Random 13 Songs, BLOGTOBER EDITION

Blogtober is upon us, so time to blog up a storm, here's one of the old stand bys, the Random song list. I like lists 13 in number, so this'll be a random 13 taken from my current collection on my PC.

1) Desafinado by Si Zentner from Ultra-Lounge, Vol.14: Bossa Novaville
I'm not apologizing, I like this stuff, so sue me. Nothing special, has the requisite beat, lots of horns, and an easy going sway to it.

2) I Don't Want to Die (In the Hospital) by Conor Oberst from Conor Oberst
Now that's a change of pace. It's a bit rockabilly, it's a bit pro-euthanasia, it's an interesting little ditty. Got a rockin' piano, can't go too wrong with rockin' piano.

3) Dub is Free by Burning Spear from Living Dub, Vol.6
No rockin' piano in this, but it does have the requisite beat, different set of requisitions where dub is concerned when compared to lounge-y Bossa Nova, though. Burning Spear keeps churning this stuff out, for more than 40 years, and it still sounds good. Also, this has plenty of horns, too. There's a spareness to his style of dub that is a solid beat stripped bare, mostly unadorned, with the echo turned up to 11. Not a bad formula if you ask me.

4) Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo) by Black Kids from Partie Traumatic
One of those current songs that doesn't sound so current to me. A bit of Cure here, a bit of Malcolm McLaren there, a dash of Spandau Ballet, mix in a blender, and you've got this. It's a bouncy good time, though, I'm not complaining that it's seriously new-wave-y, just saying that it IS seriously new-wave-y.

5) We Fight For Diamonds by Cut Copy frmo In Ghost Colours
Just a snippet of a song, barely more than a minute long. More mood piece than song. It's an interesting mood, though. Don't ask me to describe that mood, though, it's ineffable, with a touch of inscrutable, and a hint of opaque.

6) Change Is Hard by She & Him from Volume One
This is darn pretty. It's just a nice little countrified ditty. Zoey Deschanel has a great voice for this kind of material and delivers it well. Just enough, not too much in any aspect. Simple is hard to pull off, She & Him keep it simple, brilliantly.

7) If I Didn't Love You by Squeeze from Argybargy
I guess if all the current wave of new wave obsessed kiddies sound like they should have cut their albums in 1979 or 1983, does this sound like it should be on college radio today? Yes, it does, it wouldn't sound at all out of place with all the current stuff out there. Not one of their great songs, but tain't bad, neither. Interesting use of repetition, takes a repeated word a few beats beyond what's comfortable or usual. Nice gimmick, wouldn't want too many songs to use it, just right here, though.

8) Grits by James Brown from Star Time
Early James, very bluesy, very very bluesy, so bluesy that you might be a bit surprised that this is James Brown. It's James Brown working the Hammond B-3 instead of his voice, and he works it for all it's worth. Don't think of him as an instrumentalist, but he had chops there, too.

9) The Aircrash Bureau by Gary Numan from Telekon
Now this does sound dated, and is purely of its time and place. Still like it though, still find it on my hard drive. It's so mannered and particular, it's both very spare and very rococo, if that's possible to be both at the same time.

10) Make Me Smile (Come up and See Me) by Steve Harley from Velvet Goldmine Soundtrack
I ain't gonna lie, I love this movie, and I love this soundtrack. When it came out I fully expected it to be a huge hit and usher in a massive revival of glam rock. Didn't turn out that way right away, but glam has enjoyed a bit of a revival in the UK, and you do see the likes of Mika, Pop Levi and Scissor Sisters churning out sounds that would sound not out of place on this soundtrack.

11) The Work, Pt.1 by Prince from The Rainbow Children
Speaking of James Brown . . . Prince at his Jamesian funkiest, working his falsetto, and the band working it out. Great song, not an essential Prince groove by any means, but a strong groove this is. There's some sneakily fantastic guitar work on this song, along with some fantastic drumming. If Prince ever lets his tracks hit Rockband or Guitar Hero, this should be one of the songs, it'd be a fun little challenge.

12) Let's Talk About Girls by The Chocolate Watchband from Nuggets Vol.1
60s Garage at its Stone-iest. I like a lot of the sounds churned out by the wannabe Stones that ran around back in the late 60s. The Chocolate Watchband were one of the better West Coast Stones-like bands from the late 60s.

13) Sweet, Sweet Baby (I'm Falling) by Lone Justice from Lone Justice
Damn, Maria McKee was a fine little teen singer back then. She's still a fine singer, no longer a teen, obviously, but as good as she's ever been. This is from their first album, the Tom Petty produced one, Silvio Dante from the Sopranos co-penned this song.