iTunes iNdulgence

I planned on a wee payday splurge on iTunes ...I promised myself I would stop at 3 songs. I should have had someone else assist me in the purchasing, because historically, I have proven I am utter crap at keeping promises I make to myself. Once I started picking songs offa my wish list it was..."oh but this one too" and "Just one more"... So yeah, I didn't contain it to a spree of three. I bought nine. I'm not really setting any records for iTunes expenditure there, but I'm still disappointed with my breakdown of self-discipline. And yet I'm digging my new music nonetheless!! Here is a run down of what I acquired (*PLUS* a bonus MUST-include that I did purchase but it was not in this most recent splurge, but the last one, about three weeks ago) 1. "I Told You I Was Freaky" [Flight of the Conchords] OK...so it's a novelty song... but I do find the chorus very catchy (even while Jemaine's background whispering cracks me up). That's what I like about FOTC's music...it's not just funny lyrics set to some generic acoustic guitar strumming (which it seems like that is what a lot of "musical comics " do) but their stuff is actually viable music. And they dabble in a lot of different genres.. This "I Told You I Was Freaky" vid is from Season 2 of their show (R.I.P. ..I sooo miss their show) but it's not exactly what I bought. They did an album (or 2?) of their music and most of the songs differ slightly from how they did them on TV. The album version of "I Told You I Was Freaky" can be found YouTube, but I didn't opt for that , because it was just a still shot of Brett's face. And cute though Brett is, it irks me when YouTube posters spit out these fan-made "videos" for songs and they don't even bother with a simple slideshow. I'll link you to that one though, because Jemaine has an amusing li'l solo verse of his own in that version that I find worth a listen.

2. "Demon Woman" [Flight of the Conchords] This song was also from Season 2. Sort of psychadelic hard rock this one. So this makes FOUR FOTC tunes on my iPod-- I have "Robots" "Demon Woman" "I Told You I Was Freaky" and, their very best "Hiphopapotamus vs Rhymenoceros" (and though funny on the show, and funny on the album, the most excellent version of this masterpiece is from one of their live shows. I urge you to scope it out, post haste.) 3. "Fancy" [Drake/ T.I. /Swizz Beatz] -- This popped up in Accuradio's "Spring Break Mix" and I was insta-smitten. I didn't think Drake was my sort of artist, but maybe the allure of any given Drake song is reliant on whatever producer/ collaborator he's recruited for it. Maybe it's the Mr. Alicia Keys influence that I'm responding to. But whatever.. I really like this. Some good rhymes in here and that hook "Nails done, hair done, ev'rythang biiiig" that's a real earworm.. (is that the hook? Not sure...I'm bad w/ music terminology)

(that, by the way, is NOT the "Official Music Video" but I appreciate the effort someone took in trying to fake us out)

4."Bigmouth Strikes Again" [the Smiths] This song was recently listed on a Paste magazine countdown of "50 of the Best Opening Lines in Pop Music" (I mighta paraphrased that title, but that's pretty much the gist of it) I SO concur. The opening line of this song (in case you've not heard it) "Sweetness, Sweetness I was only joking...when I said...I'd like to smash every tooth....in your head" Oh, sure it's a smidge aggressive, but it grabs you, no? Oh, I love the rest of the song too. I've just lately realized that I quite like The Smiths.

5. "Moments in Love" [Art of Noise] When I stumbled on to this song in my iTunes meanderings, I was amazed that I had forgotten all about it. Upon hearing it, I knew it wasn't absolutely new to me, so I'd heard it before but it just wasn't in my mental archive of 80s music. Which was a lame-ass oversight on my part, because this song is AWESOME. It's one of those magical transformative instrumentals. It's like Yakety Sax --when you play Yakety Sax, any activity that is going on at that time is rendered WACKY. But "Moments in Love" is sexy-fying. It could make tha sexy times sexier or...just picture it...it could make it sexy to assemble and consume a peanut butter sammich. Or to do the Gazelle in super slo-mo.

When I checked YouTube for this, I was expecting some more fan made shit, but NOT expecting to discover the original Art of Noise video for it. I didn't think they'd made one. I'd seen a video for "Close to the Edit" but that was their biggest hit, and I'd figured they'd only had that one video. Not so. Well, I rather appreciate how they didn't go sexy on this (which would've been the obvious direction for this). They opted instead, for bat guano loco. So despite all I said in the last paragraph about the magical sexy aura this song exudes, it will be some time before I can hear this song and not just think: figure-skating Madonna Parton...and turtles. Behold the glorious weirdness for your own damn self...

6. "Pay Me My Money Down" [Bruce Springsteen] So I'm just discovering now that a few years back, Springsteen did a folky album called "The Pete Seeger Sessions" iTunes Genius spit that one at me and OMG, sometimes their recommendations for me are right on the f-ing money!! This is actually the second version of this song on my iPod ...I downloaded one back in January...it was off this soundtrack from some Revels performance (well, this one to be precise) Even though it's the same song, they differ lots. The Springsteen one is rollicking...whereas the Revels version is slower, with a bit more soul...kinda music to pick-axe rocks to, y'know? I like both. Oddly, one of the things I really like about the Revels version is they sing "Pay me, mister stevedore" I like the word "stevedore". There's a lovely old-timeyness about it.

7. "The Dog Days are Over" [Florence + the Machine] Florence is AMAZING. The Machine, I have no opinion on. I also wanna get her song "Kiss With a Fist", but that track remains on my wish list...unbought. I'm not so pleased about that, but I do like that I can proffer that fact to y'all as evidence that my self-restraint --feeble and pathetic though it may be--'tis NOT nonexistant.

8. "Ice Cream Paint Job" [Dorrough] this is kinda one of those songs I dig that I worry if it might be zapping dead my brain cells as I listen to it. But this is just snobbery. The heart wants what it wants and likewise, so does the groove thing. Perhaps "the groove thing" is not a tangible anatomical component and it may be ages before scientists can prove it's a real thing. But I already know it's real. And it lives in the ass.

9. "Old Dan Tucker" [Bruce Springsteen] Does having 3 "Old Dan Tuckers" on the pod make me an Old Dan Tucker collector?? Ah well. I have always loved this song so that's ok by me. The titular dude, WASHES HIS FACE IN A FRYING PAN, for God's sake!! This is by far my fave version yet-- Springsteen sings the hell out of it. You should quickly check out this performance of it, where he gives the opening verse a hardass HOLLER that really illustrates how this is a perfect song for him to sing. It's a perfect song for him to sing in a way that "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is not. I've always thought him + that particular Christmas song = not a good fit. But shit--- he can sing "Santa Claus is Coming Town" all he likes...he is THE BOSS. I am known, in my social circles, for saying "You are NOT the boss of me" (hold over from growing up as the little sis, possibly) but I would never say that to Boss Springsteen. He is way too awesome to have me sass him. And he could boss me...if he wanted to.

I picked this one to embed because I thought the backing band gave a more spirited performance here---

okay, now the BONUS track--

***BONUS*** BONUS***BONUS***

10. "Lady" [the Commodores] I was obsessively listening to this song for a while after buying it last month. At that time,I posted the FANTASTIC VIDEO for it on Facebook along with a sort of opinion poll question...a real toughie. I asked : If Kenny Rogers, the Commodores, & The Little River Band had a "Lady" battle with their "Lady " songs....who should be crowned the victor??

I was leaning toward The Commodores' "Lady" and after watching their video for it, I am quite certain. LIONEL RITCHIE FOR WORLD CUP MVP--YAAAAAAY!!