tag/playlist

Sort of an anemic month for music. A lot of fun hiphop though.

4 star:
* Weird Friends (We Don't Even Live Here) (P.O.S)
* Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons)

3 star:
* I Go To Work (Re-Recorded / Remastered) (Kool Moe Dee)
* Intro (The xx)
* The Power of the One (feat. George Benson & Williams Singers) (Bootsy Collins)
* Right Key, Wrong Keyhole (Doctor Stovepipe)
* Battle (Gang Starr)
* Minnie the Moocher (Dance Version) (Cab Calloway)
* They Won't Go When I Go (Stevie Wonder)
* More Than This (Roxy Music)
* Grand Theft Auto (Da Shootaz) Super low-key month for new-to-music. "Important" is a charmingly geeky philosophical novelty song. "Pledging My Love" was realizing that Johnny Ace was a real performer, not someone Paul Simon made up for his ballad to John Lennon's death "The Late Great Johnny Ace".

4 star:
* WILDFLOWER (Billie Eilish)
* EP. 4: Important (Ian McConnell)

3 star:
* Seven Nation Army (Epic Instrumental Version) (Phoenix Music)
* Want You Gone (Aperture Science Psychoacoustic Laboratories)
* Scenario (feat. Busta Rhymes, Dinco D & Charlie Brown) [LP Mix] (A Tribe Called Quest)
* Pledging My Love (Johnny Ace)
* Do It (Jesse Winchester)
* Antidote (Orion Sun)
* Money (Cardi B)

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Coolest things I link to are very tiktok/instagrammy stuff from Europe - The Spark (Irish kids doing some fun clubby hiphop) and
Barbaras Rhabarberbar (German pitter patter rhyme)

4 star:
* The Spark (feat. Lisdoonvarna Crew) (Kabin Crew)
* Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (Pete Seeger)
* Maybe (The Submarines)
* Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen)
* Faith (George Michael)
* Hey Cowboy (Devon Cole)
* Barbaras Rhabarberbar (Bodo Wartke & Marti Fischer)
* Mickey (B*Witched)
* Polkamania! ("Weird Al" Yankovic)

3 star:
* COWBELL WARRIOR! (SXMPRA)
* Vienna (Billy Joel)
* Fly Away (Tones And I)
* My Walking Stick (Leon Redbone)
* Fleur (Saratoga)
* Renegade (Aaryan Shah) New music from last month... noticing I've been finding a lot less new music lately...

5 star:
* Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra) (Gotye)
After reading a great tumblr deep dive into this video I was surprised I only had a cover in my collection...

4 star:
* Pigeonometry (Aesop Rock)
Song about Pigeons. I love the "A thousand is a lot" line.
* Salud y Vida (Daddy Yankee)
La Victoria Taqueria is some of the most authentic Mexican near Boston, and they this was playing...

3 star:
* Everything Is Everything (Lauryn Hill)
* Heart-Shaped Box (Amber Mark)
* Breathe Me (Four Tet Remix) [Bonus Track] (Sia) 5 star:
* Unconditional I (Lookout Kid) (Arcade Fire)
If you want to get (at least!) a little bit verklempt about the relationship between grownups and kids this morning, this song is it. Great video as well

4 star:
* Portrait (Sasami Ashworth)
Lovely little heartstring tugger of a song from "Articles of Interest" podcast

3 star:
* Thunder Rumbles (The Cat Empire)
* Once I Had a Love (a.k.a.. The Disco Song) [Bonus Track] (Blondie)
* Dedicated to Hiroshi Yamauchi. 01 (Chip Tanaka/Acerola Beach )
* All the Small Things (blink-182)
* Mysteries We Understand (Sophie B. Hawkins)
* Limb By Limb (Phish)
* Chaal Baby (feat. Sunny Jain) (Red Baraat)
* Ya Mama (The Pharcyde)
* Dad's Yard (Catie Curtis)
* Eye of the Tiger (Walk Off the Earth)
* Vivaldi Winter Drill #2 (veneris)
* J.B. Shout (Fred Wesley and the J.B.'s) Kind of an anemic month for new music, but at least two great finds:

4 star:
* Lost With You (Patrick Watson)
Beautiful, stirring tender song. Ran into on the excellent Hulu miniseries adaption of the novel "Conversations with Friends"
* Life in the Old Dog (Magna Carta)
A friend posted a different version of this - very sweet and nostalgic
* Proud Mary (Ike & Tina Turner & The Ikettes)
Melissa on a deep Proud Mary live kick but I keep it simple.

3 star:
* Regulate (feat. Nate Dogg) (Warren G)
* Up From The Grave He Arose (Salem Corps Brass Band Collaborate)
every once in a while I get nostalgic for music I played in Salvation Army band... this one is especially melancholy as one of those 2020 "everyone puts down a track remotely" arrangements.
* BLACKBIIRD (Beyoncé, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy & Reyna Roberts)
* Rush E (Dragonwave Version) (Erhu4All)
* Polka Face ("Weird Al" Yankovic)
* Demons (Guster)
sQ's cross-generation song that isn't "Fat Bottom Girls"
* So-Claybe (Second Beat Songs)
"Call Me, Maybe" with every other beat removed...
* Notoriety II (Malcolm Kirby Jr.)
from a Saints Row video game soundtrack.
* Workin' On the Railroad (Raffi)
4 star:
* Miss Cindy (The High Decibels)
Most interesting new song this month. I like the mix of southern gritty guitar and beastie boys style end-of-line-echoing
* Beware of the Boys (Mundian to Bach Ke) [feat. JAY-Z] (Panjabi MC)
Love the India music (and the tiger roar) and I think Jay-Z's flow goes well with it.
* You've Got the Love (Florence + the Machine)
* Flagpole Sitta (Harvey Danger)
* Katebegia (Broken Brothers Brass Band)

3 star:
* Goodbye My Lover (James Blunt)
* Days Like This (Dermot Kennedy)
* C64, More Like C Sixty-BORE (Beeble)
* Bad Breath (Willie Nelson)
* Music! Music! Music! (Teresa Brewer)
* Tired of Being Alone (Al Green)
* Broken Man (St. Vincent)
* Straighten Out the Rug (Maurice Jarre)
* Feel Again (Yarin Primak)
* Big Bottom (Spinal Tap)
New music playlist. Pretty meh month? Or maybe I'm just judging more harshly. Tried to keep my ears open when I was in Mexico...

4 star:
* Black Skinhead (Jacques Slade, THURZ & El Prez)
Went to see Ari Shaffir live, he had a lot of praise for this song. This remix has even bigger brass.
* Só Quer Vrau (Mc Mm & DJ RD)
Heard this at the resort, weird how it's based on "Bella Ciao"

3 star:
* Kozmic Blues (Janis Joplin)
* Firestarter (The Prodigy)
* Posh Spice (Iggy Azalea)
* Live Forever (feat. Kotomi & Ryan Elder) [from "Rick and Morty: Season 7"] (Rick and Morty)
* Cannonball (The Breeders)
* Elvis Is Everywhere (Mojo Nixon)
(I think I mostly looked for this because of the reference in "Punk Rock Girl"
* Running Up That Hill (MEG MYERS)
* Axel F (Crazy Frog)
* Eleanor Rigby (Zoot)
* Mystery of Love (Sufjan Stevens)
Played at Anna + Kellie's wedding...
* Pepas (Farruko)

4 star:
* Firestarter (Torre Florim DE STAAT)
Very odd lounge-y cover of Prodigy's Firestart, used in the intro to "Just Cause 3"
* On the Road Again (Live) (Willie Nelson)
Always loved this song as a kid. (Once upon a time I thought the lyric was "my wife is making music with my friends" and he just wanted to split and get away...)
* Walk on the Water (feat. Ruby Amanfu) (The Chosen, Matthew S. Nelson & Dan Haseltine)
"The Chosen" is a pretty thoughtful Christian show, great rocking Gospel-singer theme.
* Stick Season (Noah Kahan)
Heard this the night job lobby... guess it's making the rounds. First time I heard a pop song referencing COVID.
* Yes No Okay (Charli XCX)
From the kind of middling movie "Bottoms"

3 star:
* Moon Patrol (Tanuki Suit Riot)
Interesting cover of a video game I play all the time in Band...
* Pitfall (The Louvin Brothers)
* Gee, Officer Krupke (Eddie Roll, Grover Dale, Tony Mordente, David Winters, Hank Brunjes & West Side Story Ensemble)
* The Man (Aloe Blacc)
* Alone Too Long (Daryl Hall & John Oates)
* Annie Oakley (Lizzie No)
* Tim to the Rescue (Leo Birenberg)
* Rio Antigo (Camarão)
Possible song for JPHonk.
Really anemic month for new music for me. "My Bubble Gum" is the ring tone song in the borrowed fliphone in the first "Paul Blart: Mall Cop"

4 star:
* Missed the Boat (Modest Mouse)
* My Bubble Gum (Rasheeda)
* Henry Ford vs Karl Marx (Epic Rap Battles of History)

3 star:
* All Night (Parov Stelar)
* Cut My Hair (Mounika. & Cavetown)
* Lived in Bars (4 Shades)
* Robo Booty (Opiuo)
* Think I'm Gonna Like It Here (Elisa Cariera)
Read Kieran Setiya's "Midlife: A Philosophical Guide" as my first book of the year. I do appreciate applied philosophy but it took the book a bit to get to places I responded to... (and is one of those books where I do more quoting who they quote than the work itself.)

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To wish for a life without loss is to wish for a profound impoverishment in the world or in your capacity to engage with it, a drastic limiting of horizons.

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What has a price can be replaced with something else, as its equivalent; whereas, what is elevated above any price, and hence allows of no equivalent, has a dignity.

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I think with sadness of all the books I've read, all the places I've seen, all the knowledge I've amassed and that will be no more. All the music, all the paintings, all the culture, so many places: and suddenly nothing.

I was really struck by this as a strong contrast to the more commonly expressed frustration with mortality - so often the emphasis is on books, places, knowledge, music, paintings, culture we WON'T encounter within our lifepan, but I think this points out we can also mourn the loss of what were externalities that we have made out of ourselves.

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[Every] profound political protest is an appeal to a justice that is absent, and is accompanied by a hope that in the future this justice will be established; this hope, however, is not the *first* reason the protest is being made. One protests because not to protest would be too humiliating, too diminishing, too deadly. One protests (by building a barricade, taking up arms, going on a hunger strike, linking arms, shouting, writing) in order to *save the present moment*, whatever the future holds. . . . A protest is not principally a sacrifice made for some alternative, more just future; it is an inconsequential redemption of the present. The problem is how to live time and again with the adjective *inconsequential*.

I appreciate this point - with all the activism I support through music, there are some positive results but a lot of futility.

I was tempted to snip out the "inconsequential" bit. Because I think redemption of the present is a consequence, but that word might sour any note of reassurance for a non-careful reader. So-so month for new music finds:

4 star:
* Aqua Teen Forever Intro (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
Youtube rip... this show has some fun with hiphop.
* Hot in Herre (The Bosshoss)
"Germans pretending to be American Cowboys" remains one of my favorite subgenres of music...
* Spider-Man India (Pavitr Prabhakar) (Daniel Pemberton)
"India Spiderman" theme from "Across the Spider-Verse" - I always love the instrumentation of India
* Turn It Up (Remix) (Busta Rhymes)
Nice use of the Knight Rider theme...
* Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
New Old R+B Classic... bless your soul
* Big Spender (Peggy Lee)
Hit me that this would be a good song for JP Honk...

3 star:
* Goodbye Blue Sky (Pink Floyd)
* Flava in Ya Ear (feat. Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Notorious BIG & Rampage) [Remix] (Craig Mack)
* Boss (Curtis Cole & Ofrin)
* Sink or Swim (Kris Delmhorst)
* You Feel Me (Otis McDonald)
* Now And Then (The Beatles)
Story of the last last song with all 4 Beatles is amazing
* Love Man (Otis Redding)
* Walkin' After Midnight (Patsy Cline)
* Pregnant Sonic (Omri & Auntie Boy)
I'm almost said to miss the prelude of this
* Wir singen beide Do-do-do (Oskar Dénes)
* Chameleon (Buddy Rich) kind of an anemic month for new music tbh...
4 star:
Chocolate Drop (Howlin' Wolf)
Finally persuaded Melissa to watch Backbeat, the semi-documentary about the early Beatles in Hamburg... Stu Sutcliffe is painting to this song
Use Me (Bill Withers)
Melissa sent me an instagram post about the James Gadson drumming in this...
Opening Theme (From "Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm") (Run The Jewels & Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
I never got deeply into the cartoon, but Run the Jewels is always a good sound

3 star:
The Preacher and the Slave ("Pie In the Sky") (Joe Glazer)
Perfect Timing (This Morning) (Orba Squara)
Pop Goes the Weasel (3rd Bass)
Corazon de Tango (Doctor Deseo)
Barbie Girl (Aqua)
Hits 2000' (feat. Trinix) [Mashup] (Trinix Remix)
Desperado (The Langley Schools Music Project) 5 star:
Maybe (Dan Reeder)
Another 5 star! Thanks to Andrew Mills for pointing this one out to me... just a very plain spun and elegant recollection of experiences with death, and a humbly skeptical view of the chances of an afterlife.

4 star:
Futurama Theme (Ben Morfitt (SquidPhysics))
An extended cover... at one point I got 1967's Psyché Rock with its clear influences (especially the chimes) but the Modem-noise aesthetic of it was too grating so I got this.
Wake Me up Before You Go - Go (Scary Pockets & Swatkins)
Scary Pockets makes these fantastic funky covers...
Don't Let It Bring You Down (Annie Lennox)
I finally got to rewatching "American Beauty" - obviously a problematic movie in a few ways, but also interesting to see in going through middle aged struggles in American suburbia. Anyway this lovely, richly orchestrated cover was in it.

3 star:
Shave 'Em Dry II (Lucille Bogan)
The most raunchy imaginable old song!
Planet of the Bass (Kyle Gordon)
You've Got Your Troubles (Re-Recorded Version) (The Fortunes)
there was a question on the "Strong Songs" podcast about the haunting counterpoint in the last part.
Ned Nostril (And His South Seas Paradise, Puts Your Blues On Ice, Cheap At Twice The Price Band) (Ray Stevens)
Ray Stevens turned into a conservative putz but I had a tape or two of his, he could be kind of funny!
The Universe Is Weird (Hank Green)
Coffee (beabadoobee)
Hell Is Round the Corner (Tricky)
Interesting song based on that Portishead piece...
I Got It from My Mama (will.i.am)
23 (Projekt Atma)
Nookie (GH Version) (Limp Bizkit)
Public Service Announcement (Interlude) (JAY-Z)
Happy Hour (Ray Stevens)
I'm In Love Again (Fats Domino)
Because (Elliott Smith) August was a decent month for music, especially from what Melissa's old coworkers had on during a getaway weekend...

5 star:
Hate On Me (Jill Scott)
Oh man I love the power and slow grind of this - joins the ranks of 5 stars.

4 star:
Clink, Clink Another Drink (Spike Jones & His City Slickers)
Goofy Loony-Tunes-esque novelty song, I just love the lyric "Trinkle, trinkle, trinkle, trinkle / Slice of cheese and bite of pickle / Doesn't even cost a nickel / Now to wash it down"
Hey! (I'm Dead) (Jank Sinatra)
Kind of a novelty song, but a real earworm.
Ken Makes a Discovery (Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt)
JP Honk does a "2001" version, and this one from the Barbie movie has some great funk.
Quality Control (Jurassic 5)
Jurassic 5 was a conscious throwback, and the way they dip into unison is great. Also fantastic groove.
Jock-A-Mo (Sugar Boy Crawford)
Been doing some due diligence about "Iko Iko" that JP Honk has taken on, this recording is big in its history.

3 star:
Boom Clap (Charli XCX)
Strange Things Will Happen (The Radio Dept.)
Alors on danse (Stromae)
Bomfalleralla (Afasi & Filthy)
Light (Michael Kiwanuka)
All Shook Up (Ry Cooder)
Opus 12Eee (Harry "The Hipster" Gibson)
Personal (Ice T)
Tap In (Saweetie)
Cumbia (Mexican Institute of Sound)
So What (Biréli Lagrène & Sylvain Luc)
Barbie World (with Aqua) (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice)
Sinfonía Agridulce (Mexican Institute of Sound)
New Partner (Palace Music)
Which Side Are You On? (Rude Mechanical Orchestra)
Psyché rock (Les Yper-Sound)
Clearly a big inspiration for the "Futurama" theme song (especialy the chimes) but the modem noise makes it insufferable, and I may banish it to "2 star"
New (to me- or sometimes old to me, uncovering originals of remakes I previously liked) music from last month - kind of a weak month overall, maybe it's the summer break effect...

4 star:
Amen Brother (The Winstons)
(The source of the famous "Amen Break" but the song itself is a banger - I like how even without hearing a vocal you know the lyrics are "Aaamen / Aaaaaamen")
One Tree Hill (U2)
(I actually fell for this song on a "Tufts Amalgamates" a cappella CD that was weirdly important to me in my college years...)
To Turn You On (Roxy Music)
(I prefer the Nataly Dawn cover but there the haunting roots of this song are laid out here.)
Rock Around the Clock (Bill Haley and His Comets)
(I think I had this on that McDonald's "Shake Burger and Fries" mix tapes...)

3 star:
Get Down (feat. Genesis Lynea) (SIX)
Yuppies In The Sky (Tom Paxton)
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Buddy Rich)
Bob ("Weird Al" Yankovic)
Africa (Weezer)
vampire (Olivia Rodrigo)
Kiss Me (Sixpence None the Richer)
Harlem Shuffle (Bob & Earl)
OK month for music.

4 star:
* Romeo And Juliet (2022 Remaster) (Dire Straits)
(I went on an Indigo Girls kick, and tracked back to the original thinking of their cover that I've always liked. (Also Douglas Adams praises the romantic qualities of some Dire Straits albums, I wonder if this song is part of it.))

* Express Yourself (Remix) (N.W.A)
(Good hip hop with great sample (Years ago a friend of a friend put this beat under a riff I made on a Casio SK-8 .. https://kirk.is/2003/04/27/))

* Born This Way (Lady Gaga)
(Leftist Marching Band plays this song, and I've been toying with an arrangement for my bands. Great message. Interesting how Madonna "Express Yourself" it's like.)

* What's Up Danger (Blackway & Black Caviar)
(Heather Anne Campbell mentioned this song getting her through the time of her double mastectomy. I don't absolutely love the song, but the attitude of helping turn anxiety about threats into excitement seems so useful. )

* The Battle of New Orleans (Digitally Remastered) (Johnny Horton)
(I remember my mom singing this song for me way back when... "We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin' /
There wasn't as many as there was a while ago")


3 star:
* Trash Day (Parody of "Hot In Herre" By Nelly) ("Weird Al" Yankovic)
* Predator (Yvng Patra)
* I've No More Fucks To Give (feat. Damian Clark) (Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq)
* All That You Are (Bear's Den)
* A Box of Porn in the Woods (Heels)
* Nomad Shuffle (Southside Aces)
* The Drunkard Song (There Is a Tavern In the Town) (Rudy Vallée)
* Mowin' Down the Roses (Jamey Johnson)
* Into the Great Wide Open (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)

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This "Pac-Man meets Sinistar" cracked me up.
(by Tom Northrop, via Atari Force - - Hmm - I guess the glider harkens from Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures) Been a poor time for me discovering new music, between a busy band season, anxiety about job transition, and much media freetime being sunk into the new Zelda - a great and rewarding game but not much for the kind of music I have an ear open for.

4 star:
Hello (Why Are We Whispering Remix) (Martin Solveig & Dragonette)
Hyperballad (Björk)
Praising You (feat. Fatboy Slim) (Rita Ora)

3 star:
The Telescope (Theme Song) (Her Space Holiday & PCP)
Life Goes On (Oliver Tree)
Hey Bartender (Koko Taylor)
Dancing Queen (ABBA)
Dear Prudence (Siouxsie & The Banshees)
Kelen ati leen (Orchestra Baobab)
Hey, Mickey! (Baby Tate & Saweetie)
Lipstick Lover (Janelle Monáe)
What's up Doc? (Can We Rock?) [with Shaquille O'Neal] [K-Cut's Fat Trac Remix] (FU-Schnickens) Kind of lame month for new music. Worried life stress might be making me less attentive or something...

I like the midtempo melancholy of "Out of my Head" and I'm happy with how my arrangement of "Misirlou" for JP Honk came together...

4 star:
Out of My Head (Fastball)
Misirlou (Dick Dale & His Del-Tones)
3 star:
I'm All Right (Madeleine Peyroux) Nemesis (RYLLZ)
Story of Bo Diddley (The Animals)
Ms. Jackson (Outkast)
Que Si Que No (Funiculi Funicula) (Gipsy Kings)
Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel)
Mm Mm Good (Big Freedia)
Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen)
Tessie (Radio Version) (Dropkick Murphys) This month's new music. (I admit I'm tired of the old song and dance I used to put into this...)

4 star:
Mercedes Benz (Janis Joplin)
Simply Irresistible (feat. Brad Davis) (Pickin' On Series)
Follow the Leader (7" Edit) (Eric B. & Rakim)
Otis (feat. Otis Redding) (JAY-Z & Kanye West)
Mercedes Benz I had all the way back in college, but weirdly didn't make the cut when I ripped my DVDs (also does she change the key halfway through?) Simply Irresistible is a fun bluegrass-y cover. The other two are just good sounding hiphop.

3 star:
We Shall Win (Euphonium Multi-Track) (Jorijn van Hese)
Just a Girl (feat. Loah) (Wyvern Lingo)
I See a Darkness (Johnny Cash)
Tina (La Integracion)
Break Through It All (feat. Kellin Quinn) (SEGA / Tomoya Ohtani)
1985 (Bowling for Soup)
Toujours gai (From "Shinbone Alley") (Eartha Kitt)
Goodbye Earl (The Chicks)
You're Gonna Go Far, Kid (The Offspring)
Play Ball (Kenny Mason)
Jumpin' Jack Flash (7" Mix) (Aretha Franklin)
Gritty Man (.45 Soundtrack) (Timothy Sean Fitzpatrick)
Survivor (2WEI & Edda Hayes)
Mad About the Boy (From "Words and Music") (The Piccadilly Dance Orchestra)

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A 9-year-old girl didn't want her goat slaughtered. California fair officials sent deputies after it JFC, maybe ACAB after all.

★ ★ ★ ★	Found Toulouse	beautiful, soft, sweet.
	Sweet Dreams (feat. Holly Henry) Trinix	Cool cover of the old classic, who am I to disagree?
	Do Whatcha Wanna Rebirth Brass Band	One of Two versions of this songs I grabbed this month as we played it for New Orleans
★ ★ ★ ★	Seven Nation Army Fercho Triyei	I just collect these covers! This is like the second most abrasive.
	This Beat Is Military K-9 Posse	Charlie Murphy's rap group. Kind of like a cheesy attempt to make Public Enemy more commercial.
	Lean on Me Club Nouveau	Was thinking this would be a good song for my band to play, but maybe a version that's less "We Be Jammin'" as this one.
★ ★ ★ ★	With Arms Outstretched Rilo Kiley	Very sweet early 2000s chick singer vibe.
	See Me King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard	My friend Duane noticed it uses some odd tuning and half-step kind of stuff. I keep seeing this on a very odd "Come And See Him" tumblr video.
	Bangers & Mash Theme Song Chas & Dave	Intro theme to a UK cartoon, fun "rockey" ("pub singalong, music-hall humour, boogie-woogie piano and pre-Beatles rock 'n' roll") goof.
★ ★ ★ ★	I Wanna Know Becca Hannah	Becca played this song to open a comedy show Melissa and I went to... I like her acoustic version much more than her studio version.
★ ★ ★ ★	Praise You (From the Series "Derry Girls") Jordyn Shellhart	Always such a sucker for "cover of a pop song but slow and female vocal'd"
★ ★ ★ ★	Dreams The Cranberries	Another from "Derry Girls" -- the Cranberries had such a distinctive beautiful sound.
★ ★ ★ ★	Good Rockin' Daddy Etta James	Sexy r+b rocker of a song.
★ ★ ★ ★	Do Whatcha Wanna, Pt. 2 Rebirth Brass Band	Grabbed this version because I think it's closest to what my band is trying to learn..

Hark! Starting with a rare 5-star.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★	I Listened Apes of the State	This song resonates for me on a few levels - the defence after being accused of not listening, the sense of dumb but self-aware feminine longing....
	Angel in Flip-Flops Steve Martin & Only Murders in the Building – Cast	Funnyish song... its onomatopoeia for flip-flops ('pitta putta' is catchy)
★ ★ ★ ★	Obsessed Addison Rae	"You say you're obsessed with me / So I took a second and I said me too / I'm obsessed with me as much as you"
	The Slow Drug PJ Harvey	I think I missed out on PJ Harvey a bit. I always think that when I hear Dan Bern's song praising "Chick Singers"
	Bad Liar Selena Gomez	This mode of music is very catchy.
★ ★ ★ ★	Swingin' The Alphabet The Three Stooges	Ripped from the youtube - merry nonsense pitterpatter song, makes me think of my Papa Sam, from traditional watch stooges on NYE.
	Re: Your Brains Jonathan Coulton	Novelty song about zombies. Funnier in theory than practice.
★ ★ ★ ★	Amazing Grace Judy Collins	I'm a secular person but this song is transcendent. If you squint really hard you can make a poetic, non-supernatural interpretation.
	Imperfectly Ani DiFranco	Melissa reminded me of this song, and its mood of being scared of the other person's reaction.
	Beat Goes On (Rhythm to the Brain) Campbell	Goofy fun clubby sound
	Sah Sah Nancy Ajram & Marshmello	Saw this on a Tik Tok about "when you tell your arab mom you're craving hamburgers" (and the bit of food-porn that results)
	Tetris Flap!	Arun got pointed me to this group, kind of a Squirrel Nut Zippers energy, and love this take on "Tetris" (Korobeiniki) - with lyrics about the game. And a tuba.
	Pump It Up (2021 Remaster) Elvis Costello & The Attractions	My friend Carrie mentions if you want this bassline played at about 2/3 to 3/4 speed, she's your woman.
★ ★ ★ ★	Enjoy Yourself Flap!	Always love the vibe of "Enjoy Yourself / It's Later Than You Think" (Thanks Arun)
	Hi Ren Ren	Singer personifying and singing with his mental illness
★ ★ ★ ★	Beastie Boys Tribute Paul Meany / Beastie Boys	I think cmg posted this one ... 3 beastie boy tracks with additional drum and guitar and keyboard tracks you can see being put down live in studio...

Middling month but with some really good songs from the series "Conversations with Friends"...

★ ★ ★ ★ ★	Let It All Go The Sei	5 Stars - This song is really somber and beautiful. The call to "let it all go wrong", reminiscent of that verse from "Hallelujah", somehow it really speaks to me, the importance of embracing the life even when it's not what we wanted.
★ ★ ★ ★	I'm So Humble (feat. Adam Levine) The Lonely Island	Finally got to watch "Never Stop Never Stopping". Weird Al-level rhymes - I love the 60s rock (doo wop?) intro and bassline.
★ ★ ★ ★	Skibidi Little Big	Saw some tumblr point mentioning how their 5 year old play this over and over skewed their Spotify end of year list... a lot of goofy fun and catchy as hell.
★ ★ ★ ★	Sin Wagon The Chicks	"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition"
★ ★ ★ ★	Remember Me (Sure Is Pure 7 Inch Edit) Blue Boy	Old 90s from Derry Girls.
★ ★ ★ ★	RU Ready "Macho Man" Randy Savage	Macho Man's delivery reminds me of "Chuggo"
	Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto James Brown	Trader Joe's has some really good music in the background...
	Saguaro Austin Lounge Lizards	Based on a true story about a jerk shooting majestic old cacti.
	Run the Track Cosha	Some nice percussion in this one.
	Wicked Game Tenacious D	Fun cover, not sure it improves on the original all that much. But I love the original.
	Atmosphere James Blake	More slow and stately and somber music.
	Christmastime For the Jews (Saturday Night Live / SNL) [feat. Darlene Love] TV Funhouse	SNL goof. Impressive how they reconstructed the old "Wall of Sound" sound.
★ ★ ★ ★	Hot In Herre Nelly	"can't believe that on the day hot in herre was recorded, nelly walked in the booth & hopped on that neptunes beat with "good gracious, ass is bodacious" & not a single person was like hey wait a minute man" --@NifMuhammad
	Up On The Housetop Reba McEntire	Solid Christmas song.
★ ★ ★ ★	It's a Big Old Goofy World Alice Howe & Freebo	Got tagged by a friend on this for obvious reasons.
	Frozen Logger (Live) Derroll Adams	My mentioned this one, the whole line - "no but a logger stirs his coffee with his thumb".
	The Season's Upon Us Dropkick Murphys	New Seasonal Classic.

So grateful for the app "audio highjack" letting me cleanly rip soundtracks from youtube etc... I mean I always try to buy music when I can but I don't want e-availability to stop me...

★ ★ ★ ★	Everybody Wants To Rule the World Lorde	Good cover right out of the How To Make A Blockbuster Movie Trailer playbook...
	30,000 Lbs. Of Bananas Harry Chapin	Was listening to Strong Song's deep dive into Weird Al's Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota and now I really think of it as basically a parody of this song...
	St. James Infirmary Louis Armstrong & His Savoy Ballroom Five	JP Honk was playing this for halloween and I got interested in different versions... always one of my favorite standards.
	DATURA [paroxysm] Crywolf	via tumblr
	Someday I Suppose The Mighty Mighty Bosstones	I was really getting into the idea of their dancer Benn Carr and wanted at least one song that wasn't The Impression That I Get....
★ ★ ★ ★	Last Wave They Might Be Giants	So I guess this song was originally a bad lip reading of the Run DMC/Aerosmith "Walk This Way"???
★ ★ ★ ★	Lady Mine (feat. Chad Kroeger) Josh Ramsay	My friend JZ sends me songs he thinks I'll like... this is one of the few straight forward rockers that hits, a lot of 80s/90s feel to it.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★	I Really Want to Stay at Your House Rosa Walton & Hallie Coggins	5 star! I really love the juxtaposition of wistful title and great funk tinged percussion...
	Exactly Like You Rebirth Brass Band	Another song JP Honk does.
★ ★ ★ ★	Mind Your Manners (feat. Icona Pop) Chiddy Bang	Forget where I heard this modern hip hop, like the chorus sound.
	Give Me Rain Spoonbill	A fire spinner at a party JP Honk was hired for did some of her routine to this song--
★ ★ ★ ★	Girlboss Tuba Solo Nora Nalepka w/ Lucky Chops	Little excerpt I'm trying to learn from... she really knows how to command a crowd with her tuba...
	Is It Wicked Not To Care? Belle and Sebastian	Heard at "Squealing Pig" after our trip to the MFA.... love the title, kind of like "Is It Evil Not To Be Sure"...
	Like a Virgin - Blond Ambition Tour Madonna	The new Weird Al "biopic" had a weird amount of Madonna... I ripped this fron youtube from her stage performance, on the bed with the male dancers in cone bras...
★ ★ ★ ★	Freestyler 2019 Bomfunk MC's	House music... Another one I had to rip from youtube... kind of a classic, the 2019 version seems pretty close to the original...
	Super Mario Bros. Theme Scott Bradlee	Fun ragtime cover of Super Mario Bros.

	Everything's Sweet Kai Straw	Just a decent modern song.
★ ★ ★ ★	Seven Nation Army (feat. Alice Russell) Nostalgia 77	Rayyan posted this one. It makes at least my seventh version of Seven Nation Army...
★ ★ ★ ★	You Want It Darker Leonard Cohen	Super deep and dark song with religious overtones, via the trailer for "Bones and All"
	Ghostbusters Run-DMC	Kinda by the numbers rap version of the classic theme.
★ ★ ★ ★	In Love With the World Aura Dione	Mostly here because I dig the concept of "you're in love with a girl who's in love with the world"
★ ★ ★ ★	Skeleton Sam LVCRFT	from the soundtrack to "Hocus Pocus 2" that my friend Sophie is an extra in.
★ ★ ★ ★	Take over Your World The Party Band	Great, great, great closer for a local HONK favorite. Has that SNL-ending closer energy... take over your world / make it a better place / do real good things / and together we'll sing / just try your best / that's all we can ask / to bring world peace / and harmony
★ ★ ★ ★	Gotta Work Amerie	A lot like her other song but damn I love those horns and drums
	Family Reunion (Live/1999) blink-182	Goofy profane celebration of "The 7 Words You Can't Say on Television"
	I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink (Re-Recorded) Merle Haggard	Cracked says to give country a chance
	Kryptonite 3 Doors Down	Cracked also talks about the reign of the razor scooter. I feel like I should know this song more than I do.
	Please Don't Go KC and the Sunshine Band	So, I loved the clubby Double You version of this song when I heard it in Portugal, and amazingly was able to find it at Newbury Comics by talking to the clerk. Had no idea it was a cover. This version is slower but good.
	Got to Get You Off My Mind Solomon Burke	Classic R+B referenced in "High Fidelity" when he's talking about the rules of the mixtape (he thought it might be too much to lead off with for a gal he was crushing on so he buried it on side two)
★ ★ ★ ★	Shutdown Skepta	I do dig english hip hop - used to parody the UK government in this twitter video
	June Gizelle Smith	Throwback R+B they play at the bar at Simon Pearce in Woodstock VT.
★ ★ ★ ★	Don't You Want Me (feat. The Weather Station) Bahamas	Amazing slow cover... Sometimes you just don't realize how dark a and menacing song is until you slow it down...

★ ★ ★ ★	Dear Mr. Fantasy Traffic	There was kind of a dumb Quora asking if "Hey Jude" was a rip off of this song...
★ ★ ★ ★	Same Song (Edit Version) Digital Underground	For some reason "The Humpty Dance" was bouncing around our house a lot, and so I looked him up - didn't realize he was a persona of Shock G, who died last year. Interesting seeing Tupac running around Digital Underground (and all the culturally responsible references to condoms...)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★	Weird Goodbyes (feat. Bon Iver) The National	Melissa pointed me to this song, crushingly sad, the idea of trying to impress a moment into memory as a stand in for a longer time in a place really resonates. Tantalizingly ambiguous - is it a break up song, or of another life transition?
★ ★ ★ ★	Glory Box John Martyn	Male-vocal, R+B-ish cover of the Portishead. I think it brings something out, but the genderbent lyrics lose something.
	Fever Neko Case	Melissa and I went to see Neko Case who is one of her favorite performers.
	Shots (feat. Lil Jon) LMFAO	Just wanted the source of where my friends go "shots shots, shots shots shots" Raunchier lyrics than I expected.
	The Teddy Bears' Picnic Henry Hall & The BBC Dance Orchestra	My friend Nick was wondering if there was a name for the the "derp de derp" song some tuba players will use to mock alt-right assholes... I was wondering if this could be the source. I had a teddy bear w/ a built in music box that would play this.
	A Shot In the Arm (Remix Version) Wilco	There was a "Strong Songs" episode about "Jesus Etc" but it mentioned this song's lyric of "The ashtray says / you were up all night"
	The "In" Crowd (Single Version) Ramsey Lewis Trio	RIP Ramsey Lewis... admittedly I hadn't heard much about him but this song is a bop.
	Would You... ? Touch & Go	I mostly know the high energy Trailermen Go To Rio remix version but the original has its own charm. I mean how could "Um, I've noticed you around. I find you very attractive. Um. Would you go to bed with me?" not be alluring?
★ ★ ★ ★	Stay Cat Power	A friend of mine going through a rough time mentioned learning and doing this rough-edged cover of Rihanna's original.
	Ur So Gay Katy Perry	Someone one on tumblr mentioned Katy Perry's first song was this stridently anti-metro-sexual and kind of regressive piece...
★ ★ ★ ★	On and On, Pt. 2 (feat. Ty) Hocus Pocus	Some great, friendly rap (mostly in french) via this iPhone 14 hardware review
	Who's Ready for Tomorrow RAT BOY & IBDY	From the "Cyberpunk" anime, mentioned on the "Get Played" spinoff "Get Anime'd", derived from the recent large scale video game.
	Black Sweat Prince	Funky Prince. Heard during a late hours Trader Joe's run. I'm always struck by the sexy thang/prude ambivalence of mid to late era Prince.

Huh. On the one hand I've been grabbing a lot less songs lately, but most of it is pretty good! Not sure if it's because of the other media I'm consuming or what.

Also I've gotten really good at ripping songs straight outta the browser via "Audio Hijack" - as long as the song is under 10 minutes you can use the free version.

★ ★ ★ ★	Dig Down Muse	Lots of George Michael callbacks here, heard about it on the "Strong Songs" podcast.
★ ★ ★ ★	Rice Krispies Rolling Stones	Cracked thinks this might be the actual Rolling Stones doing a 30 second spot for Rice Krispies.
	Americus (Religious Right Rock) Grand Buffet	Parody of rightwing dumbassness, on a Suicide Girls dvd some of the performers are having a shout sing of it.
★ ★ ★ ★	Insane Dryer Noise Remix Tik Tok	Someone found their washer machine making a funky beat, and musicians riffed on it.
★ ★ ★ ★	Just a Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody Louis Prima	Checking in on the "Diamond Dave" version of this, it's almost surprising how little it adds. Anyway grabbed this because one band I sometimes swing with wants to try it.
★ ★ ★ ★	Mario Raceway Magnificent Danger	Fun HONK-ish cover of Mario 64 music. Ripped this MP3 from the video, don't think they've release it for reals... saw MagDan at a recent brass afternoon at the Medford Condon hatch shell.
★ ★ ★ ★	Special Powers Grand Buffet	from the Americus folks - love this song a lot more, REALLY strong mid-era Beastie Boys energy.
	What's Inside a Girl? The Cramps	Surfer Punk or maybe "haunted house" vibe - I remember being a bit scandalized by a xerox'd 8.5x11 poster for this song, some woman standing provocatively w/ a bunch of question marks around...
★ ★ ★ ★	It Comes in Waves Long Haul Paul	Heartbreaking song about a father losing his sun to drugs, via the Over the Road podcast about long-haul truckers

Another month another playlist.

What's weirding me out is I haven't added any new songs yet THIS month.

★ ★ ★ ★	Psycho (feat. GAWNE) Crypt & Joey Nato	Visiting JZ (one of the few people who can sort of predict my music preferences) in Austin, we caught up on songs including this hip hop bop - fast patter along with scary psycho violins.
	Booty Swing Parov Stelar	Old-timey swing w/ some modern elements (played at my dr's waiting room)
★ ★ ★ ★	Creep (feat. Karen Marie) Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox	Another from my dr's waiting room, retro-cover.
★ ★ ★ ★	Eu Na Rua Antonio Pinto	from the movie "Nine Days" - very soft and sweet
	Sweetie, You're Wild Flying Girls	Dylan wrote "can either of you tell me why this song is both catchy and unsettling? Is the rhythm on the up-beat? I love it/it makes my brain hurt."
	Through the Valley Ashley Johnson & Chris Rondinella	Get Played podcast mentioned this from the end theme for Last of Us Part 2... femalre voice and guitar with an apocalyptic vibe.
	Abla Deme Lazim Olur Lalalar	Funky grindy pop used in an Apple Keynote (not the part in arabic I guess)
★ ★ ★ ★	Bridge Over Troubled Water Johnny Cash	I've been looking for more Johnny Cash ever since "When The Man Comes Around" wasa a little bit too apocalyptic for my taste...
	We Ain't Came to Lose Raekwon & Ghostface Killah	Making the rounds, some of the Wu-Tang doing a track for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.
	The Good Book (Live) Tim Minchin	I remember this jokey book about the Bible from wayback when, especially "I know the Good Book's good because the Good Book says it's good / I know the Good Book knows it's good because a really good book would"
★ ★ ★ ★	Start with Goodbye, Stop with Hello Eliza Rickman	Kind of haunting, toy-piano song, heard it Courtney's party recently but feel I know it from somewhere else.
	Jolene Me First and The Gimme Gimmes	high energy version of Dolly Parton's classic via My dad is addicted to rock and metal covers of pop songs...
	Oh Mary, Don't You Weep The Swan Silvertones	Old school Doo-Wop... reading up on "Bridge Over Troubled Water", this song was an influence on Paul Simon...
	Rolling in the Deep (feat. Monique) Urban Love	Heard this in a Japanese restaurant in Montreal... it's a Bossa Nova cover, but it's maybe too close to the original...
★ ★ ★ ★	99 Red Balloons Nova Bossa Ltd. & Lizette	Another Bossa Nova cover from Montreal... really dig it.

Surprising number of songs based on bands I'm in pondering playing them, but I don't think any that I actually played.

	If We Were Vampires Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit	Folksy, saddish song playing the "well if we're vampires we'd be immortal but we're not so let's make the most of what we got."
★ ★ ★ ★	Mahna, Mahna CAKE	The old "muppet" song - some folks on JPH want us to try an arrangement maybe sometime.
	Jesus Walks Kanye West	Big hiphop. via this tweet.
★ ★ ★ ★	Phone Wallet Keys (Single Version) Adam Sandler	Comedy rap.
★ ★ ★ ★	Dispatches 1 Blue Man Group	Cool percussion but I keep expecting it to turn into "Magic Carpet Ride" Inspired to for more Blue Man after this Vulture Oral History of the show.
★ ★ ★ ★	In Your Head Isabelle Brown	Nice modern fast R+B on the Hulu show "Woke"
	Giacometti Blue Man Group	Cool didgeridoo-ish noise in it... Blue Man Group really pursues cool noise making.
	I've Found a New Baby Ted Lewis and His Band	Old Time Jazz. Another thing folks in the band would consider trying to arrange.
	Lost at Sea Oshima Brothers	Sad modern pop, a bit like The National via This American Life
	Dynamite BTS	K-Pop! School of Honk is thinking about trying an arrangement.
	Liquid Dance A.R. Rahman, Swapna Madhuri, Palakkad Sriram	Really cool blend of modern electronic and that one classical India form, the vocal percussion they do. Mentioned on a "Strong Songs" podcast episode.
	Sting Ray The Jazz Crusaders	Some nice fast jazz. New Magnolia Jazz band messed with this a bit, I think because the leader thought it was near my own "Space Cadet" bassline.
	Fried Pork Anus Boxer Dicktown	Very brief comedy interlude I mp3'd up for Melissa from John Hodgman's Hulu cartoon series.
	Stand By Me (Live from the Late Show with David Letterman) Tracy Chapman	Really nice cover spotify introduced me to.
	Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27: No. 2 "Moonlight Sonata": I. Adagio sostenuto Steve Anderson	More or less straightforward version of the classical piece, though I think with a subtle choir. Originally I was looking for Pianist SHOCKS Audience With Moonlight Sonata Dubstep Remix but you know I think the simpler form works allright. It is a moving piece.
★ ★ ★ ★	The Way I Am Ingrid Michaelson	Oh, such a sweet modern indie song. From a Melissa playlist.
	Excursions A Tribe Called Quest	Classic Hip-hop. Via Strong Songs episode on "So What"
	What Time Is Love? The Williams Fairey Brass Band	Odd Brass cover of KLF's techno hit.
	The Ballad of Kami Jean Mama Digdown's Brass Band	NOLA street band stuff. One of the songs I was asked to study up on when I swung in with Second Line Brass Band.

Music I added last month - pretty good selection, really. A lot from that "Inventing Anna" documentary...

★ ★ ★ ★	Bayraktar Ukraine Russia War	Catchy little tune making the rounds in praise of the Turkish Drone being used by Ukraine forces to destroy Russians from the sky.
	Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home Bobby Darin	High energy version of old classic, grabbed it after playing it at a mardi gras gig. Fun for me to sing solos to.
★ ★ ★ ★	Fictional Aisle Tall Boy Special	Funny song about impossible or at least very unlikely foods, from Dog Eggs to Celery Farts and Reverse Watermelon... From a tiktok where one of the musician's partners is amused by it from the other room.
★ ★ ★ ★	100 Miles and Running (feat. Wale & John Lindahl) Logic	Funky hiphop (I think sampling "Apache" ala Young MC's Know How) with some TRULY incredible stunt-FAST lyric delivery (go to like 5:17)
★ ★ ★ ★	UNSTATUS QUO DUCKWRTH	Hiphop do heavy samples of James Brown esp "Good Foot", found it on the Netflix "Inventing Anna" series about Anna Delvey.
	Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition! Kay Kyser and His Orchestra	Novelty WW2 song, the title has been in my head for awhile, probably inspired by thoughts of Ukraine.
★ ★ ★ ★	Spiderman Young Fellaz Brass Band	Great NOLA Street Music - big stuff.
	Own It Rico Nasty	Hiphop from that "Inventing Anna" documentary.
★ ★ ★ ★	East West Omer Agca	Excellent little "middle eastern" crossover(?) beat used when Anna Delvy goes to Morocco in that Netflix documentary.
★ ★ ★ ★	Always Be You Montaigne & David Byrne	I love the idea that "A Writer At Pitchfork Critically Said [[David Byrne]'d Collaborate For A Bag Of Doritos", and I know Montaigne from her MBMBAB cover. I like the line about This Daniel Kitson quote which is astonishingly beautiful.
★ ★ ★ ★	La La Blues Pokey LaFarge	Sophie mentioned this song when I brought up Bill Bailey... guess LaFarge is known for doing this old style really well.
	Drum Cadences The Ohio State University Marching Band & Dr. Jon R. Woods	This SNL skit on OSU's cover of Don't Stop Believin' made me search... I didn't go for the song but the drumline from the same album. is pretty dope. "Do you guys hear it? Its TUBAS playing the BASSLINE! Like, who thinks of that?"
	Drunken Sailor (feat. Bobby Waters) MALINDA	This tumblr video - a farmers sea shanty - made me look for a cover of this song (which I sang in Elementary School) I do love the seep bass voice of the guy singing on this...
★ ★ ★ ★	Friends Like Us Danger Twins	Kinda corny retro honky tonk piano modern piece that I heard playing at a CVS.
	Raising Hell (feat. Big Freedia) Kesha	Somehow this video made me want to hear some bounce music, so I looked around - this song is a nice mix.
★ ★ ★ ★	King Florence + the Machine	"We argue in the kitchen about whether to have children, about the world ending, and the scale of my ambition" is a helluva lyric, recommended from here on the McGST blog

	I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE Måneskin	genderqueer etc pop rock I think they were on SNL.
★ ★ ★ ★	Life Goes On OMGkellz	Kinda gospel-twinged hiphop. On an epsidode of Awkwafina is Nora from Queens.
	Shotgun Junior Walker & The All Stars	Awesome R+B. An article about where did the high pitch sample used in K Pop / that "Jump Around" song come from cited this as a possibility.
	New Orleans The Blues Brothers & Louisiana Gator Boys	From the Blues Brothers 2000 sequel... an all star band. During the Beatles Get Back documentary, I wanted to learn more about Billy Preston, I guess he made this song?
★ ★ ★ ★	Come Back Home Seotaiji and Boys	Classic K Pop... super strong Cypress Hill influence... Watched a video "K Pop Explained" (was disappointed the video didn't get into KPop fans rallying as a force for social justice online...)
	Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight Sha Na Na	Sha Na Na was such a weird bid of 50s/60s greaser nostalgia of the late 70s/early 80s... I remembered this song randomly saying goodnight to Melissa.
	Surfin' Safari The Beach Boys	Classic surf song. I am kind of obsessed with why every version I can find is "some honeys will be coming along" and "singing our song" instead of the version on the McDonalds promotional tape I grew up, "some honeys will be making the seen" / "put on my faded blue jeans"...
	It's Not My Fault Princess Nokia	I got to thinking about her old song "Tomboy", looked to see what she was up to.
★ ★ ★ ★	Rock Tonight Altitude Music & MC Justo	Hiphop from the Ronny Cheng youtube special
	Let It Be Aretha Franklin	Melissa really likes this cover. The original of the song is pretty important to me.
	Gotta Move Barbra Streisand	via a Bud Light Ad during the Superbowl
	Eleanor Rigby Ray Charles	Not quite the same version from this Strong Covers Vol 1 episode of Strong Songs, a great podcast breaking down music and showing how the sausage was made...
	Master Kohga Battle Manaka Kataoka	Videogame music from this video about fooling around in Breath of the Wild
	Bah Bah Conniff Sprach (Zarathustra) [Single Version] Ray Conniff	This weird 2001-cover was used in a Superbowl ad
★ ★ ★ ★	Mary, Mary Run-DMC	One of those songs I heard quoted a LOT in the 80s/early 90s ("Mary Mary, Why you Buggin?") but maybe never heard? Sought it out after I read about the Amen Break - this beat from the Monkees was on a small record of reusable beats
	California Love 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman	One of the songs I didn't know much about from the Superbowl show...
★ ★ ★ ★	Amen "Break" The Winstons	The original beat that launched 1,000 hip hop songs, as seen on this cracked article on the Amen Break
	Moanin' Charles Mingus	Eze is arranging this song for JP Honk to cover.
	Dark Eyes Stanley Black and His Orchestra	Another song JP Honk is experimenting with... though we're not trying it as a Tango, like this is...

	je t'appelle (acid radio edit) Armand Van Helden feat. Sahara	Clubby electronica From my friend Arun's collection.
	Bull Jine Run Odetta	A Black folkish/spiritual version of a kind of sea shanty? Found after looking up their version of Battle Hymn of the Republic.
★ ★ ★ ★	Plastic Jesus Kenny 3	Funny countrified song. "I don't care if it rains or freezes / Long as I got my plastic Jesus / Riding on the dashboard of my car." I remember this from my youth but it was recently mentioned on an episode of Baby Geniuses podcast.
★ ★ ★ ★	Happier Than Ever Billie Eilish	Dreamy mournful ukulele-ish piece. From her appearance on SNL.
	Tools AKA Me	Female pop. I think some incidental music on "This American Life"
★ ★ ★ ★	Beautiful Machine The Shrinks	Funky little... not even sure of the genre, kinda rock, kinda indie, maybe a shade of punk.
★ ★ ★ ★	Arrow The Irrepressibles	Such a beautiful gay anthem. You must watch this video... the gayest thing I've seen, in the loveliest sense of that word.
	Blue Monday Orgy	Classic club song (sigh Man Ray), guess it's not quite the original. The podcast 99% Invisible had a piece on how the floppy disk album cover for this single was super expensive.
	Alligator Dance (Seneca) Leslie Bowen, Avery Jimerson, Richard Johnny-John, Herbert Dowdy, Sr., Johnson Jimerson & Marty Jimerson	Seneca music featuring Richard Johnny-John, who sang when my folks were ceremoniously adopted into Seneca clan families.
★ ★ ★ ★	Words of Advice Material	In the spirit of "Everyone's Free (To Where Sunscreen)", sardonic advice with a beat. Something from "This American Life".
	Spaceman Harry Nilsson	Kinda corny 60s rock. From end credits of the first season finale of "Space Force"
	Zinda Rehti Hain Unki Mohabbatein (From "Mohabbatein") Lata Mangeshkar	Music that sounds like it's from Bollywood musicals, starts with percussion I dig. From this tweet about WFH
★ ★ ★ ★	Goldeneye 007 (Trap Remix) [Mission Status N64 Pause Screen] Trap Remix Guys	Cool cover of the old N64 video game pause music, with an appealing little skittery skritch of trap music. Sought out a version after this clip on a "watching people die inside" video... it's so much more of a lowkey banger than it needs to be!
	Streets Favorite Capone	Mediocre hiphop sampling overwrought 60s song "(Remember) Walking in the Sand" background on one of these watching people die inside clips.
★ ★ ★ ★	Power of Yet Janelle Monae / Sesame Street	Funky little piece about the power of persistence...

★ ★ ★ ★	Beatbox The Joshuan Project	Short track with some great human beatbox. Via this tumblr post about cute bugs.
★ ★ ★ ★	Super Mario 3D Land Demo Underground Powerdown Nintendo	The classic Mario song with a fun slow to a halt, via this "small mario findings post, it's an unused track from Super Mario 3D Land.
	Shine On Harvest Moon Betty Carter	Slick torch song. Mentioned in Tom Stoppard's play "Jumpers"
	One More Second (Future Islands Remix) Matt Berninger	Indie Mood Song - really sorrowful breakup piece, I didn't think about the lyrics enough during the month it was playing it. I added it to my playlist "saddest". Mentioned by my friend Leigh on FB I think, by the main singer of The National.
	Let's Get It On INFINITE	Late-90s hip hop, smooth flow, the character select screen music for Street Fighter: 3rd Strike Mentioned on the podcast "How Did This Get Played" -- awesome podcast, having writers/improv people who love games talk about games makes this one the best.
	Technicolour Montaigne	Solid Eurovision song, love that shouty girl chorus stuff... Learned about Montaigne when she did the My Brother My Brother And Me podcast soundtrack, wanted to see if she did something I liked better.
	Destination Calabria Masove, Brendan Mills & Tess Burrstone	(content notice, video is a lot about T+A) Dance hall stuff with awesome fun sax. Some random tiktok.
★ ★ ★ ★	Want It All Back Mai Yamane	Awesome funky R+B song - I love the way it sounds like the singer is singing lower, out of her comfort range. from "Cowboy Bebop", the anime series with a legendary soundtrack, been watching a bit.
	Tokyo Drift (Fast & Furious soundtrack) Teriyaki Boyz	Hiphop, leans heavily into asian stereotypes I think. Mentioned on the hilarious video game podcast "How Did This Get Played", talking about songs from video games, and a few from movies.
	The Magic Bomb (Questions I Get Asked) [Trap Remix] Trap Remix Guys	Electronic/Trap. from a random Tik Tok, where it's considered a good track to dance to while FAQs and their answers appear onscreen.
	Stand By Me Florence + the Machine	Nice sweet cover of the old standby. I guess they used this in a Final Fantasy game soundtrack, via the funny videogame podcast "How Did This Get Played"
	Mannish Boy (Single Version) Muddy Waters	You know, I think this is like the Ur- blues song, that has the rhythm everyone would sing when they were clowning and singing a blues song in the 80s. via Apple news talking about a series of Levi Ads in the 90s with famously great music.

	Moribiyassa Kaba Blon	Some great percussion in this one from "Music from Saharan Cellphones" - music that had been passed around from phone to phone. via this tumblr post
	Forever Mumford & Sons	Mellow indie. Via Ted Lasso.
	Ben Franklin's Song The Decemberists	Kind of cool stompy indie about Ben Franlkin. Final song I'll grab from Hamilton Mixtape. For once, it IS the Decemberist, not just a group that sounds like the Decemberists.
★ ★ ★ ★	Smells Like Teen Spirit Too Many Zooz	Awesome small horn and drum cover. (Found just kicking around youtube I guess)
	GOGO霊幻! - モブサイコ Mob Psycho OST	High energy music with a middle eastern vibe. via this tumblr post with some great Japanese mascot dancing.
	Jolene Lil Nas X	Straight ahead (well, not straight, so much) cover of Dolly Parton's classic from BBC One. via this tumblr post
	I Like It Like That Rebirth Brass Band	Good ol' NOLA stuff, if a bit too raunchy gross. Playing in background at Anna's dinner party
★ ★ ★ ★	I am not a woman, I'm a god Halsey	Intense Electronic Pop. She was playing on SNL.
	Bella Ciao Chumbawamba	Straight forward cover of the leftist classic. (Just googling around what other songs they did besides tubthumper)
	yankee and the brave (ep. 4) Run The Jewels	Most of their hiphop songs are a bit same-y, but still a great sound - and an awesome Adult Swim Video. Heard it closing up a Ted Lasso episode.
	My Humps (feat. Black Eyed Peas) [JBroadway Remix] JBroadway	Funky cover. My friend JZ is one of the few people who understands the percussion I like in music...
	Father and Farther Jim Boyd & Sherman Alexie	Thoughtful kinda country tune, "Sometimes Father, You and I, are like a 3-legged horse that can't get across the finish line..." From the Native American produce film "Smoke Signals"
★ ★ ★ ★	Tainted Love Hannah Peel	Amazing "music box" cover of the new wave classic. Playing on an generally unwatched TV at Miller's pumpkin carving party.
	Conga Miami Sound Machine	Amazing crossover hit of the 80s. this Cracked article mentioned an easteregg in the game Far Cry 6 about this song, and I got to thinking about it in general.
	Pity The Downtrodden Landlord Bob Hill	Folksy sardonic protest song. A woman sang a verse of this at a BABAM protest for the tenants of the Forbes building.
	Brotherly Love Olive Oyl (Mae Questel)	From this old Popeye cartoon "'Cause what we need is brotherly love..." from this old b+w cartoon I remembered from my childhood was stuck in my head. (Heh.... I think we just had a black and white TV back then, so maybe I didn't realize it was a black and white cartoon...)
★ ★ ★ ★	Can’t Help Falling In Love (Live At Daytrotter) Ingrid Michaelson	very How To Make A Blockbuster Movie Trailer vibe to this (i.e. haunting unexpected female cover a pop song.) - love the out of tune piano of it though. (things I was just googling around after having had some other songs by this artist)

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Via the wikipedia page on the Incoherents art movement.

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An article on tough truths on leadership reminded me of something I heard on a podcast but forgot to remember the attribution: basically it's that every leader should ask people reporting to them "what is some bad news that I don't want to hear?"

I love the meta-reversal of that. It mirrors an excellent principle I've always tried to apply for myself - when I realize I'm hiding something from myself, semi-deliberately distracting myself away from a threat, that tells the other part of my brain "oh, beware, this thing must really be bad!"

Now this idea doesn't work all the time and in all situations or for all people. If you aren't able to keep the context that hardly any bad news is the final word (or embrace the existential bleakness "well someday the sun expands to engulf the Earth and then its the heat death of the universe anyway, so cheer up for now, kid") then diversion can be a good strategy. But I think it's good to cultivate leaning into bad stuff.

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My 5G Coverage was getting a little spotty so I scheduled my Pfizer booster shot for today.

	My Life Is Better With You (My Brother, My Brother and Me Podcast Theme Song) Montaigne	Decent indie pop. Theme song from the "My Brother My Brother And Me" podcast. Honestly it sounds way too slow to me, since I usually hear it at 1.5x to 1.8x speed.
★ ★ ★ ★	Beast Unleashed Vin Jay	Dumb video but I like the chanting in the song, and the beat. My friend Jonathan Z is one of the few people who is pretty locked into songs I'll likely like. I think it's a pretty shallow thing about the percussion.
	Hootie Hoo Outkast	Old school slow flow hiphop. Was tracking down a character saying "Hooty Hoo!" as a greeting on Ted Lasso. (I also remember it referenced in a Missy Elliot song.)
★ ★ ★ ★	I Can't Decide Scissor Sisters	Kind of playful old-timey sound, but with a serious dark edge. via this tumbler post
★ ★ ★ ★	End of the Road Noga Erez	Her vocals remind me a bit of the background of will.i.am's Trump song GRAB'm by the PU$$Y Found digging up her cover of "I Walk The Line" below.
	I Walk The Line Noga Erez	Slow female / orchestral cover of "I Walk the Line", right out of How To Make A Blockbuster Movie Trailer playbook.... Trailer for Netflix "Sex/Life"
★ ★ ★ ★	Seven Nation Army The White Stripes	Indie rock with an infamously catchy bassline. I have and love a number of covers of this song but never had the original, looking to it when someone said I wasn't playing the bassline as it was written on a chart.
	Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood Nina Simone	So the original, with a more famous cover. (Along with "Tainted Love", songs I'm chagrined how I assumed they were work of their more famous cover artists.) from the movie "Nobody"
	Heartbreaker Pat Benatar	late 70s/early 80s Rock! played in the movie "Nobody". I missed out on a lot of classic rock by being a nerd who pretended he only liked classical and jazz.
	Witness (1 Hope) Roots Manuva	UK hip hop... like the glissando sound and the line "Breakneck speed we drown ten pints of bitter" Dr. Sharon Fieldstone in "Ted Lasso" was listening to this on her bike (and then got hit by a car :-( )
	Crazy (Radio Edit) [feat. Joie Tan] Teemid	female cover of modern r+b song Playing at my dermatologist's office... I really love Shazam sometimes.
	El Sueño Javi Colina & Quoxx	South/Central American club music. Played by DJ at a friends retirement shindig.
	Hard to Handle (Live) The Black Crowes	Big hit Otis Redding cover (speaking by white folks making bigger hits covering black folk's songs) Went to see these folks live with Leigh... didn't really know a ton about them...
	Brick Ben Folds Five	Jesus, I didn't really think about this song's lyrics until just now... wow is that raw and dark. From this goofy meme "She's a brick"... "house"? "and I'm drowning slowly"?
★ ★ ★ ★	Chief Rocka Lords of the Underground	Pretty cool oldschool hiphop. Shades of Beastie Boys and Onyx. Playing from an open air restaurant near harvard square
★ ★ ★ ★	Falling In Love Julia Wolf	Sardonic modern indie pop. (Warning, cuss words.) Apple blogs, that's like an iPhone 13 new camera mode exploration.
★ ★ ★ ★	Dear Theodosia (feat. Ben Folds) Regina Spektor	Moving song from Hamilton, to an illicit daughter. (I need more Regina Spektor in my life) From the Hamilton Mixtape, now that I've finally watched the musical.
★ ★ ★ ★	An Open Letter (feat. Shockwave) [Interlude] Watsky	Old school beat box behind a clever bit of Hamilton lyrics. From the Hamilton mixtape.
	My Shot (feat. Busta Rhymes, Joell Ortiz & Nate Ruess) [Rise Up Remix] The Roots	Hiphop rework of Hamilton song. I do love Busta Rhymes sound and flow. from the Hamilton Mixtape

★ ★ ★ ★	Since I Found You Gone The Exploding Voids	Kind of lovely break up song from a pretty obscure but great European group. Final song I didn't already have from their new album... been their biggest American fan since I heard their transcendent As It Comes at the end of their indie horror film "Welk"
	Alone Again Or Love	Old rock, nice mix of latin sounds. From the movie "Bottle Rock"
	Goosebumps (Remix) Travis Scott & HVME	Club pop. Played by a DJ at a highschool graduation party afternoon.
★ ★ ★ ★	Let the Tiger Out Andy Cooper	Hiphop with a ton of funk. Via this Dance Flash Mob video.
	Elvira The Oak Ridge Boys	Cornball countrified 80s song. I so remember this from, like, summer camp in like 1983 or something. But Dave S mentioned it for some reason at a Vermont reunion weekend.
	Xiquexique Tom Zé & José Miguel Wisnik	Art song with interesting sounds that goes on a bit but... I think it has a strong "sound of toothbrushing" influence? Matthew Greene played this at a Vermont getaway weekend.
	War Hypnotic Brass Ensemble	Nice NOLA style brass. During Vermont reunion weekend, Sean mentioned this one.
	Solitude of Sirens The Exploding Voids	Great indie sound. "Are you the siren, or the lighthouse, to my thoughts?" Penultimate song I didn't already on their latest album
	My First Girlfriend (Slowed) MattyB	Inane kid hiphop that becomes transcendent slowed down... Found on tumblr... check out the link, I also love the animated GIF she used to post it.
★ ★ ★ ★	Be OK (Acoustic Version) Ingrid Michaelson	Upbeat song, a gal and her guitar and just a little production seasoning. Playing in an open roofed outlet center in NJ.
	This Feeling Alabama Shakes	Gentle and lovely song about arrival after hard times. Used on the show "Fleabag"
★ ★ ★ ★	Rumors Lizzo & Cardi B	Excellent empowerment hiphop, dig the bass. Jim W wrote: 'So…I slept on Lizzo and Cardi’s “Rumors” and gotta be honest, it’s even better than Fleetwood Mac, and I love Fleetwood Mac 🤣'
	Kryptonite Joey Nato & Atlus	Obscure hiphop, nice beats. My friend Jonathan has the single best track record at recommending new music that I actually like. I feel like there's probably a pretty simple formula about percussion sound he's figured out...
★ ★ ★ ★	Strange Celeste	Slow, sad, beautiful. From a poignant scene in "Ted Lasso"

★ ★ ★ ★	The Rich Man's House Anne Feeney	A cappella protest song, soulful and rich. This is a song that is sometimes requested on BABAM gigs, fortunately it's very easy to play. Heard it as a recording during a recent "Free Her" march for clemency for women.
★ ★ ★ ★	Freedom (Homecoming Live) Beyoncé	Big marching band cover. Surprised I didn't grab even more of the Beyoncé marching band stuff earlier after we watched "homecoming", just love that sound. Another song that was played on the "Free Her" march.
★ ★ ★ ★	Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) Sly & The Family Stone	Classic funk. The "Summer of Soul" documentary covered how important and talented Sly was - kind of like a prototype for Prince.
★ ★ ★ ★	Backlash Blues (Live) Nina Simone	Live protest blues. (Probably slightly different version than what I grabbed) Another song I heard on "Summer of Soul" - the live versions have Simone pounding so much harder on the piano than the studio cut.
	BLK presents "Vax That Thang Up" (feat. Mannie Fresh, Juvenile & Mia X) BLK App	Homebrew pro-Vax public service hiphop. via this (now deleted) tweet.
	My Platform The Exploding Voids	Indie. Continuing my "acquire this album from these brilliant europeans one song at a time" mission.
★ ★ ★ ★	Hava Nagila Günter Noris	Bing-bandish Lounge cover of the Jewish classic. I'm really impressed by the sheer technical excellence of this genre! via this tumblr. A rip because I couldn't find a digital version to buy.
	Over and Done With The Proclaimers	Scottish indie. The movie "Bottle Rocket" had this.
	Suit & Tie Nataly Dawn & Ryan Lerman	Playful cover of a Justin Timberlake faux-rat-pack song. I love the percussion car noises ala Needing/Getting - not as well-fleshed out but still. One of my favorite ever songs is Nataly Dawn's cover of Roxy Music's "To Turn You On", and I found this looking around for other songs where she collaborates with Ryan Lerman.
★ ★ ★ ★	Hallelujah Willie Nelson	Great cover of the classic song. from a Top 50 versions of Hallelujah list. This song makes up for the other month when the download version of the Snoop Dogg / Willie Nelson song My Medicine was weirdly light on the Willie Nelson.
	Money, Cash, Hoes (feat. DMX) JAY-Z	Hiphop, love the fat pseduo-record-scratch percussive sound was also used on Ice Cube's You Can Do It via Cracked.com's Famous Songs That Ripped Off Video Games (And Hoped We Didn’t Notice) though I've heard other explanations of the keyboard gliss or whatever it leans on.
★ ★ ★ ★	Nothing Else Besides The Exploding Voids	One of my favorites thus far from The Exploding Voids new albums. I feel like "You and Me and Nothing Else Besides" isn't a line a native speaker would be as likely to come up with.
	Kernkraft 400 (Original Radio Edit) Zombie Nation	Famous to the point of corny bit of club rock turned stadium anthem... turns out it was ripped off from the C64 game Lazy Jones via Cracked.com's Famous Songs That Ripped Off Video Games (And Hoped We Didn’t Notice)
	Bring It On Home to Me (Live at the Harlem Square Club, Miami, FL - January 1963) Sam Cooke	Soulful classic. We heard a cover band play this on Hickory Hills Lake as we pontoon-boated around.
	If I Knew You Were Coming I Would Have Baked a Cake The Fontane Sisters	Old-timey song. A little weird how the recording sounds like it gets sped up near the end... wonder if that was at all deliberate.
★ ★ ★ ★	Israelites Desmond Dekker	One of the earliest reggae hits. Someone at JP Honk mentioned it. I wouldn't mind the band covering it!

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Good office chair but the main physical issue I notice w/ too much sitting is, like, fluid accumulating in my elbows...
just me?

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When you look into Chick Bowdrie's black eyes it's like looking down the barrels of two .44s with their hammers drawn back.

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	Shelter from the Storm Bob Dylan	Classic folk. via the movie "St. Vincent", though I also read a Harper's article about a guy who might be Bob Dylan's secret son, his mom is clearly referenced in a verse.
★ ★ ★ ★	Call Me By Your Name (Montero Cover) SuperKnova	A beautiful layer of guitar added to the song. maybe via this reddit but mostly from tumblr maybe?
	Worried Blues Gladys Bentley	Blues. I adore the trumpet singing she does, it's so rich and detailed. Via this cracked article.
	Mind Your Own Business Delta 5	New Wave Girlz. via the recent Apple Ad about privacy
★ ★ ★ ★	Chug Jug With You Rok Nardin	This sweet fan song about the game Fortnight redone with a huge how to make a blockbuster movie trailer vibe. via tumblr.
	Traffic Cone Traffic Jam Moon Hooch	Funk band stuck in traffic. Johnny the drummer mentioned this crew to me.
	good 4 u Olivia Rodrigo	sk8r boi / early 2000s energy here. Introduced via her exposure as artist and reference on SNL.
★ ★ ★ ★	Fine Azz Kamillion	Dig the percussion in this strong woman hiphop. Title to HBO's "A Black Lady Sketch Show"
	Riches and Wonders (Remastered) The Mountain Goats	The lowfi aesthetic is amazing, like I just love how you hear the recording machine itself. I forget how I stumbled into this song but I always think about how much author John Green adores this group.
	Highlights Courtney Love (Lois Maffeo + Pat Maley band)	I think this band's name is kind of hilarious. Like the song's Goofus and Gallant reference. Idiosyncratic backing music for this Simon Biles slow motion video.
	I'd rather have a bottle in front of me (than a frontal lobotomy) Randy Hanzlick	A Dr. Demento Classic...probably kind of insensitive now.
	Got It Boomin Oren Major & The Grand Mess	I like the big blatt horns of this hiphop. from a "Love Death and Robots" episode.
	Prove It On Me Ma Rainey	Interesting early gay anthem. Trumpeteer Annie of "Annie and the Fur Trappers" mentioned this song after I mentioned Gladys Bentley's "Worried Blues"
	Yard Sale, No. 1 The Exploding Voids	Indie pop. I ran into The Exploding Voids when they used what became one of my Top 5 ever songs As It Comes. And they just released a new album which I am adding to my collection a song at a time.
	Watermelon Man Maynard Ferguson	Jazz and Mayo on the high trumpet. A staple of some of my honk bands, ken from "New Magnolia" mentioned this version when I suggested he had it to his band's set.
	Lean (Quickie Mart Remix) Boyfriend	A bit too repetitive but some nice sounds. from "Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens"
	How Come My Dog Don't Bark (When You Come Around) Dr. John	Great storytelling in song form. My friend Sophie asked if "I ain't got nobody" was well known, and my other friend Dave mentioned the line referencing it in this song.
★ ★ ★ ★	Home Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros	Cheesy fun faux folksy romance. From songs you hate more than anything.
	Accusations The Exploding Voids	I do like the soft voice of the Voids.
★ ★ ★ ★	Black Betty Ram Jam	Dig the drums and general rollicking nature. From songs you hate more than anything. Guess I'm a contrarian. Though even after looking on the wikipeida page I'm not sure if there's a weird racial portion of this.

	Walking On Sunshine Träumeler-Musig Ebikon	Brass band cover of the 80s classic. This Basic Instructions comic says this "is still the best musical shorthand for happiness.", but I wanted to find a cover of it.
	Fast Car (feat. Dakota) [Radio Edit] Jonas Blue	Club-ish cover. Background music at IKEA, of all places. The song has been on my mind after I participated in a Tufts A Cappella groups distanced cove of it. (Tracy Chapman went to Tufts but I don't think she liked it.)
	Pachuco Maldita Vecindad y Los Hijos del Quinto Patio	Don't know the genre of this Latinx music but I dig it. Playing on a radio station in GTA5
★ ★ ★ ★	Yesterday (feat. India Carney) Scary Pockets	Funk cover. Now I'm hearing about Scary Pockets everywhere, didn't realize it was the Pomplamoose/Patreon guy.
	Chasing Cars Snow Patrol	Pop. This tumblr entry What was it about Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol that sent TV producers in the mid-2000s absolutely buck wild?
★ ★ ★ ★	Hot Girl Megan Thee Stallion	Not to be confused with "Hot Girl Summer", pretty good sex rap, big WAP energy. Theme song, with puppets, from "A Black Lady Sketch Show" on HBO
	Marble Machine Wintergatan	Machine made music with marbles. Like that old 3D card graphics demo but... unbelievably real?
★ ★ ★ ★	Get By Talib Kweli	Uplifting Hip Hop, nice instrumentals. Mentioned in Patrisse Khan-Cullors' book "When They Call You A Terrorist" as an empowering performance.
	The Girl from Ipanema Elise Trouw	Sweet cover. Gives the impression of being a one-person show? I always want the lyric to be "But each day when she walks to the sea, she looks straight ahead not at he" despite the grammer.
	My Medicine Snoop Dogg	This version has Willie Nelson backing the chorus, which my version doesn't. Mentioned in Cracked's Facts about Snoop Dogg
★ ★ ★ ★	drivers license Olivia Rodrigo	I am a sucker for high school nostalgia stuff. Even before she performed it live there SNL had a almost promotional skit about it.
	Memphis Tennessee Elvis Presley	Rockabilly, liked it a little better than Chuck Berry's original. The reveal is a bit jarring til your realize he's singing about an estranged daughter. The Johnny Rivers version of this song was allegedly played in Vietnam.
	Killing Me Softly (feat. India Carney) Scary Pockets	I think the last of the Scary Pockets covers for me for a while
	Wannabe ala NiN OpenAI Jukebox	An AI trained on Nine Inch Nails is then told to try to finish up "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.

	Into the Mystic Van Morrison	Good ol' Van Morrison, his recent frustrations with quarantine not withstanding. Thought about this song as we moved next to the Mystic River, but listening more closely realize... it's about the sea! And I don't remember noticing the clever foghorn sound before.
	Groove is in the Heart HonkyTonk Party Band	You know, usually I'm a sucker for goofy country covers and ANY cover of Groove, but... I guess because it uses the bassline as an intro and then loses it, it's not so interesting. Someone posted it on the School of Honk FB group. and I do love playing it with them :-D
★ ★ ★ ★	Boomers Got the Vax SNL	SNL has these really polished hiphop videos... "money- stacks. pants- khaks. arm- vaxxed. no- mask" "i m m, u n, i, t y - that's what I got. I got bodies, anti-"
★ ★ ★ ★	Fix A Fault The Sound Down Cellar	The first (and my favorite) of 3 songs me and my tuba appear in this month! (All by some work I did last year w/ The Sound Down Cellar.) I even have a cameo in the music video.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★	Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (feat. Swatkins) Scary Pockets	Five stars! This band is like the best funkifying-cover band ever.
	Cut Your Losses The Sound Down Cellar	More sedate song, again with me and my tuba Scheiny in it.
★ ★ ★ ★	You and I and George Rowlf the Dog	Novelty song, a little shmaltzy. (googling I'm surprised to find it's not a muppet original.) Found in a ranking of the 25 best muppets
	Frankie and Johnny King Oliver	Late 20s (the 1920s), Tuba-heavy cover of the classic. I got to thinking about tubas in jazz and what not, and this was referenced in A Contender for John Coltrane's Favorite Tuba Player
★ ★ ★ ★	Creep (feat. India Carney) Scary Pockets	Another great funkified cover.
	Hungry Eyes The Sound Down Cellar	Final of the 3 I worked on with The Sound Down Cellar. I do like that bump bump badumpabump bassline.
	Reasons I Drink Alanis Morissette	More recent autobiographical stuff! Melissa mentioned this song, was surprised I hadn't heard of it.
	Let It Be JP Cooper	Polished cover, but I'm not sure it brings much new.
	Buy Me a Condo "Weird Al" Yankovic	This song from my childhood came to mind last month, mostly 'cause of the title. I guess it's more making fun of suburbia, but listening now the rasta parody swings a bit near musical blackface, though it's not mean spirited.
	If I Only Played The Tuba Pat Scanlon And Friends	I see Scanlon at Veterans for Peace events, and he gave me or I bought his 2 CD set, finally got to listening to it. This was my favorite, mostly because of the tuba reference. But he's a solid folk protest singer!
★ ★ ★ ★	You Can Do It Ice Cube	I missed this one back in the day, even though Mellisa quotes the refrain a lot. Acoustically it's so interesting - kind of a mix of skipping CDs or Windows 95 sound glitching... Saw it in this INCREDIBLE AMAZING DANCE instagram video that leans into the computer-glitching theme in a totally organic way.

Pretty solid month for music last month!

Oh, and a music project my tuba and I chipped in last year has borne fruit, Interstate Abbreviations by The Sound Down Cellar, a 3-song album available on Bandcamp. Those will be showing up here next month. I'm also briefly in the video for Fix a Fault

★ ★ ★ ★ ★	tolerate it Taylor Swift	A 5 star-er! A low 5-star, but still. The "reverse lover's complaint" of it (she should be celebrated, but the dude feels like he's just tolerating it) seems real somehow. From this video on songs in 5/4 time.
★ ★ ★ ★	Count It Off (feat. The Muscle Shoals Horns) The Saturday Knights	Raunchy street music with a cool slouching swag. From the comedy "We're The Millers"
	Played Like a Piano (feat. Ice Cube & Breeze) King Tee	Old school hiphop, dig the use of the piano that unabashedly mirrors the title/refrain. From GTA V's hip hop radio station.
	Work (Freemasons Radio Edit) Kelly Rowland	Modern R+B, dig the "Knight Rider" theme like vibe. Another GTA 5 radio song.
	I NEED YOU Jon Batiste	Sweet blend of old and new school sounds, jazz, hiphop, very bright and friendly. Shared on the School of Honk FB- SOH is very fond of Batiste! Some of us played WITH HIM on his "I'm from Kenner" when he played the SInclair.
★ ★ ★ ★	Feeling Good Nina Simone	Big, beautiful soul/jazz. Love the horns. via the movie "The Intouchables", about the assistant to a wealthy quadriplegic and the friendship they build.
	You Can't Judge a Book By It's Cover (Single Version) Bo Diddley	Classic rollicking Bo Diddley. Used in the Martin Scorsese / Fran Lebowitz thing on Netflix.
	I'm a Hustla (Street Mix) Cassidy	Hiphop. Kinda had trouble w/ the heavy use of the N-word to lead it off, but it's got an amazing beat. via Sara Hopkins Vines. Damn I miss that platform!!
★ ★ ★ ★	Louder (feat. Icona Pop) Big Freedia	I love Big Freedia so much. Good use of "I Got The Power" clip, and her awesome Bounce Music. Last month Big Freedia did a verse in the Rebecca Black "Friday" redux...
★ ★ ★ ★	Galway Girl Ed Sheeran	Pop/Irish Folk blend. For some reason I really love that invitation "Do you want to drink on?" Via this b3ta robocop parody - I think the joke is that this song or Sheeran is overplayed, but all kind of new to me.
★ ★ ★ ★	Can't Take My Eyes Off You Selah Sue Feat. Walk off the Earth	Oh, love the oddball ukulele arpeggios in this! From the movie soundtrack "How to Be Single" I guess, and only avaialble on that soundtrack. I think the melody showed up in something then I deliberately went hunting for a cover of this.
	High Anxiety Mel Brooks	Shmaltzy Mel Brooks, from a movie of the same name. When a friend mentioned she had high anxiety, I thought about Mel Brooks who says he basically made this movie so he could sing "Hiiigh AnnnnnXIety"
	Meu Nome é Zé Antonio Pinto	Background music from "City of God". The dialog in portuguese... something about the gangster's tone and measured way of speaking reminds me of villains from Star Wars.
	Funk da Virada Antonio Pinto + Ed Cortes	More background music from "City of God" Man, if you ever want to see a good argument for gun control, watch this movie and think about what life would be like if every punk was carrying a pistol.
	Toccata Sky	70s modern cover of part of "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" Someone on an atari group pointed out this might have been what inspired the music to the arcade game Gyruss, another electronic cover of the same song. I think the music to the 2600 version is the most amazing thing on the platform.
	Such Great Heights The Postal Service	Modern indie. It's no "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" but it's ok Daring Fireball mentioned the old Apple ad The Intel Chip totally ripped off this song.
★ ★ ★ ★	Think About Things Daði Freyr	I think this a classic Eurovision piece... I really love how it uses "Baby" in a literal sense! And just the general good feeling of new baby potential. From some talk about Will Ferrell's Eurovison Movie... like this being a real entry from Iceland.
	Song to the Siren This Mortal Coil	Melancholy, or maybe hopeful piece. I think the singer is known for going more for feeling than sense of song. I was skimming through the Justice League Snyder Cut and I think this is playing as The Flash is exploring his speed powers, dealing with a local disaster explosion.
	Summertime Steel-Band de la Trinidad	Island cover of the amazing song. My friend Beth (who does music cataloging) mentioned finding this one, and she wishes she knew more about it.
	Gourmet Nikoline	Hardcore Danish Female rap. Basically singing how she's gourmet (Your Burger King, I'm michelin) The actual music video for this is the weirdest thing... pretty explicit porn.

	Laid Back Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove	Nice laid back NOLA groove Ordered Kirk Joseph's CD, loved his work from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band
★ ★ ★ ★	Ruff Ryders' Anthem DMX	DMX is so visceral. Referenced in this meme.
★ ★ ★ ★	I Give Good Parent (feat. Rachel Bloom) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Cast	Very witty bit if hip hop from her show. (Think I was looking up "You Can Touch My Boobies")
	I Can't Get Started Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove	Dr. John joins in.
	Baby I Can't Please You Sam Phillips	A long time ago I read the line "I know you say love when you mean control" and it really stuck with me... not sure if it came from this song or not.
	Blackout Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove	I sense a bit of Maynard Ferguson in this one too.
★ ★ ★ ★	Love You Madly Cake	Haven't heard much Cake in a while! Intro to "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"
★ ★ ★ ★	Flava In Ya Ear (GTA Remix) - Franklin, Lamar, Michael, Trevor, Niko & Roman Claude Gnome	Really clever combination of clips from the GTA games to become a kind of parody/homage of a classic hip hop track - amazed at how well it works.
★ ★ ★ ★	Most Hyped JIG 2 at Pep Rally Newnan High School Drumline	Great drumline cadence! I'm always looking out for these, I really miss the ones they had in my high school marching band.
	It's Time To Get Laid Micucci/Macy	Little promotional ditty for an indie movie.
	tetris OST cover MayTree	Decent acappella cover of the classic Russian song.
	Friday (Remix) [feat. 3OH!3, Big Freedia & Dorian Electra] Rebecca Black	Electronic Remix of the old youtube meme-worthy song. Dang I love Big Freedia
	Hard Drive Cassandra Jenkins	Kind of a spoken word piece, reminiscent of the song "Rock Me Now"... Looked up the artist when I thought about her brilliant cover of "Wild World"
	A Bale Ndikuwuzeni Gasper Nali	via Gasper Nali and His Homemade Bass Guitar
★ ★ ★ ★	You Move Ya Lose Extra Crispy Brass Band	Nice, tight cover of a HONK! classic.
★ ★ ★ ★	I Know the End Phoebe Bridgers	Modern melancholy pop Saw it on SNL.
★ ★ ★ ★	Nicotine Jane Birkin	French song, nice groove! from that Netflix Fran Lebowitz thing.
	Loco ft. Bad Bunny SNL	The video for this SNL skit is really well done...

Decent, not great month for music. A lot from Spotify.

	Hooked On Polkas "Weird Al" Yankovic	One of the few polka medleys I grew up with but didn't have in my collection! My mom bought me a book going over all of his songs...
	Effortless Elegance Keith Mansfield, Alessandro Rizzo & Elliot Ireland	Funky little background piece I think they use in one of the Saints Row games.
★ ★ ★ ★	This Year The Mountain Goats	"I am going to make it through this year if it kills me..." via this tumblr post
★ ★ ★ ★	Twister "Weird Al" Yankovic	Weird Al Beastie Boy pastiche. Brings me right back to summer camp when I played this tape again and again in my walkman.
★ ★ ★ ★	That's the Way It Is Daniel Lanois	Melancholy Cowboy song from "Red Dead Redemption 2"
★ ★ ★ ★	Champage Liz & Lisa	Wistful late 80s indie. Like almost a decade or so ago Amber mentioned not being able to find this one song "Chamapagne" on an old Lisa Loeb tape from 1989, but now it's here on Youtube, and I ripped it as an mp3.
	I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (Acoustic Version) Karizma Duo	Nice cover of a cheesy song. Hunted around on iTunes for a more palatable cover that caught the grace of it, after seeing it in Saints Row or something.
★ ★ ★ ★	The devil wap down to Georgia Dj Cummerbund	Crazy mashup Some of these mashups are doing interesting tricks to make the vocalist sound like they're changing the words (like it opens with the guy saying "devil wap down to Georgia"?)
	Walk on the Wild Side Suzanne Vega	Cover. I was wondering "huh, what is Suzanne Vega doing these days.
★ ★ ★ ★	Wellerman The Longest Johns	Sea Shanty (unless your pedantic on wikipedia, then it's a "whaling song") making the rounds... Guess I saw the same aux cord video other folks did.
	Da Doo Ron Ron The Crystals	Wall of sound at its best. RIP Phil Spector.
	You, Dear Eloise	Modern torch song. Random spotify recommendation, I think looking for makeout music.
	Burn Ray LaMontagne	Folk tinged smokey song. Melissa likes this one.
	Too Repressed Sometymes Why	Very blunt folk. ("I want to f*** you, but I'm too repressed...") That Spotify playlist.
	New York's My Home Shirley Horn	Love song to NYC. The Fran Lebowitz thing on Netflix had a different version of this song.
★ ★ ★ ★	Revelry The Careful Ones	Indie sounding pop. I just dig that sharp, high contrast percussion. That Spotify playlist.

	Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See Busta Rhymes	Not my favorite Busta Rhymes piece, though I do love that video style he had in this era. Mentioned in Cracked One Man's Crusade To Officially Name A Island (... After Busta Rhymes?)
★ ★ ★ ★	Fight The Power: Remix 2020 (feat. Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, Jahi, YG & Questlove) Public Enemy	Great update of the Hip Hop classic. Love hearing women's voices on it too. recommended by Youtube off of “Public Enemy Number Won” from the same album.
	Dig It Up Holes Soundtrack	A little too polished, but the the rap / piano swing works well. via Cracked Meryl Streep Is Now Apparently A Rapper (err but not in this song)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★	Crash of Worlds Rocco DeLuca	Lovely, plaintive song for a cowboy game. From "Red Dead Redemption 2" which I played through.
★ ★ ★ ★	Funky Christmas feat. Big Freedia Too Many Zooz	Great holiday song! Love Freedia's voice, and Too Many Zooz always has a great sound. Youtube recommendation.
	Sump'n Claus - SNL SNL	The skit isn't all that funny but I love the concept. Youtube recommendation.
	Joe Hill Paul Robeson	Damn, that voice. Mentioned in a McSweeny article.
★ ★ ★ ★	Times Like These Foo Fighters	There's something stirring in the way he holds "I...." They were on SNL recently, and they did this song.
	Far Away José González	Another cowboy song. Sought out more from the Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack.
★ ★ ★ ★	Unshaken D'Angelo	This is like a set of tracks from "Crash of Worlds" but I think I prefer it... the sound is amazing, and playing it over a crucial lonely death scene was amazing powerful in the video game "Red Dead Redemption 2"
	Dixieland Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band	Spirited war song, by one of the good guys. The original song "Dixie" has been popping up for me a few places, like on Veep, mostly with people making fun of racists.
★ ★ ★ ★	Hands To Myself Selena Gomez	Kinda sexy! I think Janelle Monáe's PYNK drew from this, maybe? Credits music for an episode of "Big Mouth"
★ ★ ★ ★	Under Pressure Karen O & Willie Nelson	Random spotify.

	100 Days, 100 Nights Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings	Great R+B. From my work shared playlist.
	Stress Me Out Pomplamoose	Nice pop. I like Pomplamoose and pay attention when stuff surfaces on my Youtube recs.
	I'm a Fool to Want You Billie Holiday	Soulful. Mentioned in Obama's "Dreams from my Father": I fell back on the couch and lit a cigarette, watching the match burn down until it tickled my fingertips, then feeling the prick on the skin as I pinched the flame dead. What’s the trick? the man asks. The trick is not caring that it hurts. I tried to remember where I’d heard the line, but it was lost to me now, like a forgotten face. No matter. Billie knew the same trick; it was in that torn-up, trembling voice of hers.
	Defaal Lu Wor (Once In a Lifetime) Wasis Diop	Very different Talking Heads cover... My friend Candace mentioned it.
	Gone Babet	Mellow pop. Thought I heard my neighbor playing a song with the line “I’ll pack myshit” on his guitar... not sure if this was it or not.
	Lose Yo Job (feat. DJ Suede the Remix God) iMarkkeyz	musical remix of a meme, talking no crap from the cops via The 5 Most Ridiculously Glorious Memes Celebrating Joe Biden’s Election Win, Ranked
★ ★ ★ ★	Public Enemy Number Won (feat. Mike D, Adrock & Run-DMC) Public Enemy	Awesome homage. Youtube rec.
★ ★ ★ ★	Never Going to Let You Go Madison's Lively Stones	Weirdly I couldn't find a youtube video (and someone gifted me the MP3) but this video gives the spirit of the Trombone Shout Chorus. I played tuba behind a School of Honk trombone sectional and they introduced this one.
	Go Your Own Way The Cranberries	I do like the vocalist's trademark sound. Just browsing for covers.
	Don't Look Back (feat. Kotomi & Ryan Elder) [From Rick and Morty: Season 4] Rick and Morty	End credits, soft pop. Not sure if they're commissioning music for the show or what...
	Seagulls! (Stop It Now) Bad Lip Reading	Strong David Byrne (or in the negative view, Robin Thicke) From a pleated jeans entry.
	Saints Brass Monkey Brass Band	Kind of a more somber edge to this one, a more minor key. My friend Candace mentioned it.
	Send Me On My Way Rusted Root	The old 90s song. from this BoobsRadley tweet "I hate when a car is parked rudely but has bumper stickers I agree with. Taking up two spots? *Not* the way to represent Rusted Root."
★ ★ ★ ★	Bad Guy Too Many Zooz	Very nice cover of the Billy Elish song. Youtube rec.

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Emira didn't love doing anything, but she didn't terribly mind doing anything either.

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So (and please, not to be starting in any anti-trans-folks sentiment, thanks) - Elliot Page said his pronouns are "he/they". Took me a second to realize this probably meant "use he or they, either is fine" and not like "use he if subject of sentence, them if object".

I always assumed saying "he/him" was splitting a phonetic difference, shorter than "he/him/his" but less ambiguous / hard to parse than a bare "he" might be.

Declaring oneself as "he/they" is interesting. I'm a fan of singular they, especially when talking about a role that hasn't been filled yet ("when the programmer presses return, they should see ___") etc. I recongize that "they" can used as a tool for a low-key style of misgendering, like when someone is rejecting someone else's correct pronoun but doesn't want to be called on it.

With parallels to people trying to pretend we are in a post-racial wonderland and can stop working to be anti-racist, I kind of wish people weren't so binary, but also respect that some folk- trans and cis alike- want those opposite poles to hang around. But like does that mean well meaning lefties should be careful? Like can saying your pronouns are "they/them" just mean "I wish people weren't making such a big deal about gender" or should it be reserved for people who don't feel comfortable at either end of the spectrum?

	Ultra Black (feat. Hit-Boy) Nas	Great steady Black pride hiphop. Random youtube recommendation.
	Play That Country Tuba, Cowboy The Vandals	Cornball novelty. Who knows.
★ ★ ★ ★	Grace Kelly MIKA	Strong Freddy Mercury energy. (Called out in the song, actually.) Some random tumblr post "do kids these days know about grace kelly by mika"
	The Suburbs Arcade Fire	The (Spike Jonze) video is kind of haunting juxtaposition with a middle class American suburb turning into a war zone. The reprise of this REALLY hit me one morning on the Jersey Shore.
	On the Dummy Line Wayne Erbsen	Old-time novelty song. Almost as good as my family's version!
	Blue Song Mint Royale	Rocking club-y song with a inspiring video. (A Cracked article mentioned this video was kind of a test run for the famous opening scene from "Baby Driver")
	Funny Song Bensound	Playful Royal Free backing track music... like the nice beat and array of instruments - from banjo to kid's chimes. Background to a video ad.
★ ★ ★ ★	Highway 61 Revisited Bob Dylan	Rollicking Bob Dylan. Ken Jennings' book on humor pointed to this as a rare example of humor in non-novelty music.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★	What Makes A Good Man? (Radio Edit) The Heavy	First 5 star for me in a bit. Just has the percussion on soul choir effect and general great feel. At work we put together a joint Spotify "music to put on to get heads down at work" playlist.
	Can't Put It In The Hands Of Fate (feat. Rapsody, Cordae, Chika & Busta Rhymes) Stevie Wonder	Protest song w/ great hiphop guests in on it. I think the beat is DC-area Go Go? Some news article mentioned Stevie Wonder was coming out of retirement, this was one of the 2 songs he was releasing.
★ ★ ★ ★	Intergalactic But It's Ghostbusters Beastie Boys / Ray Parker Jr. / William Maranci	Brilliant mashup of two great songs! At around 3:15 it shifts gears tho, REALLY focusing on the one time the Beastie Boys make a pun on "Uranus"- I tell iTunes to cut it off at that point... Posted to the School of Honk group ("Ghostbusters" is one of SoH's staples.)
	Can't Get You off My Mind Sister Sparrow	Soul/R+B feel. From the shared work spotify playlist.
★ ★ ★ ★	Hello Hello Hello Remi Wolf	Nice Tik-Tok era melange. Soundtrack to some snapchat post or ad Melissa was looking at.
	Hello Good Morning (Remix) [feat. Nicki Minaj & Rick Ross] Diddy - Dirty Money	I really do like Nicki Minaj's flow - other rappers on it are good too. Found while trying to find "Hello Hello Hello" on iTunes music.
★ ★ ★ ★	Moliendo Café Fanfare Ciocărlia	Added this at the end of the month, so the 4 star is a little conditional... still catchy as hell Balkan brass music. This group saw a lot of play in the Borat films, and I hear about them in HONK adjacent stuff.
★ ★ ★ ★	Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) LITTLE BIG	euro club cover of the 1991 hit... Ending credits to the new Borat movie.

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Oh good. Just like every month that starts on a Sunday we get a nice Friday the 13th this month.

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I like what some folks added to my more or less vanilla Chameleon bassline:

(I just wish people would tell me when my bell cover is crooked)

★ ★ ★ ★	It's the End of the World as We Know It Pomplamoose	Solid cover of the REM song, I remember when a Cleveland radio station played this for like 72 hours straight as it changed format - felt kind of apocalyptic. I often poke around and see if Pomplamoose has done any good covers.
★ ★ ★ ★	Nine Inch Nails - Closer But It's Funkytown By Lipps Inc. William Maranci	Ha, such a mashup. In itunes I use the title "Funk You Like an Animal", suggested by a youtube viewer. Random youtube recommendation.
★ ★ ★ ★	Uh Huh Jade Bird	I do dig this delivery of girl rock, or whatever a less sexist descriptor of it is - also the jaded attitude of the lyrics. From Arun's collection.
★ ★ ★ ★	Star Trek Theme w Lyrics Tenacious D	Infamously, Gene Roddenberry penned lyrics to the original Star Trek theme in order to snag some royalties. Cracked mentioned this Tenacious D version.
	Daydream (feat. Alia Farah) M. Ward	Sweet cover of the classic song. Music behind a Stella Artois beer commercial
	Addicted To Bass Puretone	So Very 90s. From my buddy Arun.
★ ★ ★ ★	Cock Block Little Jackie	Whoa, delightfully vulgar lyrics ("My mind says no, my heart says maybe so / And my body says go go go go go / Sorry I can't see straight there is a cock blocking my vision") Random recommendation researching last month's playlist.
	Don't Worry 'Bout That Mule Louis Jordan	Haven't heard enough Louis Jordan since that "Five Guys Named Moe" soundtrack I had. This video which also covers his more famous "Caledonia" has delightfully decorated instruments A list of quotes from John Madden quotes mentioned “Who cares if the horse is blind? Just keep loading the wagon.” Found this trying to find out more about the expression.
	Behave Yourself Booker T. & The M.G.'s	Mellow R+B. Found this video of Steve Cropper talking on the history of Green Onions.
★ ★ ★ ★	It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop (Hip-Hop Remix) Dead Prez	Great flow. Walk-on music for the Dave Chapelle show. (I also love his African colors "C" logo)
	Signs Five Man Electrical Band	70s crunchy protest-y. Guy at a Whole Foods protest rally suggested we do this one.
	The Diarrhea Song John Roberts, Eugene Mirman, & Bob's Burgers	cover via Bob's Burgers... I envy Gene's sampling keyboard, I used to have one (the "Casio SK-8") Don't know why they don't make them any more. I always wonder about this song, like if started as a "camp song" or if there was another origin.
	If and When I Die The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die	Artsy, existential. Saw a sweat shirt with the name band's name "The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die" at a rally and I had to find out what it was about.
★ ★ ★ ★	Hitch It to the Horse (Bonus Track) The Fantastic Johnny C	Funky! Harper's magazine mentioned a different B-side, "Cool Broadway", got this as another recommendation.

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Oh, these are so good! Reagan Ray isolated the lettering of the artists' names on 100 jazz records. I've always loved this kind of design work.













(via kottke)

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Happy German Unity Day! 30 Years Ago West + East Germany were reunited, a highpoint of Western Triumphalism and marking "The End of History" that... lasted about a decade? Maybe?

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On my devblog: I just realized the breakout hit "widgetsmith" offers a version of the "time in words, roughly" time display that I was prototyping a decade ago...

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kirk.is/drawing - my vacation project was a free, minimalist shared whiteboard webapp. (Worked to make sure it was reasonably mobile friendly) Basically if you're on a call and need to express an ideally visually, and both sides have a gadget handy, you can run here and fire up a new board. (Some messaging apps have something similar already built-in, of course, but I still think this might be handy...)

	Evil Boy (F**k You In the Face Mix) Die Antwoord	This month's songs are bookend by two of the dirtiest and/or raunchiest hiphop videos I've posted, I think... I guess I got this from a Quora What is the most R rated music video put out by a band?
	No Diggity (feat. Dr. Dre & Queen Pen) Blackstreet	Love the infectious slow groove of this. Via defining the 90s musical cannon - kind of weird I didn't know this song very well.
	Watermelon Man (Single Version) Mongo Santamaria	Version of this Herbie Hancock song built the genre "Latin boogaloo" This is one song my bands play a lot. Easy and cool and delicious, just like watermelon.
	Home O'Death	Haunting. A friend was posting on some kind of genre, like dark ambient country or something?
	Jock Box The Skinny Boys	Oldest school hiphop here. The show "Workaholics" use bits of this as bumper music.
★ ★ ★ ★	Moderation Florence + the Machine	Do I Look Moderate to You? Recommendation from Arun
	Rock Hard Beastie Boys	This is... kind of bad? But it's interesting to hear something I hadn't heard so close to tape that meant so much to me as a teen. via the Beast Boys documentary on Apple Plus or whatever it is.
	Barcoders Jamming ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS!	Two guys using barcode scanners wired for sound! Amazing. via this tumblr post that said "My brain was transported about 10,000 years into the future while listening to this."
	Big Daddy vs. Dolemite (feat. Rudy Ray Moore) Big Daddy Kane	Classing playing the Dozens... Watch the Eddie Murphy "Dolemite" movie tribute....man what ever happened to Big Daddy Kane...
★ ★ ★ ★	Slippery When Wet The Commodores	Sexy 70s. from the Dolemite movie soundtrack.
★ ★ ★ ★	Alison Holly Cole	Tender cover of the Elvis Costello song. Some of my favorite covers ever come from Holly Cole... I've Just Seen a Face, Waters of March, her Tom Waits stuff...
★ ★ ★ ★	A Hero's Death Fontaines D.C.	Sink as far down as you can be pulled up / Happiness really ain't all about luck / Let your demeanor be your deep down self / And don't sacrifice your life for your health I think my cousin Bill posted about this song...
	Hey Heartbreaker Dream Wife	Girls rock. Recommended by Arun.
★ ★ ★ ★	WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion) Cardi B	Heh. Kind of weird that there is a "radio" edit. (Wet and Gushy? huh) Am so enamored of the opening verse of the explicit version... Making the rounds...

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The flashbacks in Breath of the Wild play out like Zelda is a dating sim protagonist who flubbed all the sidequests and didn't understand the resource economy and did the relationship events all out of order and ended up getting such an incredibly Bad Ending that it literally destroyed the world, and the entirety of BotW proper is about the obligatory Childhood Friend NPC who was supposed to be the default endgame relationship if the protagonist didn't reach ten hearts with anybody else dealing with the fallout from that.

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Jack Anderson's Gastrointestinal Map:

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Taking a shit without looking at your phone counts as meditating now

	Candy The Bouncing Souls	Rock cover. from a playlist Boys Will Be Girls, maleish cover of femaleish songs
★ ★ ★ ★	Live a Little Florrie	Nice horns and drums and vocals. Arun trying to zone in on the kind of music I dig - modern but with brass + good percussion is a good bet!
★ ★ ★ ★	Lola The Raincoats	Man, the idea that the original made it so big just blows me away. And also that Weird Al used it for a parody... from a playlist Girls Will Be Boys, femaleish covers of maleish songs.
★ ★ ★ ★	You Were Cool The Mountain Goats	God, such a resonant song - I can also think back to the people being treated badly in high school, how we got to bear witness to people working out lots of things about their identity, and we were hardly ever kind enough about it. I hope the kids today are better. I listen to John Green's The Anthropocene Reviewed podcast, and The Mountain Goats are profoundly important to him. I couldn't find a version to buy so I had to make a rip.
	Righteous Rocker (Hard Rock Version) Larry Norman	Not a bad funky 70s rocker. Why can't all Christian music be so light handed? via the movie "Knives Out"
★ ★ ★ ★	Uproar (feat. Swizz Beatz) Lil Wayne	Excellent well-hooked new hip hop. My friend Jonathan Z is probably the most adept at catching songs I'll dig...
★ ★ ★ ★	Coolin' With Da Homies Savan Kotecha	Kinda inane like everything in Eurovision (I keep my chains low (woo), they droppin' to the floor / They're really, really, really low, they're droppin' to the floor, uh / I don't need gin and juice, I got a caffe latte) but hella catchy from the Will Ferrell‎ Eurovision Song Contest movie, in-movie done by Swedish act Johnny John John.
★ ★ ★ ★	Only So Much Oil In the Ground Tower of Power	Not my favorite Tower of Power song but not bad. BABAM played a Filk version of this at an Extentinction Rebellion Die-In protest
	You Gotta Hear This Funk Band Key & Peele	Pretty authentic sounding Parliament/Funkadelic sound, even if the end joke falls a little flat. Random Youtube recommendation
	Got Your Money (feat. Kelis) Ol' Dirty Bastard	Older hop hop, dig the "Blacksploitation" aspect of the video. Random Youtube recommendation
	Land of the Living Kristine W	Clubby Pop. Another from Arun's set of music
	Mbube Lebo M	From the new CGI Lion King. Mentioned in Cracked's Black Creators Who Got Their Material Stolen though sadly I liked the percussion in the Disneyfied version better.
★ ★ ★ ★	Power to the People (Ultimate Mix) John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band	Probably don't need another white dude protest song but I do dig the percussion of this. Ibram X. Kendi's "How to Be an Antiracist" mentions the Black Christian group Soul Liberation as their famous song, but I couldn't find reference to them doing it.

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I just finished "Art of Atari" by Tim Lapetino, about all the art that tried to push the clunky pixels the Atari 2600 could offer into new worlds of drama. (Also with a side trip into the industrial design of some of the hardware.)

I learned my favorite Atari artist was Hiro Kimura. Probably the best find of the book's author was this unused art for Pac-Man- I just love the weight of the ghost monster concept.


He also did Yars Revenge and Joust and a bunch of others. But growing up it was the B+W illustrations inside the manual for "Berzerk" that really grabbed me, the nod to Da Vinci and then the internal workings diagram that I think is a nod to some classic Astro Boy:



Another specific influential (on me) cover was Terry Hoff's art for Star Raiders (reused for Solaris) - I must've drawn starfighter cockpit interiors based it dozens of times as a kid:
Definite slow down in finding new songs last month. Not a bad selection despite that though.

★ ★ ★ ★	Rule the World Easy McCoy	I like the big percussion and general sound of this. From an Old Navy Ad...
	When I Meet My Maker Toots Earl & Etienne Lecomte	Crazily authentically old sounding for a new song. via "What We Do in the Shadows" -- great series!
	You'll Never Walk Alone Marcus Mumford	A little shmaltzy, and hasn't moved me yet, but it might. Mentioned in the Anthropocene Reviewed Podcast.
	Knight Rider for 8 cellos Samara Ginsberg	Awesome instrumental cover. Somewhere on Twitter...
★ ★ ★ ★	Love Is Like a Bottle of Gin The Magnetic Fields	Sodden song. The "Watch Out for Fireballs" Podcast quoted "Love is like a bottle of gin / But a bottle of gin is not like love"
	Shit Kickin' Indigo Girls	Awesome the Indigo Girls have been making music together for so long. The "Baby Geniuses" Podcast mentioned the new album, though they liked "Country Radio" better.
★ ★ ★ ★	Let Me Live / Let Me Die Des Rocs	Suicide Girls energy. Youtube recommendation off of the Easy McCoy piece above.
★ ★ ★ ★	Too Young to Remember Florrie	Love shouty girl choruses like this, that little pop of "Hey!" via Arun's gift of songs.
★ ★ ★ ★	Dumb Ways to Die Tangerine Kitty	Was this from a funny public service message? via Arun's gift of songs.
	You Must Be Out of Your Mind The Magnetic Fields	Nice old torch song. My friend Leigh mentioned this as her favorite Magnetic Fields song after I posted "Love is Like a Bottle of Gin"
★ ★ ★ ★	Unbelieveable Tom Jones & EMF	Loved this song in high school... surprised the collaboration with Tom Jones didn't make it onto one of his albums of duets... Forget how I found out about this but been meaning to rip it from Youtube for a long time.

	Afternoon Fireworks Duke Herrington	Nice and jazzy with a little funk. (background to this animated infographic)
★ ★ ★ ★	Alive Beastie Boys	Nice hip hop, not sure how I missed it. "Isn't it nice, to be Alive..." (random youtube suggestion)
★ ★ ★ ★	Chicken Noodle Soup Webstar & Young B featuring AG aka The Voice of Harlem	I totally missed this in 2009 - love the woman rapper in this, and I kind of always like that air raid siren. "Today kids will never know the adrenaline rush us 10 year olds got when we heard DJ Webstar’s Chicken Noodle Soup at the school dance" (via)
★ ★ ★ ★	Use Your Brain The Dirty Dozen Brass Band	Awesome NOLA street music. (via Street Brass Podcast)
	Rollin' Stone Muddy Waters	Blues classic. (Melissa was asking - why both the band and the magazine named after the same thing...)
★ ★ ★ ★	It Ain't My Fault 2 Mystikal & Silkk the Shocker	I really like Mystikal's flow. (this brilliant tweet that has King of the Hill's Boomhauer lip-syncing it.)
★ ★ ★ ★	People Who Died The Jim Carroll Band	Adore the cheerful macabre vibe of this, it's like "88 lines about 44 women" for dead people (Melissa randomly thought of this song after the premier of “Solar Opposites” ended with an “in memoriam”)
	Send Me Some Lovin' Little Richard	The man invented Rock and Roll. (RIP Little Richard - via Little Richard’s Music Was Dangerous, but So Is Freedom)
	When Doves Cry Prince	The lyrics of this are such a reflection of the way he was balancing masculine and feminine energies... (realizing I only had covers of this song, after Prince's recent "live" concert stream)
	Caravan The Dirty Dozen Brass Band	Cover of a classic. (via Street Brass Podcast)
	You Were a Good Hand Long Haul Paul	Kind of long, but touching tribute to a real driver. (Over the Road podcast, where Long Haul Paul is the narrator.)
★ ★ ★ ★	We Will Rock You Max Raabe	Charming 1930s-radio cover. (via)
	Junko Partner Dr. John	Aw, I miss Dr. John. Glad I got to see him live. (Melissa got her dad a Dr John cd for his birthday, and he recommended this song to me.)
★ ★ ★ ★	Here Comes the Hotstepper (Heartical Mix) Ini Kamoze	Surprised this hadn't made it into my collection before. Also, didn't realize the echo chorus was "Murderer". Tempted to try and back a HONK cover of it. Always Sunny in Philadelphia waterpark episode.

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One thing I miss is the time when America had big dreams about the future. Now it seems like nobody has big hopes for the future. We all seem to think that it's going to be just like it is now, only worse.

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It's sort of my philosophy--looking for the nothingness. The nothingness is taking over the planet.

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If it's dumb to think all cops are bad, then let's not think all protestors are looters.

(Also, tear gas a church to go stand in front of it waving a bible, good look.)

Kind of a slow month, not surprisingly. My friend Arun gave me a birthday gift of a lot of music, and while I'm super selective about what I add into my collection, it's been nice skimming through and finding some real gems.

Super goofy but fun 5 star song!

★ ★ ★ ★	Watch the World Ben Cocks	Kind of sweet indie song. From a "Farming Simulator" trailer video.
★ ★ ★ ★	Ieva's Polka, Ievan Polkka Loituma	Such charming and unintelligible (to me) a cappella! from Arun's collection.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★	The Squat Song SQUAT TEAM	Super goofy song promoting squatting... but so funky! Albeit in a very polished way. Been on my "find an mp3 list" for a long while.
★ ★ ★ ★	Mississippi Goddam (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 1964) Nina Simone	Racism protest song. Not that there's any reason for Boston to feel smug. Beyonce's Homecoming video introduced me to Simone in general.
★ ★ ★ ★	Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime Beck	Really melancholy song, especially in the context of the movie. Recently saw a film series version of my favorite movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
	Paradise John Prine	Folksy. Prine wasn't much on my radar before his death, heard this was a campfire song in some parts.
★ ★ ★ ★	Chameleon Rebirth Jazz Band	Interesting that this one doesn't have the classic bassline. Also, not the version I'm listening to, but this longer version adds the lyric "Oh Lord Oh Lord, Tell Me What Did I Do Now" which is less square than "Herbie Hancock Curiosity is Good" I came up with to try and keep my band in time. from The Street Brass Podcast
★ ★ ★ ★	Bad Education Tilly And The Wall	I love shouty women singing. from Arun's collection.
	James Bond Theme (Moby's Re-version) Moby	Nice James Bond theme cover, always love songs that play w/ the big brass. from Arun's collection.
★ ★ ★ ★	Let's Get Lost Cyrille Aimée	Sweet French and Bouncy from Arun's collection.
	Rich Girl (Remastered) Daryl Hall & John Oates	Hall + Oates were kind of under my radar. Man, I wish I had some old man's money like that. My friend Sophie posted the Hall and Oates Emergency Hotline: 719-26-OATES
	Boyz-N-The-Hood Eazy-E	Nice old schol hiphop. Melissa pulled up a classic hiphop Spotify playlist.
	Distant Pyramids Sight of Wonders	Kinda cornily "middle eastern" from this infographic animation on oil production
	For Her Fiona Apple	Oof. I wanted to skim through the knew Fiona Apple album, I picked this one for the percussion, but man are the lyrics tough. Just making the rounds as a bit of Quarantine time art.

Not a bad month! Can't believe I hadn't heard of Beyoncé's Homecoming before now... also I found out I am re-empowered to rip youtube to MP3s, thought that's always, always a last resort for me... but I had a backlog of things to check out.

	Wynona's Big Brown Beaver Primus	Driving indie. Freaky video! From this tumblr post but I think the band was a favorite of my ex Mo.
	Volare Gipsy Kings	A more authentic feeling version than Dean Martin's... Just randomly started singing it one day...
	News Background A Sammy Burdson	Sneaky sounding music... a little manufactured but good. Background music in the movie "Logan Lucky"
	Atomic Power The Buchanan Brothers	Bluegrass with a cornball modern apocalyptic edge... Like I write here, from the Hidden Brain podcast...
★ ★ ★ ★	Crazy in Love Sofia Karlberg	Total How To Make A Blockbuster Movie Trailer energy... Maybe some show had it on?
★ ★ ★ ★	Make Way For the King Ohana Bam	Awesome big horn hip hop. Some show I guess...
	Mama Doh Like (Bubalups Riddim) Flava	Some kind of carnival music... I've heard HONK variants "Mama Don't Like" that must have similar roots. Lua in my band mentioned he had a cassette tape of this, youtube was the only place I could find it.
★ ★ ★ ★	The Suburbs (Continued) Arcade Fire	Such a haunting song. One of the youtube rips. I think Amber was a big fan of these guys.
★ ★ ★ ★	Still Alive (From "Portal") The 8-Bit Big Band	Big Band cover of the brilliant video game song - really captures the sense of menace in it. I think this was on the youtube list, but I was able to find a copy to buy.
★ ★ ★ ★	Movin' On Up Mama Digdown's Brass Band	Cover of the old Sitcom Theme - I had thought it would be a good band song for a long time. A recommendation from the automated music system gnooisc I think I seeded it with Deee-lite, Pomplamoose, Rebirth Brass Band
	Claw or Friend Robbie Down	Indie sound. Another recommendation from the music system gnooisc...
★ ★ ★ ★	Tennis Ball [Explicit] Hello Peril	Funny hiphop From the movie "Always Be My Maybe"
★ ★ ★ ★	Welcome (Homecoming Live) Beyoncé	Intro to her Coachella show - loved the giant band version "Do Watcha Wanna" I can't believe this musical goddess going full on HBCU Marching Band flew under my radar!
★ ★ ★ ★	Catastrophe Theme Youtube	Theme to the show Catastrophe... eclectic mix, banjo, yodeling... there's a lot going on here... Another "find or rip"
	Formation (Homecoming Live) Beyoncé	More Marching Band cover.... always love "Come on ladies, lets get in formation... come on ladies lets get information..." Adds some slow ponderous weight to the original.. From her Netflix special.
★ ★ ★ ★	No Children The Mountain Goats	Kind of beautifully cynical and bitter indie song. From this tumblr entry "why would you watch marriage story when instead you can get just speedrun the experience of divorce angst by listening to the mountain goats’ ‘no children’ which is both more dramatic and also under 3 minutes long"
★ ★ ★ ★	Sweet Dreams Seven Nation Army Mashup Pomplamoose	Great mashup - love how it swaps one melody with the other's bassline... JP Honk plays both of these... maybe we need to try this mashup...
★ ★ ★ ★	Lilac Wine Nina Simone	Stunningly haunting... Used during the behind the scenes part of Beyonce's Homecoming
	No One Lives Forever Oingo Boingo	New Wave... I like the macabre lyrics a lot more than the sound. This tumblr post.
★ ★ ★ ★	Way Down in the Hole (87) Tom Waits	Man, Tom Waits. Background music in "Tiger King"
★ ★ ★ ★	How Naked Are We Gonna Get (Live at Trainstation) The Blow	Beautiful trainstation cover of their own song... I just love the gentle, tentative sexiness of it. Youtube rip, from way back.
	The Gunslinger Tommy Guerrero	Like "News Background A", this seems suspiciously background-music friendly...I still dig it. Background music in "Tiger King"

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We are star mud, just a little wet star dust.

(responding to the Bokonist and Babylon 5 quotes on my mortality quotes page)

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me in front of my new virtual wallpaper, in a zoom hangout...
Pretty good month for music! One 5 star even...

	Concrete Pony Ghostpoet	Dark and cool but kind of weird similarity to Rock Me Now in terms of the piano chords... Michael at the work Slack #music channel said he was addicted to this...
	Get Up (DJ Premier Edit) Vernon Burch	70s funk Deee-lite sampled from... got it from the "who sampled" page for Groove is in the Heart, some of the beat and the slide whistle...
★ ★ ★ ★	Happy Valentine's Day Outkast	Great 2000s funk, lot of neat influences well used. Played over the credits to the Netflix series "Big Mouth"
	Take Me to the River Al Green	Classic soul Saw the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense... they cover this song but this is the original.
	Hungry Eyes (Remix Edit) Paris Encore	80s cheese redone as 90s club cheese... I recorded a few songs with local indie band "Sound Down Cellar", they have a song by the same title as this one...
	Mi T-Shirt De La Nasa Mexican Institute of Sound	Spanish pop! Matthew G. was talking about this song at a superbowl party we were at, I think I was wearing a NASA hoodie.
★ ★ ★ ★	WTF (feat. Amber Van Day) HUGEL	Are they sampling "bitter/sweet"? Came up when I was googline "nightwave" music
★ ★ ★ ★	She's Not There The Zombies	Classic rock. This was caught in my band buddy Sophie's ear for no good reason.
★ ★ ★ ★	Homegrown Haux	So sorrowful sounding. A season finale of Super Store had this shown with Mateo in ICE custody.
★ ★ ★ ★	All My People Say Atomica Music	Totally studio, but great and pop-y bubblegum... From a Kay diamond commercial.
	Grandmother's Song Steve Martin	Novelty goofiness. Band buddy Matt Morin mentioned he played this song as a novelty number..
★ ★ ★ ★	Pompeii Bastille	Good song but I think it's like begging for college a cappella groups to cover it. Not in a good way. Superstore mentioned this as a song the young'uns would like
★ ★ ★ ★	Birthday Cake Rihanna	Very sex. Also I like the middle eastern minor key. Played in the movie "Hustlers"
	The Weight The Band	Classic rock again. Richard in JP Honk suggested we play this song.
★ ★ ★ ★	Number One Tove Styrke	Lot of nice influences, like both the Nikki Minaj sound and the old girl band "hey" shouts. Played in the movie "Brittany Runs a Marathon"
	Round Here Buzz Eric Church	Country. Do like the line about driving that preacher's daughter crazy. Mentioned in the book "In Defense of Elitism: Why I'm Better Than You and You are Better Than Someone Who Didn't Buy This Book"
★ ★ ★ ★ ★	Du mouvement social La fanfare invisible	Protest song - super great energy! Love this a lot. At an anti-alt-right counter rally, something like this came up.
★ ★ ★ ★	Stand Up (feat. Shawnna) Ludacris	Raucous hiphop. People at the daily stand up meeting said this song got caught in their head, for obvious reasons...
	Enola Gay Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark	Anti-war New Wave School of Honk has started playing this song.
	Always (Original Mix) Tin Tin Out	Club remix, very 90s. On a trip to the British Isles with my family, I bought a CD "Dance Heat 95"- I think the rips of some of the songs got corrupted, so I got this one to replace the old one.

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The fear is greater than the danger.

Huh. Either it was a really good month for music or I'm getting soft in my old age - only a few songs were less than 4-stars, and one was even 5...

★ ★ ★ ★ ★	Problem 99 (Jay-Z vs. Ariana Grande) Rockit	Best of Bootie mashup - a lot heavier on the Jay-Z side... really started growing on me. End of a pile of Best of Bootie I set aside.
★ ★ ★ ★	F-cking Boyfriend The Bird and the Bee	Frustrated pop... Found while looking for Again + Again by the same folks.
★ ★ ★ ★	Rosie the Riveter The Four Vagabonds	Sweet little bit of patriotic a cappella... I was kind of happy such an early culturally important song was known for its performance by African-American artists... also love the "Rrrrrrrrrrr" sound effect. Referenced at the WW2 Museum in NOLA.
★ ★ ★ ★	The End The Beatles	My Beatles lore has some odd holes, especially their later stuff. Referenced in Every Sample from Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique"
★ ★ ★ ★	Margaritaville Jimmy Buffett	I'm not in much danger of becoming a Parrot-head but I appreciate the middle aged fantasy narrative of this one... They had a singalong of this on a live podcast of "My Brother My Brother and Me"
★ ★ ★ ★	September Franny London	I'm always a sucker for female-vocalist covers, of a disco classic in this case... Heard on the animated series "Big Mouth"
★ ★ ★ ★	Underwater Temple, Underwater Monk Ollie's Sonic Emporium	Goofy little joke hiphop piece, but catchy. Via this tumblr entry
	Hump Day Miss Eaves	Super-direct and raunchy hiphop homage to women flickin' the bean... Ending credits of "Big Mouth"
★ ★ ★ ★	Compared to What Roberta Flack	Beautiful lowkey jazz protest song. Great light percussion and bass. My fellow activist bandmember posted Les McCann & Eddie Harris' version... more uptempo, and I love how you can see the musicians communicate in the video - but I love Roberta Flack's version, which is also a bit more concise.
	No One Kisses Like a Tuba Player Can Brett Harrington	"You ain't been 'til you kissed a tuba player, no one kisses like a tuba player can..." Corny hayseed music... makes me ponder on the cultural artifact of "kissing booths"... Some youtube recommendation...
★ ★ ★ ★	Talkin' out da Side of Ya Neck University of Washington Husky Marching Band	Marching Band cover of hiphop. I dig the chanting. The national champion LSU Tigers have a Marching Band that plays this, and there were articles about trying to get students to stop singing a dirty version of the lyrics... different Marching Band here tho.
★ ★ ★ ★	What a Man Linda Lyndell	The original that Salt N Pepa borrowed from... I might have been looking for a version of Lena's cover? But like with "Shake Yo Thang"/"It's Yo Thang", I'm grateful for Salt N Pepa covers introducing me to such great songs...
	In the Pines Lead Belly	Old Blues. Known covered by Kurt Cobain, later. Don't know where I heard about this, but it's interesting some versions are "My Girl" but the original might be "Black Girl", which has a different feel.
★ ★ ★ ★	Darkness Eminem	Low-key protest song about mass-shootings; the video is kind of an amazing pun that doesn't come out as much in the song.
★ ★ ★ ★	Unchained Melody Lykke Li	Lovely soft cover of the song we shmaltzily dance to in high school. (The one thing is the weird repetition of syllables (rivers flow, rivers flow, rivers, to the sea, to the sea, to the sea) - is that even in the original? )) from the movie "Booksmart"
★ ★ ★ ★	The Monkey Dave Bartholomew	More blues. Interesting which verses the Dirty Dozen Brass Band version leaves out. The "Fabulous Thunderbirds" cover was on the credits of Silicon Valley.
★ ★ ★ ★	Bad Blood (feat. Clara C) Kina Grannis	Really sad breakup song. "Big Mouth" again.

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Middle Age is the era of life where you've been doing everything for like at least 5 years, even the stuff that feels new...

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Few situations are so bad that they couldn't be worse, which is cause for both thanks and alarm. Small number of new songs for December, because of Holidays and, ironically, a NOLA trip (in that case the best music was live...)

★ ★ ★ ★	Oh My God Ida Maria	Intense pop. Not sure where I ran across this
	You're the Top Cole Porter	Old classic. I vaguely remember the characters singing this in M*A*S*H. I gave up trying to find a recording of the "dirty version"...
	Changes (feat. The Budos Band) Charles Bradley	R+B cover of a Black Sabbath song. Great song but a little long. From the intro to "Big Mouth" - it's authentically retro R+B sound and cover art fooled me- I was shocked to find out it's a cover. (Sort of like a reverse Tainted Love)
	Jenny (Remastered) The Mountain Goats	Lo-Fi Indie On The Anthropocene Reviewed John Green rights about a random note he made: 2010: “Her eyes on His eyes on” - I assume this note was written when I first noticed the pun inside a lyric from my favorite band, The Mountain Goats. Their song “Jenny” is about a girl in love with a boy who has just acquired a yellow-and-black Kawasaki motorcycle. And one of the song’s couplets goes, “And you pointed your headlamp toward the horizon / We were the one thing in the galaxy God didn’t have His eyes on.” I don’t know why, but that line always reminds me of being in eleventh grade, lying in the middle of an open field with three friends I loved ferociously, drinking warm malt liquor, and staring up at the night sky.
	Heebie Jeebies Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five	Jazz, baby! In New Orleans I was looking up the history of scat singing (kind of wondering why it got that name...) turns out this was on of the first recorded instances of it... and given they named the airport after him, I figured it was fortuitous.
★ ★ ★ ★	Firewater Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles	Kind of dark and mysterious song from the NOLA Mardi Gras Indians tradition. At the NOLA club "Snug Harbor" they covered something like this song. Intersectionality-wise, the whole Mardi Gras Indian is kind of complex (to be honest I kind of ran it by my friend Cordelia of the Seneca people when I ran into her at a party, my take on her view is as long as you recognize the complexity and the long-standing appropriation you probably don't need to shun the derived works)
	AP Touro Rebirth Brass Band	New Orleans Street Band hotness. (googling this I just realized it's probably in honor of A. P. Tureaud, an NAACP legal activist.) Oddly I saw Rebirth right *before* we headed down to New Orleans, but I shazam'd this song playing at a store in the French Market
	Up On Cripple Creek (Remastered) The Band	70s dirt Playing at "Coop's Place", our favorite food from our trip to NOLA
★ ★ ★ ★	Mrs. Claus Little Jackie	Nice motown-style Christmas song Playing at an outlet mall in NJ
★ ★ ★ ★	Jambalaya The Del McCoury Band & Preservation Hall Jazz Band	Tuba and Banjo jazz cover of the famous song I think I heard Rebirth play this, looking for a good version I found this cover w/ the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, we stopped in the hall for the "All Star" set there...

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Beautiful essay by Michael Chabon, the intersection of his fandom and creative work in Star Trek and sitting vigil by what would be his father's deathbed. What A Five-Star song???

★ ★ ★ ★	Whole Lotta Funk (Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars vs. Led Zeppelin) DJs From Mars	Fun mashup. For some reason I've been stockpiling old Best of Booties.
★ ★ ★ ★	Hypnotize Mama (Notorious B.I.G. vs. David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack) DJ Schmolli	Hiphop mash. For some reason I've been stockpiling old Best of Booties.
★ ★ ★ ★	Tempo (feat. Missy Elliott) Lizzo	Excellent hiphop. Wish I could roll my Rs. Caught this on some random tweet.
	Track Suit Kopanitsa Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band	"Track Suit" is a popular song in the HONK crowd- this mixes it East European hardcore. My friend Dave B had a copy of the new ENSMB album when it was still upcoming, we listened to it on the way back from PRONK
	Backatown Trombone Shorty	Instrumental, some sweet horns. My young bandmante Ezequiel loves this song, we might try to work up an arrangement for our group.
	Chun-Li Nicki Minaj	I think there's a Street Fighter backstory I'm missing here... this page on Tik-Toks
	Under the Milky Way Sia	Very pretty and romantic song. Reading up the back story of that old VW "Pink Moon" ad, originally they were thinking of the original version of this, but I liked this better than "The Church"'s original.
	Once In a Lifetime Talking Heads	Kind of a classic... Saw David Byrne live recently! Realized I didn't have much of his older stuff.
	Atheists Don't Have No Songs Rocky Mountain Jewgrass	I think Steve Martin made up this song maybe? But I like this version better. Found a reference to it doing Blog cleanup...
★ ★ ★ ★ ★	To Turn You On Nataly Dawn & Ryan Lerman	This song moved me greatly when first hearing it... it just captures all the energy of every post-breakup person I've chased after. - found doing backlog grooming
	Holy Water Struggle Jennings	Kinda redneck hiphop, and I think Jesus-y? from the end credits of the season finale "What We Do in the Shadows"
★ ★ ★ ★	Super Good Leningrad	Russian song - Melissa look up the translation, about how many of his peers left the country but the singer stayed behind and is doing "Super Good" From "What We Do in the Shadows" orgy episode end music ...
	You Spin Me Round (feat. Silver Letomi) Auralnauts	The old How To Make A Blockbuster Movie Trailer had this song with "Introduce Unexpected Cover of a Classic Hit" (more specifically, 'creepy gal singing...' I'd say) - they released it as a single but honestly they left way too much movie trailer in it - a proper moody female vocal cover of "You Spin Me Round" would be awesome.
	What More Can I Say JAY-Z	Angry hiphop. Seeing Trever Noah live, this was his walk-on music.
★ ★ ★ ★	Stronger Youngr	Beautiful modern stuff. Heard in a New Jersey Old Navy
★ ★ ★ ★	They Don't Make Em Like Me Pigeon John	I adore the Motown sound of this, combined with modern stuff This was background music for a new RAZR phone ad
	A Thousand Miles Vanessa Carlton	What am I, a young woman in the early 2000s? Maybe. Some random Youtube recommendation.
★ ★ ★ ★	The Wire HAIM	Acoustically these folk are doing really interesting stuff, and the breakup theme, but from the breaker rather than breakee, is a good match to "To Turn You On" above. This tweet: "What is the name for the mental disorder where you listen to The Wire by Haim five times in a row" --@bea_ker

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As a liberal, do you agree with Donald Trump on anything at all? An interesting point about how Trump maybe has the benefit of challenging some of the presumptions of the global political status quo. Right now I'm reading "A Warning (by Anonymous)" and I think both that book and the Quora answerer also point out that- he does not study issues nearly deeply enough or listen to enough studied opinions for a person who wields as much power as he does.

Also, compared to the Neocons, he's less bellicose - GWB nostalgia is kind of weird given that whole Cheney Iraq trumped up thing.

(I am by no means a Trump supporter or fan, and I also recognize that focusing on his global political outlook is neglecting the damage he is doing to so many groups at home.)

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To be an American is of itself almost a moral condition, an education, and a career.

via Eun Kim's "The Ying and Yang of American Culture: A Paradox", a turn of the millennium view of the USA from a Korean lens. (Found in a used bookstore in Maine) New music I added to my playlist, a little lighter than some months.

	Thunder and Blazes Big Top Orchestra	AKA "Entry of the Gladiators" or "that clown music" - I like the fast pace of this version! Been on a small "brass music I know and/or played" kick lately
★ ★ ★ ★	Funkytown Lipps, Inc.	Famous song, it has some interesting bits acoustically speaking... We play this in School of Honk. I sort of forgot it had lyrics....
	Duramax (feat. Young Gunner) Lenny Cooper	Good ol' boy Hiphop. Trucks blowing black smoke to own the libs is not my culture, but I like the use of the voice modulator and the fiddle every noise has this as the exemplar for the genre "redneck".
★ ★ ★ ★	Ride (EP Mix) Cary Brothers	Wistful and longing. I am so endlessly enamored of their cover of Something About You that I'll always keep my eyes open to them...
★ ★ ★ ★	Where Is My Mind Maxence Cyrin	Piano cover of the Pixies song (didn't realize it was a cover at first... not sure how I feel about that vs when I thought it was such a lovely sparse piano piece...) One of the Chapelle specials used this
★ ★ ★ ★	JCB Nizlopi	Very sweet english piece about a 5 year old driving in a piece of construction equipment with his daddy. The artist for this was in Belmont Porchfest, and namedrops Ed Sheerhan being influenced by this...
★ ★ ★ ★	Booty Boogaloo The Party Band	Love when this piece falls into cut time... Party Band taught that to folks at a HONK! festival song share session. Saw Party Band play it live, bought their CD.
★ ★ ★ ★	Mad World (feat. Gary Jules) Michael Andrews	Sad version of a famous song. Sam made up a ska-tinged version of this for JP Honk and I realized I didn't have this famous slow cover.
	Like Dis, Like Dat (feat. Pop Sykle) Young Droop	Raunchy slow groove hiphop. Heard a song by the same name and similar spirit on "Derry Girls", but different song I found.
★ ★ ★ ★	For What It's Worth Crystal Bowersox	Modern country cover of "Stop, Children, What's That Sound"... I was kind of hoping to find the cliched "woman singing slowly in a minor key cover" used in Jack Ryan Season 2 trailer but no luck - still this version is kind of neat.
	I AM Club Yoko	Fun but way-over-produced studio song... From a Samsung Galaxy commercial I think.
	Day Drinking Little Big Town	Modern country. Kinda like how I like songs and jokes about marijuana more than I actually partake, "day drinking" in a social way always seems nice. Mentioned on Jeopardy on this montage of Alex Trabek saying "genre"
	Heck No! (I'll Never Listen to Techno) Maldroid	Fun Indie-Pop... Rediscovered the lite-brite video for this I posted a while back.
★ ★ ★ ★	Mic Check Aceyalone	Good hiphop. This video has a freestyle the my copy of the song lacks. This artist was on the old Scion Mix CD ("Lost Your Mind)

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from pleated jeans:

Light month for the still new summary format... Janelle Monáe is superb as always, and the "Caravan" by The Mills Brothers was a great bookend.

	Make Me Feel Janelle Monáe	Love the almost ASMR sound of the mouth clicks - and this song has so many small little twists, I love it- Strong "Prince" vibe. Some tumblr entry. Like her stuff in general.
★ ★ ★ ★	Saber Dance Harry James and His Orchestra	Heh, remember Peewee's Big Adventure? I played this in college, maybe some other places...
	Rock Star (Jason Nevins Remix Edit) N.E.R.D	Uptempo remix Liked this song, ran into the remix in this All iPod Ads video...
★ ★ ★ ★	Paagal Badshah	Blend of traditional India music and hiphop - was playing at Melissa's exercise class. Saw something online about this - controversy where the video is maybe being discriminated against and deserves some record for most views, or maybe there was click-buying, or maybe every big video does that...
	Something About You (Single) Level 42	Famous 80s new wave The brilliant Cary Bros cover of this made me look for other variants, so I went to the original.
	I Think I See the Light Cat Stevens	Harold+Maude's soundtrack had way too much Cat Stevens, though this one is pretty ok.
	Hole In The Bucket Spearhead	90s hiphop with a protest edge. References in a band email thread about how to use our funds.
★ ★ ★ ★	True Colors (Film Version) Anna Kendrick & Justin Timberlake	An episode of "Superstore" had the original, thought this cover seemed more promising. Deep ambivalence about Lauper's original...
	Blurred Ice (Vanilla Ice vs. Robin Thicke ft. Pharrell Williams & T.I.) Ed Home	Mashup of some problematic songs. I've had "Best of Booty" (pop-mashups, some truly inspired) tracks sitting around waiting for a quiet month for a while.
	Them Basses Big Top Orchestra	Marching / Circus Band music. My bass buddy Kevin C posted: "Unpopular Opinion: Them Basses is not a very good march." But I remember playing it once or twice.
★ ★ ★ ★	Gittin' Funky Kid 'N Play	80s hip hop - missed the music back in the day, but now I think they were one of the bigger influences in the Christian rap I was listening to around then. Work buddy Mifi was going to see "Hammer House Party", MC Hammer and a pile of 80s/90s artists including these guys.
★ ★ ★ ★	Get Up Get Out (feat. Jstlbby) Born Dirty	Big motivational music. Someone on work slack did a push to all servers and sent a Spotify link to this, since it seemed thematically appropriate.
★ ★ ★ ★	bad guy Billie Eilish	The kinda sexy song that knocked "Old Town Road" off the perch. Love the "Duh". Friend was playing during a getaway weekend
	Nobody Mitski	Song sounds a bit too studio clean. The line "Give me one good honest kiss And I'll be alright" was on tumblr - here and here
★ ★ ★ ★	Caravan The Mills Brothers	Vocal-instrumental version of a jazz great. Doing Blog cleanup I ran into it while doing blog cleanup - on /2010/02/15 my mom mentioned by grandfather Papa Sam liked the group.

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Let's leave aside the fact that no divine entity or precept of natural law gives anyone the right to own an assault weapon. Let's also ignore the fact that it's entirely likely that gun control solutions would have denied the Odessa shooter easy access to the firearms with which he carried out his killings.

The most interesting question here is about evil intent. If human evil is the ultimate cause of gun violence–rather than the shocking ease with which modern firearms allow tense situations to escalate into deadly violence and unbalanced individuals to become mass murderers in a matter of seconds–then presumably there must be more bad people in America than anywhere else in the world.

I've been hearing "God-given right to own guns" in a few quarters. How the hell does that work? Either it's "well everything comes from God" (all things good and ill, I guess, if God is all powerful and lets 'em happen... and Gun Control would come from God too) or maybe just "well there's this amendment about guns and militias in the Constitution, and that especially in particular came from God".

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Oh wow - MRI videos of what's going on with the mouth and tongue and throat when a trombone player is doing their thing! Here's my favorite:

So, I know 3 people who claim to be a little interested in the "new music playlists" I posts, and Diane specifically mentioned she likes knowing more about the history. I used that smidgin of interest to justify a whole lot of codin'... (in fact I made a somewhat modernized version of the old database programs I use for so much of my personal information.)

So here's the result, feedback welcome. It's the song name, a possible link to a video, artist name, a brief description, and then where I ran into it, and then stars for 4 and 5 star things...

★ ★ ★ ★	Philosophers East vs West Epic Rap Battles of History	One of the more well-researched and clever ERBs. ERB's new season made me hunt for an old favorite.
★ ★ ★ ★	Sexy Nation Army Azoo	Powerful little mashup. References on tumblr
	Three Little Birds (Stephen Marley & Jason Bentley Remix) Bob Marley & The Wailers	Nice remix. I tried to make some lyrics more true to my philosophy, with mixed results... The original was playing at a Panera.
★ ★ ★ ★	Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) [Remix] Lil Nas X	I kind of think "Big + Rich" did the whole cowboy/hiphop thing better, but still good. Once NasX said "deadass thought i made it obvious… " at the end of pride I wanted to grab this one...
★ ★ ★ ★	Soul Thing Tony Newman	Nice R+B Funk Dave B introduced this as a possibility for JP Honk.
	Eight Foot Two, Solid Blue, Has Anybody Seen My Martian Gal Allan Sherman	Cornball joke song, I like the 1950s hightech aspect of it tho A band in the Ocean Grove NJ 4th Parade were playing the original of this, and I thought of this version from my childhood.
	Nevermind Dennis Lloyd	Nice pop. ???
	Had Some Drinks Two Feet	Good slow grind. Something on tumblr?
	Carry That Weight The Beatles	Classic Beatles (I've had a blind spot for some of their later albums) Saw the Navy Band Cruisers OGNJ - a bit propagandish but not bad R+B. This was in a medley.
	Screen twenty one pilots	ok if weirdly juvenile-vibe hiphop. This sarcastictonystark tumblr entry...
	La Tortura (feat. Alejandro Sanz) Shakira	Spanish pop this tumblr post about her athleticism - scooching across the floor just using torso and butt muscles is pretty amazing!
★ ★ ★ ★	Indomitable (feat. Northern Cree Singers) DJ Shub	I always dig mixups of modern western music with classic First People's stuff- this is the first I've heard that has the traditional singing style with some English lyrics ("throw your hands in the air...") "Tribe Called Red" announced a new song which I wasn't as crazy about, but it got me searching around and finding this.
	Taste of the Good Times Will Beeley	Lowkey country, and authentic by a guy who truckered for years... Some public radio had a piece on him.
	Stand Up Tall Dizzee Rascal	UK Hiphop Bassline Junkie was a recommendation off of one of my all time favorites Golddust but I couldn't find a download for it in the US, found this instead by the same arist.
	Astral Weeks Van Morrison	Gentle music... I remember hearing how someone played it the morning after a first night together, and the couple was married for years and years after... Some novel mentioned this, maybe the Sally Rooney I was reading...
	The Biggest Ball of Twine In Minnesota "Weird Al" Yankovic	Heard this epic song live in Boston! 99% Invisible podcast talked about the biggest twine balls, and played this song which I hadn't heard for years.
	Luigi Supper Mario Broth	All 5 tracks of Luigi humming or whistling the Luigi's Mansion theme at various levels of scardness, all at once... this Supper Mario Broth linked to this.
★ ★ ★ ★	True Affection The Blow	Art pop. I really liked their live train station a capella version of how naked are we gonna get and figured they had other songs I'd probably like
	Everybody Eats When They Come to My House Cab Calloway and His Orchestra	Interesting rhyming game song - kind of like a prototype for "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover".... The Judge John Hodgman podcast mentioned the lyrics.
★ ★ ★ ★	Forevermore Katie Herzig	I remember the root of this song from my childhood Most interesting version I could find on iTunes...
	Fué en un Café Los Apson	The classic spanish cover of "Under the Boardwalk" Torito Pinto plays this song...
★ ★ ★ ★	Boy Meets Girl The Exploding Voids	Pop from Germany... I think with authentic, personal footage from a USA roadtrip I might be this band's biggest American fan, because of my deep adoration of As It Comes (one of my top 3 ever songs).

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Man, my muttonchops are going gray - but the gray is taking its timing moving forward, so I'm worried I'm going to look like I'm making a goatee which was never my intention. By the way full endorsement of short beard as an excellent compromise of laziness and not looking like an unkempt beast.

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Rats have a "random mode" they gets activated in certain unfamiliar situations - they stop trying to make best guesses based on past experience. They think humans might sometimes benefit from a previous strategy... I can see it both in shaking free from preconceived notions, and also if playing against some kind of adversary, making oneself less predictable...

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Wanna get me some ataraxia! Pretty good month for new music! Felt really packed. A lot of hiphop. List below is newest first, 4 star stuff in red.

Diane said her primary interest is where I discover new music, so I tried to keep closer track. Not sure if there are real surprises- soundtracks (esp commercials/trailers and HBO shows), random tweets, tumblr entries, personal recommendations, youtube recommendations, or random impulses.

• Love the Way You Lie (feat. Rihanna) (Eminem) I've been listening to Rick + Morty's co-creator's 2011 podcast, "Grandma's Virginity Podcast", and this song came up. I love the big boom percussion it uses, and the Rihanna chorus, some of the lyrics are hard to listen to.
• O-O-H Child (The Five Stairsteps) One of the groups at a Cora's dance recital played this. Hoping to tap into the optimism.
• Systematic (feat. Nas) (DJ Shadow) Catching up on "Silicon Valley" that has some of the best end credits hiphop.
• Tainted Love (Pomplamoose) Youtube has learned that I love me some Pomplamoose, so this recommendation came up.
• Christine's Tune (Aka Devil In Disguise) (The Flying Burrito Brothers) Some random tweet. Partially I just like saying "Flying Burrito Brothers", and the twang in general.
• On a Roll (Ashley O) I love the subversion of turning Head Like a Hole into bubblegum pop, and I love the sound of the result. (see the shirt below too...)
• Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head) (Will Smith & TRÂ-Knox) Slate had a movie raps over closing credits article and mentioned this "vaguely nu-metalish" example.
• All Through the Night (Anna Nalick) Her Breathe (2am) is so good, I wanted to hear her second best song
• The One Moment (OK Go) - I was seeing something about Rube Goldberg machines, and this group is the master of that kind of video...
• Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote) (Brian Stokes Mitchell & Ernie Sabella) Saw "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" so this song was in my head - fun sing along.
• Ronald McDonald vs the Burger King (Epic Rap Battles of History) A youtube subscription, one of the better sounding ones in a while, except for the author-self-insert.
• Take Me to Church (Hozier Cover) (Neon Jungle) Tumblr pointed me to this beautiful cover- I had to persuade some UK friends to grab me an MP3 though - hate those weird country restrictions!
• Right Place, Wrong Time (Dr. John) Got to see him in concert, but I wanted something else to mark his passing... this one has such an interesting sound to start with.
• Space Cadet (Sesame Street's David) Had this 33 as a kid - funky little disco bit with that great "comin' to the rescue" hook, and I love David's enthusiasm unpacking his space cadet gear. (Weirdly I stole the name for this for my repackaging of the theme from Moon Patrol...)
• Funkier Than a Mosquita's Tweeter (Ike & Tina Turner) Melissa suggested me this bit o' funk
• Tomboy (Princess Nokia) Someone on twitter linked - "my little titties and my fat belly" refrain skirts that line between self-empowerment and exploitation...
• The Story of O.J. (JAY-Z) A lot of the N-word, but man - this cartoon is amazing and difficult, in going over the racist types from pop-culture. (also, that, "he's like 'I'm not black, I'm OJ!' ......ok" is amazing)
• Doin' Time (Lana Del Rey) Melissa didn't know the original Gershwin reference, and I didn't get it was a Sublime cover....
• Prince Ali (Will Smith) I'd sought out a version of this song before - just love its big brass approach, and Will Smith's throaty genie adds to it, especially the ending section.
• (Jesus Hits Like the) Atom Bomb (The Blind Boys of Alabama) I'm fascinated, scared, and titillated by the apocalyptic side of religion - this one comparing Jesus' return to a bunch of nukes is especially catchy.... (also I think the Blind Boys of Alabama are one of the longest running groups of all times.)

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Huh. Plenty of new music, but not much that I really loved. 4 star stuff (all low 4s) in red:

• See What I Mean (feat. Aiza Ntibarikure) (Beat Market) - music on "Tuca and Bertie"
• River Shiver (Pomplamoose) like the little rewindy sound
• The Big Noise From Winnetka (Haggart, Bauduc)
• Can't Take My Eyes Off of You (Lauryn Hill) Heard the original in a movie, found this version
• Jamirobeegees Mashup: Stayin' Alive / Virtual Insanity (Pomplamoose)
• Cielito Lindo (Pedro Infante) I remember singing a "ay yi yi yi / sad farmer's daughter / it's love you know makes a valentine grow / and not a pail of wa-ter" in elementary school.
• trust in lies (rick & craig ) This sounds like a commercial song as background music in "Brokeback Mountain" but I guess it was a studio group
• Everybody Talks (Neon Trees) A friend pointed to a cover of this but I like the original.
• Lonely Feelings (LOVE SUPREME) Some HBO background music
• Supersonic Rocket Ship (The Kinks) In the Avengers movie. I sort of hate that you probably wouldn't call a faster than light vehicle "supersonic"...
• Doom and Gloom (Jeff Bhasker Mix) (The Rolling Stones) More Avengers
• Dear Mr. Fantasy (Traffic) Avengers again
• Tobacco Road (Nashville Teens) Keillor wrote about the "Tobacco Road" as a cultural thing, this song is probably a parallel reference
• Listen Here (Dave Frishberg) Quirky song about our inner voice referenced in a Daniel Klein book
• Dueling Banjos (Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell) Just wanted the classic.
• My Superstitious Brain (DJ Crazy J Rodriguez) Nice mashup
• Appletree (Erykah Badu) so stylish
• Also Sprach Zarathustra (Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra) "Opposite People" at Wake Up The Earth played a version of this "funked up 2001 theme"
• New Orleans Music (Rebirth Brass Band) Played this with Second Line Brass Band - there is a fear that local streetbands are kind of just Rebirth cover bands...
• Slow Motion (Juvenile) - cousing of one of the NOLA bands.
• Saw Lightning (Beck) - saw a tweet saying this wasn't very good, huh, but I like it, some neat sounds.

New to me music I added last month. Decent month but only 14. In roughly descending order of coolness, 4 or 5 stars in red...

One five star:

• Curse of the I-5 Corridor (Neko Case) 1 minute cartoonishly NSFW-ish short

Melissa and I saw this in concert. It's a beautiful and melancholy song. Melissa finds the line "So I left home and faked my ID / I f***ed every man that I wanted to be" especially poignant, and there's also that "Baby, I'm afraid But it's not your fault"

Arun hosted a house concert, Caroline Cotter... an amazingly cool thing to do. I got these 3 songs:

• Home on the River - probably my favorite
• I Am Satisfied (Caroline Cotter) - this was her closer, and a sing-a-long for the audience.
• Pollyanna (Caroline Cotter) And I always like songs that engage... well, if not mythological figures, cultural ones.

Two NOLA-style songs:

• Why Your Feet Hurt (Rebirth Brass Band) JP Honks youngest player thinks we should arrange and play this... he's not wrong...
• Sousamaphone! (Riot Jazz Brass Band) "I got a sousamaphone, sousamaphone... that's why the girls won't leave me alone..."

Other songs:

• Pretty Ugly (Tierra Whack) man, why is this only a minute?
• Juice (Lizzo) So much sass and energy.
• Wolf Totem (The Hu) Heavy metal throat singing.
• Touch a New Day (Lena) I dunno how many USA folk know her from her Eurovision triumph Satellite but she's kinda great.
• The World We Made (Ruelle) I think an HBO trailer had this as background music, and damned if it doesn't sound just like How To Make A Blockbuster Movie Trailer's cover of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"
• Be OK (TIAAN) Gentle healing song
• I'll Listen (Radio Edit) [feat. Ana Criado] (Armin van Buuren) Another song with a theraputic vibe, Gowen mentioned, about how to be a good listener.
• Kinko the Clown (Ogden Edsl) Ooh boy. This is definitely on the bubble of being removed - it's a novelty song about a "kid loving clown". Oh, the 80s. I only new it because someone wrote the first few lines on a chalkboard at school. For some reason I thought a better lines 3 and 4 would be "Kinko is as Kinko Does, None to Rearrange".

Music I added to my ever-increasing playlist last month - as usual, 4-star stuff in red, listed in decreasing "you need to hear this" order.

• Fair Game (Sia) Melancholy
• How Can I Love You If You Won't Lie Down (Silver Jews) My therapist mentioned the title as a sufi proverb. I also love the line "time is a game that only children play well".
• Bountiful (Tobe Nwigwe) This came up as a youtube ad - great flow and big percussion.
• A Better Son/Daughter (Rilo Kiley) I love the lilting nature of the tune, and playing it soft and then big.
• Voicemail for Jill (Amanda Palmer) Oof.
• Skinny Love (Bon Iver) "For emma, forver ago" must be the greatest emo-ish album title ever.
• Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time (feat. Little Big Town) (Thomas Rhett) Wish I remember where I heard of this, it's pretty decent.
• Sisyphus (Andrew Bird) I'm always a sucker for a Sisyphus reference - Beth recommended this as well.
• It's All Over Now (Live) (Rebirth Brass Band) Rebirth is so important to the Honk community...
• Good Enough for Now ("Weird Al" Yankovic) I remember my dad laughing and laughing at this song, the epitiome of backhanded compliment lovesongs, after he fell ill. It's a lot to think about.
• Pac-Man Fever (Eat 'em Up) 2015 (feat. Jace Hall) (Buckner & Garcia) I guess as a tie-in to Wreck-It-Ralph they remade this song, and added a guest rapper ghost which I like a LOT (especially when he's talking about "suckers get served like pork chop sammiches" while the overlay track has him going "nom nom nom nom nom nom")
• Grazing in the Grass (Hugh Masekela) Recommendation from band.
• Da Bomba (Youngblood Brass Band) Another recommendation for the band to look into.
• My Neck, My Back (Khia) Melissa is historically a bit fond of the chorus (tho minus the "lick" part, just a list of body parts.
• RING THE ALARM Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.3 (The Black Eyed Peas) Strident
• Girls Fall Like Dominoes (Nicki Minaj) From some soundtrack or other
• Money Maker (Ludacris) Raunchy hiphop...
• Rock Me Amadeus (Falco) I don't think the USA really gets Falco, but he probably deserves better than the Bloodhound Gang treatment.

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TIL we do not know the secret name of bears - not even our own word for it:

Our ancient ancestors were so worried about bears, they didn't even want to name them because they feared [the bears] might overhear and come after them. So they came up with this word -- this is up in Northern Europe -- 'bruin', meaning "the brown one" as a euphemism, and then 'bruin' segued into 'bear'. We know the euphemism, but we don't know what word it replaced, so bear is the oldest-known euphemism.

Somewhat anemic February, music-wise, though I was glad to figure out how to tape songs off of youtube in a reasonable way... (chronological order, 4-star songs in red)

• Mary Jane's Last Dance (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) Good song, but the whole "Gotta keep movin'" followed a few beats later by "...on. Keep movin' on" is endearingly dorky in an 80s/90s kind of way
• Sally (Gogol Bordello) (video is the live version) Sally is 15 (Mary Jane was 18) - Anyway, Gogol Bordello is a special energy in protest music. I didn't know Nebraska would have Gypsy travelers tho...
• Girls Will Be Girls (Sophie Beem) Probably heard in "Bad Moms" - like the big bass drum percussion.
• "Kansas City Shuffle" (J. Ralph) Cool 70s vibe to this one.
• Karma (The Black Eyed Peas) Not my favorite Black Eyed Peas, but they really have a great and distinct studio sound.
• Rock Lobster (The B-52's) grabbed this when School of Honk started doing it. I admit it's probably my least favorite of the well-known B-52 songs ,but still pretty good. And fun to play.
• Love Has All Been Done Before (Jade Bird) Arun pointed me to this sweet indie style song.
• Trap Nig**z (Boyz N Da Hood) Forget where I ran into this, but the slow groove is pretty good.
• You Make My Dreams (Daryl Hall & John Oates) One of those songs I like, a bit, but never had.
• We Ready (NFL Playoffs) This month I figured out a setup to record right off of youtube- I always want to pay for music, but some stuff you know will never be released, like this minute track of a high school (I think) team singing "We Ready", from an NFL playoffs commercial
• Siri ! What is 1 Trillion to the 10th Power There are a few videos using Siri going "Zero Zero Zero" as a beat, but the India-music this puts over it makes it my favorite.
• Ooh La La (Faces) Another, oh yeah, I kind of like that song ... I liked the chorus "wish I knew then what I knew now" before realizing it had that "women and their evil ways" vibe.
• bury a friend (Billie Eilish) Spooky, horror vibe to this one.
• Gotta Get Up (Harry Nilsson) Like everyone I rediscovered this song on the Netflix series "Russian Doll"...

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It seems odd that two tropes for the clearness of the eyes - "gimlet-eyed" and "limpid pools"- both sound a bit like the opposite of what they mean.

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A cucumber - like, either end of an english cucumber - wrapped in a tortilla, and with some jalapeno mustard, has a remarkable tastiness and texture and nutrition (well, at least lack of un-nutrition) to fuss ratio, seriously off the charts. It's groundhog day. Again.

Last month was ok for music. 4+5 star stuff in red...

One 5 star:

• Think (About It) (Lyn Collins) The song "it takes two" sampled from. Such a variety of multilayered funk going on in there....

A lot of hip hop (much of it kind of raunchy) last month:

• Young, Wild & Free (feat. Bruno Mars) (Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa) CarGurus got Snoop Dogg to do their holiday party (!)
• Twerk (feat. Cardi B) (City Girls) Cardi B is in the news!
• Bad Boy For Life (Black Rob, Mark Curry & P. Diddy) - Brady and Gronk, usually on offense, were kinda big D in this instagram but I got to
• We Ready (Archie Eversole) - this song is making the rounds in an NFL commercial
• Ti**ies (feat. Tech N9ne) (Krizz Kaliko) - the video I saw this on was NSFW, but I appreciate the exuberance.
• Scuse Me (Lizzo) I think I saw this on "Broad City" - it's so repetitive that I almost bumped it down, but now I kind of like it.

Two songs my honk band is working on:

• Easy (The Brass Funkeys) - we're basically playing is arrangement straight up.
• Joy to the World (Little Richard) - change of pace from the Three Dog Night version - lotsa monologue to kick it off....

Most of the rest came from shows I watched -

• Cool Water (Tim Blake Nelson) - If you haven't seen "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" (and you don't mind very dark humor) you should....
• Yub Nub (Star Wars cover) (Jordan D. White) Looked this up after watching RotJ (unfortunately the director's cut leaves it out.)
• Pins and Needles (Margaret Glaspy) - she opened for Neko Case
• While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Regina Spektor) - I didn't actually watch the movie this was made for, but Spektor doing an asian-tinged cover of such a good song is amazing.
• The Hero (from "One-Punch Man") (Tsuko G.) Really liked this anime.
• Remember Me (Lullaby) (from "Coco") Coco was a lovely Dia de Muertos animated movie... highly recommended
• Jálale (Instrumental) (Mexican Institute of Sound) I think the skeleton DJ was playing this at a party in Coco...

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[For Trump] dominance does seem to rank at the top. "I love to crush the other side and take the benefits," he wrote in a book called Think Big. "Why? Because there is nothing greater. For me it is even better than sex, and I love sex." He went on to observe: "You hear lots of people say that a great deal is when both sides win. That is a bunch of crap. In a great deal you win--not the other side. You crush the opponent and come away with something better for yourself."

LOL President Conan the Barbarian - "What is best in life?" "To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."

This is why he ok as a reality tv star or WWE guest, and a shit politician. I pray to god he is bluffing with declaring a damn national emergency... declaring national emergencies - like to paraphrase Archer: “DO YOU WANT A BANANA REPUBLIC DICTATOR? BECAUSE THAT’S HOW YOU GET BANANA REPUBLIC DICTATORS.”

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"Oof, it's 18 degrees out!"
"That's not enough degrees. We need more degrees."

A lot of catchy songs in November, including a (relatively rare) 5 star.

5 Star:

• Faith (feat. Ariana Grande) (Stevie Wonder) From the animated feature "Sing" - man, this hits SO many of my musical buttons! Stevie Wonder is just a wonder.

4 Star:

• Bei Mir Mist Du Schon (Means That You're Grand) (Ella Fitzgerald & Her Savoy Eight) I play this one with New Magnolia - super duper catchy, and I like its yiddish roots.
• Pink Moon (Nick Drake) I was confused that I apparently hadn't grabbed this (apocalyptic, beautiful) track back in the days of that old VW Convertible Ad (really, the only ad ever that made me want to actually buy a car)
• Don't Touch That Thing (Sylvia Hall) Loose island funk Melissa introduced me to.
• Hello Sunshine (feat. Memoir) (Dena Deadly) During Friendsgiving we watched "Bad Moms" - solid and sometimes thoughtful movie with a kicking soundtrack. Love the tinkly piano and rollicking beat.
• We Will Rock You (Queen) Despite the criticisms of it, I thought the Queen biopic was good, and pointed out I don't have enough Queen in my collection.
• Desperado (Eagles) Another "I don't have this already?" It's a lovely piece.
• Believe In Me (feat. Armanni Reign) (Artizan) Big sound, a bit of dubstep. (From the sound track for "Just Cause 4" a game coming out this week that I bought a PS4 for)
• Judy in Disguise (with Glasses) (John Fred & The Playboys) We watched "Pirate Radio" - solid flick - and it had a great 60s soundtrack.

3 Star:

• The Name Game (Shirley Ellis) Didn't realize this was an actual studio song! Big motown sound...almost 4 stars maybe almost too polished though?
• I Love It (feat. Charli XCX) (Icona Pop) Another "Bad Moms" piece - maybe 4 stars if it wasn't for "You're from the 70s, but I'm a 90s bitch" :-D
• Woke Up (The Freedom Singers) Played this on tuba, backing black folx asking to change the name of Faneuil Hall and not have the landmark called after a slaveholder.
• Medicated Minutes [Explicit] (Smut Peddlers) Grind-y hiphop.
• The Happening (The Supremes) Catchy + polished
• Sunny Afternoon (The Kinks) Again from "Pirate Radio" - heh, 2:56 has this tableau of naked women that was cut from the version I saw, showing the prowess of the DJ "Midnight" Mark: "So tell us Mark, now at the very end - what was your secret? How did you get all them girls? "Simple. Don't say anything at all." "Nothing?" "Nothing. Then, when the tension becomes too much to bear, you finally, finally, you just say: 'How about it, then?'"
• Elenore (The Turtles) Another "Pirate Radio" 60s song.
• Trampoline (SHAED) genle song, used in an Apple Ad
• Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen) It's funny how little of this song I understood from it's appearance in Wayne's World...
• Remind Me (Radio Edit) (Röyksopp) I found a reference to lookup this nifty humble bit of pop on a circa 2004-Todo list...

As usual, in roughly descending "you should hear this" order, 4 star stuff in red.

• Love You So (Bleu) Honestly I think I heard this in like an E-bay commercial, but I love it, from its sound to its lyrics: like some smart woman once said, "Relationship = hamster. If you dissect it to see if there are any anomalies... you'll know for sure, but you won't have a hamster anymore."
• Afterglow (Wilkinson) Really really charming relationship video...
• The Purge (Hopsin) Love this hiphop flow - and a haunting video...
• Long Way to Texas (Mountain Soul) Song from a local group I sat in with "It's a long way to Texas, a long long way to Texas - but I'm hea-a-a-a-a-d-ing - I'm heading to Vermont!"
• So What (Studio Sequence 1) (Miles Davis) I've been really into the philosophy of So What lately, but wasn't sure I wanted the whole long jazz track on my playlist - this studio sequence is interesting, you hear a lot of audio engineer Fred Plaut, one of those side characters who are also an artist in their own right.
• Piece of My Heart (Erma Franklin) The original was cleaner and more motown than Joplins, by Aretha's older sister.
• Bad Luck (Neko Case) Melissa and I are going to see her soon, don't know much about her stuff, but this song was made after her house burned down....
• Where You Are (Cali Swag District) Found this on a Youtube playlist of Lyric Videos, a genre I find interesting. Nice Jackson-5 vibe.
• Something Different (Katastrophe) Song by a transman, seen on "The L Word"
• You're standing on my neck (Splendora) Hey remember Daria?
• I've Got Money (James Brown & The Famous Flames) Questlove mentions Clayton Fillyau's drumming on this James Brown B-side...
• R.E.D. (feat. Yasiin Bey, Narcy & Black Bear) (A Tribe Called Red) I always love this group's use of traditional indigenous people sounds, kind of meh about the rappers in this one.
• I'd Rather Go Blind (Single Version) (Etta James) Soulful
• Monster Mash (Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers) JP Honk plays this every halloween...
• Cocaine (J.J. Cale) Old groove, I remember being scandalized by this song in the 80s.
• You Don't Know My Heart (Janis Ian) Early gentle LGTBQ song, mentioned in a Spider Robinson short story.
• Splish Splash (Bobby Darin) More retro fun.
• Cissy Strut (The Meters) Another song that keeps popping up in bands I'm in
• Backtail Was Heavy (Lone) Drum and Bass or some such
• Chica Chica Boom Chic (Carmen Miranda) This song hows up in "Shape of Water"
• John Henry (Woody Guthrie) Americana

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ZeFrank's Guide to post-Halloween Candy Trading:

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I'd like to see an Epic Rap Battle of Brownie the Elf (short-lived mascot of the Cleveland Browns) and the Celtics' Lucky the Leprechaun but it seems kind of unfair from the outset. In some ways September felt like a lost month to me and I didn't run into much music. 4 star stuff in red

• Froggy's Lament (Buckner & Garcia) - a remade track from a childhood LP, now I'm sort of obsessed with the Froggy the Gremlin connection.
• Sympathy for the Devil (Motörhead) On some truck commercial, I like the "weathered old man" sound of Lemmy on this.
• Gotta Boogie ("Weird Al" Yankovic) From his first album, so a tape that I listened to again and again as a kid.
• Got To Give It Up, Pt. 1 (Marvin Gaye) From the "Boogie Nights" sound track, like the "party in the background" sound.
• So Human (Original Version) (Lady Sovereign) Hard to find online, UK hiphop with an interesting cover of The Cure's "Close to Me"
• My Chick Bad (Ludacris) Catchy hiphop.
• All I Can Think About Is You (Coldplay) Cheesy to like this?
• I Know You Got Soul (Live At The Apollo Theater/1972) (Bobby Byrd) Awesome soul.
• 100 Bad [Explicit] (Tommy Genesis) Kind of sexy hiphop.
• MIC Drop (feat. Desiigner) [Steve Aoki Remix] (BTS) Pep band is covering this, oddly - the "Arrangers Publisher Company" describes the style as "Oriental Hip Hop", kids in the band were like... can they say that?
• Down by the Water (PJ Harvey) I missed PJ Harvey in the 90s.
• Welcome to Jamrock (Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley) Probably gets the record for "longest time on Kirk's todo list", I saw a reference to it from my circa-2004 Palm Todo list archive and got it, finally.
• French Mistake (extended album version) (Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra) There's a secondary part to this that didn't make the Blazing Saddles movie...

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In Praise of Mediocrity (like with hobbies) Two thoughts come to mind - Vonnegut's "A moderately gifted person who would have been a community treasure a thousand years ago has to give up, has to go into some other line of work, since modern communications put him or her into daily competition with nothing but the world's champions" and an old Demotivator:

It's good advice! Reminds me of how I'm trying to grow more comfortable but videogames on easy mode. 4-star stuff in red. And there's a lot of it! So a good month but not much that really blew my mind.

• Freestyler (Bomfunk MC's) So very late 90s UK.
• Bali Ha'I (Peggy Lee) I faintly recall hearing this haunting chorus from "South Pacific" as a kid.
• The New Tetris (Title) (Neil D. Voss) The classic Tetris song Korobeiniki plus a breakbeat (and magic chimes)
• Run the World (Girls) (Beyoncé) Melissa wondered if it was the military-ish snare that attracted me to this, overall it's a great song.
• Theme from Star Trek (Leonard Nimoy) Nice lounge-ified version of the classic theme.
• One Day (feat. Ryan Tedder) (Logic) This video really goes into ICE detention policy and sets it against white nationalism, which I wasn't expecting when I went for the link - strong stuff. Music wise, I love the descending chromatic notes of the background.
• Problem (Lucky Chops) Instrumental cover of the Iggy Azalea song - just realized that bari sax might be the same guy from "Too Many Zooz"
• Crosstown Traffic (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) I really don't have enough Hendrix. Enjoy the double, sometimes single entendre of this song.
• Who Dat Called Da Police (New Birth Brass Band) This shows up in HONK circles
• Monster (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver) (Kanye West) Love the autotune stuff and roar sample that opens this
• Father and Son (Cat Stevens) A lot of sophistication and emotion in this.
• Shaving Cream (Benny Bell) An old camp favorite. Oddly, my version has different verses than this one I really like when they mix up the rhyme to say "I am taking a ... SHAVE, my queen"
• Here Come the Girls (Trombone Shorty) Well, the lyrics aren't NOT a bit sexist. Saw him do this live at Blue Hill Pavillion.
• Pusherman (Curtis Mayfield) Missed this song. Amazing spinoff of Blaxploitation
• Sexuality (Billy Bragg) Mostly I like the opening couplet.
• Both Hands (Live) (Ani DiFranco) I keep thinking of "the low moan of the dial tone".

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A FB exchange from Aug 12 that stuck with me:
Nick:

"i'm listening to a radio production of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, and i'm getting kind of tired of it. the whole premise is that some "psycho-historian" predicted the fall of his own empire and invented some crazy 1000-year plan of 120dimensional chess that would "limit the duration of the time of barbarism that followed". because if you're smart enough you can set into motion a thousand-years-long conspiracy. and if you are not in a gigantic empire then you're in barbarism apparently.

am I going to feel this way whenever I read a sci-fi classic?"

Kirk:

In theory, I like the metaphor of a billiard ball, that the course of a few atoms were unpredictable but get 'em into a billiard ball and it was pretty easy, and that's how psychohistory works. I guess it doesn't hold water but I can't exactly explain why not. (Maybe because the real world isn't the metaphorical equivalent of a nice flat billiards table :-D )

Matt:

Asimov was writing in a world that had statistical mechanics (which he'd have encountered in his chemistry training) but not so much chaos theory.

I thought Matt's point was concise and quite probably correct. See also: the law of unintended consequences...

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• Living In America (James Brown) Have trouble not thinking of the Weird Al lyrics but this is pretty great.
• Wicked Game (Hula Hi-Fi) "Hula-fied" cover, very sweet.
• Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) I realized maybe I like this song so much because it reminds me of Regina Spektor's That Time...
• Tighten Up, Pt. 1 (LP Version) (Archie Bell & The Drells) We dance just as good as we want!
• Lay Low; Stay Workin' (Khodi Dill) Used as the theme to the youtube series Movies with Mikey which I'd also reccomend.
• Whoopin' Blues (Leroy James) I play this song with the New Magnolia Jazz Band
• Blow, Blow Tenor (Yockamo All-Stars) Another New Magnolia Song
• Fate Don't Know You (Desi Valentine) Hangover from last month's Desi Valentine kick.
• Ode To The Bouncer (Studio Killers) Odd, "virtual" pop group; I kind of love the visuals especially of the main singer, and her dripped paint mascara and fertility goddess curves.
• Opposites Attract (feat. The Wild Bunch) [7" Edit] (Paula Abdul) Decided I didn't have enough MC Skat Kat. The Roger Rabbit visuals are pretty good!
• She Watch Channel Zero?! (Public Enemy) Furious intensity.
• Get Down Tonight (KC and the Sunshine Band) Heard "Booty Vortex" cover this before New Magnola went on in Somerville... such a classic.
• No Shoes (The Roches) New song for Porch-i-Oke; some tricky rhythms.
• I'm Gon Make U Sick O'Me (feat. Scarface) (Parliament) Good to see these guys back, but I think I'm too square to really get it.
• I Can't Get No Nookie (The Masked Marauders) Weird pseudo-band made up for a Rolling Stone article, supposedly of rock's all-stars...
• In the Dub of the Mountain Step (Peer Gynt, Op. 46: In the Hall of the Mountain King - Edvard Grieg) (DJ Zadok) I'll always dig the core song of this.
• American Pharaoh (Jase Harley) Song that influenced "This is America".
• We Are Going To Rob It (Daniel Pemberton) From Ocean's 9, great heist music

Am I getting to be an old softy with the stars? Lots of 5s and 4s this month.

5 Star

• Take On Me (MTV Unplugged) (a-ha) Beuatiful song beautifully done. "It's no better to be safe than sorry" is a great line.
• Touch It (Remix) [Featuring Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott and Rah Digga] (Busta Rhymes) I adore the structure of this, with each artist doing half a verse in low-key, "get-low" style, then the yell of "Turn It Up!" brings out the high intensity flow.
• Hit the Ground Running (Desi Valentine) I knew I was going to love this from the snippet I first heard in a Coors Ad.
• Asylum (Desi Valentine) Valentine was my find this month. Such a great old school motown sound.

4 Star

• Wheels On The Bus (Matthew Lewis/Julie Frost) Nice light funky cover of the kids song, played at Cora's Dance Recital (though did they include the Rosa Parks vs?)
• California Dreamin' (Sia) Biiig cover. Also played at Cora's dance recital, but slight trigger warning for that video with lots of scenes from the apocalyptic movie "San Andreas"
• I Need Never Get Old (Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats) I got into a big dumb debate with EB about the merit of this guy's voice vs Desi Valentine. Rateliff is a bit rockabilly and his band is a little too clean, but big and tight, great song.
• Killing Me Softly With His Song (Roberta Flack) It's almost weird not hearing the sitar or whatever it is from the Fugees, but Flack is so strong

3 Star

• Drowsy Maggie Punjabi Celtic (The Snake Charmer) "When a 200 year old Traditional Scottish Folk song gets a Punjabi Dubstep revival by The Snake Charmer."
• Give Me an Answer (Low Roar) Heard about this as it was released a year ago but has some weird tie-in with the upcoming PS4 game Death Stranding in it.
• The Second Line (Hustlers Brass Band) Humbling to hear such a staple of my own repertoire played so well... I need to get better at walking basslines.
• Dirty Harry (Gorillaz) Been on a Gorillaz Kick because of their lore-laden new release.
• Clint Eastwood (Gorillaz) And I always wondered where "I got sunshine, in a bag" came from, and the hiphop break is great.
• Old Fashioned Morphine (Rising Appalachia) This type of music is so dark and sweet and sexy.
• Thrift Shop (Live) (Vitamin String Quartet) Kinda goofy cover of a kinda goofy song.
• Just What I Needed (The Cars) School of Honk is doing this song. Funny how much it leans on the first 4 notes of Pachabel Canon.

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"Rules are made to be broken!"
"Ees exact OPPOSITE of what they are for!"

Music I "discovered" in May, 4-star stuff in red.

• Creature Comfort (Arcade Fire) - powerful song. Also think about the weird 8bit computer-ness of that one sond...
• Venus Fly (feat. Janelle Monáe) (Grimes) LOL, guess this is a "tidal exclusive" so no youtube for you, just a Michael Scott from the Office look to a snippet from Amazon music...
• Seven Nation Army (From Westworld: Season 2) (Ramin Djawadi) Always a sucker for a good cover of this song, and this sitar-centric version w/ some deep bass is great.
• London Bridge (Fergie) Forgot there was a version of this not mixed with "Short Skirt Long Jacket".
• Pre-Fab Housing (BleuBird) Kinda alt hiphop, from the Suicide Girls DVD.
• Run (AWOLNATION) Tracked this down after the Run Meme Compilation
• You're Gonna Go Far, Kid (The Offspring) The "Dance F***er Dance" song.
• Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (Bob Dylan) The Everybody Must Get Stoned song, played it at Porchioke.
• Brave (Sara Bareilles) PLayed this at Porchioke - missed it when it came out but dig the acceptance message of the video.
• Don't Bring Me Down (Electric Light Orchesxra) Played at Porchioke. "don't bring me down - broose" or whatever it is is kind of odd.
• Mama Said Knock You Out (Undefeated Remix) (LL Cool J) Solid remix from the Deadpool Trailer.
• White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane) Porchioke. Do dig that bassline.
• This Is America (Childish Gambino) This one has got a lot of attention, and justly so.
• I Want to Be Evil (Eartha Kitt) "I'm tired of being pure, and not... chased"
• Rubberband Man (The Spinners) The Guardians of the Galaxy (in the latest Avengers movie) put this one on.
• Vivir Mi Vida (Marc Anthony) I was told the "Version Pop" I had was not the right for Banda de Paz
• Voto Latino (Molotov) Kinda rough.
• Drover (Bill Callahan) - from tne Netflix Documentary "Wild Wild Country" about the Rajneeshpuram cult community in Oregon. The opening "The Real People Went Away" is so horribly evocative.
• F**k tha Police (N.W.A.) So it went, so it goes.

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Me: I wish to spend an extended time rubbing my fingers over some small patch of pleasantly-textured surface. Perhaps the fur of an animal?
The miniaturized apex predator with which I share my home: [vibrates at a soothing frequency to encourage this behavior]

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• All This Money (Injury Reserve) This month's sole 5-star, saw on an Apple Ad - very confusing video 'til I realized that, uh, it's not the original artists lip synching in the video.
• Pynk (feat. Grimes) (Janelle Monáe) Sexy and sweetly gentle.
• Solidarity Forever (Pete Seeger) Some people in my band find war songs problematic, so I like this one that's lefty friendly but grabs the melodya and harmony. Why should the devil have all the good tunes?
• Lazy Sunday (feat. Chris Parnell) (The Lonely Island) Oldie, but you know, it has a really good sound.
• Be Water My Friend (Melodysheep) Used in background at "Liquidity, Inc" at the ICA- I like Bruce Lee's philosophy.
• Runaway (feat. Pusha T) (Kanye West) Aw jeez Kanye.
• Freaky Friday (feat. Chris Brown) (Lil Dicky) The excuse for a bunch of white college lacrosse players to shout the N word is not a good look, and the song is not unproblematic, but I love how this song has artists trying to catch each other's cadence.
• The Titanic (Pete Seeger) Not quite the lyrics I grew up with, but nice to hear.
• Signifying Monkey, No. 2 (Bruce Jackson) Not a song... kinda the roots I hear Mohammed Ali drawing from...
• September (Earth, Wind & Fire) Taylor Swift's cover reminded me that I didn't have the original...
• I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton) When Taylor Swift covered "September", they said the complainers probably thought Whitney Houston originated this song. I've been on a very low key Dolly Parton kick lately.
• Melissa (The Allman Brothers Band) I wrote "Sweet Melissa" when I meant "Sweetie Melissa", and she wondered if it was this song...
• Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (James Brown) Who doesn't love James Brown...
• Tic Tac (feat. Lambo) (UNIIQU3) Goofy club stuff. My Booty so Fresh, they call me Tic Tac!
• Peace Like a River (Paul Simon) Mention as a member of the 4 AM collection/
• Get Up, Stand Up (Bob Marley & The Wailers) School of Honk is starting up this song, so I wanted to know it better.
• Give It Up (Youngr x Endor) (Youngr & Endor) Nice R+B clubby stuff.

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--Josh Dahl says "This image is amazing. It should be used all the time. It applies to every situation. Use it far and wide." "COME Friends.... Let us go AWAY from this dumb place"
8 of the 16 songs this month were 4-star (marked in red) and then "'Til It's Over" was 5, so pretty good month! Listed in a rough descending "you gotta hear this!" order.

• 'Til It's Over (Anderson .Paak) What a wonderful and wistful song. (Though the title got recontextualized for me when I saw the album cover is a drive-in with a mushroom cloud in the background.) Anyway, Spike Jonze's video is widely lauded - the making of is fascinating, what it took to make all those walls stretch with practical effects...
• Hikky-Burr (feat. Three 6 Mafia & David Banner) (Quincy Jones) A superbly funky song to begin with, a strident protest about the government's response to Katrina makes it my favorite hiphop-joint from Quincy Jones "Soul Bossa Nostra".
• 1974 (feat. Natalia Kills) (The Knux) I'd be partial just 'cause of the title, but The Knux are way underrated, and the leadin with Natalia Kill's vocals is so catchy.
• Natalie’s Rap 2.0 (feat. Natalie Portman) (The Lonely Island) "Say something about the M-F'in prequels" gear shift is the icing on the bad-ass Natalie cake.
• You Are My Sunshine / Just Dance (Jon Batiste & The Stay Human Band) Being in a flash mob that got to then play with Jon Batiste was one of my highlights in Marcb - maybe of the year! Love his harmonica/tuba/percussion arranging, and might want to steal this mashup idea.
• 9 To 5 (Dolly Parton) Love the typewriter percussion, and man, this movie was so woke so early.
• Ice Ice Baby (Marty Ray Project) Believe it or not, he kind of finds something in this song. I think. Maybe it's just jokey nostalgia, but I like it.
• Battle Hymn of the Republic (Jon Batiste) Rumor was Batiste cross this off his setlist, so he could play I'm From Kenner with us in his flashmob (who didn't know the song title before that, we had been calling it after his band "Stay Human"....)
• The Hamilton Polka ("Weird Al" Yankovic) Polka Party! This song, part of the #Hamildrop collection, has really charged up an interest in the musical in me - too bad tickets are still over $500! (Props to my mom and Aunt who saw it before it broke out...)
• Never Tear Us Apart (Rehearsal Room Recording) (Courtney Barnett) Best link i could find for this, but the version I have is a lot more compact
• WWE: New Day, New Way (The New Day) (Jim Johnston) Every once in a while I put on wrestling, and I'm fascinated with the personaes built-up for wrestlers by the league. This team is about positivity, maybe gayness, and they play a trombone. And their theme song has a great sound.
• Let My Baby Ride (Sune Wagner) Big percussion and eastern influences in this song that was background music in "Altered Carbon"
• What’d I Say (Re-Recorded) (Ray Charles) Shortest version I could find (this isn't quite it). The song that argues Ray Charles had trouble with his hearing, not just his vision.
• Count On Me (Bruno Mars) Just simple and sweet.
• Ding Dang (The Beach Boys) I'm sort of fascinated by the story of Brian Wilson going kind of manic for a while about the song "Shortenin' Bread"...
• Rubber Biscuit (The Chips) Wanted to dig to the original after knowing the Blues Bros version, but it's not much different, but at least it's less appropriation...

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Man. It is really impressive that such a precise looking behavior like this could evolve. (Not as impressive/unlikely as it being designed from scratch or taught to a little spider brain tho) I wonder to what level the spider brain is modeling what it's doing - I mean it must be at least a small feedback loop, since webs have to fit various-shaped places, and so it can't be just a tape-recorder like playback of movements...

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Jon Batiste's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" features in my "music I added last month" playlist, a cover recommended to me after we flashmobbed with him.

The song is such a terrific earwig, yet terribly bellicose and apocalyptic. End-times Religiosity is such a damaging outlook, I'm kind of bummed in features so prominently in this song and the staple "Saints Go Marching In"

Mark Twain wrote some parody lyrics based on American Imperialism in the Phillipines:

"Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword;
He is searching out the hoardings where the stranger's wealth is stored;
He hath loosed his fateful lightnings, and with woe and death has scored;
His lust is marching on."

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Credit Cars finally giving up the security theater of signatures. Reminds me of the (defunct) ZUG site's Credit Card Prank and Credit Card Prank II where they went to see just what stupid stuff they could pass off as a signature without a problem (SPOILER: very stupid)

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I wish there was an equivalent to the "bitch you live like this?" image for boring minimalist spaces:

Interesting point. Not sure I 100% agree (in theory if you do a really good job decluttering, over time the out of sight out of mind rule might kick in once and finally you can reclaim that focus but still...) Kind of a light month last month... bestest stuff in red.

• Too Many Rappers (New Reactionaries Version) [feat. Nas] (Beastie Boys & Nas) Sonically rich... striking and melancholy that MCA revised his verse with lines like "Stay up all night, and I MC and never die / Cause death is the cousin of sleep" to "Like a Nexus-6, comin' home to roost"
• Soul Bossa Nostra (feat. Ludacris, Naturally 7 & Rudy Currence) (Quincy Jones) Heard about this album in those recent interviews he's been doing - fun version of a song School of Honk does.
• Bang! Bang! (The Knux) These guys deserve a lot more attention, amazing flow.
• Sanford and Son (feat. T.I., B.o.B., Prince Charlez & Mohombi) (Quincy Jones) like Soul Bossa Nostra - finally looked it up, that amazing didgeridoo-like sound from the original is a bass harmonica
• Ding Dang (From "Munna Michael") (Javed Mohsin, Amit Mishra & Antara Mitra) Looking for Brian Wilson I found Bollywood, and how.
• Do You Love Me (Single) (The Contours) So popular when I was high school (I guess because of "Dirty Dancing", I was surprised it hadn't made it into my collection before this...
• So Long (Fats Domino) I think Alan Freed played this as a farewell when his pioneering rock and roll radio show was shut down
• Blood Makes Noise (Suzanne Vega) Missed this song back in the day.
• Want It Back (Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra) Great video, and not just because of the nakedness
• Ain't I (Lizzo) Raw.
• Opps (Vince Staples, Yugen Blakrok) Hiphop the "Black Panther" sound track.
• Which Side Are You On? (The Freedom Singers) Looked for a version, something BABAM might want to put in their playlists.
• The Jabari, Pt. II (Ludwig Goransson) Cinematic stuff from the "Black Panther" sound track.
• Space Lord (Monster Magnet) Southern rock, I guess?
• When My Dreamboat Comes Home (Mr. Boogie Woogie) Looked for this song when New Magnolia was going to do it. Mixed feelings that the version I picked turned out to be so Dutch...

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I'm not the biggest basketball fan but Lebron's nutmeg and James Harden's "what are you doing" stare were both pretty great

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From the makers of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter^TM, Introducing:
-It Might Be Bread
-Let's Just Say It's Cream Cheese
-It Almost Tastes Like Jam
-Sure, it's 'Maple Syrup'
-Smells A Bit Like Eggs

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I never knew a blacksmith who was in love with his hammer.

(Vonnegut cites that after Renata Adler defining a writer as somebody who hates to write.) New -to-me music, 4 star stuff in red.

I'm upset that my go-to for ripping otherwise unfindable music from Youtube seems like it's shut down for "music videos on my region".

• Perm (Bruno Mars) I love how he blends the old Motown sound with a modern feel...
• American Boy (feat. Kanye West) (Estelle) Guess I'm late to the party with this, but it's so catchy.
• Smoke That Fire (The New Birth Brass Band) Coming to embrace the pronounciation "fiyo" for "fire"
• You Already Know (feat. Nicki Minaj) [Interlude Version] [Explicit] (Fergie) Love the old 80s "It Takes Two" Sample, but I had to tell iTunes to pause before the "Interlude".
• On the Radio (Regina Spektor) All of her stuff is so great. For some reason I love framing like "This is how it works" or the begining of Father John Misty's "Pure Comedy"
• Roll On Slow (Glen Hansard) A friend had on one of those cable TV "endless music" channels - given that there's no commercials, it's really pretty good. I don't like much "adult alternative" but this was ok.
• Bootylicious (Destiny's Child) Again, late to the party.
• Ding-A-Ling (Stefflon Don & Skepta) Random algorithm recommendation. Strange sample.
• Birthday Cake (Cibo Matto) - music from Jet Grind Radio / Jet Set Radio, man I miss that game
• Katchi (Ofenbach vs. Nick Waterhouse) (Ofenbach & Nick Waterhouse). Katchi means "loving touch", not to be confused with "She Gives Me Kashi".
• Valerie (feat. Amy Winehouse) (Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse) Another nice retro feel.
• Pfft You Was Gone (One More Time) Remember Hee Haw?
• Tina (Los Melódicos) A song I play with Banda de Paz
• La Colegiala (Sonora Tekendama) - Another song with Banda de Paz - "Cumbia" is the dance for it
• Diff'rent Strokes (The Edwin Davids Jazz Band) More TV nostalgia
• I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts (Danny Kaye) Odd novelty. For some reason "there stands me wife, the idol of me life" sticks in my head.
• Bom Bom (Tkay Maidza & Danny L Harle) from an Apple Watch ad.
• Curly Shuffle (Don Rich) Melissa and I welcomed in the New Year with a 3 Stooges Marathon and I thought of this...

New music from the last month of 2017 (4 star stuff in red) A lot of this month was holiday tunes...

• Back Door Santa (Clarence Carter) The song Run DMC sampled for "Christmas in Hollis" - raunchy and great.
• Jingle All the Way (Lena Horne) - the syncopation with the bass and the tympani really make this rock
• You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (Thurl Ravenscroft) JP Honk did put this one in our holiday set - man, Thurl Ravencroft's voice! Amazing.
• Jingle Bells (Amy Grant) The pace and syncopation of this one is fun.
• Run Rudolph Run (Chuck Berry)
• Silver Bells (She & Him) Nice soft voice and ukulele by Zooey Deschanel
• Silver Bells (Bing Crosby) Pretty much the classic version, but why change it to "This is Santa's Big *Day*"? Scene rhymes with green, yeesh.

Other songs....

• All Night (Big Boi) Man Apple has been having a lot of good music in their commercials...
• Palace (Sam Smith) More Apple commercial tunes...
• Off the Radar (Noga Erez) Yet more Apple.
• Bom Bom (Radio Edit) (Sam and the Womp) Goofy club-y popcorn, dig the kinda Bjork sound of the singer of this
• Rocky Top (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) John Hodgman mentioned this song in his book "Vacationland", nice pickin-and-a-grinnin' here.
• Onward Christian Soldiers (Bands of the Salvation Army) I do get nostalgic for the odd church-y song from my youth...
• I'm a Soldier (Young Buck) I was looking for the Salvation Army song that goes "I'm a Solider / Bound for Glory / I'm a Soldier / Going Home". This is... not that.
• Slow Ass Jolene (Dolly Parton) The New Yorker reported on the whole Dolly Parton slowed down- you can really hear the beauty of her craft.
• If You See Her, Say Hello (Bob Dylan) - I really prefer the Bootleg version of this, for its lyrics.
• Please, Mr. Custer (Granhorsie) Was looking for a slightly less racist version of this old novelty song. This one seems respectiful, and points out what side the killing is on.
• The Chain (Fleetwood Mac) They had such a distinctive sound - a lot of bass and then Mamas and the Papas vocals.
• Hawaii Five-0 Main Title Theme (Brian Tyler) DRUMS {PLEASE
• To Life (feat. Anthony Newley) (The West End Concert Orchestra) I just love the idea of toasting "To Life" / L'Chaim...
• ENTER DA NINJA (The Black Goat Decapitator Remix) (Die Antwoord) These guys' art in "Chappie" redeemed it. Mostly.

Good month for music, 4 star stuff in red, in descending "you should hear this" order.

• Feel It Still (Portugal. The Man) Probably the best sounding song this month... great mix off old R+B with more modern stuff.
• Never Be Famous (Hussalonia) "They're not brilliant, they're just burning brilliantly, and there's a difference, don't you know..."
• Pinball Prison (Puddles Pity Party) "Pinball Wizard" sung to "Folsom Prison Blues", by a giant sad clown, is brilliant on every level. (My cousin Bill saw him, which made me look into his stuff beyond his cover of Royals)
• Praise You (Piano Version) (Hannah Grace) One of those "soft lovely acoustic covers of a more pointy song".
• I'm a Stupid Cat! (Mike Polk Jr.) Melissa's favorite! From the guy who brought you those hastily made Cleveland tourism videos...
• Stagger Lee (Lloyd Price) In the 80s McDonalds had some 60s compilations ("Shake Burger and Fries" or "Shake Rattle and Fries", one of those) that were influential to me, but I can't find any mention of online. Anyway this was on it. I love the long history of the song and its variations and possible historical roots
• You're Out of the Computer (Bingo Gazingo & My Robot Friend) Bingo Gazingo was an amazing spoken word style poet singer - you should check him out (thanks Bill)
• I'm Moving On (Chyvonne Scott) Lovely moody R+B from that weirdly backfiring Samsung Ad.
• The Littlest Birds (Jolie Holland) Soft and sweet
• Radioactive (Josh Knowles and Aaron Fried) MP3 link 'cause I couldn't find the album "Heartstringz" online (cello/violin covers I think I bought from Boston buskers)
• Hush Your Mouth (Bo Diddley) Been thinking about the "Bo Diddley Beat". Kind of weird the chorus to this one sounds like "Hershey Mouth"
• Game Time (feat. Sage the Gemini) (Flo Rida) My company used this for an in-house promotional video about the IPO process... love how it music-ifies the basketball "sneaky squeaker" sound.
• Honey Bee (Zee Avi) Saw her live once upon a time...
• How Many More Years (Howlin' Wolf) Looked up "power chords" on wikipedia, this song came up
• Rumble (Link Wray) Another early "power chords" song. Turns out it's just "a fifth"!
• Heaven Is a Wonderful Place (Psalty & Ernie Rettino) Way back when my mom used this cheesy sunday school song as an example of combing multiple melodies...
• UNGA BUNGA BUNGA G (Flavor Flav) Despite the dominance of his hype man role, Flav is a crazy talented musician on a ton of instruments. I think you hear a bit of that in the vibrato on the "ring ding doOoOoOoOoOng..."
• Girl Anachronism (The Dresden Dolls) Got to see them live, great show
• Ruler of My Heart (Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Norah Jones & Robert Randolph) Simple and lovely
• Not a Virgin (Poe) Sexy in a young people figuring out sex kind of way.
• Die Young (Sylvan Esso) It's no "Coffee" but still pretty good.
• Get Loud For Me (Gizzle) Rockin'

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Republicans are so full of shit. Even when they said they cared about the deficit. Not as much as sucking up to their corporate backers! (LOL Democrats opposed the bill because it was "too good" and they wouldn't get credit. Trump uses delusion the way a carpenter uses nails)

When every non-partisan group tells you your economic ideas are full of shit, that's not a bias in the groups, that's the bias of reality. Decent month for music, a lot of HONK!fest and tunes from "Baby Driver"... 4 and 5 star stuff in red, listed in descending order of "you gotta hear this"

• Chase Me (feat. Run The Jewels & Big Boi) (Danger Mouse) One of 5 songs I got from "Baby Driver" - the video they made is kind of a "best of" of the movie, actually, with a lot of car-fu
• Tubas In the Moonlight (The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band) Slightly marred with a gratuitous racist word in the prelude (Dave Gannett's cover deftly removes it, so if I start performing this song I could just use that version) -
• Los Ageless (St. Vincent) "How can anybody have you / How can anybody have you and lose you / How can anybody have you and lose you and not lose their minds too"
• Blues For Ben (Pink Puffers) - this link isn't the version I grabbed and put at five stars, but overall I feel like this how I'd love some of my baselines-parlayed-into-HONK songs to sound.
• Know How (Young MC) Baby Driver again - oldish school hip hop I missed- really great flow and samples. Is Young MC Old MC by now?
• Easy (Sky Ferreira) Another from "Baby Driver", sensual cover, love the line "easy like Sunday Morning"
• Ain't No Grave (Dead Music Capital Band) I heard these Zombie players at a HONK!festival after party do this Johnny Cash cover, big and brassy. Also I love the off-center spider web tuba design.
• The Hearse Song (Harley Poe) Didn't quite get around to making up a version of "The Worms Crawl In" for JP Honk Halloween, but maybe next year?
• Hearse (Ani DiFranco) Found this looking for "The Hearse Song". Classically Ani.
• Cast Your Fate to the Wind (Vince Guaraldi Trio) - You can hear "Linus and Lucy"'s roots in this. Love the title.
• Watermelon Man (Mongo Santamaria) - JP Honk plays this song - this version is a B-side of "Cast Your Fate"
• The Gambler (Kenny Rogers) Would love to make a Honk arrangement of this old chestnut
• Holy Calamity (Handsome Boy Modeling School) - More "Baby Driver" mostly I just adore the "HOLY CALAMITY SCREAM INSANITY ALL YOU EVER'S GONNA BE ANOTHER GREAT FAN OF ME" opening
• Smokey Joe's La La (Googie Rene) Final "Baby Driver" bit, it swings.
• A Secret Course - Super Mario Sunshine (Koji Kondo) A Cappella cover I remember from the GameCube game.
• Come from the Heart (Guy Clark) To quote Dogbert, "Dance like it hurts. Love like you need money. Work when people are watching".
• Put Your Right Foot Forward (The Original Pinettes Brass Band) More Honk-ish goodness
• One for My Baby (And One More for the Road) (Frank Sinatra) I do have a soft spot for Sinatra's melancholy stuff.
• I Won't Back Down (Live) (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) RIP
• Blending Soul (Soul Blenders) I do have a thing for Blenders. Nice R+B.

Decent month for music. 4+5 Star stuff in red, and in general in descending order of "you should hear this!"

• Big Chief (Pt. 2) (Professor Longhair) - Gonna give this a 5 on principle. Mentioned in the show Treme, I just love the jarring chords and how raw a sound the recording has.
• Newport Folk Fest 2015 (Jon Batiste & Stay Human) The newest song for School of Honk... "I feel good, I free, I feel fine just being me, I feel good today, oh so good today..."
• Right in. (feat. Coko Buttafli) (BRYCE DETROIT) Forget where I heard this, but I dig it.
• Safe and Sound (Stereo Dub & Karen Souza) There's an insurance commercial using a softer version of "Safe and Sound" - this ain't it, quite, but still great.
• Best Friend (feat. NERVO, The Knocks & Alisa Ueno) (Sofi Tukker) One thing about Apple product releases, the spots have some great music.
• For the Damaged Coda (Blonde Redhead) aka "Morty's Theme" from Rick + Mortya
• Joy of Cola (Aretha Franklin) This is a catchy song form a Pepsi ad. Though it's kind of weird having Aretha Franklin give a 'You GO Girl' to the little white girl who literally stole her voice.
• (Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below We're All Going to Go (Single Edit) (Curtis Mayfield) As far as I can tell the main difference between the Single Edit and the 8 minute version is that they just end it with a big explosion at 3:30...
• Pass the Peas (Single) (The J.B.'s) A competent song from James Brown's crew, JP Honk might play it with Charter Lab Conservatory School Kids, but doesn't really grab me.
• Fifteen Beers (Johnny Paycheck) Kinda corny country, but man I love the name "Johnny Paycheck". (Worth googling the background)
• Conquistadors (feat. Decompoze, One Be Lo & Senim) (Binary Star) Energetic Hip Hop.
• Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video (Mike Polk, Jr) The sequel I posted last week is better but "this train is carrying jobs out of Cleveland" is great.
• Where I'm From (Digable Planets) Man my freshman roommate loved this disc.
• Lux Aeterna (Clocks & Clouds) I just realized I should have gone for the Clint Mansell version, which has the big chorale thing. Not sure if I want 6 minutes worth though.
• The Ladies' Bras (Jonny Trunk & Wisbey) "At 36 seconds, it is the shortest song ever to enter the UK charts". I appreciate its feeling for women's underwear and their physical forms.

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Football isn't a contact sport, it's a collision sport. Dancing is a good example of a contact sport.

Descending order of "you gotta here this", 4-star stuff in red.

• You Don't Want to Go to War (Rebirth Brass Band & Soulja Slim) Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society brought this Rebirth Brass Band to BABAM!s set at the "Free Speech" Counter-Rally.
• How To Make A Blockbuster Movie Trailer (Auralnauts) Love this, and the "creepy female vocal cover of pop hit" in it...
• Glorious (feat. Skylar Grey) (Macklemore) Seeing him dance around with his 100 year old grandmother is great, and the choral use is terrific too.
• Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video: 2nd Attempt (Mike Polk, Jr) Liked this a few years ago, finally decided to rip it. "Don't slow down in East Cleveland, or you'll die"
• Circle Be Unbroken (Zylawy Brothers) I do have a soft spot for old churchy songs
• Chelsea Hotel No 2 (Lana Del Rey) I'm not sure if this cover really reveals anything new about the original, but Lana Del Rey's syrupy voice is lovely..
• Chant: 13th Hour (Redbone) Interesting Native American group that (suspiciously?) had more success in Europe than here. I do dig songs that bring in historically native acoustic elements...
• I Like It (Foxy Shazam) It's kind of Queen revisited.
• That's Love (Oddisee) Nice bit of hiphop.
• Marmalade (feat. Lil Yachty) (Macklemore) I have mixed feelings about 4-starring 2 Macklemore songs in a month.
• Bling Bling (Junglepussy) Raunchy, feminist in its way.
• (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People (The Chi-Lites) Such a weird opening sound. Also, I love clips from Soul Train.
• Theme from "Enter the Dragon" (Main Title) (Lalo Schifrin) Finally watched this movie...
• Guaglíone (Pérez Prado and His Orchestra) School of Honk just added this mambo...
• Runs In the Family (The Roches) This was mentioned by Tom when I listed Amanda Palmer's song of the same name last month.
• Got to Get You Into My Life (Earth, Wind & Fire) I always like Tufts' Amalgamates cover... but didn't realize it was a straight forward cover of this version, not a very smart cover of the Beatles...
• Something's Got a Hold on Me (1961 Single) (Etta James) Great old R+B

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trump promising $5 million for president obama's birth certificate but only $1 million to hurricane victims is as on-brand as you can get

Decent month for me finding music, especially for funk and r+b. As usual in descending "man you should hear this!" order, with stuff I called 4 stars instead of 3 in red...

• Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho (Coleman Hawkins / Major Holley) Haruki Murakami's story Kino: "Kino sat on a stool and listened to the Coleman Hawkins LP with the track 'Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho.' He found the bass solo by Major Holley amazing." It starts at 5:20 or so, a bowed solo with singing that makes it other worldly.
• I Smell Smoke (Mystikal) I really dig Mystikal's voice so I looked for more of it. In this funny little slice of (gangster) life song, I really, really, really love the onomatopoeia for knocking ... "DHOONK DHOONK DHOONK DHOONK" is so much better than "knock knock knock", and in fact I think the entire song is built around that as a rhythmic phrase.
• Runs In the Family (Amanda Palmer) Man, I've never heard a song talking about emotional illness so powerfully.
• Hey Hi Hello (feat. Fran Hall) (Hollywood Wildlife) from "Orange is the New Black", good percussion.
• Hey Hey Hey (Hollywood Wildlife) Another great percussion one by the same folk, and while I'm not a My Little Pony fan I do kind of love the GIF someone put with it.
• Knockin' (Carolina Chocolate Drops & Luminescent Orchestrii) I guess I prefer the silkiness of the version by L.O. alone compared to the scratchiness of this one, but it's still such a good song.
• jonesiver (Nick Lutsko) Alex "Info Wars" Jones insane rants as a Bon Over song. It's amazing how what a nice sound it is.
• (Do The) Push and Pull, Pt. 1 (Rufus Thomas) A trailer for HBO's new series "The Deuce" used this. Great R+B.
• Shining Star (Earth, Wind & Fire) Can't front on these guys! Sound guy played this song at a JP Art gig.
• Brighter Than the Sun (Colbie Caillat) Another wedding song. So bright and cheerful, and also a great percussion sound.
• Twentysomething (Jamie Cullum) Melissa introduced me to this kinda smart smooth song - nice art student video.
• Goody Two Shoes (Adam Ant) I've always liked this song but never knew it very well.
• Hair Up (Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani & Ron Funches) Good sounding club pop from an insipid looking movie... but I like that it samples "Hall of the Mountain King".
• Wonderwall (Paul Anka) Lounge cover.
• Open Up Your Heart (And Let the Sunshine In) (The Wright's) On the Flintstones Pebbles and Bamm Bamm sang this song. Thinking about the lyrics too deeply, I'm not sure if it has great advice for people who might be struggling with depression ("smilers never lose, and frowners never win", along with talk about "the devil".)
• The Winker's Song (Misprint) (Ivor Biggun) Goofy novelty song. Heard about it in news stories about a radio station pirate that loves this song
• I Want Stacy's Mom (Fountains of Wayne vs. Lena Horne vs. The Wiseguys vs. Karen Young) (G3RSt) Kind of a weaker mashup, just Stacy's Mom plus decent percussion for the most part.

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I don't mind that people wallow in ignorance, I just wish they wouldn't splash so much.

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Great point that rings true - Trever Noah: Donald Trump Is Everything People Thought A Black President Would Be Not the strongest month, but a few interesting bits.

• The Devil Came Up To Boston (Adam Ezra Group) Local greatness.
• Mother Mother (Tracy Bonham) This kind of uses the same descending riff my Atari Game used, also heard in Britney Spears' Circus
• Habits (Stay High) (Tove Lo) Kind of a pairing with Mother Mother.
• Beautiful (Christina Aguilera) Cornball to like this song? Don't care. Video is lovely.
• Material Girl (Cassandra Beck) Heard this cover at a wedding. Trying to think of the philosophy of "material" but maybe I'm mixing up substance and essence.
• I Feel Good (Pomplamoose) Love these covers, and Nataly Dawn's Susanna "Bangles doing Walk Like an Egyptian" Hoffs-like vibe.
• Pirates Of Penzance: I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General (Martyn Green) I like the only-semi-scripted attempt to come up with rhymes.
• It Ain't My Fault (Brothers Osborne) Lyrics are pretty good, dig the guys delivery.
• Homemade Dynamite [Explicit] (Lorde) Not sure how much I dig this one yet.
• Mushaboom (Feist) Lovely softer song.
• Lip Gloss (Lil Mama) Mostly I just love the big percussion slam. (Overall I like The Fifth Element Remix (Eclectic Method) Fun use of samples from the movie. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEpcqgalcuo">this mashup with 'Tequila' better, it fills out the space a bit better.
• Mission: Impossible (Main Title) (John E. Davis & Lalo Schifrin) Just wanted the classic version of this song. Loved trying to march to the rhythm for Tufts' Pep Band's once a football season time taking the field.
• Crazy In Love (Patrick & Eugene) Not my favorite cover of this, but not bad.
• Come Together (Godsmack) Harsher cover.

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Just watched "Get Out", great stuff.

Completely inconsequential lesson learned: women with bangs are like Clark Kent and his glasses for me. Would have taken me a long time to realize the actress was Marnie from "Girls". First off, you have to see this Betty Boop cartoon starring a rotoscoped Cab Calloway as Koko the Clown: Anyway, music I added to my playist last month, in rough descending order of "you should hear this", 4 star stuff in red.

• Immigrants (We Get the Job Done) (K'naan, Snow Tha Product, Riz MC & Residente) Super powerful hiphop from The Hamilton Mixtape - they were playing this before the May Day rally.
• Get Down In Formation (Beyoncé vs. Me & My Toothbrush vs. Kool & The Gang) (Happy Cat Disco) Just realized I'd missed some years of "Best of Booty" mashups.
• It's Not the Crime (Tower Of Power) "It's not the crime / It's not the thought / It's if you get caught" - Wait Wait Don't Tell Me used this as themed intermezzo music.
• My Turn (Czech Republic) (Martina Bárta) This slow sweet song is my favorite from Eurovision this year.
• Sing to Me (feat. Karen O) (Walter Martin) Amazingly sweet duet
• The Parting Glass (The Wailin' Jennys) An Irish song of departure, mentioned in this NY Times piece on euthanasia a man deciding on his exit so he could attend his own wake.
• One Monkey Don't Stop No Show (Big Maybelle) Tom Parmenter mentioned this in response to me talking about "Not my circus, not my monkeys"
• St. James Infirmary (Cab Calloway) Fantastic Betty Boop cartoon version...
• After You're Gone (Remastered) (Django Reinhardt) A group I didn't quite get to perform with for Somerville Porchfest did this - you can see the francophone woman who sang it in my 1 Second Every Day (May 9)
• Talk Dirty (feat. 2 Chainz) (Jason Derulo) There was that article Where Did All The Saxes Go that mentioned this as a recent example of quick riff sax, along with Macklemore.
• Hit 'Em High (The Monstars' Anthem) (B Real/Busta Rhymes/Coolio/LL Cool J/Method Man) Heard the Cavs played this before the one game the Celtics took from them.
• Subway Gawdz (Too Many Zooz) I was sick and missed seeing these guys live, alas.
• Work It Out (New Radio Edit) (Beyoncé) There's a 2006 Best of Booty mashup that I like a bit better, but this is good too.
• Lovely Day (Bill Withers) Melissa mentioned how much she loves this song.
• Dead Wrong (Star Wars Remix) (Richie Branson & Solar Slim) There's a mashup CD of Notorious BIG and Star Wars songs.
• GTA Liberty City Stories - Dark March (Danger Mouse & Ben Morfitt (SquidPhysics)) Bumper music from a video game I just realized they ported to iOS, nice italian themes
• The New Knife Game Song (Rusty Cage) I kind of wish the lyric was "And if I miss my fingers / I will start to bleed / But all the same I play this game / 'Cause it's what I need"
• Yodel It! (Romania) (Ilinca) Also from Eurovision: Yodel Rap
• Weed Star (Hash Mouth). "All Star" with all lyrics replaced with Snoop Dogg's "Smoke Weed Everyday".
• Uma Thurman (Fall Out Boy) Uh, it's a song, with the theme to the Munsters.

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I sort of love the the new version of Javascript uses "let"... reminds me of old school BASIC. Pretty good month for music, 5 star stuff in red....

• S is for Songs (Sia / Sesame Street) SO GREAT.
• Pure Comedy (Father John Misty) A little sophomoric in parts but the very start and the very ending has such lovely lyrics
• Vivir Mi Vida (Versión Pop) (Marc Anthony) A BABAM! crew put together a version of this to back a Cosecha non-violent resistance protest. (The version I grabbed is "Versión Pop") I like it more now that I've seen the translation of the lyrics, kind of poignant given what these folks are up against.
• Million Dollar Secret (Lucius) "Girls" has introduced me to so many songs... man is this one beautiful
• Rocket Man (Elton John) (Iron Horse) Fun bluegrass cover - I hate the instrumentation of the original, but this lets me enjoy the theme.
• Crazy Bird (Wild Child) I enjoy the video for this more than the song but it's still a good song.
• Wrecking Ball (Aurora Aksnes) Another case of a slow sweet cover bringing out the beauty of a pop song.
• Mama Don't Allow (The Jive Aces) This song comes up at HONK! hang outs...
• Feel Like Funkin' It Up (Live Street Mix) (Rebirth Brass Band) The version I got has some bits from the Treme show... something i the headphone placement makes me actually look around to see the voices.
• Ambush (Lateef & The Chief) "Underground" hiphop I heard at a kebab place in Austin.... has really grown on me.
• Crowded Places (Banks) Another song I heard on "Girls"... favorite lyric "And then when I got home when I played that show in L.A / All your shit was gone / It was the only time I thought I'd made a mistake"
• Wild Things (Alessia Cara) I like the line "I lose my balance on these eggshells / You tell me to tread"
• Did I Ever Love You (Leonard Cohen) Interesting contrasts, musically.
• Now (Eyedea & Abilities) More hiphop that sounds a bit better in an Austin Kebab place.
• Can I Kick It? (A Tribe Called Quest) I think Chapelle's special had this on. Those weird simplistic rhymes might not work in other contexts...
• Ldn (Lily Allen) All her stuff sounds kinda similar but it's all pretty good.
• Shape of You (Ed Sheeran) Not so deep but the thumb piano on this is so catchy.
• Ophelia (Remastered) (The Band) I guess I like the title more than anything (I made new lyrics to Cecilia with the same title). Keep expecting it to become Billy Preston's "Nothing from Nothing"

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I skipped yoga this week, but I did assemble two largeish IKEA pieces (with help from Liz) in relatively small rooms with lots of boxes... that's kind of the same thing, right? Pretty good month! Starting with one the relatively rare 5 star songs, and going down from there...

5 Star:

• I'd Like To (Corinne Bailey Rae) Sexy and funky as hell. (Drums are slightly different in this mix, FWIW)

4 Star:

• Human (Rag'n'Bone Man) I think this is getting some play - there's a real beauty here. His stage name is fantastic too.
• Desperado (Rihanna) Heh, this now shows above the Eagles version on Youtube. Guess it's from Westworld?
• Nature Boy (Acoustic) (AURORA) One of those slow haunting covers.
• Believer (Imagine Dragons) I think the Nintendo Switch ads used this one.
• Here I Come (Soul City) Weirdly hard to find an MP3 to pay for- I wonder if it's like a studio group, kind of designed for the commercials in which I ran into it? Still, nice little groove

3 Star

• Weathered (Jack Garratt) Kind of a "The National's" vibe. Really sweet nostalgic video too.
• Ndn Stakes (feat. Sitting Bear) (A Tribe Called Red) Saw these guys live, always dig the blend of classic Indigenous American sounds and modern stuff.
• Thinking Clear (Dub Fx) Interesting use of the meditation chime.
• The Barracuda (The 5.6.7.8's) Japanese Go-Go. And the best band name ever.
• You and Me (Penny & The Quarters) I'm sort of struck by the low-fi recording of this.
• Rinse & Repeat (feat. Kah-Lo) (Riton) Nice club stuff.
• Lucifer Sam (Pink Floyd) I used the line "That cat's something I can't explain" in a bad bittersweet poem in college
• Jeepers Creepers (Single) (Louis Armstrong) I started singing this, Melissa hadn't heard it much.
• Eye Know (De La Soul) School of Honk is playing this but to be honest the baseline in their version is a bit different.
• No Soy de Aquí, No Soy de Allá (Chavela Vargas) Porchioke covered this song, and I wanted to find a version.
• Charley's Girl (Lou Reed) Guess it's good to have a song of his that isn't "Walk on the Wild Side"

4-star songs in read, listing things in rough descending order of "you gotta hear this"ness.

• You Can't Catch Me (Chuck Berry) I REALLY like magical realism of his airplane car. Also interesting is how Lennon borrowed/stole "Here comes Flat-top Comin' up Slowly" for "Come Together".
• Good as Hell (Lizzo) Super happy hiphop. Some really nice beats in parts.
• Let's Go Get 'Em (Rebirth Brass Band) My favorite of the School of Honk "easy" songs.
• Behind Closed Doors (Otis McDonald) Funky modern piece.
• Are We All Hardwired? (Christine Lavin) - great mini political quiz, but at over 7 minutes, I skip it now.
• Can't Help Falling in Love (Haley Reinhart) Beautiful cover. Almost but not quite over the line of schmaltz.
• The Sound of Silence (Nouela) The other "gentle female vocalist cover". Video here is black and white-ified clips of people crying from a wide range of movies.
• Pretend (Seinabo Sey) Background from a trailer for "Girls"
• Barefootin' (Wilson Pickett) Straight forward R+B
• You Haven't Done Nothin' (Stevie Wonder) Read an article that some 70s Stevie Wonder is really political and smart
• Stacy’s Mom (feat. Casey Abrams) (Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox) Goofy retro cover (Kind of amazed that the original of this is from 2003 - like The Killer's, Fountains of Wayne nailed that 80s vibe)
• Toothbrush and My Table (Grace Potter & The Nocturnals) - This shuffle was on a playlist from Melissa, good little groove
• One (Harry Nilsson) Didn't realize the 3 Dog Night version was a cover. This one has a smoother, almost Beach Boys aspect.
• Down With the Sickness (Disturbed) Amused that you can just google "Ooh was ah ah ah" to get this song.
• Wiggle Wop (feat. Keno) (Party Favor) Is this booty music? I think this is booty music.

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I made a tutorial page about the blues scale and the 12 bar blues. 4-star-ers in red; I feel like I might have been a little too generous. A ton of youtube rips - which is always my last resort, I'd rather pay and also get a good quality product, but sometimes you got to take what you can get. Arranged in rough descending "maybe you should check this out!" order...

• Que Sera Sera (Last Dance) (Marita Dyson) Ripped this off youtube because sadly there doesn't seem to be a full version available, but this one minute clip is kind of perfect, despite the voiceover. Trigger warning, though, if you ever had a relative in palliative care at home, it will make you cry.
• Make Out (Julia Nunes) Lovely little paean to making out. Love the rhythm of "You're an open book / But I can't read you / Start the countdown 'til I lose it... / Three Two.... / One, I'm Done, I'm Dead..."
• Yodelling (Franzl Lang) Ripped from Youtube. Classic instance of me not being afraid to like music I like! The rhythm of it is has some terrific syncopation.
• Star Wars Medley (Jimmy Fallon The Roots & Star Wars: The Force Awakens) Youtube rip! Love this and how they have the actors singing the appropriate good guy / bad guy part, especially Adam Driver on the Imperial March
• Love Yourself (Justin Bieber) Another challenge of not being afraid of liking music I like. The lyrics are a bit sophomoric, but I love the sparse arrangement and this video is fantastic, I really love the stop and go pas de deux of it.
• Down (Marian Hill) This is from the Apple Airpods commercial I guess? Anyway, spare and lovely, with a cool use of electronic distortion.
• You're Dead (Norma Tanega) Another youtube rip - this was playing at the end credits for "What We Do in the Shadows"
• Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand) (Irma Thomas) Sweet song, I think it is its role in a Black Mirror episode that really cemented it for me.
• House Of The Rising Sun (Heavy Young Heathens feat. The Nashville United First Baptist Vocal Assembly) Nice use of chorus. Tempted to arrange this for the honk band.
• Time in a Bottle (Demo) (Jim Croce) This is less glossy than the regular album version. But it's the muppet version that has my heart.
• Check Me Out (Little Denise) Great Motown beat and horns.
• Bukowski (Modest Mouse) My first Modest Mouse song, though I feel like their name comes up a lot. Anway, always fond of a good literary and/or blasphemous reference.
• Boogie Shoes (KC and the Sunshine Band) Simple and funky.
• Hey Good Lookin' (Hank Williams) Kristin rocked this at a recent house karaoke party
• Hannibal Buress (Morpheus Dorpheus) Another youtube rip. I feel like this was a drunken "you can't rhyme anything with morpheus" challenge.
• I'm Yours (Jason Mraz) Sounds too much like too many other ukulele songs.
• Chain Hang Low (Jibbs) I'm a little too fond of kids songs shoved into hiphop, but it's a catchy melody.
• Classical Music Mashup (Grant Woolard) Greatest hits artfully put together! Melissa does not get why I'll tolerate MIDI-ish music...
• Welcome to Atlanta (Jermaine Dupri) I grabbed this from some the work chatroom about the upcoming football championship. Not the greatest hiphop, but the videos kinda fun.
• Quicksand (Single Stereo) (Martha Reeves & The Vandellas) About as generic a "Wall of Sound" song as you can get, but not bad.

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Playing at a rally today, Safe Communities Coalition Against the Travel Ban

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It is the arrogance of every age to believe that yesterday was calm.

Respectable month for new music. 4 or 5 star songs in red.

• Marching Band Medley (Drumline Soundtrack) I had this song but lost it in the Apple Radio Crapfest; putting it at 5 stars which is a bit high but I really like marching band music horns and drums, especially mixing it up with hiphop. (Incidentally, "Drumline: A New Beat" was a made for TV movie I watched that, unsurprisingly, wasn't great.)
• I Told Y'all [Explicit] (Petey Pablo) I finally looked up the hiphop song in the middle of the Drumline Medley, it's this, and I think it stands on its own...
• Why Can't We Be Friends? (War) From 1975, this song sounds way ahead of its time.
• Wind Your Neck In (Lily Allen) I like how Lily Allen uses UK vernacular (like a dinner proposal to "get a chinese"). Also nice clean drums.
• The Blue Danube (Spike Jones & His City Slickers) Novelty Song. My Mom and Aunt confirm from their recent trip that inspired me to find this - as the song says, the Danube is in fact not blue but green.
• Time After Time (feat. Sarah McLachlan) (Cyndi Lauper) Interesting duet, how their vocal styles contrast.
• Everyday (Single) (Buddy Holly) Someone posted that you can google this song via the query "buddy holly song that sounds like a dude jacking it"
• Sippin Cider Through a Straw (Susie Tallman) A Piers Anthony novel mentioned this campfire song that was new to me. (I swear in finding this I heard a raunchy parody of it that I haven't been able to locate since.)
• Everyday People (Sly & The Family Stone) A new addition to the Porch-i-Oke/Protest-i-Oke set. And so on, and so on, and scooby dooby doo.
• Sweet Georgia Brown (Teddy Riley Remix) (Brother Bones) Melissa kind of hates the "All Around the World!" shout but its grown on me.
• Hot Knife (Fiona Apple) Intriguing multilayering in this song.
• Blue Funk (Blue Mitchell) Heard this guy at Marie's soup party...
• Did I Shave My Legs for This? (Deana Carter) Melissa mentioned this song. But she points out that it's a little odd it's "you want me to go back to school", you think the problem might be tuition money.
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (The Temptations) Heard this at the supermarket, bought a cheap "Motown does Christmas" compilation for it.
• Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Jackson 5) From that compilation

A shorter than average list, sadly I didn't hear much new music in Malaysia. 4 stars in red, check out the video for Carment

• Carmen (Stromae) Oh man this video is brilliant! I was just enjoying the song.
• Play It Right (Sylvan Esso) I dig the intensity of the dancing.
• Birds (Thomas Sanders & Dodie Clark) Cute little duet.
• Get Ugly (Jason Derulo) I watched "Absolutely Fabulous the Movie" on the plane back from Malaysia... it opens with this song. Fun video here.
• The Jeffersons Theme Song (Janet Dubois) Ripped this off of youtube... man is it fun to sing along with. I think I'd like to try to arrange it for band.
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Opening theme (Fox) Only 20 seconds, wish it was longer.
• Black Beatles (feat. Gucci Mane) (Rae Sremmurd) The background for the mannequin challenge.
• Black Hole Sun (Ramin Djawadi) Player piano cover from Westworld.
• Cariñito (Los Hijos del Sol) School of Honk plays this song.
• Paint It Black (The Rolling Stones) There was a great orchestral cover of this in Westworld, but I decided I like the original. Another candidate to do in band.
• Smokin & Drinkin (Danny Brown) Fun hiphop, infectious chorus.
• We Shall Not Be Moved (Mavis Staples) Old protest song.
• How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Al Green) I think I actually heard of this in in the Sex in the City movie... his "lalalalalalalalala" is crazily sensual.
• Rise Up (feat. Tom Morello) (Cypress Hill) Kind of goofy 90s hiphop but I like the Donkey Kong reference.

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The phoney electoral college made a laughing stock out of our nation. The loser one!

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Very mixed feelings about Trump scotch taping his tie.

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advent day 2

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Ugh, vague feeling of remembering "Oh I should put this down someplace where I'll remember it" followed by less vague feeling of being pretty sure I didn't.

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The 52 Things I learned in 2016. Whoa. Interesting month for music. A lot of rips I made myself and a fair amount of religious-y stuff. Here in reverse chronological order, 4 star stuff in red.

• Talk To Me (Run The Jewels) Man are the guys intense. Impressed how Adult Swim is releasing this stuff.
• Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah) (White Denim) Nice R+B tip.
• Puma (Andrew Bird). This was on Public Radio; light pop feel to a serious subject, when you have to be isolated because of thyroid surgery stuff...
• GRAB'm by the PU$$Y (will.i.am ft Apl.de.ap and Liane V) Best election season song. So funny when they break the structure of the song to have Black Trump talks over his opponent.
• A Cimma (La Fanfare Invisible) I made my own mp3 from this video, of this band from Paris I marched with HONK! weekend - a few days earlier at a joint parade we stopped at a funeral, and they played this song. It has such big emotion for me, the seen of the new widow dancing with a relative on their porch... this song complements it perfectly.
• Waiting for My Real Life to Begin (Colin Hay) Another deep song, from "Scrubs"
• Whirled Beat (WashingMachineDrummerKid) Another mp3 I made - kids got rhythm! I just love the sound of it.
• Right On (feat. Ms. Charm Taylor) (Galactic) More great funk.
• One Step Beyond (Madness) Someone propose JP Honk cover this. Took me a while to reassure myself the it's "The Nutsiest Sound Around" and not the "Nazi-est"
• Raw (San Holo) Also had to look lyrics up, I guess it's "We Can Feel Us". Not sure if it's meant to sound like "We Can Feel Loss" as well.
• Todo Mi Vida (Pueblo Cafe) More latino hiphop from the end of "Silicon Valley". With tuba!
• Wolverine: Adamantium Rage Boss 2 Tri-Fusion A friend said this predates a certain musical genre. The version I ripped from youtube much better than the "8 bit arcade" version I paid for.
• A cimma (Fabrizio De Andrè) The original of that song I mentioned above. This page translates and explains it.
• Prince Ali (Nick Santa Maria and The Ensemble of Aladdin). Realized I wanted this song, it's fun to sing. Bummed this version says it "swords" and not "swo-ords"
• Carioca (Jonathan & Darlene Edwards) A kind of parody song used for the credits for "Kentucky Fried Movie". Love the "It has a met-- it has a meter that is tricky"
• Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho (Mahalia Jackson) Thinking about suggesting this for my honk band.
• Hallelujah (John Cale) Got this version from scrubs but I guess some people know it from Shrek.
• They'll Know We Are Christians (Star Lake Music Camp) I had this version on a tape, from Salvation Army's Star Lake Music Camp 1991 - I lost the tape but my friend Eric Dinah had a copy he ripped for me. The minimalist beat and piano has always stuck with me, and I think it's an excellent aspiration for Christians.

Pretty decent month. 4-star stuff in red.

• You Really Got Me (The Kinks) These guys were really ahead of their time. (Looking to whip up a version for JP Honk)
• Ghost Town (Hot 8 Brass Band) Another song we're thinking about for JP HONK, especially for halloween.
• I Wish (Stevie Wonder) Been on a Stevie Wonder kick lately - to me he kind of felt like a harbinger of a new generation of motown.
• I'm My Own Grandpa (Willie Nelson) This is such a fun song. So glad I found a non-Ray Stevens version.
• Cookie Thumper! (Die Antwoord) I'm kind of amazed by the whole Afrikaans / Xhosa elements to this. Also I like the lyric "I rhyme tight! Tight! Tight! Tight! / Spark mosh-pit shit cause I rhyme so hype / Put me in front of someone I don't like I go punch! Kick! Bite! Fight!" Actually the sense of menace in this thing is amazing.
• Drunken Sailor (The Irish Rovers) Another fun novelty song.
• Major Tom (Shiny Toy Guns) I took me a while to realize this is only a sequel to "Space Oddity" - I think a Tufts a cappella group might have smushed them together. Anyway, nice cover.
• One Hundred Years From Today (Frank Sinatra) I liked this song. Also, I like that Sinatra is more a humanist than you might have guessed, and this song reflects that.
• Soy Yo (Bomba Estéreo) I guess its made the rounds but this a fun song.
• toxic but it keeps getting faster (britney Spears Ft. Fast) What a genre! Someone said "this is what anxiety sounds like"
• Tearin' It Up (Gramatik) Funky.
• Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (Lee Dorsey) Also funky.
• Fast As You Can (Fiona Apple) Fast as you can is not as fast as Toxic but it keeps getting faster.
• Chelsea Hotel #2 (Leonard Cohen) Love the lyrics.
• Epic (Faith No More) Is there a more 90s video than this? Fun fact: VVN Music found [Faith No More lead singer] Patton to possess the highest vocal range of any known singer in popular music, with a range of six octaves.
• F**k You Mistletoe (Kyle Dunnigan) This tale of cowboys who stumble into gayness is one of the funniest songs I have. I think it really nails the genre.
• Gyruss (Game Theme) (8-Bit Arcade) This is, hands down, the best music on the Atari 2600.
• Do You Feel It? (Chaos Chaos) From a sad scene in "Rick and Morty"
• Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee (Sticks McGhee & His Buddies) A favorite of Tom Parmenter, the man who came back from being dead. Wine, wine, wine - Elderberry - or Cherry - Black Berry - Half + Half ------- Half what and Half what else??

A surprising amount of 4-stars (marked in red) last month...

Hiphop

• Phantom (Redux) (Shirt) and Nobody Speak (feat. Run The Jewels) (DJ livew) - these two songs feel a bit similar, awesome old school electric strings and horns.
• Move Bitch (feat. Mystical & I-20) (Ludacris) Song is a little harsh, but I really dig Mystical.
• GREEN TEA (FEAT. MARGARET CHO) (Awkwafina) Awkwafina is terrific in general.
• Nuevos Tiempos (Pueblo Cafe) One of those "credits for Silicon Valley")
• Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1 (Run The Jewels) These guys are good.

Mario

• Supermarioland (Ambassadors Of Funk) I was delighted that this song uses the rarely-covered "Super Mario Land" Gameboy theme... super nostalgic.
• Mario Hanafuda (Nintendo) The more often covered original SMB theme, but with Japanese instruments.

"Old Stuff I Missed"

• Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival) I forget why I thought to dig this one up.
• End of the Line (The Traveling Wilburys) Brings up that 90s case. The song Melissa thinks of first when I'm trying to describe George Harrisons "I Got My Mind Set on You"
• Up to Me (Bob Dylan). Penn Jillette like this one. There's surprisingly little Bob Dylan in my collection.

Misc

• Closer (feat. Halsey) (The Chainsmokers) Found out about this via Slate's series on current #1 hits. I like the description "For the first 10 seconds, the song sounds like it’s building to something monumental: thundering piano chords, sweeping synth washes, and a swelling echo like you’re down in a vast ravine. And then, at 0:11 … click. It all switches off like a lamp—a finger-snap and a meek 'Hey' "
• Polkarama! ("Weird Al" Yankovic) Polka parties are now my favorite type of Weird Al.
• Give It Away and Black Or White (Dick Brave & The Backbeats) Favorite genre: Germans pretending to be American Country or Rockabilly cover bands.
• Try to Remember (Isabelle Georges) (link is not the version I found on iTunes) - I think this song from "The Fantasticks" is getting a lot of play after being in Marvel's "Civil War"
• Bizarre Love Triangle (2014 Remaster) (Frente!) This is a song I did a cappella at Tufts... come to think of it it may have been inspired by this version.
• Masterpiece (Clarence Reid) Nice R+B.
• In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel) Really just love the line "Can't believe how strange it is to be anything at all"
• Call Your Girlfriend (Erato) There was a video with Emma Stone and Maya Rudolph doing a similar "butter tubs" cover of this song, but it generally got removed. This version is a fine substitute.

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Best daytime firework I've seen!

I think it's a "gerindola" Second Best Photos of 2009. Several years have had some bonus images thrown in, but 2009 was strong enough that I thought it could use its own runner-up gallery dozen.

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In its essence, technology is something that man does not control.

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It was a rough month for me and iTunes; I realized that 180 or so songs were just gone, so I had to spend a lot of time digging them up from archives and what not. (and it's frustrating, because I'd prefer to use "smart" playlists based on "Added" dates, but iTunes doesn't let you backdate files.) Not sure what caused that; my dalliance with Apple Music, some bungling on my part, or what, but now I'm out to be a lot more careful with my music collection.
4 stars in red.

• Cocaine (John Martyn) (Gin Wigmore) Strong cover.
• Love Train (The O'Jays) Nice R+B.
• Money (Pink Floyd) Pink Floyd lives in that gap in my teenage music experience; it's an ok song, despite the sound fx beat there's not a lot of rhythm to it.
• Know Your Presidents (Reggie Cous) Via tumblr... it's the presidents!
• Love Letter (To My Muse) (Paper Waves) Local group who did JP Porchfest, I know one of the members from School of Honk.
• Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) (Stevie Wonder) Stevie Wonder also lives in that gap in my music background, but he's fantastic, I really like how he captures that old R+B and blended it to something so fresh.
• National Emblem March (Clemson University Marching Band) Heard this in Ocean Grove, decided to find a version with just brass, no strings.
• Devil Devil (MILCK) Nice dark song.
• GHWT Expert Bass - Rondo (Guitar Hero World Tour) Always like Rondo ala Turca, this is a fun version even with all the video game glitches in it.
• Track Suit (Minor Mishap Marching Band) School of Honk does this song. Love the percussion, kind of like DC's Go-Go rhythm.
• Formation (Beyoncé) Acoustically really interesting, and I love that "Lets get in formation / Lets get information" play, the subtle differences in the two lines.
• Shake Hands with Danger (Jim Stringer) You can get the original MP3 from the safety video MST3K was ripping on. It's catchy.
• Flashdance...What a Feeling (Yael Naim) Soft cover really brings out the beauty.

So-so month for new music last month.

• Our Glorious Leader (Japanese Trump Commercial Theme) (Mike Diva) MUST SEE VIDEO.... Trump as the cutest, most anime apocalyptic force ever! You'll be glad it's the end of the world.
• Ghostbusters (I'm Not Afraid) (Fall Out Boy / feat. Missy Elliott) Somewhat gratuitous remake, but I like the Missy Elliott break, and the drums ain't bad. (Also a song School of Honk does)
• Motherf***er Got F***ed Up (Folk Uke) via "Orange is the New Black" - coasts on the juxtaposition of street talk and sweet ukes, but good in both.
• Froggy Went a Courtin' (Informal Rehearsal) (Elvis Presley) Elvis really cracks himself up on this...
• Your Feet's Too Big (Fats Waller) "Say, up in Harlem, at a table for two- There were four of us - me, your big feet, and you -- from your ankle up, I'll say you sure are sweet...from that down there's just too much feet - Yasss, your feets too big..."
• Bauchtanz (Beckmann, Djorkaeff & Beatzarre) / Macho Man (Santipe) Ok- so "New Girl" had a cheesy middle eastern themed wedding with groomsmen doing a 'hoverboard' choreographed number to a song called "Magic Carpet" that from an obscure German/Turkish movie "Macho Men", and I had to buy the whole soundtrack. "Bauchtanz" (local copy) was cooler than the song I was hunting for, and "Macho Men" is swagger stupid but fun - I like the second guy coming in with a calm "clickety click BOOM"
• i (Kendrick Lamar) (song starts around 0:44) Heard this at Liberty Hotel lounge, nice beat and sonic space, decent message.
• Mexican Hat Dance (Allan Sherman) Cornball! I guess potentially racist, but not really.
• Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear) (A Tribe Called Red) Native American blend.
• So Beautiful or So What (Paul Simon) I've missed the last few Paul Simon albums. I like the message embedded in the title / refrain - two ways of looking at the world
• Do Watcha Wanna (Extra Crispy Brass Band) A piece I play in School of Honk that I wanted to hear more of.
• Changes (Langhorne Slim & The Law) Sweet song.

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61 glimpses of the future, starting in the Far East.

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I'm not a very privacy-minded guy, but Waze kind of freaked me out the other day - I was used to it "helpfully" asking "Are you on your way [Home]?" (after I registered more or less my home address with it") at random times I thought maybe there was some heuristic about home and realizing I wasn't near there. The other day it asked me "Are you on your way to [Stony Brook]?" - where we have our regular band practice at that time... Now, I entered Stony Brook as a favorite just for that purpose, but man... that moves Waze from "take a guess" heuristics to low-key stalker. As usual, in rough descending order of "you should hear this!", 4-stars in red.

• Go Your Own Way (Lissie) The big drum and general big sound of this cover is terrific.
• Berzerk (Eminem) Sweet oldschool tribute; I like the cleverness of the old school Beastie Boys shout shout-out: Just like I did with addiction I'm 'bout to *kick it* / Like a magician, critics I turn to *crickets*
• Get Ya Hands Up (Fatman Scoop Vs. Amerie) (TheFunkyFr34k) Mashup with awesome drums. 4 stars. Not sure why the Statham.
• H.S.K.T. (Sylvan Esso) It's no "Coffee" but it's not bad.
• You and I (Ingrid Michaelson) One of those sweet-lyric'd ukulele duets.
• J. R. R. Tolkien vs George R. R. Martin (Epic Rap Battles of History) I love the opening - "Brace Yourselves! Gather up your trolls and your soldier elves!"
• Creep (Hungover At Soundcheck In Berlin) (Amanda Palmer) Porch-I-Oke's performance of "Creep" got me interested in covers... she hits some notes a bit too hard, but still, good.
• One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer (John Lee Hooker) Melissa introduced me to the George Thorogood version which tells a great story but is kind of long.
• California Dreaming (Lee Moses) Soulful cover.
• Batman Theme (Neal Hefti and His Orchestra) Full version of this is pretty sweet.
• Neato (Three Loco) The video is even dumber than the rapping!
• Blackbird Special (Dirty Dozen Brass Band) School of Honk started doing this one, and I wanted to get a better feel for the tricky syncopated bassline.
• Too Soon to Tell (The Subdudes) You can really hear that this is Bonnie Raitt song, even when it's just the guy singing.
• Walk on Water (Ira Losco) Every year I watch the Eurovision recap and see if there's a song I like - I've never found the equal of Satellite but I like the drums in this one.
• In The End You're An All Star (Jeremy Turnbull) Odd but functional little mashup.
• Beer Barrel Polka (Frank Yankovic & His Yanks) No explanation needed. I hope.
• Yes Bitch (K Rizz) Club music from "Broad City", and probably the most perfect Broad City song ever.
• Slow Down (Brand Nubian) Got this because it sampled Edie Brickell, but the misogynist lyrics almost made me put it back.

An uncommonly good month for music, with me puting the first four listed at 4 stars.

• Kiss (KIDDO KAT feat. Heidi Joubert+Ozzy Lino) Weirdly this subway Prince cover was making the rounds the day before his death...
• Fuck This Shit I'm Out (feat. Youngblaze) (The Theme Song) Admittedly this version adds some verses, but the essence is this video...
• Shadrach (Beastie Boys) Kickin' old school. Nice video! Also, adding it to my "Psyched!" work playlist
• Stare Into the Sun (Graffiti6) My company used this as some filler before the allhands screencast... I'm such a sucker for this kind of drum
• Dying Day (Gin Wigmore) Small sweet song
• Give Me Some Ska / Donne-Moi Du Chien (Environmental Encroachment) Wrong song, right band - I grabbed their CD in Austin
• Two Guys (For Every Girl) (Peaches) Raunchy electro-clash
• Pursuit of Happiness (Lissie) Saw her live at the Royale, this is her closer. She says she's mostly making money to become a beekeeper.
• Rockin' Robin (Bobby Day) Ok, now THIS is old school.
• Kill Da Wabbit (Skit) (Thic Man) I found a random 15 second excerpt of "Kill Da Wabbit"...
• Almost Unreal (Roxette) So, I wasn't sure why some songs from the "Mario Bros" movie soundtrack (pretty good soundtrack actually) didn't make it or got removed from my collection. Anyway, sweet and kind of sensual song.
• Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) (Us3) Another Mario Bros refugee... That year, this song was in like every movie soundtrack.
• Bomb Intro/Pass That Dutch (Missy Elliott) I always dig her stuff so much.
• Orange Sky (Alexi Murdoch) My yoga teacher played this once.
• Tales of Brave Ulysses (Cream) To Gawker said this song is probably more the model of Sarah Palin's "slam poetry" style (over "White Rabbit" or "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds")
• Move It On Over (Hank Williams) Great honky tonk.
• Stressed Out (twenty one pilots) Aww, millennials.

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"Not less than three times in his or her life should everyone read Don Quixote, in youth, middle age, and old age." said Aubrey Bell (I thought there was a longer version of this quote that compared it to viewing a lovely building in the morning, afternoon, and twilight but I couldn't find it.)

Anyway. I started reading Don Quixote, again.

Sigh :-D A middling-fair month for finding music - no 4 stars. Sorted in inverse "you gotta hear (or see) this!"

• Upside Down & Inside Out (OK Go) The song is solid, dig that "CD skip" effect, but the video... it's like that Zero-G trip in video form.
• Iko Iko (Dr. John) Been getting more into this song, I like Dr. John's cajun pronunciations.
• Jody, Come Back and Get Your Shoes (Bobby Newsome) I got this solid R+B tune after this article on the name "Jody" - in some military marching songs, Jody is the guy who steals your gal.
• 212 (feat. Lazy Jay) (Azealia Banks) Sexy energy in parts... and I gotta admit "212" scans better than "617" (an answer I saw on Kottke: It's 2006. You're DJing a club. You have a 2016 iPod. What song do you put on to make everyone go nuts?)
• Stand By Me (Ben E. King) I was just surprised this one wasn't in my collection already.
• Seven Bridges Road (Live) (Eagles) To quote The Comics Curmudgeon "ha ha ha punk rock dude, you’re in a band that plays Eagles covers"
• Leader of the Pack (The Shangri-Las) - "Betty, is that Jimmy's ring you're wearing?" - my parent's names, by chance! I like that "look out look out look out!" yell.
• Suicide Is Painless (Johnny Mandel) (aka "Theme from M*A*S*H" - literally written by a 14 year old, with the mandate that 'it had to be called "Suicide Is Painless"; second, it had to be the "stupidest song ever written"'. I really appreciate the exquisite sophomoric aspect of it, plus it just sounds good.
• Maximum Effort (Junkie XL) - from the movie "Deadpool" - I saw this documentary that talks about the Synclavier II sound sample it makes such good use of.
• Groove Is In The Heart (Edwin van Santen) SID Chiptune cover of my favorite and most sacred song.
• Here's Where the Story Ends (The Sundays) A favorite of Melissa's... So. 90s.
• Rag Mop (Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra) If you're ever worried music is getting meaningless, come back to this old classic.
• The Ballad of Irving (Frank Gallop) Dr. Demento classic, Big, Short, Fat Irving, the 142nd Fastest Gun in the West... (parody of Lorne Greene's Ringo) - kind of weird that songs can have their own laughtracks...

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Seriously amazing Empire-centric, 80s-anime-style short Star Wars battle drawn and animated weekends over 4 years by one fan...
New (to me) music I added last month! 4 stars in red.

• This Woman's Work (Kate Bush) At first I thought this song was just overwrought, but reading up on it, and remembering its probably from a new father's perspective, it's powerful. Think I heard it in "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
• Ni**as in Paris (JAY Z & Kanye West) Is it weird to own music whose title you're not allowed to say? Anyway, the DJ was playing this before "The Soul Rebels Brass Band"
• Dont Blame The Dynamite (Dr Teeth & The Electric Mayhem) Muppets! "There's a party all the time, for them what choose..."
• GDFR (Flo Rida) I think this is playing in a strip club in "Deadpool"
• Groovulation (Youngblood Brass Band) Awesome tune I played with the Bread + Puppet Overtakelessness Circus.
• Son of a Preacher Man (Aretha Franklin) How had this cover flown under my radar? Thanks Obama. I mean, Melissa.
• Anyone Else But You (The Moldy Peaches) Favorite lyric of the month: "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start, just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart"
• You Are My Sunshine (Pt. 1) (Elizabeth Mitchell) Hunted around, this was the best version I found.
• Kangaroo Court (Capital Cities) Love the video for this.
• Gravel Pit (Wu-Tang Clan) The youtube video is crazy censored, but I was very impressed by the Austin Powers-esque groove
• Thunderstruck (Steve`n`Seagulls) i think I prefer the youtube version of this song, and not just because of the hats.
• When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along (Al Jolson) Is... this version racist? Like just by himself, the voice he does? Vs "the Jazz Singer" I mean. Anyway, Dylan like to sing this one.
• Iko Iko (Jimmy Fallon, Sia, Natalie Portman, The Roots) Man do I dig Fallon + The Roots + Celebrity Singer Kindergarten Percussion covers. Plus my band totally needs to get back into this song.

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Tuba travel planning. I find it charming , yet pragmatic, that multiple exemptions for musical instruments have been carved out for airline baggage policies.

And it's irregularly shaped to boot. "My hump, my hump, my lovely tuba lump"

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Wow-- remember that old computer animation of a fantasy contraption, hundreds of spheres bouncing and playing (percussion, and impact-y strings)? Someone made that a reality!!

It's like a music box*100! Ok month for music to start the year. You GOTTA watch the alternate video for TOO MANY ZOOZ.

• Spocktopus (TOO MANY ZOOZ) This is the 3-musician version of this mind blowing sax-dance video. A real inspiration to my tuba dancing
• Last Night in Texas (The Maverick Mikel Knight) The guys got some fascinating (if sketchy) bootstrap business practices, but this is one catchy bit of hick-hop.
• Extended Funky Chimes (Sesame Street) JP Honk is putting together a cover of "Sesame Street", and two of the members were super-psyched to make an ending for it based on this great bit of bumper music.
• Genghis Khan (Miike Snow) Good example of a modern indie rock vibe, with a really fun video.
• All You Fascists Bound to Lose (Nina Hagen) I couldn't find Woody Guthrie doing his own songs, so I have a (different) version of this German actress.
• La La La (Brazil 2014) (Shakira/Carlinhos Brown) Theme for the recent world cup. I like the percussion.
• Caramel (Suzanne Vega) This song was languishing with 2 starts 'til I randomly heard it at the end of a trailer for the movie "Closer"
• I Like It Like That (Pete Rodriguez) A classic.
• Sad (Bo Burnham) Funny- at least watch the first 15 seconds. His book of poetry is good too, very Shel Silverstein-y...
• Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (The Buckinghams) I'm surprised I didn't find this version when i was looking for covers, when JP Honk added it to their repertoire.
• Hey Na Na (Galactic) Funky!
• Jessie’s Girl (Mary Lambert) Very sweet cover.
• Superbad (Top Dogz) Love how those horns come in!

Semi-decent month for new music last month, the first one listed is the only 4-star.

• Charlie On the MTA (Live) (The Heebee-jeebees) My one 4-star this month... I literally started laughing with delight the first time I heard it. This is a slightly different cover, but the way they take it lower and lower is so much fun...
• Popcorn (Hot Butter) For being such a "hey electronic music!" song, this song's percussion is beautifully acoustic. Also: this video.
• Bill Murray’s “Star Wars" (Oscar Isaac) The new Star Wars' awesome and enthusiastic supporting hero covering my favorite Star Wars lyrics? Yes please!
• Drop It Like It's Hot (Pharrell Williams & Snoop Dogg) I only had a Best of Booty Mashup of this... I love the tongue cluck sound.
• Mind Heist (Zack Hemsey) I was watching a video of how like every trailer now uses the "Inception Honk"...
• Christmas At Ground Zero ("Weird Al" Yankovic) Eventually I'm going to get like every Weird Al song I loved on tape as a new MP3 purchase. I think the dark humor of this was a big influence on my Nuclear War Fun Club doodles.
• Love the One You're With (The Isley Brothers) Tony at "Million Year Picnic" loves the Isley Bros. I'm still intrigued by the message of this song.
• Nothing but a Heartache (The Flirtations) Some great R+B
• Metroid II Return of Carmen Sandiego (Spindley Q Frog) Lovely mashup (Rockapella and Gameboy Chiptune) for a glorious little trainwreck.
• Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone (The Mills Brothers & Tommy Dorsey) Folks at the Dunster Road Holiday Party had a great songbook including this one.
• Brimful of Asha (Cornershop) Somehow I missed this one in the 90s. It's been pointed out as such a terrifically South-Asian-in-England song without needing to make a big frame around it.
• Sesame Street (Maynard Ferguson) I played this in my high school senior talent night band, and I love the bassline - bringing it to my current bands now.
• DADDY (feat. CL) (PSY) Not quite a Gangham Style, but still.. ."got it from daddy" resonates with me. Creepy video tho.
• Look On Down from the Bridge (Mazzy Star) Remembering the scene from "Rick and Morty" where SPOILER (?) Morty is absorbing the fact he's now going to be in an alternate universe where everyone he knows is an identical copy of the people he really knew... I dunno, it's kind of great.

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To discard the stuff we've acquired is to murder the version of ourselves we envision using it.

She also cites June Thomas labeling it as encouraging an "anorexia of things." (I guess the counter-argument is: that's true, about the "murder", but so often that vision of what "could be, maybe" interferes with our pleasure in "what is")

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All FNORD Hail FNORD Discordia...

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Amused that Google Maps for IOS clearly wasn't tested in a walking city such as Boston; even when on a walking route it gives you real time turn directions blocks ahead of time, as if you were zipping along in a car. Music I added to my collection last month, 4-stars in red.

• May I Suggest (Red Molly) Aw jeez, can this song give me a bad case of the feels.
• 'Round Midnight (Amy Winehouse) Slightly corny but nice take on Sarah Vaughn's classic.
• Roses (feat. ROZES) (The Chainsmokers) Shazam misidentified a Mazy Starr as this, but it's smooth and great. Like the line about "smoke a little weed on the couch in the back room"
• Annie (Overture) ((2014)) I liked the percussion for this when I heard it at a local ice skating competition, and I'm partial to the music ever since I was in the pit orchestra for the stage show.
• (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher (Jackie Wilson) Just rounding out my R+B... maybe all the Ghostbusters talk made me think of it.
• Ballerina (Leona Naess) Very sweet soft song that Melissa showed me.
• WTF (Where They From) (Missy Elliott) So cool to see her back, great sound. The spins in the video at 1:20 are amazing.
• Working In the Coal Mine (Lee Dorsey) Got this hearing about Allen Toussaint's death.
• Hold 'Em Back (Kenan Thompson) It's a funny, novelty song, but I love that bass sound.
• Stomp to My Beat (Radio Edit) (JS16) Funny... I thought this sounded like a DDR song... but I love the beat that comes in at 1:26
• Lips Are Movin (Meghan Trainor) I don't always dig the throwback feminism, but the throwback sound is catchy.
• Encyclopedia Frown (Jonathan Mann) I kind of had to beg the artist via twitter for this version, which is shoutier than the other one he released. Anna Anthropy's cat. As a pirate.
• Ricky ("Weird Al" Yankovic) I think eventually I will purchase every song on Weird Al's first album, which was one of my first and most heavily listened to tapes as a kid.
• Rusty Cage (Johnny Cash) Just good.
• Prisencolinensinainciusol (Adriano Celentano) - a weird, catchy song, nonsense syllables of what English sounds like to an Italian speaker... (music starts at 1:45)

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advent day 4

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"Show Your Work". I think I do that too much when I write: it's not enough to state what I believe, but why I believe it, because I have this subconscious fear that at any moment I might be held to account for it, and being Wrong is kind of Sin.

But in truth, no one (or at least a small select) gives a damn. The indifference of the universe is at once utterly disheartening and rather freeing.

"The winds blew and the clouds moved on as if they were oblivious to their mortal plight." <- best video game quote ever.

---

With a presumed life span of over 500 years, it's safe to say that every plastic bottle you have used exists somewhere on this planet, in some form or another.

---

after ordering a nice cheap pair of gloves from Amazon, I wonder what it will be like for kids who witness their parents doing this... I mean money and the worlds of commerce are already kind of mysterious for kids, I think-- witnessing parents who type at a computer and then two days later or so stuff just shows up on the doorstep... That's kind of weird! Arranged in descending order of "hey this is interesting!"...

• Scrubs- Sanford and Son (Scrubs) - I just love this comedy bit, so I dumped this whole video as an MP3.
• Umbrella (Mechanical Bride) Latest I got in the "creep slow cover" genre.
• "YMCA" reworked to Minor key (Village People / Oleg Berg) When the Village People become villains in a video game, this is their theme music.
• Believe (Pomplamoose) I really like this cover of Cher's song... I love how much denial the lyrics carry.
• It's the Music (A.Skillz & Stickybuds Remix) (The Mighty Mocambos) A rare addition to my energy playlist. For a while I thought the refrain was "Stinky Butts" not "stickybuds".
• Fancy (Reba McEntire) A lovely song about a terrible situation
• Feeling Good (Bassnectar Remix) (Nina Simone) Strong Remix of great song.
• Radioactive (Pentatonix & Lindsey Stirling) Another cover, with a lot of strings.
• Keep Your Heart Young (Brandi Carlile) Good advice on a kind of country/western tip.
• Pay Attention (Pomplamoose) Cool original song (though I had to tell itunes to cut out the last bit, when it turns into a skit like thing)
• You're Not the One (Blood Diamonds Remix) (Sky Ferreira) Just some decent pop.
• Sat (Time) (Atlantic Brass Quintet) Instrumental
• Introdiction (Scroobius Pip) Kind of sophomoric (e.g. "In the end they are just words, you give them power when you cower man, it's so absurd" on the c-word) but some good stuff
• Fireball (feat. John Ryan) (Pitbull) - like "Girl on Fire", I'm left wondering "why is it ok to rhyme a whole phrase with itself as long as it ends with 'fire'" (as in "roof on fire")

---

You have the rights to my face. You do not have the rights to my lagoon of mystery!"

Music I added last month... 4-stars in red, the first four videos are worth a watch.

• Downtown (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) -- fun song, bringing in a few different genres, beautifully. The video is cool too, especially the chariot of motorcycles.
• Like a Boss (Amy Kucharik) I saw this artist busking at Davis Square before a School of Honk event... actually I played along on tuba with her ukelele. This video has lots of fun business-speak innuendo.
• Epic Rap Battles of History - Everything's a Product (Honest Movie Trailers) - funny mini-parody of "Everything is Awesome"
• This Land is Your Land (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings) Crazy good R+B cover of a fantastic song.
• The Noncommittal Love Song (Amy Kucharik) -- shades of Weird Al's "You're the woman that I've always dreamed of -- Well not really, but you're good enough for now"... but with more ukelele.
• Inertia Creeps (Massive Attack) A dark electronic-ish piece with some middle eastern overtones.
• I Am Mine (Pearl Jam) This song had big signifigance in this tragic story of a 38 year old with Alzheimers.
• Hand Clapping Song (The Meters) Some nice R+B
• Suplex (feat. Northern Voice) (A Tribe Called Red) I dig the blend of first people's music with some modern stuff
• Worth It (feat. Kid Ink) (Fifth Harmony) Cool klezmer-y bits
• Wanna B Ur Lovr ("Weird Al" Yankovic) Weird Al takes on Prince. Leaving a nation asking... "she has yugoslavian hands"? What?
• Goin' Up the Country (Canned Heat) Weird surfer-ish 60s bit.
• Tetris (Seinfeld Remix)(SynaMax) burbly cover of the old russian folksong, known to a million gameboys.

---

---

It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.

(just to have it in text) 5 and 4 star:

• My Favorite Picture of You (Guy Clark) The studio version of this made my 5-star list. It feels so true; the picture he's showing on the album cover must be the one in the song. When he says "click" it gives me a shiver; such love, such remorse.
• Wild World (Cassandra Jenkins) A LOVELY cover of Cat Stevens' song.
• The Time Is Now (John Cena & Tha Trademarc) There's a new version of Rick Rolling that uses this, Cena's entrance music. It's a super energizing song.

And the rest...

• Tusk (Fleetwood Mac) I kind of like this song, and the use of Marching Bands, but wish the sound balance was more in favor of the band...
• Barley & Grape Rag (Rory Gallagher) A prodigous 13 year old was playing this at Rockport's Acoustic Musical Fest... nice little bluegrass-y number
• Sail (AWOLNATION) I missed this one when it was fresh. I've seen it on cat videos since...
• X Gon' Give It to Ya (DMX) Maybe I saw this on a trailer? I like his powerful angry delivery.
• Shoop (Salt-n-Pepa) I really dig Salt-n-Pepa's uninhibited and uncompromising enthusiasm about sex on their terms. (Could do without the songs use of 'retard'; interesting that that word gets censored in the video.)
• Can't Let Go (Lucinda Williams) Heard a cover of this at Bryan's birthday party, another nice bluegrass-y number
• The Peoples' Champ (feat. Hellnback) (A Tribe Called Red) I dig the mix of hip hop and first people's music, along with the activist sentiment
• Encyclopedia Frown (Jonathan Mann) Anna Anthropy's cat in exciting pirate adventures! Fun video... also a version with more people singing than the one I have. Actually, I may have to replace the guy-and-guitar version I have with this one.
• Music From the "Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation" Movie Trailer (The Action Band) A remake of the actual progression of music from the trailer. (I'm still looking for awesome remixes of the original theme... I remember trying to march to it at Tufts Marching Band... we take the field once a year, so that year we pick the song that goes 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2??)
• Cheeseburger in Paradise (Jimmy Buffett) I remember Mo requesting this song in Florida. And more recently Melissa didn't realize it was an actual song, she thought that the title was just like a metaphor.
• New York (Angel Haze) Angel Haze is kind of harsh, but I like the sound of it.

---

No one's being jailed for practicing her religion. Someone's being jailed for using the government to force others to practice her religion.

See also: @NextToKimDavis... Davis is either terribly misguided or just trying to ride the Loony Conservative Gravy Train. This marked the month I fiddled around with Apple Music; never again. They should have made it a separate app, this whole conflating of music available locally and via streaming just sucks, and there are a number of weird glitches.

So, an ok month for music, here arranged in rough order of "harsh and electronic" to "soft and acoustic"... it seems like most of these songs fell on one side of that or the other. 4 stars and up marked in red, though as always it's more "stuff I'd like to hear" more than a judgement of the quality of the music.

• Map of Tasmania (Club Mix) [feat. Amanda Palmer & Peaches] (The Young Punx) I was showing the original to Melissa and this excellent remix, big percussion remix came up.
• Hey Mama (feat. Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack) (David Guetta) Fun Mad Max-themed video
• Beg For It (feat. MØ) (Iggy Azalea) I know there are a lot of people who don't dig Azalea, but I think she has really good delivery.
• Scare Me (feat. Peaches & Timberlee) (Major Lazer) I'm kind of a sucker for any song "featuring Peaches"
• Zeus vs Thor (Epic Rap Battles of History) Legofied Rap Battle!
• Ex's & Oh's (Elle King) Good sounds - a bit like Paper Girl.
• I Wish (Skee-Lo) Nice mid-90s hiphop groove, kind of in that party-hip-hop thing that was so big for us in high school.
• Do Your Thing (Basement Jaxx) Some movie trailer is using this... I've heard it in remixes, but the original is solid too.
• That Time (Regina Spektor) So cheap and Juicy!
• Good Old Mountain Dew (The Womenfolk) Weird crackle and pops on the mp3, but a fun country song.
• Copperhead Road (Steve Earle) Saw this guy live last month... he looks different these days.
• Sensitive New Age Guys (Christine Lavin) This would be 5x as funny if the chorus said "well it's because we're TOO sensitive"... anyway.
• Here Comes the Sun (The Beatles) When I "discovered" The Beatles in college, I kind of completely missed "Abbey Road". I'm not crazy about most of the songs, and to be honest this one as well.
• Close To Me (Minnie Driver) Such a great cover - the album versions a bit cleaner.
• Wild Horses (The Sundays) Good cover.
• It's Alright With Me (Harry Connick, Jr.) From an album that was good for making out to in highschool...
• The Waltzing Fool (Guy Clark) Lyle Lovett's original is mentioned in the book "Set This House in Order"
• Remember Me (Steve Earle & The Dukes (& Duchesses)) Oh man... Many feels, the story of an older parent and a young child.

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Someday a few decades from now, some kid is going to ask me, 'Is it really true that you remember a time before the Internet?' and I'll feel like some wise sage who used to extract information straight from the Earth.

---

Feynman vs Gell-man. Ok, if digging on Feynman and his diagrams isn't hipster enough for you, you should become an acolyte of Murray Gell-man.

I do appreciate the Gell-man's knack for the naming of things, though I wonder if this article is remiss for leaving out Feynman's work on the Challenger explosion investigation.

---

It's weird thinking that almost all of what I consider both my adult life, and my recorded life (when I got into daily blogging, private journaling, and also started having a camera in my pocket at all times) happened in the aftermath of 9/11. And also, half of that happened before iPhone, and half after.

Time is weird. June was pretty decent for new music for me. If you check out nothing else, look at Super Spice Bros 2.

• Super Spice Bros 2 (Old Spice) This is advertising turned up to way beyond 11. At least 15 or 16. I love the little touches in it.

Hip Hop / Electronic:

• Danger (Been So Long) (Mystikal featuring Nivea) John Oliver sampled the "DAAAANGER!" refrain. I just love Mystikal's delivery, Louis Armstrong meets Pigmeat Markham meets... I don't even know.
• Run (Radio Edit) [feat. Wretch 32] (Baby Blue) Ah, the appeal of british-accented women rappers.
• House Party (feat. B-Case & U-Jean) (DJ Antoine & Mad Mark) Played on the Atlantic City Board Walk. Like the way the bass kicks in around 1:38.
• Get Busy (Sean Paul) Dance Hall goofiness.

Indie and Country:

• Wicked Ones (DOROTHY) Some of that epic / western-tinged stuff
• Wasp Nest (The National) Mellow, sad song. The refrain "you're a wasp nest" is weirdly visceral and evocative.
• Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Crosby, Stills & Nash) Years ago I recorded the quote "Fear is the lock, and laughter the key, to your heart". Now I realize this was what Weird Al Was parodying in Mission Statement
• Aw Naw (Chris Young) My Aunt introduced me to this fun dumb country song. Aw Naw != "Aw HELL Nah".
• Default (Django Django) Very Phoenix-like Indie stuff.

Funk and Instrumental:

• Sweet Dreams Are Made of This (The Soul Rebels) My college A cappella group covered this, and the brass version is sweet.
• They Will Know We Are Christians (Mosaic) I think once upon a time I had a cassette with the Star Lake Men's Chorus doing a kick butt version of this song, with a tight drum and piano. This is as close as I could find. I think it's also the best aspiration for Christianity.
• Our God Is an Awesome God (Rich Mullins) Another song from my more religious youth. This isn't the version I grabbed, which also has Organ, but it's short and powerful and fun to harmonize to.
• Solid (Soulive) Instrumental, reminds me a bit of Booker T & The M.G.s - used as bumper music on WNYC
• I Believe In Miracles (Jackson Sisters) I think the Beastie Boys sampled from this... great 70s funk

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via Gizmodo, housing values across the USA. I love how this looks like a beating heart energized by where people want to live.

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Fascinating post-exit interview with a "Blue Man". We've gotten kind of used to them, but they've really assembled an amazing thing.

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In defense of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. That was a fun show.

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"dont say 'man up' say 'level up' because video games are cooler than gender binary"

2019 update: I think 'power up' would maybe be better. though ambiguous, a bit. 'use a power up'?

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SO IT TURNS OUT Crown Royal on the rocks is kind of gross but Crown Royal neat alternating with Skinny Cow Chocolate Truffle popsicles is sort of awesome. WHO KNEW??? In decreasing order of "you should hear this!":

• Do You Swear To Tell The Truth The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth So Help Your Black Ass (Amanda Palmer) NSFW, quite, and with an unfortunate title/refrain - but I love the tale of the artist figuring out her life and sex life on her own terms, it's very sweet in its own way.
• Feel Right (feat. Mystikal) (Mark Ronson) I thought this was a 5-star but I think I ended up liking the video version more than the bare song. But the song is pretty good.
• Hold Heart (Emilíana Torrini) Almost syrupy in its sorrow, there's an amazing amount of nuance in its delivery.
• Bulldozer (Goldishack Guerrillas) Political piece, uses a kind of Bro outlook in an amazingly catchy protest work.
• How Naked Are We Going to Get? (The Blow) This vido is a train-station a cappella version of a thoughtful little song.
• Common People (Full Length Version) (Pulp) I think it's good for me to get back to the original from the William Shatner / Joe Jackson cover
• J.Rabbit - Tequila Remix v5 (J.Rabbit) Tweak of a classic. I love the movie clip (?) it samples, "Just drive over to my place, kick back, get some tequila..." - the way she pronounces te-Qui-la...
• The Full Retard (EL-P) An aggresively stupid and NSFW song... the perfect club music for "Hot Tub Time Machine 2"'s future scene.
• Spiders and Snakes (Jim Stafford) Dig the shadow of youthful sexiness in this one.
• Alfie (Lily Allen) What's hilarious about this is that it's about the actor who plays Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones.
• That's Life (Frank Sinatra) For a while I mirrored my dads anti-mafia-based dislike for Sinatra, but given his strikingly progressive views, I've been digging him more.
• The Thrill Is Gone (1969) [Single] (B.B. King) RIP, B.B. King... I like the haunting orchestral strings in this.
• Where Your Eyes Don't Go (They Might Be Giants) Hmm, I like this version a lot better than the one I got, but I love the line "Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders / What the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of"
• Star Wars Imperial March (Dubstep Remix) (Lduk) I like remixes that don't pad their idea into 8 minute jams.
• I Learned the Hard Way (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings) I'd like this song more except for this weirdly off-pitch flute that toots in on the chorus - is it supposed to be like a train whistle?
• Partition (Beyoncé) Is this just half the song? Anyway, some good sexy pop.
• Breaking Bad Remix (Seasons 3-5) (Chris Lohr) A goofy exercise in sampling (in a show I never watched) but I like the percussive elements of it.

Only a few 4 stars, listed in red. The rest put in descending order of interestingness, either for the song or the video.

• Bounce No. 1 (Dave Leanza & Andy Manista) I ripped from a cassette tape [Cleveland] "Heights Jazz Night 1991". I think it may be an original composition, and catchy as heck.
• Joe and Paul (Barton Brothers / Stutchkoff) A Yiddish comedy bit from 1:00-2:55 - the video has some loose translation on screen.
• Bottom of the River (Tufts sQ!) New single by my college a cappella group, just had their 20th birthday. Freshman singing in the group were born around the same time I started singing with them, senior year. (The version from iTunes has better sound quality)
• Steal My Kisses (Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals) Surprised I missed this one when it came out, but everyone at the sQ reunion knew it.
• Rudy (Fusik) The soundtrack to that aweseme bboy/bgirl video. Man that is some amazing dancing/gymnastics.
• Loyalty Never Leaves (Lance Knight) On a radio station in GTA5, this odd Rasta-ish version of "Royals" - reading the lyrics helps a little.
• Opa Cupa Fly (Brass Menazeri) Romani Brass - I think this is a remix.
• Get Back (Ludacris) Wow... the Popeye Arms he's sporting in this video...
• Monty Python's Galaxy Song (Stephen Hawking) Hawking sings Python. (sad the buy now link only works in the UK; I had to rip it.)
• Leprosy (Eu-Four-Ia) An obscure Dr. Demento cassette-tape rip - I should probably put it on youtube.
• Lose It (In the End) (Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.) Ronson often has great percussion.
• Tables and Chairs (Andrew Bird) I think cmg sent me this. I like the post-apocalypse-with-snacks vision.
• Statistician's Blues (Todd Snider) Comedy bit. Like the tone but wish the numbers were better.
• God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get) (El Perro del Mar) Soft song I heard on "Girls"
• Moonlight In Vermont (Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong) When my superniece's Mama K need to scat some song to operate a lamb puppet, she sang this, a song I hadn't heard.
• Can't Nobody Love You (The Zombies) The romantic 60s.
• Send It Up (Kanye West) James Harvey keeps me interested in Kanye.
• Knock On Wood (Eddie Floyd) Very Sam+Dave sounding.
• Fancy (feat. Charli XCX) (Iggy Azalea) The examplar from a "why we love pop music [that sucks]" article, but I have to admit I like Iggy Azalea's delivery.
• Work Song (Hozier) Not quite as good as "Take Me To Church"

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A few photos by Joni L, from JP Honk at yesterday's "Wake Up The Earth" parade and festival in JP. It was a LONG haul up Centre St but the chance to do a set at Stony Brook, and really walk around and through the audience, was special




Ok month for new music... 4-5 stars in red. A lot more instrumental stuff than usual.

• Trouble (feat. Jennifer Hudson) (Iggy Azalea) I really dig this... nice gospel(?) sound with good percussion, and fun lyrics with a slick delivery - kind of like that Kanye West "Gone"
• Palladium (The Hip) (Liz Brady) Super-hip French song. The lyrics are mostly about dancing... I like Le Monkey sound though.
• That's the Way (Daniel Lenz) Random clubish (?) music via "Broad City"
• Freedom Hangs Like Heaven (Iron & Wine) Still acclimating to this foksy piece.
• In My Cult (Jim's Big Ego) Odd little heaven's gate reference by the makers of Stress (love that video)
• Dear Future Husband (Meghan Trainor) - kind of retrogade bit from the "All About That Bass" gal. I enjoy the naughty "left side of the bed" fake-out rhyme.
• The Creator (Pete Rock & CL Smooth) Old school Hiphop.
• 928 Horn Jam (Trombone Shorty) Minute long piece, reminds me of Dirty Dozen.
• Hurricane Season (Trombone Shorty) Used as a bumper on his appearance on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - great horn "fall"
• Night Falls (Wont Back Down) (B-Side Remix) (Booka Shade vs. Plastic Operator) Electronic groove with some "Won't Back Down", DJ was playing this at the "Bring Your Own Beamer" art event
• Whiplash (Hank Levy) Decent movie. I learned how the 7/8 time signature makes the title song a "Time Chart".
• If I Were a Bell (Guys and Dolls) My friend Liz's fav. I like how-- y'know, she actually sounds a little tipsy (the singer, not Liz)
• Adelaide's Lament (Guys and Dolls) But I kind of missed this one too...
• Puttin' On the Ritz (Pomplamoose) Cool cover.
• DJ White Shadow vs. PacMan(tm) (DJ White Shadow) The 90s called... and they were with their friend the 80s. Came from a Bud Light commercial. Pac-Man is in the air lately...

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--from http://dogscantlookup.com/post/115268609033 ...

---

"C'est la Vie!"
accepting that
"this should not be!"
but coping
more stoically; philosophically--
"C'est la Vie..."

I had forgotten about it, but really it was the same idea I rediscovered recently, the concept that if you expect life to be suboptimal, and stop demanding that it live up to all of your momentary hopes and expectations, it can be easier and less scary when small(ish) things do go wrong -- SNAFU usually won't lead to FUBAR.

---

[On worrying about "Skynet" scenarios] Humans are going to die on this planet. We're not going to go through a wormhole to another galaxy; it's just not going to happen. What will survive on our behalf is AIs--if we manage to create them. That's not problematic, it's desirable.

I really agree with his point here. (Also, is he getting a dig into the film "Interstellar"?) February was a pleasingly eclectic month for my new music playlist. 4-stars in red.

Jazz and Instrumental

• All of Me (Frank Sinatra) My band started playing this song, and I really love it. Sinatra's version stood out when I looked for a cover.
• My Sweet Hunk O' Trash (Billie Holiday / Louis Armstrong) Dr. John covered this one with his musical guest, the original is also a delight.
• Heart of Glass (The Puppini Sisters) A bit brighter and cheerier than the similiar Nouvelle Vague cover.
• Edmontosaurus (Paul Leonard-Morgan) Some sports commercial had this... AMAZING big acoustic dinosaur picture.
• Animals (Martin Garrix) Not many electronic instrumentals make it onto my play list... love the tick tock sound.

Alt Modern

• Take Me to Church (Hozier) Sacred, Profane, etc.
• Shiver (Lucy Rose) Sweet, gentle song that closed an episode of Girls.
• Unconditional Rebel (siska) Such an amazing video...
• The a Team (Ed Sheeran) Another kind of calming song.

Hiphop / Club

• Can't Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton) (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) When Hunter and I heard this demoing headphones at Target, I thought it was Pitbull. Really cool sound though.
• Remember the Name (Fort Minor) Rap.
• Yeah! (feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris) (Usher) Surprised I hadn't grabbed this earlier.
• Lose Control (Missy Elliott ft. Ciara & Fat Man Scoop) I hadn't been forewarned of Missy Elliot's guest appearance at the Superbowl Halftime, and it was a serious delight.

January was a low quantity, high quality month for new music finds

****:

• Ghost of Stephen Foster (Squirrel Nut Zippers) The menace of this song! And the awesome early-animation-style video. I wish I knew what "if we were made of cellophane we'd all get stinkin' drunk much faster" meant.
• Log Driver's Waltz (feat. Ann Downey) (John Kirk, Dan Berggren & Chris Shaw) I grabbed a different version of the song, but this cartoon is terrific. I love the subtle suggestiveness of the lyrics "What pleases her most from her head to her toes / She'll say, "I'm not sure that it's business of yours", "A log driver's waltz pleases girls completely", and the "again" in "And when the drive's over, if he asks me again, I think I will marry my log driver"
• Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars) (Mark Ronson) Slate's analysis of this song sounds about right: The early 80s sound that never hit the top of the pop charts finally there.
• Feeling Alright (Joe Cocker) For dumb reasons I dug up the Dave Mason version of this earlier, but Joe Cocker's piano and bongos version is more awesome.

***:

• Love Is Endless (Mozella) ADmittedly this is the McDonalds shortened version... but I love all the characters they threw into it!
• Fat Bottom Girls (Live) (Tufts sQ!) I'm in with the alums singing this on stage at Tufts' Goddard Chapel.
• Good Times Bad Times (Led Zeppelin) I don't like much of the guitar rock genre, but they have a lot of percussion stuff going on.
• Stupid Hoe (Nicki Minaj) Much of her music and her delivery is so great. She is "the female weezy"
• The Chills (Peter Bjorn and John) An older(ish) song? But good.
• I Want To Hold Your Hand (Al Green) Somehow a little better in theory than practice.

---

We were on defense.

Even when goaded with the "hypothetically", he's all "we're different teams". Two 4-stars (for me, YMMV)

• Pay Day (Tasha) Yoon Mi-Rae is suing Sony for use in "The Interview". Four stars because that "Drumline" music never gets old for me, and the rest (including some Korean) is solid.
• Happy (NEUS Remix) (Pharrell Williams) You know, I just love the message of this song, and this is a good remix.

Some South Asian music came to my attention:

• Hippy Shit (Akasha) Used in the game "Far Cry 4"...
• The Bombay Twist (The Bombay Royale) Also from Far Cry 4, kind of like a India version of Misirlou
• Superman (Remix) (Mika Singh) Folks from work went to the Fresh Pond Cinemas for Bollywood movie night, and this was on one of the previews.

Other songs, in descending order of "you gotta listen to this!"

• You Don't Know My Mind (Hugh Laurie) I honestly do not know how this album got added to iTunes, but this song is hyper-catchy.
• It's Almost Christmas Again (Chandler Travis Philharmonic) My favorite song that I helped with at the Johnny D's gig.
• I Just Want the Girl In the Blue Dress to Keep On Dancing (Mike Doughty) The perfect song for the bows after "The Slutcracker" burlesque. I had no idea it was the same guy from Soul Coughing!
• The World Is Just Awesome (Boom De Yada) (Discovery Channel) A commercial from a while back... I just saw its parody on xkcd and realized it's an awesome sentiment, and a catchy tune.
• A Little Respect (UVA Sil'hooettes) An obscure but lovely cover EB had on CD, when they sang with the 'Bubs. Some 80s just seem sonically designed for college a cappella, and sometimes the female voice adds a sweetness as well.
• Shimmy Shimmy Ya (El Michel's Affair) Big horns in this Wu-Tang spinoff thing.
• Christmas Wrapping (Single Edit) (The Waitresses) Someone on twitter said this is the best Christmas song of the last 33 years. I love its slice of life nature.
• With a Little Help from My Friends (Joe Cocker) RIP Joe Cocker
• It's The Hard-Knock Life (Annie 2014) I'm happy hollywood has caught up to Euclid High School 1990, in terms of a black actress for Annie! Anyway, I like the modernization of this version.
• Keep Your Hands to Yourself (The Georgia Satellites) There's something about that 80s southern rock sound.
• Sloop John B (Me First and The Gimme Gimmes) Respectable little cover I heard in "The Wolf of Wall Street"
• Carol of the Bells (Pentatonix) An a cappella-ish version of one of my Christmas favs.
• Vinter Undervare (Stan Boreson) Corny old Dr. Demento song.
• groot struck (tumblr) An odd, but brief, mashup. "I am groot". Can't find much info on it, but I guess it's a genre piece.

---

TIL "50 Shades of Grey" was originally Twilight Fan Fiction.

I don't mean to be totally dismissive of Fan Fiction, but I got to say it explains my reaction to how it felt when I started reading it. There's just a clumsiness to it, with characters really clearly being just the way they are for the author's convenience (and a giant heap of Mary Sue-ism) rather than feeling grounded in some kind of reality and more generalized relatability. (Then again, the original Twilight felt the same way, kind of like it's its own fan fiction...) Though maybe I'm just not used to first person narration in general.

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Alright, Aesop, but what happened after the wolf gave up on the sour grapes? Maybe he opened a grape farm. Maybe there's a type of grape that gives him superpowers. Are there other trees with different fruits? Maybe there's a Mrs. Wolf. You've crafted a very interesting universe here, Aesop, and we'd like to explore it.

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Director's Commentary for this year's Advent Calendar. My favorite personal tech site Lost in Mobile is running a Ultimate Mix Tape competition. Here's what I sent in to Shaun, webmaster, and music judge:

My ultimate mix has two sides,
attack side and regroup side
the final song on each kind of leads to the other group

Plus a bonus song, the titular kirk's best song in the world,
the one he's obligated to dance to each time he hears it,
if only for a little head snake.

attack side

1. Chameleon - Maynard Ferguson
2. All The Rowboats - Regina Spektor
3. Might Like You Better - Amanda Blank
4. Super Holla Tricka - Beastie Boys vs Gwen Stefani vs aSkillz Krafty Kuts
5. Cool As I Am - Dar Williams

regroup side

1. Buildings & Bridges - Ani Difranco
2. As It Comes - The Exploding Voids
3. Concrete Wall - Zee Avi
4. Tenderness - Paul Simon
5. It's Your Thing - Isley Brothers

bonus track

1. Groove is in the Heart - Deee-Lite

It's pretty eclectic, but maybe you'll hear something you dig.

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25 of the best photos of Mohammed Ali. I like that the commentary talks about what works and doesn't for each photo. In terms of important music videos this month, I think an honorable mention goes to Bootsy's Basic Funk Formula tutorial, it cemented and affirmed ideas I had been stirring up about what music appeals to me, and what just won't, no matter how much I think I "should" like it:

ONE two three four...

and you hit on the one ya know? ONE -- -- -- ONE.

And then you would try to fit your different notes, what you felt, in between that-- And that's the funk.

And you can change that! It's however you feel, but you just have to fit it between that little space that you got, which is ONE, two three four -- ONE two three four... ONE, two three four. And then you go back to your funk!

Here you go! And then you want to break it down. You got your basic funk formula there. You can do anything you want to do with it! Ya know?

OK, on to the list, in super-rough descending order of awesomeness.

• Bang Bang (Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj) This month's singular 4-star. Has a great sound (and no shortage of bigness on the ONE)
• Scoreboard (Apollos Hester) I love how the Songifiers remixed and plumped the message. It's seriously uplifting.
• Safe and Sound (Capital Cities) This one took a while to grow on me, but as JP Honk played it with the kids from the Conservatory Lab School (getting ready for the Honk parade) I realized it's terrific.
• FUNKNROLL (Prince) It doesn't have a proper video, but that still of Prince with custom sunglasses that also shield his third eye captivates me.
• Lemme Freak (Lil Dicky) Kind of raunchy, and goofy. I adore how he puts super-realistic dialog into hiphop form. Also the little Mario turtle kick SFX.
• 99 Problems (Hugo) It's interesting that he only steals the chorus, but puts his own verses in.
• Cellophane (Sara Jackson-Holman) Sweet little song I heard on "Orange is the New Black".
• Push It (Rude Mechanical Orchestra) Just a great honk-style cover. I wish JP Honk had as much brass and big percussion. (Original MP3 here)
• Thriller (2003 Edit) (Michael Jackson) I think I underestimate Michael Jackson, because he was so popular when I was a kid. JP Honk does a fun cover of this one every hear for Dunster Rd Halloween.
• Creep (Diego Luna & Gustavo Santaolalla) Nice mini-cover from Dia los Muertes-themed "Book of Life"
• Rattlin' Bones (Preservation Hall Jazz Band) A candidate that didn't make it into our Halloween playlist... hope it gets in next year.
• Watermelon Man (Jon Hendricks) A listener said that JP Honk's version of "Watermelon Man" was the first one she liked... and many don't interest me that much, but this one with lyrics caught my fancy. Wish I knew why "Save the rind for cucumbers" got such a chuckle from the audience.
• Pencil Neck Geek (Freddie Blassie) A Dr. Demento staple from my childhood. This particular video adds in some weird, framebreaking playacting at the end where Blassie realizes the engineer is also a Pencil Neck Geek. Violence ensues!
• Game of Thrones Theme - WesteOrn Cover (Bendan) It makes good cowboy music.
• Look-Ka Py Py (The Meters) My lack of excitement about these guys (even more so on their Cissy Strut) is what got me thinking about how important the downbeat is for me digging any particular song... these guys are funky, but they ain't rooted on the One.
• Hola (Snow tha Product) Dumb-ish hiphop, but fun. (On the playlist this one trainer who runs a weekly exercise class at my work uses)
• I Don't Give a Fuck (Boss) "Orange is the New Black" uses this to punctuate spurned "Crazy Eyes" peeing on the main character's cell floor.
• Funny Walk in Old Fashion - Mori no Blend Mix (Fuzita Blender ) Odd song I got from tumblr or twitter or something. EB says it causes him physical pain.

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Jeez, was wondering why I am up at six. Having devices that are better at remembering the time change than I am is weird. Wish we had daylight savings all year long- Boston is too easterly to have Standard Time make sense.

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100 Pumpkins vs a Snowblower At first I thought this was, like, a horror film for pumpkins. But then I remembered what macabre things are done to them, by individuals but on a semi-industrial scale, to make Jack-O-Lanterns-- every fall is a horror movie for them!

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If the election goes as badly for the democrats as some fear, I'm kind of hoping to draw a metaphor with climate change; this winter's gonna suck, but that doesn't mean the climate isn't getting warmer. (I realize I just compared the democrats to global warming, but I mean in a good way) New songs I found out about last month, in descending "You gotta hear / see this!" order...

• Let Forever Be (The Chemical Brothers) This video is so amazing, by some of the same folks who did "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".
• My Name Is (Kellylee Evans) Beautiful retro song - the video looks like a Bond movie intro.
• Mister Rogers Remixed: Sing Together (B-Side) (John D Boswell) Inspirational!
• Lemonade (SOPHIE) "But the most delightful part of this song is the amazing sound effects which are indescribably enjoyable and unique, like sliding on a soapy surface."
• Honkey Tonk Women (Old & In the Gray)
• Lose Yourself (Kellylee Evans) I wonder about the history of this, her other song shares a title with an Eminem song, and then this is a straight up cover.
• The Rocky Song Remixed (Ronald Jenkees) Ronald Jenkess just loves music so much.
• Beat It Dubstep (Poppin John - Ricardo Walker) Some amazing dancing here.
• Make Those Move (I Am Legion) In Bass Wars Jango and Boba Fett totally blow out Obi's "The Dip"
• The Greeks (Is Tropical) Reminds me of Phoenix, a bit.
• You've Got Time (Regina Spektor) Title song to "Orange is the New Black" - Regina Spektor is always so good.
• All About That Bass (Meghan Trainor) Full figure empowerment! I guess this one is making the round?
• Poisoning Pigeons In the Park (Tom Lehrer) I actually sang this for High School Senior Talent Night. Not well received.
• The Pussycats in Outer Space (Josie and the Pussycats) Theme song - man I miss Saturday cartoons! And the design of the spaceship really left an impact on me.
• Bring down The Birds (Herbie Hancock) Source of the "Groove is in the Heart" bassline...
• Exactly Like You (New Orleans Jazz Vipers) Honk Band Tune
• Oye Como Va (Los Lonely Boys) Decent cover.
• Feelin' Alright (Dave Mason) Also a decent cover.

Last month was oddly dominated by hiphop for me.

With everything listed in descending order of MAN you really gotta hear this, five things that I think are intriguing:

• Peach (Novel) I think I found this trying to find good footage of "I could eat a peach for hours". Terrific sexy slow song.
• Bottom of the River (Delta Rae) This song is kind of getting lost in the shuffle, but it's worth hearing, kind of old-- gospel/blues feel? With some big percussion.
• Crazy In Love (Fifty Shades Of Grey) (Beyoncé) Cover used in the 50 Shades movie trailer... song is great slowed down.
• I Like Farts (New Brian / Family Guy) Comedy. The best part is Peter's delighted/horrified AUGH as soon as the chorus kicks in and he figures out what the song is about.
• Let Me Clear My Throat (Old School Reunion Remix '96) (DJ Kool) I missed this one somehow. I really love the beginning when Biz Markie is announced and he's like "HEYYYYYYY!" - he just sounds so happy to be there doing his thing.

And the rest:

• NOW That's What I Call Polka! ("Weird Al" Yankovic) For the yong nerd growing up it's Weird Al's parodies are that important, but as you grow up, it's the polka mashups that mean the most.
• Forgot About Dre (Chris Pratt / Treytech) Actor Chris Pratt did a good eminem and someone put it to music.
• Rollout (My Business) (Ludacris) Not bad but I like the mashup better. Plus it doesn't have that weird miniskit with a guy being put in a sleeper hold.
• Shake It Off (Taylor Swift) I just think it has a good sound. Also I think that one live track where they isolate her audio is totally unfair.
• Peanut Butter (feat. Big Freedia) (RuPaul) Probably literally the gayest video I've posted here? Men booty poppin', packages flailing wildly... dumb fun!
• Anaconda (Nicki Minaj) Mixed feelings about this, I guess? It's novel hearing "Baby Got Back" repurposed. I kind of like how unfocused and rambling the rest of it is.
• Feel This Moment (feat. Christina Aguilera) (Pitbull) A so-so pop song, I'm kind of fascinated by the pretension of Pitbull.

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Once or twice a year, I'll get a nice email thanking me for http://mortals.be/ and/or the comic I need to get off my but and find a publisher for. Sometimes I engage further with people who are still wrestling with angst of being mortal by nature, and finite in impact. Today I wrote this:

I suspect ultimately there will be no way to come to terms with the non-immortality of even our finest acts, and the corresponding "lack of significance" vs what our imaginations can posit, that of something eternal and everlasting, except by personal contemplation and reflection.

One thought I had... we want to be significant and remembered outside our "reference frame", the people who know us, and then MAYBE culture as a larger whole, and then, somehow, the space time continuum (I think I'm misusing physics terms like "reference frame" here). In a way, this seems as misguided, as at odds with the makeup of reality, as desperately longing to have an impact outside of our "light cone", that somehow we should be able to make an impact that would resonate instantaneously across all space and time, rather than propagating at the slow speed of light.

I think that's just the inversion of the same problem; we want to resonate not just instantly, but forever, and, ultimately, everywhere. It's a natural desire, and frustrating that even B-list celebrities will have a "bigger" impact than we will (as my friend Dylan put it, "it makes me said that cartoon character Dilbert will has more influence on this world than I do"), but even Elvis has a reference frame he will never transcend, never be known outside of.

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25 Years Ago Today, I played tuba in the marching band for the first nationally broadcasted high school football game... it's kind of weird to think that I've been blogging daily for over half that time. July was terrific for music, especially R+B wise... The first 4 songs here I all rated 4 stars.

• Apache (Fat Boy Slim Remix) Apache is a song that has been sampled all over the place, like Missy Elliot's We Run This. I wanted to find a version that wasn't as ridiculous and racist as the Sugarhill Gang's version... this remix draws heavily from The Incredible Bongo Band's Version and is pretty slammin'- love that drumbreak.
• What Is Hip? (Tower of Power) Knew about this song, but the live version (heard it at the Milky Way at the JP Porch Band after party) kicks up the speed a notch and is great.
• Hard to Handle (Otis Redding) The big horns and big piano mean the original is better than the Black Crowes cover (which is pretty good too.)

I was contacted by local musician Chandler Travis, and asked if I could jump in for the Chatham 4th of July parade... here were 4 songs we did (plus Iko Iko, which I'm trying to bring back to my own Honk Band)

• Graciously (Chandler Travis Philharmonic) Starts a little slow, but I dig the simple bass riff, and then it builds beautifully, and the refrain "Gra-cious-ly" is really resonant.
• Bob What's-Is-Name (Chandler Travis Philharmonic) Another catchy song with subtle-y terrific lyrics.
• It's Time to Make a Change (Madison's Lively Stones) Gotta love this tuba. Ya gotta!
• Tootie Ma Is a Big Fine Thing (Preservation Hall Jazz Band & Tom Waits) Waits' gravel voice works pretty well here.

Some acoustically interesting bits--

• Little Numbers (BOY) Great indie piece. I'm a little distracted because phone numbers aren't "7 little numbers" any more.
• Superstarr Pt. Zero (k-os) The sample of Pal Joey Hot Music has one of the most complex beats I've heard in a hiphop piece.
• Wait (The Whisper Song) Remix (Busta Rhymes, Free, Lil Scrappy, Missy Elliot, Mr. Collipark & Ying Yang Twins) Probably the sexiest hiphop song ever; the gimmick of the whisper from the original is pretty effective. (I like the poured scotch sound at 0:12)
• Down the Road (C2C) Groovy blues/house remix.

Novelty Songs...

• Mission Statement ("Weird Al" Yankovic) Love the vacuous joy of business speak set against a decent cover of Crosby Stills & Nash and the white board video is enjoyable on its own terms.
• Yakety Yak (The Coasters) Don't talk back.
• My Girl's Pussy (Harry Roy & His Orchestra) Single entendre from the 1930s...

Misc

• We Can Work It Out (Stevie Wonder) Getting back to the R+B, a good cover.
• Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys (Johnny Paycheck) Of all the versions I had to pick, I think I grabbed this one because I love the name Johnny Paycheck. (Err but this is the Jennings/Nelson version)
• Don't Let Me Die (R. Kelly & JAY Z) Nice big sound to this hiphop, plus you don't hear too many songs where the MC lets himself sound scared.

Last month was pretty good for music... listed here in descending "you should really listen to this" order...

• The Writing's On the Wall (OK Go) The optical-illusion-rich video has made the rounds, but the wistful sentiment of the lyrics grabs me as well.
• I've Got My Mind Set On You (James Ray) A lot of people didn't realize that George Harrison's song was a cover - but the original has brass and choir and is generally terrific.
• Empire (Shakira) A few people were surprised that "this is Shakira?" An interesting range of moods, from the Indie to the Epic.
• Iko Iko (The Dixie Cups) A band I joined for a 4th parade covers this... simple but so so catchy.
• Love Me Again (John Newman) A good Alex Clare / Too Close vibe.
• Mash Machine (FAROFF) I love a great mashup. James Brown vs Gorillaz vs The Doors vs Queen vs Aerosmith vs Led Zeppelin vs Pink Panther vs Stevie Wonder vs AC/DC vs Torpedo Boyz.
• A Drum Beatin (Atticus Avenue) SO CUTE... a dude bumps out a little beat on (his son's?) back, and the boy's delighted squeaky giggles become part of the rhythm.
• Mercedes Benz (Janis Joplin) A classic. Some people have tried to mix/techno up but the original just works too well.
• Work B**ch (Britney Spears) Stupid song, but I like its concept as a motivator. (First verse kind of works as a counter to "Mercedes Benz")
• Problem (feat. Iggy Azalea) (Ariana Grande) Not a bad pop song... I like that they seem to sample the original Star Trek "Red Alert" whoop.
• WHEN WILL THE BASS DROP (The Lonely Island) I love how this comedy short plays with the life of a DJ...
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Theme (Schooly D) The animation opening...
• World Music Day - Dont Worry Be Happy (Culture Machines/ Various Artists) A nice cover featuring lots of artists from India.
• The Vatican Rag (Tom Lehrer) The classic.
• Flys (P.I.D.) Christian Hiphop from my youth.
• Give a Man Enough Rope (Will Roger's Follies) I saw this musical in NYC way back when. I remember the sentiment of "Give a Man Enough Rope" was kind of moving, but maybe in the reprise.
• Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (Allan Sherman) An ok song sort of ruined by a laugh track.
• Make It (Coco Brown). Oh dear. This is one of the raunchiest songs I've heard in a long, long while. I kind of like the request to "arch my back" but maybe I'm just into backs.

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The conservative Supreme Court justices are sneaky, misogynist liars.

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Sometimes on a freelance or independent project I get chuffed at how many esoteric little geek tricks I rely on. (Like using Perl, Processing, phantom.js, and general CSS mojo to get stuff prepped for a cool turn page effect library turn.js) Then I get worried that you know - this tool shouldn't be this hard, maybe I'm just doing it wrong. And then impostor syndrome slash general anxiety kicks on, and I think yeah, I can solve THIS set of challenges, but without a lot of wiggle room, what if the next ones aren't so amenable?

You know?

Ah well. Like Bogost says, "The solution to impostor syndrome is to accept that you are in fact a fraud and just get on with it."
Check out "Coffee", if nothing else.

• Sexual Healing (Hot 8 Brass Band) New Orleans Cover, saw it in the movie "Chef"
• Tightrope (Wondamix) [feat. B.o.B and Lupe Fiasco] (Janelle Monáe) Cool duel version of a great song.
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Theme (Schooly D) I've always enjoyed the meatwad section of this theme song.
• It's a Miracle (Singing Nun) Very random song I remember from my childhood.
• Riot Rhythm (Sleigh Bells) With its shoutiness, hooks, and big beats, I think Sleigh Bells would be the kind of band I'd make, but they turn it up to 11 where I would be content with 8 or 9.
• Hanky Panky (Tommy James & The Shondells) Was reminded of the existence of this by "Coffee" below
• Modern Family Another TV theme -- one episode had an extended version I was hoping to find but I wasn't able to locate it.
• I Say It's Spinach Not the version I have. Kind of obsessed with this phrase since reading that New Yorker cartoon book.
• Semi-Charmed Life (Third Eye Blind) I'm kind of amazed how raw the lyrics to this song are in parts.
• Coffee (Sylvan Esso) A beautiful song and nice video.
• Tradition (London Festival Orchestra) Another song from my youth, my mom was in this musical. Hella fun to sing along to.
• Underground Theme (Nintendo) from an unreleased Super Mario Bros. 2 prototype. Not usually a huge chiptune fan, but this one is simple and good.
• Shake, Rattle and Roll (Big Joe Turner) This song has coma-ending powers.
• Wobble (V.I.C.) I just love this video, not the official one, just a hilarious scene from what looks like a camp.
• Round Here (Counting Crows) I don't know if it's shmaltzy but I appreciate the emotional space Counting Crows explores.
• Total Eclipse of the Heart (Bonnie Tyler) I've had some covers of this song, but the original has some power.
• Come Get It Bae (Pharrell Williams)

Few in number, not bad in quality, last month's songs. Arranged in descending order of "I really think you should check this out"

• Lo Lo Lo Lo Lohan (Zach Anner & The Gregory Brothers) I find this song funny and inspiring, and it reminds me to be grateful for a well-functioning physical body.
• The Star-Spangled Banner (Minor Key) (Chase Holfelder) The minor key transformation blows me away.
• Throw It Down (Dominique Young Unique) The finest twerksh thing I've seen this month.
• Lorde 2Pac Beck Mashup (Pomplamoose) Really good cover/mashup.
• Beat It (Demo Version) (Michael Jackson) Unfortunately, these seems to be removed from a lot of video sites, but it's worth listening to at least once.
• Cool Jerk (The Capitols) Rollickin'
• Free Fallin' (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) One of those songs I kind of forgot about, but like. Especially good since I am going to do that whole zero-g thing.
• A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got) (Fergie, Q-Tip & GoonRock) One of those Great Gatsby remake style blends.
• Party Up (Up in Here) (DMX) Admittedly it's the Llama Video ("why vine exists") that reminded me of this song.
• Wobble (It) [Street] (Freak Nasty) I just realized this is NOT the song in this hilarious deadpan video...

An OK month for music. Video wise, Turn Down For What and the Pomplamoose Pharrell Mashup are definitely worth checking out.

Reverse chronological order for these, which is the way I listen to 'em.

• Lidl (Afrikan Boy) An intriguing African-in-UK song; the iTunes version has cooler percussion but more boring lyrics.
• The Guitar (They Might Be Giants) I think I'm just a sucker for the "Lion Sleeps Tonight" chorus.
• A Night Like This (Caro Emerald) Beautifully Retro.
• Jenny from the Block (Jennifer Lopez) Inane, but catchy. Man, she likes show off her abs.
• What I Am (Marnie) A notably terrible cover from "Girls". I actually like the autotuning, but the breathy echo is horrible.
• Look Out, There's a Monster Coming (The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band) Pity the video is kinda racist as hell, because it's an intriguing song, quirkily haunting
• Turn Down For What (DJ Snake & Lil Jon) O MAN I can't get enough of this video. My only regret is that the MP3 doesn't have the hip-cocking shotgun klik-klak at 1:16 like the video does.
• The Moon Song (Film Version) (Scarlett Johansson & Joaquin Phoenix) Such a good film, and a sweet, tender, slightly shmaltzy song.
• Girls are a Waste of Gasoline (Ject) Super-indie track; a little bit too "Red Hot Chili Peppers" wannabe-ish, but the title line is so funny and jaded.
• Pharrell Mashup (Pomplamoose) Amazing one-take video, playing with video projection in extremely clever and visually appealing ways. Also a good song!
• Orange Blossom Special (Johnny Hiland) I'm not usually one for instrumentals, and the iTunes track is even longer than this one, but still-- catchy.
• Good Old Days ("Weird Al" Yankovic) I remember this from a tape I listened to over and over at camp before high school. It's weird how the nostalgia hint appealed to me even then.
• Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Queen Latifah) My Honk Band is playing this song... I dig her version, if it's a bit too polished.
• I Feel Like I'm Fixin To (Country Joe & The Fish) Another tune my honk band is doing... interesting funny protest song.
• L8 CMMR (Lily Allen) Heh, wasn't expecting a retro-game themed lyric video for this.
• I Feel Free (Cream) A classic.
• Clocks (Coldplay) There are a lot of covers of this but the original is pretty good.

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Michael Jackson would lay out tracks a cappella... Songs I added last month. In reverse chronological order, which is actually how I listen to 'em.

• Fix You (Jake Coco & Savannah Outen) The sweetest version of this Coldplay song I could find.
• Tea for the Tillerman (Cat Stevens) A enigmatic (but pro-apocalyptic, I think) brief song. Used for the credits of Ricky Gervais' show "Extras".
• Achy Breaky Pt 2 (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) (Buck 22) What is Larry King doing here? Insanely catchy hook and a good little bit of hiphop. Also, I've never seen dancers so undressed without actually being naked.
• Boobs a Lot (The Fugs) Read the disappointing comic novel about "The Beats", and this group had a connection to the movement. Crazily sexist song, but catchy.
• Hard Work (The U.S. Army Airborne) Finally found the song used in the Eastern Bank commercial (the trick was they're saying "Hard Work Work" not "Aww Work Work". I think if I ever get back into running I might try to use one of those CDs of military cadences.
• Little Sadie (Crooked Still) Cool little bluegrass-y number.
• Coffee and Wine (Chadwick Stokes) Also kind of southern feeling (I'm so crap at identifying genres) -- hook-y chorus
• Everything Is AWESOME!!! (Tegan and Sara & The Lonely Island) The Lego Movie was pretty great.
• I'm Awesome (Spose) It's really funny how this track comes up after the Lego Movie one. A weird exercise in self-deprecating rap. "Lyrically, I'm not the best / Physically, the opposite of Randy Moss, and yet..."
• Friendship (Remastered) (Kay Kyser and His Kollege of Musical Knowledge) Man, this song is great. I love the variations on a rhyming theme. Also the understatment of "and If they ever put a bullet through your brain -- I'll complain."
• Forest Whitaker (Brother Ali) More self-deprecating hiphop, a little more polished.
• Wut (5kinAndBone5) (Le1f) Some say Macklemore ripped off the riff, but I think just the sax sound? Still, great gay hiphop, not just that ally stuff Macklemore makes.
• Bitter Rivals (Sleigh Bells) Shouty Girls. Man, these gals record LOUD.
• Don't Wait (Mapei) Hard to pin this one down, but it has a nice sound.

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Even my bedside clock (that also projects the time onto the ceiling... highly recommended) self-adjusts for Daylight Savings Time. I was psyched thinking I had caught up on some sleep before I realized that my clock, phone, and laptop all had automagically switched without mentioning it to me.

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you are a fabulous arrangement
of whatever it is we
are made of

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New Blender of Love New songs added. More "clumped" than some months, with a big row of awesome female vocalist cover and originals.

Soft Covers and Female Vocalists

• Hold Me Tight (Scraps) Heard this track in in merrit kopas' HUGPUNX, a hugging simulator
• Black Horse and the Cherry Tree + Seven Nation Army (KT Tunstall) More acoustic covers... I had know idea KT Tunstall had that accent.
• Seven Nation Army (Vyvienne Long) A woman, a cello, a great cover.
• Toxic (Juliet Turner) Terrific acoustic cover of a pretty good song.
• Listen to Your Heart (Edmee's Unplugged Vocal Edit) (DHT) Shmaltzy, but I like it.
• Material Girl (Walk Off the Earth)
• Love Has Come for You (Steve Martin & Edie Brickell) Banjo and one of the sweetest voices in music.

Harsh and/or In Need of Justification

• Techno Syndrome (Tha Immortals) MORTAL KOMBAT... (if it's good enough for Batman....)
• Shake a Lil' Somethin' (2 Live Crew) Really, Kirk?
• Timber (feat. Ke$ha) (Pitbull) The Cotton-Eye Joe for our time.
• Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Kevin and the Octaves) After struggling to id this song that was in my head, I decided I preferred a shortened rock cover.
• Vato (Snoop Dogg featuring B-Real) About twice as long as it should be, but a nice loop.
• Woke Up This Morning (Vinne Pauleone and the Ba Da Bing Orchestra) Been on a Sopranos kick.

Classics of their Time

• Army Life (Leadbelly) I remember hearing this on M*A*S*H... and Leadbelly is an important figure.
• Stayin' Alive (Bee Gees) Had this in a few mashups, but the original is pretty good.
• Get a Job (The Silhouettes) My friend Zack in middle school sang a variation of this.
• Doo Wop (That Thing) (Lauryn Hill) Pretty cool video.

Other

• Kids In America (Tiffany) Not sure why I liked Tiffany's version more than Kim Wilde's original.
• Caravan (Fanfare Ciocarlia) Saw these guys live at Johnny D's-- great brass band from Romania!

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Too early to ask the Carroll vs Belichick thing? #kiddingithink Songs I added to my collection in December... ones in red are especially great.

• As It Comes (The Exploding Voids) My favorite German group is finally making videos... I've loved this song for years. One of my all time favorites, such an eloquent expression of detachment and again, in a short little piece.
• What It Is About (The Exploding Voids) Another song by them that's really growing on me. (despite the little typo in the text of the video.)
• Go Where the Love Is (Edie Brickell) Very sweet song, used on the sound track to "The Way Way Back".
• Michael Jordan vs Muhammad Ali (Epic Rap Battles of History) One of the top three they've done. I love the way they captured Ali's flow: "Ooh here comes Jordan / Big tongue wobblin' / FLyin' through the air like a big dumb goblin"
• Barnacle Bill (Oscar Brand) I've heard of this song for years, ever since I heard my dad answered a speaker at training school (seminary) who was asking "Who is that knocking at my door?" with "It's Je-sus Christ the Savior"
• The Monster (feat. Rihanna) (Eminem) Good modern sound.
• Worried Man Blues (Woody Guthrie) Some of the oldest sheet music I own is this song, from my elementary school days. Very fun to sing along and harmonize to.
• I Need My Girl (The National) Not sure why this song was featured on "The Mindy Project" but it's great.
• Sleigh Ride (The Ronettes) Ronnie Spector was on public radio a lot this holiday, and the Wall of Sound is just terrific.
• The Man With The Bag (Kay Starr) Another nice big band holiday sound.
• My Thang (Regrooved by DJP) (James Brown) Funky remix. I was studying up on "It's Your Thing", and supposedly this song used the same bass line, but the presentation is way different.
• The Dinghy Song (Ruth Wallis) Another from that old Dr. Demento tape a friend made for my dad when he was sick; kind of fun and raunchy.
• Dang Me (Roger Miller) My mom reminded me of that old "Dang me, dang me, they oughta take a rope and hang me..." that I remember singing as a kid.
• No Rain (Blind Melon) Someone mentioned their coworker had the opening bars of this as a ring tone. One of those 90s songs that I kind of liked but wouldn't have bought a whole CD for.
• Fighting Man (DJ Pone & Drixxxe) Sought this out after Shazam or SoundHound managed to name it behind this extremely weird Simpsons spanish dub.
• Put 'Em On the Glass (Sir Mix-A-Lot) NSFW video. Kind of a sequel to "Baby Got Back". Notable for actually having nipples in a pop music video.
• Hallelujah Chorus (Bruce Kurnow) I wanted a version of Hallelujah Chorus and kind of like the twang in this one all harmonica version.

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http://www.xkcd.com/1314/ Today's xkcd reminded me of this quote:

Photography isn't about the pictures. Pictures never come out right. It's about the adventure.

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Re: global warming and the cold weather 'Liberals keep telling me the Titanic is sinking but my side of the ship is 500 feet in the air.'

No 4-stars last month. You should see An Interpretive Dance For My Boss Set To Kanye West's Gone if you haven't already.

• Time Just Gets Away From Us (feat. Rachel K Collier) (Lung) Nice bit of softer electronica.
• Rill Rill (Sleigh Bells) Always dig their use of female vocals and big sounding percussion.
• California (Mazzy Star) Mazzy Star's return, hardly a thing has changed but it's dark and lovely.
• Young and Beautiful (Lana Del Rey) Guess this is 4 "female vocal centric tracks" in a row.
• Bassheads (Gangrene) A little bummed that I didn't find more new good stuff on the GTA 5 soundtrack, but this bit of hiphop is fun.
• The Agency Heist (GTA5 Soundtrack) On the other hand, this original, 70s-tinged hiest music, with its giant hornfall, was great.
• John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt (Wee Sing) Had an urge to have this old childhood classic. Umm, the version I settled on has a better bassline than this one.
• Wonderlust King (Gogol Bordello) Shout-y folk.
• Kashmir (Bond) For some reason Led Zep's Kashmir kept coming up this month. I like this string over of it, in part because it's shorter than the original.
• I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead ("Weird Al" Yankovic) I ended up periodically grabbing songs from the first album I bought on my own, Weird Al's first release. I always like the existential stance of this one.
• Gone (Featuring Consequence & Cam'ron) (Kanye West) This "I Quit" video was making the rounds, and brought an 8 year old song back to the charts. I could watch her dance for hours. Also, I like the note of sadness in the original song.
• Nosey Joe (The Brian Setzer Orchestra) Heard this before the HONK! Parade. Like a lot of that 90s swing revival stuff, it's catchy but maybe a little too "clean".
• Rhubarb and Custard (Taxman Remix) (Zen) Rhubarb and Custard is a flavor combo for candy in the UK. Researching it I found out about this raver favorite.
• Wicked Games (feat. Anna Naklab) [Radio Edit] (Parra for Cuva) Lovely, haunting cover. Odd little high pitched noise they use; surprised it's not more annoying.
• ZOMOFG The REAL Harlem Shake Remix (ZOMOFG) The Problematics Of The Fake Harlem Shake introduced me to this video showing the real deal. That said, I still kind of like the surreal co-opting version.
• Hurt (Johnny Cash) On the flight back from the UK, I had the misfortune of watching "The Hangover 3" and it reminded me of this cover, from just before I started getting MP3s of songs I liked.
• Mr. Brightside (The Killers) This clip from "The Call Centre" had an oddball pushy boss make his new recruits karaoke to this (because "Happy People Sell, Miserable Bastards Don't")
• Crazy In Love (The Puppini Sisters) A friends dance class video introduced me to this cover, I like it better than the one in "The Great Gatsby"

A lot of Youtube rips this month. Emeli Sandé's "Heaven" is the only 4 star-- great song, that.

• How You Like Me Now (The Heavy) Decent neo-James-Brownian feel (James Brownian Motion would be a good name for a band.)
• Where Do I Begin (Away Team mix) (Shirley Bassey) Powerful remix.
• Q.U.E.E.N. (feat. Erykah Badu) (Janelle Monáe) A favorite of mine and FOSO's... took a while for the song itself to grow on me, and not just the line "is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror?" (pre-Miley) but it's really pretty great.
• Africa (The Amalgamates) -- Toto cover by a Tufts A Cappella group. Had it for a little under 20 yeears, hearing the original made me like this version more.
• Oh Shit (The Pharcyde) Ugh. Catchy song despite the Transphobia.
• So Watcha Want (Arsenio Hall 1992) (The Beastie Boys + Cypress Hill) I've gotten into Youtube rips!
• Roar (Katy Perry) Not much to say. Like that shouty chorus.
• I Beeped You (Father) Old school hiphop I missed back in the day... good Jackson 5 sample
• Sweet Brown - Aint Nobody Got Time for That (Autotune Remix) (The Parody Factory) I like this even though I'm worried it might be racist.
• Straight Lines (Dawn Landes) Sweet and gentle.
• The Fox (Ylvis) I think I like this-- unironically? Like not for the comedy, it just has a good sound.
• Heaven (Emeli Sandé) It was probably the tight funk beat that first grabbed me, but the vocals are so powerful.
• Compliments (Kollektivet) Comedy bit... but I know that feeling.
• Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon) My street band is putting a version of this together, and everyone else in the group is surprised I never heard this. Good for halloween!
• Sweet Child O' Mine (Step Brothers) A clip from the movie -- I think the blatantly mediocre a cappella resonates with me!

Busy month, not many new songs but some good ones. 4-stars in red.

• 222 (Paul McCartney) 222 is my lucky number. Kind of a Phillip Glass-ish piece, a bonus track to "Memory Almost Full" which is my new favorite album name, especially by an older artist.
• Retrograde (James Blake) This is the most haunting song I've heard in a while.
• Get Low (Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz & Ying Yang Twins) Conversely, this is the stupidest, raunchiest song I've heard in a longer while.
• Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) (Julie London) A bossa-nova tinged version of the standard. I heard Julie London was one of my grandfather Papa Sam's favorites.
• Girl Control (The Polish Ambassador) Very odd bit of hiphop, but it grows on you.
• Sam Hall (Johnny Cash) "Damn your eyes" is such a curse.
• 3 am (Acoustic) (Tabitha's Secret) I kind of nice version of the kinda overplayed song. Heard this in Alaska.
• I Won't Back Down (Dawn Landes) A very sweet acoustic cover of the Tom Petty song, also heard it in Alaska
• Going (Sam Phillips) Wish I could find the lyric sheet for this, but the way the music pauses on "I'm more than halfway through" is darkly striking for us folks coming up on that point in our lives. An amazing song for 2 minutes.
• Bang Bang (will.i.am) Very odd retro/modern blend, I think from that recent "Great Gatsby" movie. Such a use of white space.
• Bitter Heart (Zee Avi) Lovely and sad. Zee Avi is amazing.

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Some amazing "motivational" posters from the 1920s The songs I added to my regular rotation, not many this month so I kept them in the order I added them. 4-stars marked in red, interesting videos with a "!".

• !Blurred Lines (WARNING: BOOBS) (Robin Thicke) I grabbed this before I realized how well known it was. Catchy tune, if (arguably) Date Rape-y. The Gender-swapped version made me think about femininity in general.)
  
• Fools Gold (The Stone Roses) Not sure if I dig this beyond the little drum beat or not.
  
• Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole) I prefer this to the one that includes "Wonderful World"
  
• Niggun (J.A.) A "niggun" is a pleasant, stylized (often prayer-ish) song in the Jewish tradition.
• Wake (M.G.) ... a song made by for J.A., during a set of fraught and heart-tearing circumstances.
• Lollipop (MIKA) Switching gears, a catchy bit of summer fluff.
• Asshole (Denis Leary) Dumb comedy song but I like the yodeling. EB says he can't stand how Denis Leary ripped off Bill Hicks.
• Sailor's Hornpipe (Harvey Reid) Decided I needed a little popeye action. Surprised the version I liked was banjo-y.
• Easy - Dub Fx Cover | ft. CAde (Dub Fx)
  Cool cover. I really like the line "Easy like Sunday Morning".
• Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie) A classic though I always think of the Vanilla Ice version. The vocal only version is interesting.
• It's Alright With Me (Frank Sinatra) More upbeat than the version I have... actually I'm surprised at what a happyface spin so many artists put on this kind of melancholy song.
• Barney Miller - Theme from the TV Series (feat. Dominik Hauser) (Jack Elliot & Allyn Ferguson) I always liked this one.
• !Map of Tasmania (feat. Amanda Palmer & Peaches) (The Young Punx) The best song about the Delta of Venus imaginable. I love its attitude. (The version I have has a decent rap break by Peaches.)
• !Please Mr. Brown (Pontus Winnberg of Miike Snow Remix) (Sarah Vaughan) Verve is still milking that "remix of our awesome back catalog" thing, but when it works it really works.
• Cups (Movie Version) (Anna Kendrick) Sweet little rhythmic song.
• Thank You (Dido) Maybe I know this from "Better Than Chocolate"?
• Back 2 Back - Digital Remakin' Track / Water Palace: Act 1 (SEGA / Hideki Naganuma) Kind of a funky take on Louie-Louie... I like it because it reminds me of the same artist's work on "Jet Grind Radio"

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Gas prices don't seem so bad once you realize you're buying explosive liquid dinosaurs

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New "prime the canvas" technique in art class.
June was a relatively sedate month for new music... maybe I'm spending more time out doors, or maybe just getting old and curmudgeonly.

Three sound clips I had used a decade ago as intros to party mix CDs:

• Captain Kirk on Women
• Spock on Logic
• McCoy on Biological Units

No 4- or 5-stars. Exclamation points mark out the more visually interesting videos.

• !Press Hop (DJ Steve Porter) Hey, remember 4 years ago when we were all finding out about autotune?
• !Celebrity Skin (Hole) Not the concert version where Courtney Love has the song living up to its title.
• William Tell Overture (Grimethorpe Colliery RJB Band & Major Peter Parkes) One of the few classical songs that I know I like that I didn't have.
• !!Older (They Might Be Giants)
• Move Prudence (dj BC) Not sure if you can still grab a copy of this, "Dear Prudence" behind Beastie Boys. The only track on "Ill Submarine" I liked.
• !Come Get It (Yummy Bingham) It's repetive but I like the sweeping horns of the sample.
• !!Big Machine (Acoustic Version) (Mark Duplass) Very sweet scene from the movie.
• Immigrant Song (Tomoyasu Hotei) Not quite the cover I've been listening to (but it is by the guy who did Battle without Honor or Humanity.
• Dark Knight Rises (Spine Punch Surgery Mix) (Auralnauts) From the same folks who did Bane Outtakes, a dubstep remix... good stuff.
• !Fireflies (Owl City) Schmaltzy, but sweet...
• !Crazy Kids (Ke$ha) I dig the will.i.am-ness of the chorus.
• !Bounce (Iggy Azalea) Its been pointed out this video and song are extremely co-opted of Bollywood-ish themes. I dig it though.
• !I'll Form the Head (MC Frontalot) Geekcore tribute to Voltron. Still think they should have had all 5 pilots, not just 3.
• !Money (Musical Cast Recording) Been meaning to get this Broadway standard for a long time. This video is actually clips from the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

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Ugh. The pilgrimage to Mecca could be a killer.

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fuck this fake nostalgia bullshit, props to the 80s for drawing inspiration from the future, a time that DIDN'T EVEN EXIST YET

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the closer-up the thumbnail, the farther from reality #aphorismsOfTomorrow

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Amtrak, Assault, Axel, BC, Class, E-Z Rock, Flack, Fresh, Jay-R, Jazzy Jeff, John, M.I.F., Mc Fear, Moule, Mystic, Shadow, Steve Porter, Topcat #postyourDJs

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Neologism from Wendy M: "Jackass of All Trades". I need to find opportunities to use that. May was a pretty lackluster month for me for new music. So few songs that rather than collate into genres I'm putting them in rough chronological order (based on the original versions, even when it's a cover.)

I would have hade 3 or 4 more, but I didn't get the gumption for hunting down some international songs.

No 4-stars, and as always exclamation marks point out better than average videos.

• Ode To Joy (Beethoven) After playing a lot of the video game "Peggle" I wanted a version of Ode to Joy w/ Chorus (what they use as an end of level reward.)
• !I Want Candy (Razed In Black Remix) (Bow Wow Wow) Felisdemens, one of the people I keep doing these "musics I found" updates for, played me this when we met up for dinner last month.
• Edge of Seventeen (Lindsay Lohan) Yeah, it's probably sacrilege to go for this instead of the Stevie Nicks version, but I like modern-polish covers with glossy female vocals.
• Rockit (Single Version) (Herbie Hancock) Shortest version I could find of this breakdance-era song you didn't realize you knew. (Mentioned in "Off to Be the Wizard", a great book that deserves the love "Ready Player One" has slavered all over it.)
• !!None of Your Business (Salt-n-Pepa) Solid sex-positive 90s hiphop.
• !Mambo No. 5 (Lou Bega) A song I kind of liked from a time when I wasn't buying singles... fun. The rest of his album gets really repetitive, though.
• The Rooster (OutKast) Nice retro riff ... it's similar to the one I used in my Atari game, which was also used by Britney Spear's "Circus"
• !Open Your Eyes (Snow Patrol) One of the final "The Office" episodes had this romantic song. I admit when I hear the opening I'm always a little bummed when it turns out not to be Blacked Eye Peas' I Got A Feeling
• !I Feed You My Love (Margaret Berger) Ever since Satellite I keep one ear open for catchy songs from the Eurovision contest. (This recap video was handy.)
• !!Hell Broke Luce (Tom Waits) Rough Antiwar song. The word "Luce" in the title is so weirdly evocative, though I couldn't find anything that it meant.
• !!Radioactive (Imagine Dragons) Fun, BIG song, cool video.

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Yankees had a 111-year old fan in the stadium! Red Sox help pay tribute by winning 1-11.

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Blender of LoveNow with FB likes...

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Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature. CD distortion, the jitteriness of digital video, the crap sound of 8-bit - all of these will be cherished and emulated as soon as they can be avoided. It's the sound of failure: so much modern art is the sound of things going out of control, of a medium pushing to its limits and breaking apart. The distorted guitar sound is the sound of something too loud for the medium supposed to carry it. The blues singer with the cracked voice is the sound of an emotional cry too powerful for the throat that releases it. The excitement of grainy film, of bleached-out black and white, is the excitement of witnessing events too momentous for the medium assigned to record them.

The music I added to my collection last month -- Needing/Getting was fan-tas-tic. Exclamation points mark worthwhile videos.

Alt with Big Drums

• !!!Needing/Getting (Video Version) (OK Go) I love the lyrical resignation of this song, and this version, with its car-powered percussive instrumentation, is amazing to hear and to see.
• !!!This Too Shall Pass (Marching Band Version) (OK Go) Most songs are better when you add a marching band.
• !!Beast (Nico Vega) Perfect song for the credits of "Bioshock Infinite"
• !Ain't No Rest for the Wicked (Live from The Vic In Chicago) (Cage the Elephant) Kind of a White Stripes vibe to this.
• !10. A.M. Automatic (The Black Keys) Man, I love this kind of drum.

Other Alt

• !We Are Young (Radio Edit) (Fun) I guess this song has gotten a lot of play, but it's pretty good.
• !!Somebody That I Used To Know (Walk Off the Earth) A beautiful post-breakup duet -- the video, with all the performers on one guitar thing, is pretty awesome

Country/Bluegrass/Blended

• !Blowin' Smoke (Kacey Musgraves) NPR had a thing about this singer-songwriter, kind of a Sheryl Crowe vibe.
• !We the Common (For Valerie Bolden) (Thao & The Get Down Stay Down) Gentle bluegrass elements to this. Must be the banjo.
• !Long Hard Times to Come (From "Justified") (Gangstagrass/T.O.N.E-Z) Hiphop over bluegrass.
• !Justified (Cumberland River Band) A little too much Wild Wild West swagger, but good banjo.

Girly Covers:

• Viva Las Vegas (Shawn Colvin) Great soft cover from the credits of Big Liebowski.
• !Don't Dream It's Over (Sixpence None the Richer) I sang this in college, and it's a nice enough version.
• !Eternal Flame (Atomic Kitten) Oy. I like the modern polish, and have nostalgia for this song, as awful as it kind of is.

Retro

• Play Your Part (Pt. 1) [Explicit] (Girl Talk) Kind of gross pimp hiphop over terrific R+B...
• !Into Action (Tim Armstrong) Catchy boogie-woogie like movement.
• !Poisoning Pigeons In the Park (Tom Lehrer) ...I actually sang this goofy, whimsically dark number for my high school Senior talent night. It didn't go over all that well.

Female Hiphop

• !NYC Bitche$ (Awkwafina) From the singer of "My Vag", kind of a novelty number with a lot of authentic details from the buroughs.
• !!We Hate Everyone (K.Flay) Not as good as "So Fast, So Maybe", but the beat is great.

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Slate on LOL Heh. Just like I'll never be really comfortable wearing a backpack with both straps because that was totally uncool in the late 80s, I will never be at ease using "LOL" because that's what the AOL noobs used in the mid-90s...

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Likeness is a most slippery tribe

March was a very solid month for music... I'm wondering if I'm too stingy with the 4 and 5 stars, because "So Fast, So Maybe" is so near a 5, and some of the other ones are close to a 4. Maybe I should start using 1/2 stars like people tell me I can now... (UPDATE: I decided to be a little less stingy. "So Fast" is 5 stars, and a few other 4 stars are marked in red.)

As always exclamation marks point out videos that are more than just static images.

Hiphopish

• So Fast, So Maybe (K.Flay) Just a terrific song -- attitude, a good beat, surprisingly thoughtful lyrics. This close to being 5 stars.
• !Werkin' Girls (Angel Haze) The 3 1/2 star song I was thinking of.
• !!Adam vs Eve (Epic Rap Battles of History) This is a very amusing series of videos. If I like the background music, I generally like the battle.
• !Ah C'mon (Chuggo) Finally decided I couldn't live without 2006's biggest hiphop hit. Terribly bad, or badly terrible? Still his paired couplets are catchy.

Modern Stuff with Retro Forms

• !Be By Myself (Asher Roth & Cee-Lo) Funny little hiphop bit, with a Cee-Lo Motown sound.
• !Fun For Me (Moloko) Kind of weird faux-retro stuff, like the voice is over the old tannoy loudspeakers.
• !Ooh La La (Goldfrapp) Also retroish, maybe an austin powers vibe.

Spoken Word and Misc

• Valentine (Fiona Apple) A really odd, soft, and thoughtful piece. Took a while to grow on
• Rock Me Now (Metric) Kind of an odd spoken word piece as well... I like when she clears her throat and says "sing with me".
• !Just Give Me a Reason (feat. Nate Ruess) (P!nk) Hopeful but melancholy.
• !!Silent E (Tom Lehrer) Terrific old Electric Company bit... I was kind of hoping to find the naughty version, but no luck.

90sish

• !6 Underground (Nellee Hooper Edit) (Sneaker Pimps) The 90s called....
• !Back to Life (Soul II Soul) ...they want their music back.
• !Come Out and Play (The Offspring) "Gotta keep 'em separated" is kind of an earwig.
• !Inside Out (Eve 6) BAck to the 90s. I kind of missed the "Heart in a Blender" / Love Blender reference 'til recently.

Brass and Marching Band Related

• !Joy in the Salvation Army (Chicago Staff Band) Video isn't the version I had friends dig up. I enjoyed playing this song, especially the puckish "TRY AND FIND IT" riff in the lower brass.
• !Hot Lunch Jam (Irene Cara) From the movie Fame -- but my marching band played this, nice bassline.
• Marching Band Medley (Drum Line) Love the music sequences from the movie "Drumline". (This video isn't quite the track. Wish I could find the lyrics for the part that has a guy singing about a "train comin'"
• D&K Cadence (D&K Cadence) Short and sweet rhythm.
• My Dreamy Jeannie - Level 4 Cadence (Cassidy Byars) Still on that Marching Band Kick... no video though.
• Look-A Py Py (Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band) Fun Instrumental -- lots of steel drum (AND BONGO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LIKE THAT SORT OF THING)

Covers

• !In My Life (Johnny Cash) Very moving cover from his swan song album.
• !Rumour Has It / Someone Like You (Glee Cast Version) (Glee Cast) Miller has got ne listening to these Glee covers. I wouldn't dig a whole album of 'em but sometimes they do some new cool stuff..
• Try a Little Tenderness (Glee Cast Version) (Glee Cast) More coverage.
• Call Me A Hole (pomDeter/NIN/Carly Rae Jepsen) This mashup made some noise recently... some are offended by dark poster child Trent fitting in so well with the upbeat "Call me Maybe", but there's overlap in the production personnel.

February is a short month, but it's a particularly short new playlist... as always, 4-stars in red, exclamation points mark interesting videos.

Retro

• Got to Get It Over (The Bamboos) Awesome Motown-tinged stylings.
• !Glowworm (The Mills Brothers) Old time, nice.
• When Yuba Plays the Rhumba On the Tuba (Rudy Vallée) A childhood song I just recalled... nice tuba work!
• The Bare Necessities (Bruce Reitherman & Phil Harris) The Disney Classic... happy to hear the tuba here too.
• What a Difference a Day Makes (Dinah Washington) The standard

Pop

• Hey World (Remote Control Version) (Michael Franti & Spearhead) Thanks to EB.
• Heartbeats (The Knife) Kind of like the Killers, this sounds like new wave but came out 20 years later.
• Tightrope (Janelle Monáe) Heard a good DJ at the Bryant Park's hotel cellar
• Harlem Shake (Baauer) I like the fad based on this song.
• The Chosen (Scott & Brendo) Dubstep to a very odd video -- funny if you know the game, or even if not

Indy/Alt

• Last Words (The Real Tuesday Weld) from Nick + Nora's Infinite Playlist
• Ho Hey (The Lumineers) Excellent bare bones romantic song.
• Tighten Up (The Black Keys) Lotta percussion

Janury was a relatively light month for finding music, but contiuned the kizmet of melancholy songs for me with two astounding covers... 4 or more star songs in red, exclamation points mark more visually compelling videos.

Amazing and Melancholy Covers

• Something About You (Cary Brothers feat. Laura Jansen) -- the lyrics are have a perfect complexity, and the treatment here is just perfection. 5 stars.
• One (Damien Rice) I'm not crazy about the lyric flip he does, but the sweetness is amazing

Sexy

• Je t'aime moi non plus (Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin) - wikipedia's explanation of this piece, including the heavy breathing and the Dali joke that inspired it, is kinda neat.
• Light You Up (Radio Edit) (Shawn Mullins) Kind a Santana vibe to this one.
• Bread & Butter (Hugo) Big percussion and sexed up lyrics....

Katamari -- songs from the video game.

• A Crimson Rose and a Gin Tonic (Asuka Sakai, Ado Mizumori) The 50s vibe of this song is so fun.
• Sasasan Katamari (Yu Miyake, Yuusama) Gets the extra star because it's charming and short, but...
• Katamari on the Rock ~ Main Theme (Yu Miyake, Masayuki Tanaka) ...I kind of like the Orchestra in this one better.

Novelty:

• !We Are the Champions (The Busters) Ska cover.
• !!@$$ on the Internet (Dormtainment) -- warning, that is one Booty Shakin' video.

Misc

• !!19-2000 (Soul Child Remix) (Gorillaz) I picked a slightly more upbeat mix than played here, but that is a fun video.
• Don't Say Nothing (The Heavy) Great big percussion.
• The Neon Light of the Saints (Shawn Colvin) Nice blend of softness and drums.
• Voodoo (Red Callender Sextette)
• Oh My God (Jay-Z) from the "Gangster Squad" soundtrack, oddly enough. Big horns and funk.

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New Saucony sneakers to help me and my flat as hell feet pound across the frozen tundra this Superbowl morning.

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Apparently some people are living my dream, the one where I'm kind of soaring and flying:

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Valentine's Blender of Love

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GOOD THING ALL THOSE DINOSAURS DIED HELLA LONG AGO SO WE CAN SIT IN THESE CHAIRS MOVING 80 MILES PER HOUR ACROSS THIS DESOLATE WASTELAND

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As an ex-Clevelander I have very ambivalent feelings about the Ravens. But my rules is, if I don't have a dog in the fight, root for the team in a city that seems less pleasant to live in. So, yay Baltimore Ravens! December was only an ok month for me for finding new music. The stuff that resonated most was on the sad side, for kind of obvious reasons; but it felt like kismet or maybe some kind of synchronicity.

The four-star songs are marked in red; leading exclamation points indicate videos that are compelling (other than as a holder for the song)

Melancholy/Wistful

• !What It Might Have Been (Chris Smither). Zenlike, and yet so sorrowful.
• !!!la ritournelle - Mr dan's magic wand mix (Sébastien Tellier) I didn't realize quite how beautiful and sad this song was 'til I sent the link to Amber. The video is also so lovely.
• !!Heartbeats (José González) A pretty song, and the video (technically an ad, but who cares) is that universe of bouncy balls dropped down a SF hilly street.
• !Everybody Knows (Leonard Cohen) With clips from "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."
• Giant Dwarf (The Exploding Voids) I literally might be these Germans #1 American Fan, but the stuff isn't released yet.
• Honorable Mention: !!A Long December. Not a new song, and it often resonated for me before, but it never felt more accurate.

Fun Covers

• !!Crazy in Love (Rude Mechanical Orchestra) Marching band cover -- great. Now that I have a tuba I need to get my act together and join the pickup band at the HONK fest.
• !!Baby, It's Cold Outside (She & Him) The best song ever about date rape (or is it about that?) gets a new look with a gender swap.

Pop

• Chinese (Lily Allen) Almost on the "wistful" list -- learned that the English say "get a Chinese" for getting Chinese food.
• !The Old Apartment (Barenaked Ladies) Kinda funny, if a bit too goofy with its twist.
• !!Hook (Blues Traveler) Haha, such a jaded, meta-song.

Southern -- again I'm bad at identifying/naming genres... all but the last one are from the Django soundtrack... (here's a website about the Django Unchained Soundtrack, Tarantino talking about my favorite "Unchained" starts at 48:00)

• Too Old To Die Young (Brother Dege)
• Who Did That to You? (John Legend)
• !Unchained (The Payback / Untouchable) (James Brown/2Pac) I had such high hopes for this... if the track was just the Payback remix that kicks in at 0:53 of the movie trailer, it would be perfect. With movie clips and a mashup with Tupac, it's just pretty good.
• Freedom (Anthony Hamilton) Had to see the movie for me to notice this. Sounds a bit like Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy"
• Man of Constant Sorrow (Kraak & Smaak) This is like the 4th or 5th version of this song I have, and it lacks the background chorus, but it sets a mood nicely.

Hiphop

• Underwater Rimes (Remix) (Digital Underground) Haha, early 90s hiphop comedy against the awesome Chameleon bassline. Calling it "Rimes" is hella clever, but made it tougher to search for on e-stores.
• !!!Bane - Freestyle Rap (Auralnauts) Terrifically terrible freestyle. I find the youtube rip better than the version I paid for.
• Shame On a N***a (Wu-Tang Clan) Heard this somewhere. Just kind of fun.

Electronic

• I See You Baby (Fatboy Slim Remix) (Groove Armada) Big energy.
• !!!Video Computer System (GOLDEN SHOWER) Loving tribute to the sounds and gameplay of the old Atari... the Matrix shout out at 1:50 is terrific.

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Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

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Going to Facebook has become the equivalent of opening the fridge & staring inside, even though you're not hungry.

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The night Kim Kardashian got pregnant is the night she told Kanye, 'Imma let you finish.'

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Ha, the format of trying to predict this year's Xth anniversary of Y headlines, stock art, and lead-in sentence feels right on. November was a terrible month for me in most ways, but oddly enough a great one for discovering music, especially Golddust which you really need to watch.

All songs here I call 3 stars or better, 4+ star songs I've colored red. Songs with videos (vs just static image music uploads) are marked with an exclamation point, multiple exclamation points indicate extra goodness.

Club

• !!!Golddust (DJ Fresh) Oh my goodness. My first 5-Star in a long while. Both the video (amazing and well-shot jumprope action) and the song are so full of energy. (Tough MP3 to find; avoid the slower (and sadly more common) dubstep version)
• Humming the Bassline (Hideki Naganuma) From the "Jet Grind Radio" sound track, great bouncy bass.
• !Lazy (X-Press 2 Ft. David Byrne) I'm reading David Byrne's book... I guess this was a big hit for X-Press, and as some reviewer quipped, he'd collaborate with anyone "for a half-empty bag of Doritos"

Comedy Hip-Hop -- all of these have kind of some crude (or worse) lyrics but man, they are some of the funniest videos I'd seen in a long while.

• !!Thrift Shop (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) Warning, kinda racy lyrics, but sometimes I like this song a bit more than "Golddust", even.
• !!Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney (Epic Rap Battles of History) Honestly, I was too stressed to listen to this 'til the election wsa one... but so much fun, and such great lines.
• !My Vag (Awkwafina) More racy lyrics, but laugh out loud funny.

Comedy Other

• !My Ding-A-Ling (Chuck Berry) Man, this is a funny classic. At first I didn't realize the crowd is british, but you can kind of hear it, especially when the women sing. Like the pro-gay aspect of it too.
• Happy Hour (Is The Saddest Time Of The Day) (Ray Stevens) Jeez. I had this on a tape when I was a kid. The hamfisted laugh track really is something.

Alt

• !Tell Me 'Bout It (Joss Stone) Sexy fun, with a great retro sound.
• !A Simple Motion (t.A.T.u.) I've known about the Russian version of this song for a long while; I think the more orchestral English version is new for the anniversary of "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane". Sexy and direct.
• !Dog Days Are Over (Florence + The Machine) Amber digs this song. It's a little long, but good.
• !Rolling In The Deep (Adele) Obviously this one has made the rounds, but it's such a good sound.
• Give It to Me (Reel Big Fish) Heard this in the restroom at Summer Shack. Not the biggest Ska fan, but this is alright.
• Linger (The Cranberries) Lovely little song from a while back.

Retro

• Express Yourself (Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band) Kind of amazed it took me so long to get this song.
• Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho (The Jordanaires) Back in my Salvation Army days, there was a novelty spoken word and brass band arrangement of this. Couldn't find that, but this version is more direct.
• They Built The Ship Titanic (Margaret Ann) The video isn't the song I found... but I remember singing this one with my mom.
• Rum & Coca Cola (Lord Invader) A classic, a bit more raw than the Andrews Sisters' version.
• Accentuate the Positive (Horace Heidt & His Orchestra) My version is different than the link. What strikes me is how many covers mention that it's a Johnny Mercer song.
• !My Way (Sex Pistols) A guy at Alewife quoted "regrets, I've had a few..." and I had to find a version of this. The Sex Pistols cover is idiosyncratic to say the least but I like how they also use it over the credits of "Goodfellas"

Rural

• !Always On My Mind (Willie Nelson) Oh, man, oh man oh man. Heartbreak like no other.
• !!These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (Radio Edit) (Jessica Simpson) Countrified remake. The video gets an extra exclamation point for gratuitous bikini-ness.

Hip-Hop

• !!Who Dat (Explicit Version) (J Cole) I was looking for marching band drum samples, and someone looking for similar referenced this song. Fun video.
• !Pitbull - Culo (DJ Amtrak Remix) Sweet remix by a talented DJ.
• !Fatty Boom Boom [Explicit] (Die Antwoord) Oh, man. "Weird", and leave it at that.

Found around 25 songs ("3 star and up") in October. 4 stars in red, links prefaced with a * are particularly fun to watch videos.

Bigband and/or Bigdrums

• *Yeah Yeah (Willy Moon) Admittedly I almost like the 30 second Apple ad better, but the percussion in this song makes it the only one I'm labeling with 4-stars this month.
• Sparkling Diamonds (Moulin Rouge! Soundtrack) I've had the album for a while... can't believe I didn't give the beautiful horn hit at the begining 3 stars years ago!

Love Found

• Collide (Howie Day) Soft and sweet, almost shmaltzy.
• Rhythm Of Love (Plain White T's) Also soft and sweet but with ukuleles.
• *That Man (Caro Emerald) Veronika mentioned this album last year. Besides the nice retro feel, I love the faux-phonecall wooing by some Don Juan (at about 3:16 in)
• Drive By (Train) Maybe technically more Love Lost? Whatevs.

Love Lost

• Tonight You Belong to Me (Janet Klein) That video is actually Zooey Deschanel but there's a ukulele instructional video for this song by Janet Klein.
• *50 Ways To Say Goodbye (Train) Funny video for a slightly bitter song... more songs should have this much mariachi!
• Good, Bad, Ugly (Ani Difranco) Another song that deserved more stars than I gave it. "open open open open open open all the time"
• Paper Girl (July Talk) Alternating growly and sweet.
• *If You Think You Need Some Lovin (Pomplamoose) I love the "making of the song" videos for this, along with Nataly Dawn's way of looking at the camera out of the corner of her eye.
• Not Big [Explicit] (Lily Allen) Heh, harsh.

Hiphop

• Sesame Street [Explicit] (Blowfly) Oh man, the lyrics of this A-Z rundown are funny and FILTHY, but the beat is SO GOOD.
• He Got Game (Public Enemy) Dig Chuck D's lyrics ("folks don't even own themselves / paying mental rent to corporate presidents") overcome Flava Flav's rambles on the Explicit version.
• Girl On Fire (Inferno Version) (Alicia Keys / Nicki Minaj) The sparse but huge beat and rap intro make up for the overly repetitive chorus.
• Pony Pop (DJ Amtrak / Ginuwine / Lil Wayne) There's a whole blog Dancing Along to Pony, and it's a great riff, but better when mashed up with some modern sexed up hiphop.
• *Gold Digger (Glee Cast) Funny how every "ass" is censored-- makes the core message left behind that much more offensive. Still, the choral backgrounds punchup a good song.
• *Frank Sinatra vs Freddie Mercury (Epic Rap Battles of History)

80s/90s Retro

• 25 Or 6 To 4 (Remastered) (Chicago) I think my jazz band played this one. (I like DJ Magnet's Best of Bootie mashup "Chicago Bump" a bit better)
• Mama Told Me Not To Come (The Wolfgang Press) Cover as seen in the movie "Party Girl"

Rural

• East Bound And Down (Jerry Reed) From "Smokey and the Bandit", not sure where I saw it. Fun song though.
• Johnny Law (William Elliott Whitmore) Banjo player at Harvard Square was covering this.

Other

• *Thank Heavens for Little Girls (Ruby and Lesley Rankine) Ha, I had to rip this from the commercial that I loved in the 90s. It turns out there was no full length version of the song. There's a minute version of the commercial, but the 30 seconds has the good bits and no voiceover.
• Monsters (Monsters Are Waiting) A suicide girls video once had this odd little work.
• Red Alert (K5) Surprisingly hard club track to find, despite its use in "Chasing Amy"

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What did the guy say to his glasses? I can see right through you.

Joke I made up this morning. While looking for my glasses.

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Fetch from the stick's PoV:

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We can't say that steroids caused any one home run by Barry Bonds, but steroids sure helped him hit more and hit them farther. Now we have weather on steroids.

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fun visual puns about disney + star wars -- only 1 darth-in-mickey ears.

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I will never apologize for America

I will never apologize for the United States -- I don't care what the facts are...

I hate Republicans. The idea that we are above apology is disgusting. Amber pointed out that it might be more convenient if I did my "music I've found lately list" monthly rather than seasonal-y, that three month's worth of my music would be a bit much for anyone to run into all at once.

Seems like a worthy experiment! Turned out to be a lot easier to put together.

No 4- or 5- start stuff, just 3s all around though I bolded 1 or 2 videos I think are especially noteworthy.

Shouty Gals (is that a category? I think it should be.)

• 1 Thing (Amerie) Dig the percussion. Sometimes I wish I had a 3 1/2 star category.
• Bad Girls (M.I.A.) Nice middle eastern (?) melodies entwined.
• Want U Back (Cher Lloyd) The shoutiest of the shouty gal songs. Love it for that, and the jealousy.

Indie and Pop

• Autumn Sweater (Yo La Tengo) This group is almost too artsy for me, but this is a nice melancholy song.
• Lisztomania (Alex Metric Rmx) (Phoenix) Phoenix is one of the few groups I've seen live in the past few years, 'cause Amber digs them so much. Good song with lyrics that don't explain too much.
• Sucker (Peeping Tom feat. Norah Jones) Slinky and evil.
• Jigga What/Faint (Jay-Z/ Linkin Park) Hip-hop and metal...

Brass

• What's Going On (The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, feat. Chuck D) -- Hurricane Katrina protest song... Dirty Dozen Brass Band made one of the first three CDs I ever owned...
• I'll Go In the Strength of the Lord (Salvation Army) Every once in a while a march or sunday school ditty gets stuck in my head... love the brass bridge in this one.
• Across the Field (Ohio State Buckeyes)

Retro

• Jack U Off (Prince) (I have the original, link is a VERY strange cover, but then again, I know this song as a marching band piece called "J.U.O."
• Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys) I guess the Beastie Boys sampled this... very punk.
• Eternal Flame (Bangles) Shmaltzy as heck, but my first girlfriend did a dedication of it on the radio and taped it for me.
• Do It Again (Marilyn Monroe) Sexiest version. Marilyn was amazing.

Novelty

• It's My Life What Ever I Wanna Do (Vennu Mallesh) Man, this deserves to be more famous. I love that this guy put himself out there like this... a little long, but fun. I love the skeptical glances of the backup singer in the video.
• Red Solo Cup (Toby Keith) Miller mentioned this horrible earwig. I love things that appreciate inanimate objects.
• If You Really Loved Me (Tim Minchin) XKCD mentioned this guy...
• Somebody Kill Me (Adam Sandler) I know the feeling.

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Make love, not war. But also, if at all possible, make money.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP5-iIeKXE8 - the Conway's Game of Life, run on a big copy of Conway's Game of Life

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Everything is vague to a degree you do not realize till you have tried to make it precise.

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A friend of my family's, David Knickerbocker, is a Christian pastor who runs a thoughtful little blog. I disagree with a lot of things with him, but I think he really is on the more compassionate and humane side of Christianity, so I feel a little bad for getting a bit snarky when he wrote about 42 and the Answer to Life the Universe and Everything

Fun topic!

I was gonna say 42 now performs the function of "geek shibboleth", a buzzword that shows you you're "in" the community.

And then I wikipedia'd up "shibboleth" and they quote Judges 12:5-6, where the Lord's army of Gilead (under Jephthah-- another funny word to say!) invented the use of the term:

And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said to him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" When he said, "No," they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.

42 thousand killed-- I almost fell out of my chair. God works in mysterious ways.

Again, I'm being a little disingenuous here, but the coincidence of it really did startle me.

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For fun I did some music math... from 1992-2007, i.e. when I was buying CDs mostly, I added about 100 good songs a year, from 2007 on, when I started buying mostly MP3s, about 150. So now 2/3 of my good music is older, 1/3 newer - but that ignores the filler I leave off of my devices... At the end of every season I make a list of the songs I added to my rolling "latest music" playlist, all stuff I consider 3 stars or above, and I dig up links and post it here so people who share some of my wide-ranging musical sensibilities can find more of what they might dig.

I found a lot of new music this past summer! Some really great stuff in all...

These songs were 4 stars:

• The Rest Of My Days (The Exploding Voids) One of my favorites, but not publically released.
• Too Close (Alex Clare) So good they're using it in that ad for Internet Explorer. Don't dig the sentiment, but the sound is great.
• Hey Boy (The Blow) The absolutely perfect followup to "Call Me Maybe"...
• Bang Bang Bang (Mark Ronson & The Business Intl) Heard this on "Girls". For a while I was too cool to admit how much I liked it.
• When Doves Cry (Damien Rice) Hard to find acoustic cover... knocked over how Prince is using language in this.
• Be My Guest (Gaitana, Ukraine Eurovision 2012) Bright clubby fun with just a bit of a bass drop.

Bluegrass or Rural Tinged

• Aces And Twos (The Devil Makes Three) Bluegrass-tinged -- sometimes Chiptle has the best music.
• Graceland (Paul Simon Cover) (The Tallest Man On Earth) The guy's voice is a little weedy, but I think he brings out some of the sadness of this song in a lovely way.
• Wilderness (Middle Brother) Folksy.
• Ballad of Lucy Jordon (Nicki Gillis) Marianne Faithfull's version of the Sheil Silverstein lyric is the most famous (I heard it in Thelma & Louise) but I find Gillis' version more palatable, if a bit too polished.

Hiphop

• Gimme Some More (Busta Rhymes) That is a freaky video.
• Bonkers (Dizzee Rascal) The Olympics opening had this song. I could see "There's nothing cra-zee about meeeee" being some kind of catchphrase.
• Whistle (Flo Rida) Some people are scandalized by the single entedre of this, but it's not a bad piece of summer bubblegum pop.
• 99 Problems (Jay-Z) I knew about the chorus, but didn't listen to the song 'til I saw this analysis of its second verse in terms of a representation of the 4th amendment.
• Party and Bullshit (Ratatat remix) (Notorious B.I.G.) Awesome remix.
• My Homies Still (Lil Wayne) There was a weird Colorado shooting conspiracy theory floating around, but it's a fun, if filthy, song.
• Gangnam Style (PSY) Making the rounds for its goofy dancing fun, even if (or because) it's mostly in Korean...
• Traktor (Wretch 32) I bought that Olympic Opening Ceremony soundtrack, and this was one of the few other songs I liked on it.

Novelty

• The Bjork Song (The Brunching Shuttlecocks) (available in MP3 or RealAudio!) "Her name... ahh.. her name is Bjork. Isn't that lovely? It's like a gentle zephyr carressing the surface of a still pond. Bjork."
• Dead Puppies (Dr. Demento) This was on a mixtape of Demento stuff a family friend made for my dad when he was sick. The song is itself a bit sick, but fun. Points for the Roman Hruska reference.
• The Masochism Tango (Tom Lehrer) I prefer the full orchestra version of this over the man at the piano.
• F**k S**t Stack [Explicit] (Reggie Watts) INSANELY catchy a capella groove, in spite or because of the nonstop cussing... at risk for becoming 4 stars.
• Jimmy Fallon, Carly Rae Jepsen & The Roots Sing "Call Me Maybe" (w/ Classroom Instruments Just what it says on the tin.
• Michelle's Song -- ItsYouNotMe (zeFrank) Touching Group Effort.

Instrumental

• Sabre Dance from 'Gayeneh' (The London Symphony Orchestra) For a long while I used to say "I like Classical but only if it's fast" -- this song and "Flight of the Bumblebee" were to big reasons for me saying that.
• Pee Wee's Big Adventure -- Breakfast Machine (The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra) That video is actually the fun fun fun Rube Goldberg-ish clip from the movie.
• Il Buono, Il Cattivo, Il Brutto (The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (Ennio Morricone) I heard Tracy Emin use this in one of her pieces in London last summer.
• Mechanism Eight (UT3 Remix) (Rom Di Prisco) I first heard this great bit of mid-90s techno as a MOD file
• The best drum line video ever! (Keith Urban) Ripped the soundtrack to that video. Man I love funk-tinged drumlines.
• The People's Court 1981-1993 theme music Great music, at least 'til 3:10 or so where it starts to totally wuss out.
• Flat Beat (Mr. Oizo) Oddly chip-tune-ish.

Softer

• Someone Like You (Adele) Heard about this after WSJ analyzed why it was so sad...
• Imitosis (Andrew Bird) via The Onion Horrible Couple Really Wants Wedding To Reflect Their Personalities.
• Natural Light (Sun Kil Moon). Crazy Melancholy.
• The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Album) (The Postal Service) Another work tinged with regret.
• I'm Going To Go Back There Someday (Rachael Yamagata) Loved this song on the Muppet Movie soundtrack...
• Settle Down (Kimbra) Less soft than some stuff here, still paints a wistful tone.

Retro

• Come Together (The Beatles) A few years ago I saw this great (unauthorized?) Flash video...
• Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd) What can I say, I liked Dukes of Hazzard when I was a kid too.
• Nothing From Nothing (Billy Preston) I enjoy how much Billy Preston seems to enjoy his afro.
• As Time Goes By (Dooley Wilson) Got to take Amber to see this movie for her first time.
• I Love Rock N' Roll (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts) Even better than the Weird Al Version
• Always True To You In My Fashion (Peggy Lee With George Shearing) Sometimes my mom's love of musicals comes out in weird ways.
• Superstition (Stevie Wonder) It's too bad I mostly heard his softer stuff, 'cause man could this guy get funky.
• Steal My Sunshine (Len) Hey remember the 90s? Me too!

Clubbish

• Northern Cree - Red Skin Girl (A Tribe Called Red) Love this group's mix of Native American and modern sensibilities.
• Chammak Challo Punjab Remix I love Bollywood! Had a hard time finding a version with the female vocals.
• We Like to Party! (Vengaboys) Hey remember that old Six Flags ad? Me too!

Other/Alt

• Hell Yes (Beck) I like the peculiary Japanese admonition to "Please Enjoy".
• You're Not All That (The Herbaliser) Retro-funk sound.
• Get Some (Lykke Li) Such attitude in this.
• Count On Me (Mat Kearney) Might be a cover of a Bruno Mars song? Cute number and alphabet puns anyway.
• 1940 (AmpLive Remix) (The Submarines) "Something's wrong when you regret things that haven't happened yet."

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• He was tall, thin and bony, like a cadaver trying to remember something,
• Fearless, as he was dumb, he walked over to the edge of the ship.
• Jake was not a man to show much emotion, but he found himself supressing the urge to smile out loud.

--from this list of submissions to Isaac Asimov magazine So by my idiosyncratic, school-year based way of reckoning, Summer is here, and so I can write up the three-star-plus music I added to my collection over the 3 months of Spring.

I kind of bunched these by genre, figuring that's the best chance of making this list useful to folks looking for stuff they like, but a really coherent categorization system is elusive. "Retro" is just "old", but not 90s old, which is a certain time when I was aware of music but not always going out and buying CDs. "Pop" tends to be a bit more polished and/or electronic than "Alt", but, well, you know.

4- and 5-star songs are marked in red.

One five star song:

• All The Rowboats regina spektor. Oh man, what a song. Spektor is one of the best artists out there. So much intensity... (plus I like what I think is just a hint of vocal percussion with the hits at the end.)

Completely Random.

• Star Lake March Star Lake Music Camp. A brass band march I remember fondly; I ripped an MP3 from the youtube link, but then sped it up from 120bpm to 140bpm. (I think they were slowing it down for the timbrels, the synchronized tamourine playing that is an odd Salvation Army tradition.)

Hiphop

• I'm The King Royce Da 5'9. I was playing GTA3 on iPhone, and this was one of the songs from the car radios there.
• Rising To The Top 8-Off Agallah Featuring Sean Price & Bazaar. Royale-- again from GTA3.
• Grand Theft Auto (Joyride) Da Shootaz. Actually the theme to an earlier GTA.
• 10th Generation Supercommuter. Heard this live at PAX East.
• Fuzzy Dice Optimus Rhyme. More nerdcore from PAX East, but just as recorded filler.
• DC GO GO. Bruce Brown. Baratunde Thurston's "How to Be Black" mentions "Go-Go" as a type of music only popular around Washington DC and Maryland... it's looping percussion is great, but I had to rip this MP3 from Youtube.
• Shake Your Rump The Beastie Boys. The sadly early death of MCA made me revisit some of their older works.
• Cooky Puss The Beastie Boys. Sometimes, very much older.
• Know The Ledge Eric B. and Rakim. Nice fast hiphop (Heard it on a promo for the first "Saints Row")
• Be Black King Sun. Daniel Nester tweeted about vaguely remember seeing this on MTV, while high, at his college girlfriends. Nice bassline.
• Back In Time Pitbull. Enjoyed the Bass Drop. Not sure why it's not Will Smith though...
• The Next Episode Dr. Dre / Snoop Dogg. I like how it's acapella admonition to "smoke weed every day" was immediately followed by the Salvation Army Star Lake March on my playlist.

Funny

• The Scotsman Bryan Bowers. Maybe I heard this folksy-song on public radio way back when?
• Dog Police Dog Police. I think Auntie Pixelante tweeted about the infectious chorus of this song. Maybe a kind of parody of rock operas?
• You Can Touch My Boobies Rachel Bloom. Sexy in the goofiest way possible.
• Still Alive Jonathan Coulton & GLaDOS. I still love "We do what we must because we can."
• Bert, oh Bert! Lena Meyer-Landrut. I think I posted about this German Sesame Street version of her Eurovision hit Satellite...
• I'm Your Mailman Bill "The Fox" Foster- from his album of badly sung but bawdy "Songs Banned in Boston".
• Dracula's Lament -- The Late Late Show had Jason Segal and Dracula giving the full version of the song from "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". I like it's melancholy goofiness, punctuated by the second voice in the back.

Retro

• CoinJar-Gettin Booty With It Jason Ricciardi. Super catchy mashup of Will Smith "Gettin' Jiggy With It" and Parov Stelar's Booty Swing. Recommended!
• You're The Top Louis Armstrong. Still wishing I could find a recording of the naughty version of this, but it's such a great and clever song.
• Thanks For The Memories Bob Hope & Shirley Ross. I wish my mp3 had the same tearful ending as this video from the movie.
• Linus and Lucy Vince Guaraldi Trio. The ever-hip classic.
• Hot Chocolate Shonen Knife. Such a great throwback to the mod-60s.
• On The Sly The Bamboos. Heard this in a PF Chang's men's room. Great big retro feel.
• Seven Nation Army Ben L'Oncle Soul. Kinda skinny retro cover of one of my favorite songs.
• Skinny Legs And All Joe Tex. I think I saw this on a list of "Least Essential Music Ever", and it's just a tad offensive, but I dig it.
• Love Is Strange Mickey & Sylvia. I remember people in high school doing the "Come HEAH, Luvahboy" bit (which the "Back in Time" song that samples this ignored...)
• Original Miami Vice Theme Jan Hammer. Man I loved this. I might have to make an animated GIF.
• Stop! Mashup Time [MC Hammer vs. Eurythmics vs. New Order vs. Talking Heads vs. Donna Summer] FAROFF. So many hits packed in this mashup package.
• You Shook Me All Night Long AC/DC. The group weirdly doesn't make their stuff available for download. Ah well...
• Life Is But A Mere Supply Dezma. A final GTAIII track.

90s

• Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? Paula Cole. Favorite line: "Why don't you stay the evening / kick back and watch the tv / And I'll fix a little somethin' to eat".
• Virtual Insanity Jamiroquai. Man, this is a fun video. I once saw a video of him performing live, using treadmills (kind of like a primitive OK GO...)
• How Bizarre OMC. This guy always looks irritated.
• No Woman, No Cry Fugees. They're making that Marley biopic. Figured I liked the sound and tempo of this version, though the update of the lyrics is a little wonky.

Pop

• Amanda Blank - Might Like You Better Vaski. Bassdrop-y Dub version of one of my favorite raunchy songs.
• Teeth Lady Gaga. Big stompy drums.
• Chammak Challo Akon. A really fun Bollywood video. A big people were doing synchronized dancing to it at an asian culture festival in DC. (I think the version I downloaded lacks the female vocals, damn.)
• Call Me Maybe Carly Rae Jepsen. Enormously popular, and deservedly so... so catchy.
• Feel Good Inc Gorillaz. These guys were doing that onstage hologram thing WAY before Tupac!
• Starships Nicki Minaj. Good song. And quite the sexy video. I adore the use of the Haka dancers...
• North American Scum LCD Soundsystem. Una at work suggested this. I like the Lo-Fi approach.

Alt

• Just You And Me Zee Avi. Saw her live. Love how this song namedrops Kierkegaard
• What-A-Man Lena. Just a sweet song by a German gal I think should be more well known here... not sure why it drops off after 30 seconds.
• Arkansas and Socrates The Lisps. No video for these songs of their Civil War meets Charles Babbage meets the Singularity musical "Futurity".
• Open Rhye. A sexy and polished but very human video to a sexy and polished but very human song.
• Bartholomew The Silent Comedy. They used this in the trailer for "Hatfields and McCoys"... I like the shout-y Appalachian feel of it.
• Infinity Guitars Sleigh Bells. Super lofi shouty stuff. The beginning was used as a bumper in the show "Girls".
• Jolene Mindy Smith. Softer, less glitzy cover of "Jolene".

Chiptunes

• Tron Scherzo (Sark's Revenge Mix) 8 Bit Weapon. A tribute to Wendy Carlos Williams Duh, mixing up name with poet William Carlos Williams, but with more percussion.
• Robot Sneakers Trash80. I admit I'm not super fond of most chiptunage, but this is great.
• Numbers Kraftwerk. Ok, probably more of an inspirational piece to chiptunage than part of the genre itself, but still. A use of primitive digital voices closer to when they were the state of the art...

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The GOP Sees Dead People--Voting Voter fraud happens retail (if that) and Conservatives are purging voter registrations wholesale. This is not justice.

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People who are brutally honest get more satisfaction out of the brutality than out of the honesty.

Another 3 months gone, another time to round up music I've added to my collection... all these I've ranked "3 stars" or greater, with the 4 and 5 ones highlighted in red.

Unfortunately, the very best song I added to my collection this quarter, the only 5-star song and maybe one of my top 5 ever, I can't post here... it's not really released! It's called "As It Comes" by "The Exploding Voids", it was played over the credits of the same German artist's (Daniel Vogelmann) horror short "Wilt" (Welk, originally) and he was kind enough to send me an MP3. I will absolutely write more about it once it's out...

Christmas Hip Hop - one year for Christmas I got the kind of great cassette (it was the 80s) Christmas Rap (I blogged the Cover Art before.) So many of the tracks really stuck with me:

• Christmas In Hollis Run-D.M.C. Such a classic.
• Let The Jingle Bells Rock Sweet Tee. I always loved the slow mechanic loop in the background, and Sweet Tee's syncopated delivery.
• Dana Dane Is Coming To Town Dana Dane
• Christmas In The City King Sun
• Chillin' With Santa Derek B

When I ripped my whole CD collection, somehow I missed the "Blues Brother" soundtrack, which was HUGELY influential on anyone in a high school jazz band in the 80s and early 90s... some of the songs seem a bit too polished now, but they're still pretty awesome.

• Peter Gunn Theme
• Shake A Tail Feather (oo, Movie clip with Ray Charles!)
• The Old Landmark (ditto but with James Brown)
• Theme From Rawhide (triple ditto)
• Minnie The Moocher
• Sweet Home Chicago (quadruple ditto)
• Jailhouse Rock (over the credits...)

Progressive, Alt-Rock, Softer... I dunno. I fail musical genres.

• Concrete Wall Zee Avi. My friend Erica had us go see her live, based in large part on the terrificness of this song.
• How You Remind Me Nickelback. I'm not afraid to like music I think sounds good. In this case, I was reminded of this song by a Motown tribute made to placate protesters against Nickelback.
• Unwritten Natasha Bedingfield. More music I'm not afraid to like. This is a great sounding song with a nice upbeat message.
• Solsbury Hill Peter Gabriel. Another unabashedly optimisitc sounding piece... I love the role it has in making this recut trailer for The Shining into a feel-good dramedy.
• Off To The Races Lana Del Rey. Amber's big on this gal right now, and I dig some of her songs.
• Nantes Beirut. Accordians and Euphoniums, what more do you want in a piece?
• The Humbling River Puscifer. This song is the incongruous backdrop for the trailer for the video game Transfomers: Fall of Cybertron.
• The Guitar Guy Clark. Daniel Vogelmann mentioned some of his American cowboy influences, including Guy Clark, so I checked it out. A bit like a softer and more haunting "Devil Went Down to Georgia"
• Glycerine (Acoustic) Bush. 90s Calling! This was on one of Amber's playlists.

Electronica, Party, Hip-hop...

• Party Rock Anthem Lmfao. Somehow I totally missed Lmfao 'til one of the summer interns at work came back for a visit and mentioned these guys at played at Tufts' Spring Fling.
• Sexy And I Know It Lmfao. Then when xkcd made a cartoon riff on this song, I downloaded it too.
• Super Bass Nicki Minaj. Weirdly an obscene Eminem to this artist made me wonder if any of her songs were any fun.
• T.H.E (The Hardest Ever) will.i.am. This is a super fun video.
• Smell Yo Dick Riskay. Amber hates this song but I like the note of sadness it carries.
• hooked on a hollaback blue swede vs gwen stefani. I ripped a cover of this mashup from this video of.... well, it's a naked woman hula hooping.
• Christmas Tree Lady GaGa. Lightly racy lyrics, I think this one came up on Pandora's Modern Holiday channel.
• Wu-Tang Clan Aint Nuthing Ta F' Wit Wu-Tang Clan. Weirdly this song has a cameo as a lullabye in that "A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas". Which I somehow managed to see in 2D. Thanks, Somerville Cinema.
• electric pow wow drum A Tribe Called Red. Cordelia, member of the Seneca tribe, LJ'd about this (I think)

A few random songs with retro appeal:

• You Got Me Hummin' Sam & Dave. From some Pandora "Hold on, I'm Coming" (Sam+Dave) station I made. Like I've said, I'd like to think I'd know these guys even if they weren't what was on the Blues Bros' car 8-track, but I'm not sure.
• Cherry Cherry Neil Diamond. We saw Diamond honored at the Kennedy Center Honors. Plus, Saving Silverman.

Two cool 70s instrumentals (rare that instrumentals make it into my playlists) by Ananda Shankar...

• Streets Of Calcutta. This song is the background for this fantastic fake Nutrigrain "I Feel Great" Ad.
• Dancing Drums

Finally, weird and novelty songs.

• Pound On My Muffin Shira. Todd was showing this video at his New Year's Party. It's... really bad.
• Seven Nation Army (Remix) The Glitch Mob/The White Stripes. Powerful remix, saw it on this fan video for Pats/Broncos: Round 2.
• Nascar Prayer Songify This. So fun and catchy. I wonder if this is ridiculous, or just what religion should be.
• Oh Yeah Yello. Weirdly, guys in QA were singing this even before the recent Ferris Bueller tribute superbowl ad.
• Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) Marilyn Manson. Kind of goofy cover, saw it in the Wrath of the Titans trailer.

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Just remember: it's not true unless it makes you laugh. That is the one and sole and infallible test of all ideas that will ever be presented to you.

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I always look for a place to pay for a (DRM-free) MP3, but when that fails beemp3.com is pretty good (Hot Chocolate, Shonen Knife) This year's advent calendar caused me to delay my seasonal music summary... not that there's so much of a clamor for it, but people who like this kind of music will find this a good collection of the music they like.

(Actually my tastes are a bit eclectic, but still, there's some fun stuff here.)

So, the one five star song in the fall was Might Like You Better by Amanda Blank, an incredibly fun and EXTREMELY raunchy song. Another great one was the cover of Addicted To Love by Florence + The Machine. (It was used on the ad for some TV show.)

Other songs by category:

Energetic Electronic or Mashup

• ABC Jackson 5/A.Skillz Remix. From this brilliant remixer.
• California soul (A.Skillz Remix) A.Skillz.
• No Fun/Push It 2 Many DJ's. cmg showed me a three stooges video that used this mashup.
• Satisfaction by Benny Benassi -- also from the Saints Row 3 soundtrack.
• Enemy Crush Skrip Breaks. That video is a crazy silly finger parkour video
• Queen Dot Kong The Dø. Saints Row 3.
• Think about the way Frisco vs. Ice Mc. Rediculously happy song, reminded of it by watching "Trainspotting" again.
• Make It Take It Amanda Blank. Another Amber favorite.

Hip-Hop

• The Wizard's Palace Violent J. Recommendation from a friend of a friend of the most worthwile Insane Clown Posse song-- a fun mix of Wizard of Oz and Marijuana, I love the horns sample.
• Ass Like That [Explicit] Eminem. I was reading about the incident that inspired this, the stand off of "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog" and Eminem's crew.
• Floozy The Knux-- from this very odd indie video game teaser video.
• 'Till I Collapse Eminem. Soundtrack to "Real Steel".
• 911 Is A Joke Public Enemy. Remembered from my high school days.
• Fast Lane Bad Meets Evil. Also from "Real Steel".
• No Mo! Red Astaire. From a random youtube video that made it look like it was the music for an Equestrian Dressage event.
• Power [Explicit] Kanye West. From the "Saints Row 3" game credits.

Indie/Softer

• Loose Lips Kimya Dawson. I think I heard this on one of Amber's playlists, and/or from the movie Juno.
• Video Games Lana Del Rey. Super sweet song that Amber and I really like. At first I wasn't sure if it was sarcastic, but no, it is gently about slow evenings with her boyfriend, even as he played his World of Warcraft.
• Tip of the Tongue The Donnis Trio. Heard in a cafe.
• Pterodactyls Fujiya And Miyagi. Heard this in a Chipotle.
• They Jem. A favorite of Amber's.
• Taken By A Stranger Eurovision song by Lena Meyer Landrut who did my favorite "Satellite", though I couldn't find her version.
• Done Wrong Ani Difranco. A replacement for a bad rip of an old favorite album.

Retro

• Just One Look Doris Troy. The Casanova's go-to song in "Crazy, Stupid, Love"
• Mama Said The Shirelles. Just randomly in my head at some point.
• The Clapping Song and Iko Iko The Belle Stars. I heard some version of the first song in a VW Beetle ad.
• Blister In The Sun Nouvelle Vague, from the movie Bridesmaids.

90s Leftovers

• Fly [Explicit] Sugar Ray. Heard this out shopping, remembered it was a song I liked the sound of.
• Closing Time Semisonic. Andy on the Office was trying to get every one into singing in this song at the end of the day... another song I have to unafraid to admit I like.
• Epic Faith No More. This song was big in highschool (so maybe late 80s?) Heard it recently in Saints Row 3.

from Video Games

• Buck Bumble Theme Argonaut software.
• Moon Patrol Dor-X. One of my favorite basslines in high school, I sought out a good cover of it.

Funny/Novelty/Misc

• The Lazy Song Bruno Mars. My cousin Llara pointed it out this comedy to us.
• Banana Boat (Day-O) Stan Freberg. This was on a Dr. Demento tape a friend had made for my dad when he was sick.
• I'm Shipping Up To Boston Dropkick Murphys. Used as the ex-Sox Papelban's theme I think, I was reminded of it by its use in "The Departed"
• Don't Fence Me In (From "The Bachelor") David Byrne. Heard this on Amber's iPod a long time ago.
• Hey Bartender The Blues Brothers. Heard this at a store in Burlington Vermont
• 15 Seconds of Fame Jim's Big Ego. Fun, fun, fun, and Internet-y.
• Drums Live At Ballou Vs. Dunbar Ballou Marching Band Drumline. I'm always looking for good drumline music.

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A robot walks into a bar and says, 'I'll have a screwdriver.'

Another new season, another overview of the music I added to my regular rotation over the last 3 months...

Starting off with a few four star songs:

• Save A Horse [Ride A Cowboy] Big & Rich. Funny cowboy song, Lynn recommended it when we were trying to think of songs for the intern karaoke night.
• Give It Away Dick Brave & The Backbeats. Fun eurorockabilly cover of the Rot Hot Chili Peppers. Ran into this one in Germany but I had to wait for an import CD to arrive. I also liked their cover of Michael Jackson's Black Or White.
• Run [I'm A Natural Disaster] Gnarls Barkley. An instrumental of this fun retro piece was in the new X-Men film.

My friend Kjersten made me a big mix of music for my birthday called "tilkirke", here were the 4 I thought were 4 stars...

• Like A G6 Far East Movement. I kind of resisted liking this song, 'cause singing in praise of a private jet seemed a bit rich, but it's super-catchy, and kind of cool that they're about the first Asian-American group to get a top 10 hit on the mainstream charts.
• Knockin' Luminescent Orchestrii. This song is a sultry wonder. (This isn't quite the version I have, but closer than the live video.)
• Stay Don't Go Spoon. Dig the mild beat box beat of this.
• Cakewalk Into Town Taj Mahal. I don't always like tuba, but this song is a ton of fun.

Other songs from tilkirke I decided to keep in my regular rotation:

• Rolling In The Deep Adele. Kinda Amy Winehouseian, in a good way.
• Mr. Big Stuff Jean Knight. A classic.
• Letting Go (Dutty Love) Sean Kingston featuring Nicki Minaj. Carribean-tinged theme.
• The Legend Of Zelda Original Mix HD Zedd. I didn't play this game much growing up, but it's still a stirring piece of exploration.
• La Vie Est Belle MC Solaar. I dunno. It's in French!
• I'm Good, I'm Gone Lykke Li. Nice smooth sound.
• Crystalised Xx. Dark.
• Comme Des Enfants (Le Matos Andy Carmichael Remix) Coeur De Pirate. More French!
• Addictive Truth Hurts. Good Middle Eastern groove.

Finally, some more decent songs I picked up various places:

• If Your Gonna Be Dumb, You Gotta Be Tough Roger Alan Wade. Heard this lovely bit of honky tonk outside the "Texas Roadhouse" restaurant. Love the Homer Simpson montage with this.
• Spooky Dusty Springfield. "Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels" had this-- I don't think the gender flipped lyrics make as much sense, but I love Dusty's voice.
• Peace Frog ( LP Version ) The Doors. Quite possibly Amber's favorite Doors song.
• Pac Man Fever Buckner & Garcia. I had this kind of awful novelty album growing up. For some reason I had the lyrics to "Mousetrap" stuck in my head, but I decided to stick with the one that made them (in)famous.
• We Used To Wait Arcade Fire. The song is a little apocalyptic for my taste, but if you haven't played with the AMAZING interactive music video that might literally be able to bring you back to your hometown, you should.
• Dirty Water (Live) Dropkick Murphys. Got to talking about this with Amber's folks... And man, I just love the band name "Dropkick Murphys".
• Remember (Walking In The Sand) The Shangri-Las. Playing at Za, a local restaurant. I had it on a 50s mixtape from McDonalds growing up. I like the emotion in the singer's voice.
• What I Like About You Lillix. I like high energy girlband covers of songs, Amber introduced me to this one.
• Louder Than A Bomb Public Enemy. SOundtrack to "Hot Tub Time Machine".
• No Sex Chris Rock. TV Tropes mentioned the "smudge your puma" line on their Disproportionate Retribution page.
• Johnny Got A Boom Boom Imelda May. Heard this on the soundtrack for "Wild Target", nice gogo sound.
• What Was I Thinkin' Dierks Bentley. Another honky tonk song from outside Texas Roadhouse. Like the line about "little white tank top".
• Muppet Show Theme Song OK Go. SO MUCH FUN.

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The Washington Post on the women pilots willing to sacrifice their lives to knock down any more hijacked planes...

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http://loveblender.com/2011september/ - new Blender of Love Digest, a tribute to an old stalwart Blenderite...

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Man, that commercial with the Budweiser Clydesdale's doing that horse show bowing thing to NYC is just kind of creepy/weird. Another quarter gone by, another 40-odd songs discovered, or rediscovered...

FWIW, I slightly modified how I listen to this music. For a long while I've been building resetting my seasonal playlist at the start of each season. But that led to songs added late in the season not getting as much play, which in turn led to stuff like me holding off on downloading a song 'til the beginning of the next quarter, which kind of missed the point of an ongoing "new music in my life" playlist. So, now I mostly listen to a rolling playlist of the last 25 songs added. I also added a "last 25 songs, 4 stars or higher", which makes my the ranking a little more meaningful...

Anyway!

One five star track last season:

• If You Kiss Jesus - Robin Skouteris. The "My Little Pony" video put to this mashup was played at a Pax East panel on "Playing to Win" (For no particularly good reason, except it rocks.)

A few 4 star songs:

• Something Bigger, Something Better - Amanda Blank, used on some youtube video or other. Love the line "my ladies who got their own cash / know how to swing they hips fast"
• Make Some Noise - The Beastie Boys. I'm on their email list. "here we go again / give you more, nothin' less-a / back on the mic is the anti-depress-a"
• S&M - Rihanna. Amber digs this tune - there should be more videos this playfully sexy. "I may be bad / but I'm perfectly good / at it" ... "sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and wips excite me"
• King Creole (Viva Elvis) - Elvis Presley. Played during the final days of the Copley Square Borders (sigh) "He lay downs a beat / like a ton of coal"
• Wild Wild West (Album Version With Intro) - Will Smith. Amazingly catchy song-- Will Smith's delivery is so much fun.
• Satellite (Live 1. Runde) - Lena Meyer-Landrut. Like I posted a few days ago, Veronika and Volker introduced me to this Eurovision winner... "i bought new underwear they're blue / and i wore them just the other day"

Other songs I liked enough to want to put into my collection:

• Star Lake Pep Song - Star Lake Camp. I kisrael'd about this. One of a small collection of MP3s where I'm listening to myself.
• That's Some Dream - Good Old War. Heard this at the Copley Square CVS.
• Roam - The B-52's. Old favorite from college a capella days. Love the line "hip to hip, rocking through the wilderness."
• SOS - Rihanna. On one of Amber's play lists, dig the Tainted Love samples
• Immigraniada (We Comin' Rougher) - Gogol Bordello. Boingboing debuted this song -- it's the story of legal immigrants who are still given the short shift in this land.
• Just A Little Lovin' (GB Remix) - Carmen McRae. Heard this on that racy (if heteronormative) Sealy's Mattress Ad. So sweet.
• Blow, Gabriel, Blow - Ethel Merman. (The version I have is higher energy) Might remember this from my mom's musical days...
• Harvey & Sheila (LP Version) - Allan Sherman. This was on a Dr. Demento a family friend (Captain Shenk I think) made for my dad when he was sick.
• You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes. Classic!
• Here I Come - Fergie. Fun.
• Spirit In The Sky - Norman Greenbaum. I think I heard a radio piece on how many movies use this song, it didn't make Greenbaum rich but he was able to retire.
• Take Me Home - Holly Cole - beautiful retelling of a Tom Waits classic... I've had this for a while, but it was a bad MP3 rip.
• Beatles VS James Brown We Can Work - found this while researching my last musical roundup.
• Mad Men Theme With a Twist - Found this interesting mashup of Mad Men and "Nature Boy".
• Step On My Trip - Dub_Fx. I think I put the live version of this here before; the studio version loses something with the polish, but still good.
• Move - H-Blockx. Found when digging up their version of Snap's "The Power". High energy 90s silliness.
• White Rabbit - Emiliana Torrini. The soundtrack to "Sucker Punch" had some intriguing covers.
• I Want It All / We Will Rock You Mash-Up - Queen+Armegeddon. From the same movie.
• Do The Mario (clean Version) - Hiimrawn & Hi Im Rawn Producer. BoingBoing linked to one of the related videos.
• One More Minute - Weird Al Yankovic. A memory from my even more geek youth...
• Feelin' Alright - Joe Cocker. Heard at Whole Foods.
• Yo Marco El Minuto - Mala Rodriguez. There's a sexy bit of strip tease to this in the movie "Sex and Lucia"
• Give me the seventies - Jean. Fun "Sex and Lucia". Then the guy does a more playful dance to this song in the same move...
• Express Yourself (Album Version) - Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd. Street Rhythm Band. Now seen in a coffeemate commercial.
• E.T. (feat. Kanye West) - Katy Perry. Recommended by my buddy JZ. (No not that JZ)
• Just Can�t Get Enough - Black Eyed Peas. Ditto.
• Sesames Treet (Vocal Mix) - Smart Es. Had this one for a long while, finally looked up the artist to get a legit copy.
• Peppyrock - BTK. I remembered writing down this title in the 90s, forgeting about it, looking it up, realizing it was a song and video, forgetting about it, then remembering it again for no good reason. Catchy song.
• Saturday Night Live Star Wars - Bill Murray. This one I've known about for years.
• Runaway - Del Shannon. Coworker Jon, with leaky headphones, was listening to this. Plus I think it was on one of those old McD's "Shake Burger and Fries" mix tapes I had growing up.
• One Of Us - Joan Osborne. One of those 90s songs. Mighta heard it again in a CVS.
• Ass-n-Titties - DJ Assault. This horrendous little ditty was stuck in the head of Felis Demens a long while back
• Insane In The Brain (Explicit Album Version) - Cypress Hill. Reminded by the movie "Havoc"
• Crazy Vibes - Selah Sue. Heard this in a grocery store in Paris.
• Wonderman (Feat. Ellie Goulding) - Tinie Tempah. They were playing this at the H+M on the Champs d'Elyesee
• Still D.R.E. - Dr. Dre. Ditto.
• Where do I begin (Away Team mix) - Shirley Bassey. I think the cabaret Lido might have been playing this.
• 7 Years and 50 Days (Radio Edit) - Groove Coverage. I don't think Lido was playing a different song by the same folk. Europop fun!

Every season I keep a rolling playlist of music I discover, and then I track down videos for most of them, to share them with you, and to keep around for my future self. Last Winter was a pretty good season for my music!

Recommendations from friends.

• Fidelity - Regina Spektor - such a lovely song, and a great artist, who Amber introduced me to.
• I Want To Hold Your Hand T.V.Carpio - from the "Across the Universe)" soundtrack, but I had forgotten about it until I heard it again from Amber's collection.
• Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed - this was on Miller's mix when we did 24 Hour Comics Day last October. Between this, Lola, and Tone Loc's Funky Cold Medina, there seems to be an 80s fascination with the genderbendering...
• Thinking 'Bout Somethin' - Hanson. Gerard LaFond, coworker and big name in the whole infogames thing, mentioned this Blues Brother tribute... despite the boy band roots of these guys, they're pretty great.
• Shut Up & Kiss Me - Orianthi. From Kjersten, I think.

Over the years I've grown to dig the Verve Remixed albus... I usually end up loving one or two songs from each.

• There Was a Time - James Brown
• California Soul - Marlena Shaw

Songs I found out about thanks to sports.

• Pump It - Black Eyed Peas. Maybe the NFL halftime show reminded me of their excellent use of "misirlou".
• The Power Is On - The Go! Team. An NFL commercial used this... I think I just dig that shouty girl voice thing.
• Hi de Ho - K7. They played this before the Celtics game I went to. Uses a lot of Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher- he shows up at the beginning of the video. Very hard to track down the song.

Songs from movie soundtracks...

• Go Speed Racer Go - Ali Dee and The Deekompressors. Such a vibrant kinetic movie... if you're a friend of mine ask me to watch it on my big projector screen.
• Creep - Scala & Kolacny Brothers. "The Social Network" used this, it's really kind of amazing.
• Mad Men Theme - DJ Swindeal. (Different video) I was looking for a simple version, this remix is ok.
• Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing - Chris Isaak. Rewatched "Eyes Wide Shut" with Amber.

Songs from Internet Videos...

• God's Gonna Cut You Down -- Kevin Lovatt. The video is what introduced me to the Johnny Cash version, but I could only find Kevin Lovatt's cover... his voice though is of the stronger, middle-aged Cash, not the weathered version heard in that video.
• Umbrella - The Baseballs. Such a terrific 60s rock cover of last decade's pop.
• I Just Had Sex -- The Lonely Island. Tacky, but funny. And the music is actually really slickly arranged, it sounds great.
• Gimme Pizza Slow - Olsen Twins. I think I already linked to the creepy weirdness that results from slowing down the 90s kiddie show song.

We went to Francesca's Espresso Bar one morning, and I heard these--

• Brand New Colony - The Postal Service
• Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - The Andrews Sisters. Man, I love the musicality when one of the sisters imitates a wailing trumpet.

A bunch of songs I rememnber from either my youth or a few years back...

• Skate or Die - Rob Hubbard. One of the best bits of video game music ever, especially the C=64 version.
• Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle) - Limp Bizkit. Kind of a catchy but idiotic song, but they used a cleaned up version of it on the old "NHL Hitz" game I'd play with my young cousins.
• Kiss Me Deadly - Lita Ford. The "went to a party last saturday night, didn't get laid, got in a fight, uh-huh, it ain't no big thing" line was in my head for a while-- didn't realize it was a woman singing. The video is actually really sexy in an 80s hairband kind of way.
• Mr. Roboto - Styx. It's weird how the rock-opera-musical story aspect of this song can shine through as you listen.
• You Were Meant For Me -- Jewel
• Bubbly - Colbie Caillat (cvs)
• Listen To Your Heart - DHT (new version)

Songs I don't really remember how I found out about...

• Go Go Gadget Flow -- Lupe Fiasco
• Dynamite -- Audio Bullys
• Les Petits Ballons -- France Gall
• Fortune Teller -- Benny Spellman
• Airplanes -- B.o.B./Hayley Williams - scandal
• If I Was Your Girlfriend - Prince
• Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun - Beastie Boys
• Last Leaf - Ok Go
• Face Melter - The Japanese Popstars. Love how this sounds like printer noise.

Finally, a bunch of mashups from Lenlow... I couldn't find videos for most of these but they're all great, especially "Do Your Thing to the Music" (I just love that "I don't need no tv, I don't need no news, all I need is a bumpin' beat to bump away these bl-bl-blues". I found this treasure trove looking for his mashup of Kanye and the muppets, "Kanye Mahna"... and it's amazing how much more I like these mashups than any of the originals of their own, a good mashup finds a real synergy.

• Kanye Mahna
• It's Time We Ramble On
• Bjorn Slippy
• Cyprestition
• Do Your Thing to the Music
• Hop Star
• Imagine Wild Music
• My Shiny Gun Mosey
• Soul Shot
• War Discographer

That's it! Lately I've gotten better at tracking where I hear music. A weirdly large amount of it is upstairs at the Copley Square CVS.

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Kind of weird that the iPhone playlist has the album name before the artist-if you don't listen to the whole album, likely it doesn't matter

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http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xhkp04 - Tron "tween" vid, via miller. Weird to think that many of Tron's biggest fans are probably a bit faceblind; so Alan Bradly/Tron being the same guy is harder to "get"

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Amber says that if she twittered it would be something like "Surprised Kirk hasn't made any 'Erin Go Braless!' jokes this year. Yet." Once again, here is the music I added to my collection this past season, acclimating myself to it via having a big playlist of just the new stuff. Managed to find passable videos for just about all of them. And I'm kind of proud of the weird eclectic nature of it...

A song that deserves to be more well known:

Ha-he (Just a Band (Kenya))

One of the more obscure choices, I heard of this on cracked.com's 6 Insane Foreign Memes That Put Lolcats To Shame

Random songs from my past, recently remembered:

Three Hits (Live From Eddie's Attic, Atlanta, GA) (Indigo Girls)

Had this one for a while but not on my playlists... heard it again, realized it's great.

Praise You [Explicit] (Fatboy Slim)

Another "oldie" but goodie.

Superstar (The Alan Caddy Orchestra and Singers)

Remembering how my (usually black techno digging) college roommate had a thing for the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack.

What's the Buzz (The Alan Caddy Orchestra and Singers)

iTunes has dozens of near identical versions of Jesus Christ Superstar versions.

A Summer Song (Chad & Jeremy)

This was on an old McDonalds promotional mixtape ("Shake Burgers and Fries"? Wish I could find the tracklist) I remember facetiously quoting

they say that all good things must end someday
autumn leaves must fall
but don't you know
how it hurts me so
to say goodbye to you

in a melodramtic way around my high school graduation.

Bang on the Drum All Day (Todd Rundgren)

This was like a staple of WMJI in the late 80s.

Sunny Came Home (Shawn Colvin)

I think Amber had this one. This was all over the gym I was going to in 1997.

Punk Rock Girl (Album Version) (The Dead Milkmen)

Vaguely remember this from high school. Maybe college.

Theme From "Shaft" (Isaac Hayes)

I mostly remember my high school jazz band covering this song.

Songs introduced to me from movie soundtracks, or tv shows...

Milkshake (Album Version) (Kelis)

"Mean Girls".

Threshold (8 Bit) (Brian Lebarton)

Scott Pilgrim soundtrack, nice-NES-era chiptunage.

I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Marvin Gaye)

Big Chill Soundtrack

Good Lovin' (Single Version) (The Young Rascals)

Big Chill again I think.

Take A Chance On Me (Abba)

Such a catchy still fresh sounding song, but it took this scene from the Office to remind me of it.

Songs introduced to me by friends:

Imma Be (The Black Eyed Peas)

Amber had this album last summer, when we first started going out.

Around The Bend (The Asteroids Galaxy Tour)

I think Kjersten had this, but they used it in an iPod touch ad

Sugalumps (Flight of the Conchords)

Miller introduced to me this song.

Too Many Dicks (Flight of The Conchords)

Again, thanks Miller.

Wonder Woman Theme-'E' Candy's (Radio Edit) (Carol Medina)

Amber has a thing for Wonder Woman, so I tried to find the best remix I could.

And the rest, mostly just making the rounds...

Get The Party Started (Shirley Bassey)

I previously posted this great Bond-ian cover

Sexx Laws (Beck)

This came up on Pandora when Amber and I were assembling IKEA bookshelves.

Hot N Cold (Katy Perry)

Heh, it was the too hot for Sesame Street duet with elmo that got me to find the original.

White Knuckles (Ok Go)

Already posted this. Love these minimalistic, smart, fun videos.

Cupid Shuffle (Cupid)

They were playing this in the afternoon at the Atlantic City boardwalk. Catchy!

F*** You [Explicit] (Cee Lo Green)

NSFW, but such bitter clever soul. The only one I ranked 5 stars this month.

Really, no idea:

New York City (LP Version) (They Might Be Giants)

Everybody (Radio Edit) (Rudenko)

Shut Up and Drive (Rihanna)

Dancing With Myself (Single Version) (The Donnas)

Ain't No Other Man (Christina Aguilera)

This one made it on my "psyched" playlist I use for non-distracting energy at work.

Survivor (Remix featuring Da Brat Extended Version)

God Is A DJ [Explicit] (P!nk)

Summer Girls (Lyte Funkie Ones)

I have nothing more to say about this one.

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There can be a visceral pleasure in typing fast, to have your mind's voice's syllables to the screen in rapid fire succession. Even if I still "wanna live like I type, fast, and with lots of mistakes", it's fun to do.

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The power of open competitive markets vs. ripoff retail at retailers: HDMI cables. $2 for 10 feet on Amazon vs $30-50 easy at say Best Buy.

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Speed Racer: totally underrated movie. So super-saturated and hyper-kinetic; it feels like a lot of reviewers mighta missed the point. I'm knocked over by how much great music I can run into still. I really thank MP3 players for revolutionizing my relationship with it, and how I can buy songs piecemeal and then give 'em a few months to burn into my brain before they get thrown into the general mix. (I'm also knocked over by how I can find nearly all of them on Youtube...)

Anyway, here are the 3,4, and 5 star songs I added to my collection over the past three months.

Random Modernish Urbanish Pop - I just dig the sound and swagger.

• TiK ToK (Ke$ha)
• Pretty Girls [Explicit] (Wale)
• Don't Stop The Music (Rihanna)
• He Said She Said (Ashley Tisdale)
• Get The Party Started (P!nk)
• Piece Of Me (Friscia and Lamboy Radio Edit) (Britney Spears)

NPR had a piece on the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and they covered "Hit 'Em Up Style", which turns out to be a good song in its own right.

• Hit 'Em Up Style (Carolina Chocolate Drops)
• Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!) (Blu Cantrell) -- I heard the singer isn't too crazy about the central theme of the song, but hey.

I read a book "100 Best Beatles Song", and that introduced me to or reminded me of a few songs

• Hey Bulldog (Bill Deal) -- I could't find the original of this obscure "Yellow Submarine" track, but the Bill Deal cover is pretty rockin'.
• I Saw Her Standing There (Beatles)

Last season's mix was really where I imported a lot of song from Amber's collection, but her music still has new finds for me...

• The Denial Twist (Album Version) (The White Stripes) -- Incidentally, this is the only song this season I gave 5 Stars this season
• Icky Thump (Album Version) (The White Stripes)
• Sea Of Love (Cat Power) -- So very sweet
• Think I'm In Love (Beck) -- but it makes me kind of nervous to say so.
• Innocence (Bjork) -- there's something subtley Atari-ish about this that I dig.
• Umbrella (Marie Digby)

Q-Unit's Greatest Hits is 50 Cent crossed with Queen... kind of amazing stuff. I love the back cover art with 50 Cent sporting a Freddy Mercury mustache.

• Crazy Little Pimp Called Love (Q-Unit) -- originally I heard this in this Penny Arcade inking Boba Fett video
• Candy Bottom Girls (Q-Unit) -- I had to learn "Fat Bottomed Girls" so I could sing it with Tufts' sQ!, but I think I like this version a bit better.
• Disco Language (Q-Unit)
• If I Cant Be A Champion (Q-Unit)
• This Is How We Bite The Dust (Q-Unit)
• Under Pressure All The Time (Q-Unit)
• We Will Rock You In Da Club (Q-Unit)

In high school I was "Big Jule" in our production of Guys and Dolls, so I still have a soft spot for the music from it-- this is from the 1990s revival I saw in NYC with my mom, I think it had Nathan Lane in it.

• Guys and Dolls
• Fugue for Tinhorns
• The Oldest Established
• Luck Be a Lady
• Sue Me
• Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat

Random 90s "Alternative"

• Breakfast At Tiffany's (Deep Blue Something) -- this song still makes me want to watch the movie.
• Sex And Candy (Marcy Playground) -- I came for the "I smell sex and..." and stayed for the "like double cherry pie" -- is that even a thing?
• Push (Matchbox Twenty)

Tuba-memory music...

• Just a Closer Walk With Thee (Canadian Brass) -- their signature piece, I remember seeing them a few times with my mom.
• Mozart: Rondo alla Turka from Piano Sonata No.11, K.331 (Empire Brass) - I played this in a few bands. I love how much harder the trumpets had to work than I did.
• Rondo Alla Turca (Hooked On Classics) -- not sure why I decided to go for this one but it's kind of fun.

Songs from the Weird Al...

• Lola (The Kinks) -- Al's was "Yoda". Also kind of a rediscovery from Amber's
• Sharp Dressed Man (Remastered) (ZZ Top) - I think he through this one into a "Polka Party"

Songs from "Shake Burger and Fries" -- McDonalds had some promotional tapes once in the 80s, mixtapes of songs from the 60s-- I've tried in vain to track down a playlist, but I remember some of the songs...

• The Wanderer (Dion & The Belmonts) -- I remember doing this as a lipsynch at church camp. (I had the sax solo) Not the most appropriate song, in retrospect.
• Runaround Sue (Dion)
• Under The Boardwalk (The Drifters) -- I remember Veronika say how an English teacher tried to say that this song was about bugs - I guess he was mixing up "boardwalk" and "floorboards".
• Rhythm Of The Rain (The Cascades)

Songs off of youtube videos...

• Transformer Breakdance (ft. Soundwave and Lazer) (Lazer) -- liked this one for years, the breakdancing is great.
• gimmebackmason (Swede Mason) -- oh, will Mel Gibson flying into a frothy rage ever grow old? Um, probably.
• Birds And The Bees (Sliptone) -- (actually the video I posted was Den Meyer's Annual Report which cuts out quite a bit.

I've been seeing some IMAX at Jordan's furniture lately, and they have a thing for that 90s-era swing revival stuff...

• The Ding Dong Daddy of the D Car Line (Cherry Poppin Daddies)
• Here Comes the Snake (Cherry Poppin' Daddies) -- I've always been a bit amused by the lack of subtlety in this song
• When I change your mind (Cherry Poppin' Daddies)
• Zoot Suit Riot (Cherry Poppin' Daddies)

Random finds:

• Good Enough (Remastered Album Version) (Bonnie Raitt) - a suggestion from a therapist I see every once in a while.
• Dance Across The Floor (Jimmy Bo Horne) - Lileks wrote "How we hated disco. We wore skinny ties and were Mods! But allow me to present the brief for the opposition."
• Fresno Drum Cadence (Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band) -- I still long to hear the funk-laden of Euclid High School Marching Band circa 1990 or so... (link not quite what I have on my iPhone)
• The Girl From Ipanema (Stan Getz) -- when I am elected king of the world, EVERY elevator will play this song, by kingly mandate.
• At Last (Etta James) -- not sure where I heard this, but probably a soundtrack.
• Son Of A Preacher Man (The Gaylettes) -- didn't realize "Preacher Man" had so many old covers. This one is good, though I dislike how they change the slant-rhyming "learning from each other's knowin'" to "learning from each other's knowledge"
• Fever (Little Willie John) - I was reading about this earlier version of a song I love from the Peggy Lee cover.
• Sand In My Shoes (Dido) -- I think this song used to be in my collection, not sure what happened to it-- anyway, it's great and happy and sad.

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September Blender of Love is here!

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So, it's once again time for me to post the 3,4, or 5 star music I added to my collection over the proceeding 3 months. I love how iDevices let me have a closer relation to my music, but I want to make sure new stuff doesn't get lost in the shuffle (so to speak) so every season I make a new playlist of just the new tunes that I listen to over and over so the songs have a fighting chance for long term familiarity with me.

I'm always amazed that I can find Youtube videos for all of this. I usually go for original version videos, but accept live when that's all there is. And, crazily enough, here I am, singing "Fat Bottomed Girls" at the sQ! alum show at Tufts' Goddard Chapel...
Err, I'm in the back left, behind the really tall guy, popping out from time to time. The "first generation" Qs sang the first verse, I guess we were supposed to mosey forward but this was crazily under-rehearsed... (though Amber got to hear me listen to sQ's and Queen's version over and over as I tried to learn it on the way back from Cleveland.)

So, in other music... two songs got a 5 star Rating (50 songs out of around 1900)

• Back to Me (Kathleen Edwards) - cmg introduced me to this one- nice innuendo, and I love the dramatic tension between the confidence of the narrator and the scenario implied
• S.M.D.U. (feat. Blur Song 2) (Brock Landers) - I posted this video earlier, took me a while to hunt down the mix it came from

I got a ton of music from Amber this time, she has some terrific mixes. (Mostly I downloaded fresh MP3s - it's finding out the music that's the trick, rather than saving a buck)

• Casimir Pulaski Day (Sufjan Stevens) - very bittersweet
• The Girl You Lost To Cocaine (Sia) -almost a 5, great sound
• Little Black Sandals (Sia) - Another great song except I keep thinking it's "Little Black Sambo"
• Hey, Soul Sister (Train) - this one keeps popping up random places
• Umbrella (Remix) (Rihanna featuring Lil Mama) - Favorite mix of the 4 or 5 versions Amber inherited.
• Hotel Song (Regina Spektor)
• Samson (Regina Spektor) --Regina has such a sweet sadness, she's one of my new favorite artists.
• Boyz (M.I.A.)
• 5 Years (Bjork) -like how this sounds like an Atari
• Blister In The Sun (Violent Femmes) -kind of a classic
• I Don't Live In A Dream (Jackie Greene)
• Black Swan (Thom Yorke)
• Into Dust (Mazzy Star)
• Fade Into You (Mazzy Star)-I might've heard Mazzy Star a long while back
• Cross Bones Style (Cat Power)
• Close To Me (Closer Mix) (The Cure)
• 1234 (Feist)
• 15 Step (Radiohead)

Sometimes I'll remember a random song from Marching Band Days and hunt it down...

• Holding Out For A Hero (Bonnie Tyler)
• Holding Out For A Hero (Frou Frou) - Weirdly from the Shrek Soundtrack

Movie soundtracks are often great sources of new stuff, most of these were from "Whip It" or in explorations around there...

• Keys to the City (Album) (The Go! Team)
• Doing It Right (The Go! Team)
• Lollipop [Squeak E. Clean & Desert Eagles Remix] (The Chordettes)
• Jolene (Dolly Parton)

And older stuff from "An Education"

• Tell The Truth (Ray Charles, starting around 2:00)
• Comin' Home Baby (Mel Tormé)

Random

• Local God (2004 Digital Remaster) (Everclear) - Romeo/Juliet
• What's The Attitude (Cut Chemist Featuring Hymnal)
• Sexy Bitch (Featuring Akon;explicit) (David Guetta - Akon) - I think Kjersten showed me this
• Suddenly Last Summer (The Motels) - My UU Group did a "most romantic song" event, this was one of the member's bit of cheesy 80s romance...
• P.I.M.P. [Explicit] (50 Cent) -- Actually I'm still kind of looking for the background mashup in this Penny Arcade drawing video
• Beautiful, Dirty, Rich (Lady Gaga) - I remember hearing this at FYE at Downtown Crossing...

The thing is I had so much music this season tht for most of May I put off actually adding in the music I ran into, so the Summer playlist is probably a bit inflated from where it would be otherwise.

Anyway, this is all some great music. Let me know if you want an MP3 of anything...

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I took a city that was known for pornography and licked it to a large extent.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNREP5l4xTw - anyone know what version of "P.I.M.P" is playing behind Penny Arcade's Gabe drawing Boba Fett?

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Come to think of it, I'm kind of bummed none of the virtual drum sets I encounter have a "marching drumline" soundset with 4 distinct bass drums and quads. Like I made after last summer and the fall, here is a list of the music I discovered or rediscovered and added into my collection over December through February.

(I like putting the new music in really heavy notation for a while, so it becomes more a part of my life than it would otherwise before going into the mix with the 2,000 other songs I deem iPod-worthy.)

So, most interesting is the (fairly?) new music I ran into: 3 cheers for Shazam and its ability to ID a tune, and 3 cheers for friends who keep me in mind in their own musical journeys and send me sugestions - or sometimes it's just "making the rounds" online.

• Handlebars (Flobots) - posted this one a while back
• This Too Shall Pass and This Two Shall Pass Live (Ok Go) - both great videos, and I love the marching band stuff...
• The Fear (Lily Allen)
• Samson (Regina Spektor) - man, I'm really digging the stuff of both of these women as of late
• Sweet Child O' Mine (Sheryl Crow)
• Baby Love Child (Pizzicato Five)
• That's Not My Name (The Ting Tings)

So there was a bunch of music that I remembered from my past: either I used to own it in a different format, or it wsa the 1990s and I liked the song but not enough to look for it on CD, or it's just something I wanted to own.

• Humdinger (Chucklehead) - Obscure-ish band that was a bit popular around Tufts when I started college there in the early 1990s. Surprised to find it on Amazon
• Criminal (Fiona Apple)
• Don't Speak (No Doubt)
• Happy Birthday (Weird Al Yankovic)
• Extreme Ways (Moby)
• Jessie's Girl (Rick Springfield)
• Jesse's Girl (Matt the Electrician)
• 99 Red Balloons (Nena)

And a few songs that I remembered from hearing them in "Boogie Nights"..

• Sunny (Rhett Miller) - couldn't find a video - I guess this wasn't the original like I thought it was, but it's nice
• Sunny (Boney M) nice disco version is what the movie had...
• Brand New Key (Melanie)

My UU covenant group did a Valentine "pick a song you find most romantic" deal... (I thought it was going to be a difficult pick for me but then Amber reminded me of First Day of My Life. Duh.) So I burnt a copy of the play list for everyone, and these were 3 songs I added to my regular rotation... for some of these it was as much the description the group member gave than the song itself.

• [You Make Me Feel Like] A Natural Woman (Aretha Franklin)
• The Dutchman (Steve Goodman)
• Suddenly Last Summer (2002 Digital Remaster) (The Motels)

So, probably the lion's share of songs came from Amber and I watching the 5 hours of the VH1 Top 100 Hip Hop Countdown

• Because I Got High (Afroman)
• Ridin' (Chamillionaire)
• White & Nerdy (Parody of "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone) (Main Version) ("Weird Al" Yankovic)
• Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) (Digable Planets)
• Nickel Bags (Digable Planets)
• Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A.)
• Hard Knock Life (Jay-Z)
• Get Ur Freak On (Missy Elliott)
• B.O.B. (Outkast)
• Fight The Power (Public Enemy)
• We Trying To Stay Alive (Wyclef Jean featuring Refugee Allstars)
• Finally there were a few remixes that I tracked down when the countdown said Peaches and Tone-Loc were touring together...
  • Wild Thing (Peaches RMX -- Tone-Loc)
  • Funky Cold Medina (Aaron LaCrate & Debonair Samir RMX -- Tone-Loc)
  • Bust A Move (Diplo RMX -- Young MC)

Then I had some CDs that I had missed ripping... when Zune was introduced, one of the very few sample songs they included was from a group called Bitter:Sweet -- interesting future lounge feel to this.

• The Mating Game
• Overdue
• Dirty Laundry

Then, jeez, Eminem's "Curtain Call". It was like 1/6 of the songs on this list, but it felt like even more.

• Fack
• My Name Is
• Lose Yourself
• Without Me
• Like Toy Soldiers
• The Real Slim Shady
• Guilty Conscience
• Stan (Feat. Dido
• Shake That (Feat. Nate Dogg)

And then there was that DJ Santa outside of Macy's with good sounding remixes of Christmas standards -- basically an exercise in my theory that any song is better with a big old beat behind it. Couldn't find much information online on the cd I bought from him, but it had something to do with the slightly overly corporate DJBeats4Sale...

• dance of the sugar plum fairy (santa)
• jingle bells (santa)

Finally, last but not least, semi-famous artist Harvey James and his girlfriend do a lovely haunting duet... no video, just a link to the MP3...

• Beyonce (HARVEYJAMES^TM ft. Mary Burgers)

Pretty good season for music!

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There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else.

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iPhone's Visual Voicemail raised the bar, but if Apple was really smart they'd stop showing a separate "missed call" if the caller left voicemail-- it's annoying to have to check two lists. Heck, even an answering machine knows better than that.

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It occurs to me that when my cat licks me, I don't know whether that means I'm delicious or filthy.

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http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html - B.F. Skinner, patron saint of video games. Scary stuff, I don't feel so bad about playing so few games these days. Plus, I know "novelty" is what I'm really looking for. Well, that, and the ability to fly a helicopter around.

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I guess twitter gmail et al. are my skinner boxes of choice. At least their pellets are based on novelty! So like I posted after the summer, I've been rounding my new music into seasonal playlists - the season is just a coincidence, when I happen to discover or rediscover some music.

I tended to get music in big chunks this fall, as I ran into some CDs I had forgotten to rip back when I did the bulk transfer to MP3s...

The first few songs listed I particularly like, the stuff from Portugal is great as well.

I made some fun discoveries hunting up videos for these, like how you can find old Beavis + Butthead music videos on youtube, and the Goops/Mallrats "Buttercup".

• Laughing With (Regina Spektor) --Man, what a beautiful song. Weirdly I got kinda misty just listening to the opening chords right now.
• Bubbles (Jess Yoakum) --glad to find this video - bad audio but I love the cd version of this song, worth getting
• I Can Transform Ya (Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne & Swizz Beatz) --man, love the core sound of this
• Kick, Push (Album Version) (Lupe Fiasco)
• Right Now (Na Na Na) (Akon)
• Sex On Fire (Kings Of Leon)
• Littlest Things [Explicit] (Lily Allen)
• The Impression That I Get [Explicit] (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones)
• Superstar (Radio Edit) (David May)
• Torn (Natalie Imbruglia)
• Things I (re)heard in or near Portugal...
  • Crazy (DJ Mc Fear) --Awesome remix of a song I was reminded of in Portugal. Fun fact: Gnarls Barkley is not the name of a guy. Just the group.
  • First Day of My Life (Bright Eyes) --I think this is the one I saw in a UK insurance ad - lovely, lovely.
  • From a CD of Marcos' kids...
    • Lovegame (Dave Aude Radio Edit) (Lady Gaga)
    • Boom Boom Pow (David Guetta's Electro Hop Remix) (The Black Eyed Peas)
    • When Love Takes Over (Electro Radio Edit) (David Guetta & Kelly Rowland)
• Yahoo Video things
  • Shatner of the Mountain (Fall On Your Sword)
  • Single Ladies (Pomplamoose Music) --Aargh, so cute
• "The Full Monty" soundtrack --somehow I forgot to rip this back in the day, though I've had it for a while.
  • The Zodiac (David Lindup) --Man, so retro
  • Hot Stuff (Donna Summer)
  • You Can Leave Your Hat On (Tom Jones)
  • We Are Family (Sister Sledge)
  • Rock And Roll Part 2 (Gary Glitter)
  • You Sexy Thing (Hot Chocolate)
  • The Stripper (Joe Loss & His Orchestra)
• "Lesbian Favorites" --another disc I forgot to rip...
  • Obsession (Fem 2 Fem)
  • Swimming (Gretchen Phillips) --She's like Ellen but sweeter
  • I Kissed A Girl (Jill Sobule) --link is Beavis+Butthead... still like this song better than Katy Perry's...
  • Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter (Phranc) --fun little cover
  • Just Keep Me Moving (k.d. lang)
  • I Spent My Last $10.00 (On Birth Control And Beer) (Two Nice Girls) --an old favorite of Mo's, and funny.
  • Twist In My Sobriety (Tanita Tikaram)
• Mallrats Soundtrack - and again, another one. Lots of amusing little dialog snippets
  • Cousin Walter [Dialogue] (Jason Lee & Brian O'Halloran)
  • That Ski Trip [Dialogue] (Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee & Jeremy London)
  • Love & Sharks [Dialogue] (Jason Lee & Jeremy London)
  • Kryptonite Condoms [Dialogue] (Jason Lee & Jeremy London)
  • Post Coital Techno Boogie [Dialogue] (Jason Lee & Shannen Doherty)
  • Last Words [Dialogue] (Jason Mewes)
  • A Very Uncomfortable Place [Dialogue] (Jason Mewes, Jason Lee, Jeremy London & Joey Lauren Adams)
  • Taken With A Grain Of Salt [Dialogue] (Shannen Doherty)
  • Build Me Up Buttercup (The Goops) --I was surprised and delighted at the video I found for that
  • Seventeen (Sponge)
  • Smoke Two Joints (Sublime)
• Alive (Joey Lauren Adams) --from "Chasing Amy" to continue the Kevin Smith thing
• It's Your Birthday (Luke) --I think they also used this Chasing Amy...is this where people saying "it's your birthday" comes from?
• From a random cheap 80s cd at Newbury Comics...
  • The Heart Of Rock & Roll (Huey Lewis & The News)
  • Centerfold (J. Geils Band)
  • Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr.)
  • Rock This Town (Stray Cats)
  • Mickey (Toni Basil)
  • Come On Eileen (Kevin Rowland & Dexys Midnight Runners)
• Tufts sQ -- fun trying to pickout my voice and/or percussion..
  • Bizarre Love Triangle
  • Not the Doctor
  • 1979
• The Brothers Four --someone in Josh's family gave my Aunt a cheap compilation CD from Thailand of these guys -not bad folk
  • Winken,Blinken And Nod
  • Symphonic Variation
  • BOA Constrictor
  • 25 Minutes To Go --love the fatalistic nature of this song

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http://www.doublex.com/section/life/tuesday-night-dinner-party-16-key-lessons-learned-slapdash-entertainment - "slapdash entertainment", neat idea... I like music to come into my life my happenstance. I tend to dislike importing other people's musical collections all at once, I think you should take more time and get to know new music.

I prefer interesting singles to full albums.

I've started making smart playlists in iTunes of recently added music, starting a new one every season. And I thought I'd jot down what was in the music here, in case anyone wants me to send them an mp3 or two, and as notes to my future self if I ever wonder "how did I get into THAT"?...

• Closer (NIN song covered by Spiralmouth) - this song reminded of sQ's version that we never actually performed (the lead singer chickening out on singing the f-word)
• Who Let The Dogs Out (Baha Men) --Ugh. Not sure why I dug this one up. The lyric "Get back you flea infested mongrel" seems weirdly mean.
• Right Round (Flo Rida) --moderately suggestive hiphop cover of new wave 80s, what could be better?
• Say Hey (I Love You) Michael Franti) --I think Amber sent me the Flash Mob dance scene from weeds...
• Smooth (Santana Feat. Rob Thomas) --I remember being surprised finding out Santana was just the instrumentalist, not the singer.
• Separate Ways (Journey) --I think the literal version reminded me of this. The real lyrics kind of annoy me though... "If he ever hurts you / True love won't desert you"? Whatevs.
• Mercy (Duffy) --Dig the combination of modern and motown sounds... think it was playing at a party at JZ's.
• Complicated (Avril Lavigne) --Ah, teen pop. But nice.
• Mother of All Funk Chords (Kutiman) --rather awesome Youtube mashup I posted here...
• Burning Down The House (The Used) --A cover they played in that Transformers movie
• Mama Said Knock You Out (LL Cool J) --DON'T CALL IT A COME BACK. I think some Slate article mentioned this.
• Holy Rave Party (Daniel Rhodes) --Another brilliant compilation from Youtube. This one made it to my "psyched" playlist for helping me focus on work.
• Auto-Tune the News #6 (The Gregory Brothers) --Another Youtube bit. This was good but to be honest now I'm getting sick of jokey use of Autotune.
• I Don't Feel It Anymore (Song Of The Sparrow) / Please Forgive Me (Song Of The Crow) (William Fitzsimmons) --Too very sad songs... heard this guy on NPR. Somehow even over the radio I knew he had a beard.
• Okey Dokey (Incredible Bongo Band) --The link is actually from the parody trailer for "2012" - nice 70s feel
• Ring-A-Ling (Black Eyed Peas) --Amber requested that her ring tone be made from this
• The Imperial March (John Williams) --This is the ringtone I use for my boss.
• Children Of Sanchez (Chuck Mangione) --I was trying to remember this song that my marching band played, then I heard it at a Drum and Bugle corps closed circuit thing...
• Bitter Sweet Symphony (The Verve) --More overplayed but still good 90s stuff... I was kind of surprised I didn't have this.
• Natalie's Rap / Jizz In My Pants (The Lonely Island) --The two SNL songs. Both are pretty listenable relative to the other ones.
• Weapon Of Choice (Fatboy Slim) --I like that my mom likes that video so much.
• So I wanted "Meet The Flintstones" for EB's ringtone, but could only find it on "Tv Guide: 50 All-Time Favorite Tv Themes", these are the 17 I thought I might like to hear. A few are recreations, unfortunately.
  • Peter Gunn-Theme
  • Meet The Flintstones
  • Andy Griffith Show Theme
  • Addams Family Theme
  • Batman
  • Monkees Theme
  • Mission Impossible Theme
  • Hawaii Five-O
  • Sesame Street Theme
  • All In The Family Theme
  • Jeffersons, The Theme
  • Muppet Show
  • Miami Vice Theme
  • Cosby Theme
  • Alley Mcbeal Theme
  • Sex And The City
  • Malcolm In The Middle
• Powerhouse (Carl Stalling/Raymond Scott) --So glad youtube got me back to the full version of the Loony Tunes cover - I had tried buying it before, but it was only a partial version.
• Sanford & Son Theme/The Streetbeater (Quincy Jones) --One last TV theme, but I think it was this scrubs clip that inspired me.
• Polka Dot Undies (Bowser + Blue) --Jeez, I remember hearing this risque goofy song on, like WMJI's Lannigan and Webster in Cleveland in the late 80s/early 90s.
• I Gotta Feeling (Black Eyed Peas) --I think Amber introduced me to this one, but I dig the anticipatory feeling of the video so much
• Sweet Child O' Mine / Paradise City (Guns N' Roses) --Decided I wanted to relive my high school days, kind of. These songs show up in mashups a lot, secretly I think I like the mashups a lot better.
• Word Up (Boss Hoss) --Like I mighta mentioned, only the second example of Germans singing like American Cowboys I have in my collection.

Well, that's it. I wasn't expecting to be able to find Youtube videos for all of that! (Well, I didn't try for the TV themes -- either you know them or you don't want to.) Some of the links will probably be taken down, but for now it's a fun way to share.

For the record, I make an honest effort to pay for a (DRM-free) MP3 version of every song, but after that I have little compunction about ripping the music straight out.

It's kind of reassuring that I'm still discovering new music at a fair clip. For a while after college, I felt kind of disconnected, since college is such a good way of hearing new stuff. Now thanks to the Internet (often, background music for unrelated Youtube clips) I hear new stuff, plus have a way to get to buy singles for songs I liked in the 90s but not enough to buy a whole album.

Any new music discoveries for you?

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Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.

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http://www.boingboing.net/2009/10/14/farewell-captain-lou.html - RIP Captain Lou Albano

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http://www.wififreespot.com/mass.html - the free wifi spots around Boston

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In Elizabethan slang, "something" and "nothing" were sometimes used to refer, respectively, to male and female genitalia. The title of Much Ado About Nothing is thus not simply a reference to the illusory conflict at the heart of the plot, but also a nifty dirty pun.

Game of the Moment
Too make up for the terribly dull and self-indulgent entry below, here's a lovely and addictive flash game: Boomshine... kind of a cross between Missile Command and Maxwell's Demon. The urging on you do of your little boomshine circles to just hold one one...second.........LONGER is amazing.

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Ramble of the Moment

I bought the red iPod, which gave a token amount to fighting AIDS in Africa. Also, this image is about half again as big as the real thing.

I finished sorting through and rating my iTunes music collection the other day. Out of the 6400-odd tracks in my collection, there were about 5000 I never wanted to hear in a mix. Of the 1400 I thought were ok, I rated 270 of them as stuff I'd actually be happy to hear when they came up in rotation, and about 30 of those as "great". Thus, my 37-gig collection got reduced to the 5.75 gigs that matter.

(Admittedly, my judgement is biased towards stuff that's good to do geekwork to, so energetic music tends to have an advantage over the slower stuff, and long jazzy or classical bits have very little chance.)

So I decided to grant myself one final birth day indulgence, or reward for sorting through all this, and bought an iPod. I had an iPod a long while back, but didn't really have a spot for it, the car radio adapter was more trouble than it was worth. But now that I've started walking to and from the T station and my work PC doesn't have a reliable sound setup, this one should be more useful.

It's kind of weird that the 8-gig Nano costs the same as a 30-gig iPod video, but still I went for the former. Besides better battery life, and not having internal moving parts, its petite minimalism just resonates for me.

And for your reading pleasure, and since I was on kind of a self-indulgence roll, I thought I'd blow a day on kisrael discussing the 29 bestest songs on my iPod.

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Music of Every Damn Moment
The first three I identified as the Best. Songs. Ever. a long while back. They are Deee-Lite's Groove Is In The Heart (which I am morally compelled to dance to every time I hear it, even if just a little), Buildings And Bridges by Ani DiFranco, which is the most beautiful blend of dimestore profundity and musical grace I've ever heard, and It's Your Thing by the The Isley Brothers, the bass and piano that never fails to grab me by the cajones. (There's a bit more R+B in the Top 29: James Brown's I Feel Good and Soul Man by Sam & Dave.)

I've always loved Fever by Peggy Lee, and Shirley Bassey has a similar vamp effect in the Propellerheads' History Repeating.

Lately I've been getting into mashups, Tripper Trouble is dj BC mixing up the Beatles and the Beastie Boys, Groove's a Bitch by dsico is Groove is in the Heart plus She's a Bitch plus Just 1 Kiss, My Other Car Is A Beatle by Jay-R is an even bigger swath of artists. And before there was mashups there were covers and remixes, like Shake Your Thang, which really is how Salt-N-Pepa introduced me to It's Your Thing, and more recently JXL's A Little Less Conversation revived a sleeper Elvis work. Also two by Tom Jones et al.: Burning Down The House and Sexbomb.

Mystery Dance by Elvis Costello is the only song to appear in the Top 29 twice, it's short enough that both the electric and acoustic versions seem worthwhile.

Cake's The Distance always holds a special place in my heart as being my big solo in Tufts' sQ. Then there's a string of modern stuff... Smash Mouth's Diggin' Your Scene and the overplayed but great AllStar, t.A.T.u.'s All The Things She Said, the nostalgic drumline of Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl, and the cool retro-western-gogo of Legend Of A Cowgirl by a Imani Coppola

Slowing things down, Holly Cole's cover I've Just Seen A Face is just lovely, and I find Dar Williams' As Cool As I Am, Paul Simon's Tenderness, and Willy Mason's Oxygen can all move me to tears when I'm on the hunt for that kind of catharsis.

Finally, some oddballs: Johnny Cash's Riders In The Sky is just THE cowboy song for me, Maynard Ferguson's Chameleon is the only instrumental to make it here, and Madonna's Hanky Panky (Bare Bottom 12" Mix), with its giant percussion and naughty spanky talk is the best thing to have spun off from the movie Dicky Tracy.

I might be willing to make a mix cd or mp3 set if anyone is interested.

So assuming all goes well, Tomorrow afternoon Ksenia and I will be headed for a few days in NYC! I think I've been there maybe once since 9/11.

I still haven't booked a hotel, hopefully that won't be a problem. Actually I haven't decided if it will be better to have the two of us take a bus there and back, or drive down and pay for a parking garage...any suggestions?

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Kirkness of the Moment
Alright, self indulgent personal trivia...

A while back I assembled about 1 1/2 hours of MP3s as backgrounds noise for work. It needed to be energetic, and familiar so that it wouldn't be too distracting.) Plus, it needed to fit on my cheap 128meg MP3 player...

Here's what I came up with (in no particular order, I usually set it to shuffle...)

• Elvis vs JXL-A Little Less Conversation Radio Edit (117 Bpm Groovy Chemical House Pop)
• Sarah McLachlan - Possession (Rabbit in the Moon Mix)
• Prodigy-Diesel Power
• Short Dick Man - Gillette
• Lick It - Roula
• 50 Cents- In da club
• Barenaked Ladies-One Week
• Burning Down The House (with The Cardigans)
• Crazy In Love
• Groove Is In The Heart
• Jims Big Ego-Stress
• ladytron - seventeen
• Onyx-Slam
• Salt N Pepa-Shake Your Thang (Its Your Thing)
• Smash Mouth-All Star
• Smash Mouth-Diggin Your Scene
• t.A.T.u.-All The Things She Said
• t.A.T.u.-Nas Ne Dagoniat (Not Gonna Get Us)
• The Bad Touch
• Tom Jones-Sexbomb - with Mousse T
• Run-D.M.C. Walk This Way
• Sir Mix-A-Lot Baby Got Back
• Dave Matthews Band When the World End
• The Romantics What I Like About You

Mostly I cribbed from my collection of party music (including stuff picked out by my ex- and Lupschada, which explains stuff like the Dave Matthews and "Crazy In Love")

I actually switched over to iTunes to listen to this, instead of WMP, because I remembered it would give me an estimate in amount of time, not just filesize. But that little thing iTunes does where it crossfades from one song to the next really makes a ton of difference...makes it feel like something DJ'd, not jus hacked together. I guess that's one of those little Apple-ish details that have kept them around so long...

So if anyone has been wondering what I've been listening too lately, over and over and over and over, well there you are.

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Retrohumor of the Moment
Lileks take on Old Computer Promotional Photos isn't quite as funny as I had hoped... I think the caption for the first one was my favorite. Boingboing like #7. I think it's pretty amazing how there's not a single trailing cable to be found in the whole batch, though I guess some of them might be running 'em under the floor.

Mixes of the Moment
So, previously I discussed my newfound philosophy of dance mixes and here's the latest and bestest incarnation of it--up to three CDs now. I like randomly theming mix sets, starting them with an appropriate .wav, and stumbled on a Star Trek theme...although I still like to push the best songs to the first mix, I used a very geeky method to assure all three were ok (divided the music into hiphop, covers, and misc, and then each of those into two tiers, and then as even a distribution as possible of the 6 categories...Captain Kirk got the first pick from each category though.)

When I posted my last attempt at the perfect dance mix, Deevaa wrote "I want a copy of your CD!!" in the comments section, so I sent her a set, all the way to Australia this morning.

Captain Kirk: The Mix "But a woman..." (soundclip) Groove Is In The Heart (Deee-Lite) Burning Down The House (Tom Jones w/ The Cardigans) Bust A Move (Young MC) Baby Got Back (Sir Mix-A-Lot) The Bad Touch (Bloodhound Gang) Hip Hop Hooray (Naughty By Nature) Little Miss Cant Be Wrong (Spin Doctors) Like A Prayer (Bigod 20) Jump Around (House of Pain) A Little Less Conversation Radio Edit (Elvis vs JXL) Things That Make You Go Hmmmm... (C + C Music Factory) Summertime (DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince) Slam (Onyx) 99 Red Balloons (Goldfinger) Smack My Bitch Up (Prodigy) I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor)

Mister Spock: The Mix "Logic is a little tweeting bird" (soundclip) All The Things She Said (t.A.T.u.) Sexbomb (Tom Jones w/ Mousse T) Stress (Jims Big Ego) Shake Your Thang (Salt N Pepa) Walk Like An Egyptian (Bangles) Take On Me (Reel Big Fish) Humpty Dance (Digital Underground) Unbelievable (EMF) Wild Thing (Tone Loc) One Way Or Another (Blondie) Push It (Salt N Pepa) Walk This Way (Run D.M.C.) I'm Too Sexy (Right Said Fred) Me Myself And I (De La Soul) It Takes Two (Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock) Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice)

Doctor McCoy: The Mix "not just a biological unit..." (soundclip) All Star (Smash Mouth) Gonna Make You Sweat (C+C Music Factory) One Week (Barenaked Ladies) OPP (Naughty By Nature) Tainted Love (Marilyn Manson) Funky Cold Medina (Tone Loc) Private Idaho (The B-52s) U Cant Touch This (M.C. Hammer) Hungry Like The Wolf (Reel Big Fish or Less Than Jake) You Be Illin (Run DMC) Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) Parents Just Dont Understand (D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince) What I Like About You (The Romantics) Joy And Pain (Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock) My Sharona (The Knack) Now That We Found Love (Heavy D. & the Boyz)

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Link of the Moment
You can click on the links above to hear the sound clips I found at Star Trek in Sound and Vision, a site with tons and tons and tons of audio and video clips from all things Star Trek. A really amazing amount of material.

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News Line of the Moment
Slate.com had a great front page caption for their story on Blair: "Finally, a Politician for Grown-Ups (Too bad he's English)". I respect Blair a lot, though Bill the Splut was greatly amused when I mistyped his name "Bliar", given his involvement in the whole WMD spindoctoring.

Also the other day Slate.com had a good piece on typical summer jobs for teens, giving "They say you learn how to", "You really learn how to", "Upside", "Downside", "Wages", "Minimum age", "How do I get this job?", and "Hook-up factor" for each. So, sorry for yesterday's update, it was pretty lame. And today's might not be much better, just longer...in my defense, I was spending most of the day celebrating my birthday (and today I'm gonna write about it.) Lee had invited me along to Fun Spot, an entertainment center in New Hampshire with a ton of classic arcade games, all very well maintained. Take a look at the list of games...it's like MAME but with real machines. Plus, Lee's birthday gift was $20 worth of tokens (and they give you 125 instead of 20*4=80 for that--) I got through like half of the tokens, I'll use the other half when New England Classic Gamers meet there, I think some time this summer.

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Quote and Mix CDs of the Moment

If you are a disc jockey, kindly remember that your job is to play records that people will enjoy dancing to and not to impress possible visiting disc jockeys with your esoteric tastes. People generally enjoy dancing to songs that have words and are of a reasonable length. Sixteen-minute instrumentals by West African tribal drummers are frequently the cause of undue amyl nitrate consumption and shirt removal.

Previously in the passage she suggest people amyl nitrate should be consumed in one's truck, not in the middle of a crowded dance floor, and that fellow dancers interested in your progress at the gym will not be too shy to ask, one does not have to remove one's shirt, despite the warmth.

So I'm finally learning how to make optimal party dance mix CDs...the watchwords, as that quote reminded me, are A. danceability and B. familiarity. (Mix CDs for cars are a different story, there you can try to introduce people to new music.) Also, I've realized that each new generation of mix CDs can be a refinement of the last. To those ends, I loaded my two new mixes with late 80s/early 90s party hiphop, and a lot of modern covers of new wave songs:

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Roaring Twenties Disc One:
Groove Is In The Heart (Kirk party mix neccesity)
Burning Down The House (Tom Jones cover)
Wild Thing
Like a Prayer (deep throated techno-ish cover)
Bad Touch ("like they do on the Discover Channel" song)
The Humpty Dance
Take On Me (Ska cover)
Shake Your Thang (Salt -n- Pepa)
Jump Around
Tained Love (Marilyn Manson cover)
Stress (Jim's Big Ego)
It Takes Two
99 Red Balloons (Modern cover)
Walk This Way (Run DMC/Aerosmith version)
Funky Cold Medina
Tainted Love (original, here by mistake)

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Roaring Twenties Disc Two:
Baby Got Back
One Week
Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
Slam
Unbelievable
Hungry Like The Wolf (funny lounge cover)
Things That Make You Go Hmmmm
One Way Or Another
Private Idaho
What I Like About You
Walk Like an Egyptian
Ice Ice Baby
My Sharona
I Will Survive
I'm Too Sexy
Smack My Bitch Up
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Vogue

Disc One is a bit stronger than Disc Two. In general, I try to arrange songs in descending order of coolness.