November 2020 Challenge Thread: The End Is Near

Day 8: Sound-Track Sunday
Play an album that that includes a track that's prominently featured in a film soundtrack

I love this topic. It's a shade different than 'play a soundtrack' as it focuses on a single song in a movie. That perfect song in a movie can be so moving, powerful, cool, sad, hilarious, among many emotions and reactions that can be conjured up.

I could spend a week thinking about this but since I already am a day behind, I went with one that I recently saw and loved.

Bob Seger System - Ramblin Gamblin Man

The title track of this recod was featured in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It's such a great song and was perfect for the scene.

Tarantino has a knack for choosing great music, I could probably do a week's worth of this topic on just his flicks.

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Day 9 - Great Lyricist

Nathaniel Rateliff

He's become a favorite artist of mine over his last two albums. I really liked the song SOB when I first heard it and most of that material on his first record with the Night Sweats is great. Then came Tearing at the Seams, an album that just keeps giving. Lyrically, it hit just me in the right spots and his delivery and phrasing are so unique. Many of the songs on this record really elicit an emotional response out of me.
And his latest, And it's Still Alright, he made without the Night Sweats. Not because they aren't awesome, but because it seems he had something to say in a much different way. This one is sparse and beautiful, and oh so sad at times.

His set at Ann Arbor Folk Fest last winter was moving. He cried, I cried, we all cried.

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Yeah baby, we'd set the whole thing on fire
I was the king of standing alone
Looking back to see how far you've flown
I ain't grown and I ain't changed at all

Yeah honey, you could say I'm afraid
Afraid my voice don't even sound the same
There's some pitch I can't even hear at all
Push my voice now to hear it stall
I'm choking on every word

Yeah maybe, we could find a place to stretch our wings
Rest upon cliffs overlooking scenes
Scenes we don't write and we don't fall between
Ah, we're just falling again
--from Still Out There Running

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"And It's Still Alright"

It ain't alright, the hardness of my head
Now, close your eyes and spin around
Say, hard times you could find, it
Ain't the way that you want
But it's still alright

Late at night, do you lay around wondering?
Counting all the lines, ain't so funny now
Say, times are hard, you get this far, but it
Ain't the way that you want
I'll be damned if this old man don't
Start to count on his losses
But it's still alright

They say you learn a lot out there
How to scorch and burn
Gonna have to bury your friends
Then you'll find it gets worse
Standing out on the ledge
With no way to get down
You start praying for wings to grow
Oh, baby, just let go

I ain't alright, you keep spinning out ahead
It was cold outside when I hit the ground
Said, I could sleep here, forget all the fear
It will take time to grow
Maybe I don't know

Hey, tonight if you think about it
Remembering all the times that you pointed out
Say, the glass is clear but all this fear
Starts a-leaving a mark
Your idle hands are all that stands
From your time in the dark
But it's still alright
 
Day 10: And Now for Something Completely Different...Pt. II
This a continuation of @Gavaxeman 's theme from September. Pick an album and show off some memorabilia related to it!

I own this RSD unicorn thanks to @Crabbers.

The memorabilia - a RSD CRB 45 signed by Neal along with the rest of the band. I always found it sad that Neal has the most legible signature - very legible - yet he constantly struggled with the urge to erase himself. Absolutely heartbreaking.

RIP brother. I hope you found a place without pain. Thanks for everything.

Neal Casal - Fade Away Diamond Time

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Day 7: Midwest Represent
Play an album from an act that originated in one of the midwestern US states.

Dogleg - Melee

If I'm repping the Midwest, then why not "hometown" boys. Hometown meaning somewhere from the 30-or-so towns surrounding Detroit. Maybe homestate boys is more apt. Annnnnyway, you remember Dogleg from their spot on Clerks video and bringing Midwest Emo/Punk out of 40-yr-old's CD cases and back into the relevant music spotlight.

Tear down the monument. No faces, no comment
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Day 8: Sound-Track Sunday
Play an album that that includes a track that's prominently featured in a film soundtrack.

Bing Crosby - Merry Christmas

I chose the Hawaiian Christmas song Mele Kalikimaka because I love it (number 1) and it's a great scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (number 2). Also, Cousin Eddie in a speedo with his teeshirt sticking out the bottom (number 3). I won't say I always think of this scene when I hear the song, like say.......Moving in Stereo....but, every Christmas when this movie plays and this scene comes on I remember how much I love the two of them together.

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day
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Day 1 - Dia de los muertos
Camarón de la Isla y Paco De Lucia - Castillo de arena

Double deceased. Thanks to @agutierrezb and N&G for putting me on to some great music.

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Day 2 - Anticipation
Open Mike Eagle - A Special Episode of

I was a bit overcome with anxiety last week, which is one of the reasons I am so far behind now, so I thought the fact that Ziggy Starfish (Anti-anxiety Raps) was on her was appropriate. That along with Dark Comedy Late show are two of my favorites of his and the latter is sadly even more relevant than when it was released in 2015.

Our Congress moves just like a cult could
Invade Iraq 15 times in my adulthood
And we quit asking for the reasons
And clicked the Constitution's terms of service agreements
We're dreaming from sundown to high noon
And woke up by U2 albums all in your iTunes
And it's close to a all out war
With kids being murdered just for being black and tall outdoors
They respond to demonstrations wearing kevlar briefs
When the main problem is nobody respects our grief
They say if it bends it's funny, if it breaks it ain't though
I still got broke pockets and trying to host a Late Show
Recording it every night, but I don't know where the tape go

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Day 10: And Now for Something Completely Different...Pt. II
This a continuation of @Gavaxeman 's theme from September. Pick an album and show off some memorabilia related to it!

del amitri - del amitri

I spent a bit of time with del amitri in the period leading up and just after this album. Paul Tyagi and I had been friends since the beginning of secondary school and through him I had been present at rehearsals and gigs with both the original line-up and the one used on this album. I love this album, partly because it takes me back to that time, which was a very good time to live in Glasgow, kids, but also because it's full of little intelligent musical details. Paul's drumming can pull the rug from under your feet with its shifting of the downbeat and hemiola trickery, the way Justin's bass occasionally climbs above the guitars. The guitars themselves, with their rich counterpoint: this album was very popular in Portugal where the guitar work reminded listeners of the many stringed Portuguese guitar used in Fado, for instance. Out of all the Indy boom of the early eighties this sounded like something different. The memorabilia is a promotional booklet put together by the dels and their personal photographer, Alan Dimmick, who was really the Robert Doisneau of the Glasgow early eighties scene. There's the rehearsal room in the Glasgow's Washington street Arts Centre, downstairs in the old janitor's flat, there's the gig at the Mayfair, the Gig at the Fixx, and there, in the crowd at the gig at the cafë Warzika, is me; earnestly suited,sitting at a table,DSCN0111.JPGDSCN0112.JPGDSCN0113.JPG checking out the band...
 
Day 3 - 'Murcia
Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers

Well I was hoping the election would have been over and settled and less of a shit show by now, but I guess that wouldn't be very American judging by recent years would it? Can't get more quintessentially American than this. Most, if not all modern music owes a debt to the blues.

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Goodlivingav said:
Day 10: And Now for Something Completely Different...Pt. II
This a continuation of @Gavaxeman 's theme from September. Pick an album and show off some memorabilia related to it!

del amitri - del amitri

I spent a bit of time with del amitri in the period leading up and just after this album. Paul Tyagi and I had been friends since the beginning of secondary school and through him I had been present at rehearsals and gigs with both the original line-up and the one used on this album. I love this album, partly because it takes me back to that time, which was a very good time to live in Glasgow, kids, but also because it's full of little intelligent musical details. Paul's drumming can pull the rug from under your feet with its shifting of the downbeat and hemiola trickery, the way Justin's bass occasionally climbs above the guitars. The guitars themselves, with their rich counterpoint: this album was very popular in Portugal where the guitar work reminded listeners of the many stringed Portuguese guitar used in Fado, for instance. Out of all the Indy boom of the early eighties this sounded like something different. The memorabilia is a promotional booklet put together by the dels and their personal photographer, Alan Dimmick, who was really the Robert Doisneau of the Glasgow early eighties scene. There's the rehearsal room in the Glasgow's Washington street Arts Centre, downstairs in the old janitor's flat, there's the gig at the Mayfair, the Gig at the Fixx, and there, in the crowd at the gig at the cafë Warzika, is me; earnestly suited,sitting at a table,View attachment 74101View attachment 74102View attachment 74103 checking out the band...
Click to expand...
I would love some presses/represses of all of their albums
 
Day 9: Great Lyrics
Play an album that's notable for its great lyrics.

Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 4

We all know Killer Mike has verse of the year on the song Walking In The Snow, but I think El-P is criminally underrated on this album. Mike punches you in the face with what he has to say. He has a loud presence that is immediate and demands attention. Meanwhile El-P is over there saying shit that you're not even gonna catch until the 4th or 10th time through. Mike is the intimate, raw emotion of the group and El-P is the bigger picture thinker saying, "shit is this fucked up now, but remember.....it was ALWAYS fucked and will continue to be always fucked". Not taking anything away from Killer Mike. He's pound for pound one of the best (if not THE best) lyricists in the game right now, and dude is many many pounds, so that's saying something.

Some of my favorite El-P lines from the album include, but are not limited to, ......

"physicists say the dough I gets proof
the multiverse lives I'm s'posed to just lose"


"Earth folk not a mellow bunch
got our thumbs in the air like Hell or Bust
Look at who we done blessed with our trust
I don't think we'll be left with too much
Hand on my heart and my mind on my drugs
got a Vonnegut punch for your Atlas Shrug
They love to not love, its just that dumb
Lord, sweet Buddha, please make me numb"


"well, what a wretched state of danger we've made here,
I thought to me
Perhaps explaining years of self lobotomy,
toxicly
Perhaps explaining tears and even tears in my cosmology
You numb yourself for years and it can wear upon you, honestly
These old foxes got a lot of plots to outfox us
Tryin to divvy up and dump in corresponding boxes
how obnoxious
where the heart and mind connect expect them targeting like archers
You will not travel towards the light if they're in charge of your departure"

Mike is god-tier lyrically, but El-P is the human philosopher with a direct line to Mt. Olympus.

Livin' in a valley of flames like, "I win!"
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Day 10: And Now for Something Completely Different...Pt. II
This a continuation of @Gavaxeman 's theme from September. Pick an album and show off some memorabilia related to it!

Screamer - Phoenix.

I quite like the Swedish New Wave of British Heavy Metal band SCREAMER. Say that sentence a couple times and see if it makes any sense. Har. I bought a bundle that included all 4 of their albums during the first Bandcamp Friday way back in March and was surprised with a goodie bag of stickers, patches, a metal logo that I can only assume came from a guitar case or amp, and a poster signed by the band thanking me for the support. I knew there were gonna be a few odds n ends thrown in, but they went above and beyond and I really appreciate them appreciating me. Music is rad.

Demon Rider, he rides into the night!
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Day 10: And Now for Something Completely Different...Pt. II

The National - Cherry Tree Vol. 1 (The National, Cherry Tree Vol 1, Pink Marbled vinyl)

I have spent the last couple of days listening to the National Cherry Tree Membership releases. I really enjoy live music and the 2 releases so far both contain live recordings taken from their plethora of gigs. This first one contained an assortment of goodies thrown in (as did the second) including a scarf, iron-on patch, and tote bag.


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Day 10: And Now for Something Completely Different...Pt. II
This a continuation of @Gavaxeman 's theme from September. Pick an album and show off some memorabilia related to it!

The Flaming Lips released a surround sound version of Soft Bulletin a number of years ago (and it sounds really good in 5.1). When they released it though, they had the original US mix of the CD included with it. If you sent it in, they sent back the version that should have been included, the european mix/track listing.

When they sent the replacement back, Michael Ivins, bass player for the Lips, included a personalized handwritten note with the corrected version apologizing for the mixup. They've always seem to have been appreciative of their fans and fame, and something like this shows how grounded they've remained.

Flaming Lips ~ The Soft Bulletin

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Day 10: And Now for Something Completely Different...Pt. II
This a continuation of @Gavaxeman 's theme from September. Pick an album and show off some memorabilia related to it!
Rolling Blackouts C.F. - Sideways To New Italy
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One of my favorite releases of 2020 came with a nice personalized touch. The band included handwritten/signed postcards with preorders...
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Day 10: And Now for Something Completely Different...Pt. II

This OG copy of Zen Arcade still includes the original SST order form that came with the LP. Pretty fun to look through - and look at that line up! No fewer than 5 transformative punk classics within your first 28 catalog titles - Greg Ginn was some talent scout.

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