Category Archives: random weekends

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Song of the Day #1,871: ‘Tiny Dancer (Live)’ – Ben Folds

ben_folds_liveIt’s funny how some of the best concert experiences involve artists playing somebody else’s music. Not that I’d want to watch a favorite act perform nothing but covers, but a couple of well-placed interpretations can really make a show.

A highlight of the recent Barenaked Ladies show I attended was a raucous late-show medley of recent chart toppers, including Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew You Were Trouble,’ Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ and Macklemore’s ‘Thrift Shop.’ In a much different vein, Tift Merritt performed a lovely Joni Mitchell cover on piano.

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Song of the Day #1,870: ‘Lost in Space’ – Fountains of Wayne

utopiaThe Random iTunes Fairy really likes Fountains of Wayne. Today’s post is the fifth Random Weekend selection in the past year, and the second this month.

I don’t keep stats on which artists show up the most on Random Weekends (though now I’m tempted) but I have to believe Fountains of Wayne are up there, especially as a percentage of their total songs in my library.

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Song of the Day #1,864: ‘Loves Me Like a Rock’ – Paul Simon

there_goes_rhymin_simonPaul Simon’s ‘Loves Me Like a Rock’ is the perfect finish to his wonderful second solo album, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. It’s hard not to smile listening to this.

But this song is also an important milestone in Simon’s storied career. Six years after the first Simon & Garfunkel record (and 40 years ago), this track represents the first real departure from what has been his signature acoustic sound.

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Song of the Day #1,863: ‘Rivers of Babylon’ – Sinéad O’Connor

sinead_oconnor_theologySinéad O’Connor peaked in 1990 with the smash album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, her beautiful crying face in the ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ video becoming an iconic image of the early 90s indie scene.

She followed that album two years later with a disc of covers titled Am I Not Your Girl? and released a decent but unspectacular album of original material — Universal Mother — in 1994.

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Song of the Day #1,857: ‘Beautiful, Dirty, Rich’ – Lady Gaga

lady_gaga_the_fameI don’t much like Lady Gaga as a person — or rather, I don’t much like the persona she has created. Her tiresome antics put her squarely in Madonna-wannabe territory, and I don’t much like Madonna either.

But again and again, I find myself really liking her music — from early hits ‘Just Dance,’ ‘Paparazzi’ and ‘Poker Face’ to ‘Bad Romance’ and ‘Telephone’ on her second album and the strong ballad ‘You and I’ on her less celebrated third album.

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