Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 91

My Top 1000 Songs #293: Life In A Northern Town

[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.]

Is this one a guilty pleasure? I suppose. It's a little cheesy, the production a bit bombastic, sounding nothing like anything else I was listening to back in 1985. But, still, the song has always captured my imagination, and I can't help but find it charming and emotionally rich.

The self-titled debut from Britain's Dream Academy offered a mix of New Romant...

My Top 1000 Songs #292: Planet Of Sound

[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 assume that, pressed to pick a few favorite Pixies songs, most of us tend to lean heavily on the earlier albums. But I also have great love for "Planet Of Sound," off their fourth and final album (not counting those from the later post-Kim-Deal-era releases), 1991's Trompe Le Monde. The song is just absolutely... well, monstrous. Loud and braying and chao...

My Top 1000 Songs #291: Off The Record

[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 My Morning Jacket have produced some of the finest albums of the past couple decades, they're another band that particularly shine on stage. The band's reverb-drenched, arena-ready rock songs feel like they're designed to fill large spaces. But "Off The Record," from 2005's fine Z, nicely bridges that gap, a compelling high-volume epic on LP that some...

My Top 1000 Songs #290: Driveway To Driveway

[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 was initially drawn to Superchunk by their rousing, galloping, next-wave punk rock. But they gradually mixed things up with the occasional mid-tempo, more contemplative track. "Driveway To Driveway," off 1994's Foolish, is one of those, a catchy guitar riff and restrained, slow churn giving it unexpected emotional tension. But it's the ambiguity of the ly...

My Top 1000 Songs #289: Sometimes Always

[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, most of my favorite Jesus & Mary Chain songs bring the big noise. But I still adore 1994's Stoned & Dethroned, where they stripped out the trademark feedback & distortion and replaced it with wholesome jangle. And the highlight of that lovely record is "Sometimes Always," a totally endearing post-break-up song featuring Jim Reid trading vocal lines wi...

My Top 1000 Songs #288: Crash

[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 spent a lot of time in the late 80s listening to women-fronted indie pop bands--acts like the Primitives, Darling Buds, Voice of the Beehive, Transvision Vamp, etc. A lot of great songs, some buoyant bundles of giddiness that helped break up the otherwise at-sea musical vibe I was feeling after graduating college and losing access to the college radio sce...

My Top 1000 Songs #287: Can't Find My Way Home

[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.]

Steve Winwood, hot off the demise of Traffic, and Eric Clapton, hot off the demise of Cream, put together the shortly-lived Blind Faith, released a lone self-titled album in 1969, and it's... solid. I don't listen to it much except for maybe the jammy live set that showed up on the reissue. But Winwood's "Can't Find My Way Home" remains a classic rock gem, ...

My Top 1000 Songs #286: We're The Same

[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.]

Yeah, it's been a whole 3 days since we talked about power pop songs with drop-dead choruses, but you can never have too many of 'em. Matthew Sweet's 1995 100% Fun opened strong with the crunchy 3-chord rocker "Sick Of Myself," previously covered here. But the more melodic but equally wonderful "We're The Same" is another career high from Sweet. It's a bit ...

My Top 1000 Songs #285: Strangers

[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 The Kinks' 1970 Lola vs. Powerman LP is best known for "Lola," it's the deeper cuts that have always most captured my attention. "This Time Tomorrow" is a personal favorite, as previously noted. Right behind is the lovely, wistful "Strangers." In a band dominated by one of history's greatest songwriters in Ray Davies, Dave's tracks have always felt li...

My Top 1000 Songs #284: Atlantic City

[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 serious Bruce Springsteen fans seem to have great love for 1982's stripped down, unplugged Nebraska. Me? Not so much. I like Bruce at his booming, arena-ready best--Born To Run, Darkness On The Edge Of Town, parts of The River. Sure, I appreciate the artistry of his more folk-oriented work, but it just doesn't click for me.

Except for "Atlantic City." Th...