Doin' the Friday Shuffle

And they're off!

1) "Plow King," Alf Klausen, Songs in the Key of Springfield

"That name again is Mr. Plow."


2) "An Epitaph to War," James Horner, Glory (Soundtrack)

The Boys Choir of Harlem singing some of the best music Horner ever wrote. Horner repeats himself way too often, but he's written some gorgeous stuff.


3) "Glass and the Ghost Children," Smashing Pumpkins, MACHINA/The Machines of God

Long, discordant glam rock.


4) "Il Strumisch bewegt, grosster Vehemenz," Gustav Mahler, Symphony #5

Mahler'll get my blood pumping better than the best hard rock.


5) "Lost Waltz," Dave Brubeck, Dave Brubeck Ballads

Almost more classical-sounding at the outset than jazz, it soon lets loose and unleashes the main melody into a pretty swinging little jazz piece.


6) "I'm a Man (Live at Radio City Music Hall)," The Who, Thirty Years of Maximum R&B

The Who let loose with some old-school blues.


7) "Great Ladies," Michael John LaChiusa, First Lady Suite (Cast Recording)

Relatively avant-garde musical about three different first ladies. This song is sung about Eleanor Roosevelt.


8) "Anything Goes," Guns 'N Roses, Appetite for Destruction

This is the best debut album ever, right? Am I missing one?


9) "Bye Bye Blackbird," Miles Davis, At Newport 1958

Davis got me into jazz, and he's still my favorite artist. He takes a basic song here and just runs with it for 9 minutes or so.

10) "Eric to the Rescue," Alan Menken, The Little Mermaid (Soundtrack)

From the thrilling action scene at the end. Their Disney scores, in my opinion, got much better as they went along, but this one still had some wonderful stuff.

Until Whenever