DECADE SONGS: 24/25

For the intro to this list, check here.

25. "Vomitspit" / MF DOOM (2004)

Vomitspit - King Geedorah

I guess it's probably not "cool" anymore to cruise around in the summertime, what with gas prices and global warming, but if I did, this is the first song I would put on. Its breeziness is totally effortless - it's like Dan Dumile walked over to his mixer, opened his mouth and this just popped out.

DECADE SONGS: 25/25

The end of a decade is in essence a meaningless milestone, but when I take into consideration that I started high school in 1999, the last ten years seem enormously significant. These last few months, I've put a lot of time and effort into compiling two lists. In the process I've listened to every album I own from this decade, almost 200 in total. The resulting lists (25 songs and 25 albums) are not necessarily meant as a ranking so much as a love letter to the music that I adored over these past ten years. It was a great decade for music and it was the decade that shaped my taste the most, meaning these songs and albums will likely be my favorites for the rest of my life.

It's my hope that if I post just one song per day, you can take the time to listen all the way through with your morning coffee.

25. "Poor Places" / Wilco (2002)

Poor places - Wilco

I love the way this song inflates and deflates. It threatens to erupt but instead just changes its angle.

USB Record Player Mix

Records 1

I received the generous gift of a USB record player for my birthday this month, so I have the awesome ability to make mixes using tracks from my vinyl collection. This is my inaugural vinyl mix, and a pretty good representation of the kinds of fun things I have in my collection, most of which came from my parents. There are some good oldies, oddball rarities, and lots of good scratchy sounds.
The crown jewel is the Al Green track. It's the first song on his first album, from 1969. It has one of the best choruses ever, made all the better by the fact that it only happens twice, and only at the end of the song. Green never actually sings the melody, instead choosing the most perfect adlibs to fill in the gaps. And there's a great, surprising chord change.
The best thing about making a mix like this is that you actually sit in front of the speakers for the duration of every song as you upload it. You physically pull out every record as you choose the songs. A lot of affection goes into it.

Netflix Diary #2: 70's, 80's Monster Movies

Fifteen months later, here's another entry in my Netflix Diary.

I'm on a big 80's sci-fi/horror kick right now that was largely caused by recently seeing Cronenberg's The Fly. It's not that it's a critically impeccable film, it's something more important - The Fly offers me everything that I ever look for in a movie. It's creepy, the atmosphere is a little surreal, the performances are right, the premise is over-the-top, there's some very creative gore, and at some point, an awesome monster shows up. I suppose visuals are my top priority in movies, and there's nothing like the weird monster effects of the late 70's and 80's to stimulate my eyeballs. I'm thinking of The Thing, Alien, and American Werewolf in London among others. Right now, I'm anxious to watch any movie that's anything like The Fly.

This week I tried another Jeff Goldblum one, the 1978 version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. The effects and the story were there, but it ultimately didn't hit the spot. Maybe it's just that no monster ever actually shows up, or maybe that there's no violence.

I've been slowly making my way through all of David Cronenberg's movies, and they deliver what I want fairly dependably. The Brood was pretty terrifying, and it never gets weirder or more violent than Videodrome. I was excited to finally see Scanners, but thought it was pretty disappointing. He may only have a few I haven't tried yet, although I'm stoked to be weirded-out by his Naked Lunch.

One of Chicago's great cultural offerings that I for some reason have never taken advantage of is The Music Box Theatre. Next Saturday, they're having a 14 hour Sci-Fi/Horror marathon. There are a couple I haven't seen, and the whole thing climaxes at 1:30 AM with none other than The Fly. Sounds like a good way to throw away a beautiful day.