I'm going to talk about songs until I get bored. That's what this blog was originally supposed to be about, anyway.

Gang of Four - "Anthrax"
This song opens with what I consider to be one of the best guitar tones on record. One and a half minutes of noise and feedback followed by a decent tune.

Dr. Dre - "Housewife"
Smooth. Vulgar. Proverbial - "You can't make a ho a housewife". Cool as gangsta rap ever is. References to Colecovision and "hotel, motel, Holiday Inn" don't hurt.

Reel Big Fish - "Scott's A Dork"
Memorialized in that one year of SLC when I played the riff over every song we did. I don't know why I like this song. It's not one of their best, it's just kind of thrown together, but the pre-chorus leading into the chorus is just so ... bizarre. And a bridge made up entirely of the word "dork" has got to be some kind of record.

Morrissey - "Let Me Kiss You" (live)
This record (You Are the Quarry) didn't hit home for me until I heard the songs live. The lyric is classic Moz. "I've heard you'll try anything twice", indeed.

Nada Surf - Blonde on Blonde
I like this account of listening to a seminal Dylan record in a NYC rainstorm more than Dylan himself, although it did inspire me to buy said record. That and Jack Black's admonition in "High Fidelity".

Beatles - I Want to Tell You
I never realized how fantastically original and tricky the opening guitar riff is. I just knew I liked it. I enjoy the great flat 9 action on the piano as well. Also, I hate to say it, but the intonation on the vocals really bugs me on this track. I know their ears were impeccable, so maybe they were going for something, but it sounds terrible to me. The song itself is great and I do like the Indian-style vocal riff at the end.

The Clash - What's My Name
Fantastic. An early track where I think Joe Strummer's wit really shines. "I tried to join a ping pong club / The sign on the door said, 'All Full Up'!" Not a brilliant track by any stretch - especially by Clash standards - but it gets the job done.

Wilco - Theologians
"Theologians / They don't know nothin' / 'Bout my soul". A great way to start a song. It rolls along like some kind of pan-dimensional Hall and Oates b-side. Lovely.

Manic Street Preachers - Suicide is Painless (theme from M*A*S*H)
I didn't know this song had words. Depressing words, to boot. A big, solid, arena-rock reading by the only arena rock band I like.

Townes Van Zandt - Cocaine Blues
Delivered almost jovially. It makes me wonder how long people have been using cocaine, and if they had comedians back then that could be as funny about it as the ones we have now.

The Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting for the Man
Ok, I've heard about Lou Reed pitching a fit in the studio until he got this track sounding exactly right. Honestly, for a track done in 1966 - on 4-track probably - it sounds brilliant. It churns and everything is in the right place: the piano, the thumping malleted drums, the guitars, the bass. Post-Beatles music when the Beatles themselves were just warming up. You want to know what it feels like to go uptown to try and score some H? This song will teach you with no danger of addiction, withdrawal, or jail time.