Two words: Tuba, castanets. Question: Could there be two instruments so perfectly suited? Answer: No. Postscript: Duh. I admit, I had a bit of a problem figuring out what “mood” this song puts me in. I don’t know whether there are words that exist to explain whatever mood it is. That probably goes for the whole Redbone oeuvre. I always get a kick out of the fact that Leon clearly enjoys playing this song so much that it speeds up to almost twice the original tempo. What a strange, inexplicable song.
fun
Modernism Monday: “Wind From The South,” The Gertrudes
StandardThis respite from that wretched “polar vortex” gag has me dreaming of spring already, so of course The Gertrudes popped into my head. This is such a chipper, happy song. It’s also a great driving song, and, as your Yankette got home from a super fun road trip late last night, it’s vaguely apropos. And, because I got home from a super fun road trip late last night, this is a very short post, so I apologize I’m not more verbose, Tune-Up fans. I promise I’ll be extra wordy on Tuesday. Happy Monday!
Funk Friday: “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” Sam Moore & Dave Prater
StandardStax Records is an absolute legend, so of course this recording of this song is, according to me, the very best one out there. No doubt these guys have amazing voices, but layer them on top of some serious horns and a tight groove, and you get something on a whole other plane. This has been one of those weeks when I have really leaned on my friends and man oh man am I grateful. Happy Friday, Tune-Up fans!
Modernism Monday: “Giuliano’s Tune, Something, Eleanor Day’s #2,” The Duhks
StandardI feel a strong urge to post something unabashedly cheerful today to kick off the week, and The Duhks certainly deliver. The Duhks are from Winnipeg (that’s above North Dakota, for my geography-challenegd friends), but the music they make really sounds like it’s from Newfoundland, or Scotland for that matter. This song makes me want to participate in some type of organized group dancing that heavily features the swinging of one’s partner round and round. If any of you have ever been to a ceilidh (Scottish country dancing) and know the dance “Strip the Willow,” this would be absolutely perfect. Slàinte!
Funk Friday: “Chuck Berry,” Feature Cast
StandardYou know what Friday’s problem is? Friday’s problem is that it convinces you that the week is over at 12:01AM on Friday morning. I’m sorry, Tune-Up fans, but that’s wrongedy-wrong-wrong. But! Feature Cast has served up a tasty portion of motivation that – are you ready for this? – you can play during the day, and after the day is over. “Jump up, freak, or hustle – do what you want, but move every muscle. Ain’t no time for playing around! Only one thing to do when you hear this sound.” Consider this song the equivalent of that ever elusive day-to-night outfit that you’ve tried for years to find. I lost count of how many other funk songs this one samples. I know for sure there’s “Cissy Strut” by The Meters (that’s the “ahhhhh YAH” vocal). There are about six others, but I was too busy dancing to identify them. Party on, y’all!
Termagant Tuesday: “Mumbles,” Clark Terry
StandardOh wow, yesterday sucked. It sucked. Your plucky heroine got totally hosed, hoisted by her own damn petard. I made a judgment call that, while totally correct in spirit, was…well…a bit lacking in execution. Or planning. Or, really, on some level, logic. Then I got reamed out by my boss, and in the process of trying to explain why I chose the course of action that ultimately saw me plonked me down in the interrogation jet stream, I, obviously, stumbled just a tad over my words. Eventually, the great ship of state was righted, the rudder was realigned, and we all sailed off as happy as the little analyst clams we are. (If clams sailed. Or, for that matter, had analytical capabilities. …Leave that aside for now.) Still, I was left with a lingering “Oh the hell with this” hangover accompanied by flashbacks of cotton-mouthed, inarticulate gooberism. So, what’s a girl to do? Have a drink, take a shower, go to sleep, and in the morning, ask my equally mumbly friend Clark Terry if he’d accompany me to work. Lick ’em tomorrow, right? Right. Tuesday, à l’attaque!
Worldly Wednesday, “Ça Plane Pour Moi,” Plastic Bertrand
StandardAaaahh I love this song. I love this song so much. This is in the top ten list of personal theme songs. The song’s chorus, “Ça plane pour moi,” very roughly translates into “This is working out great.” It’s possible it’s ironic. Actually, wait – it’s French. It’s highly probable it’s ironic. It sounds so upbeat in the face of so many annoying (and strange – again, it’s French) things happening to the guy – “it’s not today that the sky will fall on my head.” Damn right, Monsieur Français! This is a very good song for the day after a big night. (Editor’s note: If you really tied one on last night, perhaps wait until those ibuprofen have taken effect before pressing play on this one. It might make that headache just a touch worse.) It is also a great way to kick out the old and bring in the new. Oh hey there, 2014! Ça plane pour moi!
French lyrics followed by English translation – both the best I could do – below.
—
Wham! Bam! mon chat Splash
Git sur mon lit a bouffé
sa langue en buvant tout mon whisky
quant à moi peu dormi, vidé, brimé
J’ai dû dormir dans la gouttière
Ou j’ai eu un flash
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
En quatre couleurs
Allez hop! un matin
Une louloute est venue chez-moi
Poupée de cellophane, cheveux chinois
un sparadrap, une gueule de bois
a bu ma bière dans un grand verre en caoutchouc
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
Comme un indien dans son igloo
Ça plane pour moi! Ça plane pour moi!
Ça plane pour moi moi moi moi moi
Ça plane pour moi
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
Ça plane pour moi
Allez hop! la nana quel panard!
Quelle vibration!
de s’envoyer sur le paillasson
Limée, ruinée, vidée, comblée
You are the King of the divan!
Qu’elle me dit en passant
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
I am the King of the divan
Ça plane pour moi! Ça plane pour moi!
Ça plane pour moi moi moi moi moi
Ça plane pour moi
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
Ça plane pour moi
Allez hop! t’occupe t’inquiète
touche pas ma planète
It’s not today
Que le ciel me tombera sur la tete
et que la colle me manquera
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
Ca plane pour moi
Allez hop! ma nana s’est tirée
S’est barrée enfin c’est marre a tout casse
L’evier, le bar me laissant seul
Comme un grand connard
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
Le pied dans le plat
Ça plane pour moi! Ça plane pour moi!
Ça plane pour moi moi moi moi moi
Ça plane pour moi
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
Ça plane pour moi
Wham! Bam! my cat Splash
lies on my bed with his tongue puffed out
from drinking all my whisky.
As for me, not enough sleep, drained, persecuted,
I had to sleep in the gutter
where I had a vision
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
in four colors
lies on my bed with his tongue puffed out
from drinking all my whisky.
As for me, not enough sleep, drained, persecuted,
I had to sleep in the gutter
where I had a vision
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
in four colors
Let’s go! One morning
a darling came to my home,
a cellophane puppet with Chinese hair,
a band-aid, a hangover,
drank my beer in a large rubber glass
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
like an Indian in his igloo
a darling came to my home,
a cellophane puppet with Chinese hair,
a band-aid, a hangover,
drank my beer in a large rubber glass
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
like an Indian in his igloo
This works for me, this works for me
This works for me me me me me
This work for me
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
This works for me
This works for me me me me me
This work for me
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
This works for me
Let’s go! That chick, what a gas!
what a vibration!
to be sent to the mat
filed, ruined, drained, filled
You are the King of the divan!
she says to me in passing
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
I am the King of the divan
what a vibration!
to be sent to the mat
filed, ruined, drained, filled
You are the King of the divan!
she says to me in passing
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
I am the King of the divan
This works for me, this works for me
This works for me me me me me
This work for me
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
This works for me
This works for me me me me me
This work for me
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
This works for me
Let’s go! Don’t mind, don’t worry
It doesn’t affect me
It’s not today
that the sky will fall on my head
and the glue will fail me
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
This life’s for me
It doesn’t affect me
It’s not today
that the sky will fall on my head
and the glue will fail me
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
This life’s for me
Let’s go! my chick has gone away,
flew away, finally had enough, to break
the sink, the bar, leaving me alone
like a complete jerk
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
I’ve put my foot in it
flew away, finally had enough, to break
the sink, the bar, leaving me alone
like a complete jerk
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
I’ve put my foot in it
This works for me, this works for me
This works for me me me me me
This work for me
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
This works for me
This works for me me me me me
This work for me
Oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
This works for me
Modernism Monday: “Simple Things,” Paolo Nutini
StandardOh, Monday. Poor, maligned Monday. It gets such a bad rap. No matter how much you adore your job, sometimes the sound of the word Monday just makes you want to say “sod it all” and hide in the bathtub. Especially difficult to stomach is the first Monday after Christmas. Helpfully, delightful Scottish singer Paolo Nutini has written a song that puts the whole “work” jag in quite the healthy context.
Additionally appropriate for this specific Monday is the song’s self-determination theme that makes it a good one to listen to in these last days of 2013. Remember those resolutions you made in 2012? Any remaining that you can (or want to) accomplish in the next two days? Anything about your life you’ll resolve to change in 2014? (Editor’s note: HOLY CRAP 2014. I feel so old. It was fourteen years ago I rang in the 2000’s with champagne floats. Never having a champagne float again has been a fantastically easy resolution to keep.)
Salubrious Saturday: “Do Your Thing,” Basement Jaxx
StandardIt’s Saturday. By now, you’re probably back from wherever you spent the holidays, or your family has finally left your house. You’ve woken up, with great relief, in your own bed, in your own living quarters, with no one to deal with and no one’s agenda to fulfill but your own. Maybe you’ll go to a yoga class wearing one of those low-cut tank tops that make your grandmother sad! Maybe you’ll build that Lego set all wrong! Maybe you’ll finally unleash your inner Caligula and diligently plow your way through the food and booze leftovers in your underwear as your blissfully ignorant parents spend their drive home discussing how great it is to see you looking so put together! Whatever you decide, today is all yours, my friend. You do you. So here’s a song to celebrate your liberation from forced happiness over dippy presents (“A ‘festive’ red and green cheese grater! Wow!”) and ossified holiday traditions that no one really enjoys but everyone keeps up because, well, it’s the holidays.
The Daily Tune-Up 