hackthis_archive | Musak day!

First of all, I have an icon from

zeplum which fills my black heart with so much glee that I just don't even have the proper words. I mean really -- Look, it's Ari! <3

Secondly, it occurs to me that I've been asking for a quite a bit of music recently, but I haven't given any back in EIGHT WHOLE DAYS (if you took advantage of the Personal Song Offer) or NINETEEN DAYS (if you prefer the musical posting). So. I had to rectify that. From me to you

Al Green 'Here I Am (Come and Take Me)' – Yes, this song was covered later in its life by UB40, like most good R&B, but before that it was all Al. Why? Because Al Green is one of those wicked soul artists that just make you feel good about life, and who you just can't help but love, like Barry White. And Tom Jones (Tom fucking Jones!) And Jell-o. Everyone loves Jell-o, unless the consistency reminds you of, err, seminal fluids, then perhaps not so much so.

Barry White 'Never Never Gonna Give You Up' – Now how could I mention Barry White and then not put him in here? Barry White is like, like -- it's fucking Barry White! There are some singers you just have to give respect to for being that cool and down-to-eath and sharing their God-given-talent. Rest in Peace, Barry.

Johnny Cash 'Folsom Prison Blues' -- I know lots of people loved Walk the Line. Me? Not so much so. I mean I loved it, because it was "the story" of Johnny Cash, but you know, yeah, no. This is Johnny fucking Cash we're talking about, and something about the movie just seemed to miss the mark. Reese Witherspoon was great though. I'm rambling, but Johnny Cash pretty much speaks for himself. I mean, dude, anyone who writes the lyric I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die? Hardcore.

Elbow 'Presuming Ed (Rest Easy)' -- I love Elbow. I talk about them all the fucking time, so I figured any music post where I put men with big, bold, knicker-dropping, grooving-in-the-middle-aisle-of-the-supermarket voices must include Guy Garvey. Because, really, Guy's voice is just that moving. Ergo, Elbow.

Fiona Apple 'Oh Well' -- I am notoriously finicky about my female singers; I know this. I just get so tired of the whinging and the emoting; it makes my brain hurt. I like my women like I like my coffee, goddamnit. Or I would if I could drink coffee without freaking out everyone in a two-mile radius. Anyway, women like Starbuck and Angie Stone and KT Tunstall and Aretha and Miss Fiona, that's what I like, because sometimes you fall in love with someone who doesn't love you back, and all you can do is say, oh well.

Nirvana 'In Bloom' -- I know you're all like, okay, Al, Barry, Johnny, Fiona – Kurt fucking Cobain? What the fuck? Yeah, it occurs to me that some of you weren't even alive when he was big. That's just -– that makes my head hurt. Anyroad, I have 'In Bloom' here because a) everybody has at least two grunge-era songs that they still like. Don't front. B) Even if you didn't like Nirvana the first sixty times, you might like them the sixty-first. C) This song isn't about grunge or flannel, or whatever you thought was happening in Seattle in 1991, it's about those people in your life who just don't fucking get it. Everybody knows them.

And to confuse you even more about what I actually listen on a regular basis, the last song of the day is a party song from the late 90's, which already means at least ¼ of you've never heard of it. Still, if you were a club kid partying on the East Coast or in Europe at any point you should've heard DJ Kool's Let Me Clear My Throat at least once. Or twice. Or fifty times.

Hackthis Heatseeker Chart: Mawglee 'Culture No 50'. British lo-fi electronica in the vein of Zero 7, Morcheeba, and Portishead. This is chill-out all-day-every-day type music. Hangovers, Sunday afternoons in the garden, and three am making out all the way.

*Thanks to

literaryll,

violetsmiles and

greenapricot for their contributions to this post.