Nickel Creek

Rocket From The Crypt, “Good Bye”

RFTC almost in a Smashing Pumpkins kind of mode here. Can’t decide which band would be more insulted by that comparison.

Señor Coconut, “Pisco Control (Jive Electico)”

Señor Coconut’s album of Kraftwerk covers done in a Latin style is a delight, a charming re-interpretation of the Kraftwerk originals that really highlights the beating heart at the center of those shiny, robotic songs. Alas, the first Señor Coconut record (this one, El Gran Baile) is sort of a testing ground for some of those ideas of merging electronic music with Latin style, and it’s not nearly as much fun.

Do I still remember how to do this? I guess I’ll find out!

I took a break from the grind of daily music blogging last October, because it was starting to wear me out. Needing to figure out something to say about these songs each day felt like I was really straining, and it wasn’t serving the purpose of a creative outlet nor a reminder of songs I’d forgotten about it. It was a slog, unfun, and I had proven to myself that I was capable of blogging every single day but I no longer wanted to do so. This project is, in the end, for myself. There are no ads, no monetization, and frankly, no audience. If I’m not having fun, there’s no point.

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, “Hell”

This, from Xtra-Acme USA, is kind of a sketch of a song, but it still cooks pretty good. I mean, just one good “weeeeeeeeeeellllllll” from Spencer is enough to get me going.

Pile, “appendicitis”

There’s some other song that I can’t quite put my finger on that the intro to this song reminds me of. I feel like the guitar tone is very Black Francis, but I’m not entirely sure what song it’s trying to trigger for me. Once you get into the meat of the song, though, that feeling of reminding dissipates.

Indian Handcrafts, “Starcraft”

Hooray for rock duos! Major riffage here, you almost don’t notice the absence of a bass player.

Stevie Wonder, “Another Star”

Stevie Wonder allowed himself some space to stretch out on the second album of Songs In The Keys Of Life. That sort of thing can dissolve into self-indulgence, but of course Stevie is one of the best ever, so it’s really just more of his stuff. It’s great!

Soccer Mommy, “yellow is the color of her eyes”

This seven-minute tune is the centerpiece of Soccer Mommy’s record from last year, Color Theory. This record showed up on a lot of year end lists, and while I think it’s good, I’m a little lyric blind at times, so I’m not sure it’s grabbed me quite the same way it did others. But take a listen, if you like this, you’ll like this album.

Hey, a quick note here before we get to the main act - we went all of November with a post every single day! NOT BAD

Nickel Creek, “Somebody More Like You”

One of my favorite Nickel Creek songs, with the acid lyrics really carrying things, and of course the lovely harmonies are as fun as always. One of the things that I really like about Nickel Creek is how percussive the playing is, so you don’t even really notice that there’s no drums.

Here’s today!

Nickel Creek, “You Don’t Know What’s Going On”

This project has now gone on long enough that I can’t really remember which bands I’ve introduced and which ones I have not. And, honestly, it’s not reasonable to assume everybody has read/listened to every one of these. So, if I happen to repeat myself on anything, I apologize, but let’s just pretend that it’s because I felt like enough time had passed and not because I have a tenuous grasp on my marbles.

In most of these playlists, I try and find the actual version of the song I’m listening to. But, if I can’t find it exactly, I’ll go with something close, because I don’t think it’s necessarily that important that it matches exactly, and I don’t want to go through the hassle of uploading if I don’t have to. I hope that’s OK with folks! Here’s today’s playlist, which does feature one of those “close enough” tracks.