Category Archives: random weekends

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Song of the Day #1,301: ‘Rocks’ – Ben Jelen

Random Weekends continue with a track from Ben Jelen’s 2004 debut album, Give it All Away. This is one of those records that you can find, without fail, in the $1.99 cutout bin of any shopping mall record store. No doubt that’s how it wound up in my shelf.

I don’t think I’ve ever listened to Give it All Away all the way through, or if I have it made too little an impression to stick with me even as a vague memory. Opening track ‘Come On’ was a minor hit but even that song doesn’t feel very familiar.

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Song of the Day #1,295: ‘Winter in the Hamptons (Live)’ – Josh Rouse

Josh Rouse, today’s randomly selected artist, has a career that is perfectly tailored to the Internet age. He has a small but devoted following who he is able to reach through studio releases as well as independent and Web-only product.

Twenty years ago, artists like Rouse who weren’t big enough names to garner much media attention were pretty much out of luck. But today, through social media, fan sites and music sharing services, they can have a legitimate career doing something they love.

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Song of the Day #1,294: ‘Loca’ – Shakira

My second installment of Random Weekends starts off with the English-language version of Shakira’s ‘Loca,’ a bonus track from her most recent album, 2010’s Sale El Sol.

The Spanish version of this song was the album’s lead-off single and I prefer it to this one, though to be honest, they’re basically the same. I just prefer Shakira’s voice in her native Spanish — the way the multi-sylabbic words roll off her tongue so effortlessly.

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Song of the Day #1,288: ‘Temptation’ – Billy Joel

And my second Random Weekend selection is… ‘Temptation’ from Billy Joel’s 1986 album, The Bridge.

Well, it could have been worse. It could have been ‘This is the Time.’

The Bridge is an interesting album in that it features some of Joel’s most ambitious, complex work (songs such as ‘Big Man on Mulberry Street,’ ‘Running On Ice’ and ‘Code of Silence’) but also some of his worst forays into MOR sap.

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Song of the Day #1,287: ‘Time’ – Sarah McLachlan

I’ve gone through seven different weekend series over the past two and a half years. Starting in May of 2009, I’ve featured (in order) Motown, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Ron Sexsmith, Brad Paisley and Paul Simon.

Faced with the need for a new weekend theme, my first thought was that I’d have to go with a woman. With the exception of about half of the Motown tracks, I’ve gone through 250+ weekend songs by men.

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