MP3 Shuffle-a-gogo

1. HUSKER DU - Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely (Candy Apple Gray 1986) I love that drum into that kicks off almost every song on this album.

2. CAST - Promised Land (All Change 1995) - I had high hopes for John Power's post La's band Cast. They came out of the box with a few stellar singles and solid debut album, but fizzled pretty quickly. Still, anything from All Change is always welcome on a shuffle.

3. GARBAGE - Milk (Absolute Garbage 2007) The slow sexy closer from their 1995 debut.

4. KING CRIMSON - 21st Century Schizoid Man (In the Court of the Crimson King 1969) I'm hit and miss with prog (more miss than hit, actually), but I've always been a fan of this monster of jam. I’m especially fond of Greg Lake's distorted-as-shit vocals. Plus this song is on my short of list of rock songs actually made better by wailing saxophone.

5. TOM ZE - Vai (the Best of Tom Ze) A cassette of the first Brazil Classics comp on Luaka Bop got a lot play at the Rose Records I worked at, which led me to pick up this comp as soon as it came out.

6. the SWINGING BLUE JEANS - Gotta Draw the Dance (Sydney) (Hippy Hippy Shake: the Definitive Collection) A nice twangy number from one of the more harmless bands of the Merseybeat invasion.

7. BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD - Pay the Price (Buffalo Springfield 1967) One of the Stephen Stills numbers from the band's debut.

8. AC/DC - Problem Child (If You Want Blood You've Got It 1978) Was this live album sweetened in the studio? That guitar solo sounds awfully clean. And the crowd sounds potted up out of nowhere at one point.

9. MICHAEL NESMITH - Harmony Constant (the Older Stuff: Best of Michael Nesmith) - One of my favorite post wool cap Nesmith songs. It’s just Mike on guitar and vocals and Red Rhodes on pedal steel.

10. CHRIS MARS - I, Me, We, Us, Them (Horseshoes & Hand Grenades 1992) For my money Chris has the best two post Replacements albums of the bunch. At least the two I play the most...by a long shot. I tried not getting caught up in the Replacements reunion hoopla, but after seeing that setlist and hearing songs from the first show, I'm reconsidering my "don't get your hopes up" stance.

My MP3 player has been on a major new wave kick the past few days, which you'd never guess from this shuffle. I recently added almost 2,000 more songs to the library and yet not a single one came up here. Maybe next time.

Shuffle-a-gogo: MP3 Player Random Fun

1. BREAKING CIRCUS - Home of the Brave (7" single) This somber Naked Raygun cover is really just Steve Björklund with a keyboard and drum machine. The fanzine came free with an issue of the Pope fanzine.

2. MAMAS & the PAPAS - That Kind of Girl (All the Leaves are Brown: Golden Era Collection) A peppy done-wrong song with big harmonies and wicked little fuzzy guitar solo.

3. FALCO - the Sound of Musik (extended rock & soul mix) (the Sound of Musik 12" 1986) - An absolutely ridiculous and over-the-top song that always makes me smile (and usually hit repeat). It's one of the rare songs that I have multiple mixes of on my MP3 player (in this case, three of them). This one clocks in at almost ten minutes and I'd be happy if it went on aanother ten minutes.

4. WILCO - Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again) (Summerteeth 1999) I like Wilco and recognize how incredibly talented they are, but Summerteeth is the only album of theirs that's ever in regular rotation for me.

5. JOAN JETT - NAG - (I Love Rock n Roll 1981) "Run down to the butcher shop and buy me a roast". Joan Jett has the absolute best taste in covers, as evidenced by this ripping fun cover of the Arthur Crier song.

6. AC/DC - Rocker (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap 1976) He's a rocker AND a roller. Man.

7. the HITMEN - Private Eye (Aim for the Feet 1980) New wave pop with that sounds like it could be Graham Parker produced by Clive Langer. Without knowing the year it would be pretty easy to peg this a s a 1980 song based on the production alone.

8. the MOTHERS OF INVENTION - Any Way the Wind Blows (Freak Out 1966) One of my favorite record buying stories involves this record. One of my former co-workers was a young record buyer when this album first came out and he and his friend had heard good things about Zappa but neither of them could afford the double album. So they pooled their money together and bought the album, then tore it in half in front of the record store and each took their album and half of a cover to their respective homes. It was a few days later before they swapped copies, and both became big Zappa fans, but one of them always favored Zappa's shorter, silly songs and the other ended up preferring the longer, weirder pieces - which corresponded to the half of Freak Out that they each first went home with.

9. EUGENIUS - On the Breeze (Mary Queen of Scots 1994) This album would be in my top five of underrated albums of the 90's. Great big guitar pop.

10. CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG - Trick Pony (IRM 2009) Fantastic production from Beck really puts this album over the top.

It's, it's, a shuffle blitz! MP3 Shuffle-a-gogo

MP3 player set to shuffle. Let 'er rip!

1. SOCIAL DISTORTION - Ring of Fire (Social Distortion 1990) A million artists have covered this, but Mike Ness and company manage to nail it and make it seamlessly fit in with their originals.

2. TRIO - Broken Hearts For You and me (Trio 1981) - I get a little bummed when Trio get dismissed as a one song novelty band ("Da Da Da"), since they packed their short career with quite a few catchy songs.

3. the CLEAN - Big Soft Punch (Clean Anthology) "Big Soft Punch" was orignally released on 1990's Vehicle, which strangely was their first proper full length album recorded after their first reunion tour. New Zealand indie bands don't seem to follow the same rule book as American indie bands.

4. HELTER STUPID - Helter Stupid Prologue (Helter Stupid 1989) Negativeland didn't want to tour so they made up a story about being involved in a murder case, which the media picked up on. Negativeland took the news coverage and turned it into a fascinating album side of weirdness.

5. MICHAEL and the MESSENGERS - Romeo and Juliet (Nuggets box) A decent garage cover of the Reflections one hit, 1964's "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet".

6. BIG BOY PETE - the Treacle Dance (Homage to Catatonia 1966-69) Eccentric pop from a charming San Francisco weirdo. I was turned onto Big Boy Pete by Kelley Stoltz, who not only covered a BBP song when he opened for Echo & the Bunnymen, but went out of his way to praise him and urge people to pick up one of his records. I'm glad I took his advice.

7. AC/DC - Shoot to Thrill (Back in Black 1980) My shuffle has been on a BIG AC/DC kick the past week, which isn't a bad thing.

8. YOUTH BRIGADE - Blown Away (Sink With Kalifornia 1984) My first two concerts were the Who, but I'm pretty sure that my third show was Youth Brigade at a Sunday Night punk show at Cubby Bear.

9. FALLEN ANGELS - Bad Woman (Pebbles Volume 1) A great slab of garage from 1966.

10. the DARLING BUDS - Burst (Pop Said... 1988) This Welsh band weren't very original, but they sure did make some catchy guitar summer pop with stellar harmonies and big hooks.

My picks for the Slicing Up Eyeballs' Best of 86 Poll

Slicing Up Eyeballs has their Best "new wave/alternative" Albums of 1986 poll up. Some of my faves came out in 86, but there weren't as many albums I was passionate about compared to the previous polls. Looking through the ballot I realized that there were loads of half-great albums in 86 - records with a few all time favorite songs and then a bunch of filler or forgettable songs.

For the purpose of voting I stuck with what was on the ballot, so there aren't any write-ins (hence no Beasties, Run DMC, etc). Here are my picks in alph order:

• Crowded House - Crowded House
• The Godfathers - Hit By Hit
• Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians - Element of Light
• Hüsker Dü - Candy Apple Grey
• Love and Rockets - Express
• The Mighty Lemon Drops - Happy Head
• R.E.M.. - Lifes Rich Pageant
• Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat
• They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants
• XTC - Skylarking

Most of my picks are pretty standard college rock/CMJ staples. But I think this is about the point where I started listening to a lot more indie music and deliberately started shunning most of the 120 Minutes type artists. I'm really curious to see the 1987 ballot.

Mother told me, yes she told me, I’d meet Shuffle-a-gogoers like you

Once again - it's shufffle time. MP3 player device of choice set to random and the first ten songs...

1. the ROLLING STONES - Sympathy for the Devil (Beggars Banquet 1968) I love absolutely everything about Sympathy, from the "whoo woo" backing vocals to Keith's cool-as-shit guitar to Bill Wyman's fabulous maraca shaking.

2. JERRY REED - Guitar Man (the Essential Jerry Reed) Jerry's semi-autobiographical 1967 single, which was later appropriated by Elvis.

3. the TEARDROPS EXPLODES - When I Dream (Kilimanjaro 1980) I'm pretty sure that this was the first Julian Cope song I ever heard and it's still my favorite. The song clocks in at over seven minutes, but the last four minutes are really just an incredibly gradual fade out. And I wish it sent on for ten more minutes.

4. the RAMONES - I Don't Care (Rocket to Russia 1977) I love Joey's faux aristocrat vocal. He's trying to sound snobby, but he still sounds like he's from Queens.

5. the POGUES - Boat Train (Peace and Love 1989) This is one of my favorite Shane MacGowan vocals and about the point that I sort of gave up on him. Everything after this seems a bit uninspired.

6. the BEATLES - You're Going to Lose That Girl (Help! 1965) The Beatles were contemporaries of Freddie and the Dreamers and the Hullaballoos and are probably best remembered today for having Barbara Bach's husband on drums.

7. the WILLIS BROTHERS - Alcohol and # 2 Diesel (24 Great Truck Drivin Hits) Take a truckful of oranges and truckful of watermelons and add alcohol and you end up with a great country song.

8. ELVIS PRESLEY - Clean Up Your Backyard (Elvis at the Movies) From the 1967 film the Trouble with Girls, this Mac Davis/Billy Strange song was the song that brought me back to Elvis. I was sick of Elvis kitsch by the time I got to college and broke bad on the king, but at my college radio station I randomly played this cut off of one of the many suspect Elvis comps that came out in the 80's and was absolutely floored.

9. CROWDED HOUSE - Pineapple Head (Together Alone 1993) Neil Finn's overdue for another album, right?

10. JACCO GARDNER - Watching the Moon (Cabinet of Curiosities 2013) This will most likely be a 2013 top 20 album for me. Jacco is a Dutch multi-instrumentalist that plays chamber pop ala the Left Banke or Sagittarius. Or, in the case of this song, Syd Barrett.

A book I enjoyed: Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible by Jim Steinmeyer

Lately most of the books I've read have been about rock music or books about creative inspiration and motivation. I wanted a break and decided to read a book about something I don't follow as avidly as my other interests. In my long list of books to some day check out I had  Hiding the Elephant by Jim Steinmeyer, which I think I added to the list after seeing Teller (of Penn and Teller) reference it in article.

I'm interested in magic, but never really followed it enough to call myself a fan. Other than fumbling through a trick or two in grade school, I never went through a magic phase growing up. When I went to Marshall Brodien's Magic Shop at Old Chicago it was to buy novelties and pranks, not magic cards or props. Itching powder and the fly in the fake ice cube were more my speed over a trick I'd have to practice over and over again. But the review of this book looked promising, and with an endoresment (and introduction) from Teller I decided to check it out. I'm glad I did! A wonderful read.

MY REVIEW:

A fascinating walk through the history of magic and the showmanship that went with it from the late 1800's through the end of magic's golden era in the 1930's. Although the book explains the mechanics of many great illusions, it's much more than just a "how they did it" book. There are compelling character studies of magicians and the entire magic community as well as an in-depth look at European and American theater of the era. The magicians' stories intertwine as illusions evolved and theater goer wants changed, all done with the unfolding narrative of a good novel. Author and illusion designer to the stars (including David Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy, and Doug Henning) Jim Steinmeyer also injects the mystery of an elusive trick throughout the book, explaining how the illusionist works and thinks. This is a book about people, history, and creative thinking as much as it's a book about magic.

FOUR and HALF STARS (out of five)

SHUFFLE-A-GOGO - MP3 player randomness and unchecked music nerdage

MP3 Shuffle-a-gogo: Set your MP3 delivery device of choice on shuffle and post the first ten songs. Simple as that. Here's what I got:

1. BUZZCOCKS - Palm of Your Hand (Trade Test Transmissions 1993) Buzzcocks show up on my shuffles all of the time. I'm not complaining. In fact, I'm bragging.

2. CHUCK BERRY - Rock and Roll Music (the Chess Years box) Other than WLS, most of the music I listened to in grade school came via my older brother's surf and drag 8-tracks or his multi tape Wolfman Jack oldies collection. When I hear this I still hear the Wolfman Jack intro - "It's Chuck Berrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry, baby!"

3. MARVIN GAYE - One For My Baby (Moods of Marvin Gaye 1966) My favorite version of the Arlen/Mercer classic, and one of Marvin's best early vocals.

4. OIL TASTERS - Emma (Oil Tasters 1982) If I could only have one Milwaukee bass/saxophone/drum trio it would be Oil Tasters. This was one of the records I bought strictly because it was pictured in the International Discography of the  New Wave (aka Volume), which, along with the Trouser Press guide was my bible during my formative music years. This is a fabulous version of the Hot Chocolate song.

5. VAN HALEN - Where Have All the Good Times Gone (Diver Down 1982) I think out of all of the original DLR Van Halen albums Diver Down is the one I play the least. I forgot about this song. I might have to go back and put the album on again.

6. the dB's - Far Away and Long Ago (Falling Off the Sky 2012) A nice quiet Chris Stamey number from the band's excellent comeback record from last year.

7. the REPLACEMENTS - Waitress in the Sky (Tim 1985) "Big deal you get to fly". Makes me laugh every time.

8. KIRSTY MacCOLL (with the Pogues) - Miss Otis Regrets (Galore 1995) A lot of artists I love have died, but Kirsty MacColl is one of the few that years after their death I still get sad thinking about every time one of their songs comes up on a shuffle.

9. BEE GEES - Turn of the Century (Bee Gees' First 1967) If you like 60's pop and don't own Bee Gees First you should do yourself a favor and go pick it up right now. This album plays like a singles collection, with several of my favorite songs from the whole decade appearing.

10. PETE SEEGER - Summertime (American Favorite Ballads) A Cole Porter cover from Kirsty, and now Gershwin via Pete Seeger. Such a great, mournful version with just Pete and banjo. And some whistling. Even though he still makes an occasional appearance, I think I missed my window to see him live, which kind of bums me out. Until recently I took Pete Seeger for granted.