Monday Morning Shuffle "The HSIM Version"

So sorry for the hiatus. Christmas was on a Monday, New Years Day was on a Monday so i just took those days as vacation and then i went out of town for a week. Not a lot of time to blog or even think about blogging, so when i'm lying on my couch dreading each passing minute as signifying one minute closer to the hell i call "waiting tables" it occurs to me that it's Monday. Holy Shit It's Monday, or, HSIM.

It's good to be back, on with the shuffle:
1. See Emily Play - Pink Floyd, off of The Best of Pink Floyd
This song has a distinct Beatles, early The Who feeling to it, which is different than i'm used to from Floyd. It, of course, still has the requisite psychedelic sound to it. And since i have nothing else to say, i'll recount this story for you.
When we were 20 and drinking on fake IDs, one of our favorite shitty little bars was called the Horse and Hound, on Broadway in Tempe. They had tons of specials, pretty decent food, a lot of video games, TVs, off-track betting and of course a jukebox full of random music. The jukebox had a lot of good classic rock and some decent modern stuff and it also had a ton of the obligatory white trash bullshit that one would associate with a bar such as this. (ie. Kid Rock, Linkin Park, etc.) Well anyway, when the place was packed on a Friday night our good friend Adam Pierce would go to the jukebox and select Echos by Pink Floyd. If you've never heard Echoes then you won't get it but it's basically a 16 minute song full of random noises and, well, echoes. After about the 8 minute mark people would start looking around to see what the hell was going on with the jukebox and trying to identify the person in the bar who thought that would be a good bar song....high comedy. Guess you had to be there.

2. By My Side - Ben Harper, off of Fight For Your Mind
Ben Harper is good. Really good. This song is a little on the unremarkable side so there's not a ton to say other than, if you're not listening to Ben Harper, you're way the fuck behind.

3. You Can't Hurry Love - Phil Collins, off of Hits
Oh dear god. This is awful. Normally i'd skip it and get to something good but i'm in a hurry today and we haven't had anything this bad on the Shuffle in so long, that it almost feels good to talk about something i hate. This is a cover or a song i've never liked and Phil isn't really helping the situation. And usually i like Phil Collins just like i like Peter Gabriel and Genesis. "In The Air Tonight", despite being used as the intro for every Fox nighttime sporting event, is a great song and "Another Day in Paradise" is a great sounding song with tremendously poignant lyrics. Seems weird that he'd include an awful, cheesy cover like this on an album called Hits. Although, i've often felt that when a band does a greatest hits CD, they're pretty much mailing it in anyway.

4. The Light & The Glass (acoustic) - Coheed & Cambria
I don't know where i bootlegged the acoustic version from but it's pretty good. This is one of my favorite Coheed songs and if forced at gunpoint to say whether i liked the acoustic version or the album version better, i'd have to say the album version. For some reason Claudio uses this weird effect on his voice when he does acoustic stuff. It sounds like he's harmonizing with himself but the high harmony is sang through a kazoo. It's weird and it doesn't help. It actually hurts. He does it on a lot of stuff and i don't know why. The guitar parts really stand up acoustically which i'm always happy to be able to say. Guitars have always been a Co& Ca strong point and usually Claudio's vocals compete neck and neck, but not on this recording. Occasionally throughout this song they turn the effect off and it sounds great. Bummer they couldn't just do the whole thing like that. In other news, Coheed did a 5 track acoustic LP that was available on iTunes for a while. They didn't use the vocal effect in those tracks and it's awesome. They do a super slo-mo version of A Favor House Atlantic and a souped up version of The Final Cut which is just some of the best air-guitar material i've ever listened to. Let me know if you want it.

5. Hey Hey - Eric Clapton, off of Unplugged
Everyone knows this CD for the acoustic of Layla and of course the heart-wrenching Tears in Heaven, but this whole thing is extremely kick-ass. And despite the downbeats and minor chords of the aforementioned songs, it actually seems like Clapton had a great time during this recording and was laughing and jamming happily through most of it. Good stuff, and if you don't have this you're way the fuck behind; again.

Alright that's it for me. I'm off to hell. I've got some new things to post in the next few weeks, including a follow up on some of those bands i didn't quite get to in 2006 but have had the chance to listen to in the meantime.