5 Questions

A Playlist:

As part of my job as a morning show producer, I have to make beat calls. This does not make me a reporter.
An answering police officer, however, answered one of my calls and laughed as I explained where I was calling from. "I'm just laughing," he explained, "because one of the officers just yelled 'It's the reporter!'"

Not a good story. It is the inspiration for this five song playlist, though.

5 Questions

Who's Heart Are You Breaking - Hacienda

A heavy and fun rocker. The beat hits hard and steady and the groove is easy to tumble into. More like a chasm, really. Giddy pop lyrics in a fuzzy, guitar driven sea. More distorted than their first (excellent) album.

What Have I Done To Make You Go Away - Underacheivers

This is my Dad's band. I'm psyched you can even preview it online. That's him on bass. I love the muted trumpet solo. It almost sounds like someone's just buzzing it out through their lips. It fits in perfectly.

Where Will You Be? - Nathaniel Mayer

An early soul hit singer, Nathaniel Mayer hit the gutter hard when his label folded. His voice came out dragged through years of hard drinking. Now that he's passed, this song is especially poignant given how sweet he sounds and what a trip his life was.

Remember When - Liam Finn

A hobbity looking kiwi, Liam Finn's abilities to rock out in no way match his appearance. Just he and his backup vocalist/secondary percussionist can make an incredible ruckus. His music is an interesting, self-contained and nearly post-modern study of classic rock.

Why? - Andrew Bird

Speaking of folks working on their own... and messing with classic rock... here's Andrew Bird's Why? It's a groovy and atmospheric piece that owes a lot to blues rock of the 70s. Seeing him perform it live with his looper is an interesting departure from the cleaner album version.

How Much Longer (Must I Wait) - Lee Moses

And back to some good old soul music. Lee Moses just always sounded like Nathiel Mayer's sinner self. He's got an incredible band, too. I love the sound of the organ. It feels just slightly off key. But the show is really Moses' incredibly emotive voice.

It's worth noting that before researching this, I didn't realize how many candidates I had in my pool of acceptable songs. This topic is likely to be revisited.

Although if anyone has any tips about songs that use "when" as a question, feel free to hit me up. There's plenty that use it as an adverbial phrase. But I want that shit question marked.

Posted by Krister