The Five Songs Project, Results Post #2: C

A while ago, I asked commenters to list five songs they thought I should listen to / that they would recommend to me, and that I would listen to them and write about my reactions. There were a huge lot of them, so we’re going to do this in stages.

Caetano Veloso, “Tropicália“: This was actually interesting because I have heard of Veloso previously but only in his context as an activist – I’ve never sought out any of his music. And it’s nice: Latin-style folk with some rock influences, but that sentence doesn’t really do it justice – it’s very much its own thing. (At least I didn’t call it “worldbeat,” give me points for that, right?) Not my thing exactly but it was a nice experience. pass with affection

Caladan Brood, “A Voice Born of Stone and Dust“: Man, this is stereotypical modern metal: a ten-minute long song about a set of fantasy novels (which exist only because somebody decided to write about the gameworld from his GURPS campaign, I shit you not), with someone singing through their esophagus about undeads. And then it just keeps going. And… yeah. pass

John Cale, “Hallelujah“: I dunno. I think covers of “Hallelujah” have to really distinguish themselves somehow from either Cohen or Buckley, and I don’t think Cale’s does; it’s like a sort of midpoint between them in a lot of ways. You need to go a new way with it for me to really be interested these days. perfectly acceptable though

Camper Van Beethoven, “Humid Press of Days“: David Lowery was a lot more experimental in the early CVB days as opposed to when he was in Cracker and then the CVB reunion in the Aughts (which was sort of like the ELO “reunion” in that it wasn’t the old band getting back together to do their old thing, as opposed to reuniting to basically do whatever the band’s undisputed leader – Lowery for CVB, Jeff Lynne for ELO – wanted). I mean, it’s interesting stuff and all, and you can see Lowery’s ideas about music coming out of adolescence – but it’s still very much a musical adolescence, raw and untamed and fucking up a lot. pass with admiration

Carl Craig presents Paperclip People, “Throw“: True story: I helped organize a rave in 1995 and this was the first song the first DJ played. oh god I’m old

Barton Carroll, “Those Days Are Gone And My Heart Is Breaking“: Lost me in the first minute when he rhymed “done” with “Oregon.” No, not really, but this wasn’t really for me, even though I appreciated the lyrics a lot; simple, stripped-down, brutal. But I couldn’t get into the song. pass with respect

Neko Case, “Man“: I like Neko Case and I liked this when I first heard it last year. Don’t have a lot else to say, really. already own it

Chadwick Stokes, “Coffee and Wine“: If I had to describe this as anything, I’d say it reminds me a lot of UB40 if they were a country band, which is a really weird comparison to make, I guess. I liked it well enough and I am worried it might become an earworm. I tend to buy earworms, it’s the only cure. Well, that or playing “Bye Bye Bye” by N’Sync. damn earworms

Charly Garcia, “De Mi“: I find this amusing because after I said yesterday how I have never been able to really get into Bowie, I listen to this and I think “holy shit, Argentina had their own Bowie, sort of? And I like it better than I like Bowie?” This is why the internet is great and you people are great for your patience. Moments like that. might buy it, will investigate this guy further

Chameleon Circuit, “An Awful Lot of Running“: I get that fan bands have to incorporate fandom elements into their music, but I think the use of the Doctor Who theme’s musical elements here just doesn’t work at all. It turns a theme that’s one of the most compelling and dramatic TV musical themes ever into plodding, uninspiring indie rock. It is actively unpleasant to me and there is literally nothing I liked about this. (Sorry.) all of the passing ever

Cher, “Just Like Jesse James“: Man, between this and the Concrete Blonde song it’s like people were conspiring to make me remember what it was like being 13 again. It kinda sucked, honestly. 1989 was not a great year for most things except music. But at least the music was good, even if I liked “Heart of Stone” better than this one. Wait, do I own “Heart of Stone” on iTunes? Must check. still good though

The Children of Sunshine, “Dandelions“: It is worth remembering that the 70s had so much weird stuff. This is weird. Lovely, but weird as all get out. It’s not weird in execution, just concept. If hippies did Kidz Bop, that sort of thing. pass

CHVRCHES, “The Mother We Share:” I think I heard this about two days after it was released last year and it was one of my favorite songs of the year. CHVRCHES has their sweet spot where they can execute near-perfectly every single time, and this is in that sweet spot. Sometimes they stray outside of their box a little and the results are a little uneven – see their cover of Janelle Monae’s Tightrope” for example. But so what, I love ’em anyway. already own it

Civilization V Soundtrack (Michael Curran and Geoff Knorr), “Epitaph of Sekilos: I can’t help but wonder if this selection was just to make me rant about how Civ V doesn’t have “Baba Yetu” in it, because that song is the entire Civ franchise so far as I’m concerned, wrapped up in one song. Yes, I know you can mod Civ V, sort of, to get the song, but that’s hardly the same and you know it. I’m a dork

The Civil Wars, “Poison and Wine“: I like duets so I am pre-disposed to like this, but I can’t help but feel there’s a certain sort of prefab nature to this one – it sounded like “on a TV show at some point” song to me, and like the second Youtube comment makes it clear that’s exactly what it is. A sort of “let’s take all the things that work out of great love duets and use them all” sort of strategy that makes the song feel a little… inauthentic, I guess. It’s not a bad song, but there’s definitely a professional honing down of rough edges to it. pass

Classified feat. David Myles, “Inner Ninja“: I’ve heard this a couple dozen thousand times on Canadian radio because it was very popular last year, and rightly so: it’s not an all-time great song, and in some ways it’s slight and unassuming, but it is charming as all hell, right down to the chorus of little kids singing which should be cliched but manages to not be. This is a song that surpasses the sum of its parts, and well done for that. will think about buying it now that I have been reminded of it

Clockwork Quartet, “The Watchmaker’s Apprentice: I understand these guys are specifically a steampunk band/collaboration project, and I’m not sure how much I’d like them if I listened to more than the one song, but this was well-made, sort of a show tune without the show attached (at least not yet). It’s not a classic-level show tune by any means and it’s about two minutes too long, but there’s meat on the bone here. surprisingly neato

Close Lobsters, “Foxheads:” MAN, did these guys want to be the Smiths or what? Except the problem is to be the Smiths you kind of needed Morrissey (to say nothing of Marr or Rourke) and I’m not really hearing that level of talent, to be honest. I mean, I get wanting to be the Smiths. Because they’re the Smiths. But… sorry. pass

Concrete Blonde, “Little Conversations“: Man, I haven’t heard this in, what, two decades? Man, Johnette Napolitano could wail. I had forgotten that. I need to go listen to Bloodletting again. And drink some Jolt Cola or something. fistbump of respect

Corky and the Juice Pigs, Eskimo:” (“Eskimo” is the actual title of the song, for the record.) Man, this sure is a product of its time in some ways; if it was made today Greg Neale’s poses, the “fetish for rubber” line and some other things would likely inspire any number of angry rants on Tumblr (which would be at least slightly merited). Of course, the point of “Eskimo” isn’t the bad gay jokes at the beginning, but the fact that A) the chorus is funny and B) the imitations are funny; this old MadTV appearance (man, MadTV… god I’m so old) is only five or six of their favorites and for most performances they’d do a couple dozen gag imitations, each one funnier than the last, and that was the real point of the song. fond nostalgia

Corsair, “Path of the Chosen Arrow: Indie metal is so passionate, which I can appreciate – you don’t start making metal unless you really love metal, I mean really really really love metal. I don’t think anybody loves anything in the world as much as metalheads love metal. I gotta love that, and I can feel the love in this track. This track is just kinda there, though: it segments into distinct parts, which don’t quite cohere into a satisfying whole for me, and there isn’t a lot that’s new or revelatory for me on this song. And it’s about two minutes too long. But I love that it got made. pass, much respect

The Count of Chateau Noir, “After the Carnival“: I winced a lot at this. A lot. Sympathetically, mind you. But oy. You know that bit in Sandman where Gaiman has Chris Marlowe mock Shakespeare for using the line “bad, revolting stars” because, Shakespeare or no Shakespeare, that’s a terrible line and even Shakespeare wrote some clunkers, but you know eventually Shakespeare will be Shakespeare so it’s all right? This song is a lot of bad revolting stars, except there is no guarantee of Shakespeare here. (Which is not a vile calumny, I mean come on. Shakespeare. But even so, it’s clumsy.) pass

Crooked Still, “Little Sadie“: Holy shit this was so good. I liked this so much I went and checked to see if the band is touring (they’re on hiatus), which is the high water mark for “did you like this song” so far because I practically never go to see live music any more (it’s the volume levels, just not fun for me) and that is how much I liked this song and the three others I listened to before I said “welp, got to finish the C post” and stopped listening to them. buy all of it

David Crosby, “Orleans“: I’ve never really been a fan of Crosby’s solo stuff; he loves his reedy, thin ballads too much and they’re not my thing. Historically speaking, that is, because listening to it again this time, I liked it a lot more than I usually do. Maybe as I get older I have more patience for this sort of music. still a pass, though

• Share on Facebook.
• Share on Twitter.