Songs for a Plague Year: Sleeve Notes
Thursday, December 10th, 2020 04:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranthThis year's Christmas CD has rather more Christmas on it than usual (40% by weight!) which is, of course, because it has fewer tracks by bands I've seen (0), fewer tracks from film soundtracks (1), and fewer tracks in memory of recent deaths (3, because I am not going there).
Download it here!
Sleeve notes ... which may be added to over the next couple of weeks.
01 - Xmas Song - Andy McCoy -- a song about Christmas by the artist formerly known as Antti Hulkko, guitarist / songwriter of Hanoi Rocks
02 - Sound Of The Underground - Girls Aloud -- a cheering song
03 - Humans Are Not Worth Saving (Merry Christmas) - Michael M -- well, it cheered me up. Do check out #DontDrinkBleach, which would have been on this CD if I hadn't fallen for this bouncy nihilistic Christmas song.
04 - Sway With Me - Saweetie & GALXARA -- from the soundtrack of Birds of Prey, which I enjoyed a great deal. Does anyone else remember cinema?
05 - The Dark Side - Muse -- it's Muse, from their most recent album which I missed last year.
06 - Snowstorm - The Raveonettes -- a very 2020 Christmas song, which is sweet and hopeful.
07 - Savour - William D. Drake -- Tim Smith of the Cardiacs died this year, not from plague. Having fond memories of Kingston gigs in the last millennium, I went looking for a 'best of' and was appalled to discover that it is nigh impossible to acquire such a thing without a mortgage. Instead, here's one of his songs covered by former bandmate Drake. Love those progressions.
08 - Best Boy [Explicit] - JJ Wilde -- new-to-me female rock singer: feminist(ish) takes on rock tropes.
09 - Xmas in the 80's - Scouting For Girls -- another fun Christmas song, which I hope will make you smile: I did. (It's not the same song as 'Christmas Was Better in the Eighties', which has featured on a previous CD.)
10 - (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) - The Stranglers -- I think everyone has one 'Celebrity Covid Death' that really hit. Mine was Dave Greenfield of the Stranglers. 'Golden Brown', with its marvellous time signatures, would have been the obvious choice:but this is my favourite exuberant Stranglers track.
11 - Repressed Hostility Blues - Katie Lee -- it me. Though (a) I would not take out my hostility on hapless hospitality workers, and (b) ugh, crowds, no.
12 - Satan Won the War on Christmas - Bradley Palermo -- not actually Nick Cave but deliciously gloomy.
13 - Runnin' With The Devil - Van Halen -- Eddie Van Halen died on my birthday. Booooo. This is the first Van Halen track I ever heard, as a teenager, and I was immensely impressed by the sheer speed.
14 - Special Star - Lene Lovich -- vaguely festive? I love her voice.
15 - Blame It on Me - George Ezra -- I scribbled this on my 'music for next cd' list this year: no idea where I heard it (maybe Madrid?), but the chorus clicked.
16 - Experiment IV - Kate Bush -- listening to her album of lesser-known tracks, 'The Other Sides', a lot.
17 - Billionaire At Christmas - Mindy Lloyd -- this earwormed me when I heard it, and it's topical too.
18 - Soul In Isolation - The Chameleons -- I like my own company, but I like my friends too.
19 - Dancing Out of the Woods - Happy Cat Disco (Mashups) -- too short but very cheerful, and I do hope we are nearly out of the woods (though it seems improbable given ... everything).
20 - This Time of Year - Melissa Ferrick -- going for the 'Fairytale of New York' vibe but without any period-typical slurs: I think this is a Christmas song I'll be playing for years.
21 - Black Cat Bring Good Luck - teh interwebs -- because Marlowe has kept me sane (or what passes for sanity round here). And I'm not dead. And nor are you.
Problems, queries, fulsome appreciation? Drop me a comment...
Download it here!
Sleeve notes ... which may be added to over the next couple of weeks.
01 - Xmas Song - Andy McCoy -- a song about Christmas by the artist formerly known as Antti Hulkko, guitarist / songwriter of Hanoi Rocks
02 - Sound Of The Underground - Girls Aloud -- a cheering song
03 - Humans Are Not Worth Saving (Merry Christmas) - Michael M -- well, it cheered me up. Do check out #DontDrinkBleach, which would have been on this CD if I hadn't fallen for this bouncy nihilistic Christmas song.
04 - Sway With Me - Saweetie & GALXARA -- from the soundtrack of Birds of Prey, which I enjoyed a great deal. Does anyone else remember cinema?
05 - The Dark Side - Muse -- it's Muse, from their most recent album which I missed last year.
06 - Snowstorm - The Raveonettes -- a very 2020 Christmas song, which is sweet and hopeful.
07 - Savour - William D. Drake -- Tim Smith of the Cardiacs died this year, not from plague. Having fond memories of Kingston gigs in the last millennium, I went looking for a 'best of' and was appalled to discover that it is nigh impossible to acquire such a thing without a mortgage. Instead, here's one of his songs covered by former bandmate Drake. Love those progressions.
08 - Best Boy [Explicit] - JJ Wilde -- new-to-me female rock singer: feminist(ish) takes on rock tropes.
09 - Xmas in the 80's - Scouting For Girls -- another fun Christmas song, which I hope will make you smile: I did. (It's not the same song as 'Christmas Was Better in the Eighties', which has featured on a previous CD.)
10 - (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) - The Stranglers -- I think everyone has one 'Celebrity Covid Death' that really hit. Mine was Dave Greenfield of the Stranglers. 'Golden Brown', with its marvellous time signatures, would have been the obvious choice:but this is my favourite exuberant Stranglers track.
11 - Repressed Hostility Blues - Katie Lee -- it me. Though (a) I would not take out my hostility on hapless hospitality workers, and (b) ugh, crowds, no.
12 - Satan Won the War on Christmas - Bradley Palermo -- not actually Nick Cave but deliciously gloomy.
13 - Runnin' With The Devil - Van Halen -- Eddie Van Halen died on my birthday. Booooo. This is the first Van Halen track I ever heard, as a teenager, and I was immensely impressed by the sheer speed.
14 - Special Star - Lene Lovich -- vaguely festive? I love her voice.
15 - Blame It on Me - George Ezra -- I scribbled this on my 'music for next cd' list this year: no idea where I heard it (maybe Madrid?), but the chorus clicked.
16 - Experiment IV - Kate Bush -- listening to her album of lesser-known tracks, 'The Other Sides', a lot.
17 - Billionaire At Christmas - Mindy Lloyd -- this earwormed me when I heard it, and it's topical too.
18 - Soul In Isolation - The Chameleons -- I like my own company, but I like my friends too.
19 - Dancing Out of the Woods - Happy Cat Disco (Mashups) -- too short but very cheerful, and I do hope we are nearly out of the woods (though it seems improbable given ... everything).
20 - This Time of Year - Melissa Ferrick -- going for the 'Fairytale of New York' vibe but without any period-typical slurs: I think this is a Christmas song I'll be playing for years.
21 - Black Cat Bring Good Luck - teh interwebs -- because Marlowe has kept me sane (or what passes for sanity round here). And I'm not dead. And nor are you.
Problems, queries, fulsome appreciation? Drop me a comment...
