Pictures of Cats playlist

Jonathan Coulton is probably best known for his Thing a Week albums and songs like “Tom Cruise Crazy,” “First of May,” and “Skullcrusher Mountain.” All of those are fantastic, of course, but my all-time-favorite song by Coulton is from his Solid State album, “Pictures of Cats.” (Not a shock, I realize.)

Sir Wobbles, an orange cat, loafed on a black and white blanket.
Sir Wobbles invites you to enjoy “Pictures of Cats.”

It’s about something all-too-often relevant, but especially so last week: the need to seek out something soothing when the world is overtaken by bad news.

All at once, it fills up my feed
More bad news that I didn’t need
I can’t stop reading, but I wish that I didn’t know

Still too soon; there’s not much to say
They don’t know, but talk anyway
All of the pieces and none of the places they go

So I am looking at pictures of cats
I am looking at pictures of cats

As I said, especially relevant last week. If you’re reading this months or years from now, you might have trouble placing the bad news from last week from the bad news that’s happening all the time. It doesn’t matter, really.

The other thing that helps me, aside from looking at (or posting) pictures of cats, is to make playlists. So I’ve been working on a Pictures of Cats playlist; it’s incomplete, and I’m still tinkering with the track order. Currently features Coulton, Aimee Mann, The Staves, Tracy Chapman, Eliza Rickman, Gil Scott-Heron, Beth Orton, Johnny Cash, R.E.M., Leonard Cohen, Gurf Morlix, Gillian Welch, The Jayhawks, Jukebox the Ghost, and Mavis Staples.

It’s on YouTube Music because it’s the least-bad option for hosting such a thing, at least that I know of, that most people will be able to use. I sure miss sharing such things on cassette… Anyway, check it out, and make suggestions if you are so inclined.

“The Wind” by Warren Zevon (No. 28)

The Wind by Warren Zevon (album cover)

The Wind by Warren Zevon (album cover)Being a rock critic sounds like a really nice, cushy, and fun job for the most part. Who wouldn’t want to review music for a living? But, imagine being the critic who has to review Warren Zevon‘s swan song, The Wind, knowing that Zevon is terminally ill? What if it sucks? Nobody wants to be the one to write that review. Luckily, Zevon’s final studio album is a tour de force that is a fitting last word in an impressive career.

I’ve already written quite a bit about Zevon, so I won’t recap all of that here. Suffice it to say that I’m a fan of his work, if not obsessively so, and when The Wind was released I was eager to hear it but also a bit nervous that it might not live up to expectations. Or that it’d be maudlin. Continue reading ““The Wind” by Warren Zevon (No. 28)”

“Excitable Boy” by Warren Zevon (No. 40)

Excitable Boy album cover

Excitable Boy album coverIf it weren’t for Warren Zevon, I’d have almost nothing to sing at the Karaoke bar. Whether this is laudable or something he should be ashamed of is left as an exercise to the reader. But give me a drink or three, and a mic, and I’ll be happy to belt out most of the songs on Excitable Boy.

Sad to say, I didn’t really follow Zevon’s career until it was late in the game. I knew several tunes, but I didn’t dig into Zevon’s catalog until his collaboration with R.E.M. on the Hindu Love Gods in 1990. You just haven’t lived until you’ve heard Zevon belting out a bluesy take on Prince‘s “Raspberry Beret.” Come to think of it, I also owe Zevon and the Love Gods (in part) for actually paying closer attention to blues music. Continue reading ““Excitable Boy” by Warren Zevon (No. 40)”