The Friday Five

Friday Five : |ˈfrÄ«dā – fÄ«v| : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button in iTunes and share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up the media player of your choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.

The Five:

“Till Next Tuesday” by James Iha (from Look to the Sky, 2012)

This record came way out of left field late last year. Iha, as I’m certain most of you are aware, was Billy Corgans’s first sparring partner in The Smashing Pumpkins. This record is completely the opposite of just about everything the Pumpkins put out during Iha’s tenure. Jangly, acoustic, poppy and bright; it’s a far cry from the aggro-rock he’s more associated with. Had I taken the time to actually formulate a top 20 for 2012, this record would have been a contender for the list.

“Ray Charles” by Chiddy Bang (from Breakfast, 2012)

For 100% desposable Hip-Hop, none do it better than Chiddy Bang. It’s almost like no one bothered to tell them that it isn’t the ’90s. It doesn’t matter, though; these guys have hooks for days and enough lyrical prowess to keep things interesting.

“Fortune Teller” by MarkÁ©ta IrglovÁ¡ (from Live from San Franciso, 2012)

A bit more Dead Can Dance than her normal singer-songwriter fare, this is a brave move for IrglovÁ¡. Clocking in at nearly seven minutes (including an extended vocal break featuring IrglovÁ¡ emoting) the tunes swirls around distinctly gypsy theme and fits well in this live set.

“Oh Yeah” by Aerosmith (from Music From Another Dimension, 2012)

Can you hear me yawning? I think my ears just popped. Okay, here’s a admission: this week’s Friday Five is coming courtesy of my trusty iPod, which does actually contain more than just music from 2012. I’m not entirely sure why nothing but tracks from the previous twelve months are shuffling up. This one, however, might just be my breaking point. We’ve been talking about legacy artists around the Popdose water cooler recently, and the assertion has been made that there are some artist that just shouldn’t continue to create new music. I put Aerosmith on that list.

“33” by Coheed and Cambria (from Neverender: Children of the Fence Edition (disc 1), 2009)

Performing your entire recorded history, in order, is a task few bands would be willing to take on. Recording it all for posterity is damn near foolish. Foolish for any band other than Coheed and Cambria, that is.

What’s on your shuffle today?

About the Author

Michael Parr

Husband, Father, Writer, Musical Voyeur, Pop Culture Glutton, Gourmet in Training. I'm the tall guy behind all these short guys. You can find me on the Twitter.

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