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Song of the Day #996: ‘Down Among the Wines and Spirits’ – Elvis Costello

It’s funny that I’ve described Elvis Costello’s Secret, Profane and Sugarcane as “modest” and “minor” by his standards.

The opening track, ‘Down Among the Wine and Spirits,’ is introduced like this in the album’s elegant liner notes: “A Former-Champion Prize fighter Discovers His Name Printed Just Above The Liquor Licensee.”

Other songs on the album have similar introductory explainers: “A Dissatisfied Woman Fears Talking In Her Sleep,” “P.T. Barnum Reads An Abolitionist Pamphlet While Manufacturing Souvenirs Of The  All-American Tour,” “Profane Adaptation Of Pious Song Performed By Acclaimed Nightingale,” you get the picture.

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Song of the Day #995: ‘I Felt the Chill Before the Winter Came’ – Elvis Costello

Just a year after Momofuku, Elvis Costello returned with a modest acoustic collection. 2009’s Secret, Profane & Sugarcane was recorded in Nashville with T Bone Burnett, and was Costello’s first totally acoustic album since King of America.

Call this one King of Americana. Costello tours the old American songbook, trying his hand at country blues and bluegrass, and his affection for these styles shines through every note. This album is a grower… it’s the opposite of hook-heavy, and some of its songs meander a little too much for repeated listening. But I admire what he’s doing here and at the very least, it’s a beautiful sounding album.

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Song of the Day #994: ‘Friday’ – Rebecca Black

Rebecca Black has taken a lot of heat for releasing what many people have called the worst song ever recorded. She has been excoriated across the Web, victimized by the sort of cyber bullying that proves what a dehumanizing environment the Internet can be.

There are plenty of fronts on which I can come to Black’s defense. The most obvious is that she’s a 13-year-old girl and, as such, should be shielded from the sort of mocking vitriol directed her way. Even an adult would have a hard time dealing with this sort of treatment… a kid her age doesn’t stand a chance.

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Song of the Day #993: ‘Windmills’ – Toad the Wet Sprocket

My wife’s car comes with an electronic woman who talks to us. She is the voice of the SYNC technology that runs the radio. We tell her “Play track ‘In My Life‘” or “Play artist Justin Bieber” and she replies “Playing track ‘In My Life‘” or “Playing artist Justin Bieber.”

We used to think she was a lesbian because when we set her to random, she always played songs by Sarah McLachlan and Indigo Girls. We’ve since changed up the list of songs fed into the system and now she doesn’t seem like a lesbian anymore.

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Song of the Day #992: ‘Eternal Flame’ – The Bangles

My family stumbled upon an infomercial for Time/Life’s ‘Easy 80s’ CD collection recently and it quickly devoured nearly a half hour of our lives. Our daughters alternated between rolling their eyes and asking “Who sings this one?” as we belted out one cheesy 80s ballad after another.

Time/Life has a million of these things — ‘Romancing the 70s,’ ‘Pure Rhythm & Blues,’ ‘Golden Age of Country,’ ‘Pop Memories of the 60s.’ They’re worth their weight in gold, though not worth the $130 (plus shipping) they cost. Doesn’t Time/Life know that you can buy the 80 songs you really love (out of the 150 they’re offering) on iTunes for less than a hundred bucks?

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