ok, let’s see if i can get this magic box to display text electronically…

Aaaand it worked! So I’m a long-time commenter, first-time blogger, but thanks to our fearless administrator, I’m now able to contribute my unassailable music knowledge free from the strictures of the comment field.

I figured I’d ease into this by making my first post of the tried-and-true three-song-shuffle variety. Plus, I find the best way to motivate myself is just to throw a bunch of random crap down on the table and say “go.”

You all know the rules by now: I’ll write up a bit on the first three songs that come up on shuffle on my iPod, no cheating/skipping. Let’s paint this fence.

“Morning Bell” by Radiohead (from Kid A)

Well this is just a hell of a way to start it off. Of course, this is one of my favorite songs from one of the greatest modern rock albums ever. Probably not a whole lot else needs to be said about this one, but a couple observations:

“Morning Bell” encapsulates the album’s whole “I need to get the frack out of this miserable button-down life” theme in every conceivable way. I mean the album is pretty much a musical representation of God reaching down from the heavens, picking you up by the collar and shaking you while shouting, “You insolent little puke! Do you think you’re happy? Because you’re not! You’re miserable and you always will be! A-hahahaha!” The whole album from start to finish makes me want to slink into an alleyway in the rain and cry. In a good way.

The lyrics are outstandingly creepy (“Cut the kids in half”? Come on). Absolutely love when it comes out of the tension-building verse into the “Release me” line. And the synth… my god, the synth.

Anyway, I’m sure you’re all right there with me so I won’t waste any more of your time.

“In the Waiting Line” by Zero 7 (from the Garden State soundtrack)

It figures that the second track I’d get would be by a band that I know next to nothing about and off a soundtrack, since it means I have absolutely no context. I guess the Garden State soundtrack itself provides a bit of context, since the soundtrack and its compiler Zack Braff received a fair amount of attention for popularizing previously obscure indie bands/songs. I wasn’t nearly as much into modern/indie rock when the movie/soundtrack came out as I am now, so I sort of look back on it snobbishly (“Pff. Frou Frou? Please. If you want something fresh and interesting, call me.”), but I give the guy credit for actually doing what we all wish we could do when we hear a song that would totally be freaking awesome in a movie soundtrack.

As for the song itself, it isn’t particularly offensive. Pretty mellow and melodic. Got a nice acoustic guitar or banjo thing going on in the background. Pleasant enough, if a little cheesy.

And a clear pattern is emerging: songs that feature the synthesizer.

“What Happened” by Sublime (from 40 Oz. to Freedom)

My first curveball, but at least it’s one I’m at least somewhat familiar with. Sublime was on extremely heavy rotation my freshman and sophomore years of college, well before I took an active interest in any music created after 1974. But I love reggae, and Bradley Nowell (R.I.P.) has a ridiculous set of pipes, so these guys grew on me. It didn’t hurt that one of my dorm-mates had two Sublime albums in his 3-disc changer for the duration of my freshman year. I think I learned to play cribbage listening to these guys. Great game.

This song isn’t one that I would have been able to recall off the top of my head, but I recognize it as being one of the passing tracks between more memorable ones, and the horn section (borrowed from that oldie song “Tequila” that Pee-Wee Herman danced to) rings a bell. The story line is devilishly complicated: it’s about waking up after a long night of partying hard and trying to piece together… wait for it… what happened. By far the most familiar line is that old chestnut, “She might be an angel. She may be a queen. She might be Black, White, American, Indian, or Japanese.”

She suuuuure might.