the best I ever did with my bucks

What a week!

I probably should have known it was going to turn out something like this when I realised that the thirteenth Guest Editor was entering the earworm hotseat...

This week's Guest Editor is the owner of the first blog I ever found by hitting on the "next blog" button on the top right-hand corner of the browser. I must have been very lucky indeed, as I'm still reading regularly, and I don't think I've found another blog worth reading using that technique ever since.

Yup, this blogger was one of the first to provide me with my weekly insight into everyday America. So similar in so many ways, but also strangely alien. I still don't know what a slurpee is, although I could hazard a guess....

Anyway. Ladies & Gentlemen, without further ado....

Earworms of the Week - Guest Editor #13 - Charlie from Late Night Radio

Being a longtime regular reader of ST's blog, I've been a fan of the earworm column for quite some time. It indulges the music geek in me, and sometimes gives me some new tunes to check out. I never thought it'd actually be me, especially given the recent series of authors and the fact that I'm male. Anyway, I'm glad to be here.

Enjoy.

10. The Soggy Bottom Boys- "I am a Man of Constant Sorrow"

I jumped on this one five years after O Brother and the corresponding soundtrack hit the big time. This tune strikes me as having much more of a tasty groove than your average pickin' tune, and makes me really, really want to ride a horse. I don't know--it just does.

9. David Gray- "The One I Love"

Are all you Englanders sick of DG? Is he big over there? Is he big over here? All I can tell you is that while I routinely list this cat as one of my favorite artists, I only listen to him in very concentrated doses every six months or so. I guess it's been long enough, and this single just gleams with pop-rock shine.

8. Ryan Adams- "1974"

I'm the Ryan Adams fan none of the other RA fans would play with at recess, since the atypical Rock N Roll is my favorite disc of his, but do me a favor and put your windows down, hit an interstate, and bellow "it's 1974--just like the day i was born!" It'll be fun--I promise.

7. Notorious B.I.G.- "Warning"

This ends my brief streak of white guys with guitars. Checking out the two B.I.G. records used for cheap has been quite fun, as Biggie proves to be a pretty captivating storyteller. Ready to Die includes a nostalgic look at this one--"damn, why they wanna stick me for my paper?"

6. Andrew Winn- "Goodbye Yesterday"

Back to a white guy with a guitar. However, not just any white guy with a guitar--if I could play any instrument like anyone, it'd be guitar like Andrew Winn--and I'm a saxophonist. This list will be notable for me in the absence of any actual Agents of Good Roots (ST:: Coldplay, Charlie::AGR) songs, but the chorus from this original from Winn's solo record proves to be one of those sunshiney things you can't dislodge. I saw it performed at an AGR show in April, and it's been getting sporadically stuck in my head ever since.

5. Norah Jones- "Ruler of My Heart"

The presence of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band makes this one more of a foot-tapper than the typical Norah dinner-jazz type balladry. I'll admit two things right now: a, I love Norah's voice, and b, she's one of my biggest celebrity crushes. That nice, wholesome, talented-yet-still attractive thing is top-notch. I dig.

4. Modern Groove Syndicate- "Big Business"

Another appearance by an ex-member of Agents, this time saxman JC Kuhl. Not quite jazz, not quite funk,this instrumental number is guaranteed to make your soul stir and your ass shake. The MGS guys opened with this track the first time I ever saw them, and I was hooked from the moment the band kicked in. Check these guys out if like jazzy-type stuff and you need something fresh to bob your head to: right here

3. Kelly Clarkson- "Since U Been Gone"

Yeah, I know Kelly supposedly has some other single that is the new Tyrannosaur of the airwaves, but I'm still scraping this one out of the recesses of my brain. You know catchy when three mid-20s males are riding home from a Wilco concert with the windows down singing along to this tune at the top of their lungs. It may be a guilty pleasure, but it's a damn fine pop song. Might I add that this young woman is the only worthwhile performer to emerge from four years of American Idol.

2. Weezer- "Beverly Hills"

Boom-boom chick beat. Slow, spoken-wordish lyrics. A cheesy talkbox guitar solo from the wrong decade. Definitely not the best song off of the record. Yet, I can't get this one out of my head as many as five months after I first heard it. Maybe it's the thunderous chorus, maybe it's the nostalgia of the Weez being one of my favorite bands, but it's something, and it hasn't shown any signs of leaving.

1. Mike Doughty- "Ways and Means"

Chances are, if any of you have ventured from the worldly relevant talk of ST's place over to my collection of random anecdotes, you've noticed that I have a tendency to frequently mention Doughty, or use lines from this song titles as post titles. I think if I made an earworms list every week, nary a week would go by without a Doughty tune on it. I find that I enjoy Doughty's work much more post-Soul Coughing and post-drugs. This one's a funky little guitar/synth/drum machine track that is a money-back guaranteed head-nodder.

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Thanks Charlie. Apologies in advance, but I just can't resist this:

[fast show reference]

Mmm Jazz.

Nice.

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Next week: Tom from Bad-Wolf.... same time, same relative dimensions in space.

[previous guest editors: Flash, The Urban Fox, Lord Bargain, Retro-Boy, Statue John, Ben, OLS, Ka, Jenni, Aravis, Yoko, Bee]