Saturday Grab Bag #2 · Mar 8, 05:33 PM by Don
Last week I brought up the topic of rapping. I had a post on singers testing the rap waters (people like Geddy Lee of Rush, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Bono of U2, and Cat Power) and one on the R.E.M. song, Radio Song. In that last post, I posted a version of “Radio Song” with Stipe filling in for KRS-ONE. For today’s Grab Bag, I’ll share a version of “The Outsiders” with Stipe-as-default-rapper. The original song (from the first R.E.M. album that disappointed me, the tepid Around the Sun) features Q-Tip. The video above is footage of the band playing the song at Rock Am Ring in March 2005.
mp3: R.E.M. – The Outsiders :: from iTunes Originals – R.E.M. (2004)
Next up is a song I’d never heard before this week from a band I’d never heard of, a scrappy punk number by Skull Kontrol. I found it on a 1999 Touch and Go sampler.
mp3: Skull Kontrol – New Rock Critic :: from Deviate Beyond All Means of Capture (1999)
Earlier in the week I did an Urge Overkill post with the song, “Dropout.” The venerable ice milk-based franchise, Dairy Queen, was mentioned. I free associated to the Indigo Girls song, “Dairy Queen,” home to some of my favorite opening lines:
I heard that you were drunk and mean
Down at the Dairy Queen
There’s just enough of you in me
For me to have sympathy
And take it in stride
mp3: Indigo Girls – Dairy Queen :: live version recorded at the Fillmore in San Francisco in November 2003, from All That We Let In (Bonus CD) (2004)
This next song has been sitting on the server patiently waiting. It is a textbook example of a ditty. That is, a short, simple song.
mp3: Jay Brannan – Soda Shop :: from the Shortbus soundtrack (2006)
Check out Brannan’s site here.
mp3: The Frogs – I Only Play 4 Money :: from Starjob (1997)
Read the first “Saturday Grab Bag” post here.
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Songs in the MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 format are offered for a limited time only. Songs that are no longer downloadable can be streamed at the Timedoor page at Hype Machine. Dead mp3 links take you to the top of page one.
Support your favorite artists by buying their music at your local independent record store or eMusic. And read about ‘em at TrouserPress.com.
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I am, funnily enough, listening to “Out of Time” and I cringe whenever I here the opening of “Radio Song”. It’s the rest of the record that makes it bearable. I didn’t mind the rapping so much on “The Outsiders” but Stipey shouldn’t do it.
I’m spinning a new site, A Free Man, out of my personal blog and am hoping to meet some like minded music bloggers. If you have the chance, take a look at my site and if you like it perhaps we could exchange blog roll listings.
All the best,
Chris
— Chris in Oxford Mar 10, 08:17 AM #