Monday Morning Shuffle

Ok, so maybe it's Monday afternoon, sue me. I'm unemployed. You wouldn't be awake either.

In the interest of having some consistency on this page, i'm going to have certain days for certain types of posts, an editorial schedule if you will. That way, if it's Monday, you know that today is Monday Morning Shuffle day. Also, suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Monday Morning Shuffle will be a list of songs that came up while iTunes was shuffling this morning and a few sentences about each.

1. Posse In Effect - The Beastie Boys - Track 4 on Licensed to Ill
This is one of the most unremarkable songs on an otherwise fantastic CD. Having this song as track 4 is like having me bat 4th in the Yankees line up. After "Rhymin N Stealin," "The New Style" and "She's Crafty" it just drops off on track 4. But seriously, how good are the first 2 tracks of this CD? Damn good, that's how good.

2. Girl Anachronism - The Dresden Dolls
This was a random download and i don't really get it. I get how they're a band you could say you like and people would think you're interesting but i really can't see actually enjoying this song. Maybe the lyrics are genius but i'd never know because the song sounds like thumb tacks in my ear drums.

3. Killing Me Softly - The Fugees - Track 8 on The Score
An obvious song on a teriffic album. When Lauryn Hill rhymes on "How Many Mics" you just have to have respect and then she sings on Killing me Softly and you're like, "Is there anything this chick can't do?" and the answer to that is "No." Her voice is even better on "Fu-gee-la." If you haven't busted this CD out since high school, i highly recommend bringing it out for another listen. It's so, so good. Years later, Wyclef does a song called "Hips Don't Lie" and that was also amazing. And in case you were wondering, my hips don't lie either, at least not regularly.

4. Field Guide To The Night's Sky - Fivespeed - Track 2 on Trade In Your Halo
Fivespeed is a great local Phoenix band that just released their first major label release a few months back. This song is also on that CD which is called Morning Over Midnight and is super, super good. Definitely go buy it if you like local music. They're a little harder than some of the recent emo-core weirdness coming out of the Tempe/Mesa scene but i really like it. The lead singer's voice is almost impossible. I would have no voice in maybe like 8 seconds if i sang like that. But i love the grainy quality of it, it adds a ton of texture to the songs.

5. Clear The Area - Imogen Heap - Track 6 on Speak For Yourself
Alright, i don't watch the OC and i avoid Zach Braff movies at all costs so i was a little late jumping on the Imogen Heap bandwagon but i'm here now and i'm with it. I first listened to this CD late one night at work. I was completely alone in this gigantic office building in downtown Phoenix. It was pitch black outside, i had a ton more to do so i was just looking for something quiet that i could ignore. I got through the first few songs without paying much attention and the i got to the song "Hide and Seek" and just had to stop and listen. Then of course i went back to track 1 and listened harder and was pleasantly surprised. Not only are her lyrics good but her voice has a really unique tone and accent to it. My favorite thing about this CD was the variety of sounds she uses. There are flying guitar solos mixed in with a kind of electronica sound mixed in with blues and jazz beats. It's a very interesting and suprisingly easy-to-listen-to sound.

(Rob Gordon would definitely stop after 5 but i'm having fun so i'm going to do a few more. My blog. Fuck You. And yes, i'm going to use that reason a few thousand times in this space, in fact, i think i'm just going to go ahead and make up one of those cool internet abbreviations for it. MBFY.)

6. For Love - Robert Earl Keen - Track 1 on What I Really Mean
I am not a country fan. At all. In fact most of the shit they play on the radio makes me want to park my car in Tempe and leave the windows open so one of the vagrants will do me a favor and steal my car radio so i never, ever have to hear it again. And it's not the sound that kills me, or the twang or the line dancing. In fact, i love country bars and country people and even cowboy boots and hats. I just really hate mainstream country music that insists on me buying into their subject matter just to like the song. I just don't dig it at all. So when i heard this Robert Earl Keen CD i was pretty damn amazed. He's not a mainstream country star, and he's been doing it for a long time. He's in the Texas Country vein of Pat Green, etc. His lyrics are what used to be good about country music before Toby "Neo-Nazi" Keith and Honky Tonk Badonkadonk got ahold of it. Because the lyrics used to be about good things, they may have been sad or made you reflect on something, but at least they were thought out and well written. Country music today might as well have the Ying Yang Twins writing their lyrics ... Robert Earl Keen is more like the Johnny-Cash style of songwriting, in that he writes about less than perfect people and the less than dreamy aspects of our society. If you've never heard him, and even if you can't stand country, i highly suggest picking this one up.

8. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
This song needs no explanation and is an unbelievably appropriate place to stop considering the tie-ins with the name of this very blog.

Hope you enjoyed the Monday Morning Shuffle.