Shuffle Sunday, 12/10/17

Joe listens to a lot of music, and usually sticks to listening to music as the artist intends—whole albums, in order. However, on Sundays, he listens to his iPod on shuffle the whole day. Here are the ten songs that played when he was writing this blog post, and what they mean to him.

It's 6 AM on a Sunday. I'm at work two hours early because I chose to get a ride with Pam to the city rather than have to rely on SEPTA on this snowy weekend morning. It would have been a nightmare waiting for the bus. Shout out to my wife for letting me hitch a ride. Shout out to both me and my wife, for owning our house exactly four years today. Shout out to my Grandpop up in heaven if heaven exists, as he passed away three years ago today. Shout out to my ex-girlfriend (not the one mentioned below), whose birthday is today, according to Facebook. Shout out to my fictional alter ego, Robert Schmidt, whose birthday is also today, his 32nd birthday, according to my old fake ID anyway. Let's get it started with some great random songs, listened to in the foreground of my ears (in the background, the many soft snores of the sleeping night-shift workers). Hope you had a good weekend, y'all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The Great Salt Lake" by Band of Horses, from their 2006 album Everything All the Time

I had a friend once describe Band of Horses as the "Blue Moon of bands," and I often think about and consider that description whenever Band of Horses comes up on a playlist. The implication, I guess, being that Band of Horses is supposedly generic and lame, and if you think it's something special then you don't know shit about music. I don't agree with this. In fact, I'd argue the opposite. If you don't like Band of Horses, it's YOU who doesn't know shit about music. Band of Horses is underrated, for sure. I am intimate with four out of their five studio albums, and I'd argue there isn't a bad one in the bunch. The best, of course, always, will be this one, their first LP, Everything All the Time. Brings me back to high school, hanging out with friends, watching Band of Horses live on Comcast On Demand, etc. It brings a warm feel to my soul. Makes me feel better than a Blue Moon would, anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If I Believe You" by the 1975, from their 2016 album... Christ, do I really have to type this all out? Yes, okay.... from their 2016 album I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It

My first thought was, "I thought I had deleted that damn Nick Jonas album from my iPod already?!" I don't know if the 1975 are a serious band. Sometimes I think, this has to be a joke, right? No one actually makes songs like this. "And I'm asking you, Jesus, show yourself" is a lyric that the gospel choir in this song actually sings. I'm still listening, we're five minutes in now, and I still can't decide whether I like this song. I can't decide whether it's really bad but in a good way, or just really bad. How did I end up listening to the 1975, I find myself asking. What is life's meaning? Is there a god? Help?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Escape Plan" by Tigers Jaw, from their 2017 album spin

There's only so much time in a year to listen to music, that you may have to decide what recommendations to actually listen to, to take seriously, and which recommendations to brush off. Everyone has a friend with terrible tastes in music who wants you to listen to such and such, and you nod and say Yes I will listen to that posthaste, but of course don't. But then you get a recommendation from this commentator on a music website you frequent, a commentator whose comment history indicates that s/he's the real deal, that his/her recommendation is gonna be a good one, you say Yes I will listen and then go and download the damn thing. This past Labor Day I read an article about Made in America festival and the bands there, and the article described a punk-pop band from Philly named Tigers Jaw and so I thought I'd give them a shot. But this was philly.com we're talking about, but still I took the recommendation, and I mildly regret it, because Spin is forgettable and so is this song. There's only so much time to listen to music. No time to take Philly.com recommendations seriously anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"6 Inch" by Beyoncé, from her 2016 album Lemonade

I had ranked the Lemonade songs at one point, let's see where I had put "6 Inch." Okay, according to May 2, 2016 Joe, "6 Inch" ranked at #9 of the 12 Lemonade songs. Listening to the song now, I'd still call it fair. I can absolutely get behind the message here, the message being pro-woman, encouraging young women to work hard to achieve success, etc. Unfortunately, the music isn't quite up to snuff, especially compared to the rest of the album, which has some real fucking bangers. I might be willing to move this up to #7 at the highest, as #8 "Sandcastles" and #7 "Daddy Lessons" may have been overrated by 2016 Joe. But the rest is untouchable. (#1 "Freedom" is the best song on the album, the best Beyoncé song, period, and probably in the Top 20 of the decade so far.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thickfreakness" by the Black Keys, from their 2003 album Thickfreakness

This is the title track of the album Thickfreakness, but to me it is a middle track on a mix CD made for me by a high school girlfriend back in the Summer of 2005. I cherish the music I discovered through that mix CD infinitely more than I cherish that petty high school relationship itself at this point. Prior to that summer, I was mostly catching up on classic rock, but indie rock became my comfort zone, post-mix CD. I know maybe the Black Keys aren't the best example of "indie rock," especially after they blew up a few years ago. But this song and 20 others will always hold a special place in my heart for changing the way I listen to music.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Heaven's Room" by Ducktails, from his 2015 album St. Catherine

Ugh. I questioned myself the other day, asking why I should bother with Ducktails, now that Mondanile has been outed as a sexual creep. I guess I haven't gotten around to deleting this from my iPod. Okay, a pledge—next time my iPod is connected to the laptop, I'm going to clear it of all the recent bands that have been accused of sex abuse. Ducktails, Brand New, PWR BTTM, etc. (Gonna wait for more details, and hope against hope, regarding Pinegrove.) It's time. I need to take a personal stand on this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The Price You Pay" by Bruce Springsteen, from his 1980 album The River

God, I love The River. The album is the sound of a big party hosted by Bruce and his E Street friends. Big, loud, and goddamn fun. By the time we get to track eighteen, "The Price You Pay," though, the party is wrapping up. "The Price You Pay" is the song for the end of the party, when your friends have all left and the streamers fall from the ceiling and there are red solo cups strewn about and you start that clean up, and you're replaying the night in your head, and the sun is starting to rise, and it's all good man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Crystal Blip" by Frog Eyes, from his 2016 album Pickpocket's Locket

I'm struck by how accessible "Crystal Blip" is sounding to my ears this morning. When I see Frog Eyes I expect a lot weirder than this. Tears of the Valedictorian is my favorite Frog Eyes album, but man, it is fucking weird, I'll admit. This tune, from the most recent LP, Pickpocket's Locket, sounds incredibly tame in comparison. Not a bad thing, I guess. Just not what I expected. I guess I gotta give this album another shot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mind Eraser (No Chaser)" by Them Crooked Vultures, from their 2009 self-titled album

Are these guys releasing new music anytime soon? I hope so, because since 2009, I've gotten consistently good spins out of this album. It's overblown rock that hits all my sweet spots, fronted by the dude from Queens of the Stone Age, but also featuring Dave Grohl on drums, and (very cool) John Paul Jones on bass/etc. Grohl, this summer, said he would "not rule out" another album from this band, so we'll see. Both Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters both put out albums this year, around the same time, so maybe their respective frontmen's schedules will line up and they can put this shit together already!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Perfect Sound Whatever" by Jeff Rosenstock, from his 2016 album WORRY.

Hey, this is a good song to end this blog post on! "Perfect always takes so long / because it doesn't exist!" What a great little mantra. It speaks to me, on this groggy Sunday morning, that I should be striving to do my best, but never expect perfection. Nothing is ever perfect. I like that. Goodnight, all.