Tag: 1990s

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Playlists

Playlist: May (or May not)

It’s been quite a while since I’ve put together and shared one of these playlists on here. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I purposely put together a mix of any sort, even for myself, for my own consumption. I typically just press shuffle on a massive collection I have on Apple Music of some of my favourite songs and go with whatever Apple puts forward. And yeah, of course, it’s always good. However, I felt inspired this week, even as I recover from a nasty spring cold, and decided a new mix was in order.

The inspiration? This winter felt very, very long to me, even longer than normal. December and January actually feel like a complete void to me because of the health issues I was experiencing at the time and then February got cold, real cold, and we received dumping after dumping of snow. March was a mixed bag weather-wise and April seems to have been unseasonably cold and rainy*. Things finally felt like they turned the corner when the calendar was flipped to May last week, even though I haven’t necessarily felt well enough to get outside to enjoy it just yet. The sun has been out, brightening everything and warming everything up. I’ve heard the chirping of birds every morning, the grass on the ground is coming in green and the trees lining my street are starting to bud. All of this has cheered me considerably and has me hoping for good things for the rest of the year.

So I wanted to put together some tunes that reflect this feeling. You know? A collection of the kind of songs that just scream sunshine and flowers. A melody that brings a smile to your face and lyrics that beg to be sung along with. Tunes that perk you up from the very first notes and have you wanting to get up and dance, wherever you are, whoever you’re with.

Many of these songs are old favourites (like “Lay back in the sun”, “Everything you’ve done wrong”, and “Movin’ on up”) and have appeared on many of my mixes over the years, some of which may have already appeared on playlists on this site. Some of these songs are newer ‘classics’ (like “Weighty ghost” and “Dreaming of you”) and some are even brand new tunes that I can’t seem to loosen from my head when the mood takes (like “Somebody new” and “Simmering”).

I’ve kept the playlist to twenty-five songs to keep it from being unwieldy but there were many more that I could have added. Perhaps there will be a volume two to share if the summer turns out to be as positive as I’m hoping it will be and if the mood takes me to make another mix to share so soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this collection of songs as much I’ve enjoyed putting it together and that you play them on repeat like I’ve been doing this week. Perhaps they’ll bring the same wide smile that I’ve had on at times while listening. I sincerely hope so.

For those who don’t use Apple Music, here is the entire playlist, with links to YouTube videos:

1. Spiritualized “Lay back in the sun”
2. Bedouin Soundclash “When the night feels my song”
3. The Waterboys “Glastonbury song”
4. The Cure “Friday I’m in love”
5. The Submarines “You me and the bourgeoisie”
6. The Verve “Bitter sweet symphony”
7. Real Estate “Somebody new”
8. Wintersleep “Weighty ghost”
9. Sloan “Everything you’ve done wrong”
10. Pixies “Here comes your man”
11. The Coral “Dreaming of you”
12. Suede “Beautiful ones”
13. Luna “California (all the way)”
14. Doves “Catch the sun”
15. Violent Femmes “Blister in the sun”
16. Allo Darlin’ “We come from the same place”
17. Primal Scream “Movin’ on up”
18. Morrissey “Sing your life”
19. Belle & Sebastian “The boy with the arab strap”
20. The Radio Dept. “This time around”
21. Young Galaxy “We have everything”
22. Blind Melon “No rain”
23. Pale Blue Eyes “Simmering”
24. The Clientele “Bookshop Casanova”
25. The High Dials “Our time is coming soon”

And here is the promised link to the Apple Music playlist.

*Yeah, I know, April is known to be rainy… but still…

If you’re interested in checking out any of the other playlists I’ve created and shared on these pages, you can peruse them here.

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 1994: #30 Beck “Loser”

#29 >>

I’m starting off this list of my favourite tunes of 1994 with an artist with whom many of you are likely quite familiar. In fact, you’re all probably more familiar with Beck Hansen (also known mononymously as Beck) than is this humble blogger.

I remember hearing this very track on alternative radio and watching the video on MuchMusic ad nauseum back in ‘94. I found it amusing at first, deeming the tune catchy yet quirky, but soon grew to dislike it, as well as the other single* that was being slogged from “Mellow gold”. The singles from his next album, “Odelay”, though they too were overplayed, rang more true for me and I purchased that album on CD. I very nearly became a fan after that, if it weren’t for the Britpop explosion that followed, dragging my tastes in a completely different direction for a time. Still, I paid attention when I heard his name spoken on commercial radio over the years that followed but it took catching him at Osheaga back in 2013 to finally hook me for good.

In truth, “Loser” was originally released as a single in 1993. It was released by indie label Bong Load Custom Records with a limited pressing and somehow got picked up by college radio stations along the west coast. Modern rock stations started playing it next and pressings quickly sold out. Our hero musician, who from his folk roots had always been indie at heart, found himself signing with a major label, DGC, to keep up with demand. They re-released the song in 1994 as a preface to Beck’s third album but first on a major label, the aforementioned “Mellow gold”. The rest, of course, is history. A dozen or so albums released, millions of units sold, Brit awards, Grammys, household name.

“You can’t write if you can’t relate
Trade the cash for the beef for the body for the hate
And my time is a piece of wax falling on a termite
That’s choking on the splinters”

In hindsight, this is a crazy tune and crazy that it became so successful. Beck mixes and matches with genres and sounds, throwing blues, folk, and hip hop into the meat grinder and cranking away. He’s got samples, a wicked drum machine beat, slide guitar, and sitar**. Above it all Beck is spewing nonsensical words at random in a rough hewn sing-speak that some have strangely compared to Dylan. By contrast, Beck has called out his own rapping prowess, which incidentally, is the real basis for chorus line that became like a clarion call for the so-called slacker image of generation X.

“Soy un perdedor
I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me?”

*I remember making the connection for a university acquaintance between “Beercan” and the artist that performed “Loser”, without realizing until later I was sounding arrogant and making her feel small. Not one of my finer moments.

**When I saw him at Osheaga, he had Elephant Stone’s Rishi Dhir playing the sitar on stage with him.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1994 list, click here.

Categories
Tunes

100 best covers: #38 Teenage Fanclub “Mr. Tambourine man”

<< #39    |    #37 >>

Scottish alt rock legends, Teenage Fanclub have appeared many times over on these pages since this blog’s inception. In fact, they’ve already graced this particular list once with their cover of a great track by another iconic Scottish alt-rock band and – spoiler alert – you’ll likely see them again on this list before it reaches its end.

I first heard this particular cover of “Mr. Tambourine Man” when a friend of mine put it on a mixed tape for me. I later learned of its provenance when I found a used copy of the 3-CD compilation “Ruby trax” at Penguin Music in the late 90s, a compilation that has also received due mention in relation to this list of great covers. I remember thinking it quite apt that the Fannies chose to cover this particular track given that I had found that the jangling guitar and harmonizing vocals on their 1993 album “Thirteen” harkened back to the folk rock sound practically invented by The Byrds. Of course, this was before I learned that Teenage Fanclub was just as enamoured of Big Star and that The Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man” was itself a cover of a Bob Dylan track*.

The Teenage Fanclub cover has way more in common with The Byrds version than with Bob Dylan’s original. Indeed, it’s almost an exact replica of The Byrds’ rendition, only a slightly bit shorter and perhaps a bit more raw in the vocals. The Byrds released their cover in spring 1965, less than a month after Dylan released his original. Both of these versions were very successful for those artists, topping charts and inspiring generations of musicians. The Byrds cut a few verses from Dylan’s composition, changed the time signature, and the recording is half the length. It’s 12 string jangle rock versus pure balladeering folk.

You can definitely tell that Teenage Fanclub owed more a debt to The Byrds than to Bob Dylan with their faithful ode. Some might knock them for it, but not me. And though the two covers are quite different from the original I love them all and refuse to go with one over the others.

Cover:

Original:

*Having only had limited exposure to both Dylan and The Byrds via my parents’ oldies radio station listening, I would later go on to learn that The Byrds covered many Bob Dylan tunes while exploring both of their catalogues much, much later.

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.