Week of April 9, 2012

1. "Turned Out"--Helmet, Meantime:
I really liked Helmet for about 2 years, starting when this album came out. Whenever I try to listen to this album now, it just doesn't hold my interest the way it used to. I still like a few of the songs, including this one. This song brags the lyric "High Times, Hard Times, Downtown, Julie Brown." The lead singer and guitarist has one of the most awesome rock n roll names, Page Hamilton. He dated Winona Ryder at some point. NO SHAME.

2. "Got Some"--Pearl Jam, Backspacer:
After the second Pearl Jam album, I ignored them for a long time. This album came out a couple of years ago with the lead single "The Fixer," which quickly became one of my favorite PJ songs. This song is strong as well, along with a few others on this album. The most recent Cameron Crowe documentary on the band, Pearl Jam Twenty, demonstrates how the band has really stayed true to their music and thrived even after all the super grunge hype. A good reintroduction to the band and NO SHAME.

3. "Domesticated Lovers"--Josh Rouse, Country Mouse, City House:
This album came out right after I moved to Colorado in 2007. I saw a web interview and performance (linked) by Josh Rouse promoting this album. He played this song and a couple of others off of this album that are great. I like this album and have picked up a couple of his other albums. It's pretty mellow, 70s style singer/songwriter stuff. Solid and definitely NO SHAME.

4. "You Really Got Me"--Van Halen, Pasadena Civic Auditorium (Live Bootleg):
Technically, this is "Eruption" and "You Really Got Me" recorded in the 70s around the time the first album came out. I don't remember where I got this bootleg, but the sound quality is pretty bad. Of course, the songs are awesome but kind of hard to listen to all the way through because of the poor quality. However, the version of "Eruption" alone is worthy of SHUFFLE GOLD!!

5. "Pen and Notebook"--Camera Obscura, Score! 20 Years of Merge Records, Volume 9: David Byrne:
I believe I have mentioned this before, but the Score! box set was the best idea for a box set that I have ever seen. Merge Records chose 12 different people (artists, actors, musicians, etc.) to curate CDs of Merge releases. Each person was given an ipod loaded with the full Merge catalog (I would love to have one of these), and he/she chose songs for a CD. They were originally sold as a subscription, so I received 2 CDs every 2 months throughout the year. Obviously, this song is a Merge release chosen by David Byrne to go on his curated disc. While I am not a huge fan of Camera Obscura, this is a nice song and has Byrne's stamp of approval. NO SHAME.