The Rob Gordon Shuffle, 5.28.06


Sometimes I wish I was named Roland. Y’know, just because.

The Pipettes – “Sex”: mp3
I know I just posted on them, but I’ve been listening to this record two or three times a day all week. It’s unbelievably catchy – like the Magic Numbers album from last year with even shorter songs and roughly the same ratio of great tracks to decent ones. I compared The Pipettes to “Art Brut for girls” the other day, and I think that analogy holds true, except that where Art Brut eschew the pop canon (“I can’t stand the sound of the Velvet Underground”), The Pipettes embrace it wholeheartedly, borrowing wholesale from “Stand By Me” and The Beach Boys and as many classic pop moments as you can imagine. Just download the song already, sheesh.

Remy Zero – “Problem”: mp3
These guys used to be Zach Braff’s favorite band. If ever a band had one great song in them that blew the rest of their catalog away, this is it. Wonder what Natalie Portman’s favorite is.

The Manic Street Preachers – “If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next”: mp3
I played this for my girlfriend the other day and tried to convince her it was Coldplay. I couldn’t fool her, but she liked it anyway. The Manics were making incredible Britpop long before Chris Martin was crippled by anxiety. Thank Chris Carter (formerly of Dramarama, and as far as I know, still the host of weekly radio show “Breakfast With The Beatles”) for playing this on his old show “The Chris Carter Mess” back in the day.

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The Rob Gordon Shuffle is a weekly Sunday rundown of fascinating songs without particular regard to genre or timeliness. It is absolutely not a top 5.

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