Friday, April 06, 2007

Friday Random Ten

Lately I've seen folks like Dale and Johnny Yen give some commentary on their shuffle choices, instead of merely throwing out ten random song titles. Dale has even been generous enough to provide the tunes themselves, through the wonders of his data bus.

There are four of us here at the compound using iTunes on the computer, so a lot of these random ten lists don't just reflect my tastes--it's really more of a glimpse of what the soundtrack to our family life sounds like.


Rains—Jim Edgar & the Roadrunners

This is one of mine, from a collection called "Rockabilly Gold."


Sweet Rockin' Baby—Sonny West

Another one of mine from the excellent Rhino collection "Rockin' Bones."


La valse d'Amelie—Yann Tiersen

This belongs to my youngest, from the soundtrack to her favorite movie Amelie. For a while now she's been on a tear where she listens almost exclusively to old and/or foreign language music. It's really cool to hear Edith Piaf or Fats Waller coming from her room.


Peace in the Valley—Johnny Cash

This was a gift to me from MizBubs' family. It's from a boxed set: The Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983.


Pretty Boy Floyd—Woody Guthrie

MizBubs loves Woody Guthrie. This track is from a 3-disc set titled This Machine Kills Fascists.


Tainted Love—Marilyn Manson

Here we see the influence of our oldest daughter. She's listed as a contributor to this blog, and I'd love to see her write more (she's appeared as a Tromette at some horror conventions and goes to lots of cool shows that we don't have time to go see) but she tells me she has "too much of a real life" to spend time blogging. Ouch.


Ballade Von Der Sexuellen Horigkeit—Kurt Weill

I found this version of the Three Penny Opera for my youngest. It doesn't get much play because, in her words, "it sounds too new." She prefers older recordings that have some hiss and pop to them; she's especially fond of Bertholt Brecht singing "Mac the Knife" in German on a collection titled September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill.


Ever Fallen In Love? --The Buzzcocks

From Singles Going Steady. I can't remember if I got this on CD to replace old vinyl, or if our eldest got this as part of her ongoing quest to listen to all of our old favorites from the late 70's and early 80's.


Abba Zabba—Captain Beefheart

This is a recent acquisition of mine. I've never listened to an entire Captain Beefheart album, so I figured the reissue of Safe as Milk would be a good place to start.


Stompin' The Bug—Fats Waller

Another one from our youngest. This is off the collection Young Fats at the Organ. She got this after she saw Eraserhead, and wanted some of the soundtrack music.



Now, if you want some more fun, go see Splotchy's take on the Friday Random Ten. I'll use just these four words as a teaser: pussy pussy pussy marijuana.





6 comments:

Barbara Bruederlin said...

Your youngest confuses me, Bubs. She obviously has very individual tastes and that is so admirable.

But I just cannot put the combination of Amelie and Eraserhead together in my mind. Amelie is such a sweet and joyous film and Eraserhead is completely unwatchable. I still get the vapours when I think of it (enraged David Lynch fans may contact me directly).

Johnny Yen said...

Great list-- your kids have great musical taste as well!

Have you ever heard the "A Vision Shared" album-- it's a bunch of people doing Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie tunes. Springsteen's version of "I Ain't Got No Home In this World Anymore" can bring tears to my eyes. John Mellencamp's take on "Do-Ra-Mi" is great. And Dylan's version of Pretty Boy Floyd alone is worth buying the record.

That reminds me, I've got to go to www.half.com and get a cd-- I've still got the record in vinyl.

And BTW, Barbara, I completely agree with you on Eraserhead. It's just an exercise in the groteseque.

Joe said...

I love Eraserhead. I took a chance and showed it to my youngest, and she loved it as well. Go figure. It's a deliberately difficult film to watch, but it has some hilarious moments. It does make an odd counterpoint to Amelie, though, doesn't it?

Johnny, we have that collection, it's a favorite as well. I think my favorites on there are East Texas Red and I Ain't Got No Home.

Johnny Yen said...

I enjoy East Texas Red as well-- it's neat that his son was able to do that one.

Eraserhead definitely is deliberately difficult to watch.

Splotchy said...

Yayyy Cap'n Beefheart. Yeah, Safe As Milk is prolly the best place to start for him.

Some time, I'll have to show you a dance I made up for the fourth track of Safe, "Dropout Boogie". It just may blow your mind... Actually, it probably won't.

Joe said...

Splotchy, you'll get your chance on Cinco de Mayo. I can't wait!

Johnny, compared to a few of Lynch's recent films it's practically an action movie.