Song of the Day: The Dream Syndicate - Tell Me When It's Over

The Dream Syndicate's The Days of Wine and Roses is often talked about as an influential album, and apparently it was even pretty successful, yet I imagine the average person has never heard of it (or the band). Which is a shame, because it is a pretty damn good album - not as good as the obvious touchstone, The Feelies, but still quite good. Both bands existed around the same time, had Velvet Underground comparisons and are now considered cult acts, and both are well worth your time. This is the opening track off of the aforementioned LP. Steve Wynn's voice took some getting used to for me, but the guitar tone in this song instantly connected.

Song of the Day: The Anniversary - Sweet Marie

I had the CD for Your Majesty, the second album from The Anniversary, but I have no recollection of buying it. I just had to look at allmusic.com to find out more about the band, and nothing sticks out as to what led me to the band. In fact, I know this song because I put it on a mix CD and heard it a lot; as for the rest of the album, I can't name another track. That said, this is a pretty great track, with a killer hook in the chorus. Perhaps this is an album worth revisiting.

Song of the Day: Throwing Muses - Counting Backwards

I just read a review on Pitchfork of a new Throwing Muses anthology, and I was surprised to see that one of my favorite songs has been left off. I suppose "anthology" doesn't mean "greatest hits," and of course no compilation is going to please everyone. So instead I'll make amends - this is the opening track off the 1991 album, The Real Ramona.

Song of the Day: The Who - Heaven and Hell [live]

I've had The Who on the brain recently. First it was an old New Yorker article about Keith Moon; then last week it was the 1975 Tommy movie (which, truth be told, I hated to the point where I ended up fast-forwarding through most of it). Then this morning, my iPod started off my walk to work with this version of "Heaven and Hell" from the Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 LP (one of my favorite live albums, incidentally; I'd say it trumps Live at Leeds).

The song is one of Entwistle's best, but two things I love about this version have nothing to do with the song itself. One is the intro, in which it sounds like the announcer is saying "The You." Then at the end, Pete Townshend tells the crowd, "Smile you buggers...pretend it's Christmas." Kills me every time.

Song of the Day: Brian Wilson - Child Is Father of the Man

I'm not a huge Beach Boys fan, though I did enjoy Brian Wilson's Smile LP. So when it was announced earlier this week that the Beach Boys' own Smile was finally going to be released, I was pretty excited - so much, in fact, that I've already pre-ordered it (I went for the vinyl version, which I'm really hoping includes a download). Here's a version of Brian Wilson's album of "Child Is Father of the Man."

Playlist: August 2011 blog songs

Songs of the Day: Minutemen - "Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth" and "Little Man with a Gun in His Hand"

Minutemen released so many great songs (and so many songs, period) that it's difficult to pick just one, so as I've done before, I'm breaking my own non-existent rules and posting two songs. It's nearly impossible to talk about Minutemen without mentioning their 45-song (43 on CD) double LP Double Nickels on the Dime. If you watched MTV in the past 10 years, you know at least one song from it, courtesy of Jackass. The album is all over the place musically, ranging from 1-minute punk songs to acoustic instrumentals to songs that actually sound like some sort of jazz.

If you didn't catch it from the name of this post, Minutemen also have some of the greatest song titles of all time, from "There Ain't Shit on TV Tonight" to "Maybe Partying Will Help" - and those are just from Double Nickels. The first song below is also from that album and shows off the band's softer side, while the second song is from Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat (and the DNotD vinyl) and more indicative of their punk side (though it does cross the 3-minute mark). While Double Nickels is a must-own, I'd also recommend Post-Mersh Vol. 2 on CD, which combines Buzz or Howl and the Project: Mersh EP.

Song of the Day: Red Red Meat - Moon Calf Tripe

Don't be too frightened by the band name. Or the song title. Red Red Meat probably wouldn't be confused with any current indie band - their sound is definitely '90s, somewhere between the slacker vibe of Pavement and the Stones' homage of Liz Phair. Yet the band manages to sound unique, which made their Jimmywine Majestic album a difficult listen for me when I first heard it in college. Today's song of the day won't exactly have you humming the tune the rest of the day, but hopefully it will leave you wanting to check out the rest of the album.

Song of the Day: The War on Drugs - I Was There

A couple of weeks ago, when The War on Drugs released their new album, Slave Ambient, I couldn't read a music blog or check updates on Twitter without seeing something about it. Upon first listen I didn't quite get the hype, and I realize it's extremely uncool to not be the first to post about a new album, but it took a few weeks for this one to grow on me. Part of my initial issue was how much the band sounded like Kurt Vile, who I now understand was actually in The War on Drugs at one time. But is sounding like Kurt Vile a bad thing? Not for me - that's why my favorite song on the album is probably the one that sounds most like him.

Song of the Day: The Black Angels - Telephone

Yes, more '60s revivalists! Hard to believe this one is from 2010 - "Telephone" not only sounds like something from the '60s, but it clocks in at 2:02, under the 2 minutes and 30 seconds that was the norm for singles pre-"Like a Rolling Stone." It doesn't have the darkness to it of their first "song of the day" appearance - this one is pure '60s pop.

Song of the Day: Papercuts - Wait Til I'm Dead

Papercuts have opened for two of my favorite bands of the last few years - Grizzly Bear and Beach House. Unfortunately, I completely missed them for the GB show, which took place in 2007 (note that while trying to confirm when this show happened, I also found out that Foreign Born also opened, yet I have no memory of them either). And when they opened for Beach House last year, I only caught about half of the performance.

Still, what I heard was enough to motivate me to buy Papercuts' last two albums, including this year's Fading Parade. You can hear shades of Grizzly Bear and Beach House, especially the latter in atmospheric songs like "Wait Til I'm Dead."

"Song" of the Day: Steven Wright - 7's and Museums

It's the middle of the week and I need a laugh to keep me going. The first time I saw Steven Wright, it was on Late Night with David Letterman, I was probably about 12 or 13 years old, and I don't think I even laughed so hard. Over the years Wright was a frequent guest on all the talk shows, and the VCR was always set to record them. I imagine Zach Galifianakis was also watching - his humor seems very similar, with absurd one-liners such as "My girlfriend looks a little like Charlize Theron...and a lot like Patrick Ewing."

But Steven Wright will always be the best to me, as he entered my world at the perfect time, when new music, comedy, etc. left the most significant impression. This track is off of his 1985 album I Have a Pony.

Song of the Day: Joni Mitchell - Carey

I didn't really know much about Joni Mitchell a decade ago, but two nearly simultaneous events led me to seek out her Blue LP. One was seeing the band Travis (when they were touring for The Man Who) play "River" in concert. The other was the scene from Almost Famous where William discovers the records that his sister left him - Blue was one of those LPs.

I won't say the record changed my life - in fact, it's probably nowhere near my top 100 albums, or maybe even 500, if such lists existed - but there are quite a few memorable songs. "River" is probably the best known, but my favorite is "Carey," which has the best backing vocals of any song on the LP and is probably the most "rocking" (it's all relative).

Song of the Day: Cymbals Eat Guitars - Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)

We ended the week with '60s revivalists the Brian Jonestown Massacre, so let's start this week with '90s revivalists Cymbals Eat Guitars. They've got a new record coming out soon, and seeing their name in the news recently made me realize I never touched upon their debut LP, Why There Are Mountains, despite it being one of my favorite records of 2009. Admittedly I haven't listened to it in a while, but hearing today's song of the day again, I remember why this made the list - part Pavement, Dinosaur Jr and very '90s.

Playlist: July 2011 blog songs

Song of the Day: The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Telegram

I've posted a song from BJM before, so I won't bother repeating myself. Earlier this week I wrote about how prolific Jason Molina is, and the same can be said about Anton Newcombe - according to allmusic.com, BJM released 10 albums in 15 years, and that doesn't count EPs, compilations and singles, of which there are many.

This song is off of one of my favorite albums, Bravery Repetition and Noise, one of their more cohesive, less sprawling efforts. As a bonus, it's pressed on the most awesome purple vinyl you'll ever see AND the cover features director Jim Jarmusch.

Song of the Day: Sunny Day Real Estate - In Circles

I first heard Sunny Day Real Estate as a freshman in college, and listening to Diary, I figured the lead singer was a woman (think Thalia Zedek of Come). I was pretty obsessed with this album and Shudder to Think's Pony Express Record, thanks to my girlfriend at the time (ironically, I think she may have heard about them from her ex-boyfriend).

They became a pretty big cult band, and while I own all their records and even went to their reunion concert a couple years ago, I've never fully succumbed to the cult. Truth be told, I can't name more than a handful of songs that aren't on Diary - so perhaps needless to say, today's song of the day is in fact on that record. Which SDRE LP is your favorite?

Song of the Day: Lou Barlow - Monkey Begun

I've already written about how great and underrated Sebadoh is, and while I don't share Lou Barlow's affinity for tape loop experiments, the guy has more great songs than I can name. The vast majority are under the Sebadoh moniker, but his solo albums have quite a few gems. This one, off his first proper solo album Emoh, is one of my favorites.

Song of the Day: The Clientele - I Had to Say This

I liked The Clientele from the opening notes of this song, the first track off their debut album (which was technically a compilation of singles and what not). It doesn't take long to realize the band is British, and the Suburban Light LP will always remind me of my first trip to London - I went within weeks of picking up the album (Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour of Bewilderbeast, Coldplay's Parachutes and Doves' Lost Souls also bring back those memories). The Clientele have gone on to make a number of solid albums, but for me, the ethereal sounds of the backwards guitar and the "do do do" backing vocals of "I Had to Say This" will never be topped.

Song of the Day: Songs: Ohia - An Ace Unable to Change

Jason Molina is as prolific as Ryan Adams, but you might not know it. For one, he's never been as popular, but he also has an identity issue - after about 8 albums in 6 years as Songs: Ohia, he put out 2 albums under his own name and another 4 as Magnolia Electric Co in the next 6 years.

He's never strayed far from a core sound, no matter the name behind the music. His songs are often melancholy, but he knows how to rock - I'm not talking Led Zeppelin here, but it's all relative. This song, for instance, the opening track off his second Songs: Ohia album, Impala, showcases the more low-key side.