Friday Five : |ˈfrÄ«dÄ – 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:
“Pulling on a Line” by Great Lake Swimmers (from Lost Channels, 2009)
For all the attention that the likes for Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes received in 2009, I’m surprised that Great Lake Swimmers didn’t gather more moss among the indie folk fan base. I don’t always recommend that my faithful readers go out and listen to any of the tunes that shuffle up in the Friday Five, but I’m going to make an exception here; this is a damn worthy tune, and band. If you dig the your singer/songwriter vibe with a healthy dose of vocal harmonies and bit of Americana mixed in, you’ll likely find something to like here.
“Not Feelin’ the Love” by R. Kelly (from Love Letter, 2010)
Goddammit. I didn’t want to like this tune. It’s R&B balladry by the numbers. It’s almost a pastiche of the very thing Kelly perfected in the ’90s. It almost sounds like Kelly cribbing from acolyte, Ne-Yo. Maybe he’s trying to channel MJ, and just ends up sounding like Ne-Yo. Goddammit, this song is good. I mean, it is instantly stuck in your head, old school, grown folks music good.
“Bonfire” by Childish Gambino (from Camp, 2011)
“Man, why does every black actor gotta rap some?” / I don’t know, all I know is I’m the best one
No joke. If you don’t know, Childish Gambino is the nom de plume of Donald Glover; the funny guy on that show ya’ll love, Community. Having never watched the show, I didn’t make the correlation until I saw his stand up special on Comedy Central. Dude is as funny as he is lethal with the rhymes.
“Kate” by Ben Folds Five (from Whatever and Ever Amen, 1997)
Earlier this year I made waves in the Popdose camp with my unilateral endorsement of the new Ben Folds Five record. You see, I’ve long been on record as rather disliking Mr. Folds and his merry men. I don’t know what it is; his music has never connected with me, and more often than not it’s turned me off. This tune is perfectly pleasant, and utterly forgettable.
“Summer Breeze” by Seals & Crofts (from Even More Dazed and Confused, 1994)
It’s almost as if the Digging for Gold series wants to linger just a bit longer, eh? I have a very detached affinity for this song. I don’t recall it playing in my parent’s car, or any such nostalgic tie; I just genuinely love the oh-so-gentle rocking.
What’s on your shuffle today?
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