Sunday Random 10

We actually did the shuffle last Sunday morning, but the rest of the day (and week, as it turned out) got busy and we never posted, so you get a two-fer today.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

01/23/2011
Al Green - Let's Get Married
Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey - Geometry
Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
Talking Heads - Love --> Building on Fire
Joe Henry - Shut Me Up
Girlyman - Could Have Guessed
Bob Dylan - Man on the Street
Michael Smith - The Dutchman
Dan Zanes - Lo Que Digo
Professor Longhair - Tipitina (Live)

01/30/2011
Wilco - Airline to Heaven (live)
Joe Henry - Our Song
The Hold Steady - Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night
Lookbook - Real Love
Crowded House - Better Be Home Soon
Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy
The Beatles - All My Loving
The Who - See Me, Feel Me
Janelle Monae - Sir Greendown
Kirsty MacColl - Caroline

Lotsa really good stuff there. "Geometry" and "Better Be Home Soon" are gorgeous pieces of pop, Muddy's vocal is ferocious and spine-tingling, and Joe Henry's "Our Song" is nothing short of amazing.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10 (Monday Morning Edition)

Crazy busy day yesterday so we shuffled up the iPod this morning at work.

And promptly forgot to log the first ten.

Fortunately, there's the "Last Played" column, so Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Aaron Neville - Let's Live

Tom Waits - Live Circus

Aaron Neville - You've Got to Move

Professor Longhair - How Long Has That Train Been Gone

Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Gimme Some Truth

The Animals - Gonna Send You Back to Walker

XTC - The Last Balloon

Johnny Cash - Big River

Bob Dylan - Farewell

Jonathan Rundman - I'm a Liar

The Nano must be sick of the snow and ready for Mardi Gras with the two Aaron Neville tunes and the 'Fess tune stacked up front. Can you blame it?

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Danged Good Stuff

Let's praise some terrific stuff from the teevee and the intertoobz this past week.

First, if you haven't already seen it, go watch the first five minutes of Jon Stewart hammering Fox News' criticism of the Tucson memorial service. After Laura Ingraham, Charles Krauthammer (we're guessing), and David Gergen wring their hands over the behavior of the crowd, the perpetually smug Michael Gerson concludes with "You can either have a pep rally or a memorial service. You can't have both." Stewart sends that hanging curveball into orbit:

You ever been to an Irish wake? I've never been sadder and laughed harder in my life. And I got news for you guys: "Amen" ain't that far from "woo hoo!"

Then at Slacktivist, TWDQ's favorite blog, Fred Clark takes apart Brit Hume's petty complaints about the Native American blessing that opened the service:

If Brit Hume would like, he could arrange to host a seminar on comparative religion, a forum for discussing the merits and demerits of burning sage or blessing the four-legged creatures or turning to the four corners of the world. In such a forum he'd be free to tell us what sort of rituals, prayers or blessings he prefers, what sort of rituals, prayers and blessing he doesn't care for, and why.

But if Hume ever shows up at a funeral or a memorial service or any other gathering of mourners, his job there is to shut up and mourn with those who mourn.

Amen (and woo hoo!), Fred.

Lastly, if this video of a tune by one of TWDQ's favorite musicians doesn't want to make you move to Fayetteville, NY just for the cool public library and librarians, we have to talk:



We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word

An aide to former half-term Gov. Sarah Palin says the crosshairs on this map--since scrubbed from her PAC website--were "surveyors' marks", not rifle sights.

TWDQ respectfully calls bullshit and offers This Week's Discussion Question:

What the hell ever happened to "We're sorry, we were wrong."?

Please keep the discussion civil and feel free to wander off into "If they were surveyors' marks, why remove the map from your site?" or "Why did Sarah herself call them 'bulls-eyes' in a tweet?" or "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Discuss.

Calmly.

Sunday Random 10

Here's what the little green Nano shuffled up on this sad, sad Sunday morning:

Fountains of Wayne - Revolving Dora
Jonathan Rundman - Chopin's Heart
The Hold Steady - Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night
Split Enz - History Never Repeats
Split Enz - Matinee Idyll (129)
Peter Wolf - Overnight Lows
Wilco - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (live)
Pete Special - St. James Infirmary
Ray Charles & Diana Krall - You Don't Know Me
The Coasters - That Is Rock & Roll

The Nano seems to be exploring the new Split Enz compilation we picked up in November, but hasn't chosen anything from the Christmas/year end shopping acquisitions.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Happy New Year! Let's see what the little green Nano shuffled up today.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Over the Rhine - Born
Uncle Tupelo - Give Back the Key to My Heart
Split Enz - I Walk Away
Jonathan Rundman - Get Behind the Wheel
The Beatles - A Taste of Honey
Beki Hemingway - Simplicity
The Kinks - You Really Got Me
Los Straitjackets - Ana (Anna)
The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno
Dan Zanes & Friends - I'm Flying

Nothing from the Christmas gifts or year-end shopping acquisitions. Hmmm. Still some really good stuff here, since four of these tunes (the opener and the last three) made one of our year-end Faves CDs.

As always, feel free to post your own tens in the comments.

All the best for a great 2011 from TWDQ!

We now return you to...yeah, like there's a fresh question being discussed.

Sunday Random 10

Hope you're enjoying a great holiday weekend! Didn't load anything new onto the Nano this week, so let's see what popped up this morning.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

The Waterboys - World Party
Vigilantes of Love - Unsuccessful
Gear Daddies - Dream Vacation
Vince Guaraldi - Treat Street
XTC - Greenman
Split Enz - Shark Attack
Otis Redding - Respect
Bruce Springsteen - The Promise
Derek & The Dominos - Tell the Truth
Otis Redding - These Arms of Mine

And one more since you've all been so good this year:
The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues

Guess the Nano wanted to hear some non-Charlie Brown Christmas Guaraldi and really wanted to hear a lot of Mike Scott and Otis. The title tune from Springsteen's "Darkness" leftovers is a terrific song.

As always, feel free to post your own random tens from your own devices down in the comments.

Thanks to all three of you who read this regularly for another great year!

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question (The Intelligence Committee? Heh.), already in progress.

Sunday Random Ten

Let's see what the little green Nano has for us this week!

Let's... Hit... Shuffle!

Bob Dylan - Tomorrow Is a Long Time
Eric Lugosch - Good News
Los Lobos - On Main Street
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Maggie May
Johnny Rivers - John Lee Hooker
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - I'll Still Be True
The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio
Girlyman - Soldiers
Vince Guaraldi - Star Song

Didn't pick up any of the holiday tunes we loaded last week, but there's a interesting little juxtaposition of a couple of great 70's political songs by The Who and CSN&Y.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question (Wow, Fox News viewers are the most misinformed! Who knew?), already in progress.

Sunday Random 10 (Snowpocalypse Edition)

Greetings! TWDQ HQ is shoveled and blown out from the fifth worst blizzard in recorded history in our native state, so here's this week's shuffle, along with last week's. (We had last Sunday's mix all ready to go, but just didn't find time to post it, so you're getting another tw0-fer this week!)

Let's... Hit... Shuffle!

12/05/2010
Marshall Crenshaw - What Do You Dream Of?
The Replacements - Never Mind
Fountains of Wayne - Yolanda Hayes
Split Enz - Years Go By
The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes
Steve Dawson - Sweet is the Anchor
Barbara Lewis - Hello Stranger
Del Amitri - Being Somebody Else
Bill Evans Trio - My Foolish Heart
XTC - Life Begins at the Hop

12/12/2010
The Temptations - Don't Look Back
John Stirratt - Wayfaring Stranger
Rosanne Cash - Motherless Children
Bruce Springsteen - Ties That Bind
Old 97's - W. TX Teardrops
The Rolling Stones - Tumbling Dice
Over the Rhine - Cruel and Pretty
Them - Baby Please Don't Go
Ted & Marcia Johnson - Erie Canal
Miles Davis - Flamenco Sketches

We should note that the version of "Erie Canal" (from the Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook - Vol. 1, as is the tune by Wilco bassist Stirratt) doesn't mention a mule named Sal. It's the cool one they didn't teach you in school, whose chorus goes: "Oh, the Er-i-e was risin'/The gin was gettin' low/You'd scarcely think we'd get a drink/Till we get to Buffalo, oh, oh/Till we get to Buffalo." Sal, schmal, we'd have loved singing that in elementary school.

As always, feel free to post your own random tens in the comments.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("Is this a sign of hope for America?"), already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend! We're especially thankful for little green Nanos that shuffle up great music, so let's see what it has for us this week.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Mumford & Sons - The Cave
Adam Again - It Is What It Is
Legendary Shack Shakers - Nightride
Old 97's - Over the Cliff
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Nobody's Baby
Girlyman - House Song
Johnny Cash - There You Go
Over the Rhine - Changes Come
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Without a Heart
Fountains of Wayne - Fire Island

As always, feel free to post your own tens in the comments.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question (C'mon! Is there no one else in Washington on Sunday mornings?), already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Let's see what the little green Nano shuffled up yesterday!

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
Los Lobos - Tears of God
Wilco - I'm Always in Love
Crowded House - Mean to Me
Talking Heads - This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
Talking Heads - Once In a Lifetime
Adam Again - Worldwide
Alice Cooper - I'm Eighteen
Diane Birch - Fools
Rosanne Cash - Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow

Nothing from Mr. Springsteen's new double-disc set (which is good, but also proves that he rather astutely chose what made the cut for Darkness on the Edge of Town), but some of our all-time favorite artists are in this list. We were concerned that there wasn't going to be anything from the 21st century until Ms. Birch and Ms. Cash came through at the bottom of the batting order.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question (Sarah Palin, voracious reader?), already in progress.

Sunday Random Ten

It's Sunday! In the space of one week, we went from raking leaves to blowing snow at TWDQ HQ, so we spent the morning looking out at the fresh blanket of white, listening to what the little green Nano cooked up.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

The Beatles - Long Tall Sally
This Train - Great Atomic Power
The Hold Steady - Banging Camp
Elvis Presley - Baby Let's Play House
Peter Wolf - Lying Low
Erik Brandt - Hanna Marie
Tom Waits - Goin' Out West (live)
Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey - Geometry
Neville Brothers - Hey Pocky Way
Al Green - Let's Get Married

Lots of great stuff here, kids. We're starting out with the Fab Four again, followed by a band near and dear to our hearts covering the Louvin Brothers making evangelical hay while the Cold War shone, and there's some Elvis from the room we once wept in. It liked Peter Wolf so much it played the same song again this week, delivered a lullaby from a great local guy whose day job is teaching at our alma mater, Mr. Waits' making big plans for the coast ("I don't need no makeup, I got real scars"), a pop gem from the former dB's, then the Nevilles at their funkiest and, bringing us back to Memphis, the Reverend Al.

Feel free to post your own random tens in the comments.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question (Could we get this chart plastered everywhere in the next few weeks, please?), already in progress.

Miss You (revisited)

We have a follow-up to a previous edition of This Week's Discussion Question!

Yep, no one misses you, Mr. President.

Of course, maybe it's easily explainable. Here's This Week's Discussion Question:

Do you suppose all the conservatives were over at ABC watching Dancing with the Stars, where there's a chance a Palin could actually win?

Discuss.

Update: Yeah, that might be where they were.

Sunday Random 10

Had the Sabbath gasbags on briefly this morning at TWDQ HQ, but after a few minutes of Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) on ABC's This Week, we could hear brain cells screaming so we decided it was time to fire up the Nano.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

The Beatles - I Saw Her Standing There
Kirsty MacColl - He's on the Beach
Wilco - Say You Miss Me
Neil Finn - Truth
Vince Guaraldi - Oh, Good Grief
Peter Wolf - Lying Low
Preservation Hall Jazz Band (feat. Jason Isbell) - Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
Stevie Wonder - Golden Lady
Allen Toussaint - St. James Infirmary
Wilson Pickett - I'm in Love

Kinda cool to have this week's shuffle kick off with that great "One, Two, Three, Faw!" and we think the Preservation Hall Jazz Band record is lobbying to be named Album of the Year. Really good stuff, kids.

Feel free to post your own tens in the comments.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question (Seriously, you 6th Districters, what the hell were you thinking?), already in progress.

Sunday Random 10 (Wednesday recount edition)

Did this week's shuffle while raking the back 40 of TWDQ HQ Sunday, but when we came inside to back through the tracks to jot 'em down for posting, we inadvertently reset the Nano's shuffle, so we created another shuffle on Monday morning. Since then, things have been kinda busy.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle! (Again!)

- The Smiths - Ask

- Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - She May Call You Up Tonight

- Robbie Fulks - Fountains of Wayne Hotline

- The Beatles - Act Naturally

- Crowded House - Locked Out

- Paul Simon - Ace in the Hole

- Fountains of Wayne - Barbara H. (live)

- The Smiths - Hand in Glove

- The Who - The Real Me

- Stevie Wonder - He's Misstra Know It All

The Nano continues to like the newly-acquired Smiths collections and we get some real Fountains of Wayne to go along with Robbie Fulks' absolutely brilliant ode to the pop geniuses' stellar customer support.

As always, feel free to post your own random tens in the comments.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("What the hell is wrong with voters in the 6th District?"), already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Hey! We're posting on time! (Don't get used to it...)

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!!!

Professor Longhair - Looka, No Hair
Crowded House - Everything is Good for You
Talking Heads - I Wish You Wouldn't Say That
Van Morrison - Sweet Thing
Phoenix - Armistice
Elliott Smith - Last Call
Joe Henry - Richard Pryor Addresses a Tearful Nation
The Smiths - Nowhere Fast
The Lamont Cranston Band - Keep on Drivin'
The Jayhawks - The Liquor Store Came First

Only a Smiths tune from our more recent acquisitions, but some old favorites popped up this week, like one from Crowded House's Recurring Dream best-of (our musical comfort food), one from Joe Henry's terrific Scar (the soundtrack to the painting of the living room at the old TWDQ HQ), and a couple songs from a couple of great local bands to wrap up.

Feel free to post your own random tens in the comments.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question (So what exactly DO Muslims wear?), already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Time to find out what the little green Nano offers up this week.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

Johnny Rivers - Mountain of Love
John Legend & The Roots - Shine
Son Volt - Route
Wild Tchoupitoulas - Here Dey Come
Bill Evans Trio -My Foolish Heart
Neville Brothers - Performance
The Beatles - Pepperland
Old 97s - Mama Tried (live)
Steve Dawson - Worry Worry Worry
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Maggie May

Let's see. There's our all-time favorite Johnny Rivers song; a track from the fine new Legend/Roots collaboration; a couple doses of New Orleans; more evidence that the Nano loves the $1 copy of Evans's Waltz for Debby; a mental note that the next time we need room for more tunes, the orchestral tracks from "Yellow Submarine can go; and Mr. Sweet & Ms. Hoffs reminding us that Rod Stewart, who's about to release volume five of his Great American Sedative Songbook albums on Tuesday, was a critically and commercially acclaimed artist making records that were anything but phoned-in.

Shuffle up your own device and share your random ten in the comments.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10 for 10/10/10 (and belated random 10)

Here's what the little green Nano shuffled up on these last couple of unseasonably fabulous autumn Sundays. Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

10/03/2010
Fountains of Wayne - The Girl I Can't Forget
Phoenix - Lisztomania
Jonathan Rundman - Grace is Crying Her Eyes Out
The Replacements - We're Coming Out
Jonathan Rundman - The Prophetstown Tornado
U2 - Zoo Station
Bill Mallonee - Wintergreen
Dan Zanes & Friends - Thumbelina
Frontier Ruckus - Nerves of the Nightmind
Preservation Hall Jazz Band (feat. Cory Chisel) - Some Cold Rainy Day

10/10/2010
Bill Evans Trio - Milestones
Thee Midniters - Whittier Blvd.
Fountains of Wayne - Stacy's Mom
Peter Case - Put Down the Gun
Aaron Neville - Waiting at the Station
Laura Nyro - Be Aware
Jackson Browne - Fountain of Sorrow
Muddy Waters - Walkin' Thru the Park
Dave Rawlings Machine - It's Too Easy
The Bangles - Bell Jar

Didn't think quickly enough to load a 10cc album on there. Oh well.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question, already in progress.

Sunday Random 10

Been busy, blah, blah, blah. Thanks for your patience. Here's what the little green Nano's shuffled up the last three Sundays.

Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

09/12/2010
Jill Scott - Bedda at Home
Robert Cray Band - Chicken in the Kitchen
The Ike Reilly Assassination - When Irish Eyes Are Burning
The Smiths - Girlfriend in a Coma
Nick Lowe - Let's Stay In and Make Love
The Replacements - Swingin' Party
Nick Lowe - I Live on a Battlefield
Ivy - Be My Baby
Elvis Costello - Radio, Radio
The Bill Evans Trio - Waltz for Debby (Take 1)

09/19/2010
Lucy Wainwright Roche - Bridge
The Bill Evans Trio - My Foolish Heart
Steve Dawson - Ten Thousand Pounds
Preservation Hall Jazz Band (feat. Pete Seeger & Tao Rodriguez-Seeger) - Blue Skies
Erik Brandt - 1-4-5
Elvis Presley - I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone (Slow Version)
Neil Young - Harvest
Patty Griffin (feat. Julie Miller) - Coming Home to Me
Jonathan Rundman - Dialysis Carpool
Lucy Wainwright Roche - Poison

09/26/2010
The Kinks - Tired of Waiting for You
Neil Finn - Dream Date
The Kinks - All Day and All of the Night
Dan Zanes & Friends - I Don't Need Anything But You
Old 97's - Can't Get a Line
Los Lobos w/Mavis Staples - Someday
The Beatles - Because
The Beatles - I Me Mine
Brian Wilson - Summertime
Tom Waits - Get Behind the Mule (Live)

"Summertime," from the new Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, was a fantastic tune to listen to in the car on this gorgeous first Sunday of autumn.

Feel free to shuffle up your device and post your own random tens in the comments.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question--and hey, we just had one!--already in progress.

Sorry, Charlie, for the imposition...

The Minnesota Family Council and the National Organization for Marriage are running a TV ad complaining that gubernatorial candidates Mark Dayton (DFL) and Tom Horner (Ind.) favor "imposing gay 'marriage' on Minnesotans" by not supporting the right of the people of Minnesota vote to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Interestingly, the ad opens with shots of a women's suffrage rally, a banner from the Selma march, and a shot of the U.S. Constitution fading to Dr. Martin Luther King, trumpeting the importance of the right to vote.

Watch:


So here are This Week's Discussion Questions:

How do you think a vote on voting rights for women would have gone around the turn of the 20th century?


How do you think a vote on civil rights for blacks would have gone in Alabama in 1965?


Is this a road you really want to go down?


Really?

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Would this 'imposition' turn my traditional marriage 'gay'?" or "Biblical view of marriage? How many wives did Solomon have again? Not counting concubines, of course."

Discuss.