we could feel the motion of a thousand dreams....

Earworms of the Week

"Piano Man" - Billy Joel

Another week, another Billy Joel song.  Well, can you blame me?  The man's an absolute marvel.  This is, of course, the song that made him famous.  It's not my favourite of his tunes, but you have to love the attention to detail.  Listening to the lyrics here, it's really not very hard to understand where he got his inspiration.... that will be when he was playing for tips in a bar then, right?  In the pre-iPod days, I used to have a little wallet of CDs that I carried around with me to listen to in the car.  I tried to change them around pretty regularly to prevent boredom, but 2 CDs that never left the wallet were both discs of my treasured BJ greatest hits.

"The Swing of Things" - a-ha

I've been listening to a lot of a-ha recently.  Seeing them live before Christmas had me reaching for my copy of "Scoundrel Days", one of the first albums I ever bought back in the day on cassette and a cherished Christmas gift from a couple of years ago.  I was lucky enough to be given a copy of "Hunting High and Low" on CD for Christmas from the same source, so I've been listening to them pretty solidly ever since.  Good band.  But you know that, right?  I must have listened to "Scoundrel Days" thousands of times back in the day, but I've been rediscovering it with a fresh pair of ears now.  It's good, isn't it?  Really, properly good.

"Ca Plane Pour Moi" - Plastic Bertrand

No idea where this came from.... probably an advert.  A famous Belgian, if people are still playing that game.  Adolphus Sax, he's another good one.  Eddie Merckx.  Enzo Scifo.  There are loads of them.

"Hiphopopotamus vs Rhymenoceros" - Flight of the Conchords
"Battery" - Metallica

You know how some people have "power songs"?  The tunes that they play when they're out running that are guaranteed to put an extra spring in their step and to give them a lift for the final push for home?  Yeah?  Well, when I was out the other day and was flagging badly with about a mile to go, it was this Flight of the Conchords song that gave me the lift that I needed to keep going.  It probably didn't hurt that "Battery" came on next, mind you.  Now that's a proper tune.

"Your Song" - Ellie Goulding

Not a good cover, in my opinion.... but entirely unavoidable.

"Helplessness Blues" - Fleet Foxes

A new song from the Fleet Foxes is always something to be happy about.... the fact that it seems to be cut entirely from the same cloth as the songs on their brilliant debut album is good enough for me.  For now, anyway.  I await to see where they go next to develop their sound on their next album.  They have to develop it at least a little, right? right?

"It's Raining Today" - Scott Walker

I put "Scott III" and "Scott IV" on when I was reading my book the other night.  The man is an absolute genius.  No question.  My favourite male singer without a shadow of a doubt.  Morrissey is up there, but Noel Scott Engel is the man for me.  These albums are AWESOME.  Majestic.  Perhaps the best I have in my whole collection.

"Sussudio" - Phil Collins

"Do you like Phil Collins? I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where, uh, Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Christy, take off your robe. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. Sabrina, remove your dress. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Sabrina, why don't you, uh, dance a little. Take the lyrics to "Land of Confusion". In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. "In Too Deep" is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as, uh, anything I've heard in rock. Christy, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole. Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like "In the Air Tonight" and, uh, "Against All Odds". Sabrina, don't just stare at it, eat it. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is "Sussudio", a great, great song, a personal favorite."

....Looks like someone's been watching "American Psycho".  I wonder what Collins made of that. ("At last!  Someone who understands what I'm trying to say....").  Film not as good as book, BTW.  Not even close.

"Doctor! Doctor!" - The Thompson Twins

I've been listening to BBC 6 Music in the car for the last few weeks.  Steve Lamacq is a legend, of course.  If that needed any confirmation, then it surely came when I was driving to football the other night and he played this record.  Tune!

Have a good weekend, y'all.