Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 55

My Top 1000 Songs #634: I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass

[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.]

Look, pretty much every track on Nick Lowe's 1978 solo debut Jesus Of Cool (a.k.a. Pure Pop For Now People) is wonderful in its own way. "I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass" is actually, at first glance, arguably a lesser track, lacking some of the jubilant fun and playfulness of other highlights. But it just sounds amazing, right? You've got that Bo Diddle...

My Top 1000 Songs #633: Carry On Till Tomorrow

[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 gorgeous ballad from Badfinger's 1970 soundtrack(-ish) Magic Christian Music, and the first of the many Badfinger tracks on the list that isn't fronted by power pop legend Pete Ham. Ok, Ham co-wrote it with Tom Evans, but it's Evans who sings those beautiful verses. The harmonies are absolutely transcendent, beautiful and serene, while a brief, rousing gu...

My Top 1000 Songs #632: The Wagon

[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.]

There are probably Dinosaur Jr. songs I like more, both from their earlier, thrashier post-punk albums and their later, more polished alt.rock almost-radio-ready work. But "The Wagon," like the rest of 1991's Green Mind, happened to find me at the right time in the right place. The band was in a transitional place: bassist Lou Barlow had left to start Sebad...

My Top 1000 Songs #631: Can't You Hear Me Knocking

[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.]

In which the Rolling Stones find their inner jam band...

1971's Sticky Fingers, a ridiculous feast of outstanding songs, covers an awful lot of ground. But even on such a varied work, "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" feels like something wholly unexpected. Sure, it starts off as a basic hard-rocking Stones tune, a savage riff and almost proto-punk New York Dolls...

My Top 1000 Songs #630: Dominoes In Drag

[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 with any of the more recent songs on the list, it's hard to predict whether this one'll still be a personal fave 10, 20 years from now. Still, the sheer thrill of discovering a new band is rare for me these days, and you just can't discount the personal impact of stumbling across something that really makes you sit up and take notice.

I came across Elizab...

My Top 1000 Songs #629: London Town

[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 realize it makes me an outlier, but I continue to insist that Wings' 1978 album London Town is among the most consistent McCartney albums, right behind Ram (which has at least belatedly come around in public appreciation) and up there with the far more widely-respected Band On The Run. Lots of great, modest pop tunes, melodic and often melancholy, infused...

New Releases: With Love, Snarls

As should be obvious to anyone who's visited here before, I'm a sucker for the new crop of women-fronted bands who clearly grew up listening to 90s indie rock. I've talked up favorites like Momma, Wednesday, Ratboys, etc. previously. Now add to that list Columbus, Ohio's Snarls. Their second full-length, With Love, is muscular and self-confident, a little skewed in places but still full of pop hooks. You can hear shades of Throwing Muses and the Breeders and Bettie Serveert, modernized to give i...

My Top 1000 Songs #628: Your Imagination

[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.]

Illinois indie pop act Shoes never seemed to get the love they deserved. Maybe a little too new wave for the power pop crowd, or too power pop for the new wave crowd--if only they had that one "Stacy's Mom" kinda moment! But they have a solid catalog of wondrously catchy tunes that get stuck in your head--even if you're not digging into the deep cuts, you c...

My Top 1000 Songs #627: Walk Away Renee

[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.]

Not a lot to say here. If you enjoy baroque pop, this 1966 single by NYC act the Left Banke is kinda the holy talisman--a gleefully infectious tune with classical strains, a string section, and a flute solo. I go back and forth between whether "Walk Away Renee" or the follow-up single, "Pretty Ballerina," is my personal favorite; mostly just a coin toss, th...

My Top 1000 Songs #626: I'm The Man Who Loves You

[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.]

Ugh, yes, we're really making a third visit to Wilco's 2002 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. And admittedly, "I'm The Man Who Loves You" is one of the more straightforward pop songs on an album strewn with mind-blowing, experimental tracks that somehow still remain solid rockers or gorgeous ballads. But it's a big song in terms of my personal relationship with the ban...