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Song of the Day #4,840: ‘Wonderwall’ – Florence Pugh

This week I’m featuring songs by artists much better known for their acting. Most of these artists have released recorded material either solo or with a band, but today’s selection is decidedly more amateur.

Like so many teenagers of her generation, Florence Pugh had a YouTube channel — under the name Flossie Rose — where she recorded musical performances. Only a handful remain, or maybe she recorded only a handful to begin with. The songs include ‘Hey Ho’ by The Lumineers and ‘Make You Feel My Love’ by Bob Dylan/Adele.

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Song of the Day #4,839: ‘Crash On the Levee (Down in the Flood)’ – Bob Dylan

Today’s random track was recorded by Bob Dylan and The Band in 1967, as part of the casual sessions that were eventually released on 1975’s The Basement Tapes. Before that release, an alternate version of the song appeared on Dylan’s second greatest hits collection in 1971.

In much different form, and titled simply ‘Down in the Flood,’ this song was recorded by both The Derek Trucks Band and Blood, Sweat and Tears.

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Song of the Day #4,838: ‘Never is Enough’ – Barenaked Ladies

Not counting today, I’ve posted 26 Barenaked Ladies songs on the blog, a combination of Random Weekend selections and my own picks. And yet only one of those tracks is from the band’s most popular album, 1998’s Stunt.

In addition to being their top-selling album (quadruple platinum in both the United States and their native Canada), Stunt is one of their best. It blends their signature whimsy with several lovely ballads and ties it all together with their best production quality to that point.

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Song of the Day #4,837: ‘Ooh La La’ – Faces

I’m wrapping up my two-week deep dive into the films of Wes Anderson with a few summarizing thoughts and a look at my newly revised rankings.

The average shift from my old Wes list to the revised one was 1.4 slots per movie, with four of the nine not moving at all. The only films to move more than one position were Moonrise Kingdom and Bottle Rocket, which basically swapped their spots. Generally, my reactions were reinforced rather than changed by this rewatch.

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Song of the Day #4,836: ‘The Hero Pack’ – Alexandre Desplat

Wes Anderson’s most recent film, as of late September 2021, is the 2018 animated film Isle of Dogs. This movie marked his return to the stop-motion animation style he used for Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Isle of Dogs is rated PG-13 for “thematic elements and violent images,” which seems a bit of a stretch. Most of Anderson’s movies are rated R, which seems unusual given his twee sensibility, until you start to catalog the foul language, frank sexuality and bursts of violence. The two animated films, however, are certainly appropriate for kids.

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