thank god it's the friday five

Crazy times, brothers and sisters. When I was wee lad, I'd ask my grandparents about the Great Depression. They'd answer the realization of having lived through one didn't come until years later, after it had been tagged with that label. All they knew - employment was scarce and money tight, sorta sounds a bit like right now. Here's hoping everyone is holding up okay, it's jarring to hear of so many job losses piling up. How about some music to put our minds on more pleasant thoughts?


David Byrne is on record saying this song was written about a girl he knew in high school that used to take LSD while behind the field of a Yoo-Hoo factory. I love the line, "Missing enough to feel alright: and she was" - there's a good sense of freedom there.

Talking Heads: And She Was

Superfantasticfridayfivebonus: This video finds the Talking Heads absolutely playing their asses off in a groove that would give Sly and The Family Stone a run for their money. I feel they're at their best in this rip snarling performance.


Talking Heads (Live in Rome 1980): The Great Curve
Here's Duke Ellington and band during the Cotton Club era, a time when they played with exceptional fire. Ellington composed The Mooche to show off Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton's pioneering use of the plunger mute on trombones - it gave off a "wah-wah" sound, about four decades before Jimi Hendrix came on the scene.

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: The Mooche

Always on the lookout for new bands, Foals came to my attention via tumblr molodoichelovek. They formed in Oxford, England, in 2005 and describe themselves sounding as infinite substance trepanning. With that type of account, it's probably best you listen for yourself.

Foals: Olympic Airways

Mark Oliver Everett - AKA A Man Called E, Mr. E, or simply E. Whatever name you use, he's the person behind the Eels. You may know his father Hugh Everett III, was a quantum physicist and at the age of nineteen, Mark discovered him lying dead in bed. His sister Elizabeth, a schizophrenic, committed suicide in 1996 and two years later, his mother died of lung cancer. His rough life caused E to examine his feelings through music, where he tackles themes of mortality, mental illness, loneliness, unrequited love and dark humor. In today's selection we get twenty miles of hard road, thirty-three years of tough luck, forty-four skulls buried in the ground, crawling down through the muck.

Eels: Souljacker Part I

I don't have to say much about Stevie Wonder other than to enjoy one of the better cuts from his Songs In The Key Of Life album. Of late, I just can't stop playing it, which is why it's on the Friday Five.

Stevie Wonder: I Wish

A couple of notes - the best way to keep up with the goings on here is through your newsreader, here's the feed: snuhthing/anything rss. While I'm at it, I've been spending a lot of time over at my tumblr, where I post all sorts of interesting images, videos, links and music. I have to admit being surprised how something that started out as a lark has taken off in such a big way. If you enjoy snuhthing/anything, you should like this as well. The feed: snuh.tumblr rss.

Now that I have all of that out of the way, what's up with everyone - what's your weekend plans?