Songs You May Have Missed #215

08 Nov 2012 2 Comments

by Ed Cyphers in Best of the Blog, Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

radio

Pat Donohue: “Sushi-Yucki” (2004)

Minnesota’s Pat Donohue isn’t just one of the finest finger-picking guitarists on the planet. His sense of humor and songwriting are just as impressive. As this song demonstrates, Donohue is a master of internal rhyme.

For many years Pat’s been the house guitarist for public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion. He blends folk, blues and jazz into an acoustic mix that fits perfectly on public radio, but he does it so well he really deserves a much wider audience.

“Sushi-Yucki” is hilarious even if you don’t get how clever a parody it is of Kyu Sakamoto’s 1963 #1 hit “Sukiyaki”.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/02/02/songs-you-may-have-missed-317/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/08/21/songs-you-may-have-missed-466/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2026/01/11/recommended-albums-105/

Songs You May Have Missed #214

08 Nov 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

jones

Rickie Lee Jones: “Ghetto of My Mind” (1989)

 

Ten years on from her 1979 debut, the hype had subsided after “Chuck E.’s in Love” had no follow-up hit. But Rickie Lee Jones quietly put out one of the best albums of her career, Flying Cowboys, produced by Steely Dan’s Walter Becker.

I think the percussion is particularly tasty in this one. Also listen at 5:20 for Jones’ playful: “Oh no, look what you did…hey mister could we have our ball back?”

Songs You May Have Missed #213

08 Nov 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

borrowers

The Borrowers: “Jaswant’s Rain” (1996)

A cutout bin band that seemed to have the talent to make it but didn’t. You’ll hear in this song the sound of a bunch of 90’s bands that did though.

Songs You May Have Missed #212

05 Nov 2012 2 Comments

by Ed Cyphers in Best of the Blog, On a Lighter Note, Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

killed

Andy Breckman: “Don’t Get Killed” (1990)

Andy Breckman has been a staff writer for SNL and David Letterman, as well as a comedy film screenwriter and “script doctor”.

He’s also something of a folk singer–one who never felt the need to turn to page two of the chord book. But two chords is all he needs to make you bust a gut here.

Songs You May Have Missed #211

01 Nov 2012 2 Comments

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

rooney

Rooney: “When Did Your Heart Go Missing” (2007)

The sound of LA power pop quintet Rooney (named, supposedly, after the principal in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) evokes a lot of great pop from a lot of eras.

I hear, in turns, The Beach Boys, The Cars, Jellyfish, Weezer, and, on “When Did Your Heart Go Missing”, maybe even George Michael and Wham. We’ll always need bands like Rooney to offset the artists that take themselves too seriously, and to remind us pop music is supposed to be, among other things, fun.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/03/16/songs-you-may-have-missed-363/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/06/30/songs-you-may-have-missed-436/

Songs You May Have Missed #210

01 Nov 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

elliott

Elliott Smith: “Pretty (Ugly Before)” (2003)

Though born in Nebraska and raised in Texas, Elliott Smith is identified most strongly with Portland, where he spent most of his singer-songwriter career.

Alcohol and drug addiction, as well as depression, informed his frequently melancholy work.

Smith died in 2003 at age 34 under clouded circumstances. His death was never conclusively ruled a suicide or a homicide. The stab wounds to the chest that killed him have never been conclusively determined to be inflicted by Smith himself, as opposed to his girlfriend, who was present and had been fighting with Smith at the time. Smith had no hesitation wounds typical of a suicide, and though there was a suicide note, it has been claimed that his name was misspelled on it.

Regardless, he died too soon. But left us some beautiful melodies.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2026/08/15/songs-you-may-have-missed-857/

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