[Songs My Son Should Know] Ice Cube | It Was a Good Day

The probability that our son will be raised on a heavy dose of 90s West Coast gangsta rap hovers at about the 100% mark, particularly this jam by Ice Cube, which rhymes over a nice little Isley Brothers sample with pre-Twitter status updates that make you think that "muhfuckin Cube is totally being a pimp today".  Like.

Somehow, even back in 1992, this song made you feel nostalgic about something -- God knows what, since most of you reading this were in the budding years of high school like I was, where cognitive/emotive recall was incapacitated by the likes of 40oz-ers, socialized medicine, and girls with all kinds of fucked up eye-makeup.

'Bout the same time he pulled out the jammy.

So, why should Enzo become familiar with "It Was a Good Day"?  That's not even a good question.

Because from the very first opening notes, you know goddam well that there will be four-minutes-and-twenty-seconds of group chorals, shake-em-up-shake-em-up-shake-em dice gestures, and fingers skyward towards the Goodyear Blimp.  Its a communal song.  It belongs to every single person in one regard or another.  It never really fails to inspire, and the moment to enjoy it is infinitely applicable.  Its a truly omniscient song.

Plus, he will need documented evidence that a team called the SuperSonics ever existed.  @KevinDuranchula #SaveOurSonics [RT] The Lakers beat the Thunder doesn't sound the same.

Like.

[Edit: Here's a deliciously coincidental tid bit that I learned today, 01/27/2012:  "The exact date of the "good day" that Ice Cube famously rapped about in his 1992 song "It Was a Good Day" has been positively identified by an extremely intrepid, heroic blogger. Using flawless deductive reasoning, Murk Avenue has concluded that the good day in question was January 20, 1992."  This was exactly 20 years to the date I wrote this blog entry.  How about that?]

[Songs My Son Should Know] Band of Horses | St. Augustine

[Note: This will be an indefinite series dedicated to developing my son's aural palate, be it a song that has musically historic significance, a connection to a life event, or simply a favorite song in the vast inventory of arias between his mommy and daddy.  Sometimes these tracks will be austere and pensive, while other tunes will be campy and daft, and in other instances, saccharine and sweet.


All of it will make up his musical inventory through at least the first few years of his life.  He might love every track, but I am not determined to make it so.  Its simply a collection of songs that he should know exist ...]

Essentially, this song begat Enzo 1/3 of his lifetime moniker.  Melissa and I pored over volumes of choices for our son's middle name -- it being his only escape vessel from any potential need to cut bonds with his first name.  I mean, you never know what history dictates for a man inoffensively named Adolph before the great wars, or for a human named Borat, who was indiscriminately probably a fine child until about 2004.  I bet Sandusky, OH wishes they'd had an emergency policy in the town charter.

Sure, Office Space taught us: "Why should I change it?  He's the one who sucks."  And while its a good lesson in fortitude, its always nice to have a back up plan.

Therefore, one night, our 2/3rds-named and two-weeks-late unborn child sat in his momma's tummy and agreed to be called Augustine as this song played on shuffle.  11,000 songs, and at the height of "we need to settle on a middle name", St. Augustine serenaded a family.

Enzo Augustine* then decided the next day, that it was no longer imperative to sit around waiting for himself to be named.


*Later, we discovered two other fascinating parallels with the name Augustine -- apart from the fact that Band of Horses is the band that my wife and I share as our common denominator: 1) Augustine is the Latin interpretation of the name "Austin", his birthplace, and 2) Augustine, in fact, is the Patron Saint of Brewers.

Boom.

[Listomania!] Backtracing the many years of [AA]'s Top 101 list. Backtracing, I say.

Consequences, never again same.

I've long been wanting to preserve the end-of-the-year song lists that I've crapped out at the end of each December since 2005.  The main reason being is that twice I've had total and utter iPod meltdowns -- and thus the long months of ear cramping for the distinguishing factor between songs #62 and #63 become lost in the blackness of memory.  After the first iPod incident, where some Seattle trash goblin in the 99% occupied my 'pod for good, I sorta-semi-learned my lesson to document the list somewhere.

Of course i half-arsed it, and the list took a long time to reconstruct anyway -- especially since I had to find many of the MP3s (or AAC - hey Apple!) again to even begin reparations.  But eventually, it was back to the way I wanted it on a fresh 80GB classic.

But then, just this past year, the 80GB got discAIDS and failed me in epic ways.  I innocent hard-reset made my iPod as naked as the day it was born.  Though the 101 lists were preserved for the most part -- had to go MP3 hunting again -- most of the playlists that had been scratched together for our big move from AZ to TX, rehearsal dinners, birthdays, showers, etc, etc, could not withstand the deathblow of a massive crash and a bleached memory.

So, I decided to assemble the lists on Spotify for posterity -- and in the off chance you wanted to waste 56-60 hours listening, be my guest.  Still, Spotify leaves a number of songs off of their inventory, and all of the lists are incomplete due to this factor -- so I will continue to fill in the gaps from time to time.  No Radiohead, for example, and since my lists typically acquire Thom pox, that is a huge omission for me.  Instead, there is some bullshit yoga CD that is providing the placeholder -- and that irritates me.  Just try to ignore it.

2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005

[Listomania!] Top 101 Tracks of 2011

... and just when we all believed we could just coast into the New Year, it is my due-diligence to pull you right back into that, the 2,011th year of our Tebow -- and humbly submit to the legions of half-dozen followers, the 7th anniversary of [An Avenue]'s Top 101 list.

2010: Awesome, fun, pacy, boozy, hummable and with a good fucking sense of crash and rattle to it.

2011: Veni, Vidi ... Veni, if you will; a collaboration brew of sorts between Mel and I requiring 9-months of barrel-aging and one hell of a commitment to quit being a selfish, prickly fucker. Enzo Augustine came hurtling onto this planet while epic villains, the world over, were snuffing it all over the place; Rebbecca Black and Toby Keith were informing me what to do with my Red SOLO cup on Friday! Friday! Gotta get down on Friday!, and Blake Gideon was playing his final few minutes in a Longhorns uniform without becoming too much of a nuisance; It was very plainly obvious that a new light of goodness was entering this world.

In 2011, LCD Soundsystem -- [AA]'s 2011 #1 song artist -- hung up the robotics and then promptly afterward, The Rapture made, what amounts to an LCD record -- thereby delaying our post-James Murphy devastation. The Arctic Monkeys wrote and performed an album that musically-celibate Morrissey would have ambled through with the same hubris of Mr. Toad of Toad Hall (althought El Mozza is set to release an album in '12, dear readers!). And Beirut provided the stop-gap for a non-Andrew Bird year.

All of this, of course, implies nary an original idea; the resistance of will to create original composition -- whereas, I would disagree and convince you that -- as Enzo personifies -- an homage to lineage. And even then -- more than just an homage, but a radical augmentation to its root. While earlier artists were the bedrock of craft, 2011 was its sprout. The same concept, I'm thinking, applies to parentood. Enzo will cultivate and refine our ideas, and ... make a record? Probably not, but he will do everything better than we did.

The Top 101 this year was heavily influenced by three things: The loong, painfully alert, and perpetually conscientious state of carrying (#2, #3, #7, #12), loong summer road trips around-and-back through fly-over America with our new whip, perpetually shedding white animal, pregnant bride, XMU/Sirius/Hipster Runoff poetry/Josiah, and hooch from 32 midwestern counties (#5, #8, #10, #11, #17), and finally, the buffet of emotions as a result of the new earthling invading, what was once my very own cuddly, cozy Venus (#1). It really sets the mood for, you know, lyrics and rhythms. And then they tend to stick with you forever.

And then sometimes you just end up liking silly shit that's cray (#13). You gotta crawl before you ball. Innit still a life lesson, tho?

In conclusion, 2011, IMO.

Listen to the entire [An Avenue] Top 101 list on Spotify HERE!

101 - Girls | Alex

100 - Yuck | Get Away

099 - Gomez | Options

098 - Shabazz Palaces | Are You... Can You... Were You? (Felt)

097 - Okkervil River | Your Past Life As A Blast

096 - Lupe Fiasco | Till I Get There

095 - The Joy Formidable| Whirring

094 - Viva Voce Plästic Rädio

093 - Yacht | I Walked Alone

092 - Tyler, The Creator | Yonkers

091 - Akron/Family | So It Goes

090 - Gruff Rhys | Honey All Over

089 - Spank Rock | Birfday

088 - CSS | Hits Me Like A Rock

087 - Feist | Graveyard

086 - Blitzen Trapper | Love The Way You Walk Away

085- Youth Lagoon | Montana

084 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | Same Mistake

083 - Fool's Gold | The Dive

082 - Los Campesinos! | By Your Hand

081 - Cass McCombs | County Line

080 - Jamie XX | Far Nearer

079 - Yeasayer | Phoenix Wind

078 - Herman Düne | Tell Me Something I Don't Know

077 - Arctic Monkeys | That's Where You're Wrong

076 - The Kooks | Junk of the Heart (Happy)

075 - Dum Dum Girls | Bedroom Eyes

074 - My Morning Jacket | Circuital

073 - The Decemberists | Don't Carry It All

072 - Bright Eyes | Shell Games

071 - Junior Boys | Banana Ripple

070 - Wilco | The Whole Love

069 - Death Cab for Cutie | You Are a Tourist

068 - Peter Bjorn & John | Second Chance

067 - Braids | Same Mum

066 - Handsome Furs | Serve the People

065 - Foster The People | Pumped Up Kicks

064 - Sin Fang | Nothings

063 - Radiohead | Staircase

062 - Wolf Gang | Something Unusual

061 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. | Skeletons

060 - The Naked And Famous | Young Blood

059 - Iron & Wine | Walking Far From Home

058 - The War On Drugs | Baby Missiles

057 - Memory Tapes | Today Is Our Life

056 - Young Galaxy | We Have Everything

055 - DeVotchKa | 100 Other Lovers

054 - Junior Boys | You'll Improve Me

053 - Dodos | Don't Try And Hide It

052 - The Black Keys | Lonely Boy

051 - Beady Eye | The Beat Goes On

050 - Tyler, The Creator | Sandwitches (Ft. Hodgy Beats)

049 - James Blake | The Wilhelm Scream

048 - Neon Indian | Hex Girlfriend

047 - Fleet Foxes | Helplessness Blues

046 - Middle Brother | Million Dollar Bill

045 - Cults | You Know What I Mean

044 - Wu Lyf | L Y F

043 - Arctic Monkeys | Love is A Laserquest

042 - Arcade Fire | Speaking in Tongues (feat. David Byrne)

041 - The Rural Alberta Advantage | Stamp

040 - Wolf Gang | Lions In Cages

039 - Cut Copy | Take Me Over

038 - Toro Y Moi | New Beat

037 - St. Vincent | Cruel

036 - Generationals | Ten Twenty Ten

035 - Battles | Ice Cream

034 - Frank Ocean | Novacane

033 - Little Dragon | Ritual Union

032 - Future Islands | Balance

031 - Slow Club | Two Cousins

030 - Handsome Furs | When I Get Back

029 - Braids | Lemonade

028 - Smith Westerns | All Die Young

027 - Beirut | East Harlem

026 - Theophilus London | Why Even Try

025 - M83 | Midnight City

024 - TV On The Radio | Will Do

023 - Tune-Yards | Bizness

022 - White Denim | Street Joy

021 - Architecture In Helsinki | Contact High

020 - Bob Schneider | Let The Light In

019 - Alexander Ebert | A Million Years

018 - The Donkeys | I Like The Way You Walk

017 - Foster The People | Helena Beat

016 - Tapes 'n Tapes | Freak Out

015 - The Rapture | In The Grace Of Your Love

014 - Beirut | Goshen

013 - Jay Z & Kanye West | Niggas In Paris

012 - The Strokes | Under Cover Of Darkness

011 - The Drums | Money

010- Cut Copy | Need You Now

009 - M83 | Wait

008 - Bon Iver | Calgary

007 - Dodos | Black Night

006 - Radiohead | Separator

005 - The Rapture | Sail Away

004 - The Antlers | I Don't Want Love

003 - Bon Iver | Holocene

002 - The Antlers | Putting The Dog To Sleep

001 - Wu Lyf | We Bros