Bruce Springsteen - Atlantic City (Live, 1985)

Okay, I promise I’m not trying to bring everybody down with these songs, they’re just so good I can’t help but post them.

I’m still not sure which version of this song I prefer, the original or this live one, but I can’t resist posting live versions of Bruce in concert because the songs really take on a new life when you see/hear him giving his all.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and again: see him live.  It’ll be an experience you’ll never forget.

“Now I been lookin’ for a job but it’s hard to find
Down here it’s just winners and losers and don’t get caught on the wrong side of that line
Well I’m tired of comin’ out on this losin’ end
So honey last night I met this guy and I’m gonna do a little favor for him

Well I guess everything dies baby that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty and meet me tonight in Atlantic City”

The Streets - Dry Your Eyes (2004)

This video makes me want a dog.

I loved The Streets when he/they first came out and I was in high school, but the third album turned me off and I forgot about him/them.  Now, listening to this again years later, damn, it’s still great—this song in particular being one of the best.  Real heartbreaking stuff.

The lyrics in this song and many others are ultra-evocative and descriptive, and it’s a shame they’ve called it quits after this year, he was always an amazing story teller and able to convey his thoughts/emotions superbly clear.  Real talent.

“Dry your eyes mate
I know it’s hard to take but her mind has been made up 
There’s plenty more fish in the sea 
Dry your eyes mate 
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts 
But you’ve got to walk away now 
It’s over ”

Wilco - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (20xx, live)

All this Wilco talk makes me want to post a song by them, because I love them, especially this song and this album (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot).

I’ve been intending to write more, you know, some simple text updates rather than all this great music and art, but I keep getting distracted…oh well.  There’s time.

“I am an American aquarium drinker
I assassin down the avenue
I’m hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you

Let’s forget about the tongue-tied lightning
Let’s undress just like cross-eyed strangers
This is not a joke so please stop smiling
What was I thinking when I said it didn’t hurt

I want to glide through those brown eyes dreaming
Take you from the inside, baby hold on tight
You were so right when you said I’ve been drinking
What was I thinking when we said good night

I want to hold you in the Bible-black predawn
You’re quite a quiet, domino, bury me now
Take off your band-aid ‘cause I don’t believe in touchdowns
What was I thinking when we said hello

I always thought that if I held you tightly
You’d always love me like you did back then
Then I fell asleep in the city kept blinking
What was I thinking when I let you back in

I am trying to break your heart
I am trying to break your heart
But still I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t easy
I am trying to break your heart

Disposable Dixie cup drinker
I assassin down the avenue
I’ve been hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you

(Loves you)

I’m the man who loves you”

Uncle Tupelo - I Wanna Be Your Dog (199x)

And now for something completely different.

Well, not completely different, this is the same song I just posted, it’s just not the same song if you know what I mean.

No hardcore droning guitars, no Iggy Pop barking the lyrics, just pre-Wilco Jeff Tweedy and pre-Son Volt Jay Farrar and the rest strumming and singing a folksy version of a once vicious punk song.

Brilliant!

The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog (1969)

Yesterday I posted a pretty folksy cover of The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”.  Today I’m going to cover a pretty folksy cover of this song right here, The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog”.

To give the full effect of how fantastic an artist can interpret a song I figured I should post the original first, so all you faithful followers can then listen to the Uncle Tupelo version and compare the two, and hopefully feel the same awe as to how drastically different, yet great both songs are.

So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, The Stooges…

The Jackson 5 - One More Chance (1970)

After that Jackson 5 cover I couldn’t resist posting a real Jackson 5 song, because I’ll be damned if Michael didn’t have one of the best voices of all-time.

It’s nothing but fantastic the emotion he put into these songs.  And goodness gracious, listen to that bass guitar.  I love it.

(The Biggie song of the same name is great too, albeit very different.)

The Civil Wars - I Want You Back (20xx)

Music is amazing, the way it can morph and be mutated from it’s original form into something completely and radically different yet maintain and keep so much at the same time.  This song is a great example.

Everyone knows the original Jackson 5 version of this song, the happy upbeat soul version with little Michael’s timeless voice singing lyrics that didn’t apply to him or anything he’d experienced at that young point in his life.

Then there’s this cover, a slow folksy ballad that is crooned rather than popped.  Real beautiful stuff.  Great translation.

The Doors - Light My Fire (1968, live)

Jim Morrison was one sexy man.  Sheesh.

Anyway, this is a funny performance because while the band is into it Jim seems slightly bored, which perhaps is why he wanders around and starts messing with the crowd.

I wanted a long version of the song though, as the three minute single version doesn’t capture the groove like this one does.

“You know that it would be untrue 
You know that I would be a liar 
If I was to say to you 
Girl, we couldn’t get much higher 

Come on baby, light my fire 
Come on baby, light my fire 
Try to set the night on fire 

The time to hesitate is through 
No time to wallow in the mire 
Try now we can only lose 
And our love become a funeral pyre”

David Bowie - Oh! You Pretty Things (1972, live)

One of my favorite Bowie songs and favorite songs in general, provided by one of my favorite things in the world, the BBC.

Damn does his voice sound great live.  I’d love to see him in concert, but I’m not sure if he tours anymore?

The chorus of this song gets me every time, every single time.  That piano and sudden crescendo.  Love it.

“Oh You Pretty Things
Don’t you know you’re driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Oh You Pretty Things
Don’t you know you’re driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the Homo Superior”

(Hunky Dory is also my favorite Bowie album.)

This song is blocked in the U.S., so here’s a link to Bob performing live at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 courtesy of China.

You don’t have to speak Chinese to figure out how to listen: just press the play button.

(Happy Thanksgiving everyone!)

Band of Horses - No One’s Gonna Love You (2008)

This song is very beautiful and very very sad.

(Source: echoings)

Mulatu Astatke - Yekermo Sew

Ethiopian jazz just does it right.

American jazz does it right too, don’t get me wrong, but this is just soooooo good.  Such a dope dirty groove.

Ghostface Killah has a blog which you can check out by clicking this sentence.

It’s unbelievably funny, and captures Ghostface’s voice remarkably well.  Obviously it’s going to sound something like Ghost, but when you read it you can practically hear him saying it, which is the mark of a great writer.

Some of the funniest posts are the Annual Softest Rappers in the Game series, and “Ayo Kim ya groin be lookin like a dead trout namsayin!” which is a tirade against Lil Kim, but one of the funniest parts about the entire blog is how much Ghost hates Drake, which can be seen in his latest post which is a track-by-track review of Drake’s new album.  The excerpts I’ve posted really aren’t even that funny compared to the rest of the reviews and posts on the site, but I love how precise and descriptive Ghost is with why he hates Drake’s lyrics, style, and persona.  He really is a great writer.

6. Marvin’s Room/Buried Alive [Interlude] (ft Kendrick Lamar) - Aka the “Player HATER’S Anthem”. This nigga jus gon use bein drunk as a green light to talk to a broad while her man aint around n tell her that son aint shit. This is what little marshmallow ass muthafuckas do tho. Word. Now clown ass niggas is gon try n justify this shit as son jus dealin wit real nigga emotions n shit…or like he aint afraid to jus be honest. Nah. Fuck ya real emotions b. Thats like sayin “oh son was jussa little tipsy off them 4 flirtinis he had n so he dropped dime on his mans who was violatin his parole but he was jus dealin wit some real nigga emotions…” Nah yo. Fuck THIS nigga b. 

9. Umso Umso Umso Umso Usmo Proud of You (ft Nicki Minaj) - I aint even mad at this beat son…but the shit this nigga be sayin yo….”I love it when your hair still wet cos you jus took a shower…runnin on a treadmill n only eating salad…sound so smart like you graduated college”. I cant even stomach that shit b. Son always gotta be on some “Gurl you kno you look yo best when you jus gettin up in the morning n you got them creases on yo face from yo pillow n that crusty shit all in yo eyes cos thats the real you gurl awwwwwhhh” shit.  That or he feedin broads that “you aint even kno how special you is cos other niggas dont be noticin it…but I do” shit. Ayo pardon me if you a female that happens to fall for this cornball shit…but most niggas DO be knowin bout these muthafuckin covert broad tactics namsayin. This nigga tellin you what you wanna hear n throwin all the other niggas you talk to under the bus….n got you convinced that he actually feel that way ma. Son be preyin on the weak. The nigga jus gon parallel park his top down bitchmobile on the track n do nothin but wait for these low self esteem havin broads to come flyin across the hood of his shit n take that bait. But its whatever namsayin. Let this nigga get his false Beyonce female empowerment on. But that hook son. Ayo is this nigga still attached to a placenta sack b?

Bob Dylan ft. Joan Baez - Mama, You Been On My Mind (1975, Live)

Finishing the mini set list here with another excellent song is Mr. Bob Dylan featuring his good friend Ms. Joan Baez.