Category Archives: random weekends

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Song of the Day #4,432: ‘Sunrise’ – Childish Gambino

I’m a big fan of Donald Glover as an actor, writer and overall entertainer. His work on Community was sublime absurdity, and the auteur’s touch he brings to Atlanta is simply brilliant.

But when it comes to his music, recorded under the name Childish Gambino, I’ve found it harder to enjoy. With the exception of the wonderful ‘Redbone,’ his second and third albums left me pretty cold. I see he released a fourth album this past March that totally missed my radar, so maybe I should give that a listen.

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Song of the Day #4,426: ‘All I Do’ – +/-

This song, by the “indietronic” New York band +/- (pronounced plus/minus), appears on the soundtrack to the 2004 film Wicker Park. A co-worker gave me a copy of that soundtrack many years ago and it has languished in my iTunes library unheard until now.

Based on the YouTube comments of this (highly annoying and forgettable) song, a lot of people really like Wicker Park. More than a few YouTube commenters call it one of their favorite movies of all time.

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Song of the Day #4,425: ‘Five Small Words’ – Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello’s 2010 album National Ransom was a return to the country rock/Americana sound he employed so winningly on King of America 24 years earlier.

I can’t say I’ve revisited this album much since it first came out, but every time I hear one of its songs I’m reminded how much I like it.

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Song of the Day #4,419: ‘Toys in the Attic’ – R.E.M.

It’s a weekend of cover songs from the Random iTunes Fairy. Today’s track was an outtake from the sessions for R.E.M.’s 1986 album Lifes Rich Pageant.

Aerosmith’s ‘Toys in the Attic‘ was the title song, and first track, of a 1975 album that also featured the hits ‘Walk This Way’ and ‘Sweet Emotion.’ Though it reached only #11 on the Billboard chart, that album has sold more copies than any other Aerosmith record.

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Song of the Day #4,418: ‘Your Love Made a U-Turn’ – Tift Merritt

Today’s Random Weekend track is from Tift Merritt’s sophomore album, 2004’s Tambourine. This song is a cover of a rare cut by James Carr, a 60s soul singer best known for his recording of ‘The Dark End of the Street.’

This album was my first exposure to Merritt, who went on to become one of my favorite artists. I got Tambourine a few weeks before seeing her open for Elvis Costello, and the combination of this great album and her live show made me a fan for life.

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