Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 85

My Top 1000 Songs #352: Lucifer Sam

[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.]
Like a lot of 70s kids, I fell in love with Pink Floyd when The Wall arrived in 1979, the perfect album for nerdy, introverted 13-year-olds. I worked my way back through other 70s classic rock landmarks like Dark Side of the Moon and Animals , and eventually found my way all the way at the beginning. 
I bought their Syd Barrett-helmed 1967 debut Piper at the ...

My Top 1000 Songs #351: Radiation Vibe

[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 better Fountains of Wayne songs (we'll get there, I promise). But just like you'll never forget your first kiss, there's an irrefutable emotional connection to the song that first introduced you to a beloved band. Amidst the rawer indie rock that occupied my attention in the mid-90s, be it Pavement or Guided by Voices or Yo La Tengo, there were so...

My Top 1000 Songs #350: The Ballroom Blitz

[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's early 1976. You're 9 years old, barely a few months since discovering pop music on the local Top 40 station but already well down the rabbit hole of a deep, lifelong obsession with music. Every afternoon, you head up to your room after school, grab your handheld AM transistor radio, and soak up every song they spin, mentally tracking the ascent & desce...

My Top 1000 Songs #349: Everybody's Happy Nowadays

[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.]

Damn, talk about a killer 7" single! I've already shared my deep love for the b-side, the extended bass-driven groove of "Why Can't I Touch It," so now let's flip that wondrous 1979 platter over.  (Ok, I don't buy singles; I'm just scrolling around one of the greatest singles collections ever released.) "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" was my introduction to th...

My Top 1000 Songs #348: One Of These Things First

[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.]

Time for a second pick off Nick Drake's fabulous 1971 sophomore LP Bryter Later. "One Of These Things First" is a marvel of British folk music, with classical strains. The intricate fugue-like interplay of the guitar and piano is a reminder that Drake was more than just a uniquely singular songwriter and vocalist; the music here is stunning even aside from ...

My Top 1000 Songs #347: Crush Story

[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 wife isn't a music fan. She'll always love the 15 or 20 songs she remembers from high school, but beyond that, not so much. (But great wife that she is, she indulges my obsession and lets me run the stereo.) Back in college and law school, before we married, I'd give her the occasional mixtape to try to educate her on my taste, but not much of it stuck.

S...

My Top 1000 Songs #346: I Am The Cosmos

[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 Big Star co-founder and production genius Chris Bell tragically died in 1978, he left behind an album of solo recordings which wouldn't see the light of day until a posthumous 1992 release. By that point, I was deep into the Big Star cult, and remember grabbing I Am The Cosmos the day it showed up at my local Tower Records (the greatly missed Palo Alto...

My Top 1000 Songs #345: Living Too Late

[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's the rhythm section that hooks you from the opening notes, that familiar boom-boom-THWACK single-bass-note riff, yet another variation on the stalwart "Sister Ray" motif. The Fall have visited these parts before, the song a sort of sequel to Hex Enduction Hour's "Winter." But where that song had a slow, brooding, almost threatening vibe, this 1986 singl...

My Top 1000 Songs #344: I Can't Wait

[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.]

Coming across Luna's 1992 debut was one of those moments of sheer record-shopping bliss--an unexpected super-group featuring members of some of my favorite bands. The singer from Galaxie 500! The drummer from the Feelies! The bassist from the Chills! It felt like a one-off, a nice little treat, though Dean Wareham ended up keeping the enterprise running for...

My Top 1000 Songs #343: Box Set Go

[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 High didn't stick around very long, and never got much play in the States, but "Box Set Go"--lead-off track from their 1990 debut Somewhere Soon--has had my attention since I first stumbled across it back in law school. They were part of the 80s/90s Manchester scene, and it's tough to reference them without the obvious comparisons to the Stone Roses (in...