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Blues Power - Eric Clapton
I first acquired The Cream Of Clapton back in the fall of '96, and had all but forgotten about this fun little jig. It's a half-time stomp beat, laid way back in the 1-5-1 movement of the bass. As a subscriber to Tracks magazine, I recently received the issue with EC on the cover, with the pull quote being "Blues Power". Clapton, in a nutshell. |
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Changes - David Bowie
When I lived at 218 Hazel on the Webster University campus, my roommate, Dominic Margaglione, and I used to jam on classic material. Dominic, a classically-trained (and quite formidable) opera singer, loved to dig into tasty pop whenever possible, and during the fall of '98, he was on a Bowie kick. "Changes" was a piece he could sing very well, and one which was fun for me to play. |
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Peace Train - Cat Stevens
This one is all about the rhythm. It's the same kind of half-time feel found on "Blues Power", but with Cat's signature poetry and general casualization. I find it fascinating how Cat can sing the words "peace train" on so many different beats of a measure. |
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Castles Made Of Sand - Jimi Hendrix
This was a screw-up: Rule #1 is not to use the same song on two different mixes. I totally forgot that I used "Castles" for mix #003, way back in the day. Anyway, I love this song. It's so weird, but it's groovy, and it takes me back to high school. It also seemed to properly bridge the gap between Cat's daisy festival and Todd Rundgren's techno-fest (see next track). I bought this CD from Columbia House when Jimi was all the rage at St. Louis Park High. I didn't know much about him, I didn't understand him, but I stuck with it. I particularly like the line "she wished and prayed that she could stop living...so she decided to die." |
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Living - Todd Rundgren
Yes, I know--there's a Todd Rundgren track on virtually every one of my mixes these days. But none from his latest release, Liars...until now. In general, this album doesn't do much for me. Todd took the low road, using drum machines and other generic synth stuff to fill out the songs. However, "Living" is part of a suite near the end of the album that satisfies my Sega Master System fetish. It feels like a hard-core version of the music from "Out Run". Redeeming, if for no other reason than this. |
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You Can't Get What You Want ('Til You Know What You Want) - Joe Jackson
This version of Joe's hit from '84's Body And Soul is less horns, more guitar. It's the first live version to appear on an album (several others have followed; each slightly modified, but all are very good). The band was strong for that tour, and Joe does a funky keyboard solo in the middle--you can hear him singing the notes he's playing. |
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Fa Fa - Guster
These guys opened for John Mayer back in March or April in Minneapolis, and I was unprepared. They've got a very festive, upbeat style, and their drummer plays with his hands(!). The chorus of this song was stuck in my head for a few days afterwards, and it was many weeks later when I received the CD from BMG. Into the mix it went. |
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Nothing Can Be Done - Joni Mitchell
The summer of 1999 was the first time I stayed in St. Louis between college years. It was also a freaking hot summer. Since I'd been booted from 218 Hazel, I was living with my friend, Tim Hook, in UCity. Meanwhile, Dan Ayres, from Webster, turned me on to Joni Mitchell. He slipped me the Night Ride Home CD, which is an excellent disc for casualizing. "Nothing" has a cool ethereal vibe, something I would listen to on a night ride home. When I bought her live DVD, seeing this song on the playlist, I was disappointed to instead find Billie Holiday's "Comes Love", which features the line "nothing can be done". Bummer. |
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Regrets - Ben Folds Five
As the studio career of the Five came barrelling towards its end in 1999, dangerously close to the precipice stands this song. You hear a hint of the changes at the end of "Army", a few tracks back. The title says it all, as far as the subject matter, but the vocals, chords and Arp solo lines make it a stellar homage to vintage cheese. Near its end, the song turns tail, and an orchestra busts into huge, theatrical sweeps, ending with a giant minor chord, in no way resembling the song's beginning. But why not? |
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Uncle John's Farm - Owsley
Rule #2: Don't keep pulling songs off the same album for different mixes, unless said album totally rocks. Such is the case with Owsley's eponymous debut. The penultimate track is short and sweet, but just feels right. This guy has such an ear for melody, and he tosses in more than his fair share of Beatleisms. But there are worse groups to emulate. |
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Yellow Ledbetter - Pearl Jam
This song is so good, it's amazing it never made it onto an album. It's a rare, mellow turn for the Seattle-based grunge band of the early '90's. The changes are simple, the lyrics are completely unintelligible, and by the end, you just don't care, because the guitar cooks along at a snail's pace. It's just three chords and....Eddie Vedder. |
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Sunlight - Pat Metheny
Responsible for some of the most exquisite musical soundscapes in recent history, Pat Metheny broke new ground again with Secret Story. Some of the tracks sound like something out of Peter Gabriel's left-field (which is going WAY out there), but this one is so pretty, one can visualize the sun hitting the dew on the grass. From there, the song takes off, roping in Metheny's signature mellow intelligentsia. And speaking of Peter Gabriel.... |
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Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel
Pulled from one of the greatest live recordings I've ever heard, this version of Peter's So classic reaches a bit further out, and replaces Kate Bush with Paula Cole on vocals. I prefer the latter, as her voice is so strong and clear, whereas Bush's is slightly mousy on the studio recording. This song (the original version) got seriously airplay through Ed's stereo during freshman year, but it's fun to hear the crowd responding to the song on this version. |
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Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears
An 80's essential, I get sense memories of second grade (we're talking 1986), even though I know I never consciously sat down and listened to this song. It's a perfect song. Listen to it. A slice of 80's nirvana. |
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Rosalinda's Eyes - Billy Joel
Again, back in '99, this was one Dominic exposed me to. 52nd Street is an amazing album, and this one has a cool Cuban rhythm, with some very, very cool chords over the top. Flash forward to about two weeks ago: I'm watching the DVD of the TV show "Freaks And Geeks", and during the episode entitled "Carded And Discarded", the geeks are introduced to Maureen Sampson, played by Kayla Ewell (one of the most naturally beautiful girls I've ever seen). During the scene where they're launching the model rocket, "Rosalinda's Eyes" begins playing. At that point, "Freaks And Geeks" officially became the coolest show ever. |
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Catalina Kiss - Acoustic Alchemy
Chances are, if you write a song in 12/8 time, I'm going to like it. If you throw in some pretty chord changes, it's a shoe-in. "Catalina Kiss" was one of those tracks you just remember. Gorgeous arrangement--kept sparse but pure and rich by AA's Nick Webb and Greg Carmichael. This is a sunny-afternoon-hammock song, if that paints an adequate mental picture. |
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Brain Damage - Pink Floyd
Dark Side Of The Moon really needs to be listened to all the way through (whether you're watching "The Wizard of Oz" or not). But, if you must take it piecemeal, here's a cut you don't typically hear on the radio. "The lunatic is on the grahss..." This is the first song on the album where the words "dark side of the moon" are actually sung. But it's got those great changes heard throughout the album. It's so simple, and yet we musicians always manage to overcomplicate everything. |
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Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
We conclude this evening's broadcast with a track from another uber-talented artist whose life ended way too early. What amazes me about Buckley is the control he has over his singing voice. He'll launch into a stratospheric high note, and then carefully land on each level as he comes back down. This track prompted me to pull out his Grace album, where he proceeded to school my chops--from the grave--as I drove to work. |
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