Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 6th Round

Well, here we are. On the last "bullet", so to speak. And this one's a doozy. I know I've kept you on the edge of your seats for almost 2 months since the last round and maybe some of you thought that I posted something and it was the round that hit home (aka got taken down because it was on a "hot list" because I'm a dirty dirty pirate)

Well, I'll tell you this. This final round (of this particular game. I'm absolutely going to play again) may be the one. You see, the song is...

Linkin Park - Waiting for the End from A Thousand Suns (buy)

And that flies in the face of all the reasons I've had for low R-cubeds (see Round 4 for a definition of R-cubed). It's still relatively new. It was a #1 hit on the very countdown I publish on this blog. And I can completely see it being on all kinds of lists.

Keep your fingers crossed for me :)

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 5th Round

First of all, Happy Birthday Dad! I'm so stoked that one of these landed on your birthday! You have been instrumental in my musical growth over the years! Not to mention my growth as a man and a human being.

So, today's round goes to the first track on the Joplin In Concert album. It was an album I bought after hearing about how amazing she was and this track absolutely hooked me in to loving her and her amazing voice!

It was recorded on March 2, 1968 when she was with Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Every time I hear this, I am sad that I never got to see her perform in concert. They truly don't make singers like her anymore. Or maybe they do and she was just one of the first, biggest, brightest example!

The R-cubed (see previous round) on this is still pretty low, because I feel like there's not a lot of demand for this kind of recording. It's a pretty common thing, is what I'm saying, so don't worry about little ol' me. :)

Janis Joplin - Down on Me (live) from Joplin In Concert (buy)

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 4th Round

I really don't know much about this band that I'm posting for the fourth exciting round of blog Russian Roulette. I know that I got this from I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, along with "Hey Sandy", "As Usual" and "Coronado II", all of which come from the Music from The Adventures of Pete and Pete which was a TV show on Nickelodeon that was the "cool, awkward kid" among all of its contemporaries. "Hey Sandy" was the theme song, but this song is also quite enjoyable.

The Adventures of Pete and Pete was a nice glimpse into middle-class, kooky American life, so it's apropos that this song is showing up on the day we celebrate our Independence Day!

In terms of Russian Roulette Risk ("R-cubed" to those in the know), I would say that this song is fairly safe. I could always be wrong, but, in this instance, I don't think I am. Not a lot of people trying to pirate this kind of music and so it's probably not on too many hot lists...

Polaris - She is Staggering from Music from The Adventures of Pete and Pete (buy)

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 3rd Round

Well, it's appropriate that today is my wife's last day of responsibilities at school and our Russian Roulette song is a punk song from Fat Wreck Chords heroes No Use For a Name. I am not too worried about this song getting me in trouble. Punk rockers are on our side, right? :)

This album is a fast-paced rocker that's perfect for the first days of summer. Get the whole thing, listen to it, and wreck your living room.....or someone else's living room.....ok, maybe leave the living room alone.

No Use For a Name - Leave it Behind from Leche con Carne! (buy from Amazon) or (buy from the label!)

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 2nd Round

The second round of our game of Russian Roulette goes to:

Squirrel Nut Zippers - Low Down Man from Perennial Favorites (buy)

I feel like this a little bit more risky than the first round. It's a song by a band from the 90's as opposed to the 60's and they might be on the "master list" somewhere

Perennial Favorites came out in 1998 and was the first SNZ album I had an official copy of. (My cousin had made me a tape of Hot which I practically played into the ground.) This is one of the songs on the album sung by the beautiful-voiced Katharine Whalen. It's so gorgeous. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it could be Billie Holiday singing this song. It's that beautiful.

Russian Roulette (Blog Version) - 1st Round

The first round of our game of Russian Roulette goes to:

Joe Tex - Show Me which I have from Atlantic Rhythm and Blues 1947-1974 Vol. 6 (buy)

I don't think this is in any danger, so it's a pretty safe song to start with.

Joe Tex was a soul and R&B singer who, when he wasn't feuding with James Brown, developed a style of talking over music, which he called "rap". Yes. THAT rap.

Quentin Tarantino is a big fan, putting Tex's "I Gotcha" on the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack and "The Love You Save (May Be Your Own) on the Death Proof soundtrack

Russian Roulette (Blog Version)

So, over at Cathedrals of Sound, they do a Lazy Sunday feature where they talk about whatever comes to the top of the "shuffle pile" and I have always thought that was cool, but I wanted to do something a little bit different with it. So I'm going to do a round of Russian Roulette, blog style.

I pressed Shuffle Songs on my iPod one day and wrote down the first 6 songs that showed up. Then I went on random.org and generated 6 dates that will be occurring in the next 6 months. (This was on 3/6. Sensing a "6" based theme?) So I'm going to write these blog posts about these songs and on the designated day, the post will show up with a link to the song to listen and/or download. I'm hoping to forget all about which days things are scheduled so it will be a surprise for me AND you.

The Russian Roulette is based in the fact that I'm "taking 6 shots" and I don't know if one of those shots will result in the post being deleted by the powers that be. It adds a bit of danger and that's kind of fun.

So, look out for that in the near future!