Friday Random Ten (Annotated)

You know the drill: Fire up the mp3 player, set it to random, and list the first ten songs, no matter how embarassing or uncool it makes you seem. Note: Since the death of my hard drive last month, I've had to re-build my iTunes. I'm currently up to the Ms (yes, I alphabetize), so this list will be somewhat limited by that.

1. "I Don't Feel Like a Train" John Gorka from Temporary Road: John's one of my heroes, as a songwriter. This is from one of his earlier albums, before he was quite the fixture that he is today. But this track exhibits some of his greatest strengths: clever wordplay over a deeply philosophical discussion. Take the end: "I don't feel like a train anymore, I feel like the track/ I think that I can help you if direction's what you lack/ though I'm never hard to find, I'm out and open every day/ though I cannot carry you, I can show you the way." An uplifting end to a conceit that could be kind of depressing. Also, I don't have the liner notes in front of me, so I can't be certain that it's Nancy Griffith's harmonies here, but for me, they take this song to the next level.

2. "Twilight Time" Leo Kottke from Live: A classic recording of the classic Platters' hit, done by the master of 12-string guitar. What's not to like about this record?

3. "Been There, Done That (Live)" The Loomers from Shine: When I was in college, I did a lot of talent booking for several of the music series. (In retrospect, it's really kind of scary how much money they entrusted to me and my friends to spend bringing our favorite people to campus to play for us.) One of the acts I admired most was singer-songwriter Jon Svetkey, one of a cohort of Boston songwriters that included Ellis Paul, Dar Williams, and Jim Infantino (of Jim's Big Ego). Building on what people like Bill Morissey--and, yes, John Gorka--accomplished in the 1980s, the 1990s "new folk" songwriters brought both a wide audience and whole lot of talent to what many people thought was a genre that died the day Dylan went electric. Anyway, Jon Svetkey's debut CD included "Been There, Done That," a kind of world-weary "bought the t-shirt" song from the heyday of the "whatever" early 90s. "I'm tired of all the talking, tied of all the shocking, and can anybody tell me any more good jokes?" (When you think about it, that's a pretty silly thing for someone in his 20s.) Facing his 30s without a career in music that would really support him, Jon retired from touring, but keeps playing around Boston with his band, the Loomers, and occasionally solo. This CD was recorded live, including some songs--like this one--at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

4. "Sweet Sixteen (Live)" BB King from Live at the Apollo: The King of the Blues, bending strings live. I love the horns on this record--I think my life would be so much better if I had my own horn section!--not to mention King's voice and guitar in their prime.

5. "Tell It to the Gov'nor" Bela Fleck and the Flecktones from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones: Howard Levy is a harmonica god. Period. Oh, and Victor Wooten is a bass god. Period. (This is not one of my favorite songs of theirs, but, damn, Levy can bend those notes.)

6. "Old Future" John Gorka from Old Futures Gone: Another downer, about 9/11, I think: "Fear took down the winged life, the winged life we've led." And so on. One thing about John Gorka: As sad as much of his music is, he is one of the funniest live performers, ever. He's like Steven Wright (remember him?) on stage, with deadpan ridiculous humor. If you get a chance to see him live, go out of your way if you must to see him. Really. His email updates are pretty funny, too.

7. "Barricades & Brickwalls" Kasey Chambers from Barricades & Brickwalls: Kasey Chambers is the Texas-est Aussie you will ever hear. In much the same way as the Norwegians in Minnesota are more Norwegian than the Norwegians in Norway, Chambers and her band have fully resisted the trends by which American "country" music has been Faith Hilled. This song, like much of the rest of this album, is gritty and not pseudo-pop-radio friendly. By the time she gets done explaining that "Barricades and brick walls won't keep me from you," you can tell she means it. There's no painted-on smile here.

8. "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" Shawn Colvin from Cover Girl: Shawn Colvin's had some minor commercial success, but she's long been a fixture in the singer-songwriter world. This record was kind of her tip-o'-the-hat to all the songwriters who influenced her and whose work she regularly covered back then. This is her great version of the Dylan classic, recorded live at, I think, the erstwhile Bottom Line in New York, one of her old haunts. It's a great reading of the song, and quite the nifty guitar arrangement, too.

9. "Mannish Boy (Live)" The Band from The Last Waltz: (Speaking of when Dylan went electric . . .) Everyone should own The Last Waltz. I don't know why you wouldn't. That two hours is perhaps the most complete precis of Rock history. This track explores the roots--Muddy Waters hisself joins the Band (with Paul Butterfield on harmonica, I think--curse this liner-notelessness!). Maybe delta blues isn't your thing, but Muddy is the master, doing his signature song. This is as good as it gets.

10. "#34" Dave Matthews Band from Under the Table and Dreaming: The instrumental cut the closes the record. For a while in college, I wanted to be Dave Matthews, but then I realized that playing "frat boy music" meant playing frat houses, which, having occasionally been in one, I really had no desire to do.