Supposed to be a funeral; it's been a bad, bad day.

Right then, on we go. First seven songs.

$1000 Wedding - Gram Parsons
Wow. This is an inauspicious start (in fact, aside from Wire, the first seven aren't too inspiring). Is this the worst Parsons song? Very possibly. Is it the most depressing? Without a doubt. Ostensibly a slow, piano-led ballad about a man whose rather expensive wedding is spoiled when his bride-to-be fails to show up. Features some of Parsons' most annoying, whiny singing, just past the limits of his range.

I've never quite had a handle on the lyrics, so I listened closely today, figuring it had been my fault. Not so. At the end of the first verse, the prospective groom asks his guests, "And why ain't there a funeral/If you're gonna act that way". Fine, that I understand. The man's a little upset. But later, the refrain of the song becomes, "Supposed to be a funeral/It's been a bad, bad day". I don't get it. I thought it was supposed to be a wedding. Now you're saying it was supposed to be a funeral? Then those guests were acting appropriately. These things I can't abide. Although it does give me pleasure to think that a doped-up Parsons started writing a song about a failed wedding and, halfway through, forgot the premise entirely and (remembering some lyric about a funeral) essentially finished a different song. Certainly possible.

...Meets His Maker - DJ Shadow
OK, first theory of the project (we'll have to check these as we go along). Trip-hop, or, if you're uncomfortable lumping Shadow in a genre with such an unfortunate reputation, instrumental hip-hop, when listened to out of album-context (on a mixtape, or, you know, in alphabetical order), sounds like it should be playing at a starbucks. I may be wrong. This may just be a weak half-song (it follows "Mongrel...") on a less-than-stellar album, but I ain't digging it. We will see (though, I must admit, I don't have too much of the stuff in rotation anymore)

Speaking of which, I was at a resto/bar the other night with a friend, and Massive Attack's Protection was playing over the speakers. My friend mentioned something like, oh, "Must they play this god-awful muzak?", which just happened to be my exact thought at the time. My friend, who is not one to suffer fools (and, as you may have guessed, shall remain nameless), actually walked up to the bar and requested that they change the music (earning my eternal admiration in the process). Quite strange though. From whence this hate for Massive Attack? I used to really like that album (ok, not really, but I enjoyed it). And I can't stand to listen to it now..Anyway, long story short, they put on the Doors. Serves us right for complaining.

1 2 X U - Wire
Is he saying, "Saw you in a man, kissing a man"? Saw you in a mag? Whatever. Despite what you may think from my Parsons objection above, I don't really need lyrics to make sense. This song fuckin' rules.

And how many songs get to be the name of a record label? (no really, someone should compile a list).

100 Knives - Mirah
I really like Mirah, but this song (off her You Think It's Like This, But It's Really Like This) is pretty boring unless you're about to have a first kiss with someone. That's not a criticism. It's quiet and pretty and minimally handled. There's a time and place for everything.

1020 AM - Spoon
This is another song that, I think, suffers when estranged from its album (this time, it's Girls Can Tell). On the album, it provides a nice change of pace from the other songs, which are mostly pretty aggressive rhythmically. I remember thinking, when I first heard it, that it was cool that Spoon was spreading out into some different sounds. On its own though, it sounds more like a failed experiment. Not much of a hook, and the accompaniment throughout is too same-y. Is he a radio listener or a dentist singing to a patient with a regular appointment?

106 Beats That - Wire
Thank god for Wire (capitalization mine). Best part about this one: the (synth?) sound they get to sound like that dissonant sound your phone makes when you leave it off the hook for too long.

I wish I could say more about these Wire songs, because they really are the best of the lot. But I can't. Sorry. You knew I had a temper when you married me.

11.6.45 - Beck
For those of you that are blissfully unaware, this is one of three similar tracks from Beck's Stereopathetic Soulmanure. Each features a kid (or Beck on helium) leaving what sounds like an answering machine message. He just rambles on a lot, making sure to say funny things like "taco trucks", "flamethrowers", and "sausage meat", and generally annoying anyone listening to all of their music in alphabetical order.

More to come, when it comes.