Anonymous Communist

It’s been slow the past few days at Anonymous Communist headquarters. Thankfully, there are other people around to give me ideas.

Will Reynolds posted his thoughts about five random songs in his iPod, an idea I had a few months back. Having nothing else to blog about, today would be a good time for me to see what shuffles up.

Some of you may remember that several weeks ago, I accidentally put my iPod through the washing machine. So in order to play today’s game, I’m using the iTunes catalog on my computer, which not only contains the unfortunate musical choices of Mrs. Communist but many I’d-rather-be-waterboarded-with-Galliano-than-listen-to-these children’s CDs. The lone caveat to this game is: No skipping songs, no matter how embarrasing or lame. Here goes:

“Too Many Puppies,” Primus — OK, so I cheated a little bit. This was the song that was playing when I saw Will’s post, and it’s a good one. Off Primus’ first studio release, “Frizzle Fry,” this song was written in 1990, during the runup to Gulf War I. The lyrics are still relevant today:

Too many puppies are being shot in the dark
Too many puppies are trained not to bark
At the sight of blood that must be spilled so that
We may maintain our oil fields

The part about “the visions of the past brought to life again/too many puppies, too many dead men” will apply doubly when Lord Cheney invades Iran.

“One Man Wrecking Machine,” Guster — This is one of Mrs. C’s tunes. I’ve never listened to Guster, so here goes… Hey, that was nice. Too many bands today self-consciously try to sound like music from bygone eras, but this song at least sounds like just plain ol’ rock music. And the lyrics, while funny in some parts, tell the story (in my interpretation, at least) of a person who, unhappy with the present tense, decides to try to relive his youthful “good ol’ days” but realizes that A) they really weren’t all that good and B) life has sort of passed him by.

“Can I Kick It,” A Tribe Called Quest — This classic joint off of Tribe’s debut opens with a sample of the bassline from Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side. When the beat kicks in, the shaking of one’s ass becomes unavoidable.

(For the record, Marky Mark shamefully used the same sample for his song “Wildside,” released at least a year after “Can I Kick It.”)

While not as strong lyrically (Phife Dawg’s verse is actually pretty corny), the beat-bassline combo and Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s furious scratching makes this one of the album’s best songs. The video (this one uses a remix) is lots of fun, too.

“Junkie’s Prayer,” Fishbone — Throughout their career, Fishbone have always shown a sense of humor as well as a social conscience. This song combines both. Over a mouth harp and a loop of maniacal laughter, our crackheaded narrator intones an invocation to his god, the drug dealer:

My pusher who art in the crack house
[…]
Give us this day our daily crack
[…]
Forgive us for we have no control or self-respect
Grim Reaper has cashed my life savings check

Fishbone is known for its good-time party music, but they can get serious, too, and make it compelling. I couldn’t find a video.

“Bobo on the Corner,” the Beastie Boys — This 73-second interlude off of “Ill Communication” features percussionist Eric Bobo throwing down over Mike D’s drums and Adrock’s wicky-wicky guitar. Thaaat’s about it. The video I found uses this as the score for some artist’s paintings.

Well, nothing embarrassing, but nothing earth-shatteringly awesome, either. We’ll revisit in a few months.