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Friday, January 04, 2008
The (Downloadable) Random Fridays
I don't know why it is but for some reason the hyperlinks to mp3's don't work on the RSS feed. I'm going to try and fix it (although I have no idea how). To all of you reading this from a feed just click on to the actual blog and you'll be able to savor the sweet sounds I bring you. So yeah, I ripped of the A.V. Club, set my iPod on random and then blab about the first three tracks that come up. It gives me something ot look forward to every week. Enjoy.
Miles Davis, "John McLaughlin" from Bitches Brew Listen here! Buy it here!
Even though this is meant to be a showcase for the eponymous guitar player in Davis's line-up of the time it's actually the electric keyboard and drums the make the song for me. They have this heaviness to them, like when hard rock bands use to have keyboard players in the band. I know this is sort of the cliche jazz album to have if you're a rock 'n' roll guy (although I have others) but that shouldn't subtract from the fact that Bitches Brew is the amazing piece of work. I guess this song is the most accessible, being the shortest and showcasing McLaughlin's bluesy guitar soloing. Actually, McLaughlin strikes the balance between what Albert King and Eric Clapton were doing with the traditional jazz guitar playing. The fast licks he pulls off sound like an electric Django Reinhardt to me.
The Cramps, "The Mad Daddy" from Songs the Lord Taught Us Listen here! Buy it here!
I have a ton of Cramps stuff in my iPod. To me they're a lot like The Ramones where it's clear their love of trash culture was turned into something really creative and awesome. Now being campy doesn't mean anything but I'm sure in 1980 having a guy who sounds like a mutant Elvis must have been nuts (The King himself was only dead three years then). At this point the only punk rock I can really listen to has to have that Americana roots music side to it. X, Social Distortion or The Clash, stuff like that. The Cramps have that too but they turn it into something far more strange. They just don't want to sound like Elvis on speed (uh...), they want to capture those shitty Elvis movies and merchandise that came with the culture of rock 'n' roll back then. They're basically like a John Waters movie, one of the really fucked up ones from the late seventies, in the form of a band.
Tom Waits, "Dave the Butcher" from Swordfishtrombones Listen here! Buy it here!
Hey, it's Tom Waits but without that Tom Waits-y voice we all know and love. This isn't my favorite Waits instrumental, that would be "Midtown" off of Rain Dogs, but this is still pretty awesome. Sort of like the Davis song above this has a chunky organ sound I love. Here we get that creepy, carnival-esque feel that fits right into the album. I suppose that's the curse of shuffling songs. What's meant to be there to reinforce the feel of a whole album is taken out of context. But hey, this is the format and I'm sticking with it.
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