Elvis Costello

Today’s songs.

David Bowie, “Sound and Vision”

A song from Low, the collaboration with Brian Eno that I brought up last time. A record jammed full of synths and ideas, this might be the most conventional and accessible song on the album. I’ll be honest, I kind of don’t feel totally qualified to talk about Bowie. I like a lot of his music, but I’m far from an expert.

Pussy Galore, “Nyc:1999”

This song gives a good idea of what Pussy Galore sounded like when they kind of had their shit together. To the extent their shit was ever together. Manic garage rock with atonal shouting was basically the order of the day.

Some all-time greats today. And, I suppose, the Beatles.

The Beatles, “I’m Only Sleeping”

I think Revolver is The Beatles’ best record. But can we talk about that cover? Terrible. And it won a Grammy for “Best Album Cover”, which is a thing they apparently hand out awards for! Apparently it wasn’t just the Beatles who were high all the time.

(NB: of course it’s impossible to find the original on YouTube. So, I picked Elliot Smith doing a cover.)

Will I figure out how to schedule posts for this, a Saturday post written ahead of time? Probably not! At least music doesn’t really expire.

Ice Cube, “Record Company Pimpin'”

At his peak, Ice Cube was the best. Lyrical content aside, his rhymes were amazing, and his first three solo albums (and the Kill At Will EP) are all essentials. Things fell off pretty fast for Cube, though, with essentially everything from Lethal Injection on being skippable. This is a late-period track, with an interesting message, but is otherwise a pedestrian song.

I’m excited to see what comes up today! After yesterday’s contrasts, what twists and turns can we expect?

Toots & the Maytals, “Reggae Got Soul”

One of the great bands of the first wave of ska, Toots and the Maytals delivered some of the most memorable songs of that period, including the oft-covered and incredible “Pressure Drop”. Toots Hibbert is also credited with coming up with the term “reggae”. Like a lot of his peers, his discography can be a little confusing to follow, as a lot of his stuff was spread out across a bunch of places and there are innumerable compilations that you can find, with overlapping track lists. The Very Best of Toots & the Maytals is an excellent compilation as a starting point, though.

Just wall-to-wall rock today, except for the bonus track. These things are going to happen! On another note, I stuck in some analytics to see how many of you are reading this. Something like a dozen. Not bad! As always, listen along with me, won’t you?

An admin note: the Dillinger Four track has been excised from YouTube on copyright grounds before, and when I tried to upload it, they rejected it again. Because of that, I’ve done a sixth song here, so there’s still five in the playlist.