The shuffle function on my ipod made me want to write about music some more. So here you are. Enjoy.


1)

The Eels - Things the Grandchildren Should Know

Mark Oliver Everett, also known as E from the Eels is not a complicated man. He writes songs for himself about the good and bad things in his life. He lives alone in a house with his dog and a lot of records. His music is simple, pure, and brilliant. It's the kind of music that speaks to all of us, about the private moments in our lives that we all share but rarely talk about with others. If you like this song, and I sincerely hope that you do, check out the Eels' other works. You won't be disappointed.



2)

David Bowie - 5 Years

David Bowie, much like Prince, is a force of nature. Seriously, people like him aren't humans. They are some kind of music elemental that touches down on earth and gives us music that lives on long after they've gone. 5 Years is a song that I hold dead to my heart. It reminds me of some of the best and worst nights of my life. Also. the line, "I think I saw you in an ice cream parlor, drinking milkshakes cold and long.", might be my favorite lyric of all time.



3)

Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High

This song may be the dragon uppercut of love songs. Tina Turner cranks out vocal with power that would put any hair metal band to shame with a backing by the infamous (and dead) Ike Turner makes this song a classic. A bit more rock n' roll than their doo wop counterparts, Ike & Tina Turner always had an uneasy place in the R & B circuit. However, their music would outlast the group and Tina would go on to run Bartertown while Ike would fade into drug addiction, spousal abuse.....and death. Moral of the story here is don't fuck with Tina Turner.

4)

Talking Heads - Heaven

The Talking Heads were an art band started in Rhode Island in the late 70's. This is a recipe for smug, lame white people music and yet I am oddly ok with what they created. Instead of sounding like pretentious art noise garbage, lead singer David Byrne was able to write weird music about love, spirituality and life in general. This song always makes me smile and while I'm not religious, its a fairly good summary of what I think heaven could be like. If you like this song, check out Stop Making Sense which is a concert dvd they did and may just be the greatest music dvd of all time.

5)

The Beets - Killer Tofu

For those of us in our late 20's, Nickelodeon was a magical channel in the early 90's. Doug was one of a hand full of shows that people around my age remember with a certain nostalgia and no small amount of fondness. I'll be the first to admit nostalgia's greatest danger is making things that were actually shit seem really awesome. However, as an adult and as a music fan, Killer Tofu fucking rocks. The few attempts I've made at watching most of cartoons today seem to pale in comparison to the Rocko's Modern Life and Doug's of yesterday. Though Chowder and some other hellish pirate show (forget the name) entertain me quite a bit. So while I will continue to grow into a crotchety old man, I will always enjoy these little gems of brilliance from my youth.