Ryan was watching High Fidelity on the road to Virginia, and felt the need to text this topic to me so we wouldn't forget to do it. For me at least, it wasn't hard at all to leave off any songs from the aforementioned list now immortalized in literature and film. So without further ado...
Dan's Top 5:
1. "Keep Me In Your Heart" - Warren Zevon - The rare case (actually, I'm unsure if there's ever been another case) where the songwriter himself knows that he hasn't got much longer to live. Sadly, I remember that at the time the song was released, I didn't know who Zevon was. I thought he might have been one of those "boring" songwriters that the 70's produced far too many of. Only after I got hooked on Excitable Boy did I realize the connection. To this day, one of the very few songs that can get me choked up.
2. "Do You Realize??" - The Flaming Lips - Very cheery-sounding for a song about death (really, there's no death occurring, but it is a reflection on mortality) To quote the lyrics: "Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die? And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know you realize that life goes fast. It's hard to make the good things last" It does what I like death songs to do - focus on the good parts of life. And how can you not do that on an album featuring pink robots?
3. "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" - Muse - I'm really surprised that this song has such a happy-sounding chord progression in the chorus. The music seems in direct contrast to the feeling of the lyrics. I mean, such an upbeat chorus doesn't sound like it fits with the lyrics "eerie whispers trapped beneath my pillow" and "Are you afraid to die?" But hey, I don't question Matt Bellamy, and neither should you.
4. "I Grieve" - Peter Gabriel - I remember being shocked seeing a new Peter Gabriel with no hair and a white goatee when he released his 2003 album, Up. After hearing that this was his darkest album ever (I disagree - that accolade goes to PG III) I always skipped this song out of pure fear that I would be too depressed. However, it surprisingly has an uplifting section towards the middle/end of the song. Do yourself a favor and don't just read the lyrics though.
5. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" - Radiohead - Widely considered Radiohead's first really good song, and off of what is probably my personal favorite album. More haunting than anything, I don't know of any Radiohead fan who doesn't like it. (Then again, most Radiohead fans are so in love with the band that they call you an infidel if you even state you're open to the possibility that there can be a greater band on the face of the planet. That's my only worry about claiming to be a Radiohead fan - that I'll look like an asshole.) Anyway, this song is a solid choice to round out the Top 5, and I don't think I've given Radiohead a shout-out lately.
Ten honorable mentions in no order: "Don't Fear The Reaper" - Blue Öyster Cult, "When The Man Comes Around" - Johnny Cash, "I Don't Like Mondays" - The Boomtown Rats (regarding a senseless school shooting in America), "American Pie" - Don McLean, "Paint It, Black" - The Rolling Stones, "Eleanor Rigby" - The Beatles, "Candle In the Wind" - Elton John, "A Day In The Life" - The Beatles, "Tears In Heaven" - Eric Clapton (probably number 6 - a song about his four-year-old son is pretty powerful.), "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" - Monty Python
Ryan's Top 5:
"The night Laura's daddy died. Sha na na na na na na na na! Brother what a night it really was. Mother what a night it really... angina's tough! Glory be!"
1. "Casimir Pulaski Day" - Sufjan Stevens - Sufjan Stevens is a Christian, and this is a song written from a Christian perspective. That said, this song reflects loss on a personal level, without espousing any view of Why Death Happens To Who It Does; on the contrary, the speaker of the song is at a loss for understanding. The singer can't understand why "He takes and He takes and He takes..." The music is beautiful and sounds almost optimistic (the lyric "Oh the glory!" begins new verses). I don't know, the disparity between music and lyrics gives me the sense that there is, in fact, an understanding of death to be had, it's just impossible to realize it when someone close dies. Who needs a drink?
2. "A Minor Incident" - Badly Drawn Boy - The concept of this song alone is brilliant. Written by Damon Gough for "About a Boy," this is supposed to be the suicide letter Fiona writes to her son Marcus, put to music. You've got to appreciate the verbal irony of referring to the event as a "minor incident." (I'm a big fan of irony.) And it's just Damon Gough, acoustic guitar, and harmonica. Excellent.
3. "Five Years" - David Bowie - The lyrics are pretty epic. "Five years--that's all we've got!"
4. "Eleanor Rigby" - The Beatles - Where do all the lonely people belong anyway? Asking questions that don't have answers seems to be a trend on this list...
5. "Hurricane" - Bob Dylan - I was obsessed with this song for a brief period in high school, and it feels like I haven't played it since. Anyway, here's Dylan the storyteller on display. And I really, really like the way he sings, "pool of bluuuud."
Honorable mention: "Let It Be," by The Beatles; "Brick" by Ben Folds Five; "Don't Fear the Reaper" by BOC; "Not Dark Yet" by Bob Dylan; "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin; "Five Years" by David Bowie; "Hey Joe" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience; "Shortly Before The End" by OK Go; "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" by Monty Python.
Tim's Top 5:
I had started a list like this that was limited to songs about murder, so my list is kind of guided in that direction, though I'm generally happy with it anyway.
1. "O Valencia" by The Decemberists - The Crane Wife is an awesome album if I recall correctly. Unfortunately, I never have a chance to recall correctly because I'm so enamored with this song that I never make it much beyond The Perfect Crime 2 before I have to go listen to it again. It's on the hyper-literate side, having been lifted pretty directly from Romeo & Juliet (Valencia is pretty much in the place of Mercutio). But it fits the category, given that Valencia utters a dying cry with her blood still warm on the ground.
2. "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin-To-Die Rag" by Country Joe and the Fish - My parents had the Woodstock 3LP set, this was about the only thing from it that I find essential to this day. It's stretching a bit to put it in the category here, but it is an entire song themed on the death of people in Vietnam and the title eliminates any lingering doubts I have about putting it in here. One of the most bitter, but brilliant, sets of lyrics after concocted, it was Dead Kennedys before Jello Biafra.
3. "Lucifer" by Jay-Z - Again, this is a song that's themed on murder and revenge, rather than strictly death. But it's one of Kanye's best use of samples and it's a fantastic song even out of context, which is the reason I was reminded how awesome it is (it plays over the end credits of an episode of Entourage in season 2 or 3).
4. "Not Dark Yet" by Bob Dylan - This song is a stretch to include because it's more about dying rather than death. But it's Dylan at his creative pinnacle in Time Out of Mind and was used beautifully in Wonder Boys, which is itself a masterful elegy.
5. "American Pie" by Don McLean - This song may be the only reason ordinary people remember Buddy Holly in another 20 years. His music has largely fallen into the void along with pre-sequined jumpsuit Elvis Presley so that it's just not heard on the radio. But Don McLean created a song that's about Buddy's death but also about most everything that happened for the next ten years that doesn't wear out its welcome at over 8 minutes. And he had the prescience to do it several years before hating on Vietnam became politically necessary.
Honorable mention: "Murder Was The Case" by Snoop Dogg; "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" by The Killers; "Traditional Irish Folk Song" by Denis Leary; "What Sarah Said" by Death Cab for Cutie; "A Fond Farewell" by Elliott Smith
Showing posts with label high fidelity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label high fidelity. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Top 5 side a, track 1's
Having temporarily resuscitated the blog and doubled our production from last month, I figure I should up the ante once more before I leave the country for a week so I can finally buy the new Nine Black Alps album.
I had concocted my list a great deal of time ago, but never posted the homage, so here it is. My only preamble would be that I'm not going to snipe songs that I enjoy on an individual level because as great as "Gimme Some Lovin'" is, I don't know that it suits the album it introduces at all...so I don't mention it in the list.
Rob’s Top 5:
1) “Janie Jones” by The Clash from the album The Clash [UK]
2) “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye from the album Let’s Get It On
3) “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana from the album Nevermind
4) “White light/White Heat” by The Velvet Underground
5) “Radiation Ruling the Nation” by Massive Attack
Having lent out my copy of the novel ages ago and never having it returned unto me, I can't provide you whatever analysis Hornby would here.
Tim’s Top 5:
*The US version of The Clash led off with “Clash City Rockers”, not nearly the track Janie Jones is, hence, I have to leave it off my list because I’ve never heard the UK album in its pure unaltered form. So, although my list looks a fair amount like Rob's, it's not the same.
It is also not a coincidence that four of the five albums (the first four) would rank among the top 50 on my list if I were ever to venture into such a fool's errand.
1) “Tangled Up In Blue” by Bob Dylan from the album Blood on the Tracks - I have, throughout many periods in my life, been certain that this is my favorite song. I'm not entirely sure why or how it reached this status, but it is Dylan's finest hour. He'd moved away from his overtly political period, gone through his diversions into Nashville Skyline and a period of underwhelming material that history has essentially overlooked. All the lyrics are memorable, even though they never really add up into one coherent story and are essentially dispensable -- Dylan himself has continued to change the lyrics after the album was released -- but the song essentially captures the story of a man wandering, which seems to describe Dylan himself for most of the decade preceding the song, trying to find himself in folk music, electrified rock, Nashville country, only to find himself in a new place with no direction -- the only thing to do was to keep on keepin' on. And so he did, and this is the result.
2) “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye from the album What’s Going On - Edwin Starr's "War" might typify what the post-Reagan generations will typify as a protest song from the 1960s, but this is the perfect protest in my mind. While other protest songs might inspire anger or motivate you to lash out, this is a seductive plea for humanity, not the dispatching of violence with another kind of violence. Until you really listen to the lyrics, you could have just mistaken it for another Marvin Gaye track. The song itself is so richly layered, part orchestral, part celebration of life and friendship, and part pleading for hope. It's the song that saved and destroyed Motown, and a lead-in to an uneven, but fantastic album that no one should be without. Combine this song with "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" and "Mercy Mercy Me" and Marvin Gaye accomplishes more with those tracks than most great artists will in an entire career of singles.
3) “Rocks Off” by The Rolling Stones from the album Exile on Main Street - Exile is widely regarded as The Rolling Stones' finest album, and I'm not one to argue. It's certainly the only one I own, though a case could be made for Let It Bleed or Sticky Fingers. The song is almost the antithesis of What's Going On, while there's ostensible production, everything about the track sounds extremely raw and conveys a sense that you're actually in the same room with the band that just isn't present on any other song I can recall. It's pure energy, both frenetic and kinetic, with a half-dozen instruments and vocals taking the lead at some point. The rest of the Stones' work may only be rock 'n' roll and generally likeable, but this IS rock 'n' roll, defined. It is also worth mentioning that the producer of this track, Jimmy Miller, also was the producer on the aforementioned "Gimme Some Lovin'". Pure genius.
4) “London Calling” by The Clash from the album London Calling - While #1 and #5 on the album seem to convey a sense of unfettered optimism, London Calling is their polar opposite -- a near-suicidal screed -- that the world was facing impending disaster. It was not a subtle message, whether it was burning up in the sun, nuclear war, a new ice age, floods, or, yes, zombies. It has a screamed urgency that creates a perfect counterpoint to the fatalistic and apocalyptic inevitability. In a world certain to be wiped away in a nuclear explosion, perhaps the best you can hope for is to drown first. If you're ever facing nuclear annihilation, take the song with you to your bunker. You'll understand.
5) “Mother We Can’t Get Enough” by The New Radicals from the album Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too - That's right I'm installing "new classic status" after a list of safe ones. The New Radicals' album was totally overlooked because the only reason people bought it (myself included) was "You Get What You Give", the ubiquitous song of 1999, ranking right up there with "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen". With the lead single and a price of $6.99 when I bought it at Best Buy, I had little to no intention of listening to the rest of the album. Thankfully, I did. From the Yoko Ono-ish voice saying "Make my nipples hard, let's go!", this song and most of the album is pop mastery that explains easily why Gregg Alexander (the primary member of The New Radicals, as well as the producer of the album) has since become a leading producer of other music. This track, however, ranks as the pinnacle of the album, despite its too-obvious attacks on consumer culture. The rest of the album fails to reach this point, although there are three or four other semi-essential tracks, including "Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You" and astoundingly "You Get What You Give".
Honorable mention: "Help!" by the Beatles from the album Help!; “Thunder Road” by Bruce Springsteen from Born to Run; "The Boy in the Bubble" by Paul Simon from Graceland
Ryan's Top Five
I'm a bit surprised, I didn't expect my Top 5 to turn out like it did...but I felt compelled to go with the new-one-among-some-old-safe-ones strategy, which led to me bumping some worthy contenders. But I digress.
1. "Imagine" by John Lennon from the album Imagine - Well, this is one of the best songs ever written, so, you know. It gets downplayed (even by myself) because of its omnipresence and, as Jack Black would put it, it's obviousness. Oh well.
2. "Purple Haze" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience from the (US) album Are You Experienced? - Personally, I prefer songs 3-5 on my list, but you cannot underestimate the legendary sound of this song's opening guitar riff. Led off one kick-ass album, to be sure, and one of the best albums from one of the best decades of music (excluding, of course, the 1890s).
3. "London Calling" by The Clash from the album London Calling - What Tim said. No argument here--much like song #2 on my list, this song wastes absolutely no time in kicking ass.
4. "Hells Bells" by AC/DC from the album Back in Black - And this one too. I'd be lying if I said I was the biggest AC/DC fan in the world, but that's only because I know too many other fans who are obsessed. Surely this is one of the greatest classic rock albums of all-time. I'm a big fan of ominous openings, and frankly ominousness in general; the bells here achieve said goal. Bonus points for being a better sports intro song than Welcome To The Jungle (says I).
5. "The Crane Wife 3" by The Decemberists from the album The Crane Wife - Well, here's my new one, but this song really is awesome. "The Crane Wife" is definitely one of the best albums of this decade and a masterpiece of, as Colbert put it, "hyper-literate prog rock." This song adeptly sets the tone for the rest of the album, which gels quite well.
Honorable mentions (lots, and in no order, except for the first two): "Baba O'Riley" by The Who [Who's Next], "Back in the USSR," "Sgt. Pepper," and "Taxman" by the Beatles, "Who Loves the Sun?" by The Velvet Underground [Loaded], "Take a Bow" by Muse [Black Holes & Revelations], "My Name Is Jonas" by Weezer [Weezer], "The Sounds of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel [Sounds of Silence], "Gotta Get Up" by Harry Nilsson [Nilsson Schmilsson], "Space Oddity" by David Bowie [Space Oddity], "Five Years" by David Bowie [Ziggy], "Fight Test" by The Flaming Lips [Yoshimi], and "Go-Go Gadget Gospel" by Gnarls Barkley [St. Elsewhere]. Phew.
Dan's top 5:
I'm a bit unsatisfied with my list, since I feel like (a) I'm cleaning up after two pretty good lists by simply listing obvious omissions, and (b) there's not too much that's fresh or original about my list. I'm sure that I'll probably regret it once I stumble on something I missed on Wikipedia within the next few hours. I also maintain Tim's criterion of a decent-to-good album is also necessary for inclusion. That being said...
"Baba O'Riley" by The Who from the album Who's Next - I remember making a mix CD of the best tracks ever. The scheme was, I would pick the best track 1, the best track 2, et cetera until I ran out of room on the CD. So naturally, track one of that CD is my number one here. I remember looking through a lot of potential candidates before firmly deciding on this one the second I saw it. The "synthesizer" intro (actually just created using the arpeggio effects on a Lowrey home organ) is one of the best introductions to a song I've ever heard, and it blossoms into all-out rocking shortly thereafter.
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys from the album Pet Sounds - Barry would give me so much shit for this one, since it's such an obvious choice. I had to include it though, since none of you other jerks decided to give props to one of the best pop albums ever. Probably the album's most recognizable song, as well, and the epitome of chamber pop.
"Space Oddity" by David Bowie from the album Space Oddity - One of Bowie's masterpieces, I think it's a shame that it hasn't been mentioned yet. Even though it sounds dated, especially when compared to everything else Bowie has done, it's still a masterful bit of songwriting and performance. Loses just a few points because the song tends to overshadow most of the rest of the album (at least in my eyes. Yes, I do realize how much "Memory of a Free Festival" kicks ass.)
"Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" by the Killers from the album Hot Fuss - My new classic status is bumped up to #4 instead of the usual #5, simply because Hot Fuss was such a great album. This first kickass track was a sign that this band was fresh and new, sort of the same way Jacqueline was a great start to Franz Ferdinand's eponymous debut. Of course, if I had chosen that one, it would have been way too obvious that I was sucking up to Tim. This way, it's a bit more subtle.
"Tom Sawyer" by Rush from the album Moving Pictures - I doubt anyone else from the Top 5 likes progressive rock at all, much less Rush. I figured I'd give credit to this album, and this song in particular, which is probably Rush's biggest hit. It was a major step forward in the 80's synthesizer era, as it was released in 1981. This album, along with Van Halen's 1984 album, would prove that synthesizers could be used in rock music and still kick ass.
Honorable Mention - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel from the album Bridge Over Troubled Water, also most of Ryan's honorable mentions.
I had concocted my list a great deal of time ago, but never posted the homage, so here it is. My only preamble would be that I'm not going to snipe songs that I enjoy on an individual level because as great as "Gimme Some Lovin'" is, I don't know that it suits the album it introduces at all...so I don't mention it in the list.
Rob’s Top 5:
1) “Janie Jones” by The Clash from the album The Clash [UK]
2) “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye from the album Let’s Get It On
3) “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana from the album Nevermind
4) “White light/White Heat” by The Velvet Underground
5) “Radiation Ruling the Nation” by Massive Attack
Having lent out my copy of the novel ages ago and never having it returned unto me, I can't provide you whatever analysis Hornby would here.
Tim’s Top 5:
*The US version of The Clash led off with “Clash City Rockers”, not nearly the track Janie Jones is, hence, I have to leave it off my list because I’ve never heard the UK album in its pure unaltered form. So, although my list looks a fair amount like Rob's, it's not the same.
It is also not a coincidence that four of the five albums (the first four) would rank among the top 50 on my list if I were ever to venture into such a fool's errand.
1) “Tangled Up In Blue” by Bob Dylan from the album Blood on the Tracks - I have, throughout many periods in my life, been certain that this is my favorite song. I'm not entirely sure why or how it reached this status, but it is Dylan's finest hour. He'd moved away from his overtly political period, gone through his diversions into Nashville Skyline and a period of underwhelming material that history has essentially overlooked. All the lyrics are memorable, even though they never really add up into one coherent story and are essentially dispensable -- Dylan himself has continued to change the lyrics after the album was released -- but the song essentially captures the story of a man wandering, which seems to describe Dylan himself for most of the decade preceding the song, trying to find himself in folk music, electrified rock, Nashville country, only to find himself in a new place with no direction -- the only thing to do was to keep on keepin' on. And so he did, and this is the result.
2) “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye from the album What’s Going On - Edwin Starr's "War" might typify what the post-Reagan generations will typify as a protest song from the 1960s, but this is the perfect protest in my mind. While other protest songs might inspire anger or motivate you to lash out, this is a seductive plea for humanity, not the dispatching of violence with another kind of violence. Until you really listen to the lyrics, you could have just mistaken it for another Marvin Gaye track. The song itself is so richly layered, part orchestral, part celebration of life and friendship, and part pleading for hope. It's the song that saved and destroyed Motown, and a lead-in to an uneven, but fantastic album that no one should be without. Combine this song with "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" and "Mercy Mercy Me" and Marvin Gaye accomplishes more with those tracks than most great artists will in an entire career of singles.
3) “Rocks Off” by The Rolling Stones from the album Exile on Main Street - Exile is widely regarded as The Rolling Stones' finest album, and I'm not one to argue. It's certainly the only one I own, though a case could be made for Let It Bleed or Sticky Fingers. The song is almost the antithesis of What's Going On, while there's ostensible production, everything about the track sounds extremely raw and conveys a sense that you're actually in the same room with the band that just isn't present on any other song I can recall. It's pure energy, both frenetic and kinetic, with a half-dozen instruments and vocals taking the lead at some point. The rest of the Stones' work may only be rock 'n' roll and generally likeable, but this IS rock 'n' roll, defined. It is also worth mentioning that the producer of this track, Jimmy Miller, also was the producer on the aforementioned "Gimme Some Lovin'". Pure genius.
4) “London Calling” by The Clash from the album London Calling - While #1 and #5 on the album seem to convey a sense of unfettered optimism, London Calling is their polar opposite -- a near-suicidal screed -- that the world was facing impending disaster. It was not a subtle message, whether it was burning up in the sun, nuclear war, a new ice age, floods, or, yes, zombies. It has a screamed urgency that creates a perfect counterpoint to the fatalistic and apocalyptic inevitability. In a world certain to be wiped away in a nuclear explosion, perhaps the best you can hope for is to drown first. If you're ever facing nuclear annihilation, take the song with you to your bunker. You'll understand.
5) “Mother We Can’t Get Enough” by The New Radicals from the album Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too - That's right I'm installing "new classic status" after a list of safe ones. The New Radicals' album was totally overlooked because the only reason people bought it (myself included) was "You Get What You Give", the ubiquitous song of 1999, ranking right up there with "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen". With the lead single and a price of $6.99 when I bought it at Best Buy, I had little to no intention of listening to the rest of the album. Thankfully, I did. From the Yoko Ono-ish voice saying "Make my nipples hard, let's go!", this song and most of the album is pop mastery that explains easily why Gregg Alexander (the primary member of The New Radicals, as well as the producer of the album) has since become a leading producer of other music. This track, however, ranks as the pinnacle of the album, despite its too-obvious attacks on consumer culture. The rest of the album fails to reach this point, although there are three or four other semi-essential tracks, including "Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You" and astoundingly "You Get What You Give".
Honorable mention: "Help!" by the Beatles from the album Help!; “Thunder Road” by Bruce Springsteen from Born to Run; "The Boy in the Bubble" by Paul Simon from Graceland
Ryan's Top Five
I'm a bit surprised, I didn't expect my Top 5 to turn out like it did...but I felt compelled to go with the new-one-among-some-old-safe-ones strategy, which led to me bumping some worthy contenders. But I digress.
1. "Imagine" by John Lennon from the album Imagine - Well, this is one of the best songs ever written, so, you know. It gets downplayed (even by myself) because of its omnipresence and, as Jack Black would put it, it's obviousness. Oh well.
2. "Purple Haze" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience from the (US) album Are You Experienced? - Personally, I prefer songs 3-5 on my list, but you cannot underestimate the legendary sound of this song's opening guitar riff. Led off one kick-ass album, to be sure, and one of the best albums from one of the best decades of music (excluding, of course, the 1890s).
3. "London Calling" by The Clash from the album London Calling - What Tim said. No argument here--much like song #2 on my list, this song wastes absolutely no time in kicking ass.
4. "Hells Bells" by AC/DC from the album Back in Black - And this one too. I'd be lying if I said I was the biggest AC/DC fan in the world, but that's only because I know too many other fans who are obsessed. Surely this is one of the greatest classic rock albums of all-time. I'm a big fan of ominous openings, and frankly ominousness in general; the bells here achieve said goal. Bonus points for being a better sports intro song than Welcome To The Jungle (says I).
5. "The Crane Wife 3" by The Decemberists from the album The Crane Wife - Well, here's my new one, but this song really is awesome. "The Crane Wife" is definitely one of the best albums of this decade and a masterpiece of, as Colbert put it, "hyper-literate prog rock." This song adeptly sets the tone for the rest of the album, which gels quite well.
Honorable mentions (lots, and in no order, except for the first two): "Baba O'Riley" by The Who [Who's Next], "Back in the USSR," "Sgt. Pepper," and "Taxman" by the Beatles, "Who Loves the Sun?" by The Velvet Underground [Loaded], "Take a Bow" by Muse [Black Holes & Revelations], "My Name Is Jonas" by Weezer [Weezer], "The Sounds of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel [Sounds of Silence], "Gotta Get Up" by Harry Nilsson [Nilsson Schmilsson], "Space Oddity" by David Bowie [Space Oddity], "Five Years" by David Bowie [Ziggy], "Fight Test" by The Flaming Lips [Yoshimi], and "Go-Go Gadget Gospel" by Gnarls Barkley [St. Elsewhere]. Phew.
Dan's top 5:
I'm a bit unsatisfied with my list, since I feel like (a) I'm cleaning up after two pretty good lists by simply listing obvious omissions, and (b) there's not too much that's fresh or original about my list. I'm sure that I'll probably regret it once I stumble on something I missed on Wikipedia within the next few hours. I also maintain Tim's criterion of a decent-to-good album is also necessary for inclusion. That being said...
"Baba O'Riley" by The Who from the album Who's Next - I remember making a mix CD of the best tracks ever. The scheme was, I would pick the best track 1, the best track 2, et cetera until I ran out of room on the CD. So naturally, track one of that CD is my number one here. I remember looking through a lot of potential candidates before firmly deciding on this one the second I saw it. The "synthesizer" intro (actually just created using the arpeggio effects on a Lowrey home organ) is one of the best introductions to a song I've ever heard, and it blossoms into all-out rocking shortly thereafter.
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys from the album Pet Sounds - Barry would give me so much shit for this one, since it's such an obvious choice. I had to include it though, since none of you other jerks decided to give props to one of the best pop albums ever. Probably the album's most recognizable song, as well, and the epitome of chamber pop.
"Space Oddity" by David Bowie from the album Space Oddity - One of Bowie's masterpieces, I think it's a shame that it hasn't been mentioned yet. Even though it sounds dated, especially when compared to everything else Bowie has done, it's still a masterful bit of songwriting and performance. Loses just a few points because the song tends to overshadow most of the rest of the album (at least in my eyes. Yes, I do realize how much "Memory of a Free Festival" kicks ass.)
"Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" by the Killers from the album Hot Fuss - My new classic status is bumped up to #4 instead of the usual #5, simply because Hot Fuss was such a great album. This first kickass track was a sign that this band was fresh and new, sort of the same way Jacqueline was a great start to Franz Ferdinand's eponymous debut. Of course, if I had chosen that one, it would have been way too obvious that I was sucking up to Tim. This way, it's a bit more subtle.
"Tom Sawyer" by Rush from the album Moving Pictures - I doubt anyone else from the Top 5 likes progressive rock at all, much less Rush. I figured I'd give credit to this album, and this song in particular, which is probably Rush's biggest hit. It was a major step forward in the 80's synthesizer era, as it was released in 1981. This album, along with Van Halen's 1984 album, would prove that synthesizers could be used in rock music and still kick ass.
Honorable Mention - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel from the album Bridge Over Troubled Water, also most of Ryan's honorable mentions.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Top 5 Dream Jobs
K, I'll get us started off...
Ryan's Top Five
1. Novelist, US, 1920s-1930s - Pros: get to hang out with William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Probably learned your trade from Sherwood Anderson in a southern city--Pensacola? Cons: seriously heavy alcoholism which leads to a crappy screenwriting career in the 1940s for cash to pay off massive debt. Novels don't become famous until the 1950s and later.
2. General Manager, Kansas City Royals [Insert your favorite team here] - Pros: I can't really imagine a better life than getting paid to watch my team play baseball, while having the ability to impact the game immensely. Cons: David Glass needs to sell the team first.
3. Bookstore owner, independent-but-well-to-do business in upscale part of town that retains uniqueness, i.e. isn't suburban sprawl - Pros: you get to spend your entire day in a bookshop, which will have one, possibly two (but no more) cats. Free fountain drinks from the cafe. The ability to choose which books to display, or to even carry in the store (hasta la vista, Ann Coulter). Cons: Dealing with all the stuff that I imagine a bookstore owner has to deal with, like, business-y stuff.
4. Tennis phenom, a la Roger Federer - Pros: mastery of an incredibly athletic sport that is one of the most dignified sports around--e.g., your sport's most famous championship is sponsored by Rolex and is not hosted by Dane Cook. Cons: Endless hours of practice, work, physical exertion, etc.
5. Architect - Actually I just wanted to steal this joke before anyone else could. Moving on...
5. Writer/Director, movies and HBO-quality TV shows - Pros: fame, fortune, and you get to create special features for your DVD releases, and do audio commentary. Cons: You inadvertently inspire crappy network knockoff shows.
*I wrote the following and then decided I'd rather be a writer/director. But hell if I'm deleting it.*
6. Singer/songwriter, present day, "alternative/acoustic/rock/pop" (roughly myspace's categorization of Badly Drawn Boy) - Pros: You get to do a lot of the same stuff that many did in the 60s/early 70s, but it's original since few have done it well since--i.e., big-fish-small-pond appeal. You enjoy enough success to keep you in a nice house for life, but not too much, so that you retain credibility and get to play smaller, cooler venues on tours. Cons: Fans get angry when you don't put out at least one album per year, which, given my work ethic, would be a near certainty. Fans don't appreciate countless live albums and "best of's".
Dan's Top 5:
1. Record Producer/Engineer, 1965-1975 - Pros: get to meet best artists of rock history and be responsible for making them sound good. Also, get to make good money and only true fans would appreciate my work. Cons: may die before my time of a drug overdose, but what a great way to die.
2. Owner and Operator of a Diner - Pros: get to cook great-tasting food, and be familiar and friendly with "regulars". Customers will be amiable people who shun corporate fast food joints. Cons: will probably not do amazingly well, having to compete with franchises. Would also probably require a hefty investment to get started.
3. Composer for Films - Pros: get to write film themes, and possibly win an Oscar. Get to meet numerous directors, and maybe other composers such as Danny Elfman and John Williams. Cons: will never actually be as good as Danny Elfman or John Williams.
4. National Geographic Photographer - Pros: get to travel the world and take some of the most amazing photographs ever seen, without the added burden of writing articles that get skimmed over in doctors' offices. Cons: constant risk of injury, disease or death.
5. Film Writer/Director - Pros: get the opportunity to reveal artistic visions to the world and still manage to achieve financial success. Cons: likely subject to being either over- or underrated, and I'd imagine being snubbed for an Oscar would really suck.
Tory's Top Five
1. Film Writer/Director - Pros: Get to fulfill my actual dream of directing movies, and get a sense of accomplishment for filming the scripts I've completed in reality. Cons: Possibility of people not liking movies or production companies financing the movies sticking their noses into the creative control, and not having final cut. Budgets.
2. Musician, almost any kind - Pros: Always enjoyed singing, but I cannot play guitar (I can play bass though.) Get to hang out with tons of musicians on tour, and write for a living. Cons: I can't sing that well.
3. Chef/Restaurant Owner - Pros: The two go hand-in-hand as I would love to own my own restaurant, and have recently become enamored with the career of a chef. Creating a menu seems like one of the most fun things to do ever. Cons: Money problems.
4. Owner of the Jaguars - Pros: Get to surround my life with football on the off and regular season. Make moves and trades and pickups. Be in the war room for the draft. Cons: None.
5. Playwright c. 1940s - Pros: Get to hang out with Tennessee Williams, Jean-Paul Sartre, Samuel Beckett and tons of other writers. Get to involve myself in the beginnings of theatre of the absurd and have an insane sense of accomplishment. Cons: A lot of people would insult my work as pretentious.
Tim's Top 5:
1) Stand-up comedian - Work the Improv, maybe Carnegie Hall, but it's not really my style. work three hours a night, dress is casual, pay is incidental, but relatively irrelevant given that you're always on the road; see the finest cities in the U.S., but find yourself stuck in Omaha at the Funny bone if you're J. Medicine Hat. Release my elusive comedy album, get paid for what I do during the day anyway. Upside: I already have some experience and lots of material; there's serious potential for cross-over money from semi-reputable operations like Demetri Martin or Lewis Black on The Daily Show, some seasons of SNL. Downside: It's terrible money even if you're famous; it's a reverse meritocracy where Dane Cook, Larry the Cable Guy, and Jeff Foxworthy become millionaires, Todd Barry probably sleeps in an Amana box in Queens. Anytime the best thing that can happen for you is a sitcom deal....usually a sign that you're half a step up from a whore, and it's more of a procedural step rather than one of substance.
2) Curator, Baseball Hall of Fame - Perform baseball's own versions of revisionist history, be relatively well-compensated if necessary to ensure that the museum remains a non-profit, Downsides: have to attend ceremonies honoring middling players. Upside: live in Cooperstown, the happiest place on earth, or certainly in upstate New York. Get to "misplace" Bud Selig's tickets for events. Downside: There's altogether too much history you can't eliminate, you still have a marketing aspect to the job, so you can't write off the Red Sox world series win as a boring World Series that means no more than the 1990 Reds' sweep; have to pretend that Ozzie Smith (or Phil Rizzuto, I don't care if he's dead, he was not that good) is somehow more deserving of being in the Hall of Fame than Dave Concepcion just because he did some flips and ruined This Week in Baseball.
3) Feature film Director - Writing's fine and all, and I could easily envision myself being the next Stanley Kubrick...as I used to do. But let's be honest, if you're directing, you are wielding enough power that you can functionally recreate the script anyway. Hitchcock did it every time. As a director, I'd take an eclectic mix of major market projects -- The Green Hornet would be the first such project -- and intellectual comedies (these I'd be writing) that seem British without actually involving British people. Upsides: money money money, I get to tell Nicolas Cage what to do "No, Nic...don't play the role that way, throw yourself off a bridge -- and Adaptation sucked."; downsides: I will inevitably end up directing Vin Diesel movies or lighthearted retarded comedies starring former pro wrestlers that have lines like "it stood up to a 300 pound linebacker, it'll do" even though any retarded screenwriter writing an awful football/family comedy starring the Ro ck would still have thought "linebackers never weigh 300 pounds...that's a lineman". Or the Rock should have said something, the guy did play football. I'm just saying, that's all...Hollywood is a bitch goddess. (Incidentally, said movie "The Game Plan" was written by two women...and that's still no excuse. What's more, it needs to stop being shown in trailer form before movies I want to see. I am not a family, nor am I 8 years old.)
4) Author - mid-1980s - Choose Your Adventure Series - It's like being an author, except you don't have to make any decisions...you can shed all concepts of quality writing but act out all your lust for vengeance on all those fools who choose to enter the cave and turn to page 31 instead of waiting for the park ranger to arrive (turn to page 18). Upsides: you can churn out a book in three hours and insert hidden messages to children that they only discover if they read the books in page order. Titles are easy : you are a _______. Downsides: writing for children has to be incredibly difficult, writing to an 8th grade level in the newspaper was impossible enough; you probably make about $5.15 an hour.
5) Dean, Thomas Jefferson Law School - Perhaps the second most achievable of my dream jobs (right after the invention of the time machine allows me to achieve #4), this job has substantial upsides... Upsides:Thomas Jefferson law school is in San Diego, California; it is immensely disreputable among ABA accredited law schools, so the standards for success are lower and I don't have to keep publishing articles and books just to save my job; Downsides - it still involves law students, and quite likely some really stupid law students. If I've made it to be a law school dean, presumably I actually did accomplish something, so I would probably not be satisfied to be the dean of the lousiest law school around; I really don't like the Padres or Chargers much.
Honorable mention: Mel Kiper Jr. (job only, not identity); Supreme Court justice; General manager of the Cincinnati Bengals
Ryan's Top Five
1. Novelist, US, 1920s-1930s - Pros: get to hang out with William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Probably learned your trade from Sherwood Anderson in a southern city--Pensacola? Cons: seriously heavy alcoholism which leads to a crappy screenwriting career in the 1940s for cash to pay off massive debt. Novels don't become famous until the 1950s and later.
2. General Manager, Kansas City Royals [Insert your favorite team here] - Pros: I can't really imagine a better life than getting paid to watch my team play baseball, while having the ability to impact the game immensely. Cons: David Glass needs to sell the team first.
3. Bookstore owner, independent-but-well-to-do business in upscale part of town that retains uniqueness, i.e. isn't suburban sprawl - Pros: you get to spend your entire day in a bookshop, which will have one, possibly two (but no more) cats. Free fountain drinks from the cafe. The ability to choose which books to display, or to even carry in the store (hasta la vista, Ann Coulter). Cons: Dealing with all the stuff that I imagine a bookstore owner has to deal with, like, business-y stuff.
4. Tennis phenom, a la Roger Federer - Pros: mastery of an incredibly athletic sport that is one of the most dignified sports around--e.g., your sport's most famous championship is sponsored by Rolex and is not hosted by Dane Cook. Cons: Endless hours of practice, work, physical exertion, etc.
5. Architect - Actually I just wanted to steal this joke before anyone else could. Moving on...
5. Writer/Director, movies and HBO-quality TV shows - Pros: fame, fortune, and you get to create special features for your DVD releases, and do audio commentary. Cons: You inadvertently inspire crappy network knockoff shows.
*I wrote the following and then decided I'd rather be a writer/director. But hell if I'm deleting it.*
6. Singer/songwriter, present day, "alternative/acoustic/rock/pop" (roughly myspace's categorization of Badly Drawn Boy) - Pros: You get to do a lot of the same stuff that many did in the 60s/early 70s, but it's original since few have done it well since--i.e., big-fish-small-pond appeal. You enjoy enough success to keep you in a nice house for life, but not too much, so that you retain credibility and get to play smaller, cooler venues on tours. Cons: Fans get angry when you don't put out at least one album per year, which, given my work ethic, would be a near certainty. Fans don't appreciate countless live albums and "best of's".
Dan's Top 5:
1. Record Producer/Engineer, 1965-1975 - Pros: get to meet best artists of rock history and be responsible for making them sound good. Also, get to make good money and only true fans would appreciate my work. Cons: may die before my time of a drug overdose, but what a great way to die.
2. Owner and Operator of a Diner - Pros: get to cook great-tasting food, and be familiar and friendly with "regulars". Customers will be amiable people who shun corporate fast food joints. Cons: will probably not do amazingly well, having to compete with franchises. Would also probably require a hefty investment to get started.
3. Composer for Films - Pros: get to write film themes, and possibly win an Oscar. Get to meet numerous directors, and maybe other composers such as Danny Elfman and John Williams. Cons: will never actually be as good as Danny Elfman or John Williams.
4. National Geographic Photographer - Pros: get to travel the world and take some of the most amazing photographs ever seen, without the added burden of writing articles that get skimmed over in doctors' offices. Cons: constant risk of injury, disease or death.
5. Film Writer/Director - Pros: get the opportunity to reveal artistic visions to the world and still manage to achieve financial success. Cons: likely subject to being either over- or underrated, and I'd imagine being snubbed for an Oscar would really suck.
Tory's Top Five
1. Film Writer/Director - Pros: Get to fulfill my actual dream of directing movies, and get a sense of accomplishment for filming the scripts I've completed in reality. Cons: Possibility of people not liking movies or production companies financing the movies sticking their noses into the creative control, and not having final cut. Budgets.
2. Musician, almost any kind - Pros: Always enjoyed singing, but I cannot play guitar (I can play bass though.) Get to hang out with tons of musicians on tour, and write for a living. Cons: I can't sing that well.
3. Chef/Restaurant Owner - Pros: The two go hand-in-hand as I would love to own my own restaurant, and have recently become enamored with the career of a chef. Creating a menu seems like one of the most fun things to do ever. Cons: Money problems.
4. Owner of the Jaguars - Pros: Get to surround my life with football on the off and regular season. Make moves and trades and pickups. Be in the war room for the draft. Cons: None.
5. Playwright c. 1940s - Pros: Get to hang out with Tennessee Williams, Jean-Paul Sartre, Samuel Beckett and tons of other writers. Get to involve myself in the beginnings of theatre of the absurd and have an insane sense of accomplishment. Cons: A lot of people would insult my work as pretentious.
Tim's Top 5:
1) Stand-up comedian - Work the Improv, maybe Carnegie Hall, but it's not really my style. work three hours a night, dress is casual, pay is incidental, but relatively irrelevant given that you're always on the road; see the finest cities in the U.S., but find yourself stuck in Omaha at the Funny bone if you're J. Medicine Hat. Release my elusive comedy album, get paid for what I do during the day anyway. Upside: I already have some experience and lots of material; there's serious potential for cross-over money from semi-reputable operations like Demetri Martin or Lewis Black on The Daily Show, some seasons of SNL. Downside: It's terrible money even if you're famous; it's a reverse meritocracy where Dane Cook, Larry the Cable Guy, and Jeff Foxworthy become millionaires, Todd Barry probably sleeps in an Amana box in Queens. Anytime the best thing that can happen for you is a sitcom deal....usually a sign that you're half a step up from a whore, and it's more of a procedural step rather than one of substance.
2) Curator, Baseball Hall of Fame - Perform baseball's own versions of revisionist history, be relatively well-compensated if necessary to ensure that the museum remains a non-profit, Downsides: have to attend ceremonies honoring middling players. Upside: live in Cooperstown, the happiest place on earth, or certainly in upstate New York. Get to "misplace" Bud Selig's tickets for events. Downside: There's altogether too much history you can't eliminate, you still have a marketing aspect to the job, so you can't write off the Red Sox world series win as a boring World Series that means no more than the 1990 Reds' sweep; have to pretend that Ozzie Smith (or Phil Rizzuto, I don't care if he's dead, he was not that good) is somehow more deserving of being in the Hall of Fame than Dave Concepcion just because he did some flips and ruined This Week in Baseball.
3) Feature film Director - Writing's fine and all, and I could easily envision myself being the next Stanley Kubrick...as I used to do. But let's be honest, if you're directing, you are wielding enough power that you can functionally recreate the script anyway. Hitchcock did it every time. As a director, I'd take an eclectic mix of major market projects -- The Green Hornet would be the first such project -- and intellectual comedies (these I'd be writing) that seem British without actually involving British people. Upsides: money money money, I get to tell Nicolas Cage what to do "No, Nic...don't play the role that way, throw yourself off a bridge -- and Adaptation sucked."; downsides: I will inevitably end up directing Vin Diesel movies or lighthearted retarded comedies starring former pro wrestlers that have lines like "it stood up to a 300 pound linebacker, it'll do" even though any retarded screenwriter writing an awful football/family comedy starring the Ro ck would still have thought "linebackers never weigh 300 pounds...that's a lineman". Or the Rock should have said something, the guy did play football. I'm just saying, that's all...Hollywood is a bitch goddess. (Incidentally, said movie "The Game Plan" was written by two women...and that's still no excuse. What's more, it needs to stop being shown in trailer form before movies I want to see. I am not a family, nor am I 8 years old.)
4) Author - mid-1980s - Choose Your Adventure Series - It's like being an author, except you don't have to make any decisions...you can shed all concepts of quality writing but act out all your lust for vengeance on all those fools who choose to enter the cave and turn to page 31 instead of waiting for the park ranger to arrive (turn to page 18). Upsides: you can churn out a book in three hours and insert hidden messages to children that they only discover if they read the books in page order. Titles are easy : you are a _______. Downsides: writing for children has to be incredibly difficult, writing to an 8th grade level in the newspaper was impossible enough; you probably make about $5.15 an hour.
5) Dean, Thomas Jefferson Law School - Perhaps the second most achievable of my dream jobs (right after the invention of the time machine allows me to achieve #4), this job has substantial upsides... Upsides:Thomas Jefferson law school is in San Diego, California; it is immensely disreputable among ABA accredited law schools, so the standards for success are lower and I don't have to keep publishing articles and books just to save my job; Downsides - it still involves law students, and quite likely some really stupid law students. If I've made it to be a law school dean, presumably I actually did accomplish something, so I would probably not be satisfied to be the dean of the lousiest law school around; I really don't like the Padres or Chargers much.
Honorable mention: Mel Kiper Jr. (job only, not identity); Supreme Court justice; General manager of the Cincinnati Bengals
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