Random 10

So this dude Sloth, who claims his generally pretty damn fine blog has only six readers or so (putting me in very exclusive company), has ripped off an idea from The Onion AV Club in order to try to launch his own meme thingy.

It's a damn fine idea. Shuffle the music on your music player, and write something about the first 10 songs that come up.

Here's my list.

1) The Grey Seal's Lament for its Pup/Miss Ann Moir's Birthday/The Duke of Gordon's Birthday/London Lasses/West Mabou (Buddy MacMaster)
This is a track from master Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster's album Cape Breton Tradition. The album is in the collection because my 8-year-old adores Buddy MacMaster. We even arranged the dates of a holiday in Cape Breton this summer around the date that Buddy would be playing the community ceilidh in Judique. I used to skip over Buddy's tracks when they came up in the shuffle queue, but now I listen. He is a true gentleman, an incredible musician, and listening to these tunes is a nice, quiet break from some of the more raucous stuff I have.

2) Twistin' the Night Away (Sam Cooke)
I like Sam Cooke in very small doses. Usually I wind up skipping the few tracks I have when shuffle spits them out. This one is particularly gentle. Nostalgia for an era I don't remember?

3) We Shall Overcome (Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band)
Title track from Springsteen's Seeger Sessions CD. When I first got this, I listened to the album over and over and over again. I have never been a huge Springsteen fan, but the sheer joy of the playing captivated me. This is probably my least favourite track. A little too over-earnest perhaps?

4) Right Now (Jerry's Kids)
Jerry's Kids were an incredible 1980s hardcore band from Boston, who shared some members with the also incredible Gang Green. "Right Now" ("I want it, right now / I need it, right now" -- nobody said you were getting lyrical complexity) is from their album Kill Kill Kill. I have always loved the combination of the name Jerry's Kids with the title Kill Kill Kill.

5) Just Got Lucky (JoBoxers)
I am not sure what this is doing here. I can't even claim nostalgia, because I don't remember the song from the 1980s, and if I did, I wouldn't have liked it. It was on the 40-Year-Old Virgin soundtrack, and I did rip a few songs for fun/nostalgia purposes. This one must have gotten scooped up as well. I have a bit more tolerance for Motowny peppiness from (mostly) white boys than I used to. But still, this is pretty awful.


6) War Pigs (Ozzy Osbourne)
From the Ozzman Cometh box set. I have probably heard War Pigs enough to last a lifetime at this point. This version does have some historical interest though, since it's an earlier version (with different lyrics) than the one that ended up on Paranoid.

7) Think About You (Guns N' Roses)
Axl Rose may be a buffoon and Guns N' Roses may have degenerated completely, and this may be one of the weakest tracks on the album, but damn, Appetite for Destruction still ranks right up there. It was one of the few albums that I knew I had to own the second I saw the cover. I actually saw Guns n' Roses open for, of all bands, The Cult, at the Verdun auditorium in Montreal. I was with my friend Billy Neale (aka William Scott Neale) and neither of us had ever heard of the opening band. I was blown away. So was Billy, but at a certain point he got tired of the band because hey, he'd come to see The Cult. Axl's ego was already starting to get out of control, and he was just in the opening act.

8) The Lengths (The Black Keys)
From Rubber Factory. Great album from this drum-and guitar blues duo. This is one of the quieter, more contemplative, least distorted tracks. On the same album, The Black Keys do perhaps one of the simplest versions of Stackalee ever. It's called "Stack Shot Billy" and the lyrics strip the legend down almost as close as you can get to the bare essentials.

9) Going, Going, Gone (Stars)
This band are Montreal indie darlings, but, you know, I cannot stand them, and I can't find anything in this potentially migraine-inducing song to like.

10) I'm Your Gun (Alice Cooper)
Over-produced, with a cheesy 1980s synthy sound. But still, Alice.

What's your random 10?