this snake is gonna rattle....

Earworms of the Week

"Bombtrack" - Rage Against the Machine

This has been in my head, on and off, all week.  Coincidentally, RATM came up this evening in a conversation about the supposed Glastonbury.  I realise that U2, Coldplay and Beyonce might not be to everyone's taste, but you have to be a special kind of idiot to threaten to return your ticket because you don't like the three headline acts at the Pyramid Stage.  It's not as though there isn't an alternative is it?  Anyway, the conversation was really about how I often look at the headline acts of other festivals and think they look much stronger than the Glastonbury bill - Rage Against the Machine at either Download or Reading/Leeds were a great example from a couple of years ago.  I've never seen Rage play live and I would dearly love to.  But did I consider for a second not going to Glastonbury?  No.  In my opinion there's simply no festival like it.  The bill often doesn't seem to be amazing, but somehow we manage to muddle through, eh?  Very few of my most treasured festival memories involve music at all.

"There She Goes" - The La's

.... one of the most amusing things I've seen at Glastonbury was when thousands of people arrived at the Other Stage towards the end of the set by the reformed La's.  The crowd literally doubled.  The reason? Because they were only interested in hearing this song (in spite of the fact that the rest of that album is amazing too).  It's a timeless classic, of course.  Sadly for the people hoping to tick it off their list, the band had played it about three songs into the set.  As Nelson Muntz might say, HA HA.

"Charmaine" - Plan B

Gary, the guy who sits next to me in the office, tipped me off about Strickland Banks shortly before Xmas, and it was a great tip.  Today, he asked me if I'd heard this record from his first album.  I hadn't, so he loaded it up on his phone for me to give it a go.  I like it.  It's not quite as polished as his more recent stuff, and it's off an album that is much more rap-orientated, but I think you can see the direction he's travelling in.  It's a bit basic, with some suspect lyrics, for sure ("The best of both worlds, caramel complexion /And I swear when she smiled I almost, got an erection"??), but that's a great pay-off.

"After Hours" - We Are Scientists

Best.  Video.  Ever.

Also, I heard a completely different song playing over the PA in reception, and, for a brilliant second, I thought that some genius had put this on the playlist.  No.  But it's a great song anyway.


"Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore" - REO Speedwagon

Mentioned by LB yesterday, and stuck in my head ever since.  I actually started humming it in a meeting this afternoon, and the most senior guy there picked me up on it.

"It's been stuck in my head"
"Well, at least it's a great record"

Yes, yes it is.

"A Most Peculiar Man" - Simon & Garfunkel

I've been listening to their back-catalogue in an attempt to escape the tracks that I've heard millions of times before.  This is exactly the kind of hidden gem I was looking for.  Well, I knew it was there as I've heard it loads of times before, but you know what I mean.  It's tucked away on "The Sounds of Silence" album, and it's about suicide.  But it's beautiful.

"Vicinity of Obscenity" - System of a Down

Mad as a box of frogs, but popped on shuffle when I was out running and needed it the most.

Terracotta Pie, Hey!
Terracotta Pie, Hey!
Terracotta Pie, Hey!
Terracotta Pie.


Banana Banana Banana Banana Terracotta Banana Terracotta Terracotta Pie,
Banana Banana Banana Banana Terracotta Banana Terracotta Terracotta Pie!

"The Bridge" - Scott Walker

I'm in the grips of a real Scott Walker phase at the moment, and I've been listening to Scotts II, III and IV a lot.  When Del was talking about "Bad Head" by Blur being a great hangover song on Twitter the other day and asked for others, this is the one that popped into my head straight away.  It's not so much about a single hangover, as a lifetime of hangovers.  It's sad; it's overblown.... I love it to bits.

"Back in the Saddle Again" / "Young Lust" - Aerosmith

Aerosmith were one of my first musical loves.  I think it was "Permanent Vacation" that did it first, but soon it was "Pump" and then a search through the back catalogue.  Who knew that Aerosmith had such an amazing back catalogue? (well, apart from every single American alive....).  "Rocks" and "Toys in the Attic" are both great albums and I must dig them out of deep storage and rip them so I can listen to them more often.  I was prompted to get the old Greatest Hits out when I heard "Sweet Emotion" on the telly, but I was soon listening to "Pump" as I was boiling up the carcass for a chicken soup last Sunday.  Damn, but they were a good band (although the Run DMC version of "Walk This Way" gives the song a kick up the arse it really needed).  "Get a Grip" was the last of their newer albums that I bothered with, and I'm not really tempted to investigate that stuff now, but their older stuff was brilliant.  And their older newer stuff too.  Never did see them live.

Anyway.  That's your lot.  I'm off to Twickenham - via Oxford - to watch mighty England play Italy in the Six Nations.  Should be good.  Whatever you're up to, have a good weekend, y'all.