Blame it on the Rain

Named for a song which doesn't appear anywhere near this mix.

1. Grateful Dead, "Box of Rain"
2. Fleetwood Mac, "Dreams"
3. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "Tupelo"
4. Willie Nelson, "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"
5. Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"
6.  The Beatles, "Rain"
7. The Temptations, "I Wish it Would Rain"
8. Tom Waits, "Rains on Me"
9. Guns N' Roses, "November Rain"
10. Morphine, "You Look Like Rain"
11. Neil Young, "See the Sky About to Rain"
12. Sonic Youth, "Rain on Tin"
13. Queensrÿche, "Another Rainy Night (Without You)"
14. Slayer, "Raining Blood"
15. The Pogues, "Rainy Night in Soho"
16. Prince & The Revolution, "Purple Rain"

AG told me that her sister made a rain-themed mix, starting with Bob Dylan's "Buckets of Rain." This led to a talk about Dylan's rain songs, whether they're Gonna Fall, Day Women #12 & 35 or Storms to take Shelter From, which inevitably led to this CD. One doesn't need to comb through their iTunes library to find out how many rain songs there are--"Purple Rain," "November Rain" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" should be a part of even the most casual fan's music education. The Grateful Dead are at their best on "Box of Rain," and The Beatles turn in their best b-side with "Rain." Elsewhere, Nick Cave's "Tupelo" and Sonic Youth's "Rain on Tin" have actually changed the way I hear precipitation, and made me like it more.

I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to pick between Led Zeppelin's "The Rain Song," "When the Levee Breaks" and "Fool in the Rain," and ended up ditching all of them when I realized I already had three other eight-minute songs. Maybe they'll get on the next one, but with the recipient in mind I gave priority to Neil Young, The Temptations and Fleetwood Mac. Still, I couldn't resist up filling the metal quota with prime Slayer and Queensrÿche. There's really no use in putting anything next to "Raining Blood," to the point where I'm worried that even the awesome "Another Rainy Night" and the tender "Rainy Night in Soho" have been reduced to palate-cleansers.

Finally, Tom Waits has apparently written a song about everything, having now appeared on my theme mixes for rain, cars, New York, L.A., moving, trains, phones, cats, dogs and clothes. "Rains on Me" is from the original Free the West Memphis 3 album.

Ben in the Art of Archery

My buds Ben (not myself) and Arch both have birthdays this month, and are getting hitched this year. This was the only pun that I could think of that included both of their names.



Ben in the Art of Archery

1. Neil Young, "Cinnamon Girl"
2. Joan Jett and Paul Westerberg, "Let's Do It"
3. U2, "Desire"
4. Grateful Dead, "Touch of Grey"
5. Liz Phair, "Polyester Bride"
6. Pulp, "Disco 2000"
7. Hüsker Dü, "Could You Be the One?"
8. The Zombies, "This Will Be Our Year"
9. Roy Orbison, "You Got It"
10. Stiff Little Fingers, "Alternative Ulster"
11. Tom Petty, "You Wreck Me"
12. Squeeze, "Tempted"
13. Matthew Sweet, "Sick of Myself"
14. Japandroids, "The House That Heaven Built"
15. Blue Öyster Cult, "Burnin' for You"
16. The Smiths, "Ask"
17. David Bowie, "Modern Love"
18. TV on the Radio, "Second Song"
19. Elvis Presley, "All Shook Up"
20. Bruce Springsteen, "Glory Days"
21. The Beatles, "It's All Too Much"

Arch is the only person I know who likes both Joan Jett and the Replacements as much as I do, so of course I had to include their underrated team-up from the Tank Girl soundtrack, covering Cole Porter's most punk rock song. I'm hoping that Squeeze and the Grateful Dead's biggest hits will work as either introductions or reinforcements, and I'm including Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and a lesser-known George Harrison song in honor of Arch's affinity for the Traveling Wilburys.

There's a vaguely romantic theme here--I guess almost all songs have one, but tracks like "This Will Be Our Year," "Burnin' for You," "Cinnamon Girl" and "You Got It" are especially for these two. Then again, I couldn't help including Stiff Little Fingers and Hüsker Dü. That's what friends are for.

The Mars Volta, "L'Via L'Viaquez"

I'd stopped keeping tabs on The Mars Volta around Bedlam in Goliath, when their ADD compositions started to blur, but I'm still sorry to see them break up this week. For all their overplaying and overabundance, The Mars Volta were a staggeringly original and inaccessible band for mainstream acceptance. Love them or love to hate them, and many metalheads did both, The Mars Volta's success was one for the team.



When I first reviewed The Marts Volta on this blog, I wrote that they were "a little like Phish to Rush's Grateful Dead...funkier, jammier, louder, and more Latin-tinged than the band whose place they're poised to inherit in today's music world. Like Phish, as well as (initially) Rush and the Grateful Dead, the Mars Volta are also insanely prolific, almost always on tour, ignored by rock radio, detested by hipsters and worshiped by dedicated musicians." Fighting to be the Pitchfork crowd's Rush was bold, and ultimately in vain, but as "L'Via L'Viaquez" proves, it was a worthy cause.

Song of the Day: Suicidal Tendencies, "Pop Songs"

How did I never hear this song until this weekend? 



On this week's Sound Opinions, Jim DeRogatis played this song to make a point that I disagree with (that the Grateful Dead suck) and to direct you to Nick Paumgarten's piece about Deadheads in The New Yorker. But with my Deadheadedness intact, I still get a huge kick out of "Pop Songs," a Suicidal Tendencies track from 2000.

"Pop Songs" takes swipes at the Dead, Britney Spears, Puff Daddy (rhymes with "and his friend the dead fatty") and more, but most of all the increasingly terrible bubblegum punk bands that have been on the airwaves in Dookie's wake. The lyrics are a scream ("If I hear another love ballad/I think I'm going to have to toss my salad,") and the music is even funnier, a formulaic, smoothed-out mall-punk jam that deserves the dance moves that Mike Muir gives it in the song's video. Satire a thin line, and it's hard to walk it without falling over (just ask the Offspring,) but "Pop Songs" is nasty and hilarious enough to keep itself from, as Kurt Cobain once put it, "choking on the ashes of her enemy." Not only that, it's one of ST's best moments.

Sister to LA

Why my sister would move to LA when New York is readily available, I will never know. But I do know better than to try to change her mind, and as long as she's going, I will make her a road trip soundtrack.



Sister to LA

1. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Under the Bridge"
2. 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman, "California Love"
3. Patti Smith, "Redondo Beach"
4. Rufus Wainwright, "California"
5. Snoop Dogg, "Gin and Juice"
6. The Ramones, "California Sun"
7. Guns N' Roses, "Welcome to the Jungle"
8. Frank Zappa, "San Ber'dino"
9. Tom Waits, "Hold On"
10. Joni Mitchell, "California"
11. Lesley Gore, "California Nights"
12. Billy Bragg & Wilco, "California Stars"
13. Elliott Smith, "Angeles"
14. Liz Phair, "Dogs of L.A."
15. X, "Los Angeles"
16. Beck, "Hollywood Freaks"
17. LL Cool J, "Going Back to Cali"
18. Tom Petty, "Free Fallin'"
19. Led Zeppelin, "Going to California"
20. Neil Young, "L.A."
21. Green Day, "Welcome to Paradise" 

As I've mentioned, there are far too many great California songs for one CD. To make this easier on myself, I eschewed the most predictable choices--no "Girls," "Dreamin'" or "Here I Come," although the latter's Bill Evans rendition tempted me. I couldn't resist "California Love," even though it hasn't been cool since it was included in the Marmaduke trailer, and I gave LL Cool J's "Going Back to Cali" preference over Biggie's, due to the former's appearance in a movie with my sister's favorite actor.

I'm happy with the mix of deep cuts and standards. Underrated tracks from Frank Zappa (a redundancy?) and Liz Phair (ditto?) both honor the state, and my music buddy Jesse hooked me up the excellent yet out-of-print Neil Young number. Then again, I'll never get sick of "Under the Bridge," "Gin and Juice" or even "Free Fallin'."

The sister likes girl groups, so I've included Lesley Gore, and she is also partial to Elliott Smith, Tom Waits and Rufus Wainwright. Sis also probably knows every word to Joni Mitchell's "California," so for good measure I've included it here with the song that Led Zeppelin wrote for Joni.

Welcome to LA, Sis. Enjoy the fun n' games.

PS> Good thing I had the playlist handy, as my buddy Erica also informed me that she's moving to LA on hours' notice. She's getting a mix with Frank Black, the Grateful Dead and others.

PPS> Sis, if you're reading this, the Morningside Heights Post Office is kind of sketchy. If the CD doesn't arrive soon, download it below.

Download here: Sister to LA