The eclectic taste thread..

[John Matrix]

So I know lots of people have a thing, or a type they go for, whether its in film, clothing, food or sexual partner.  I've always had a really eclectic musical taste, i've never really bought albums, as I tend to like individual tracks, rather than a whole artists output, so i'm proposing a bit of a musical exchange, you might discover some gems, or condemn members forever, myself included, for their appalling musical taste.

So here's the craic.  I'm going to list five songs I love, which are about as far apart as you could imagine in terms of sound/genre.  Have a listen if you'd like, let me know the hits and the misses, and supply five of your own.  No need to go to the trouble of trying to be cool or clever and list obscure shit that you think we won't have heard of, just your regular old go to's and if there's a story, share that too!

I'll see you on page 4 by tomorrow afternoon.

Here goes nothing...

Sweet Freedom - Michael McDonald - My absolute go to whenever i'm feeling low.

Superman - Black Lace - I shit you not.  Very possibly my favourite song of all time.  

Superman - Skee Lo - Remarkable isn't it, given my views on 'them lot' (people in capes that is!), yes, two tracks called Superman.  If you've only ever heard 'I wish', change that now.

Entrance of the Conflagration - Trivium - Ah, it's the mid naughties and i'm sat alone in my flat listening to Scuzz.  So close to delving to far into shouty territory by normal standards, but killer chorus.

Midnight Rider - Alan Tam - Absolute wildcard this.  Not a regular play, but pops into my head every once in a while out of nowhere and will be played incessantly for a few days thereafter.

[Sphinx]

Yes! Superman by Skee-Lo! I recommend that to people who only know I Wish too.

And you have Sweet Freedom in there which is in my head pretty regularly. My housemate went through a stage of rinsing yacht rock and associated acts and he'd play this often.

[John Matrix]

Tell me more about this yacht rock of which you speak?  That can't possibly be a genre, because if you're using Sweet Freedom as a point of reference, then I think you may have rendered my opening post a massive contradiction.

Edited June 3, 2020 by John Matrix

[Sphinx]

What A Fool Believes and I Keep Forgetting (Every Time You're Near) were played regularly too. He bloody loves him some Michael McDonald.

This site might clear things up a bit for you.

https://www.yachtornyacht.com/

 

[John Matrix]

McDonald is a banger factory. 

Off to do my research.

[Jazzy G]

There's an abundance of Yacht Rock playlists around on Spotify. Hall & Oates feature quite a lot.

I have a playlist on Spotify called Los Device Clasicos, which is a selection of the "mixtapes" we used to assemble on those £10 128MB MP3 players they had around 2005 which were memory sticks with a play/pause and skip button.

Berzerker: Forever I used to stick this on at parties when the metal kids turned up

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass: Tijuana Taxi. This was one of our selections to listen to very loud, with the windows down while driving at 5mph in a Daihatsu 4 Track along Northmoor Road (at the time allegedly one of the most violent streets in Britain). Something which became known as the "Slow cruise". Usually on our way back from big Asda. The other Slow Cruise favourite was Macho Man by the Village People.

Daft Punk: Face To Face/Short Circuit (Live). I was there on this tour. Face To Face and Short Circuit were two of my favourite tracks on Discovery, but they way they stick Harder, Better,  Faster, Stronger underneath as well blew my mind. The whole set was phenomenal, but this was great as it ended the first act, and business picked up from here with One More Time/Aerodynamic

Junior Senior: Move Your Feet. Great song,  great album as well, which is more like a rock and roll album than a dance album. Nothing else they've done sounds like this.

Sugababes: Round Round (Soulwax remix). Found this on the b-side of my housemate's copy of Round Round in Uni, and it moved into my stereo for a couple of weeks. Round Round is a banger anyway, this is peak Sugababes to me, in spite of how great Overload is. Soulwax are pretty phenomenal as well, and it's always good to see what they can make somebody else's stuff sound like.

[Surf Digby]

My taste in music runs far and wide, to the point that I feel sorry for any passengers in my car. Approx 3500 songs, set on Random, and it will happy go from ABBA to the Godzilla soundtrack, to Ramones, to Stevie Wonder, to Megadeth, to Kraftwerk, to Kylie and end up on Frank Zappa. To me, music is music and I either like it or I don't. 

To stick with the "in my car" theme, here's 5 corkers that make any journey more enjoyable:

1) "Rock'n'Roll Radio" - Ramones . Everyone loves the Ramones, whether they realise it or not. Yes, this is the Phil Spectre pop-orientated era, but it's catchy as Hell.

2) Thank You Baby - Shania Twain . Pure pop perfection. Silky smooth singing with a wonderfully dramatic string session.

3) "In R Blood" - Drive, She Said . Okay, this one is slightly obscure, but it's such a fucking marvelously testicle swelling bit of over-produced cheesy rock, I'll even forgive them their attempts at "kool" spelling.

4) Ghost Riders in the Sky - Dick Dale . You can't sing along (well, I suppose you can if you know the words from the other versions), but listening to Dick demonstrating the most violent guitar playing known to man makes your body tense up and boosts your adrenaline.

5) Doctor! Doctor! - Thompson Twins . Steering wheel drumming at its finest, and what a great synthesiser solo.

 

Get through this and you should have a slight sweat sheen and no vocals chords left.

[John Matrix]

As if to put a whopping great exclamation point on my opening post, i'm all over @jazzygeofferz Herb Alpert track, and @Nostalgia Nonce's "In R Blood".  One made me smile from ear to ear - the other had me getting all small!  I especially enjoyed Drive's lead singer looking like Kurt Angle with severe water retention.