Music: Friday Random Ten

1. Hardware Store
   "Weird Al" Yankovic
   Poodle Hat
   
   This is one of my favourite Weird Al songs. So far as I know it's an Al original, not a parody of an existing song or band. The best part is the list of items you find at the hardware store, performed with some great harmonies:
   
   They've got allen wrenches, gerbil feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters
   Trash compactors, juice extractor, shower rods and water meters
   Walkie-talkies, copper wires safety goggles, radial tires
   BB pellets, rubber mallets, fans and dehumidifiers
   Picture hangers, paper cutters, waffle irons, window shutters
   Paint removers, window louvres, masking tape and plastic gutters
   Kitchen faucets, folding tables, weather stripping, jumper cables
   Hooks and tackle, grout and spackle, power foggers, spoons and ladles
   Pesticides for fumigation, high-performance lubrication
   Metal roofing, water proofing, multi-purpose insulation
   Air compressors, brass connectors, wrecking chisels, smoke detectors
   Tire guages, hamster cages, thermostats and bug deflectors
   Trailer hitch demagnetizers, automatic circumcisers
   Tennis rackets, angle brackets, Duracells and Energizers
   Soffit panels, circuit brakers, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers
   Calculators, generators, matching salt and pepper shakers


2. The Sour Song
   The Residents
   Our Finest Flowers
   
   Back in my discussion of The Way We Were, I mentioned The Residents' fondness for revisiting their past over and over. One of the major examples of that was the album Our Finest Flowers, a "Greatest Hits" album in which the hits are mixed and matched into new songs.


3. CARNIVAL
   Shinkichi Mitsumune
   FLCL 1 - Addict
   
   A fairly generic piece of TV soundtarck music. FLCL was a fun series, with some not-bad music, but this one doesn't stand out much at all.


4. Goin' Under
   Devo
   E-Z Listening Disc
   
   Like The Residents with Our Finest Flowers, Devo made a tribute album to themselves, only instead of doing mashups, they muzakified their songs. It's more of a completist's album, though -- a side-project curiousity.
   


5. Things Are Looking Bad for Santa
   The Arrogant Worms
   Christmas Turkey
   
   Lori hates the Christmas season, for a variety of reasons, so one tradition around our place is satirical Christmas songs (or "unChristmas Carols", as we call them). Her all-time favourite is Weird Al's The Night Santa Went Crazy (the live version, where Santa doesn't survive). We also have lots of Bob Rivers Christmas albums and we just picked up the Howard Philip Lovecraft Historical Society's A Very Scary Solstice. The Arrogant Worms' Christmas Turkey has some good songs, but (again) this isn't one of the better ones on the album.


6. Shine On You Crazy Diamond
   Pink Floyd
   Pulse
   
   This, however, is one of the best Pink Floyd songs. I'm not a big fan of their Syd Barrett period, but their post-Barrett tribute to Barrett is an amazing piece of music. Doug Gilmore's four-note guitar entry always sends shivers up my spine.


7. New Orleans
   The Residents
   Stranger Than Supper
   
   A short instrumental from the first CD released by the Residents fan club, "Uncle Willie's Eyeball Buddies".


8. It's No Game (Part 1)
   David Bowie
   Scary Monsters
   
   Many of my favourite Bowie songs are the ones where he starts going off into weird harmonies and rhythms, and this one qualifies.


9. Time
   Pink Floyd
   Delicate Sound of Thunder
   
   Another great live Floyd track.

A bit of a mixed bag this week. A lot of so-so tracks in the first half, but some really good ones in the second.