The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Tuesday April 14, 2015
A man accuses his ex of sleeping with the Wu Tang Clan, revisiting the Eagles first album, and I (still) hate Taylor Swift.
Busting Down with Wu Tang
In one of the more amusing stories I’ve come across recently, a man accused his ex-girlfriend of sleeping with the entire Wu Tang Clan on a recent episode of Divorce Court. The claim is hilarious but the best part is the judge’s reaction to hearing the phrase “bustdown” for the first time.
The best sort of neutered country rock
I’ve never been a huge fan of the Eagles. I don’t hate them as much as The Dude does but he’s right that “Peaceful Easy Feeling” is a terrible song.
So is “Take it Easy,” which I also suffered through while giving their debut a shot recently. Honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Almost all the non-singles are worthwhile: “Train Leaves Here This Morning” channels classic country, “Earlybird” is genuine bluegrass, “Take the Devil” has an engaging minor key chord progression and melody, and Glen Frey’s emotive “Most of Us Are Sad” is simply beautiful.
Sure, the Eagles neutered the country rock sound that Bob Dylan, the Band, and Gram Parsons pioneered and perfected. And their hits range from listenable to godawful. The deep cuts on their early albums, though, are surprisingly good.
Shake it off, Ritland
I had the pleasure (?) of working some dance competitions at the legendary Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul over the weekend. Between every act they played that godawful “Shake it Off” song by criminally overrated Taylor Swift. As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, why weren’t people gushing over Avril Lavigne when she was doing the same pop schlock 10 years ago?
To get the sour taste out of my mouth here’s a far superior song that’s also called “Shake it Off.” It’s from Wilco’s aight 2007 LP Sky Blue Sky. Some fun riffage in this low key, jammy deep cut.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He is also a contributor for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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