Every Saturday I crack open a beer and put my Spotify starred list on shuffle. I have over 26,000 songs starred, so it can get somewhat interesting. This is where I drink and write "stream of consciousness" style about what comes up. Enjoy.
Stained Class is my second favorite Judas Priest album behind Painkiller. I was excited when "Heroes End" came up as the first song in my shuffle. I've always wanted to own this album on vinyl, but I don't because I pretty much only buy used albums. Nobody is getting rid of Stained Class, so until someone does, I will have to settle for Spotify. This is one of Priest's more straight ahead rock songs, not as driving as songs like "Stained Class" or "Exciter." I just realized that I haven't listened to Stained Class in at least ten years; I plan to rectify that as soon as I'm finished shuffling.
I'm not super familiar with this song. I was always more into The Smiths than Morrissey's solo work, but this song is pretty good. All of the Morrissey I've heard isn't too far off from something that The Smiths would do, just much more slick and polished. As far as I can tell, the lyrics of the song are describing a pampered child who, despite the best efforts of his parents, ended up being an asshole anyways. Could this song be autobiographical? Morrissey is known for being a total prick, which could either be a result of being coddled as a child or severe protein deprivation.
I used to love The Mars Volta. Their first three albums were like nothing mainstream rock radio had ever heard, yet they were still embraced. This song, from their final album, Noctourniquet, is a purely masturbatory electronic mess that goes nowhere. Omar Rodriguez Lopez spent a lot more time on his various solo/side projects and the quality of his main gig became diluted. I regret never seeing The Mars Volta in concert. I tried to see Omar Rodriguez Lopez at Fun Fun Fun Fest last year and he was a no-show. Shortly after, The Mars Volta broke up. Bummer.
Holy crap, what an awesome song title. Graveyard are a Swedish band that is very steeped in the retro rock thing that is very popular right now, and they do it very well. Their singer has a very Chris Cornell-esque circa Badmotorfinger sound, which is great because I love early Soundgarden. Graveyard is known for having a very 70's sound, but this song is 100% Seattle. Maybe I'm thinking that because I'm still buzzing from my trip to Seattle (great city), but surely someone else hears it. Let me know in the comments if you agree or if you think I'm going crazy.
Aesop Rock is from New York, but relocated to San Francisco years ago, so I consider him to be a Bay Area artist. I hoped to run into him while I was in town, but I knew it was unlikely. Many people consider Labor Days to be his strongest, and I definitely don't disagree. For some reason I listen to Bazooka Tooth and everything that came after most frequently. I don't know what it is about those albums that keeps drawing me back. This track has a very hypnotic backbone that Aesop spits over; it's something you would expect to hear on a skateboarding video from the late 90's.
This song is kind of silly. What would be a great prog metal instrumental is cheapened by Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Rather, the speech is cheapened by the prog metal underneath it. I haven't listened to Sieges Even in years, so I don't remember this track. I rarely listened to the Paramount album. I did really enjoy The Art of Navigating By The Stars, however. Sieges Even are not a widely known band; Alex and Oliver Holzwarth are best recognized for their live performances with another great German band, Blind Guardian.
Bug is one of Dinosaur Jr.'s finest albums; I think that's something that many people can agree with. On those first three albums, they had a knack for being both really noisy and really pretty. This is a balance that they had trouble finding on their later albums, which isn't to say that I don't like those albums. Like that jerk on Office Space, I celebrate the band's entire catalog. "Don't" is full on noise with the exception of the fluttery guitar intro. You can't just write a song like this, it just tends to happen in the studio at the end of a frustrating day of tracking. It gets pretty scary in the last minute.
In the summer of 2008 I was really into Busdriver. I jammed this album at least once a day during that period, along with Cosmic Cleavage. Sadly, Busdriver wore off with me by the time that his next album, Jhelli Beam, was released in 2009. He has a few more albums that have come out since, but I probably won't bother. He has a lot of great songs, but his vocal delivery can be somewhat grating. "Sun Shower" is a perfect example. He's most irritating when he tries to carry a melody but, by failing so horribly, suggests that maybe he's just trying to be ironic.
Fucked Up are a truly special band. They take a very immediate punk/hardcore sound and somehow make it artful and intricate. "Vivian Girls" is over nine minutes of pure attack mode and manages not to be monotonous. It's named after the work of outsider artist Henry Darger. There is also a Brooklyn band called Vivian Girls as well as a song by the band Wussy. Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens and ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead have all paid tribute to Darger as well, so as you can see, he's an outsider who is so in right now!
I love every Queens of the Stone Age album, especially this one and especially this song. I have wanted to see them live for years and will finally get the chance in less than a month when they play Austin City Limits Festival in Austin. Kassie and I will be there front and center for their set, or maybe even side stage since we'll have VIP passes this year (thanks boxed water guy!). "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" is a song that I'd bet good money on them playing but so much of the rest of their set could be a total toss up with the amount of quality material they've released over the years.
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| Drink pairing for this post: Hops and Grain Zoe Pale Lager |
So stoked to see QOTSA finally! :)))
ReplyDeleteI expect it will be the best show we've ever seen.
DeleteThe original Vivian Girls...
ReplyDeleteI actually had to reference that Wikipedia article when I wrote the post because I wasn't sure why "Vivian Girls" sounded so familiar to me. Upon seeing the paintings, my ninth grade art class discussions all came whooshing back to my memory.
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