Random 10 for July 29, 2008
1. The Spongetones, “Every Night Is a Holiday”
2. Death Cab for Cutie, “The Sound of Settling”
Clever video, brilliant band. Never has melancholia and tragic compromise sounded so damned hooky.
3. Toad the Wet Sprocket, “Hey Bulldog”
4. Bruce Springsteen, “Racing in the Street”
If the Boss isn’t the greatest storyteller in the annals of rock ‘n’ roll, he is at least in the top five. One of his more somber ballads, “Racing in the Street” (captured here in a 1980 performance) is familiar Sprinsteen fodder, but that makes it no less heartwrenching. Choice lyric: “She just sits on the porch of her daddy’s house / But all her pretty dreams are torn / She stares off alone into the night / With the eyes of one who hates for just being born.” Raymond Chandler, meet car culture. Car culture, meet Raymond Chandler.
5. Fun Lovin’ Criminals, “I’m Not in Love”
6. The Mavericks, “To Be with You”
7. Tears for Fears, “Mad World”
Long before Gary Jules’ version captured its chilling essence, Curt Smith and Roland Orzabel scored with the mesmerizing song in 1982. “The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had” – poignant line, and it’s weirdly fun to sing along to.
8. Nick Lowe, “You Inspire Me”
9. Beck, “Devil’s Haircut”
10. Aretha Franklin, “The House that Jack Built”
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1. Left Banke, “I Haven’t Got The Nerve”
2. XTC, “Earn Enough For Us”
3. Buddy Holly, “Early In The Morning”
4. Leonard Cohen, “Sisters Of Mercy”
5. Rickie Lee Jones, “Young Blood”
6. The Chords, “Maybe Tomorrow”
7. The Clientele, “Adriadne Sleeping”
8. Led Zeppelin, “Heartbreaker”
9. Bjork, “Isobel”
10. The Mayfield Singers, “Don’t Start None”