You'll Never Walk Alone (But You'll Lose to Middlesbrough)

Listen to YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE by Barbra Streisand.

Clearly, it's all Rick Parry's fault.

'Y FERCH AR Y CEI YN RIO'

Listen to 'Y FERCH AR Y CEI YN RIO' by Acid Casuals.

Today's song is a blast from the recent past. We featured a song from this project a couple of years ago, and I still enjoy the album as much now as I did then. The quick summary:

Mae'r Acid Casuals yn grŵp amlgyfrwng sy'n cynnwys aelodau o'r Super Furry Animals a Big Leaves. Wedi ei leoli yng Nghaerdydd mae'n nhw'n ymwneud â'r byd cerddoriaeth, ffasiwn a'r celfyddydau. Dechreuwyd label ffasiwn AC yn 1997. Agorwyd galeri AC Capsule Gallery, yn Stryd Siarl, Caerdydd yn 2002.

(And if you can't read Welsh, try this!)

Side projects as a rule don't get the respect or attention they deserve, so there's no sense complaining, but this is undeniably quality music. And a bit of a chillout ahead of the weekend. See you around!

I'D DIE BABE

Listen to I'D DIE BABE by Badfinger.

Busy week for me, but I thought I should sneak over and share a song. It's been awhile since I've posted anything remotely pop, so today marks a change. On the other hand, I've been posting a lot of driving, groove-centric selections, and this song is definitely hard-charging.

I haven't bothered checking this, but is my version of this overdriven? I'm pretty sure that's just how they mixed it, but every time I play it, it sounds like my speakers are blown. Which is awesome.

EM NOME DA MULATA E DO SAMBA AMEN

Listen to EM NOME DA MULATA E DO SAMBA AMEN by Jair Rodrigues.

This song has more in common with Bob Wills than one might think. Antique, dedicated to motion, serious about its fun.

WHITE HEAT

Listen to WHITE HEAT by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.

If any of you are looking to make a good investment, check out this "Legends of Country Music" box set for Bob Wills. There's more than hundred tunes packed into here, and if you were living in Oklahoma back in the day, every single one of them would bring the house down. Possibly.

White Heat is as strong as anything on there. And that's why it's here. Have a good weekend!

THE BIRTH

Listen to THE BIRTH by The Edgar Broughton Band.

Last year I did a couple of weeks of songs I called "Dumb Rock." I didn't make much fuss about them, but since then I've decided I love those songs. I'm kinda proud I dug some of them up! The Birth is one of the songs (also see Yo No Se from the other day) that I thought about posting at the time but passed on. It's rockin stompin, and almost as dumb, if not dumber, than anything I've posted here.

KILL ALL HIPPIES

Listen to KILL ALL HIPPIES by Primal Scream.

I think this XTRMNTR album (did I get that right?) never got the credit it was due, at least not from me. Maybe if it had come out a year or two earlier, while we were still in college, I would've have fallen for it heavier. As it is, it's one of the few albums from the period (broadly speaking) I go back to a lot. And mainly for this track. It's funky, and it's heavy. And it doesn't strain itself much to be either. Solid stuff.

BECAUSE OF MONEY

Listen to BECAUSE OF MONEY by 3rd Generation Band.

This is a really intense Fela-style workout -- I almost can't believe I've never blogged it before because it's up there with my all time favorites. It kicks off an excellent compilation: Ghana Soundz Vol.1, which I recommend for anyone that is at all interested in this music. Favorite part of this track? About a minute and twenty seconds in, when the pattern shifts pretty abruptly, but because the tempo stays the same, and the drummers just work through it, you barely notice.

IN THE PINES

Listen to IN THE PINES by Link Wray.

Some sh*t-kickin' music for Thursday. Enjoy. The long weekend ain't far away!

DAMPER DOWN POPCORN

Listen to DAMPER DOWN POPCORN by Calypso King And The Soul Investigators.

This is a track I've played to death at least four different times, but it keeps coming back. There are a lot more hooks in it than you might think.

EARTHQUAKE DUB

Listen to EARTHQUAKE DUB by The Revolutionaries.

What a strange time, huh? The President is on TV, and I've got my facebook feed blowing up, both pro (Susie is Obama!), and utterly disbelieving (HYPERINFLATION!!! ONE TRILLION DOLLARS!!! etc). Meanwhile I'm watching this mind-blowing video of Nouriel Roubini getting asked for stock tips on CNBC. Not to mention that forty story torch in Beijing. Things are going weird.

JOALA

Listen to JOALA by Hugh Masekela.

I loaded this song up to post a couple of weeks ago, but it's just been sitting here. Until Friday, when the coffee shop around the corner was playing some obscure Masekela track, and it was a moment of "this is how things would be if I was in charge." Stroll over, have some coffee, and Hugh Masekela playing on the radio.

Hope y'all had as good a weekend as we did with the nice weather and seeing friends, and now, a good tune!

THEY DON'T KNOW

Listen to THEY DON'T KNOW by Brownout.

500 pixels it is. I'd like to have bigger, but 1,000 pixels is just too much, and I don't want to have to reupload all of my photos. This is the second tune I've put up from Austin's Brownout. I really like this whole album. I'm not even repping this track as my favorite. In fact, it's not, but I've played quite a few times recently so why not share it around?

YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE (BUT YOU'LL LOSE TO EVERTON)

Listen to YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE by Mario Lanza.

Well how about that. I thought I'd never get a chance to break these out again, given Liverpool's admirable undefeated streak. Clearly Robbie Keane bought some voodoo dolls on the way back down to London, because that's some bad karma. Lose to the Blue Noses, after 120 minutes, with ten men, in the relatively unimportant cup competition, Gerrard & maybe Torres hurt. Not in the script. "At least Lucas is suspended!" I hear you say. There's always a silver lining, as the song sorta (not really) says...

Pixellation

I shouldn't bother with such things too much in this low-maintenance era of the blog, but I have to decide this. Setting the picture width at 560 pixels makes the picture linked from Flickr a little pixellated and wrong-looking. I could ignore it, or I can either set the width at 500 pixels, or at 1,000 pixels. Either one would give a crisp image. I'll probably decide before the next post, but if you have an opnion about it, email me or leave a comment.

YO NO SE

Listen to YO NO SE by Los Dug Dug's.

You know you all have them -- your own list of songs where if you were in charge of that movie soundtrack, would play over the opening credits, or that awesome fight scene, or that montage of you and your buddies rollin' out to the house party.

Yo No Se would definitely make my soundtrack. Crunching gee-tars, great riff, over the top vocals. Familiar enough to appeal to the squares, obscure enough to impress the music dorks.

Gimme a call Wes Anderson!

AFRICA SPEAKS

Listen to AFRICA SPEAKS by Bo Diddley.

There's something wrong when I'm reading a book instead of watching the Super Bowl. How about let's not dwell on that and instead say when a cool Bo Diddley song this is. Especially since if I didn't tell you it was Bo Diddley, you wouldn't have known. No guitars, no lyrics (some singing, kinda). The funkiness is a good hint but not sufficient. Play it loud.

Now, back to pretending like watching the E Street Band is a big deal.