King's X, "(Thinking and Wondering) What I'm Gonna Do"

Bear and Beez's Excellent Adventure

Bear and Beez's Excellent Adventure

1. Bill Withers, "Lovely Day"
2. Fleetwood Mac, "Never Going Back Again"
3. Hank Williams, "Lost Highway"
4. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, "Tha Crossroads"
5. King's X, "It's Love"
6. Willie Nelson, "City of New Orleans"
7. Leadbelly, "Midnight Special"
8. Lynrd Skynyrd, "Call Me the Breeze"
9. Merle Haggard, "Mama Tried"
10. Sinéad O'Connor, "Mandinka"
11. The Meters, "Cissy Strut"
12. The Jam, "That's Entertainment"
13. Gladys Knight & the Pips, "Midnight Train to Georgia"
14. Yo La Tengo, "Autumn Sweater"
15. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, "Light of Day"
16. Tinie Tempah, "Pass Out"
17. Shuggie Otis, "Strawberry Letter 23"
18. Patsy Cline, "I Fall to Pieces"
19. Pulp, "Disco 2000"
20. U2, "Trip Through Your Wires"
21. Traveling Wilburys, "The End of the Line"
22. Van Halen, "Happy Trails"

For EQ and JB, somewhere between Nashville and Nebraska.

Life on the Mississippi

Margaret is writing a book that has taken her on a few research visits to the South. We've talked a few times about the best songs about life below the Dixon, and she's directed me to some noteworthy songs about Mississippi, from an old blues anthology to Afroman. You can probably tell where this is headed.



Life on the Mississippi

1. Mississippi Fred McDowell, "Baby Please Don't Go"
2. Bob Dylan, "Mississippi"
3. Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Mississippi Kid"
4. King's X, "Mississippi Moon"
5. The Grateful Dead, "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleoo"
6. Charley Patton, "Mississippi Boweavil Blues"
7. Kid Rock, "Jackson, Mississippi"
8. Robert Johnson, "Travelling Riverside Blues"
9. Mountain, "Mississippi Queen"
10. Nina Simone, "Mississippi Goddam"
11. Jerry Lee Lewis, "Miss the Mississippi and You"
12. Johnny Cash & June Carter, "Jackson"
13. R. L. Burnside, "Goin' Down South"
14. ZZ Top, "My Head's in Mississippi"

Mississippi is rooted so deeply in the blues that it can't help but come out in rock n' roll. "Baby Please Don't Go" has been covered by everyone, and I'll admit that I thought Led Zeppelin wrote "Travelling Riverside Blues" until high school. But Mississippi's influence crosses over to all sorts of genres and sentiments--the Cashes' charmingly bitter "Jackson," Nina Simone's heated "Mississippi Goddam" and Mountain's lascivious cowbell classic should all be a part of everyone's songbook. Though in an ideal world, that book would also include R. L. Burnside's haunting early recordings and King's X's lonesome "Mississippi Moon."

Other than Bob Dylan and ZZ Top, not many American rockers have been able to translate the blues into their music in a way that's both respectful and distinct. I couldn't bring myself to include "Black Water" or North Mississippi Allstars, which felt like the equivalent of picking the Black Crowes' "Hard to Handle" over Otis Redding's. But hey, some people might say that about choosing Mississippi Fred McDowell over Big Joe Williams.

Five Incredible Musicians Who Can Get Marriage Benefits in the US

1. Doug Pinnick, bassist/vocalist for King's X



2.  Steve Brooks, guitarist/vocalist for Torche and Floor



3. Roddy Bottum, keyboardist for Faith No More



4. Brian Cook, bassist for Russian Circles and These Arms Are Snakes



5. Rob Halford, vocalist for Judas Priest

Kate-mas 2013

Much of the best new non-metal music that I heard in the past year came from Ben-mas 2012, a birthday mix that Kate sent me from England. Artists that I had never heard of or bothered to check out because they had names like Tinie Tempah, Mystery Jets or LCD Soundsystem have been getting stuck in my head and making their way onto my playlists. My response isn't quite as chic, but I'm giving it a shot.



 Kate-mas 2013

1. Japandroids, "The Nights of Wine and Roses"
2. Andrew W.K., "It's Time to Party"
3. Dr. Octagon, "Earth People"
4. Janet Jackson, "Rhythm Nation"
5. Kavinsky feat. Lovefoxxx, "Nightcall"
6. The Zombies, "Care of Cell 44"
7. King's X, "It's Love"
8. The Roots, "The Seed (2.0)"
9. Fiona Apple, "Hot Knife"
10. Santo and Johnny, "Sleepwalk"
11. The Jackson 5, "The Love You Save"
12. Danny Brown, "Radio Song"
13. Lily Allen, "LDN"
14. David Bowie, "Sound and Vision"
15. The Knife, "Heartbeats"
16. Jimmy Cliff, "The Harder They Come"
17. Clipse feat. Slim Thug, "Wamp Wamp (What It Do)"
18. The Afghan Whigs, "Crazy"
19. Penguin Cafe Orchestra, "Telephone and Rubber Band"
20. The Giraffes, "Jr. at His Worst"

 A semi-stylish mix, as imagined by someone who prefers Anthrax to Animal Collective.

Some of my favorite recent songs are here, via Fiona Apple, Japandroids, Danny Brown and the Drive soundtrack, plus a few tracks from the the mid-2000s, around the time I worked at Kim's Mediapolis and was momentarily hipper than I ever will be again. Thus, I'm offering the new Grimes song (from when it was called "Heartbeats" by the Knife) and Lily Allen's "LDN," which plays like a Kate e-mail set to music.

Otherwise, I've included a balance of yesteryear classics that I can't imagine anyone not liking. Only a sadist could resist the best of the Jackson 5, Bowie or Jimmy Cliff, and I still don't believe anyone who can't get down to "Earth People." Finally, headbanging biases appear in the presence of celebration icon Andrew W.K., Brooklyn surf-metal heroes the Giraffes and King's X, whom have now spent a quarter of a century as the world's most underrated hard rock band. The guitar and vocal harmonies in the outro to "It's Love" should be playing from stadiums, or at least from the listening devices of thoughtful English expats.

Metal is Going to the Dogs

Metalsucks has a great Dogs Playlist this week. Here are a few that I would've added.

1. Primus, "Too Many Puppies" 
2. Fugazi, "Bulldog Front"
3. King's X, "Dogman"
4. Butthole Surfers, "Underdog"
5. The Giraffes, "Dog Sex #1"
6. AC/DC, "Dog Eat Dog" 
7. AC/DC, "Given the Dog a Bone"
8. The Dillinger Escape Plan and Mike Patton, "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things"
9. Dead Kennedys, "Dog Bite"
10. Dead Kennedys, "The Man with the Dogs"
11. Testament, "Dog Faced Gods"
12. The Melvins, "Sky Pup"
13. The Melvins, "Dog Island" 
14. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, "Evelyn, a Modified Dog"
15. Motörhead, "Dogs"
16. Mother Love Bone, "Stardog Champion"
17. Pearl Jam, "Pilate"
18. Head of David, "Dog Day Sunrise"
19. Jimmy Ågren, "Lester Howlin' Dog"
20. Gogol Bordello, "Dogs Were Barking"
21. Stillwater, "Fever Dog"
22. Andrew W.K., "Golden Eyed Dog"

More to come.

Song of the Day: King's X, "Lost in Germany"

No one matches catchy with complicated quite like King's X. I can't keep track of the notes in the chorus riff to "Lost in Germany," but I also can't get them out of my head.



In spite of its terrible cover art, King's X's self-titled fourth record makes a case for Doug Pinnick, Ty Tabor and Jerry Gaskill among metal's best decision-makers. Listen to how they throw in fretboard tricks like a trio of Berklee grads, but they know exactly when to cut out to a simple melody or a series of "doo-doo-doos." No matter what they say, I can't imagine them getting lost.

For Nick.