Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 87

My Top 1000 Songs #332: Woke Up New

[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 devastating emotional body-blow from The Mountain Goats. 2006's Get Lonely was songwriter John Darnielle's break-up album, and while a number of songs mine similar territory--I also adore "Half Dead," likewise detailing the conflicting feelings of loss and freedom on the morning after the split--"Woke Up New" is just too packed with unforgettable ly...

My Top 1000 Songs #331: Raised Eyebrows

[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.]

Few albums better define the whole Jittery White Guy Music aesthetic that a friend once ascribed to my musical taste (inspiring the name of my rock & roll memoir and related writings) than the Feelies' 1980 debut Crazy Rhythms. And that vibe is perfectly encapsulated in the record's "Raised Eyebrows." Most of the song is vocals-free, potentially violating m...

My Top 1000 Songs #330: D'yer Mak'er

[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 someone who rarely listens to Led Zeppelin these days--courtesy of lifelong FM radio overplay, plus just having mixed feelings about Plant's vocals--the songs I still enjoy tend to be those that are arguably held in less esteem by the diehards. Certainly "D'yer Mak'er," from 1973's Houses Of The Holy, seems to get a bad rap from some quarters. And I get ...

My Top 1000 Songs #329: Christmas Wrapping

[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.]

Yes, it feels strange to be listening to & talking about Christmas music just as we're hitting the dog days of summer. But it's refreshing to revisit this song freed from the seasonal context, once again appreciating it as a simply delightful piece of new wave-era pop separate from its mall loudspeaker baggage. 

As a non-practitioner of Christmas myself, the...

My Top 1000 Songs #328: Star Sign

[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 Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque came out in 1991, it was all I could talk about. Here was some Big Star-styled chiming power pop, with the harmonies and hooks and jangle intact, but given a fresh coating of fizzy distortion, a post-punk reinterpretation of early 70s feel-good vibes. "Star Sign" was the song that roped me in, hum-along melodies and joy...

My Top 1000 Songs #327: What Deaner Was Talking About

[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.]

Gonna follow yesterday's track by a sometimes divisive mid-90s alternative rock band with... another one. Of course, Ween are far more provocative, their reliance on odd voices, jarring stylistic variations, general silliness, and some R-rated content making them an acquired taste for some (i.e. me). They are also one of those bands that can keep newbies al...

My Top 1000 Songs #326: El Scorcho

[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.]

Sure, Weezer appear to be kinda divisive, and I'm presumably half a generation too old to admit liking them. And "El Scorcho," off 1996 sophomore LP Pinkerton, arguably falls somewhere between juvenile and outright cringe.

But what can I say? I've always loved the damn thing. If you're the sort of person who gets to the final chorus, and you're still not sin...

My Top 1000 Songs #325: Bittersweet

[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 arrival at the college radio station in 1984, and my deep dive into the indie music scene, was all about the jangle. And while most of the bands I immediately gravitated towards were American--R.E.M. and, later, the Connells, Winter Hours, Love Tractor, Guadalcanal Diary, the Reivers, etc.--one of the songs I most closely associate with that time in my l...

My Top 1000 Songs #324: Rocket Man

[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 think it's fair to say I'm not much of an Elton John fan. Indeed, for most of my life, I viscerally disliked everything about his music. Some of this antagonism was based on the music itself, the schlocky, overplayed pop songs I heard on the radio throughout my life; but much of it was me lumping him in with all the other hugely commercial mainstream pop ...

My Top 1000 Songs #323: People Who Died

[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 still have vague memories of the first time I heard this, back in high school, early 1980s. Probably late night on WXRT, the Chicago classic rock station that would sometimes get a little edgier after dark; or maybe one of those weekend cable music video shows like USA Network's Night Flight (definitely not on MTV). Whatever the source, I'll never forget ...