Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 2

My Top 2000 Songs #1097: Big Fat Monkey's Hat

I'm kinda curious if anyone even clicks on this page. Because, ok, silly song title... and about as obscure as a song on this list can be. But if you're here, you're in for a treat! Because "Big Fat Monkey's Hat" is wonderful--joyous, quirky pop, a jangly earworm with accordion.

80s Boston indie rock greats Scruffy The Cat oddly omitted this from their short EP/LP discography; it showed up instead on a 1985 vinyl compilation put out by indie label Coyote Records called Luxury Condos Coming To You...

My Top 2000 Songs #1096: Itchycoo Park

I have dim memories of first hearing the Small Faces' 1967 single "Itchycoo Park," probably on the tail end of junior high school, when I was fanatically devouring the music played on Chicago's classic rock stations and doing a deep dive into 60s and early 70s rock history. And the song made a huge impression on me at the time. Partly just because it's kind of the perfect late 60s British pop song: melodic and endlessly catchy, but starting to delve into psychedelia with its weirdly-flanged guit...

My Top 2000 Songs #1095: Anxious

I remember The Housemartins' 1986 debut LP, London 0 Hull 4, quietly sliding into college radio rotation, its gentle, exuberant British jangle slotting in comfortably alongside the predominantly American jangle that dominated our listening habits at the time. They struck me at the time as a pleasant alternative to the Smiths, not musically dissimilar but replacing Morrissey with someone far more cheerful. Opening track "Happy Hour" was the obvious single and the song that seemed to get the most ...

My Top 2000 Songs #1094: Hooray For Tuesday

The Minders' 1998 full-length debut, Hooray For Tuesday, was packed with what sounded like Rubber Soul leftovers, tweaked a bit for a slightly skewed post-XTC indie pop world. While I love the Beatlesque pastiche "Yeah Yeah Yeah," the title track is probably more colorful. Producer Robert Schneider (of fellow Elephant 6 band Apples In Stereo) lays low, the song barely rising above stripped-down lo-fi production, though the little marching band intro and slithery, jangly guitar lines, with a fami...

My Top 2000 Songs #1093: Mambo Sun

You've gotta hand it to Marc Bolan--with all due respect, even his best songs were incredibly light on substance and heavy on repetition, getting by on pure charisma and groove. But when T. Rex nailed the groove, damn!

T. Rex's 1971 LP Electric Warrior, probably their best (and certainly best known), has far more obvious songs to choose from, with both "Bang A Gong (Get It On)" and "Jeepster" achieving legendary status on classic rock radio. But I'm a sucker for the slower, slinkier "Mambo Sun," ...

The Best Of 2025: Third Quarter Update

Almost 3/4 of the way through 2025, figured I was overdue to update my running playlist of what I've been listening to. Added some recent (or sorta-recent) tunes from The Beths, Tamar Berk, Superchunk, Wavves, Say Sue Me, Ryli, etc... 

Spotify playlist below. Meanwhile, a few tracks:

The Beths:

Superchunk:Tamar Berk:Wavves:Say Sue Me:Ryli:Anyway, here's the running list:

My Top 2000 Songs #1092: Dear Friend

Sadly, the 80s were littered with wonderful jangly guitar bands which couldn't quite escape the college radio ghetto. San Francisco's Flying Color managed a single, eponymous album back in 1987 before going their separate ways (though member Chris Von Sneidern remained active in the power pop scene). The LP holds up as a lovely little gem, of its moment but with plenty of durable tunefulness keeping it vibrant. The sweet little time capsule is best captured on "Dear Friend," an amiable track wit...

My Top 2000 Songs #1091: Everyday People

I generally prefer my Sly & The Family Stone a little funkier (as on 1971's There's A Riot Goin' On), but this enduring chestnut is pretty damn undeniable. "Everyday People," the massive hit from 1969's Stand!, sees the band in their most pure-pop crossover mode, a song transcending the musical racial divide of the time (and since). And while normally a song that has become so ubiquitous, whether through decades of radio airplay or television commercial cooptation or having its lyrics become par...

My Top 2000 Songs #1090: I Don't Know Why I Love You

The House Of Love's 1988 single "Christine," off their eponymous debut album, was an instant favorite, taking the distortion and reverb of the emerging shoegaze scene and pairing it was a delightfully catchy pop song, simple and shimmering. And it's fair to say 1989's "I Don't Know Why I Love You" didn't exactly mix things up. The band seemed to be simply remaking prior work--indeed, the follow up to 1988's The House Of Love from which this came was, confusingly, also called The House Of Love--w...

My Top 2000 Songs #1089: Don't Let's Start

They Might Be Giants seem like one of those bands who have an incredibly devoted following but don't draw much attention outside of the diehards (a few early singles aside). And I'm certainly not one of the devoted few (evidence by this being the first TMBG appearance in the 6+ years of this enterprise). I've got a lot of their records, and enjoy a number of songs, but I find the quirkiness, not to mention John Linnell's vocals, are best enjoyed in small doses. (That said, I think they have some...