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Song of the Day #2,539: ‘Black Men Ski’ – Stew & The Negro Problem

stew_making_itBetween 1997 and 2003, Stew released six albums (half under his own name and half under the moniker The Negro Problem). Every one of them is excellent — in fact, his first two solo albums were named as the best of their respective year by Entertainment Weekly.

Then he disappeared.

Well, that’s not exactly true. Fans of the New York theater scene might have caught him performing a couple of autobiographical musicals during the past decade, winning awards and eventually performing both on Broadway and in a filmed performance directed by Spike Lee.

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Song of the Day #2,538: ‘Hillside Song’ – My Morning Jacket

my_morning_jacket_waterfallI’m catching up with a few new releases this week. I’ve bought nine albums in 2015 and posted songs from six of them, so here come the remaining three.

Unfortunately, the trend so far this year is disappointment, or at least new albums that don’t live up to their predecessors.

That’s certainly the case with My Morning Jacket’s Thee Waterfall, the band’s first album since 2011.

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Song of the Day #2,537: ‘Murray’ – Pete Yorn

musicformorningafter_yornLast week I featured a couple of debut or sophomore albums that propelled artists to fame in the early 70s.

Today’s Random Weekend track comes from a debut album released in 2001 that seemed poised to do the same.

But Pete Yorn, whose Musicforthemorningafter was one of the best examples of the alt-rock genre from the turn of the millennium, never reached the heights this record promised.

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Song of the Day #2,536: ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ – The Smiths

queendeadI wish a fond Happy Birthday to America today, a little prouder of my country after the momentous news of a week ago that same sex couples have the right to marry.

We’ll celebrate the 4th of July with a randomly selected song from across the pond, written and performed by a gay icon: ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ from The Smith’s classic album The Queen is Dead.

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Song of the Day #2,535: ‘Doctor My Eyes’ – Jackson Browne

jackson_browneJanuary of 1972 saw the release of Jackson Browne’s self-titled debut album.

The album’s cover depicts a canvas water bag decorated with Browne’s face and the words “saturate before using” across the top. Many fans, as well as DJs and the record label itself, mistakenly referred to ‘Saturate Before Using’ as the album’s title.

Browne had kicked around for 6 years as a songwriter and band member for others so he was pretty seasoned by the time he cut this debut, and critics praised its confidence and polish.

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