George Harrison "The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)

I listen to different music at different times for different reasons. When I'm driving to school at 6:30 in the morning and I want to wake up, instead of drinking coffee I'll blast Sonic Youth or Souls of Mischief (I would never subject anyone else to my early morning loud music, I'd be liable to get a tire iron to the side of the head). When I'm in a hyper, happy mood I'll blare the Slits or the Talking Heads and get exponentially more hyper, sometimes to the detriment of my driving record. Then there are times when I need music that calms me down, wraps its arms around me and makes me feel reassured in some way. This song does that for me.

It seems like George had it kinda rough in the Beatles. He had all these great songs, but couldn't get many of them on albums cause John and Paul were such songwriting machines. This double album shows just how many amazing ideas he had. It's such a warm, spiritual sounding album, it's does my soul good to listen to it every once in a while. Phil Spector went a little over the top with the production (and killing that blonde B-movie actress), but it works for most of the songs.

Liz Phair - Help Me Mary

Liz Phair is pretty bad right now. Has been for a while. She made a conscious decision to make more mainstream, top 40-sounding music, and some fans who considered her the "indie queen" freaked out. People need to get a life. I'm just happy to have this great album. Plenty of musicians (Stone Roses) only make one great album.

It's hard to pick a favorite track on here. 6" 1', Dance of the Seven Veils, Soap Star Joe, Explain it to Me, the Divorce Song, and Stratford-on-Guy are all solid. I probably listen to Help Me Mary the most. This song is about awful roommates, and the lyrics are pretty clever:

Help me, Mary, please
I've lost my home to your thieves
They bully the stereo and drink
They leave suspicious stains in the sink

They make rude remarks about me
They wonder just how wild I would be
As they egg me on and keep me mad
They play me like a pit bull in a basement, and for that...

Most of her other lyrics deal with relationships, and because she uses the "c word", and mentions hourly rental and sex, some reviewers say that guys listen to this album because they find these taboo topics exciting! Well, I can listen to Peaches if I want to hear someone spout off about sex. These lyrics are actually insightful and interesting. Even when they're clunkers, at least she seems to have some thought and genuine feeling behind them. Some favorite sections of mine are:

Johnny my love, get out of the business
It makes me want to rough you up so badly
Makes me want to roll you up in plastic
Toss you up and pump you full of lead.
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He's just a hero
In a long line of heroes
Looking for some lonely billboard to grace
They say he sprung from the skull of Athena
Think about your own head
And the headache he gave.
--------------------------------
But if I'd known how that would sound to you
I would have stayed in your bed
For the rest of my life just to prove I was right
That it's harder to be friends than lovers
And you shouldn't try to mix the two
Cause if you do it and you're still unhappy
Then you know that the problem is you.
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This is one of the albums I most consistently come back to through the years. It's very accessible, and while she doesn't have the greatest singing voice in the world, it totally works for this album. So go Liz! You keep making that sh*tty music!

Radiohead - Exit Music/Let Down

Warning: this song might seem boring for a while, but the end is so epic that it completely warrants sitting through the beginning (which is fine, in my humble opinion).

I went through a huge, pathetic Radiohead obsession phase. Seriously bad. Like reading books about the band, keeping up with their every move, joining message boards, etc. It's kinda good, though, cause Radiohead is the marijuana of bands. They're a gateway band. I got into tons of interesting music by becoming obsessed with them. Almost all the bands they've worshipped and emulated have been amazing, so that's gotten me into a lot of other great music. Pixies, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Can, etc.

If you're ever maniacally obsessed with a song or band, never play them for a friend and expect the same reaction. It never works out well. I used to drive around and listen to this song, just waiting for the 3:00 mark when that fuzz bass kicks in and absolutely EATS the entire song. If there was ever a menacing portion of a song, this is it. It was written for the new version of Romeo & Juliet, and these lyrics reference the suffocating pressure the Ms and Cs put on R & J, driving them to suicide. (it's good that this video uses clips from the Zeffirelli version, cause let's be real, it's better. Basel Expedition plays Tybalt, for one thing.)

You can laugh
A spineless laugh
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you
Now we are one (Backing vocals!!!!!!!!!!)
In everlasting peace

We hope that you choke.. that you choke
We hope that you choke.. that you choke
We hope that you choke.. that you choke

I played this for my friend, and he told me it sounded like Phil Collins. OH MY GOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW AMAZING THIS SONG IS HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING?!?!?!?!?!? Very traumatic experience for me. Then my cousin told me that Joanna Newsom sang like she was deaf. WHAT?!?! IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO UNDERSTANDS?!?!?!

I've grown a bit the last ten years or so, I've got a job and all now, so I don't get quite so worked up. I still love Radiohead, but they don't quite have the vise grip on me they used to. Some of their new stuff is actually slightly boring. But this album, Ok Computer, is still one of the best ever. The transition between this song and the next is so sublime. So I'm posting both Youtubes! If you want slightly less "mopey" (blargh) songs, try Lucky, (2nd verse, omg) Airbag (the guitar sounds and drum loops are amazing) There There, (the end of that freaking song, oh boy) or Just (it rocks). I need to slow down on the parentheses, huh?

David Bowie - Always Crashing in the Same Car

David Bowie is the best thing ever. And of his seemingly endless supply of amazing songs, this might be my favorite. Might, dammit. Five Years, Queen Bitch, V-2 Schnieder, Station to Station, Heroes, they just never end. What a champ.

So I've been reading all sorts of unintended meanings into this song for years now. My favorite interpretation was that he kept making the same mistake twice, or kept making the same types of mistakes. Turns out he wasn't speaking in metaphors, he was just totally hopped up on drugs, had just gone through a bad break-up, and was trying to off himself by racing his car round and round a parking garage. Like McNulty in that Wire episode (I've been waiting for so long to work a Wire reference in!).

The songs on Low and Heroes sound so super-charged, like the musicians' instruments are being electrocuted while they play them. And his enunciation in the second verse is so great! Especially when he sings, "Must have been touching close to 94". So amazing.