Thursday, April 21, 2022

Song of the Day: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana


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My song of the day, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, song is a symphony of rage and angst by a band with an innate sense of dynamics and a pile-driver beat. Hooray, posthumously, for Kurt Cobain, an anti-hero who screamed so that we should not have to scream. (Although most of us still scream along.)


With David Grohl's head-banging, hair-tossing, full-body drumming and Kurt's tragicd good looks and "I was over it 20 years ago" delivery, it's easy to lose track of bassist Krist Novoselic, whom I just learned co-founded the band,

He's integral too, supporting the song with four-chord equations so simple and catchy that the only possible answer is a mosh pit.

--Sarah Torribio


Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Song of the Day: "Wheel's on Fire" by Siouxsie and the Banshees

 

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I've only just discovered that my song of the day, "Wheel's On Fire" by Siouxsie and the Banshees is a cover by a song Bob Dylan performed with The Band. that then leads me to understand every song on "Through the Looking Glass"  and consequently many on the live album "Nocturne" are covers. 

Their version of "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop is a revelation, by the way. Anyhow,  I like the Bob Dylan version, the original well. It's very slow and lonesome and western and low-fi. It must have been influential for lonesome-sounding Andrew Byrd. 

But at the moment I prefer Siouxsie's version, probably because I heard it first. It's got momentum. 


Sunday, February 6, 2022

Song of the Day: "Black Summer" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

 


 

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My song of the Day is "Black Summer" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, off their brand-new album called, wait for it . . .  Black Summer.

 Come on. It's the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. When they put out a new song, there's always going to come a moment when I turn my futuristic, Tron-like, Gary Numan-like chair around and push the button like one of the judges on The Voice

This band, which after years of flirting finally won me over with their Californication album, has amazing durability and staying power.

 

—Sarah Torribio

Song of the Day: "FLAG (Feel Like A Girl)" by Coach Party

 
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This song, "FLAG" by Coach Party, is a gift to the world. The guitars range from the emotional cheat-sheet that is a power chord to a discordant symphony. Dig the frontal assault of rage from a woman who's beyond had it. It's like the '90s all over but more polished and with an English accent. 

—Sarah Torribio


Song of the Day: "Hyperballad" by Björk

 

 
 
 

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Some people just go jogging. My song of the day is "Hyperballad" by Björk.

Thursday, February 3, 2022

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Song of the Day: "Six Different Ways" by The Cure

 


 
 
 

I just realized yesterday something I'd forgotten, that "Six Different Ways" by The Cure, off the lads' 1985 album The Head on the Door, is the best song in the world. 

The writer in me wants to somehow evoke the production, which ranges from sweeping violin to introspective but upbeat toy instrument riffs. To say there's heroin and fairy dust on this album. To risk scoffing by suggesting that, just maybe, the production on this sound is equal if not better to: The Beatles on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band"; Phil Spector's girl group wall-of-sound; and Quincy Jones dance floor-on-fire micro- to macro layering on Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

But that would be pedantic, and very possibly inaccurate. How does a music writer even try to describe Robert Smith and The Cure. (Don't get me started on the weird charm of Robert Smith side-project The Glove, whose "Blue Sunshine" album is a mashup of The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees. That's saying something)

But instead I've decided to keep my loop-accompanying review simple and heartfelt. 

I just realized yesterday something I'd forgotten, that "Six Different Ways" by The Cure is the best song in the world.


Sarah Torribio

Song of the Day: "Sleep to Dream" by Fiona Apple

 



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Doesn't this song get cooler every year? My song of the day, "Sleep to Dream, is one of the best off Fiona Apple's stunning 1996 debut, Tidal.


Sarah Torribio

Song of the Day: "Bound for the Floor" by Local H





I just got a hankering for this catchy and angsty number. The rhyme scheme of the chorus is like some perfect math equation. And if you haven’t screamed out “You know you’re so pathetic!” in your car, you haven’t lived.  

My song of the day is "Bound for the Floor" by Local H.

-- Sarah Torribio