Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 35

My Top 1000 Songs #814: Half-Man/Half-Mole

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Chris Knox isn't the most accessible of the old-school New Zealand Flying Nun acts--though he occasionally comes up with like-minded catchy, hum-along indie rock, just a little more raw & stripped down. "Half-Man/Half-Mole," off 1995's Songs Of You And Me, is Knox in his most tuneful mode. The song features his trademark lo-fi buzz that's a surefire way to ...

My Top 1000 Songs #813: Since U Been Gone

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Been digging around in the Guilty Pleasures file a few times this month... but I don't feel much guilt for respecting a good pop song, even one that seems to go against everything I like about rock music. I'm happy to rail against contemporary professionally-designed mass-market-friendly personality-driven teeny-bopper pop created by uber-producers (particu...

My Top 1000 Songs #812: You And Your Sister

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Big Star co-founder Chris Bell, who departed after the band's debut and left the band in Alex Chilton's hands, tragically only managed to release one single before his untimely passing in 1978. The a-side, "I Am The Cosmos," has already made its appearance here. But the b-side, "You And Your Sister," is at least as great, a gorgeous acoustic ballad that sta...

2024: The Year In Music (Rough Cut)

One of the hallowed Thanksgiving traditions in the Jittery White Guy Music household, where we are not big turkey fans, is beginning the annual process of crafting the year's music into a year-end mix. Trying to get a head-start this year, which as usual starts with our running list of songs compiled throughout the year, which will later be painstakingly culled down to a single-CDR highlights mix (heavy on the upbeat tracks and ideal for the car or gym) and, if there is sufficient enthusiasm, th...

My Top 1000 Songs #811: Deep Blue Afternoon

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

The Green Pajamas have an unheralded catalog nearly as dense as Guided By Voices, a few dozen records of jangly, mildly psychedelic indie pop in the mold of Paisley Underground acts like Rain Parade. Which makes it hard to zero in on a favorite track, a few obvious ones aside. But I really love "Deep Blue Afternoon," from 1999's All Clues Lead To Megan's Be...

My Top 1000 Songs #810: Changed The Locks

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

I first heard Americana singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams maybe a decade or so into her long career, when she was opening for Neil Young. Really loved the range of her music, from passionate love songs to twangy country to scrappy country-rock; but the song that made the biggest impression was the unhinged break-up rager "Changed The Locks," off her self=t...

My Top 1000 Songs #809: 80 West

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Asking the eternal question: Can a bass riff be evil? Because this mofo is evil.
Frankly, when 80s Paisley Underground act Dream Syndicate emerged from a nearly 30-year sleep with 2017's How Did I Find Myself Here? , this track wasn't the first to grab my attention. But I saw them touring behind the album, and the song truly caught fire played live. It's a co...

My Top 1000 Songs #808: Mr. Odd

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

The Jazz Butcher, led by the late great Pat Fish, left behind a large catalog of wonderfully fun, often absurd music that ranged from bright jangle pop to pre-Britpop to driving post-punk. Naturally, I tended to gravitate to the funny, upbeat stuff, which more immediately grabbed your attention. When 1990's Cult Of The Basement came out, the obvious go-to w...

My Top 1000 Songs #807: Speeding 72

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

As one of the newest songs on the list, this one's got some heavy lifting to do... but it's up to the task. I totally adored Momma from first listen, a couple young women who sounded like their dads had fed them a steady diet of 90s acts like Pavement and Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins and the Breeders and Nirvana. And, yes, as the father of a daughter a...

My Top 1000 Songs #806: Good Dope, Good Fun

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

As much a feel-good vibe as a proper song--maybe more so?--Spiritualized's "Good Dope, Good Fun" imports Jason Pierce's trippy post-psychedelia from his Spacemen 3 days into a more electronic, ecstasy-fueled 90s rave aesthetic. The song exists in various versions, appearing as a pair of 1993 singles--both under this title and, in slightly different form, as...