This week’s mix is one that makes me very happy. Since I tend to play the drums from time to time, the ever-popular Mix Six will help you re-think the role drums play in popular music. Jack Feerick is the guest mixer this time out, so have a listen and enjoy!
And while you’re feeling happy, why not kill that buzz with a “Top 5″ post that lists news stories that will probably make you really depressed. 
Another Random Sample for your random plays on your iPod — or whatever mp3 player you have. Before we get started, I wanted to do some big pimpin’ for my Popdose buddies:
In between work emails, co-workers talking about their weekend plans, and trying to figure out how to make a quick getaway from work today, I hope you’ll clicky click the links for some really great posts.
Okay, on with the show!
“Old Joe’s Place,” The Folksmen (Download) The movie, while funny at times, didn’t reach This is Spinal Tap levels of comedy. But this song — like many of the songs Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer pen — are equal parts parody and homage.
Journey, “The Party’s Over (Hopelessly in Love)” (Download) Steve Perry’s reputation as a douchebag was pretty much solidified with his statement on VH1’s “Behind the Music” that he never really felt like he was part of the band. Huh? Nevertheless, this cut from their 1981 tour in support of their album, Escape, shows the band in top form. What I love about this song is that in the context of a pop song, Steve Smith (on drums) weaves in a sophisticated beat that shows that he’s more than just a “four on the floor” kind of drummer — which, of course, he is. Plus, we get to hear Steve Perry saying stupid things like “I’m gonna par-tay like a party” prior to the formal start of the song. Ah, the good old days.
Suzanne Vega, “Unbound” (Download) In the ’80s and early ’90s I had a big Suzanne Vega music crush. I really enjoyed her mix of pop, literary allusions, and dreamy arrangements. For this new album she returns to her “classic” form for most of the album, but this song shows her dabbling in electronica.
Cake, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle” (Download) The thing I love about Cake is the fact that you really don’t have to sing on key. You just have to speak in a kind of monotone voice that allows you riff on whatever subject you wish. Have a listen to John McCrea’s voice and then just kind of freestyle a topic. Take your pick: washing dishes, folding clothes, taking the dog for a walk. The most mundane things can have an oddly poetic gloss when you voice it in McCrea’s style.
Frank and Moon Zappa, “Valley Girl” (Download) I haven’t heard this song in such a long time, but it came up on my mp3 player and it was pretty funny to hear it again. I’m not sure if I could take repeated plays like when it was first released in 1982, but as a ”one off” trip down memory lane it’s worth it.
Rolling Stones, “Live with Me” (w/Christina Aguilera) (Download) When I saw Christina’s name on the movie poster for this film, I said “Huh? Why is she doing a duet with Mick?” But after hearing this tune, I can see why they chose her to sing “Live with Me.” Her voice is so powerful that fits really well with the Stones’ music. I’m not sure I could take an entire album of duets, but for this one song, I thought the Stones and Aguilera did some mighty fine work.
Our dog is a cutie, but she’s not the most street smart dog you’ve met. She’s bright in many ways, but we joke that she’s “half dopey” because, well, she does dopey things every now and then. She’s a mix of Keeshond and Shetland Sheepdog, and while both breeds are pretty smart, it seems when you mix the two, a little dopey creeps in in the offspring. So you take one of these dogs:
And mate him/her with one of these dogs:
And you get this:
See? Kind of dopey, right? I know, that’s kind of mean, but stay with me and I’ll explain. Every weekday morning we take Maya to school, but we also take the dog with us so we can do a little walking, the dog can do her “doggie business” in the bushes, and we all get some time to chat and walk. It’s a nice routine. When we’re running late, we take our car part of the way to Maya’s school and walk the rest of the way figuring that some exercise is better than none. Anyway, everyday we open up the hatch to our Scion xB (AKA “Boomer”) and the dog jumps in — like this:
But today, the dog’s dopey side completely took over and she was in “full dopey” mode. Julie went to open the hatch to the car, and even before she could find the button to release the lock, the dog jumped up and smashed her face in the door. The dog let out a “Oof,” a couple of half sneezes, and generally walked around like she was punch-drunk (which she probably was). I was convinced our dog had lost whatever street smarts she had and was now pretty much legally retarded. Julie couldn’t stop laughing as the image of the dog jumping up and smashing her face into the back of the closed hatch back played over and over in her mind. I was miffed because our xB is new and while there are a few road rash dings, it’s in really nice shape. Not anymore, though. Because of our dog’s full dopey move, the back is scratched up:
Oh sure, some of that will “buff out,” but there are some nice deep scratches on there, too. As I type this, I’m just shaking my head at what happened this morning, because 1. My dog is dopey. And 2. I just realized my wife is the target audience for America Funniest Home Videos — the pet category.
Three cheers for Rahul! He was able to find the problem with my lost data and restored it. So, I have my blog again. He said it was a simple fix, but I wouldn’t have never figured it out. I had pretty much given up and had made my peace with being semi-blogless.
Are we still having fun? 
Another week, another random sample. This week I’ve got a couple of different samples from the vault. First up:
Jef Stott, “Lameset (Miami Mix) (Download) I was leafing through the SF Chron’s “96 Hours” section yesterday and there was a small story on this guy who started out playing guitar to emulate his guitar heroes at the time (i.e., Jimmy Page, Hair Metal bands of the ’80s, and even some Beatles) and then fell in love with the ambient sounds of Brian Eno, David Bowie, and Laurie Anderson. Those artists were the gateway to Arabic and Persian sounds that are a major influence in his music today.
“Those Shoes” Eagles (Download) I am so burnt out the Eagles. However, I got into a conversation about this album with a co-worker, and we both had one of those “Oh, wow” moments when we both remembered how good this song is.
LCD Soundsystem, “Big Ideas” (Download) There was a pretty big push among the music press to hype this song as if it was the second coming of a certain messiah. It’s not all that, but it is a pretty good tune.
I’ve got a “rewind” Mix Six up and ready for consumption. It’s one I’ve featured here, but as they used to say in radio: “It’s an oldie, but a goodie!”
Click HERE
And if you’re in the mood for a political piece, I have one of those up and running, too. Click HERE
In other news…
Have you been watching BSG? This season is quite gripping, and while I think they are dragging out some of the larger story arc, it’s compelling to see what it’s all leading up to. My prediction that Ellen Tigh was the final Cylon (out of the “final five”) may have some legs. This Friday’s episode will feature Saul Tigh’s battle with his identity and in the preview, it looks like Ellen makes a little guest appearance — looking like an older Six.
Ellen morphs into Six and beats the crap out of Saul.
Of course, the clip from the preview could all be some kind of dream, and, as someone suggested, Cally is the final Cylon.
Which means, that Cylons can biologically reproduce, and well, they’re not really machines anymore. However, Tory (who is newly energized and somewhat demonic now that she’s embraced her new identity as a Cylon) takes Cally’s baby away from her and sends Cally on an express ride to a deep space freeze:
The end of Cally … or a new beginning?
Or maybe everyone in the BSG universe is a Cylon.
I think it was last year when I started subscribing to eMusic. They periodically send out spam important email to their subscribers. Usually, I just hit “delete,” but this time was different. This time, I actually took the bait and dove into their music quiz. I admit to a certain cringe factor when I finished and clicked the button for my score — mostly because I really didn’t know the answer to some of the questions. But since it was a multiple choice quiz, I had a 25% chance of getting a correct answer on the questions I was clueless on.
Whoever wrote the “results” section to the quiz at eMusic, certainly knows how to flatter people. My score wasn’t in the highest percentile, but I did get in the next highest bracket. When I say they know how to flatter, check out what they had to say about my score:
Mix-Tape Master (109-144 points)
You are a music evangelist: the person in your network of friends who always has the coolest new song, the one whose iPod gets picked to DJ every party. You understand the art of the segue, how the key to the best mix-tape isn’t just the songs you pick, but how they interlock with each other. You also know who the up-and-coming acts are and are quick to recognise where their influences lie and whether they will make it big. You work hard at the pursuit of this knowledge, scouring music blogs, magazines and record stores. Most importantly, you are generous with your passion – and your friends should be very, very grateful. Still, it’s always good to get new inspiration for your latest mix.
Of course the irony of it all is that I include this little snippet in the “Random Sample” feature — which, as the name implies, is just thrown together without any understanding of how songs “interlock” with each other. But hey, if you’re a fan of ye olde Mix Six, then you know I do put thought into those mixes. What follows, though, are some songs that I think you’ll enjoy listening to. Oh, and if you want to take the quiz, you can HERE.
“Love on the Rocks,” Neil Diamond (Download) He’s been known as the “Jewish Elvis!” But when I was growing up, his music was blaring from the console quite often, and by the 4th Grade I was playing “Sweet Caroline” on my Clarinet — yeah, I was a grade school band geek for one year. By the time he released this album (which did quite well), Neil was branching out into the world of acting (not good). Diamond’s Jazz Singer was a remake of the classic starring Al Jolson, but this was just embarrassingly bad. But that didn’t stop me from seeing the film 3 or4 times!
“The Silver Gun,” Robert Palmer (Download) They say you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but in this case I will. My co-worker used to work at the Circle Star Theater in San Francisco (noted for it’s rotating stage) and she told me a story of Robert Palmer that made me wince. I like a lot of Palmer’s music, but it seems when he came to SF to perform at the Circle Star, he was late getting the venue, and then threw a petulant fit because his favorite champagne wasn’t “cold enough.” While people were scurrying around trying to satisfy his request for “cold” champagne, he decided to celebrate his status as “Lord God Rock Star” by snorting a line of coke off his female companion’s breast — and then had hallway sex with her. Now, how likely are you to click the link and listen to a song that’s actually quite “progressive” for the time it was recorded (early ’80s)? Before Palmer got stuck in repeating the success of “Addicted to Love,” he tried his hand at a kind of electronic-world music hybrid with this song. He sings in Hindi while all around him are synths providing the rhythm track. It a cool song from a guy was a “Grade A Jerk.”
“King of 17,” John Wesley (Download) John realizes that in the downloadable world of mp3s, most artists who try and try to combat illegal downloading are pushing that proverbial rock up the hill. What to do? Well, why not just give your music away via compressed mp3s. If people like what they hear, maybe they’ll come to your website and buy a high quality CD. I’m not sure how this business model is working out, but this tune should hook you!
Sometimes it’s good ignore the political fray. I’ve been avoiding the latest “shocker” from the Obama camp, and honestly thought it would die a quick death. I mean with all that’s going on in the world (and in our country) right now, do these comments really warrant the media attention and scrutiny we’ve seen for the past few days?Well, Clinton and Obama debated in Philadelphia, and from what I’ve seen, it’s clear whatever discussion of policies that each would push if elected were quickly superseded by the following:
Sure, there was talk about taxes, Social Security, and support for Israel, but guess which parts of the debate are going to get picked up by the media and repeated ad infinitum for the next 24 hours?
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