Five for three o'clock. So bored, need random tunes to pick me up...

Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene 5. Ah, that bonkers French keyboardist with his vast array of electronic organs and laser light shows and his albums full of tracks that are just the name of the album followed by a sequential number. Such as this rather peaceful melody.

Trivium - Rain. Oh, fabulous, like I need a reminder of the weather! I know someone who is a fan of this band, when I told him Korn were better he said "Who?" Honestly...

A Flock Of Seagulls - (It's Not Me) Talking. Eighties new wave wannabees, these guys so desperately wanted to be Aztec Camera they had their lead singer have a ridiculous hairdo to get noticed. They had two hit singles, and this wasn't either of them. One of my erroneous purchases, perhaps destined for the great recycle bin in the sky.

New Order - Hurt. One of those oddity tracks on "Substance" which you've never heard before.

Thin Lizzy - Fighting My Way Back. When Body Count front man Ice T proclaimed that nobody would ever accept black guys playing rock music, suggesting that it's white music and the white man would never allow it, he clearly forgot about Phil Lynott.

Everybody In The Place - The Prodigy. (Goddamn, nowhere to dance.)
Summertime - Pete Gaylord (arranged for sax quartet and rhythm section)
No More Blues - Antonio Carlos Jobim (Possibly my least favourite arrangement of this. It may just be his old man voice.)
Girl - Beck (This is a travel song. The kind of thing you might blast whilst going down the motorway in a caravan. Newquay!!)
Voodoo People (Pendulum remix) - The Prodigy (Better.)

Yes ok.

Okay, from Party Shuffle, which I finally figured out how to use.

Crazy Bitch - Buckcherry
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - James Baskett
Punk Rock Song - Pennywise (Wait.. Isn't that by Bad Religion?)
Big Bang - Bad Religion
Love Secrets - Steve Vai (Awesomest guitar player ever. Well.. Besides <3Slash<3.)

The 'oh mah gawd it's sunny for the second day running' five:

Pete Standing Alone - Boards Of Canada
Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Andy Williams. Seriously, if you don't have any Andy Williams, what are you going to seduce the ladies with?
She - Green Day
Song For The Dumped - Ben Folds Five. ...well f@ck you, too.
Call Me - Blondie.

I thing my Zen is telling me, in a round about way, that it is in a good, if slightly punky, mood. This I can live with quite happily.

Luther Vandross would work okay. I find Barry White, the old love walrus himself, does quite nicely too. But really, Inky, that's a paper thin excuse for having Andy Williams on your luggable tune chucker, mate.

My Thursday Morning Five, in celebration of the perpetuating sunshine:

New Model Army - Marrakesh. Slow song, but Marrakesh is usually a hot place, so I'll have that.

Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go. Geh, serious tempo increase there! Fits the sunshine because it's a cheery upbeat song.

Martha Reeves and The Vandellas - Nowhere To Run. Classic Motown! Definitely sunny weather songage.

Ghostface - Metal Lungies. What the hell?? How did this get on my server? Must've been one of those random things, like the sun coming out. Okay, that's tenuous...

Aerosmith - Head First. Always good for a listen, the 'smith. Just like the sun.

Erk, the sun is going into hiding! Probably as a direct result of the badly encoded Aerosmith song. Must get that sorted out, it's headache inducing.

Okay, another five before I scoot off for lunch...

Sex Pistols - Did You No Wrong
Oasis - Digsy's Dinner
Ne-Yo - Let Me Get This Right
New Order - Ceremony
Justin Timberlake - Losing My Way.

Corks, there's an eclectic mix...

I resent the implication that I need an excuse to have the masterful Andy Williams' slices of easy listening wonderment 'pon my person. Also, I'd rather dip my giblets in a blender that listen to Vandross, let alone inflict his turgid guff on a ladyfriend.

The sun is playing peek-a-boo over Stoke-on-Trent. Let's see how that affects the mix:

Schitzophonic - The Wildhearts. Miss-spelling aside, a bit of chirpy greatness from Ginger and the boys.
Slow Graffiti - Belle & Sebastian. B&S are always good for lazy, sunny days.
Can't Help - Pulszar. Nope. No making this song cheerful. This is pure cloud, albeit a nice one. Possibly shaped like a bunnyrabbit.
I Ain't Goin' Out Like That - Cypress Hill. Cloud again, but this time one made of smoke from a homemade bong in a student flat in the 90s.
Space (BBC Hit The North Session Soundcheck) - Pulp. Extra gubbins from the 2 disc edition of 'His & Hers'. Sunniness debatable.

I'd call that a 50/50 sunshine split...

Inky. you'd be surprised at how well the guy works. And it looks like your sunshine mix misfired a bit there.

Well, it's still sunny up in East Manchester, so here we go for a sun-boosting quintet from my collection of tunes...

The Datsuns - Lady. Nice upbeat rocky start from the band who inexplicably chose the name most closely associated with those dismal motor cars of the seventies. The same cars that, despite their dismalness, obliterated the manufacturing industry of both Britain and Detroit. Should provoke sunshine as long as we avoid the dismal connotation.

The Housemartins - Happy Hour. GET IN!!!! Sunshine all the way from Hull's finest export.

Madness - Believe Me. Oh, this just gets better and better! Mid album track from the very first album I ever bought (I was 10 at the time). Chirpy and upbeat, as all the "One Step Beyond" album is, and despite the context is still sun, sun and more sun.

Gwen Stefani - Luxurious. The fact that this samples the smooth Isley Brothers track "Between the Sheets" is enough to blow all those clouds away. Plus she's cute and slightly bonkers, which never hurts.

U2 - Pride (In The Name Of Love). Granted it's not one of their best ever songs, but I recall that balmy night at the City of Manchester stadium where Bono and the gang cranked out this number, the sun still riding in the sky while everyone was being treated to one seriously good performance.

I'd say a 90% chance of sunshine, at the very least.

Edit: The next track up was Electric Light Orchestra with, yep, Mr. Blue Sky! How good is that?

I make (or rather made) a point of never trying to seduce a lady with music I wouldn't otherwise listen to. Therefore, I'm much more likely to put my moves on to a spot of Carcass than the ol' 'dross.

Finished work - tune me happy, my little electronic friend:

Eye (Featuring Stacy Epps) - Madvillain. Hmm... Weird-hop from MF Doom and Madlib. Not un-sunny, but a bit odd.
Running On Grass - Ambrose Tompkins. Acoustic pluckery and lush harmonies - quiet summer evening fodder. Nice.
To The Workers Of The Rock River Valley Region, I Have An Idea Concerning Your Predicament - Sufjan Stevens. Yes, well...
Spell - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Quite sultry. I seem to be hitting on a summer nights mix here...
Hoppipolla - Sigur Ros. A song about jumping in puddles. Oh, for f@ck's sake...

Now Drop - Timberland, Magoo, Fat Man Scoop (I have this because was mixing it with something else for a friend's dance routine. But I do, erm, quite like it...)
Jardins sous la Pluie - Debussy (I love this piece insanely, and it's a killer for younger children to play with their tiny fingers, unfortunately now somewhat less impressive)
La Cathédrale Engloutie - Debussy (Oh, this one owns the Debussy above. It engulfs your entire self when you list. Unfortunately this version I have jumps. Grrr.)
U Don't Know Me - Basement Jaxx (One of their finer 'tunes'. Basement Jaxx = automatic happiness)
Jesus Wrote A Blank Check - Cake (One of their worse songs actually...)

Well that was varied.

Morn mix five:

Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz. Seems disappointingly slow after the mix that popped up a few fives back...
Deformography - Marilyn Manson. Ahh, good old Maz.
Team - Bon Iver. Great stuff, but really should be listened to in the dark, in a forest, alone.
Glad To See You Go - Ramones. Great stuff, but really should be listened to in a pub, with mates, arseholed.
Speedway (Theme From Fastlane) - Prodigy. 'Jilted Generation' = teh win.

Here's my friday lunch five. I'm feeling pretty crappy today, so let's see if the music can perk me up any or soothe my weary soul...

The Beautiful South - Domino Man. Chirpy tune from the 0898 album. Reasonable start.

Elvis Presley - Hound Dog. How can anyone fail to be lifted by the King??

Chemical Brothers - Hold Tight London. Nice smooth dance tune with soothing lyric of Anna Lynne. Definite ambient overtones. Certainly seems to be doing the job

KT Tunstall - Golden Age. Slowing right down with KT doing some acoustic. Suits me fine, I think she's a fine musician and stripping out all the noise gets us back to where she should be.

Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground. Stevie Wonder churned out some cracking stuff in the seventies, this being amongst them.

I feel better already!

Lunchtime five, with one-word adjectival tune reviews:

Little Star - The Last Town Chorus - 'pretty'
Rapture - Blondie - 'funky'
Land Of Sunshine - Faith No More - 'rocky'
Good Clean Fun - Cat Power - 'moody'
A Thousand Lies - Machine Head - 'chunky'

To celebrate day's end, a weekend off, and moderately clement weather, a final five til i see y'all again monday:

Sound The Bells - Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright. A lovely and odd album I got for the pocket-friendly price of chuff all. It was a promo CD culled from the Music Zone vaults. Who doesn't love a freebee?
Spirit Fingers - Four Tet. One of my many Music Magpie purchases. Killer 'tronica - nice mix of glitch and ambient.
The Rifle - Alela Diane. Rough Trade's album of 2007. Good choice, music selling chaps!
The Medication Is Wearing Off - Eels. 'Electro-Shock Blues' is probably my favourite Eels album. It's all good.
Been Caught Stealing - Jane's Addiction. Just. F@cking. Brilliant.

After all that, it's come to this - Amos The Transparent (featuring Amy Millan) Too depressing for a Friday afternoon. Change!
Jump N' Shout - Basement Jaxx This is more like it.
Pinball Wizard - The Who Oh fantastic. It's so great when the second guitar kicks in.
Sé Lest - Sigu Ros This song is so creepy. It reminds me of ice cream vans driving round North London and children playing round council flats.
Fire - Jimi Hendrix Well this is fun.

Ok, that was a bit fun.

Stand By Me - Ben E King Nice and mellow, good start
Watching The Detectives - Elvis Costello Good way to continue, I'm liking how this is going
Why Do Fools Fall In Love? - Frank Lymon & The Teenagers I love this song
The Great Gig In The Sky - Pink Floyd - It's an amazing song, but doesn't fit the mood
Luv Me Luv Me - Shaggy ft Janet Jackson Oh dear god. I'm so sorry I have to admit to owning this

The National - Start A War I love The National!
Incubus - Drive Possibly one of my all-time favourite songs!!
For Your Ears Only - Ticking Time Bomb One of the bands I found via free downloads on last.fm and liked, instrumental and kinda weird I guess.
Sonic Youth - Plastic Sun Uhh... it's Sonic Youth!!!
Stars of Track and Field - Spill Response Kit Nov gave me loads of SoT&F a few years ago and to begin with I listened to it loads and then I didn't listen to it for ages and then I started listening to it again. It's the kind of music I can get lost in or get bored of depending on my mood.

A pretty good selection today, all stuff I like

Okay, after a really lovely hot weekend where I was finally able to hack down the overgrown lawn and spend some time outside, it's back to work. So cheer me up, music playing device, and give me a Monday Morning Mix which won't make me resent being indoors:

Clan Of Xymox - Louise. Erm, ooooo-kay. Not quite what I was after, really. I do like Xymox, and there's nowt wrong with this track, but darkwave isn't really going to do it for me.

Madonna - Borderline. Now this is how random should work. From moody darkwave to bubblegum pop in one fell swoop. But this is more along the lines of what we need here.

As a side note, I saw her performing Holiday on TMF yesterday (I think it was her American Bandstand performance, but I could be wrong) and I was commenting to the missus that, back then, we'd never have imagined that Madge would've had the tenacity to still be a multi-million selling artist a quarter of a century later. And I'm still struggling to think of anyone else who started out in the eighties who is still going today.

Shed Seven - On Standby. York-based Britpop underachievers, had some good stuff around the mid Nineties, and the A Maximum High album was their best, I think. Never understood why this charted higher than Getting Better, which is a better song.

Barrett Strong - Money (That's What I Want). Motown classic and the best version, but only just because the Beatles version is pretty strong.

Madonna - Material Girl. How strange that Madge should reappear with another song from early in her career...

Return to work five...

We Are All Prostitutes - Pop Group. Hmm.. Hard not to agree in my line of work...
Shot In The Arm (Live) - Wilco
Do Your Thing - Basement Jaxx. Nice and bouncy.
Everyone's A VIP To Someone - The Go! Team. Top banjo, and a lovely message.
Oh Mandy - Spinto Band. Not to be confused with a similarly-titled Manilow tune.

Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap I really hope she didn't do this electronically. It spoil my life.
The Widow - The Mars Volta Yes, good. *geeks* very good harmonically.
Kelp - 7SOL It just keeps getting better and better!
Mojo Pin - Jeff Buckley Admittedly I don't like this, even if he is too good a singer.
"Fligigoo" This is actually the scat from Tenacious D's Tribute slowed down. Haha.

A lunchy five:

Deaf - Crispy Ambulance. Odd.
Suffocate - Scheer. I'll never get enough of Audrey Gallagher's voice, even if all she does nowadays is iffy Ibiza anthems.
Misfit Love - Queens Of The Stone Age. I'm still undecided on Era Vulgaris - it's not bad, but it hasn't grabbed me like earlier albums did.
No Life Singed Her - Pavement. Hmmm... This track isn't playing properly. Time to re-rip.
I Think I'm A Mother - P J Harvey. You'd think that's the kind of thing you'd be certain about. Be careful in future, PeeJ...

Ah, Monday afternoon, and I'm too busy to do this. But I'm gonna do it anyway

Michael Bolton - Can I Touch You... There? Okay, so I'll have to be forced to admit I have this guy in my collection. Apart from the suggestive title (which I'm sure some will enjoy, Syuu ) this possesses the riff from Carly Simon's "Why?" - that's the bit that goes "la di da di daa", in case you were wondering. Has a lazy beat to it, which lends itself to summer.

The Corrs - Only When I Sleep. Poor Jim, he must be the unluckiest man on the planet - in a band with three very attractive women and he can't touch them because it'd be incestuous. Which one is my favourite? The girl whose surname is "Corr"...

Anastacia - One Day In Your Life. Not related to the song by Michael Jackson, but in this case it's better for it. Still amazes me that she has this voice, it'd be like me speaking like Joe Pasquale...

Squeeze - Last Time Forever. Oh, how I wished for this to be one of the faster ones. Comes over a bit "Godley and Creme", does this one. It's a nice tune but I have to say it's not one of my favourites. Come on server, how about "Take Me, I'm Yours" or "Up The Junction"??

Half Man Half Biscuit - I Love You Because (You Look Like Jim Reeves). Must win respect for the opening line "My girlfriend looks like Peggy Mount, what am I supposed to do?" I think we all know how I feel about the Biscuit. Random useless fact: This track borrows it's name from the Jim Reeves song "I Love You Because".

This 'ere is Peggy Mount

Possibly the saddest song ever. Always chokes me up a bit. Great tune, though.

It is a sad song. Saddest? Not sure, but I know what you're driving at.

Quick five for this morning:

RHCP - Dosed. Early Chili's were brilliant. Now they're a bit boring and samey. This sounds like almost every track from "By The Way" (the album it's from). And all of the "Californication" album as well. Such a shame, because "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" is one of my all-time favourite albums ever.

Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids. Classic eighties new-wave! David Sylvian's very distinctive vocal over moody synth arrangement and the chorus which goes, "Gentlemen take polaroids / they fall in love / they fall in love." So, basically about stalkers then...

The Futureheads - Hard To Bear. Reminds me, I need to get the new album...

Barenaked Ladies - One Week. Gosh, I've not heard this in a while. Reminds me of Talking Heads a bit, but not quite as mad as David Byrne.

The Cure - Prayers For Rain. Yeah, you might want to, Mr. Smith, but I've worked too hard banning Rihanna for you to bugger it all up now, you big-haired wonky-lipsticked type!

The sadness of the song is enhanced by the loveliness of the first half, I find. It's like 'It's A Wonderful Life' in reverse - build him up, knock him down. Toe-tappingly tragic, as Doctor Zoidberg would put it.

Tuesday morning late-shift five:

Promises Promises - Cooper Temple Clause. Rest of the album failed to live up to the promise of this song - but what a song!
Crackity Jones - Pixies. A live version from the second disc of Death To The Pixies. Energetic.
1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson. My wife hates this song. It's a bit too straight-up folk for her. I love it, even if some of the lyrics are a bit bum.
Dead Men's Cigarettes - I Am Kloot. You can't go too far wrong with the Kloot - like Badly Drawn Boy if he'd made good on the promise of his debut.
I'm Slowly Turning Into You - The White Stripes. Icky Thump seems to be popping up quite a bit in Media lately. I'm not one to buck the trend.

Don't Bring Me Down - ELO Cracking tune
Confusion - ELO Two ELO tracks together? Whatever next?
The Passenger - Iggy Pop Eh, not in the mood for this. Next
Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon - Urge Overkill =)
Freedom - Simply Red Meh

Well that was entirely unspectacular

Yeah, I know what you mean... the happy-ever-after ending that was so much on the cards gets pulled out from underneath him because he was a bit of a numpty for getting hooked on the booze. Still, props for the Futurama reference Inky, I personally think that Futurama was for only the most discerning people

Five for lunch:

Bomfunk MC's - Fashion Styley. How to describe this song... it's like Jungle meets Electro. Very funky.

The Jackson 5 - Doctor My Eyes. It's the Jacksons, what more do I need to say?

Dave Matthews Band - I Did It. If Chris Rea inhaled some helium, he'd sound like Dave Matthews. Much rockier than "The Space Between" but doesn't quite hit the nail as well.

Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - All The Roadrunning. I had a mate at school who did an excellent impression of Mark Knopfler. The song? Well, seeing as it's got C&W singist Emmylou Harris in it, I'd say it's a sort of country style of song. With an electric gee-tar.

PWEI - can you Dig It? The Poppies get commercially successful by basically updating the concept of "We Didn't Start The Fire". It's quick and easy to listen to but it's nowhere near the earlier classics of "Def Con One" or "Beaver Patrol", or the later "Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina".

I need to go to Tesco but I can't really be bothered so... here I am!

jj72 - Glimmer Ahh happy(ish) Irish stuff, perfect for this big fluffy white cloud afternoon! I was sad when they split before releasing the third album 'cos it sounded pretty promising...
KOMPRESSOR - Rappers We Crush (feat McFrontalot) Uhh... gotta love Drew's crazy 'German' rapper o.O
3 Inches of Blood - Destroy the Orcs I have a feeling this was in the stuff that Ste gave me at Christmas... apparently only listened to it twice, can't think why.
Switchblade Symphony - Ammorata Have to be in the right mood for Switchblade...
Air - Afternoon Sister I love Air! I also have a massive thing for The Virgin Suicides and therefore the score... Air fit the moods perfectly!

My wireless has died so going to keep going...

The Breeders - Overglazed The kind of weird only Kim Deal can get away with... can't wait to see them live at Latitude!
Thursday - Telegraph Avenue Kiss Not listened to any Thursday for ages but they're one of those bands I can listen to pretty much whenever
Clearlake - Winterlight I really like this song but I'd never heard anything else by them until I accidentally saw them live, not heard anything else by them since either so I should probably do something about that!
Linkin Park - Points of Authority Maybe I like Linkin Park >.>

...and the wireless is back!

Lunchy-munchy five:

The Slow Drug - P J Harvey. Gawd bless the PeeJ and all her moodiness.
Open The Boxoctosis #2 - The Fall. Sensible titles? Not here, guv...
Idioteque - Radiohead. Smashing.
Elevation - The Open. A bit indie-by-numbers, but still pretty good.
Block - Machine Head. Interesting. The Zen now favours this 'Head. First gig I ever went to. Scary.

Tuesday afternoon postponed conf call five. Let's rock. Or shoegaze. Or dance wildly. Or the goth three-step. Whatever...

Arctic Monkeys - 505. Good start. To me casts imagery of one of those purely sexual but ultimately self-destructive relationships; one where both parties are drawn together like magnets, but can't actually bear to be in each other's company. On a more superficial note, I like the way it winds up to a climax. The "Favourite Worst Nightmare" album is framed by "Brianstorm" at the top and this at the end, doesn't miss a beat in the middle, and is one of my favourite albums ever.

Blur - Girls & Boys (live). Blur churned out some good songs in the nineties. This isn't one of their best ones, but it's a damn fine slice of tuneage. This live version captures the energy of the recorded version and then some.

Sex Pistols - No Feelings. Loud raucous racket from the days when punk existed. Bloody marvellous Good to see old Johnny Lydon hasn't really mellowed in his old age.

RHCP - Don't Forget Me. Another one from "By The Way", this one tries to shrug off the lethargy by adding a loud U2-esque guitar. Doesn't work, the guitar injects no urgency at all.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Get Over You. Oh dear. Miss Ellis-Bextor isn't the most emotive of singers, is she? Can't imagine her doing the announcement her mum had to make on Blue Peter...

Strong start, tailed off at the end. Oh well, can't have everything.

Suburban Eyes - Thelonious Monk I can dream...
Rustle of Spring - Sinding Yes lovely, lovely.
Once upon a Time in the West - Dire Straits Love it. I wonder what it would be like mixed with some reggae beats.
You - Radiohead No comment necessary.
Don't You Wanna Be - The Mooks Local indie band. Surprisingly good, someone might wanna look them up if they're into that kinda thing?

Wednesday morning quintet, just before I have to get on with stuff:

Aimee Mann - King Of The Jailhouse. Vaguely reminiscent of Sheryl Crow's "Tuesday Night Music Club". This all slow and moody, not really in the mood for it this morning...

Rod Stewart - Blue Moon. This man was an absolute hero when he was in the Small Faces and his early solo career had some storming stuff. Then he went a bit soft. Now he's a lounge singer. This cover of the classic "Blue Moon" is an insult to the earlobes.

Barry White - Just The Way You Are. Ah, the old Love Walrus!

Whitesnake - Blindman. One day this woman was taking a bath, and she heard a knock at the front door. She decided to ignore it. Then there was a second knock. Then a third. She shouts down, "Who is it?" and the reply comes, "Blind man". So she decides, what the heck, he's blind, so she nips downstairs, completely naked, and answers the door. The man looks at her and says, "Nice boobs! Now where do you want these blinds?"

The song? Typical Coverdale ballad, but not quite up there with the best stuff.

Belly - King. Quite upbeat for these guys. But it's easy to see why they normally do slower and more stripped down stuff; the music runs roughshod over Tanya Donnelly's girly lyrical style.

Karate - Tenacious D True fact.
Ballade no.1 in G minor - Chopin I think this came out in The Pianist. It is like working in the fields under the orange/yellow light of afternoon sun.
Etude in C-sharp minor - Chopin Well ok, flashy.
Back Row Club - The Mooks I've never heard this before.
Hands Open - Snow Patrol Yawn.

Five for the evening...

Rachel Stevens - Funky Dory. Oooooo-kay. Moving swiftly on.

Run DMC - It's Like That. And that's the way it is. Huuhh!

The Beatles - I Feel Fine. Classic oldie

The Offspring - Come Out Swinging. erm... can't you get arrested for that?

Temptations - Ain't Too Proud To Beg. Another classic oldie

What an odd mix...

A big funky Thursday packet of five:

Cocteau Twins - Cico Buff. Ah, lovely mellow start to proceedings. This is from the "Blue Bell Knoll" album, which is very strange, ethereal and beautiful. Apparently because Liz Fraser was pregnant at the time. Sigur Rós? About 15 years late to the party, mate!

Queen - Leaving Home Ain't Easy. One of the rare occasions when Brian May sang the lead vocal. Good song from "Jazz", one of their better albums, IMHO.

Elvis Presley - In The Ghetto. Hmmm, the King seems to be coming up a fair bit. Elvis telling it like it is in the ghetto. Obviously it wasn't quite so full of knives and drugs and gangs back then.

New Order - Crystal. In the early eighties, in the days of post-punk electronica, these guys were right up there as pioneers of the format and the benchmark for any of the wannabee bands to measure themselves against. 20 years later, can they still cut it? This is very much in the same mould as their classics from the eighties, specifically Ceremony, but spruced up a bit for the noughties.

Velvet Revolver - Dirty Little Thing. Pacey rock tune, reminds me of L7 a bit. But without Donita Sparks lobbing her used tampons at us...

Okay, final five for today, and the last for the week.

Elvis Presley - Always On My Mind. What, MORE Elvis? Seriously, this is getting very odd. Anyway, oft covered, rarely bettered, this is one of the reasons why Colonel Tom was so wealthy. That and the fact he paid his protégé so badly...

Supergrass - Alright. Ah, top tune, with silly lyrics such as "we get up / we go out / smoke a fag / put it out". Marvellous
I have a spoof version of this called "Feel Like Shite" by Doofergrass, AKA The Shirehorses, AKA Mark and Lard. If you don't know them, look 'em up.

50 Cent - God Gave Me Style. Is that right? Is this why you call yourself half a buck? Face it, son, you'll never be as famous or as infamous as your pugilist brother. At current rates, you are 25p

Oasis - I Hope, I Think, I Know. Formulaic Oasis album filler.

Marilyn Manson - Cruci-Fiction In Space. Relaxed in pace but still high on noise and angst, coming from the frankly brilliant "Holy Wood" album.

Leonard Cohen - The Future - One of my favourite songs at the moment

Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill - A classic, but I'm not in the mood

The Beatles - Matchbox - eh okay

Leonard Cohen - Love Itself - it's a Cohen day

Move Closer - Phyliss Nelson - not a great song

Taste in Men - Placebo
Rapid Fire - Judas Priest
The Collector - NIN
Panda - Dungen
Complainte - Poulenc Ah, so that's where the classical got to.

Firday morning back to work five:

Does Your Mother Know - ABBA. About bleeding time! Though it's a Benny & Bjorn vocal, rather than the melodic brilliance of Agnetha and Anni-Frid. Sill good stuff.
The Dance - P J Harvey. This woman could sing the phone book to me. It'd be lyrically a little dull - especially the 'Smith' verse - but I'm sure it would still leave me an odd combination of relaxed and horny. God bless Polly Jean.
Hedi's Head - Kleenex. Shambolic nonsense with one repeated lyric and absolutely no muscial talent. Of course it's brilliant! Band were sued by snotrag-floggers of same name and became LiliPUT. Midget lawsuit in pipeline.
Taking Over Me - Evanescence. I remember when this band were all anyone would talk about on this here forum. They've died on their collective arses since (in this country, anyway), but I maintain a fondness for 'Fallen'.
No Quarter - Led Zeppelin. It's the Zep, innit? No comment necessary.

A stong female showing, bookended by blokes. Good stuff all round.

Back to work on a Friday? Sounds a bit rubbish to me. Still, I didn't think I was going to be able to make a random selection today, so this is good news... Friday five before I go to Ikea and spend stupidly large sums of money on flatpacks...

Bauhaus - Mask. Oooh, dark and gloomy start to the selection.

Nickelback - Far Away. Damn them for releasing a song which is actually worth listening to, now I've got to have this turgid nonsense on the server.

Eurythmics - I Could Give You (A Mirror). Post-punk era Eurythmics, with eyepatches and videos with cows in them. But not this song, this is pure album track. Not bad, as it happens.

The Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women. What can I say? Pure class, distilled into three minutes and two seconds of top-notch tuneage. I defy you to dislike this song. Defy, I tells ya!

Steve Vai - Freak Show Excess. A friend of mine absolutely insisted I gave this album a listen. And one day I'll get around to it. I dunno, I find instrumental rock a bit, well, pointless. It's not the same unless you've got a mullet-haired wailer or a skinheaded growler belting out a song; all you're left with is the noodling that rock bands of old used to do while the singer went off to have a beer, snort something white and powdery and have sex with a groupie. That said, he is a damn good guitarist.

Super-quick busy day five:

Higher Ground - Red Hot Chili Peppers
You Don't - Tricky
I Remember You - Ramones
Manager And Coordinator Of Prostitiutes - Les Georges Leningrad
New Drug Queens - Pink Mountaintops

It's the 'working on a Saturday blues' five:

I Sleep Alone - Richard Hawley
Hows About Tellin A Story - Devendra Banhart
The Biz Vs. The Nuge - Beastie Boys
Wasted State Of Mind - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
I Don't Want To Know (Bogus) - Lhooq

Started mellow and acoustic there. Soon picked up a bit, with a creepy, trip-hoppy finish. That'll do.

Sunday five:

Into The Void - Nine Inch Nails
Le Pain Perdu - Cibo Matto
Cowboy's Orbit - Girls Against Boys
Slain By Elf - Urusei Yatsura
Mark David Chapman - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

'Slain By Elf' again! YAAAAY!!!

Four-posts-in-a-row five:

Little Bird - The White Stripes
Ludlow Street - Suzanne Vega
The Song Remains The Same - Led Zeppelin
1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson
Paranoid Android - Radiohead

Richard Thompson again? Intersting that 'Paranoid Android' should show up. I bought that single on the very day I became of legal drinking age, much as my beloved e-sis did today. I can let my mind wander back to those happy days and be with you in spirit, syuu. Just a bit more sober, sadly... <__<

It's a "breaking Inky's run" five for Monday morning:

The Jacksons - Ain't No Sunshine. They are completely wrong, unless you take the double negative into consideration, cos the sun is shining nicely here.

Faithless - Crazy English Summer. Well, quite. Hopefully a banned Rihanna will help make it less mad though...

Staind - Falling

Kills - At The Back Of The Shell

Lostprophets - Make A Move

The 'almost had five in a row' five:

Nightmare Part II - The Zutons
Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens
Boring - The Pierces - Very sexy-sounding song. Doesn't hurt that the ladies singing are no acquaintances of the ugly stick.
Victoria - The Fall - Top cover, Mister Smith!
We Know Better - Echobelly

It's the midday monday mix-up!

East 17 - Let It Rain. Erm, let's not, actually.

Fleetwood Mac - Oh Daddy

Eurythmics - Don't Ask Me Why. Okay then, I shan't

My Vitriol - Always Your Way

Kills - I Hate The Way You Love

Inject the Venom - ACDC
Samba Pa Ti - Santana Urgh, M&S.
Sen's Courage - Joe Hisaishi From Spirited Away.
Etude no.9 op.10 - Chopin
Falling Down - Muse

Well.. Since my iPOd's next to be anyway..
Thank You - Led Zeppelin
Summer Song - Joe Satriani
Going to California - Led Zeppelin
What I Got - Sublime
Social Suicide - Bad Religion

A "spending Wednesday recuperating" fivesome:

Matchbox 20 - Busted. Yes, this is Matchbox 20. It would be funny if Busted etc. etc.

Prince - Gett Off

Fields Of The Nephilim - For Her Light. Good gracious! I've got tons of Neph on the server and it's been all this time before some creeps out on the randomiser?

Culture Club - Do You Really Want 2 Hurt Me (TMS-PMS Mix). Proof, were proof needed, that just about any song can get a ridiculous dance remix, even when it makes no sense whatsoever. This one is so out in leftfield that the only connection to the original is Boy George singing the chorus which, of course, has been chopped up and oversampled into oblivion.

New Order - Dream Attack