Five fer Friday XI

[MP3] Generation X – "100 Punks Rule" EXPIRED
That first album by Billy and the boys was awesome. Here's my favorite track.

[MP3] The Jam – "Saturday's Kids" EXPIRED
I really need to devote an entire entry on the Jam. Until then......

[MP3] Hoodoo Gurus – "I Want You Back" EXPIRED
This is from their 1983 Stoneage Romeos debut disc – it spent quite bit o' time on my turntable back in college.

[MP3] The Pink Fairies – "Between the Lines" EXPIRED
Early Stiff Records band that I know little about – this is from the Stiff Singles, Vol. 1 disc.

[MP3] Mick Farren and the Deviants – "Let's Loot the Supermarket Again Like We Did Last Summer" EXPIRED
Ditto.

This might be it for '06, gang. Happy holidays to all of you!
-Kent

The Fratellis

Thanks to Water-rat Sparkylulu for turning me on to the Fratellis. These fun-first Scots are kinda like an amped-up, rocked-out Beatles, infused with the bounciness of early XTC.

Their lyrics tend to the jokey side, which is sorta disappointing. They seem to have the talent to go farther. They're said, though, they're definitely a band to watch.

These are from the 2006 debut disc Costello Music:

[MP3] The Fratellis – "Henrietta" EXPIRED
[MP3] The Fratellis – "Chelsea Dagger" EXPIRED
[MP3] The Fratellis – "Baby Fratelli" EXPIRED

Here's the cheapest place I could find to buy their disc online.

Andy Partridge/Fuzzy Warbles

Andy Partridge of XTC fame recently compiled an entire musical life of outtakes, alt takes, and unreleased takes into an eight-disc set titled The Fuzzy Warbles. As I understand it, this was originally only available through his website as a British import (and it cost an ungodly sum).

Well, this past weekend, a co-worker and co-lover of XTC stumbled upon the set at Border’s. He happened to have a 20% off coupon on him so he decided to make the investment. He was kind enough to share volume one with me – and I’m now being kind enough to share it (or some of it, anyway) with you.

Now, volume one boasts a whopping nineteen tracks, which puts the entire collection in the vicinity of 150 songs. The obvious conclusion: There’s a lot o’ frivolous filler here. That said, there’s also some really good shite too (well, at least in volume one). To me, it sounds like later-years XTC. See (or hear) what you think:

[MP3] Andy Partridge – “Dame Fortune” EXPIRED
[MP3] Andy Partridge – “Born out of Your Mouth” EXPIRED
[MP3] Andy Partridge – “Goosey Goosey” EXPIRED

BONUS:
[MP3] Andy Partridge – “That Wag” (Andy goofin’ in the studio – worth a listen for his send-ups of the Cure, the Smiths, and Dylan) EXPIRED
[MP3] Andy Partridge – “That Wave” (the resulting song) EXPIRED

More Xmas

Santa went to the Island of Misfit Blogs this weekend and brought back these two gems:

[MP3] Spinal Tap – "Christmas with the Devil" EXPIRED
[MP3] Steve Martin – "Five Christmas Wishes" EXPIRED

Five fer Friday X

[MP3] Aimee Mann – "Stupid Thing" EXPIRED
Let's begin ballady with this track from Mann's first solo disc.

[MP3] Ben Kweller – "Hear Me Out" EXPIRED
Love this Kweller tune from his '04 disc On My Way.

[MP3] Nirvana – "Breed" EXPIRED
Recently saw a VHI "Classic Album" episode on "Nevermind" and it reminded just how great this disc is.

[MP3] Pavement – "Range Life" EXPIRED
For me, it's hit or miss with Pavement. This one's a hit.

[MP3] Police – "Peanuts" EXPIRED
I can remember "singing" to this song in my bedroom during my high school years.

Picks fer '06, Part 2

From The Tragic Treasury:
[MP3] Gothic Archies – “Walking My Gargoyle” EXPIRED
From Funnel Cloud:
[MP3] Hem – “Not California” EXPIRED
From Ole Tarantula:
[MP3] Robyn Hitchcock – “(A Man’s Gotta Know His Limitations) Briggs EXPIRED
From Boys and Girls in America:
[MP3] The Hold Steady – “Chips Ahoy!” EXPIRED
From Ben Kweller:
[MP3] Ben Kweller – “Penny on the Train Track” EXPIRED
From Dead American Radio:
[MP3] Left Alone – “Justino” EXPIRED
From Rabbit Fur Coat:
[MP3] Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins – “The Big Guns” EXPIRED
From We Are the Pipettes:
[MP3] The Pipettes – “One Night Stand” EXPIRED
From The Animal Years:
[MP3] Josh Ritter – “Girl in the War” EXPIRED
From Modern Gameplay:
[MP3] The Sprites – “George Romero” EXPIRED
From The Body, The Blood, The Machine:
[MP3] Thermals – “Test Pattern” EXPIRED

Picks fer '06, Part 1

This is the best I’ve heard in 2006, a good but not great year fer rock ‘n’ roll. Of course, I only have two ears so there’s only so much I can listen to. I’d love to hear others opine on the subject. Or even share a track or two.

Look for Part 2 tomorrow.

From The Longest Meow:
[MP3] Bobby Bare Jr. – “The Heart Bionic” EXPIRED
From The Life Pursuit:
[MP3] Belle & Sebastian – “The Blues Are Still Blue” EXPIRED
From Back to Higher Ground:
[MP3] The Briggs – “Back to Higher Ground” EXPIRED
From Flat-Pack Philosophy:
[MP3] Buzzcocks – “Wish I Never Loved You” EXPIRED
From The Crane Wife:
[MP3] Decemberists – “Sons and Daughters” EXPIRED
From Cannibal Sea:
[MP3] Essex Green – “Penny & Jack” EXPIRED
From Shattered:
[MP3] Exploding Hearts – “Busy Signals” EXPIRED
From Skeleton:
[MP3] Figurines – “Ambush” EXPIRED
From Monster House Soundtrack:
[MP3] Fountains of Wayne – “Monster House” EXPIRED
From News and Tributes:
[MP3] Futureheads – “Back to the Sea” EXPIRED

Five fer Friday IX

[MP3] 101ers – “Sweet Revenge” EXPIRED
Joe Strummer from his pre-Clash days (thanks to Pete for this!).

[MP3] Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros – “Coma Girl” EXPIRED
Joe Strummer from his post-Clash days.

[MP3] The Clash – “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais” EXPIRED
Why not? Joe Strummer from his in-Clash days.

[MP3] Of Montreal – “Art Snob Solutions” EXPIRED
Of Montreal says: “Kill all Phillistines!”

[MP3] Talking Heads – “(Nothing But) Flowers” EXPIRED
Great tune from the final days of the Heads.

The Gothic Archies

Read on only if you have an affinity for wickedness, wretchedness, and woe. You’re still reading? You are a sick person. But that’s not all! You’re also a prime candidate for the books popularly known as A Series of Unfortunate Events. As some of you may know, particularly if you’re sick, this set follows the nasty, nefarious Count Olaf as he schemes to get his grubby, greedy hands on the fortune of the kindly, caring Baudelaire children, who have been cast out into the cold, cruel world after the mysterious death of their parents.

Over the past two years, I have been reading Unfortunate Events to my grade-school son (see how sick I am?), and we have taken great joy in the misery, moroseness, and mistreatment of the Baudelaires.

The series recently concluded with book thirteen (ha!), which was released on Friday the thirteenth (double ha!). At the same time, a band known as the Gothic Archies (actually Stephen Merritt of Magnetic Fields fame, along with Unfortunate Events author Lemony Snicket on accordion and John Woo on electric sitar) unveiled The Tragic Treasury: Songs from a Series of Unfortunate Events. Each track on the disc brings tunefully (in most cases) to life one of the dark, tragic tales.

Well, as you can imagine, my son and I immediately started scheming to get our grubby, greedy hands on the CD. Fortunately, our schemes met with greater success than those of Count Olaf. Which is why I’m sharing the following three tracks with you. Of course, to get the fullest pleasure from these songs, you should read the books. And you can do just that by clicking here and buying them. Though keep in my that the CD sleeve posts this warning to potential readers: “Books by Lemony Snicket are even more miserable than the music they inspire.”

[MP3] The Gothic Archies – “Scream and Run Away (from The Bad Beginnings) EXPIRED
[MP3] The Gothic Archies – “In the Reptile Room (from The Reptile Room)” EXPIRED
[MP3] The Gothic Archies – “Freakshow (from The Carnivorous Carnival)” EXPIRED

Spend some of your fortune on the Gothic Archies

Snow Tracks

Well, December is here. Time to drag the Christmas songs down from the attic.

[MP3] Apples in Stereo – “Holiday Mood” EXPIRED
[MP3] The Boys – “Run Rudolph Run” EXPIRED
[MP3] Dance Hall Crashers – “I Did It for the Toys” EXPIRED
[MP3] Dr. Elmo – “Grandma’s Killer Fruitcake” EXPIRED
[MP3] Dressy Bessy – “All the Right Reasons” EXPIRED
[MP3] The Essex Green – “Deck the Halls” EXPIRED
[MP3] Fountains of Wayne – “I Want an Alien for Christmas” EXPIRED
[MP3] Fountains of Wayne – “The Man in the Santa Suit” EXPIRED
[MP3] John Denver & the Muppets – “Twelve Days of Christmas” EXPIRED
[MP3] Ramones – “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight)” EXPIRED
[MP3] Sufjan Stevens – “Hey Guys! It’s Christmas Time” EXPIRED
[MP3] Sufjan Stevens – “Get Behind Me, Santa!” EXPIRED
[MP3] XTC – “Thanks for Christmas” EXPIRED
[MP3] XTC – “Countdown to Christmas Party Time” EXPIRED