Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 95

My Top 1000 Songs #254: We Love You

[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.]

Back in middle school, as my initial introduction to music via Top 40 AM radio evolved into a deep dive into classic rock history, my initial explorations of the Stones naturally centered on Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main Street, and their essential collection of 60s singles, Hot Rocks. It took a few more years for me to stumble onto the sequel to that colle...

My Top 1000 Songs #253: Things Don't Change

[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.]

Getting my jangle on here. The Reivers (originally known as Zeitgeist, before they were forced to make a name change) were a fantastic Austin-based band that got their start amidst the mid-80s college radio jangle-pop scene. There was just a touch more country twang than found in like-minded Southern bands like R.E.M. and The Connells, though the real stren...

My Top 1000 Songs #252: The Emperor's New Clothes

[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.]

Some songs pack such an emotional punch that they never really leave you, even if you lose sight of them for awhile.

I remember falling in love with Sinead O'Connor's "The Emperor's New Clothes" when it came out back in 1990. While most of the attention for I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got fell on her cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U"--which makes a l...

My Top 1000 Songs #251: Common People

[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 example of a song that blows me away from an artist I don't otherwise spend a lot of time with. I mean, I like Pulp just fine, and will occasionally spin them up when I'm in a Britpop kinda mood; but historically, for the most part my copy of 1995's Different Class was something I reached for when I wanted to throw "Common People" onto a mixt...

My Top 1000 Songs #250: Silence Kid

[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.]

Well, how about that... About 250 days in, and we've made it through 25% of my Top 1000 Songs. Many thanks to the one or two of you stragglers still dropping by to wade through my mishegoss...

Anyway, Pavement. "Silence Kid," the opening track from their 1994 sophomore LP Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain--or perhaps "Silence Kit," as it's also known due to some sl...

My Top 1000 Songs #249: The Freed Pig

[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 less prevalent than the Road Song or the Break-Up Song or the Teen Angst Song, the obligatory "I've Left The Band To Go Solo" Song is a sub-genre all its own. Some artists go with broad allegory, like Peter Gabriel's first post-Genesis single "Solsbury Hill," where he proclaims, "You can keep my things they've come to take me home." Or you could tethe...

My Top 1000 Songs #248: Waltz #2

[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 gorgeous, emotionally grueling Elliott Smith track. The dense, almost Beatlesque production on 1998's XO gives a lush, rich feel to the crisp waltz time signature, but doesn't sugarcoat Smith's vulnerability. Lyrically it's written as a backhand to his unwanted stepfather, lamenting the loss of his mother as he once knew her; but you could hear it m...

My Top 1000 Songs #247: The Bottom Line

[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.]

Growing up, the Clash were one of my favorite bands (to this day London Calling remains my all-time favorite album); they were instrumental in my pivot from classic rock into punk and indie rock. So of course I took it hard when Mick Jones was kicked out of the band and their dissolution appeared imminent; it was clearly the end of an era for me.

Thus it cam...

My Top 1000 Songs #246: Mean Mr. Mustard Medley

[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 to return to Abbey Road Side Two--my favorite 20 minutes of music ever recorded--for the other three-song medley. And, again, one could treat the whole thing as a single song, or chop it various ways. But for purposes of this list, I'm looking at "Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" as a single track. (One could say ...

My Top 1000 Songs #245: Scarlet Begonias

[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.]

Previous Grateful Dead picks making the list have included tracks that are perfect in their original studio context (i.e. "Ripple," "Box of Rain," Jerry Garcia's "The Wheel") and those that thrive primarily within the domain of live performances (i.e. "Dark Star," "China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider"; perhaps "Franklin's Tower").

"Scarlet Begonias" occup...