D's Notebook

Tag: music (Page 1 of 88)

Friday Playlist

March 28, 2025 /

Nothing special about this playlist in advance of our spring break. Although it is chock full of great tunes. No playlist next week, as that is our fly home day. Hope everyone has a great week.

“Bonnet Of Pins” – Matt Berninger
Oh my! Often when lead singers of bands release solo projects, they use them as opportunities to explore new ground different than where their band normally treads. Not so here. This sounds almost exactly like The National. It isn’t just his voice or lyrics, either. The music is right in the pocket of a great National song.

“Something In The Air” – Lauren Mayberry
Along those same lines, this isn’t too far removed from CHVRCHES music.

“Chrome Dipped” – CIVIC
A slight tweak to their sound, but no less enjoyably heavy than their earlier, 70’s Aussie punk influenced songs.

“What Do I Know” – Deep Sea Diver
This was the first song that band leader Jessica Dobson engineered on her own. Rather than go back and fix what didn’t work, she kept many of the first takes of the various instruments. I dig the raw, live feel that gives this track.

“LA Runaway” – The Horrors
How many songs have been written about runaways in (or to) LA? Most by bands who wore spandex and had super teased hair, I bet. The concept works just fine with modern post-punk, too.

“Richardson” – Shura featuring Cassandra Jenkins
A gorgeous song with some lazy, summer day vibes.

“Relationships” – HAIM
Speaking of summer…the Haim sisters have a knack for making tunes that are perfect for the warmest days of the year, which are right around the corner, you know.

“A Few More Years” – Wings of Desire
I’ve been trying to figure out who this band reminds me of for a couple weeks. I keep drifting towards saying it is Ballboy, a Scottish band with a very particular sound. And there are definitely similarities between them, but it feels like some other band I can’t recall is a better match. Let me know if you figure it out.

“Drive That Fast” – Kitchens of Distinction
It’s been nearly four years since I last shared this 1991 classic, which is far too long.

Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 110

March 25, 2025 /

Chart Week: March 24, 1984
Song: “Eat It” – ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic
Chart Position: #18, 3rd week on the chart. Peaked at #11 the week of April 14.

It’s been a while, and for that I offer my endless apologies. I still listen to at least part of an AT40 show every weekend. Over the past couple months I’ve started several drafts for new RFTS entries. However, each time I’ve lost enthusiasm while doing research and have let them die on the digital vine.[1] To be honest, today’s selection isn’t one I would have normally been interested in. But I was getting antsy about not updating the series, plus spring break is next week and the site will be on hiatus. It worked out that there is an interesting aspect of this song that relates to the greatest musical rivalry of the Eighties and made it worth writing about.

I never really got ‘Weird Al’. I admired his cleverness and ability to make such coherent parodies of other great songs. There is true craft to that. I also respected his total commitment to the bit that included mimicking the visuals – including clothing, dancing, and videos – of the original artists. His songs were always a little too goofy for me, though. Maybe it was because I never listened to Dr. Demento to develop the part of my musical brain that would connect with them.

Yankovic began making parodies in the late 1970s without any chart success. I remember hearing his 1983 singles “Ricky,” (Toni Basil’s “Mickey”) and “I Love Rocky Road” (Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll”), but neither cracked the Top 40.

His break came when he took on Michael Jackson’s mega-smash “Beat It.” I’ve written several times about the power of Jackson’s name in 1983–84. “Eat It” might be the biggest and best example of MJ’s influence. In only its third week in the Hot 100, the record was already at #18, and was the biggest climber in this countdown. Michael’s help could only take this song so far, as it stalled out at #11 a month later.

Although parody is protected under American copyright law, Yankovic always asked artists for their permission before recording his versions of their originals. For the most part he received clearance. That was true in this case; “Eat It” only existed because of Michael’s blessing.

“Michael Jackson wasn’t just cool about my parody of ‘Beat It,’” Yankovic told Billboard magazine, “but he also loved my version of ‘Bad,’ which was ‘Fat.’ He even let me use the actual ‘Bad’ subway set for the ‘Fat’ video. He was very supportive, which was huge with opening the doors with other artists. Because if Michael Jackson signed on, you couldn’t really say no.”

Well, one person said no.

Weird Al asked Prince at least four times for permission to cover one of his songs. Each time the Purple One declined. Al had an idea for “Let’s Go Crazy” based on The Beverly Hillbillies. For “1999,” he wanted to sing about dialing a 1–800 number that ended with the digits 1999. None of his pitches swayed Prince. Or, more likely, Prince just didn’t have a sense of humor about his own music. Maybe Al should have asked to do a straight cover rather than parody, as Prince loved for other people to sing the words he wrote. Or maybe if Al had been an attractive, ethnically ambiguous woman Prince would have signed off.

I’m not sure it sways their battle in any way, but score one for Michael over Prince here.

“Eat It” went to #1 in Australia, which is amazing. It has sold over 500,000 copies in the US. It was Yankovic’s biggest American hit until “White & Nerdy” hit #9 in 2006.

As I said, “Eat It” never did much for me, and still doesn’t. The video is funny, but I’m never going to seek the song out. I know a lot of other people like it a lot more than I do. So I’m genuinely sorry if this grade disappoints you. 5/10

Speaking of Michael Jackson, also on this week’s chart, “Thriller” checked in at #11 on its way down after peaking at #4. And Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me,” which featured Jackson on background vocals, began its three-week stay at #2.

 

  1. Real talk? I’m also verrrrrry satisfied with my most recent entry back in January. That was some good music writing. I’m still waiting for someone from Rolling Stone to give me a call.  ↩

Friday Playlist

March 21, 2025 /

“Bang Bang Bang” – Sports Team
UK funsters making fun of Americans for our fascination with guns.

“Afraid of Guns” – Motorbike
Cincinnati funsters making fun of Americans for our fascination with guns.

“Death of a Giant” – Murder Capital
Irish funsters making fun of…oh, wait. Actually this song is about the band members being in Dublin on the day of Pogues leader Shane MacGowan’s funeral.

“777” – illuminati hotties
Sarah Tudzin takes her normal fuzzy, power pop sound in a slightly more shoegazey direction here. She never misses.

“Salome” – The Ophelias
Hey, another Cincinnati band! Something is going on down there. Not sure M is into indie rock but perhaps I should tell her to start checking out the music clubs.

“Debonair” – The Afghan Whigs
Might as well sidetrack for a moment to touch base with the kings of the Cincy indie scene, and one of the truly great songs of the 1990s alternative revolution. This ain’t about regret.

“Narc” – Cutouts
If Depeche Mode had made the theme song for The Sopranos, it might have sounded like this.

“Charm” – The Men
Oh hell yes, jangly, scuzzy, punk rock!

“Into Your Arms” – The Lemonheads.
This week’s The Alternative Number Ones entry, a true classic. It’s a 10 to me, just an 8 to Tom. But he’s younger than me and it hit him differently at the time.

I know few of you are Stereogum subscribers, so I pulled a few lines from his write up, which is one of his better ones.

When writing about The Lemonheads, you can’t avoid Evan Dando’s looks and personality. Breihan first describes Dando as “…a foxy airhead.” Which is about perfect.

This anecdote about Dando missing a show is amazing: “In 1995, Dando missed the Lemonheads’ scheduled set at Glastonbury because he was having a heroin-fueled threesome, and you almost can’t begrudge him that.”

A lifetime of drug use apparently has not marred Dando’s face: “At some point, he developed a bad Oxycontin habit and lost all his teeth. He still looks implausibly great, though.”

I guess he did finally kick the drugs. Or at least most of them: “He says he’s clean from all drugs except LSD. That’s a new one on me, but hey, whatever works.”

Finally, Breihan describes this song in this way: “It’s like a relentlessly affectionate golden-retriever puppy — still cute even when it’s chewing up your stuff and shitting on your floor.”

“Steppin’ To The A.M./The Gas Face” – 3rd Bass
These hip hop legends recently reunited on stage. Naturally there is (decent) video. The sound isn’t great but you get the point. Funny how the OGs don’t really change up their stage personas. The “throw your hands in the air and say ‘Ho!'” stuff. Prime Minister Pete Nice still rocking the cane was a nice touch, too. You can not imagine how excited 18-year-old, college freshman D was when The Cactus Album came out. Along with Paul’s Boutique, it was the golden age of legit, white boy rap. Then Vanilla Ice came and fucked that all up a year later…

Might as well share the original “Gas Face” video, too. PW Botha still gets the gas face, even in death.

Friday Playlist

March 14, 2025 /

Weird week around here. So weird I’m putting this together Thursday afternoon as I have some plans Friday morning.

“Fur Mink Augurs” – Bob Mould
Bob’s new album came out last Friday. It is exactly what you would expect from a Bob Mould album. This is probably the best song on it. Sounds like a good song to end a set or show with. I’ll find out in two months.

“Dreaming” – Witch Post
WP is a duo of a Scotsman and an LA girl. Odd combo, but it works.

“It’s Amazing To Be Young” – Fontaines D.C.
FDC continue their stylistic change. This song was inspired by the birth of guitarist Carlos O’Connell’s child. Carlos O’Connell is a wild name!

“Garden” – Maria Somerville
Well this song is just freaking gorgeous.

“The Lights Won’t Shine Forever” – Floodlights
Take The Airborne Toxic Event and combine them with Midnight Oil and you might get this band.

“It’s Not Easy” – Ofege
I watched Showtime’s The Agency this past week. This song was featured in an early episode, and apparently has been used on many shows over the years. The reason for its popularity is apparent immediately, as it slowly ambles out of the speakers and takes over your life for a little over four minutes. That it was recorded in 1973 by a group of Lagos kids all aged between 15-17 makes it even more amazing.

“Whatever You Want” – Tony! Toni! Tone!
D’Wayne Wiggins, one of the founders of 3T, died last week. His brother Raphael Saadiq sang lead on most of their songs, but this is one where Wiggins was up front. I’ve always loved the “Just as sure as my name is D’Wayne (D’Wayne)” line in this jam. Ironically Saadiq sings that line.

“Sulk” – Radiohead
Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the release of Radiohead’s second album, The Bends. I don’t think I listened to it in full until later that summer when one of my roommates bought it. I heard it blasting from his room and asked who the hell he was listening to. I didn’t believe him when he said Radiohead, as it sounded light years beyond “Creep.” I got into it quickly, though. Today The Bends is one of my very favorite albums ever. We need more albums like it that rock with abandon. I could picked any one of seven or eight tracks to honor the anniversary, but I think this is my favorite of those.

“Welcome To The Terrordome” – Public Enemy
Whoa! Holy remix!

Friday Playlist

March 7, 2025 /

“Dollar Store” – Ben Kweller featuring Waxahatchee
Katie Crutchfield is starting to show up in as many songs by other people as Phoebe Bridgers. Thank goodness both of them are always great collaborators.

“Bethany” – Craig Finn
Speaking of collaborations, can we just send Finn and The War On Drugs out on tour together and make old guys like me super happy? A perfect melding of their sounds here.

“No Front Teeth” – Perfume Genius with Aldous Harding
Another collab, and another terrific song from PG’s upcoming album.

“Better Half of a Dollar” – Fime
Absolute ripper!

“Bubblegum Nothingness” – Jetstream Pony
Both the song title and band name seem like gibberish selected by flipping through the dictionary and attaching random words together. The members of this group have been in no fewer than eight other acts, so that mishmash of words makes sense.

“More Than Life” – The Horrors
The Horrors might be the ultimate, 21st century, post-punk band. Their first album of new music in eight years stays right in that groove.

“The Slim” – Sugar
Bob Mould’s new album is out today. Brother-in-music Sir David V sent me an article earlier this week in which Mould identified some of his favorite songs. However, he stuck to his solo work. I love a lot of that, but if I had to pick only one Mould-based album to listen to, it would be Sugar’s amazing 1992 disk Copper Blue. It might be as close to a perfect LP as you can make.

“Spaceman In Tulsa” – Counting Crows
I was in college in the 1990s, which meant I owned CC’s debut album August And Everything After. It was the law; you had to own it if you were a white college student. That album still holds up. I also really enjoyed their 1996 follow-up Discovering the Satellites. Like most, though, I lost track of them after. They are still around making new music. I’m not sure how good this song is, but I felt I owed it to my generation to share it.

Friday Playlist

February 28, 2025 /

“Snowflakes” – Dropkick
Some beautiful, hazy, power pop to start this week’s list. Is it asking too much that our days of snowflakes on the ground be done for this year?

“Hardly” – Free Range
This week’s Alternative Number One was Juliana Hatfield’s “My Sister.” Thus I listened to a lot of other ’90s alt rock by women and women-fronted groups. This song is new, but it would fit right in with those acts.

“Nostalgia’ Lie” – Sam Fender
Good golly this is a gorgeous song! I hear both Boston and Tom Petty in those opening guitars. That would be Adam Granduciel playing the acoustic guitar. He had to be in there somewhere given the sound.

“Messy” – Lola Young
The Bridge has been playing this a lot lately, and it sounds very familiar, but I can’t find that I either shared it last year or even added it to my Spotify catalog. I guess it was a pretty big single, though, going to #1 in Britain and six other countries. It peaked at #14 here in the States, getting to #2 on both the Alternative and Rock Airplay charts.

“Heroes’ Blood” – Pastel
I was sure I shared this last week, although I think I just heard it for the first time right after I posted that week’s PL. You can’t miss the Oasis influence from the beginning. As the song progresses, you get more and more Urban Hymns era Verve. So, yes, a little derivative, but still totally awesome.

“Saint Teresa” – Doves
When the Doves returned with their first album in 11 years in 2020, it seemed like a miracle. Lead singer Jimi Goodwin faced mental health issues which had kept the band apart, but had recovered enough to record again. And the album itself was remarkable, fitting right into their earlier, classic albums.

That they stuck together to make another album, out today and which a couple reviews I skimmed call a masterpiece, is another miracle. Goodwin is unable to tour, which puts a downer on things, but at least he’s given us some more terrific music and there is hope he may recover enough to eventually perform live again.

“Teen Age Riot” – Sonic Youth
I stumbled across a discussion of Pearl Jam’s 1995 “pirate radio” event Self Pollution Radio on YouTube this week. That was the first time the band rented out satellite time, brought a bunch of Seattle friends together – Soundgarden, Mad Season, and the first public performance of Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters – and played live music, spun some of their favorite records, and had long discussions. Any radio station in the country could grab the feed and broadcast it. I remember sitting there with a stack of cassette tapes and recording the entire thing. This was the first record Eddie Vedder played after signing on. Can never go wrong when you start a set with this one.

“Shout” – Tears for Fears
The 40th anniversary of the release of the legendary Songs From The Big Chair was Tuesday. Tears for Fears had success before and after that album, but there is zero doubt it was their commercial peak, and a lot of people know nothing other than the stretch of “Shout,” “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” and “Head Over Heels.” If you’re only going to be known for three songs, it’s hard to do better than those three.

Friday Playlist

February 21, 2025 /

A crazy week in our house, for a bunch of reasons, so my comments on this week’s batch of music will be even more half-assed than normal. Never fear, the songs are still good!

“Focus” – Preoccupations
This band’s sound never changes much, even though their name has changed over the years. They still have this great, timeless, post-punk sound.

“Champagne Taste” – Sunflower Bean
Maybe a little Veruca Salt…salt? in this latest SB track?

“Draggin’ On” – Pink Chameleons
This band reminds me of The Jesus and Mary Chain with the psychedelic slider cranked all the way up.

“This Town” – Brooke Combe
If I gave you a million chances, would you ever have guessed that this wonderful piece of neo-soul comes from Scotland? Doesn’t exactly fit the standard, Scottish sound, does it? And Combe isn’t even from Glasgow or Edinburgh proper, she’s from a tiny town on the far outskirts of Edinburgh.

“Pushing Daisies” – Star 99
If you took mid-90s J. Mascis, in his Dinosaur Jr. form, and added a heathy dose of classic R.E.M., it might sound like this San Jose band.

“Volume Control” – Swervedriver
This band doesn’t sound like anyone but themselves. Swervedriver making a comeback about 10 years ago and then sticking around to keep making more solid music was a very good thing.

“Damage” – Salim Nourallah
Two weeks in a row we have a song that features vocals that sound like Soul Asylum singer Dave Piner. That seems super random, no?

“If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Nest” – Manic Street Preachers
The Manics have new music out, which is ok. But it made me think of their greatest song and how it applies to the current state of the world.

Friday Playlist

February 14, 2025 /

“Eden” – Baths
A little world music influence to this buoyant, fun track.

“Ankles” – Lucy Dacus
We are officially on the clock for a new Lucy Dacus album. No surprise it seems like it’s going to be wonderful, as usual.

“Take Your Aim” – Rocket
Some serious Smashing Pumpkin vibes on this track. Fortunately their singer is better than Billy C so I can happily listen to it.

“Let Me Go” – Deep Sea Diver featuring Madison Cunningham
Sharon Van Etten is having a moment with the release of her new album. You could easily slide this track onto that LP.

“Everything You Want” – The Disappearing Act
Wrapping up three straight songs that sound like other bands, I had to quadruple check that Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum wasn’t singing lead here. He was not.

“Fourth Street” – Dutch Interior
I don’t think this band sounds specifically like another, but there are sure little threads of other artists winding through their sound. None distinct enough to pin down, but present enough to make this song sound very familiar.

“Speed Freak” – Youth Lagoon
YL leader Trevor Powers had this to say about this song:

“We spend our whole lives running from this thing we can’t outrun. This body is temporary, but there is no death. Only transformation. A door opens when you learn to let go of the identity you’ve been building your whole life. Someone told me a couple years ago, ‘I have good news for you and I have bad news. The bad news is Trevor is doomed. There’s no hope for Trevor. The good news is — you’re not Trevor.’ When I heard that, it clicked.”

Ooooooookay. Good song, though.

“High Beams” – The Laughing Chimes
Something lighter to break up what has become kind of a heavy playlist. Mid-February sucks.

“Story of the Egg” – Cloackroom
Stereogum’s Tom Breihan described this band, which comes from the industrial wastelands of northwest Indiana, as “sick ass.” Highest praise!

“Valentine’s Day” – Bruce Springsteen
It was 8° when I woke up this morning. Next week looks brutally cold. Not exactly the kind of weather that makes you think of romance, so a dreary song about today’s holiday seemed in order.

“Rockin’ In The Free World” – Jack White
Pearl Jam has been using this as one of their show closers for years. Jack Mutherfucking White OPENED a show in Toronto with it last week.

If you go to YouTube you can watch Jack and PJ play this song together at a 2018 show in Portugal.

Friday Playlist

February 7, 2025 /

We stay knee-deep in the new music another week.

“Prisoner of Beauty” – The Limiñanas, Bobby Gillespie
I can find almost no information about this song or band, which is from the far south of France. So all I can say about it is that it 100% sounds like it should have been in some gritty film during the mid-90s indie movie craze.

“All My Freaks” – Divorce
Kind of funny that a brand new band is writing a song about all the troubles that come with being famous. Like, how do they know anything about that yet?

“Never Said Goodbye” – Jake Bugg
Favorite song of the week alert. This absolutely majestic track draws a straight line back to DMAs and then to Oasis. Apparently Bugg’s latest album came out in September but I just discovered it in the past couple weeks. So, yes, I’ve been hating myself about that even since.

“I Want You (Fever)” – Momma
There’s some serious Nineties alt rock queen DNA in here, touching up against Garbage territory.

“Blackstar” – Fanning Dempsey National Park
Not a Radiohead cover – that would be “Black Star” anyway – but another fine song from this newish, Aussie, super-duo.

“Loving You” – Jorja Smith featuring Maverick Sabre
This week’s neo-soul track.

“Nice Clean Shirt” – Beeef
I’ve reached the point in the year where I start exploring options for new t-shirts for warm weather months. Mmmmmm, nice, clean shirts…

“Holding Pattern” – Prism Shores
Speaking of spring, this jangly tune is full of springtime vibes.

“Give It Time” – Goose
A perfect combination of Goose’s mainstream and jam band sides.

“Santa Monica” – Everclear
I had to make a quick run to the grocery store around the corner for a couple things last night. It should have been a minute in-and-out type deal. But suddenly I heard a familiar guitar riff over the in-store music – one of the greatest riffs of the Nineties – and had to walk around for a few minutes to enjoy “Santa Monica” is all its glory. If you muted this and just watched the visuals, there would still be no doubt what decade this video was from.

Friday Playlist

January 31, 2025 /

No sign that the current pace of new music will slacken any time soon, which means I will continue to have the pleasure of providing music to soundtrack a good chunk of your Fridays for the foreseeable future.

“People Of Substance” – Craig Finn
DAD ROCK ALERT!!!!! Craig Finn has new music out! And it is produced by Adam Granduciel! And the other members of The War On Drugs are playing on it! What a great day to be a middle aged white dude who still listens to cool music! There is no chance you can miss that TWOD presence on this track.

“Ankles” – Lucy Dacus
Less dad rocky, to be sure, but another literate artist I love with new music.

“Good Old Fashioned Fun” – WOOZE
“Hooked” – Franz Ferdinand
I heard the new WOOZE track and thought it had some serious Franz Ferdinand vibes. A couple days later I hear FF’s new song. Serendipitous!

“Together” – Blankenberge
Some tremendous Shoegaze from Russia, of all places. I’m going to assume that since these kids are cool enough to play music this good, they are anti-war, so I will not boycott their songs.

“It’s a Mirror” – Perfume Genius
Based on my inability to connect with his music before 2020, I figured my love of PG’s “On the Floor,” my #3 song of 2020, was a momentary blip. This, though, is a tremendous song as well. I am officially intrigued by what is to come.

“T&A” – Blondshell
Blondshell made my favorite tracks list last year (with some help from her friend Bully) with “Docket,” a song about the perils of hooking up while touring. Here is another powerhouse song about how sex can mess things up.

“Hazy Shade of Winter” – The Bangles
With February about to arrive, we are in the dog days of winter. That said, we have two days approaching 60 in the forecast and the last of the piles of snow in our yard and driveway should be gone by Tuesday morning. So maybe not ideal conditions to play this, but my annual reminder this is one of the greatest covers ever recorded.

“No Excuses” – Alice in Chains
I read this article earlier in the week about the 31st anniversary of AiC’s Jar of Flies EP. Which is a weird year to mark. But, still, it made me go back and listen to the EP, and then some other AiC tracks. For those who were around at the time, remember how shocking this song was because of its beauty, especially when compared to the songs from the Dirt album, which was basically 100% about heroin? Still a great song.

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