Rainy First 10 Friday

Ah...a kindly speaker in our speech class handed out coffee to everyone and it was delicious! Hang on - I'm on a java-fueled musical rampage! It's Fuman's First 10 Friday!

1) Across the Stars - John Williams
Ah, a staple of the Star Wars soundtrack. Very beautiful and sweeping, not quite heroic and militaristic like the main Star Wars theme. Fits into the movie quite nicely.

2) Go Go Cactus Man - Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts
Perfectly western theme for a western-inspired anime series, Cowboy Bebop. Your standard rough-ridin' cowboy tune, I suppose. One of my favorite Cowboy Bebop tracks.

3) On the Sunny Side of the Street - John Pizzarelli
A nice little cover by Mr. Pizzarelli. Can't say that I LOVE his little scat areas (gets a tad boring, if you ask me...), but they're okay. Overall a happy little tune. The kind that makes you feel quite alright.

4) Enid - Barenaked Ladies
I had never listened to this one. Now that I have, umm...well, I sort of forget how it sounds. You see, I went to stock up on foodstuffs between listening and writing this. Whoops. If I remember correctly, though, it was about some BS relationship. I do recall it sounding good.

5) Lupin III Theme - Charlie Kosei (I think)
Ah, now THIS brings back memories. Lupin III is one of the best anime series I've ever watched. Wacky and at the same time a tad serious, Lupin III follows the adventures of Arsene Lupin III, a descendant of the great French thief Arsene Lupin. Zany antics, cool heists, and a funky '70s soundtrack. What more could you ask for? By the way, Charlie Kosei recently did a track called Que Sera Sera for the Katamari Damacy soundtrack. He's an odd one... man, I need to start watching Lupin again!

6) Falling for the First Time - Barenaked Ladies
Another BNL song! This is definitely one of my favorites - great instrumentation and great lyrics. Add in a great message (the feeling of freedom one gets from realizing that it's okay to be human and screw up) and you've got an excellent song. If anybody thinks that BNL are little more than a novelty act with silly lyrics, check this song out.

7) Brian Wilson - Barenaked Ladies
Okay, 900-something songs in this pool of music and THREE BNL songs in one list? Something is quite fishy here...the title's pretty self-explanatory: It's about Brian Wilson, one of the Beach Boys, who fell into a deep depression after bits of his life began to crumble away. Less obvious from the title (though quite glaring in the lyrics) is that the singer is relating his own feelings to being "like Brian Wilson."

8) #34 - Dave Matthews Band
Sort of a hidden track on the Under the Table and Dreaming CD (which is probably my personal favorite DMB album...probably). This was really cool in that the CD actually skipped to track 34 (the CD only had 12 songs on it). I don't know why, but little things like that seem cool to me. This is instrumental, though I believe there ARE lyrics that Dave sings in concert. Can't say much about the lyrics because I've not really heard them. This is quite the calming song.

9) Can't Buy Me Love - John Pizzarelli
Ah, another Pizzarelli cover. I like the original Can't Buy Me Love, so my standards are sort of high for this song. Luckily, Pizzarelli delivers with an interesting jazzy/big band version. Odd that the last bits of the song have Woodchopper's Ball (the Gong Show theme) playing.

10) Frankenstein - The Edgar Winter Group
This was sort of tacked on. See, Sunshine of Your Love was on the list, but I realized it had already appeared...so, the next random track was this. I've always enjoyed this song (even the perverted rendition back in HS pep band). Good for a listen, I wouldn't put this up on the 'best ever' list.

I sort of lost it part way through the list. I just didn't seem to get into the list as much. Ah well, it was fun anyway. Hope you enjoyed. Have a nice weekend, everybody.