I guess they set the tone between songs that sound frantic and those that feel wistful.
Among the latter: the overlooked "It's All I Can Do" by The Cars, Belle & Sebastian B-side "Winter Wooskie", early Tom Waits track "Old Shoes" (love his whistling!), the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds instrumental "Let's Go Away For Awhile", k.d. lang's "Constant Craving", "I'm Going To Stop Pretending I Didn't Break Your Heart" by Eels, and a rehearsal take by a very obscure old R&B group called The Majestic Arrows, singing "I'll Never Fall In Love With Another Boy."
Must have been a cold week in early 06! Among the more energetic tracks: the hilarious ode to golfing dentists "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out" by The Replacements, Mary J Blige's sort of cover of 50 Cent's "Hate It Or Love It": "MJ Da MVP", Elton John and Kiki Dee's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", which might be the happiest song from my sun-dappled 70s childhood, Nice And Smooth's hip hop golden age anthem "Cake And Eat It Too", and Neil Young's epic "Like A Hurricane".
In neither group fall a few of my favorites this week: The Clash's original single version of "Bankrobber", Junior Murvin (who they covered with "Police and Thieves") doing "Bad Weed" and Dr. Dre, probably doing good weed, with "Bitch Niggaz": a song that, with his production, sounds prettier that the title might suggest.
Also, 2 songs that seem like cousins: Van Halen's little acoustic rave-up "Could This Be Magic?" and Charlie Parker (not the jazz musician) & Mack Woolbright's 1927 recording of "Ticklish Reuben". The laughs that serve as the chorus suggest that perhaps these guys might have been on the same stuff as Junior Murvin and Dr. Dre.
