Shuffled Wednesday - The Ides of January

Had a cold start to Wednesday here, so let's see what kind of warmth the Blue iPod Touch has to offer.

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

Steve Earle - Someday

Neko Case & Her Boyfriends - Guided By Wire

Carrie Newcomer - The Season Of Mercy

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - The Way You Look Tonight

Del Amitri - Don't Come Home Too Soon

The Dukes Of Stratosphear - The Mole From The Ministry

Steve Earle - N.Y.C.

Los Lobos - River Of Fools (Live)

The Beatles - Let It Be (Album Version - 2021 Mix)

SlipJig - St. Anne's Reel/The Musical Priest

Bonus 11

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Wait Until Tomorrow

We begin with Steve Earle from his debut and later, a rocker from the excellent "El Corazon" album. Neko Case's barroom twang leads into Carrie Newcomer's Midwestern folk. The Brubeck is from the "Jazz at Oberlin" album, when college students were being bitten by the jazz bug, recorded in Finney Chapel (designed by MN capitol architect Cass Gilbert #LocalAngle). We were in that room several times while the younger son was attending there. Picked up a Del Amitri Best of recently and boy, can they deliver the tuneful rock. The Dukes are the cool XTC psychedelic-rock side-project, Los Lobos--the Greatest American Rock 'n Roll Band--check in with a live cut from a Best of collection. Sir Paul and the boys sing about Mother Mary, and we get one from a friend's fine fiddle/guitar duo album. 

Jimi's the bonus, from an album that was released ON THIS VERY DAY in 1968.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("How many gin & tonics constitute a healthy breakfast?"), already in progress.

 

Shuffled Wednesday - Week Two

Happy Wednesday! Time to see what the ol' iPod Touch serves up this week.

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

R.E.M. - Nightswimming
Graham Parker - Hotel Chambermaid
Prince & The Revolution - Anotherloverholenyohead
Los Straitjackets - Popotitos (Bony Maronie) (Starring Cesar Rosas)
Crowded House - I Can't Keep Up With You
John Denver - Leaving, On A Jet Plane
Steve Dawson - Leadville
Robin Lane and The Chartbusters - It'll Only Hurt a Little While
The Jayhawks - Big Star
The Ventures - Cruel Sea

Bonus 11
Bettye LaVette - No Time to Live

"Nightswimming" usually winds things down, but nicely opens the list up today. Graham Parker's solo set followed by The Belfast Cowboys on the bowling lawn on the roof of Brit's Pub in mid-July has been my favorite show for the last decade. Prince checks in from the fine "Parade" album. Los Straitjackets' "Rock en Español Vol. One" is a blast and Rosas's bandmate Louie Perez's liner notes are worth the price of admission. Unlike last week, there's a couple of tracks from this past year and the devastating "Leadville" is on my list of 2024 favorites. Denver's song was a hit for Peter Yarrow, who left us yesterday, and his bandmates. Some fun Jayhawks, surf guitar from The Ventures, and the bonus is a Traffic song from Bettye LaVette's excellent album of British rock covers.   

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("The Gulf of America? What the...?"), already in progress. 

Please keep the discussion civil and do not wander off into "Greenland? What the...?"

Discuss.

Shuffled Wednesday - New Year's Day 2025

Happy New Year! I figured we'd help deal with the fresh hell that 2025 will be serving up regularly by reviving this blog. 

(I originally planned to do this on Mondays, starting next week, but hit upon a great idea last night thanks to my favorite bit from "Ted Lasso" so Wednesdays it is.)

What does the Little Blue Touch have in store to kick off the new year? Let's...Hit...Shuffle!

The Decemberists - June Hymn
Aretha Franklin - Who's Zoomin' Who
Laura Nyro & Labelle - Jimmy Mack
The Beatles - In My Life
Wilco - In a Future Age (Alternate Version)
Ray Charles - Here We Go Again
Jason Isbell - 24 Frames
The Belfast Cowboys - Precious Time
The Monkees - Sunny Girlfriend
Ivy - Twisting

Bonus 11
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - My Love Will Not Let You Down (Live in New York City)

Weird that it's such an old mix, with nothing newer than Isbell's tune, which turns ten later this year. Go check out the Laura Nyro & Labelle (before "Lady Marmalade" made the latter famous) album if you haven't already. Been listening to a lot of Wilco lately since I was unable to attend their recent three-night stint in St. Paul. Brother Ray sings some Country AND Western. The Belfast Cowboys are a local band that's been playing mostly Van Morrison covers for a couple of decades and are a ton of fun live. Ivy was the side project of Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger, and dammit, it's coming up on five years since the early days of COVID took him.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("We gotta play 'em twice in the same WEEK?"), already in progress.

Monday Random 10

After a week--a week that felt like a year--off, it was back to the grind, so we cranked up the Skinny Blue Touch to see what solace it could offer.

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

Paul Westerberg - It's a Wonderful Lie
Paul Westerberg - C'mon, C'mon, C'mon
Joe Henry - Beautiful Hat
Pete Townshend - Face the Face
Simon & Garfunkel - Song for the Asking
This Train - A Million Years
Bob Dylan - Lay Lady Lay
Neil Finn - Addicted
The Hold Steady - You Did Good Kid
Aretha Franklin - Soul Serenade
 Bonus 11
The Replacements - Hitchin' a Ride (Live)

Weird how a couple of tunes from the same "Best of" collection showed up consecutively at the top. (We double checked to make sure we'd hit shuffle correctly.) And the bonus track was more Westerberg, from the fun Live at Maxwell's 1986 set from a couple of years ago.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("What? Now we're replaying 1968?"), already in progress.

Monday Random 10 (Memorial Day edition)

We've got the week off at TWDQ HQ, so we slept in and didn't fire up the Thin Blue Touch until this afternoon.

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

The Tragically Hip - Escape Is At Hand for the Travellin' Man
The Meters - Out in the Country
Roger Miller - You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd
Steely Dan - The Fez
Linda Ronstadt - Love is a Rose
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
Bo Conrad - Fiddler Spider
The John Sally Ride - The Girl You Won't Leave Your Wife For
Bruce Springsteen - Hitch Hikin'
Sharon Van Etten - No One's Easy to Love

Bonus 11
The Roots - No John Trumbull (Intro) (from The Hamilton Mixtape)

If you haven't already, check out the fine documentary on The Hip's final tour. The Meters tune is not the Three Dog Night hit. Roger Miller into Steely Dan is quite the transition. Bo Conrad led a terrific jug band (The Bo Conrad Spit Band) of fellow students from a local college in the late 60s/early 70s. This tune's from an album made a few years back. The John Sally Ride have produced a couple of excellent albums of clever power pop and their drummer is our favorite music blogger. 

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("Hard to breathe in a mask? How about a ventilator?"), already in progress.

Monday Morning Rock (Belated Edition)

Forgot that we hadn't posted Monday's tunes. (Yeah, like you know what day of the week it is anyway.)

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

Dan Zanes - Cuckoo Waltz
The Beatles - Junk (Esher Demo)
Bob Dylan - Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
Dwight Yoakam - Honky Tonk Man
Yes - Roundabout
Buena Vista Social Club - El Carretero
The Jayhawks - Poor Little Fish
BeauSoleil - Valerie
Tegan and Sara - Closer
Old Crow Medicine Show - Just Like a Woman

Bonus 11
Elton John - Crocodile Rock

We've gone on at length about Dan Zanes' wonderful Parades and Panoramas album of songs from Carl Sandburg's Great American Songbag. It came out a few months before Springsteen's Seeger Sessions album and was so loose and fun that it made the latter sound like Bruce was telling you to eat your vegetables. Sir Paul tries out a tune during the White Album prep that would eventually land on his first solo record. BeauSoleil cover a Richard Thompson tune, and the OCMS tune is from their excellent live romp through Blonde on Blonde, which is every bit as loose and fun as the aforementioned Zanes record.

Also, the iPod Touch is apparently aware that we're currently reading Sir Elton's autobiography. (Apple just knows stuff, I tell ya.)

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("25th Amendment, anyone?"), already in progress.

Monday Random Ten (Ernie Banks edition)

Did the random ten last Monday but forgot to post it, so in the immortal words of Ernie Banks, it's a beautiful day, let's play two!

Let's...hit...shuffle!

Monday 5/4/2020
Dave Brady and The Stars - Ridin' High
Bill Staines - Eyes to Eyes
A Girl Called Eddy - Did You See the Moon Tonight
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - Dress Blues (Live)
Aretha Franklin - You Send Me (mono)
The Beatles - She Loves You (Live at the BBC)
Southside Johnny with La Bamba's Big Band - Shiver Me Timbers
The Suicide Commandos - Burn It Down
Rosanne Cash - Price of Temptation
Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi - He Will See You Through

Bonus 11
Jeff Lynne's ELO - Time Of Our Life

Dave Brady's tune's from the great Twin Cities Funk & Soul:  Lost Grooves from Minneapolis/St. Paul 1964-1979 compilation. We've been really digging A Girl Called Eddy for the last couple of months. We also think Jason Isbell has written the most powerful song about the endless war in the Middle East. 

Monday 5/11/2020
Dwight Yoakam - Ring of Fire
Fleetwood Mac - Sara
The Jayhawks - Darling Today (from "Blown Away" soundtrack)
Howlin' Wolf - How Many More Years
Jackson Browne - Rock Me on the Water
Neil Young - Southern Man
Vigilantes of Love - Version of the Truth
Peter Gabriel - This Is the Picture (Excellent Birds)
Rosanne Cash - Paralyzed
Mark Heard - Tip of My Tongue

Bonus 11
Ray Charles - I Can't Stop Loving You

Dwight Yoakam's debut, Guitars, Cadillacs, etc. etc. is still fantastic. The Jayhawks tune is from the "Blown Away" soundtrack, which also has Aretha doing the great "If You Lose Me". I feel bad for Jackson Browne, having to follow Wolf. Interesting that Ms. Cash shows up batting ninth again.

We now return you to This Week's Discussion Question ("Really, Ray? We know everyone was doing it, but you thought that chorale singing backups sounded good?")