This is TOTALLY his fault (music meme)

[drwex]

trowa_barton put up this music meme, see. Like this:

Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
List (and upload/link) 5 songs you love that begin with that letter.
Post them to your journal with these instructions.

I was impressed by his assortment. He didn't just post five. He did five categories with multiple items in each. He shouted out to Hotel California, a song I particularly dislike. I replied in an offhand way that I don't really think of song titles anymore. Then he gave me a letter anyway, "F".

Well, frell. It turns out, surprise surprise, that I really don't listen to a lot of traditional song-structured stuff anymore. I listen to tracks and DJ mixes and mash-ups and... well, some of them have names and I guess they're often made up from things that were traditional songs once. But seriously I've been having a hard time coming up with names. It's frustrating, for example, that lots of songs have "Funk" in the title but don't start with that. Also, Fuck is amusing but I'm not that fond of the things I have that start with that, either.

Then there's the question of, if I list a song, which mix do I list? For example, I'm fond of "Flesh" by Jan Johnson, but it's damned hard to find a mix of it that isn't DJ Tiesto's remix. Tiesto's mix is quite good, by the way (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY5W30aKdf4).

But really there isn't much that I think of in terms of song titles. I don't think I can come up with five. This bugs me for nearly a full day and then... duh. It occurs to me that I've ripped a good chunk of my collection to iTunes, so pop that open sort by title and... oh hell. Now see what you've done? Also, life gets much easier if I'm allowed to claim that titles starting with "The Fxxxx" actually start with 'F'. I think MizA will support me here. I also freely confess I picked songs not because they're the best, but because they let me showcase and talk about great artists.

It's all trowa_barton's fault.

The Farthest Star - VNV Nation. They play this one live a lot and it's just insanely powerful when you're in a group of hundreds screaming this at the urging of the band.

Fashion - David Bowie. Mr Glam Rock himself doing some un-subtle commentary on certain elements of 'polite' high society. I think most people who listen to this song miss just how much it cuts at conformism and mindlessness.

Faded Flowers - Shriekback. I actually wanted "Feelers" but I couldn't find a vid/link. I think Feelers captures more of the frenetic energy that made Shriekback awesome; Faded Flowers is quieter and more orchestral. I also could've done "Fish Below the Ice" but that one has more appeal to people who are already Shriekback fans, I think.

Fear - Sarah McLachlan. Another tough choice. Sarah could be represented here by Fumbling Toward Ecstasy, which is more well-known. I picked this one in part because it's a live recording and you can hear, dear gods, what a voice this woman had. Maybe still has, but I haven't been as impressed lately as I was when I first heard her. With all the ranting I've done lately about over-autotuned bimbos who think they're singers I wanted to show something more like the voice that got my attention.

Fibonacci Sequence (Sasha remix) - BT. The original concept piece is brilliant: BT taking a well-known bit of math and building music around it. What Sasha does then is lift the concept and say "hell, yes, I can dance to that - let me prove it to you." You can listen to this and hear things that are still interesting and fresh today, even as they're being copied by thousands of DJs.

Fight For Your Right - Beastie Boys. This one is slightly cheating as the official name of the song is (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party). In 1986 this was in heavy rotation everywhere I listened and I was still trying to wrap my brain around the idea that yes, there were actual white people who could rap and not be completely fake posers. The fact that Beastie Boys never took themselves too seriously helped a lot.

Final Straw (MoveOn Mix) - REM. This is one of REM's well-known political anthems. The MoveOn mix is a little more bass and synth than the original jangly guitars version, and I think Stipe's voice comes through better on this one.

Finally Black - Amy X Neuberg. This one popped up on my Pandora station one day and I just sat transfixed for it. Her voice is pained and beautiful and the song is odd in tempo and sound. People throw around the word "unique" these days so much it's hard to find real meaning in it. I think this track is unique.

First Recollection - Cowboy Junkies. Possibly the best man-woman-guitar band ever. This recording, which is all I was able to dig up, is a low-quality live that's heavy on the electric guitar and doesn't do Margo Timmins' voice justice. How a band from Toronto sounded more Austin than 80% of Austin bands is a mystery I've never solved.

The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) - Yes. Although the song is credited to Yes, it's really Chris Squire. Possibly the most underrated bassist of all time, Squire's solos at live Yes shows were incendiary. Epic. He pulled sounds out of that instrument I had never heard before and didn't hear again until Flea/RHCP appeared. The bass guitar is usually there for backup and covering the low ranges while the lead guitar(s) go front, up, and center. Squire, despite playing with one of the best lead guitarists ever, never took a back seat unless he wanted to and could do something cool with it.

Five Man Army - Massive Attack. This song let Tricky separate himself from the M.A. ensemble, using their rich and multilayered sound to launch himself and his jazz-rap fusion sound right into your ears. The first time I heard M.A. I said "Wow, someone wrote music to get stoned and fuck to." Still true.

Flesh - KMFDM. Back in the dark ages I was trying to woo Pygment and we were going to be in the same city at the same time. I noticed that there was going to be a KMFDM show in town during that time and I told her to get us tickets. She'd never heard of them, wasn't sure, hesitated. Do it; trust me. Never regretted it, have you?

The Fly - U2. Now that they've become Big Important Tax-Evading Rock Stars it's sometimes hard to remember that once upon a time U2 were a seriously kick-ass rock band, who could pour intensity and passion and lyricism into a simple 4-minute rock and roll track. Bono playing at being Bowie is also amusing as hell.

The Fool On The Hill (Remastered) - The Beatles. Once upon a time I owned not just the White Album but the red and blue albums (who here is old enough to know what I mean by that?) and I played them on my crappy LP turntables until they wore out. I'm no longer much of a Beatles fan, but even I have to admit that the remastering was brilliant - it restores and cleans up without making the sound too crisp or too digital. It brings back some childhood memories.

Fool's Paradise - Oingo Boingo. Much of an ilk with Shriekback, but somewhat better known and with more Top 40 radio airplay, Oingo Boingo was just weird enough to be interesting but not so weird as to fall out of the mainstream. I think of this as fun party music, as we played Dead Man's Party at more than a few beer bashes.

Fools Gold - The Stone Roses. One of the great sad shoulda-woulda stories. The Stone Roses were supposed to be pioneers of a new "Manchester sound" that had jazz fusion influences mixed with standard rock structures. Then they got tangled up in contract crap, couldn't keep the band together, and poof. Left some nice tunes behind, though, and this is one of them.

Forest Hymn - Deep Forest. Of all the things that got overplayed and overdone to the point of becoming a self-parody, Deep Forest probably is in the top 5 ever. It's hard to remember that it was started in the early 90s by a couple of guys who fell in love with Pygmy culture and wanted to do something to help them counter the environmental devastation that was wrecking their homelands. Found sound and world music have been around a long time, but Deep Forest popularized them and got mainstream notice for them, which is worth remembering.

Forgot about Dre - Dr Dre featuring Eminem. Took me a while to find an uncensored version of this. This is Dre's huge middle finger raised to the music scene that he felt conveniently forgot him even as it went on idolizing the acts he found and produced. Considering how much money he's made from the producer's chair, and from sale of his companies, I wonder if he still feels the same way.

Forgotten Years - Midnight Oil. Australia's answer to REM, Midnight Oil was a political band with teeth and dear gods could they perform. Their studio albums were tame; their live shows were roaring. I remember seeing them do this song in 97 in Austin at a converted theater whose AC system could not keep up with the hundreds of thrashing bouncy sweaty bodies. The band was wilting, even after they got most of the stage lights turned off. Eventually some kind roadie brought in 10-gallon buckets filled with water bottles in ice water. The band pulled out all the bottles and then Peter Garrett chucked 100 gallons of ice water out over the audience to cool us off as well.

Fortune Teller - Sugar. Another of the people I'm amazed doesn't get more respect is Bob Mould. I was not that big a fan of Husker Du, but when he broke out on his own as Sugar it was electrifying. His high-speed thrashing guitar work is wrapped with lyricality and talent that just shines. He's still got the punk edge, though.

Fortunes of War (Vaporized Mix) - Funker Vogt. I can't remember who I have to thank for this one - Purple was this you? This is a thunderous mix of Vogt's with Velvet Acid Christ. Goth and metal and hard edges pushing you to dance. More, please.

Fractal Zoom - Brian Eno. Eno doing almost conventional electronic rock; it's like he listened to Jan Hammer one day and said "hunh, I could do that, only better" and so he did. Eno is too big to talk about in a few sentences. Just enjoy the music.

Freedom of Choice - Devo. I can't tell you how happy I am that there's a Devo tune that fit my given letter. Devo, and this song, was significantly important in preserving what little sanity I had by senior year of high school. That story is too long to fit in the margins here; maybe later. Freedom of choice is what you've got / freedom from choice is what you want!

Freefall - Laurie Anderson. If you thought I was going to let this go by without somehow sneaking in a Laurie Anderson tune... well, you don't know me very well. Freefall isn't all that remarkable as Anderson tunes go. It has a lot of the ambient sound and influences that I think she picked up from Eno, but it's still her in storyteller mode. I still prefer her more performance-oriented pieces to things like this with more song structure but, hey, it's Laurie Anderson. Yanno?

Friday I'm in Love - The Cure. I totally won with this one. The Cure get remembered for being heavy and dreary and emo and, frankly, boring. But sometimes they forgot about all that and kicked back for a fun tune. This is particularly true for their love songs, of which this is one. I confess that I sang along with this one and more than one girlfriend or wanted-as-girlfriend.

Funk the Tribe - Ash Dargan. I came across this when I was looking for funk tunes to include and it definitely has some funk influences but that's not how I think of Ash Dargan. He is an accomplished didgeridoo player with a wide eclectic reach. I first heard his music at a party and just stopped, dropped my bag, and ran over to where the music player was to find out whose CD it was and what the hell was playing. Amazing stuff if you can track it down.

Funky Monks - Red Hot Chili Peppers. Another one I tripped over while searching for F-leading funk tunes. RHCP aren't exactly a funk band but they're unashamedly funk-influenced and this tune has both the bowa-bow funk bass line and the classic back-up singers.

Furious Angels - Rob Dougan. Another one with several similar mixes. This is the original, which contains the more prominent riffs people remember from The Matrix (that tune is called "Clubbed to Death" if you're wondering). Dougan seems to have been a one-hit wonder and this wasn't that hit.

The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades - Timbuk 3. If Cowboy Junkies are the best man-woman-guitar band, these guys were the best man-woman-beatbox act ever. I remember seeing them performing on a street corner in Austin, not realizing at the time that it was a promo stunt for their first album. It was Austin, it was 1986. You could see a lot of weird stuff on the street corners there, then.


If you somehow made it through all that and out the other side, more power to you. If not, that's OK too.

Comments

[sariel-t.livejournal.com]

Have you heard A Perfect Circle's cover of Freedom of Choice? It's pretty damn good, though admittedly I'm rather enamored of eMotive in general.

No, haven't heard that one

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

Sounds nice. What is eMotive?

Re: No, haven't heard that one

[sariel-t.livejournal.com]

eMotive is the third, and my favorite, album by A Perfect Circle. The entire album is covers and a few originals of political songs. It's just... it's just fantastic. The mood, the voice, the carry through the album. One of the few albums in my library that I can listen to, happily, from start to end.