Doin' the Friday Shuffle

1. "I'm a Man" - The Who - Thirty Years of Maximum R&B
The Who doing some old-school Blues.

2. ""Now that the daylight fills the sky" - Benjamin Britten - Peter Grimes
A sweet and hopeful aria above some chanted, lightly ominous choral background singing.

3. "Goodbye George" - Ann Reed - Eddie Griffin's Law and Order Mix
A bit of 'Nawlins, zydeco-sounding stuff, with some way too on-the-nose political lyrics for my taste.

4. "Broadway Baby" - Sondheim (sung by Elaine Stritch) - Follies in Concert at Lincoln Center (1985)
A deftly comic performance. Stritch gets more laughs with a single syllable than many singers can get with entire scores.

5. "Spread a Little Sunshine" - Stephen Schwartz - Pippin (Original Broadway Cast)
A sweet melody over some insinuatingly cynical and self-serving lyrics. An old trick, but a good one.

6. "Nothing Is Good Enough" - Aimee Mann - Bachelor #2
One of those songs where it's really the accompaniment I love, rather than the melody. That steady, resigned piano vamp just gets its hooks in.

7. "Auto Show" - Sondheim - Stavisky
Old-fashioned, twenties pastiche.

8. "The Playboy Mansion" - U2 - Pop
Not one of my favorite songs. I appreciate the intent, but at the end of the day, U2 is just a bit too earnest to pull off the laid-back air the song luxuriates in.

9. "The Kiss" - Philip Glass - The Hours
A haunting, sweetly sad score.

10. "Farewell, Angelina" - John Mellencamp - Rough Harvest
The highlight of this album of alternate takes and cast offs - a beautifully countrified rendition of a little-known Dylan song.

Until Whenever