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August 26, 2005

Friday Random Play

with no additional commentary or ratings but extended to 20 songs. Add your own commentary if you want.

  1. Joy Division - Exercise One
  2. Billy Idol - Rebel Yell (accoustic)
  3. The Twilight Singers - Strange Fruit
  4. Autour de Lucie - Ce Que L'On Tait
  5. Wu-Tang Clan - Babies
  6. Seaweed - She Cracked
  7. Billie Holiday - all of me
  8. Sex Pistols - Problems
  9. Tom Waits - Pasties and a G-string
  10. Kanye West - Last Call
  11. Bad Religion - Part III
  12. Mother Love Bone - Mindshaker Meltdown
  13. The Hives - Dead Quote Olympics
  14. Afghan Whigs - This is my Confession
  15. Joy Division - I Remember Nothing
  16. R.E.M. - The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight
  17. Simple Minds - The American
  18. The Soft Boys - Vegetable Man
  19. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Seer
  20. Queensryche - Electric Requiem

I do want to highlight an album I've been listening to quite a bit lately, Novelle Vague's self-titled album featuring covers of 80's punk, goth and new wave tunes. The kicker is Nouvelle Vague is a collection of Brazilian and French chanteuses singing these songs over a Bossa Nova beat a la Astrud Gilberto.

Some of it works and some of it doesn't. The upbeat songs suffer because the cool jazz Bossa Nova sound of Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos-Jobim, and Stan Getz isn't particular suited to punk rock. Their cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is terrific, as is "Just Can't Get Enough", "(This is not a) Love Song" and "Teenage Kicks" (by my favorite underappreciated 70's Brit punk act, The Undertones). "Guns of Brixton", "Melt with You" and "Making Plans for Nigel" don't work so well. The highlight of the album, ironically, is a cover of the Dead Kennedy's "Too Drunk to Fuck." It swings well, even at the higher tempo and the French vocalist's giggles as she belts out the chorus are almost too precious.

Posted by Half-Cocked at August 26, 2005 06:26 PM

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Comments

"Making Plans for Nigel" - ahhhhh, an old school XTC fan....

Posted by: Mr. T at August 26, 2005 10:01 PM