7.04.2003

 
Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July.

Palmermix's favorite Fourth of July songs:

1) "Fourth of July" -- Dave Alvin. (A terrific song! There are also versions by the Blasters and X, two Alvin-related bands, but the best version can be found off Dave Alvin's King of California record.)

2) "Independence Day" -- Bruce Springsteen. (True, the independence day of this cheerless fathers-and-sons song from The River is a metaphorical one. Still, it counts!)

3) "Justice and Independence" -- John Cougar Mellencamp. (A completely ridiculous song -- it practically breaks under the strain of its pretentiousness -- yet with a great guitar riff.)

4) "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" -- Bruce Springsteen. (There's also a nice cover of this on Richard Shindell's live record, Courier.)

5) "One Headlight" -- The Wallflowers. (Okay, so I'm stretching here, but there is that song, "She said it's cold, it feels like Independence Day.")

6) "Saturday in the Park" -- Chicago. Admittedly, Chicago is awful. But you try to come up with more than four good songs that mention the Fourth of July.

7) "I'm So Bored with the USA" -- the Clash. Tee hee.




posted by Anon. 8:15 AM

 
Those were the reasons

Fun trivia coming to us from Michael in Gothenburg, Sweden:

Trivia: The Cohen song Chelsea Hotel is actually about Janis Joplin and LC having some hoochy coochy. Note the line: “giving me head on the unmade bed”.

Thanks, Michael. I like this email for three reasons:
1) It's from Sweden.
2) I like emails that use the euphemism "hoochy coochy."
3) The fact that it makes special effort to note the most infamous lyric in the song.

As Dana Carvey used to say as Johnny Carson: "I did not know that!"


posted by Anon. 7:57 AM

 
There goes the fear

Doves are a band for which I came a little late to the party. That makes sense; except in the case of Belle and Sebastian, I tend to not be the first among my pals to discover a British band. I never even picked up their first full-length album, 2000's Lost Souls. But after it was recommended to me a few times, I picked up last year's The Last Broadcast.

I spun it once or twice, finding one song I thought was incredible -- "Pounding" -- and finding the rest pleasant enough, but not grabbing. This past week, I pulled it from my shelf and slipped it into my iBook. Every time my little iBook crashed, which is with some frequency, Doves would be playing when I rebooted. This is a swell way to get to know a record quickly, and I've enjoyed it this past week.

How to describe the sound? It has a little bit of the ethereal quality of OK Computer-era Radiohead, but a much happier, soaring sound. Also, with some driving percussion and rhythms. The only downside is that the lead singer Jimi Goodwin's vocals can sometimes be a little too laidback and monotonous.

Still, check it out. And for the Apple Music Store, see if they have "Pounding" -- a great song, which merited a spot on my 2002 YIR discs.




posted by Anon. 7:52 AM

7.02.2003

 
Listmania

LS passes this along: favorite songs of NYC bloggers. Sadly, Lockhart himself does not contribute. Perhaps he will post something on his blog to that effect. We'll try to post today's version of our favorite songs later on today.

posted by Anon. 9:46 AM