Song of the Day: Alice in Chains - Would?

I was inspired to post an Alice in Chains song after reading this piece from the AV Club about the band.  As I've mentioned before, I could probably make this a grunge blog, and Alice in Chains would certainly dominate a lot of the posts.  I first heard the band on the Singles soundtrack, and while I hate to post a band's most popular song, "Would?" encompasses what made the band great - it's heavy, it's melodic, there's great vocal interplay, and of course, Layne Staley's voice is awesomely powerful.

Song of the Day: The Byrds - Lover of the Bayou [live]

I've posted a song by The Byrds before, but if ever a band could not be accurately portrayed by just one song, it's this band. This track does not feature the early Dylan 12-string chiming guitars and harmonies, nor is it Sweetheart-era country-rock - just a driving rock song, featuring Roger McGuinn's voice at its most gravelly, sans harmonies.  One of my favorite songs in their catalog.

Song of the Day: Yo La Tengo - From a Motel 6

My first Yo La Tengo purchase was 1995's Electr-O-Pura, a record that received accolades from many of the mainstream publications (remember, this was pre-internet, more or less).  This led to other purchases and a love for a band that continues to release viable records, 25 years into their existence. 

This track comes from 1993's Painful, my favorite YLT album.  It seems to perfectly encapsulate everything the band excels in - boy/girl vocals, glorious feedback, and groove.

Song of the Day: Unbunny - Pink Lemonade

Snow Tires is probably one of the most underrated albums of the past 10 years - to paraphrase Bill Simmons, it's so underrated, I'm not sure it's even rated.  I've played this album for a number of friends, and all of them loved it (those that didn't are no longer friends).  I would especially recommend Snow Tires to Neil Young fans - the singer has that NY whine to his voice (I mean that in the best possible way), and the music has traces of Harvest-era country rock. 

Song of the Day: Talking Heads - Naive Melody (This Must Be the Place) [live]

I watched Stop Making Sense last night - it was the first time I had seen it since I was 8 or 9 years old and my parents dragged me to the theater (I remember that I fell asleep). Maybe this memory subconsciously affected my future enjoyment of Talking Heads - I always liked the singles, but it took me years to realize how great a band they are.

Two events changed my opinion of the band - the first was hearing Phish covering Remain in Light in its entirety for one of their Halloween shows. The other was buying Fela Kuti's Zombie and hearing the parallels between it and Remain in Light (and most of Talking Heads' catalog).

But the biggest gateway to my fanship was getting a copy of The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads, the live double LP that was released before SMS (this was before the excellent CD reissue was released a few years ago with bonus tracks).  I don't know if there are many bands that can touch Talking Heads in a live setting, whether it's just the four of them or the expanded band.  Stop Making Sense makes a case for them as a visual band as well - this song was not only my favorite when I heard it live, but it's probably the coolest thing they do in the movie.

Here's one version of the song:



And here's the video from the movie, in a slightly different version:

Song of the Day: Tennis - Baltimore

I guess I'm a little late on this bandwagon, though Tennis's debut album has yet to be released. But this band is big in the "blogosphere," and though my first reaction was "are all new bands lo-fi and led by females?" (see also: Best Coast), I really like the singer's voice.  I hope their debut lives up to the strengths of this single.

Song of the Day: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Typecast

Well, I predicted it (sort of) - the new Ryan Adams album, III/IV is really good and probably would have made my best of 2010 list. Since I ended 2010 with Whiskeytown for the song of the day, let's start out 2011 with more from DRA. This song, which leads off side B of IV, is the first one that really caught my ear.



P.S. Not only is the album good, but the vinyl version is amazing. Check it out (but note the actual vinyl is a darker red and darker blue than in this pic.