23 posts tagged “top twenty songs”
And now a Dead Kennedys song *performed by* the Dead Kennedys :
This is another from my brother's top twenty which - although in my shortlist - wasn't one of my finalists for no doubt completely arbitrary reasons.
Look at the chaos onstage! Rarrgghhh! Dead Kennedys are one of the bands I would have loved to have seen live. Never mind - there will be other skull cleaving opportunities.
And further bending the rules of what constitutes a list of 'twenty' songs, here's another from my brother's list :
So I chose my twenty songs, and am generally dissatisfied with the list; or - more accurately - the omissions from it. There's no Pixies, no AC/DC, no Yo La Tengo, Sparklehorse, no Beatles, Sabbath, nothing spine-shatteringly heavy... I could carry on for weeks in this vein. I only remembered the lovely 'Pets' by Porno For Pyros after finishing the project.
And I even left out 'Africa' by Toto. I am a failure!
One of the reasons my brother set the task was to see how many songs we had in common. There were none in the final twenty. He claimed that my list was predominantly "weedy" - his list was far heavier, in that it included songs by Slayer, My Dying Bride, Corrosion of Conformity and Bolt Thrower. However, there were some near misses. We each had Public Enemy (he chose 'Don't Believe The Hype'), and De La Soul (he had 'Eye Know' - incidentally, my phone ringtone). But here's a song from my brother's list, that I had pencilled in for my top twenty until the last minute - and dropped in favour of 'I Fought The Law' :
I have seen Bad Religion a few times live, and they have been solid. Their albums are usually an even spread of hit and miss tracks (I guess that's what you get for being fairly prolific); but they kick ass onstage. Admittedly one of my favourite performances - at Reading Festival one year - was spent 'enhanced', as I'd required more pep after punching myself out during Pitchshifter. I'm not sure my boogying quite matched the pacey punk-rock. Nearby fans must have suspected I'd gotten lost on the way to the dance tent.
And last up, we have :
Despite being critically slated at the time, 'Thirteen' is still my favourite Teenage Fanclub album. So here's the thirteenth track from it. Although with such sumptuous harmonies, I could have picked any of a number of Fannies' tracks.
When I was younger, I was a serial track skipper. I would very rarely have the patience to see a song through before ploughing on to the next. As such, I never heard this track properly until quite a while after I'd got the album. I just assumed that it was an instrumental and guitar solo all the way through. Then one day, whilst shaving (my hands were too wet to press 'forward'), I finally got to hear this - and it was like I'd finally been rewarded with an all-new song for being patient for once.
Incidentally, I introduced a friend of mine to this album. He then gave a girl that he was trying to hit on a recording of '120 Mins', and claimed that he and I had written it - with him singing, and me playing guitar. We were all of sixteen years old. Miraculously, this tactic worked. She clearly never thought to ask who played bass and drums on that track, and how we'd managed to get the production just so.
The penultimate track is a platinum floor-filler :
This is the only song in the world almost guaranteed to make me dance each time. I don't do dancing. I am far too white and uptight. But with this track, you just can't not. It is fucking awesome.
Although it does trail off a bit at the very end, in my opinion. And tracks have been axed from this top twenty for less. But the rest of the song is so good, that it couldn't be excluded. The perfect 'it's sunny, and the weekend is imminent' track.
Time for a nice cuppa :
A splendid little ditty from the man who likes to keep the nice people at the Deed Poll busy. Picking a one man and his geetar track was quite tricky, as I'm sure you can imagine. So Steven/Cat/Yusuf narrowly pips Nick Drake, John Martyn, other songs by himself, and the more recent 'Over Yonder (Jonathan's Song)' - a sublime effort by Steve Earle.
On a slightly related topic, I once phoned up the Deed Poll people, and asked them - among other things - wot their favourite name change thus far had been. The lady told me "Well, the one that really sticks in my mind is Rhymemaster Joey Jo-Jo Toasterface".
Time for something lemony :
Evan Dando has given the world lots of really lovely songs. This one's among my favourites. Possibly because an associate memory; which is a previous ladyfriend insisting that I play guitar for her in the bathroom whilst she soaked in the tub. I specifically remember her enjoying 'Hannah & Gabi'. As if lighting some candles and taking a bath isn't luxurious enough, the notion of having a boyfriend who will play you songs on demand whilst you do so tickled me.
Which Lemonheads song would you have chosen (assuming you had to)?
Time for some old school punk, I think :
In the age old 'Clash or Sex Pistols' debate, there really is no contest - The Clash were so, so much more. They copped a bit of flak from other punks for rejecting nihilism; which brings to mind a quote from 'The Big Lebowski' - "I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude - at least it's an ethos".
I am - of course - not claiming that The Clash were Nazis.
I chose this Clash track over other ones because I thought at least one cover should make the list; and this is a perfect example of a band really making the song their own. Plus, it rocks.
Grrrr! Fume! :
Nine Inch Nails were one of the first bands that made me realise that you didn't need thrashy guitars, thundering twin bass drums and vocals straight from Satan's colon in order to be dark, seething and weighty. In fact, they were more powerful for it.
This is another band who I couldn't really choose a particular track for, so I just went for the first one I heard. The inclusion of this also dislodges 'Jesus Built My Hotrod' by Ministry from the top twenty. See how I play god!
Time for a bit more rock :
This was a bit of a tough choice. I didn't want Seattle saturation in this list, so I've had to axe 'Touch Me I'm Sick' by Mudhoney, 'We Die Young' by Alice In Chains, 'Hunger Strike' by Temple Of The Dog, and probably more I haven't even thought of. It also just pips 'Jesus Christ Pose' by Soundgarden, which was firmly in the top twenty until some eleventh hour capriciousness (or caprice, if you insist on brevity).
I saw Pearl Jam in the Cardiff International Arena. It was very busy and hot, and there was no air conditioning. Every time they played a more upbeat number, the exhausted crowd attempted to give it some, usually seeing the first chorus out, and then gave up. We cherished the slower songs, and telepathically pleaded with the security to douse us with cooling fluid. Or, y'know, just chuck cups of water.
