I suppose the whole point of these 3 Song Shuffle posts is the occasional embarrassing track that pops up. Otherwise, it might as well just be “3 Song Mix,” no? With that in mind, I humbly submit a freshie.
For those of you unfamiliar with the nature of these posts, they are shamelessly based on The A.V. Club’s Random Rules regular feature. Shuffle all the songs in your library and talk about whatever comes up, no cheating/skipping allowed. The key differences between Random Rules and 3 Song Shuffle:
- We are not even close to being famous, so you have no reason to be interested in what random garbage is on our iPods.
- These posts aren’t interviews with blatant edits of convenience to make the interviewer sound sharp.
- We give ya the tracks.
Let’s ride this pony.
“Detach” by Mobius Band (from The Loving Sounds of Static)
I first came across The Mobius Band thanks to Bruce Warren’s great music blog Some Velvet Blog. I liked what I heard on that post– blippy and poppy electric indie rock– and so I ran off to eMusic and impulsively downloaded more music than I could be expected to take in at once (as I am wont to do).
This song is the first off the album that I just plain never got around to. But I dig it. These guys aren’t afraid of getting a bit cheesy from time to time and, though that invariably doesn’t work out all the time, it often yields fun results, as it does here.
I hereby rank you four stars, little guy. I look forward to bumping into you on my shuffled smart playlists in the near future.
Also, these dudes went to school with Smitch, I think.
“Don’t Chu-Know” by Jimmy Buffett (from Barometer Soup)
Jesus. I don’t even know what to say. I mean, I went through a Jimmy Buffett phase that lasted all of three weeks in college. It was just experimentation, honest. During those days, I liked to say that anyone who didn’t like Jimmy Buffett simply had a stick up their ass. I know this, now that I am older and wiser, to be entirely untrue. It is perfectly acceptable to dislike Jimmy Buffett and his buffoonish caricature parrot-up-his-ass persona.
That said, I guess I keep these songs in my library for a reason. Like I am acknowledging that Yes, someday I will be 48 years old and married, on vacation with my wife and looking to really “kick back” and “forget it all” as we gingerly sip self-made mai tais between our sunburned lips in our Motel 6 room in Orlando. THEN I will NEED to be able to play “Grapefruit Juicyfruit” and “Boat Drinks” on the ol’ iPod to really capture the mood and transport us away from the dreary reality of life back in Muncie.
This song may actually be worth your listening to at the 2:58 mark onward just for its sheer ridiculousness. On second thought, never mind. I am going to delete this from my computer right now. I may even crack open my hard drive and scrub it clean.
“See No Evil [Alternate Version]“ by Television (from Marquee Moon)
Oh, hell yeah. How’s that for a little redemption, eh? Simply a classic rocking track from one of those bands that I should know way more about than I do (also see: Big Star, Band of Horses). If by some chance you haven’t heard this song before, listen up. I also recommend giving Tom Verlaine’s guest DJ appearance on the always-fantastic All Songs Considered a listen.
Jimmymontreal pointed me toward these guys, so there’s your hat tip.
Yeah, I did go to school with at least two of the guys from Mobius Band, and actually hung out with one of them a few times early in my freshman year. I’ve never listened to them, though, other than one track you gave me a while back. The one here is great — might have to get some more of these bastards.
The Jimmy Buffett song is a perfect example of a 3 song shuffle bitchslap. It also demonstrates that weird tendency that I know at least you and I share, where we have tons of shit on our iPods that we know is crap and would never want to listen to, but for some reason we can’t… bring ourselves… to delete it. But hey — who knows when some eccentric billionaire might run up to you on the street and say “I will give you thirty million dollars right now if you can play me Jimmy Buffett’s ‘Don’t Chu-Know.’ I love that freaking song and I’ve got money to burn.”
And the name of the album — Barometer Soup? Christ, man.
Ha ha. Love the Jimmy Buffett entry. You should be commended for your honesty. I totally would have cheated and skipped it. Not that there’s any Jimmy Buffett on my iPod — honest. There’s a funny piece in the latest issue of Wired about Buffett being a full-on corporate brand with burger franchises, flip flops and a host of other ridiculous enterprises. Apparently he’s one of the richest musicians in the world.