My Thermos

This week, our music mistress tasks us with:

Top 5 "Forget" ful songs...(interpret as you see fit)

"I Don't Remember" - Peter Gabriel

I don't Remember, I don't recall
I got no memory of anything at all

"Forget the Flowers" - Wilco

"I Forgot to Remember to Forget" - Elvis Presley (although I primarily know The Beatles version..)

and two of my favorites about memory lapses, however induced

"Can't Find My Way Home" - Blind Faith

"Who Are You" - The Who

Any others?

SB

The meme mistress this week gives us:

Top 5 unique band/artist names

Aquarium Rescue Unit

A really great band fronted by Col. Bruce Hampton and featuring the outstanding Jimmy Herring on guitar and Oteil Burbridge (of Allman Brothers Band) on bass.

Box of Frogs

Formed in early 80s by former Yardbirds members, Box of Frogs put out a stellar debut followed by a not quite as good but still enjoyable follow up. Both albums feature an amazing cast of guest musicians including Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Rory Gallagher and Steve Hackett. Back Where I Started got some airplay if I recall.

Grand Funk Railroad

Although pretty much always critically panned, I've always been a fan of GFR. You can keep "American Band" though.

Liquid Tension Experiment

Never been much of a Dream Theater fan but for some reason I like LTE - perhaps it is the inclusion of bassist extraordinaire Tony Levin. It's very prog metal like and the musicianship is astounding.

Toad The Wet Sprocket

Love this band. The name comes from a Monty Python thing. Check out Dulcinea if you need a place to start with them.

As we approach the end of year, it is no surprise that our Music Memoirs friends give us:

Top 5 albums or songs from 2008

I'm going to do albums only, and even that is going to be very difficult because I didn't really connect with all that much this year, but here goes - in no particular order:

The Weepies - Hideaway

I wrote about Hideaway back in April when it came out and I still enjoy it now. It isn't a heavy rotation sort of album but when it's the right time for it, it doesn't really get any better.

Lindsey Buckingham - Gift of Screws

Lindsey is a favorite of mine, one of those guys who when I see play guitar makes me want to throw up my arms in futile disgust knowing I'll never even begin to approach that level of amazingness. Another great outing here.

Blizzard of 78 - Book of Lies

A recent release but a darn good one. I've only had the chance to listen a couple of times but I am quite pleased with this follow up.

I've written about Blizzard of '78 before back when I discovered their first LP and have been eagerly awaiting this one since then. They are in the Providence RI area so I've been alerting my BatchBlue friends to their occasional shows so I can live vicariously through them.

Band member Chris also runs Killing Floor Records.

Marillion - Happiness is the Road

They had lost me a little but this most recent release is a good one. I also think it is so very cool how they market and release their stuff now - can't think of anyone who uses the Internet quite as well as they do.

Joe Jackson - Rain

Joe strips the band down to a trio for Rain - featuring Joe, Graham Maby and Dave Houghton from the original Joe Jackson Band. As you might expect from that group, the songs are tight and extremely well crafted. I guess they performed them live for a couple of tours before putting them down and it shows. Joe is in top form here.

Probably not a lot of crossover here with other end of year lists - but this one is mine.

So what are your top from 2008?

This week's mission: Top 5 Non-Traditional Christmas Songs

I'm not sure what makes something traditional or not, but these are some of my favorites that are perhaps a little less appreciated than others.

"2000 Miles" - The Pretenders

Amazing!! And this version from The Isle of View is just gorgeous.



"She's Right On Time" - Billy Joel

"Please Come Home For Christmas" - The Eagles (original by Charles Brown - but I just love The Eagles version)

"Father Christmas" - The Kinks

and an old favorite:

"Santa Claus and his Old Lady" - Cheech & Chong

What's on your list?

SB

(via Music Memoirs)

So it's Friday and that means Top 5 on Friday Time. This week our Music Memoirs friends task us with:

Top 5 Albums From Classic Rock Artists

I hate, hate, hate the concept of the Classic Rock genre. What does classic mean? Does it mean good, popular, old? There was a classic rock station here in Chicago that used to use the "It doesn't have to be old to be a classic" - a statement that would usually elicit a "It doesn't have to be good to be a classic" response from me.

In any case, I'll go with the established, yet meaningless, definition and list the 5 most classic of classic rock artists, and then choose my favorite from each (along with a runner up because, well just because I can)

So here goes:

Led Zeppelin - Presence (Runner up: Physical Graffiti)

Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street (Runner up: Sticky Fingers)

The Beatles - Revolver (Runner up: Rubber Soul, Abbey Road, White Album - oh who am I kidding, who could possibly choose a single best Beatles album)

The Who - Quadrophenia (Runner up: The Who By Numbers)

Pink Floyd - Animals (Runner up: Wish You Were Here)

I've written about most of the above before in my Build Your Own Best Of posts so I won't bore you with the details again here.

BYOBO Beatles

BYOBO The Who

BYOBO The Rolling Stones

BYOBO Led Zeppelin

SB

On this all hallows eve we have a special (albeit somewhat predictable) Top 5 from our friends over at Music Memoirs:

Top 5 Spooky Halloween Songs

I've decided to focus on some of the things that go bump in the night....

Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) - David Bowie

Vampire Blues - Neil Young

The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown) - Fleetwood Mac

Season Of The Witch - Donovan (Although the link is to the Bloomfield, Kooper, Stills Super Session version which I prefer)

Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo

There are really an amazing number of choices for this, Frankenstein, Don't Fear The Reaper, Welcome to my Nightmare, Godzilla, Zombie Wolf, etc..

Happy Halloween everyone.

SB

Today's Mission: Top 5 songs with really long titles

Fun topic this week with a ton of possible answers. I avoided using anything parenthetical which cut out a lot of things.

Don't Think About Her When You're Trying To Drive - Little Village

Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict - Pink Floyd

René and Georgette Magritte with their Dog after the War - Paul Simon

I May Not Have Had Enough of Me But I've Had Enough of You - Robert Fripp

Sigmund Freud's Impersonation of Albert Einstein in America - Randy Newman

What did I miss?

(via Music Memoirs)