nicked this thread idea from a mailing list i'm on. w/o editing out the embarrasing bits, list out the ten songs on random on the mp3 player of your choice, and write a small blurb about them. here's what mine spit back at me on the flight home, after i listened to Mogwai's Mr Beast in its entirety.
1) Giant Sand "Raw" (Chore of Enchantment). a strong cd from a band known for spotty releases. i've been listening a lot to Howe et al recently, via a bunch of live boots i traded for. great stuff.
2) Elastica "S.O.F.T." (Elastica). if they never did another thing aside from "Stutter", they still would have made their mark. this song ain't a bad one, though.
3) Lula Côrtes and Zé Ramalho "Beira Mar" (Paebiru cdr boot i got from Frank @ Popwatch years ago). good to great brazilian folk-psych. supposedly worth more than a year's tuition @ harvard if you have an original copy. time-lag recently reissued one of the other releases.
4) Uncle Tupelo "Sin City" (No Depression). a good reading of the flying burrito bros tune. great debut lp, everyone should own it.
5) The Blue Aeroplanes "Frightened At Night" (Life Model). a non Langley-sung tune, so it threw me a bit when it came on and i had to check the band. a fairly languid song; nothing offensive but not real memorable either. they have much better songs.
6) Versus "Dead City" (Deep Red). sounds a bit like it could have come from their debut ep, at least the rhythm does. always a very underrated band. great guitar sound, excellent drumming, good vocals.
7) Led Zeppelin "In The Light" (Box Set). fairly dreadfully boring song. i skipped over this.
8) Kevin Ayers "Irreversible Neural Damage" (best of). a song i wasn't too familiar w/ , although the initial 'best of' purchase made me get "whatevershebringswesing" and "joy of a toy", two good to great cds. a bit repetitive but more and more bits add in gradually...a good example of building tension in a song w/o resorting to cheap tricks (well, the backwards stuff could be considered a cheap trick). ultimately not a great song though but the proggy motif bit which kicks in to break the monotony is nice.
9) Verlaines "Makes No Difference" (Bird Dog). one of the best bands ever, and the lead off-track of their greatest cd. "and you'll wipe it good, and you'll wipe it clean/ and say i'll see you in the death machine tomorrow/unless somebody's god intervenes" people like to talk about graeme downes' PhD in music, but the man can craft a lyric better than most too. do yrself a favor and get one of the 1st four Verlaines releases if you don't already have them.
10) Siouxsie and the Banshees "Spellbound" (Juju). great guitar intro from john mcgeoch (RIP, great underrated guitar player), and it drives the song. strong vocals from Siouxsie as well...good record.
next 10 in the queue after that:
Uncle Tupelo "D Boon"
Golden Smog "Radio King"
Guided By Voices "Kicker of Elves"
Super Furry Animals "Psyclone!"
Guided By Voices "Hit"
Mogwai "Rollerball"
Six Organs of Admittance "Memory, Memory, Memory"
Soundtrack of our Lives "Senior Breakdown"
Versus "Mirror Mirror"
The Saints "(I'm) Stranded"
1) Giant Sand "Raw" (Chore of Enchantment). a strong cd from a band known for spotty releases. i've been listening a lot to Howe et al recently, via a bunch of live boots i traded for. great stuff.
2) Elastica "S.O.F.T." (Elastica). if they never did another thing aside from "Stutter", they still would have made their mark. this song ain't a bad one, though.
3) Lula Côrtes and Zé Ramalho "Beira Mar" (Paebiru cdr boot i got from Frank @ Popwatch years ago). good to great brazilian folk-psych. supposedly worth more than a year's tuition @ harvard if you have an original copy. time-lag recently reissued one of the other releases.
4) Uncle Tupelo "Sin City" (No Depression). a good reading of the flying burrito bros tune. great debut lp, everyone should own it.
5) The Blue Aeroplanes "Frightened At Night" (Life Model). a non Langley-sung tune, so it threw me a bit when it came on and i had to check the band. a fairly languid song; nothing offensive but not real memorable either. they have much better songs.
6) Versus "Dead City" (Deep Red). sounds a bit like it could have come from their debut ep, at least the rhythm does. always a very underrated band. great guitar sound, excellent drumming, good vocals.
7) Led Zeppelin "In The Light" (Box Set). fairly dreadfully boring song. i skipped over this.
8) Kevin Ayers "Irreversible Neural Damage" (best of). a song i wasn't too familiar w/ , although the initial 'best of' purchase made me get "whatevershebringswesing" and "joy of a toy", two good to great cds. a bit repetitive but more and more bits add in gradually...a good example of building tension in a song w/o resorting to cheap tricks (well, the backwards stuff could be considered a cheap trick). ultimately not a great song though but the proggy motif bit which kicks in to break the monotony is nice.
9) Verlaines "Makes No Difference" (Bird Dog). one of the best bands ever, and the lead off-track of their greatest cd. "and you'll wipe it good, and you'll wipe it clean/ and say i'll see you in the death machine tomorrow/unless somebody's god intervenes" people like to talk about graeme downes' PhD in music, but the man can craft a lyric better than most too. do yrself a favor and get one of the 1st four Verlaines releases if you don't already have them.
10) Siouxsie and the Banshees "Spellbound" (Juju). great guitar intro from john mcgeoch (RIP, great underrated guitar player), and it drives the song. strong vocals from Siouxsie as well...good record.
next 10 in the queue after that:
Uncle Tupelo "D Boon"
Golden Smog "Radio King"
Guided By Voices "Kicker of Elves"
Super Furry Animals "Psyclone!"
Guided By Voices "Hit"
Mogwai "Rollerball"
Six Organs of Admittance "Memory, Memory, Memory"
Soundtrack of our Lives "Senior Breakdown"
Versus "Mirror Mirror"
The Saints "(I'm) Stranded"
) Unlike lots of folks, I like Ians more art-rockish sort of stuff. 
hia - back on top (the lioness)
