Monday's AM "SAS" Playlist

Wow, did my Zune want to kick my butt on the way in to work this morning! I think it's got a hidden sensor that can tell when it's Monday... and when I'm dragging!

Here's this morning's "Shuffle All Songs" playlist:

1. What I See ~ Black Flag
2. Still of the Night ~ Whitesnake
3. Before It's Too Late ~ Goo Goo Dolls
4. I Woke Up Dreaming ~ Wendy Wall
5. October ~ U2
6. Something I Can Never Have ~ NIN
7. Kill Devil Hill ~ Bruce Dickinson
8. Wasted Years ~ Iron Maiden
9. Somebody Put Something in My Drink ~ Ramones
10. Captain of the World ~ Sam Black Church

What'cha got this Monday morning??

Sunday Morning Cardio Playlist 10/10/10

1. Journey - Do You Recall
2. Angel - Got Love if You Want it
3. Pearl Jam - Dissident
4. The Black Crowes - Go Faster
5. Rush - Working Man
6. Tygers of Pan Tang - Suzie Smiled
7. Starz - Sing It, Shout It
8. Audioslave - Broken City

Sons of Albion @ Fontana's on the Lower East Side, NYC

My colleague and I  were in New York for a business conference.  Technically we were out on Long Island and we came into the City with the group on the LIRR.  The group wanted to go and do the touristy thing at Times Square, having dinner at the ESPNZone.  The joke was on them, the ESPNZone has closed!  Anyway, Matt and I just couldn't fathom the idea of passing up on both a chance to see the Sons of Albion and catching some local flavor so we hopped the subway down to SOHO. 


We had a really great meal and some fine beers at a place called Spitzer's Corner that I found using my craft beer finder app on my iPhone.  Not sure about the name, but the place was very cool.  We sat at an open window facing the street. It was a beautiful evening and the locals were out in all of their glory.

After dinner we back-tracked to Fontana's.  It's a nice little divey place with it's music room in the basement.  The fire marshal notice said occupancy limited to 73.  So, it's a small place, but they had a good beer selection.  I had a nice Pumpkin Ale by a local brewery.  Damned if I can remember the name.

Anyway, the band came on a couple of minutes after 8 pm.  We joked that it wouldnt be very rock n' roll if they were punctual.  They came out, said "hi" and tore into the first song.

Their set was short, maybe 40 minutes, but they made the most of it.  Very high energy.  The singer is the son of Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and every so often I could hear his Dad in his voice.  He sings in a bit of a lower range than his Dad, but occasionally he'd reach for a high note and I could really hear the family resemblance. 

This must've been what it was like in the early 90's.  I felt like what I was witnessing was not unlike Soundgarden's rise from the basement stages of clubs in and around Seattle. 

I would expect big things from these guys once their LP is released and they do a proper US tour.

Check them out on Facebook.

The "Shuffle All Songs" Playlist just keeps growing!

Here's a Double-Shot from Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. I have to say the songs I heard on the way to work really helped shape the rest of my day.

Tuesday's "SAS Playlist"

1. Stand & Deliver ~ Adam Ant
2. Master of Puppets ~ Metallica
3. Be Quick or Be Dead ~ Iron Maiden
4. Dogs in the Yard ~ Fame Soundtrack
5. Kissing Time ~ KISS
6. Fix Me ~ Rise Against
7. Vengeance ~ Temperedcast
8. Hallelujah/I Know It's Over ~ Jeff Buckley (live recording)
9. Shame ~ Rollins Band
10. King of the World ~ TALAS

Wednesday's "SAS Playlist"

1. Ninth Black Circle ~ Sam Black Church
2. Down in a Hole ~ Alice in Chains
3. Help Help ~ Pearl Jam
4. Tie Your Mother Down ~ Queen
5. Fight or Fall ~ Thin Lizzy
6. Take Hold of the Flame ~ Queensryche
7. Jardin d'Hiver ~ Keren Ann
8. Born in '58 ~ Bruce Dickinson (live recording)
9. Slaves & Bulldogs ~ Soundgarden
10. Duel of the Fates ~ Star Wars Soundtrack

So-- there you go. 20 songs that helped shape two of my days this week. What songs are shaping your days? Share!!!

Morning Commute "Shuffle All Songs" Playlist

This morning's songs ran the gamut, and what's more, I sang along to each and every one!
Here's the list:

1. Silent Lucidity ~ Queensryche
2. Odyssey ~ KISS
3. Desire ~ U2
4. The Number of the Beast ~ Iron Maiden
5. Don't Believe Her ~ Scorpions
6. One Tree Hill ~ U2
7. What A Wonderful World ~ Joey Ramone
8. Nothing Lasts Forever ~ Wendy Wall
9. The Great Destroyer ~ NIN

Sunday Playlist for the Hills

Sometimes randomness is a beautiful thing... my iPod spit out a great playlist for my session at the gym this morning. For a 30 minute "run" I got the following, with a bit of prompting...

Heaven And Hell by Black Sabbath - perfect warm-up tune, at about the 2:30 mark the tempo picks up just enough to really get the heart rate pumping.
Spoonman by Soundgarden - continuing the fast tempo with a bit of syncopation just to keep it interesting
I'm Not Afraid by Lacuna Coil - more high energy for the first hill, still pumping hard and fast enough to sprint it!
Keep Yourself Alive by Queen - a good motto for working out! approaching the second hill segment...
Sometimes by King's X - a downshift in tempo for the second grueling hill!
Dani California by Red Hot Chili Peppers - coming off of the second hill and then picking up the pace on the way into hill number three
Where's My Thing?, Pt. 4: Gangster of Boats Trilogy by Rush - a nice mid-tempo instrumental that allows for the intense concentration the final hill requires
Lost Highway by Jason & The Scorchers - a good fast finishing sprint
Dear God 2.0 by The Roots - a nice slow R&B number for a cool down

Jason & the Scorchers @ The Iota, Arlington VA

I saw Jason & the Scorchers for the first time in the early Eighties in a club in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. There were maybe 10 of us in attendance. The band played like their hair was on fire, mindless of the modest size of the crowd.

Friday night at the Iota in Arlington that fire is still burning. Even though the original rhythm section has been replaced by Al Collins on bass and Pontus Snibb on drums, the band still plays their signature blend of county and rock like the twenty somethings we all were back in that small Florida club.

The Iota is a small venue with a national reputation. Friday night was, sadly, my first time seeing a show there. I say sadly, because I've "meant" to go to shows there many times over the years and have always punked out for one reason or another - but no more!

I have referred to Jason & the Scorchers as my favorite band that no one has ever heard of. This is obviously not the case for the 200 or so other folks at the Iota Friday night.

The band is touring in support of their latest release Halcyon Days. Check it out and then buy it.

Anyway... the band opened with "Mona Lee" from the new album. Guitarist Warner E. Hodges' Stonsey riffs just about peeled back our eyelids, a dynamic of the small club experience! Hodges is an Army brat whose parents played Country Music shows all over Europe while he was growing up and I'd like to think that his "Bratness" informs his guitar playing. Sadly he is one of the most under-appreciated and overlooked guitarists of the last 20 years.

After a couple or three more songs, the band was warmed up enough to play hosts to their support act, Stacie Collins. Stacie is also the wife of Scorchers bass player Al. This lady brought the goods! She opened with the Scorcher track "200 Proof Lovin'" and easily made it her own. She followed with a few of her own numbers, both singing and playing the blues harp. I was quite impressed. As I told her after the show, I've never seen a woman play the harp like that - hell, don't think I've ever seen a woman play the harp, period!

Once Stacie was finished getting everyone in the place nice and sweaty, singer and frontman Jason Ringenberg rejoined the band on stage and they proceeded to rip through another 90 minutes or so of Scorcher's classics and tracks from the new album.

Some of the highlights, and by highlights I mean my favorite songs, included "Harvest Moon", "Lost Highway", "White Lies" and the Dylan cover "Absolutely Sweet Marie". Other highlights include picking up a piece of fringe from Jason's western shirt, having Al Collins give me a pick and getting a tour poster autographed by the band members - I felt like such a fanboy! Oh, and a hug from Ms. Collins! Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to get pictures taken with the band or Stacie until halfway back to the car.

It was a great show, in a string of great shows over the past month, each one so different from the others. With no other shows on my radar for the remainder of the year, it will be one helluva a memory to close out 2010.

As a side note, Jason Ringenberg is also known as "Farmer Jason" an Emmy award winning "kids of all ages" act.

Selected discography : Halcyon Days, Clear Impetuous Morning, A Blazing Grace and Midnight Roads & Stages Seen