Tessie O’Shea is not really from Tennessee, but she is adorable, she plays the banjolele like a demon, and this clip of her makes me swoon.

This video includes a blistering solo. My favorite part happens at :57 or so.

“Don’t Worry About the Government” may be the song I love the most of all the songs there are.

With complex questions disguised as simple statements, this song is an excellent example of David Byrne‘s ability to be critical yet still open to possibilities. Those are the things that allow us to grow.

This was broadcast in 1977 on the Old Grey Whistle Test.

was yesterday! I turned 38 which i consider “pushing pushing 40.”

(Paul took this photo of me at a friends wedding when no one was looking.)

Anyway, I realized that I’ve never blogged about the amazing gift I got for birthday #34. My friends and family pitched in and paid Jad Fair to write a song for me. No, really. JAD FAIR!

Things I love that are referenced: octopi, sushi, popcorn, sweets, “less crap more art,” paul loving me, other people’s children, saying “woo,” and bunnies. (FYI: this was when I ran an afterschool program for kids, and right before I started felting.)

Listen to it: Clicky.

That’s the Minutemen, and they are good.

i love this, even though it contains a handful of things that i normally don’t love so much: songs that list things, nostalgia, and homemade music videos featuring “say what you see” slide shows.

someone put this song on a mix for me when i was a kid, and i still like it. and, the video is pretty well done, so here you go:

add “contact juggling” to the list of things that, if i could do them, i would pretty much never stop.

(via neatorama)

another thing on that list is singin’ and dancin’ like frankie lymon.

not my favorite of max raabe‘s covers, but still fun.

i like this cd a bunch.

i wish this song would ring out while i walk around town like my own personal soundtrack, because if it did, i’d walk so awesome.

behold “i’m shakin'” by the blasters.

paul has been using pandora at work these days. it played him a song that he came home and played for me. it’s called “i’m sorry for what my people did to your people” and it’s by larry gallagher and it’s awesome.

thematically, it reminds me a little of “love me, i’m a liberal” by phil ochs, and nelly mckay‘s “really“… not that the songs are the same, but they have something in common at least in the way they make me feel inspired and embarrassed and smart, all at the same time.

anyway, i love it. you might too. clicky.mp3.

also, here’s a video for larry’s “ode to the nokia ringtone.”

*update* — i bought two of his cds, (this one and this one) and having listened to them both i can now report:

smart, funny, grown-up, and musically interesting… my favorites.

larry gallagher = excellence

i know that he gets a lot of crap for… well, i guess for being randy newman. while he has become a kind of caricature of himself over time, i submit this argument:

who hasn’t? have you taken a good hard look at your parents lately?

anyway, disney theme songs aside, i like randy. here’s a reason:

here’s another, just for fun. clicky.