ipodshuffle

Sounds so nice, let's hear it twice

Some songs that have come up in the past few days, where I've felt compelled to hit the 'back' button when they've ended and hear them again:

The Monkees: "The Door Into Summer" - One of the great middle-period album tracks, sung by Nesmith. Great 60's imagery like 'King Midas in his counting-house where nothing counts but more.' When Bob Mould first put Sugar together they covered this one live a few times.

Outkast: 'Hey Ya' - boy, this sure was everywhere six months ago, wasn't it? Having not heard it for a few months, it's nice to come back to it and be reminded of the Many Wondrous Ways that This Song Rules.

Los Straitjackets: "Surf Rider" - nothing particularly remarkable about this specific version, but this is the one I have on the machine (from the Delphonic Sounds Today! album from a few years ago of late 90's indy bands covering hits from the Del-Fi catalog). But the song itself is one of the great surf instrumentals, the epitome of cool in a 3-minute package; which I guess explains why it showed up (if I'm remembering right) as the end-credit music in Pulp Fiction.

Portishead: "It's a Fire" - while a lot of the "chill" genre is perfectly pleasant but not particularly memorable (are you listening Lemon Jelly? I'm not sure I am again), this first PH album remains a revelation. The genius production touches and (at the time) groundbreaking sound were the elements that started the initial buzz, but ultimately it was the depth of emotion in Beth's voice and the songwriting that made it a keeper.

Julian Cope: "Las Vegas Basement" (1991 I think)

Volume 5 of The First Time Ever I Heard That Song: 15 songs that made an impact

Flew into LA one spring night for an independent label conference. Got the rental car and headed up to the hotel, tuning out of habit to KCRW. It was probably 9pm by this point, midnight to me after working then flying across country. So this song comes on which perfectly fit my slightly tired, late-night driving mood - I can still remember it pretty well, though I had no idea who it was and didn't ID it till years later. Slightly moody, solo guy-with-guitar, my first thought was that it was Vic Chestnutt - but they played a Vic song next and I realized that my mystery singer's voice wasn't so distinctive. But the song definitely was, pretty hypnotic with a straightforward downward progression, and one line I still remember, (though I don't think it was a key lyric) 'I was born to entertain, so here I go.'

Wasn't until years later that I googled that phrase to discover that it was the aforementioned Julian Cope song, from the (now out of print) Peggy Suicide album - which I probably should have figured out at the time, but somehow it passed me by. But in some ways, the not knowing what the song was for so long added to the enjoyment...