of "420-ing" before.
The flyer came complete with a 420 back story: "420 started somewhere in San Rafael, California in the late '70s. It started as the police code for Marijuana Smoking in Progress. After local heads heard of the police call, they started using the expression 420 when referring to herb - Let's Go 420, dude!"
Bloom reported his find in the May 1991 issue of High Times, which the magazine found in its archives and provided to the Huffington Post. The story, though, was only partially right.
It had nothing to do with a police code -- though the San Rafael part was dead on. Indeed, a group of five San Rafael High School friends known as the Waldos - by virtue of their chosen hang-out spot, a wall outside the school - coined the term in 1971. The Huffington Post spoke with Waldo Steve, Waldo Dave and Dave's older brother, Patrick, and confirmed their full names and identities, which they asked to keep secret for professional reasons. (Pot is still, after all, illegal.)
Check out the rest of that here.
Now, onto the real reason for this post -- music about smoking pot.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Top 10 Songs for a Rainy Ass Day
Posted by Leilani Polk on Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 7:22 PM
It's been raining all day, even before I woke up, making the already problematic feat of getting out of bed doubly difficult. The gray weather is making my brain cloudy and I'm having a hard time focusing on anything other than the soothing pitter-patter of drops on the Creative Loafing office's metal roof. (If it was raining harder, it'd be near impossible for me to even think.)
Anyway, here's a list of my top 10 personal favorite songs about rain. I know there are plenty I left out, but there are so many goddamn songs about rain. Makes a person wonder how many songs there are about the sun.
2. "Here Comes the Rain Again," The Eurythmics, Touch, 1984
3. "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" Travis, The Man Who, 1999
4. "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," written by Burt Bacharach for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969
5. "Dry the Rain," The Beta Band, The Three EPs, 1998
6. "November Rain," Guns n' Roses, Use Your Illusion I, 1992
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Songs to end your party
Posted by Lorna Bracewell on Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Special thanks to Amy! for inspiring this blog. In a comment on my recent Songs to save your party blog she wrote, "As a follow up to this article, I propose you consider the question, what songs are guaranteed to END the party?"
Amy!, your wish is my command. I call this my "Maxi Pad Playlist" because these songs are guaranteed to suck the moisture (and the fun) right out of any party. If it's two in the morning and you want your asshole friends out of your living room, throw any one of these tunes on and watch the polite excuses begin:
Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond - This song sucks!
Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler - Beaches: The ultimate buzz kill.
Summer Lovin', John Travolta and Olivian Newton John - Last night, Creative Loafing threw a party celebrating the launch of their spiffy new website. I was there drinking a Dixie Cup of wine, discussing the sad condition of the newspaper business (hence the Dixie Cups) with a very interesting guy and having a generally pleasant time. And then, this bullshit filled the air. I couldn't say my goodnights quickly enough.
Taxi, Harry Chapin - This song has all the ingredients to ruin your night. It's brooding, slow-moving, tragically sad and features a musical interlude with only cello and a male singing soprano.
Come Sail Away, Styx - Speaking of male soprano, I think it's more effective at breaking up a party than a police raid.
This is all I've got off the top of my head. Surely, there are more abjectly awful songs out there than these five. Add at will!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Songs to save your party
Posted by Lorna Bracewell on Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 5:48 PM
This past Saturday I attended a friend of a friend's 50th birthday celebration. At 25 years old, I was the youngest reveler there by a solid two decades. This generation gap evidenced itself in all of the usual and uncomfortable ways. My skuzzy Chuck Taylors and the holes in my jeans belied my immaturity while the absence of any beer to drink besides Miller Lite belied everyone else's rapidly declining sense of taste.
Given the temporal and cultural barriers dividing me from the rest of the party, I began bracing myself (and by bracing myself I mean drinking Makers Mark on the rocks) for a pretty lame night. And then, it happened. The unmistakable drum riff that opens The Commodore's 1977 funk classic "Brick House" filled the room. Perfunctory conversations ended, drinks were abandoned, purses were stashed away and we all simultaneously took to the dance floor. It was if someone blew a whistle tuned to a frequency we were all preprogrammed to respond to. Or, maybe more like we were all extras in a party scene in some stupid Hollywood movie and the director just said, "Action!" Either way, the vibe in the room was instantly transformed.
This experience set me to thinking that there must be other songs that possess this mysterious power to transcend barriers like age, extent of intoxication and comfort level with one's own body and turn a really lame time into a really good one. Here's a list of the tunes I've come up with so far. Feel free to add to it. I call this my "In Case of Emergency, Play This!" list:
Brick House, The Commodores - (See explanation above.)
Kiss, Prince - Eternal and immutable sonic perfection. It also tends to elicit some pretty hilarious sing along attempts.
Just Dance, Lady Gaga - I know it has yet to stand the test of time, but I'm willing to stake my reputation (ha!) on this one on the following grounds: My 61 year old dad and I saw Lady Gaga open for The New Kids on the Block this past November. (Please don't ask how that ended up happening.) We both really dug this tune right off the bat.
Super Freak, Rick James - The bass hook alone possesses the power to transform even the most mundane and reserved amongst us into the titular "Super Freak."
I Want You Back, The Jackson 5 - K.T. Tunstall's totally stripped down acoustic cover of this Proto King of Pop classic demonstrates it's awesome power to make your rigid, sorry ass move.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
What are the 10 best Smiths songs?
Posted by Stephen Hammill on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Recognizing the release (and very good reviews) of Morrissey's new album, Years of Refusal, out today, Paste has released a list of the 10 best Smiths songs. Let's see if we at CL agree with it:
10. “Bigmouth Strikes Again”—One of three Queen Is Dead songs on this list, “Bigmouth” features a nice anachronistic lyric about Joan of Arc and a Walkman. The song rocks fairly hard by Smiths standards; a colleague recently told me that “Morrissey actually growls on the live version off Rank,” then played me the clip. (Sure enough, he does.)9. “Ask”—A highlight among highlights on Louder Than Bombs, in which our narrator spends “warm summer days indoors / writing frightening verse to a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg.”
8. “Rusholme Ruffians”—An underrated Meat Is Murder track, which makes our list for three reasons: Johnny Marr’s jangly guitar, Morrissey’s schoolboy angst and the hopelessly romantic lyric, “I might walk home alone / but my faith in love is still devout”
7. “Girlfriend in a Coma”—A vicious two-minute pop song that leaves you reeling.
6. “How Soon Is Now”—Thanks to Marr’s epic riff, this may be the most widely known Smiths song amongst the general public. For a band that specialized in intimacy, “How Soon” works surprisingly well as an ’80s anthem.
5. “Panic”—I’ve always wanted a radio show with this as my theme song. (Bonus points if you can watch the video without vomiting.)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Bands named after other bands' songs
Posted by Joran Oppelt on Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 5:47 PM
In response to Leilani's "Top 10 Stupid Band Names," I'd like to point out that, yes, not only are some band names stupid, or bad - sometimes they're downright stolen.
We've all sat around stoned, drunk (even sober) and thought up - or accidentally stumbled upon - the next greatest band name EVER. There's got to be a list of those names somewhere, right? I seem to remember someone saying, "We've got to write that one down!"
There are plenty of band names inspired by literate source material or that just make sense (Steely Dan, named after a dildo in William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch or The L.A. Guns and Hollywood Roses combining to form Guns and Roses). But to lift the name of your group straight out of another artist's catalog instead of establishing a new identity for your sound, your band, your business? It's like starting up a fast food chain and calling it "Big Mac's."
As my wife pointed out, the only time a tribute should be paid to a band's song is when you're actually paying tribute to that band - as is the case with "Paradise City: The Guns N Roses Tribute" or "Strutter: The Ultimate Tribute to Kiss."
Here's my list of offenders (in order of offense taken):
Songs about Love: the 21st Century Edition
Posted by Leilani Polk on Sun, Feb 15, 2009 at 5:47 PM
We all know the standard classic mixtape love songs – “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton,” Lionel Richie’s “Endless Love,” Stevie Wonder's “Golden Lady,” "I Will Always Love You," (Dolly or Whitney, you pick the version), "At Last," by Etta James, most of the Beatles' early catalog. But what about modern, 21st century love songs, i.e., those that came out after January 1, 2001?
Up until I started preparing this, I never really thought much about it, but surprisingly, I came up with a wealth of ideas, almost too many. The songs I thought up are not necessarily traditional ballads (though there are several), are not always romantic or saccharine or even very nice, do not always offer bold statements of devotion or everlasting ardor. But in each, the meaning is clear even if it isn't always spelled out clearly.
“Fell in Love with a Girl,” The White Stripes, White Blood Cells (2001)
The song made stars of pasty, Detroit-based indie alt blues duo Jack and Meg White, both because it was nice and short and tasty raw, and because it has a really cool Lego video. Check it out, if you haven't already seen it a few dozen times.
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