Kablammo!

So it’s that time of whatever again.

1. The Rolling Stones — “Jumpin’ Jack Flash (live)”
   If they were old already in 1991 when they recorded this, they must be downright ancient by now. And yet they have so much practice rocking that I guess it’s just second nature by now. Though as you might imagine the song loses a lot of its anger and urgency when the performers age 25 years.
2. The Pixies — “I Bleed”
   I’m pretty sure that what made The Pixies so great was their complete and utter lack of any musical knowledge whatsoever. Luckily, that approach worked great for them, and in their music you can hear every band of the 90s a decade earlier.
3. Smashing Pumpkins — “Mayonnaise”
   Decent song, but sadly it’s not actually about the condiment in question.
4. The Viscounts — “Harlem Nocturne”
   I love spring reverb, but what I like even more is a nice and throaty saxophone sound. Thankfully this song has both in spades. Also, this song (or one very like it) was clearly a big influence on Aavikko.
5. The Modern Jazz Quartet — “Autumn in New York”
   Go go gadget vibraphone
6. Hawksley Workman — “Tarantulove”
   Hawksley at his dirtiest and sultriest. Fucking great.
7. The Kinks — “Come Dancing”
   It begins and ends with a swaying calypso beat, and a guitar-organ combination that’s clearly meant to imitate a steel drum. As far as that goes, it’s quite well done and a very enjoyable song. But what makes it really shine is the middle eight, where they bring in a crunchy electric guitar playing a minor cadence or something. The change of key and tone is magnificent, and makes the brass section that comes in for the ending sound even happier in comparison.
8. Koer — “Mine munni”
   It’s basically a bunch of cursing over a basic punk beat, but again the bridge is just sublime. Ford Sierra . . .
9. Miles Davis — “Flamenco Sketches”
   Woo trumpet
10. Ministry — “Faith Collapsing”
11. Mussorgsky — “The Little Hut on Chicken’s Legs”
    Goddamn, Modest kicked some ass.

In other news, things are going pretty well.