Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 9

My Top 2000 Songs #1035: The Shins

Ok, this one's a little confusing. "The Shins" was a song on the 1997 debut LP from Flake Music, When You Land Here, It's Time To Return. The song title bears no discernible connection to the song lyrics, and grew all the more confusing when Flake Music frontman James Mercer opted to use it as the name of his new band, The Shins.

But, hey, cool song. The Flake Music album itself is a bit scattered, more a home recording project than a proper band release, though there are a few solid tracks. Open...

My Top 2000 Songs #1034: Deeside

I've never spent a ton of time listening to The Alarm. Their Welsh new wave felt a little too much like deliberate U2-styled arena anthem efforts for my taste. Still, 1985's Strength got a fair amount of airplay on my college radio show, a nice way to break up the mostly American indie jangle/punk sounds I favored. And "Deeside" was my go-to for several weeks, an instance where their fist-pumping, chiming bombast felt well-earned. There was a rousing hook, that sing-along "fire fire fire!" procl...

My Top 2000 Songs #1033: Parklife

I mostly sat out the whole 90s Britpop thing. Despite loving some of the earlier albums in UK rock's late 80s resurgence, like the Stone Roses, Charlatans, and House of Love, by the early 90s my attention was firmly domestically-oriented. Aside from the obvious Oasis singles that were hard to escape, it took me another decade or so to finally get around to checking out what I'd missed. 

Naturally, there was a lot of great music from Blur I'd skipped and later came to enjoy, though I still have mo...

My Top 2000 Songs #1032: Cowboys

Heading back again to Translate Slowly , the amazing 1985 debut from Austin's Reivers (still called Zeitgeist at the time of the album's release). I'd planned to talk about the title track here, 'cuz damn, what a beautiful song... but for some reason, "Cowboys" has really grown on me over the years and practically demanded its inclusion here. It's a bit of melodic jangle, truly lovely, and like all the under-appreciated band's finest work makes wonderful use of the shared vocals of Kim Longacre a...

My Top 2000 Songs #1031: God Part 2

Another one that, like John Lennon's "Imagine" from a couple days back, seems to get a bad rap. And, sure, Bono is at maximum pomposity here, starting with the gall to designate himself worthy of creating the sequel to the afore-referenced Lennon's "God." But as with much of 1988's Rattle & Hum, Bono's audacity in assuming the mantle of spokesman for all that's come before--from Lennon, to soul, to the blues--is offset by some of the band's finest songs.

And on "God Part II," you can hear U2 shif...

My Top 2000 Songs #1030: The Dirty Jobs

Well into our second thousand, and only the second pick off The Who's 1973 masterpiece Quadrophenia . Which annoys me to no end--I want to throw in the whole damn double-LP!--but as noted last time, it's one of those records I really need to hear from start-to-finish, and cherry-picking stand-alone favorites is a fool's errand. Still, let's give it a shot.

There are probably better options than "The Dirty Jobs," but something about the track has always given it just a little more resonance. Could ...

My Top 2000 Songs #1029: Imagine

It seems unfortunate that John Lennon's landmark 1971 solo single (from the album of the same name) has come to be so maligned--and even before its co-option as a woefully ill-considered Covid-era celebrity sing-along. I mean, yeah, I get it. The lyrics, naive at best and hypocritical at worst, come across as a little dated and trite in these cynical times (and that's even aside from the horrific Trump-induced end-times in which we currently find ourselves).

But screw it, I make no apologies. I s...

My Top 2000 Songs #1028: Philosophy

Nothing like launching a musical career with a bold declaration of purpose. "Philosophy," off the Ben Folds Five's 1995 self-titled debut, sounds like Folds boldly announcing his arrival, smashing through the guitar-driven alternative rock scene with his piano, every bit the alt.rocker but making room for a little Gershwin. Lyrically, it pulls you in with its personal specificity, while remaining just vague enough that you can never be sure if he's singing about his worldview or... well, somethi...

My Top 2000 Songs #1027: No Easy Way Down

Rain Parade's 1983 debut, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip , remains one of my all-time faves, 60s Byrds-y psychedelia updated for the 80s college radio jangle pop scene, and thus seemed pretty hard to top. Especially after co-founder David Roback left the band, first for Opal and later for the more commercially successful Mazzy Star.

Yet 1984's follow-up EP, Explosions In The Glass Palace, came surprisingly close (albeit at half the length). "You Are My Friend" and "Blue" are both pretty, jangly t...

My Top 2000 Songs #1026: Linus And Lucy

Ok, hear me out. Vince Guaraldi's "Linus And Lucy," better known as the theme to those Peanuts cartoons, is admittedly an odd choice. The 1964 piano number is obviously jazz, not rock & roll; plus, it violates my loose rule of avoiding instrumentals on this list (a rule I've broken a few times, so sue me). 

Still... what could be more amazing than a rock & roll cover of "Linus And Lucy"? For those of us of a certain age, Guaraldi's tune is one of the most readily-identifiable pieces of music of a...