Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 122

All My Favorite Songs #7: Pale Blue Eyes

My favorite Velvet Underground song is probably their least Velvet Underground-y song. The band is best known for their groundbreaking noisier, confrontational work, or maybe their more pop-oriented rock songs. And sure, right from the start Lou Reed offset his deliberately abrasive side with surprisingly pretty ballads, but even there, the softer tunes had a bit of an edge (i.e. "Femme Fatale"). 

"Pale Blue Eyes," however, is a straight ballad. It's achingly and unironically beautiful (a trait i...

All My Favorite Songs #6: Death Or Glory

The Clash's 1979 masterpiece London Calling has been my favorite LP of all time pretty much since that first spin as a wide-eyed adolescent. Nearly every song is a winningly infectious, shout-along anthem, yet with biting lyrical content that often stands in contrast to the feel-good nature of the music.

And "Death Or Glory" is the perfect encapsulation of that duality. When I was younger, I enjoyed it purely as a rousing rave-up, the chorus's title proclamation an undeniable call to arms (or at ...

All My Favorite Songs #5: So. Central Rain

As noted previously in this space (and in an entire chapter in Jittery White Guy Music --you can read my R.E.M. excerpt here), discovering R.E.M.'s 1984 album Reckoning (and its 1983 predecessor Murmur ) when I arrived at college in '84 truly changed my life. Yet I don't remember Reckoning's "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" having a particular impact at the time. If anything, it was overshadowed by more immediate tracks like "Harborcoat" and "Pretty Persuasion" and "Second Guessing," upbeat tunes th...

All My Favorite Songs #4: Ripple

Like yesterday's "Ballad of El Goodo," the Grateful Dead's most sublime recording, "Ripple," is a deeply spiritual song for people (i.e. me) who don't consider themselves traditionally religious people.  Lyricist Robert Hunter is at his most poetic, evocative metaphors that leave plenty of room for personal interpretation. "Ripple in still water, when there is no pebble tossed, nor wind to blow..." Is that God? Or just some other, smaller mystery?

Like much of 1970's American Beauty, "Ripple" is ...

All My Favorite Songs #3: The Ballad of El Goodo

 

Ok, breaking from the Beatles... with the band who got slagged on their early 70s arrival for sounding too much like the Beatles. 

I've written extensively about my enduring love for Big Star's 1972 debut, #1 Record, and while there's not a bum note on the LP, the clear stand-out for me is the gorgeous "Ballad of El Goodo." (And I'll admit that, to this date, I still have no idea what that title means.)

I'm not a religious guy, but for me this song is the ultimate spiritual song, a little bit of ...

All My Favorite Songs #2: A Day In The Life

As noted yesterday, a bit of Beatles front-loading on my list of favorite songs is unavoidable. And while "Rain" may be my favorite Beatles song (in terms of sheer re-playability), 1967's "A Day In The Life" is their absolute finest moment. I mean, this is kinda beyond dispute, isn't it?

It's hard to imagine a better way to close out Sgt. Pepper. (Well, actually, I can think of an alternative closer... we'll get to that soon enough.) Just a breathtaking epic. While most Beatles songs are showcase...

Counting Down (Well, UP) My Favorite Songs: #1

Just got back from a long break... first the dreaded Covid (fortunately the double-booster kept it to little more than a very mild cold), then a couple weeks of summer travel. And I suppose I could start up again with the album picks... but, as should be clear from other recent posts, I'm a little tired of it. I've written up over 800 records here, and while I've got thousands more in my collection, I'm facing diminishing returns here. So I could just stop and call it a day, add relegate this bl...

Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

While doing some traveling, I've been leafing through some e-books I happen to have stashed on my iPad. Found a book on the making of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon which, while nothing special (seems mostly culled from magazine articles, with little info not already known to any Floyd aficionado), did inspire me to put on some headphones and spend a solid 40 minutes revisiting an old fave which I haven't pulled out in quite a while.

I was surprised to see I've never posted the record in this...

Mixes, We've Got Mixes!

Been in the midst of some summer travels, so no updates of late... back soon. Meanwhile, one thing I've done while I had some downtime on the road is update my web directory of Single Artist Mixes (for the Spotify-friendly). I've got about 100 playlists, ideal for newbies wanting to discover a new favorite band, or existing fans who need a quick 1-2 hour playlist while on the go. They're now arranged alphabetically for ease of use. Enjoy!

Find 'em here.
 

Relatively Clean Rivers: S/T (1976)

Regular visitors to these parts know that I nurse a special love for the "Obscure Short-Lived 70s Bands Who Clearly Listened To A Lot of Grateful Dead and CSNY" genre. Most of these records are forgotten for good reason; there's a nice, pastoral post-hippie vibe, maybe a few songs that stick, but much of the music lacks the staying power to elevate it beyond nostalgic curiosity value. Still, there are a few I really enjoy--bands like Mountain Bus or Timbercreek, to name a couple.

Relatively Clean...