Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 81

My Top 1000 Songs #390: Dirty Blvd.

[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's plenty of great work in Lou Reed's post-Velvet Underground catalog. But if I'm being honest, I have to admit there, for all the memorable songs, there aren't a lot of solo albums I truly love (at least after initial early gems like Transformer and the more divisive Berlin). Which made 1989's New York so thrilling at the time. It was his most consist...

My Top 1000 Songs #389: I'm Amazed

[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.]

Here's another one on the relatively short list of Rock & Roll Spirituals for those of us who don't fancy ourselves as consumers of spiritual music.

"I'm Amazed," off My Morning Jacket's 2008 epic Evil Urges, manages to capture the booming arena rock hugeness of the band's live shows [saw them for the umpteenth time last week, and they were reliably breathta...

My Top 1000 Tracks #388: Peace Frog

[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.]

Only a fair-weather friend of the Doors... still, they warrant a second inclusion on the Top 1000. And where "The End" was long and slow and emotionally intense, "Peace Frog" is a concise, guitar-driven rocker--though no less apocalyptic. That's probably why I like it; the song shaves off most of the band's more ponderous sentiments, resulting in a frenetic...

My Top 1000 Songs #387: Taste

[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.]

Here's another one from that brief shoegaze heyday back in the late 80s/early 90s--that window when I was trying to bridge the gap between the college radio bands that got me through the 80s (R.E.M., Replacements, etc.) and the indie rock bands that would carry me through the 90s (Pavement, Yo La Tengo, etc.). One of the songs I most closely associate with ...

My Top 1000 Songs #386: Cuban Slide

[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've always kinda taken the Pretenders for granted. I like their music just fine; if you're in the car and a Pretenders song comes on, you're always pretty glad. But I rarely pro-actively listen to their albums. They're sorta like Tom Petty that way for me, an unfailingly reliable act hard not to love but for unknown reasons not typically my go-to music. (T...

Olivia Tremor Control: The Sunshine System

Just had the chance to see the long-promised documentary about The Elephant 6 Recording Company, the loose collective of like-minded experimental pop artists who coalesced around Denver and Athens in the 90s--bands like Apples in Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power, Of Montreal, Minders, Beulah, Dressy Bessy, etc.

The movie was terrific--it's streaming on AppleTV and Prime starting today--with a balanced blend of interviews, music, and archival footage. Felt great to revi...

My Top 1000 Songs #385: Seether

[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 early/mid-90s saw the rise of some amazing women artists and women-fronted bands--Liz Phair, the Breeders, Bettie Serveert, Blake Babies, etc. Chicago's Veruca Salt could've easily gotten lost in the mix but for the insistency of this killer single. "Seether" had a crunchy edge that placed it comfortably in the middle of mainstream-friendly alternative ...

My Top 1000 Songs #384: I Saw The Light

[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's something kinda magical about Todd Rundren's early solo work. His fascination with Laura Nyro/Carole King-styled folk and light pop gives the music a gentle singer-songwriter touch, but wielded to more of a classic rock/power pop sensibility. The blend works beautifully on "I Saw The Light," the highlight of his epic 1972 double-LP Something/Anythin...

My Top 1000 Songs #383: Divine Intervention

[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 two albums of lightweight jangle-pop which showed promise, Matthew Sweet finally found his voice on 1991's Girlfriend, a barrage of power pop greatness which didn't shy away from the "power" part. And he boldly announced his newfound bearings on opening track "Divine Intervention," a twin-guitar attack of dueling riffage, yet still infused with the me...

My Top 1000 Songs #382: Lorelei

[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 Cocteau Twins' third LP, 1984's Treasure, wasn't a huge departure, it did see the band dropping some of the darker goth shadings of earlier work and blooming into the lighter dream pop that would characterize later records and influence countless artists. This is best exemplified on the ethereal "Lorelei," where Elizabeth Fraser's nonsensical yet enth...