Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 66

My Top 1000 Songs #529: I Had A Dream

[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.]

Coincidentally good timing here, as the Long Ryders recently reissued their tremendous 1984 long-player debut Native Sons (as a deluxe 3-CD package). It's a wonderful assortment of joyous country rock and Paisley Underground late 60s revivalism; but for all the band's underappreciated genius in ushering in the rise of indie Americana, they were still a blaz...

My Top 1000 Songs #528: Novocaine For The Soul

[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.]

When "Novocaine For The Soul" first landed in 1996, on Eels' debut Beautiful Freak (not counting the two albums frontman Mark Oliver Everett had previously released as A Man Called E), it felt like one of the many colorful post-grunge one-track-wonders on mid-90s alt.rock radio--a distinctive sound, unusually clever, totally of the moment, and seemingly unl...

My Top 1000 Songs #527: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

[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 case it's not obvious by now, I'm not a big hard rock guy. (I've been called out for largely skipping the harder, more metallic edge of the classic rock spectrum; get over it, people.) But it's impossible not to get a kick out of some of the stand-out tracks from AC/DC's Bon Scott years, sort of a guilty pleasure of mine, I suppose. Three chords, no fuss...

New Releases: The Umbrellas

Woke up this morning to the brand new sophomore LP from The Umbrellas, available on Bandcamp. I loved their 2021 debut, and on first spin the new one is at least as good. The San Francisco band offers jangly indie pop with endearing shared male/female vocals. It's a blend of the Bats, the Softies, fellow SF act Aislers Set, maybe a bit of the Ladybug Transistor. They occasionally turn up the amps, but I like the gentle midtempo stuff, lovely tunes like "Games" and "Goodbye." Pretty obvious I'm g...

My Top 1000 Songs #526: Chillout Tent

[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.]

Probably not the most obvious go-to track for Hold Steady fans, but I guess I'm just a romantic at heart. 'Cuz this is such a sweet, heartwarming meet-cute love story.

Ok, fine, in true Hold Steady style, the track (off 2006's stellar Boys & Girls In America) is way too gritty and subversive for the next big romantic comedy. Our two young lovers meet after O...

My Top 1000 Songs #525: Open My Eyes

[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.]

This blazing single from Nazz's 1968 eponymous debut always takes me back to my pre-teen exploration of classic rock roots, when I pivoted from the AM Top 40 station that first lured me into my love of music to the more historically-inclined FM stations. Having first been converted to a young classic rock enthusiast by my love of The Who, I was obviously th...

My Top 1000 Songs #524: Split Myself In Two

[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.]

This Meat Puppets song is NOT my favorite Meat Puppets song. Nor is it remotely representative of what I love about the Meat Puppets. But somehow its reckless sense of sheer chaos long had a hold over me. And heaven knows we all need some sheer chaos now and then.

I discovered the band's 1984 sophomore album, Meat Puppets II, early in my college radio days. ...

My Top 1000 Songs #523: 1880 Or So

[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.]

Given the one-two punch of 1977's Marquee Moon and 1978's (underrated) Adventure, it's hard to find much room in my life for Television's (surprisingly solid) 1992 eponymous reunion album. Still, opening track "1880 Or So" is as great as anything from the original incarnation of the band, an updated, more 90s alt-rock flavored approach to their inimitable t...

My Top 1000 Songs #522: The American

[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.]

Freshman year of college, my Canadian roommate was really into European, mostly synth-based new wave. A lot of OMD and Simple Minds, as a I recall. I didn't necessarily dislike it, but I was particularly obsessed with American indie music at the time--R.E.M., the Replacements, Husker Du, various Paisley Underground bands, etc. So we'd have frequent battles ...

My Top 1000 Songs #521: Sunshine Tonight

 [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 Shazam's 1999 sophomore LP Godspeed The Shazam is, for me, just about the definitive power pop album, and I could easily slot half its songs somewhere on this list. But I'm trying to show a little restraint. Still, can't resist "Sunshine Tonight," killer feel-good pop with a hard-rocking edge, the greatest Cheap Trick song that Cheap Trick wishes they ...