Music

This Week’s Heavy Rotation #6

“Tell ’em where to go”

We’re on the 8000th day in a row of subzero temps up here. It feels that long, anyway. That’s standard procedure for life on the Frozen Tundra. What isn’t normal is seeing most of America going through the same thing.

Even my friends in places like Arizona have been suspiciously quiet this week.

The cold means lots of time rooting through vinyl I haven’t listened to in a while, and discovering new tracks alike. If my social media timelines are any indication, a lot of other people have been doing the same thing. That’s my kind of collective experience.

The list below are my top 5 of the last 7 days.

Tell them where to go-Cable Ties

“Are you stuck in your bedroom with your stereo on? Thinking you’ll never play that way ’cause you're too weird or too young Why don’t you walk out your bedroom and steal your brother’s guitar?”

With a locomotive bass line and snarling vocals, the song feels like it’s channeling lightning. This is the kind of song that makes me want to run red lights. Railing against industry misogyny, it’s a clarion call for girls/women everywhere to stake their claim and take their rightful place.

The world is full of kids learning to play in their rooms. After hearing this, you can’t help but root for ’em all.

Day-Glo- Hazel

In early 90’s Portland, everyone was either in a band, starting a new one, or both. There was no shortage of shows, and they were often in odd places — such was the DIY culture at the time.

One of Hazel’s first shows was in a T-shirt warehouse. I never really figured out the tie-in, but the gist is that the owner would let bands play there and in turn they’d use him for printing shirts and other merch. Either way, it was great. The clip below is from 2012 — and they sounded as good as ever. And yes, they guy dancing did so at every show.

NOTE: The official video is kinda NSFW (there’s brief frontal nudity), but has a lot of nice shots of what Portland actually looks like, as opposed to the “Portlandia” version. You can check it out here if you’d like.

The Light in You-Dharma Bums

Another great Portland band. They were huge locally, but never quite hit the next level. There used to be a band from Seattle that would sometimes open for them. They called themselves Nirvana. Maybe you’ve heard of them? Funny how things turn out.

Wish the World Away- American Music Club

“Don’t watch TV, it’s all lies, I watch TV day and night I believe everything I see and I can’t turn it off The only thing that kept me together in the good old days Was a wish that you could wish the world away”

This is off of the band’s 1994 San Francisco Album. I’ve always thought singer Mark Eitzel was either a tortured writer or something of a misunderstood genius. Maybe both. Either way, we’re better for it.

Infinite Future-Daniel Avery

I spent a lot of the past week listening to this while working & writing. I like songs that make it hard to keep track of time. This one’s perfect for that.

So what’re you listening to this week? Let me know in the comments!

As always, thank you to The Riff and every writer here for making this such a great community!

In case you missed last week’s list: