Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 65

My Top 1000 Songs #538: Never Say Never

[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 not exactly sure when I first heard Romeo Void's "Never Say Never," a 1981/1982 single from the San Francisco band. It was probably a high school party, or maybe one of those late-night cable video programs, as it didn't get much mainstream radio attention back in Chicago. But it made a lasting impression, that funky post-punk new wave angular groove, s...

My Top 1000 Songs #537: So Much Trouble

[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.]

Another one that's more personal comfort food than undisputed groundbreaker, I'm guessing "So Much Trouble," from Matt Pond PA (a.k.a. singer-songwriter Matt Pond with a shifting cast of bandmates), isn't an obvious choice for most folks dropping by this endeavor. But for me it perfectly captures the vibe of post-millennium mellow indie, an unassuming track...

My Top 1000 Songs #536: Tried So Hard

[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, some nasty storms here in Northern California. 24 hours without power or internet, but, hey, we're back online! So just a quick catch-up, 'cuz not a lot to say. Great song here, nifty little example of twangy country rock. I have to admit, I think the first version I heard was on Yo La Tengo's Fakebook, their excellent 1990 album of mostly acoustic cov...

My Top 1000 Songs #535: Old LP

[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.]

After a few records of 90s pop-flavored indie rock, peaking on 1997's excellent Retreat From The Sun, That Dog took a brief break of about 22 years. 2019's Old LP picked up right where they left off, sonically updated but otherwise delivering skewed, new wave-flavored post-punk hooks. But a few songs swapped out their standard guitar-bass-drums configuratio...

New Releases: The Paranoid Style

One of my favorite bands of the past few years has released their latest, The Interrogator, and it maintains the band's standard of excellence. As always, the Paranoid Style's centerpiece is the barrage of intricate storytelling from the ridiculously literate Elizabeth Nelson (a journalist and cultural commentator on top of her musical pursuits and full-time day job), delivered in her knowing deadpan. Past efforts have been drenched in historical moments that had me running for the lyric sheet a...

My Top 1000 Songs #534: Kundalini Express

[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.]

Another one of those mid-80s college radio staples that, while not indicative of most of what I was listening to at the time, totally captured my imagination for a brief period in time and unfailingly transports me back to those collegiate glory days. The single from Love And Rockets' 1986 sophomore LP Express converts the band's goth roots with Bauhaus int...

My Top 1000 Songs #533: However Much I Booze

[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.]

After the artistic peak of 1973's Quadrophenia--and nearly a decade of triumph after triumph--1975's The Who By Numbers can't help but feel like a bit of a letdown. It's merely a solid album full of mostly great music, something any band but The Who might kill to accomplish. More than anything, the record has the feel of Pete Townshend growing (or at least ...

My Top 1000 Songs #532: Cruiser's Creek

[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 buddy Chris had a lot to do with my musical education when I arrived at college in '84, introducing me to the college radio station (WPRB) and countless bands (most notably R.E.M.). It took me a little longer to develop a taste for his favorite band, The Fall, who were a little more acerbic than my taste at the time. But the 1985 single "Cruiser's Creek"...

My Top 1000 Songs #531: Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth

[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 Dandy Warhols have had a veritable fistful of killer (and arguably under-appreciated) tracks over their long run; it's hard for me to single any one out as a personal favorite. But I'm going with "Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth," from their second LP, 1997's Come Down. It's got their usual alt.rock edge with a bit of a party atmosphere, a glee...

My Top 1000 Songs #530: Ooh-La-La

[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 gonna file "Ooh-La-La," the title track from Faces' 1973 (final) LP, right alongside Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" in the "largely overlooked early 70s tracks unexpectedly rendered ubiquitous once adopted by television marketers yet retaining their gentle magic despite newfound cultural saturation" bin.

The late great Ronnie Lane, who co-wrote the song with R...