Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 51

My Top 1000 Songs #673: Glow Girl

[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.] 

So at this point, it looks like I have more songs from The Who's 1974 outtakes collection Odds & Sods than I do from any of their proper LP releases, once again confirming that Pete Townshend's leftovers were better than many bands' best songs. "Glow Girl"--originally recorded in 1968 for an aborted The Who Sell Out follow-up (purportedly to be called, str...

My Top 1000 Songs #672: Believe I've Found

[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'm a fan of Swedish rockers The Soundtrack Of Our Lives (TSOOL), and I've always wondered why they didn't catch on more here in the States. They've got a big, boomy sound which combines classic Stones riffs, psychedelia, and prog, sometimes feeling like a cross between My Morning Jacket and the Brian Jonestown Massacre, albeit with some harder rock vibes ...

My Top 1000 Songs #671: White Elephant

[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.] 

Hang on to your seats, folks; it's about to get pretty loud in here.

The chaotic post-punk of 80s-era Boston indie act Volcano Suns could be a bit abrasive for these tender ears, a few poppier tracks aside. But "White Elephant," off 1986's All-Night Lotus Party, totally captured my attention and was one of those things I found myself playing on my college r...

My Top 1000 Songs #670: Thick As A Brick

[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.] 

My obligatory adolescent trawls through the backwaters of prog led me from bands I really loved, and still do (mostly Genesis and King Crimson) to those which I found a lot less to my liking (which I found easy to purge from my listening habits as I pivoted to punk and indie rock). I had pretty mixed feelings about Jethro Tull--some interesting work, for s...

My Top 1000 Songs #669: Atomic Number

[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.] 

It was undeniably awesome to watch a super-group of three highly talented women artists achieve commercial and critical success over the past year, as they pulled off the rare maneuver of crafting music at least as good as, if not better than, much of their solo work.

And, yeah, I really like Boygenius. But I'd love to see the same recognition of their fore...

My Top 1000 Songs #668: Upside-Down

[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.] 

While Yo La Tengo had started its pivot from "really good college radio band" to "potentially a truly great band" with 1989's President Yo La Tengo, it was on 1992's May I Sing With Me that the band really came into its own as one of indie rock's most important acts (which would be cemented by the amazing 3-LP run that followed). The record offered everyth...

My Top 1000 Songs #667: Eye Of Fatima

[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.] 

For 1988's Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart, Camper Van Beethoven set aside just a little of their unpredictable world music-tinged eccentricity while beefing up the sound, resulting in a punchy alternative rock record that was still absolutely unlike most of what their contemporaries were doing. And while there had always been some catchy pop amongst ...

My Top 1000 Songs #666: Walk Away

[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.] 

Wow, 666--I suppose I should have something a little more satanic in this slot? I've got a devil-themed song coming up soon enough, suppose I could've tweaked the list just a little... but I'm all about authenticity here, folks. No gimmicks!

So, in lieu of the devil, would you settle for some Joe Walsh?

I've talked before about my sentimental attachment to W...

My Top 1000 Songs #665: Cannonball

[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.] 

A little torn on this one. On the one hand, it's hard to dispute "Cannonball" is not only the Breeders' most definitive track, but one of the most essential alt.rock tunes of the mid-90s. That rumbling bassline is an all-timer, and repurposing the Pixies' tell-tale soft-loud-soft dynamic around Kim Deal's goosebump-inducing vocals was a dream come true.

On ...

My Top 1000 Songs #664: Whenever You're On My Mind

[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.] 

Now, THAT'S how you write a jangly power pop song!

Sure, Marshall Crenshaw's 1983 sophomore LP, Field Day, couldn't quite match his 1982 self-titled debut, which was riddled with classic pop songs (yeah, we'll be getting to some of those!), he had held back this ringer. (The original demo later showed up on the debut album's reissue CD.) And what a song! Th...