FRIDAY RANDOM TEN

It’s Friday, and since I haven’t put up a Friday Random Ten in a while, I thought - why not?

Why not, indeed.

Even after all this time, you know the routine: I post ten randomly-selected cuts from the Little White Choon-Box, occasionally with lyrics or useless commentary. Perhaps, in this manner, you will be inspired to augment your own Musical Library... or to scratch your head in wonderment at the bizarre crap I listen to.

What’s playing this week? Let’s take a look:

1. Helmi Otsalla - Alamaailman Vasarat
   
   The best Finnish alternative band you never heard in your life.
   
   
2. Inner Mounting Flame - Mahavishnu Orchestra
   
   
3. Illegal Smile (Live) - John Prine
   
   When I woke up this morning,
   Things were lookin’ bad
   Seemed like total silence was the only friend I had
   A bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down... and won
   And it was twelve o’clock before I realized
   That I was havin’... no fun
   
   Chorus:
   Ahh, but fortunately I have the key to escape reality
   And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
   It don’t cost very much, but it lasts a long while
   Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone
   No, I'm just tryin’ to have me some fun
   
   Well, last time I checked my bankroll,
   It was gettin’ thin
   Sometimes it seems like the bottom
   Is the only place I’ve been
   I chased a rainbow down a one-way street... dead end
   And all my friends turned out
   To be insurance... salesmen
   
   (Repeat Chorus)
   
   Well, I sat down in my closet with all my overalls
   Tryin’ to get away
   From all the ears inside my walls
   I dreamed the police heard
   Everything I thought... what then?
   Well I went to court
   And the judge’s name was... Hoffman
   
   Ah, but fortunately I have the key to escape reality
   And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
   It don’t cost very much, but it lasts a long while
   Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone
   No, I’m just tryin’ to have me some fun
   Well done, hot dog bun, my sister’s a nun
   
   
4. Demons - Fatboy Slim
   
   
5. A Night in Tunisia - Dizzy Gillespie
   
   
6. Just a Gigolo - Louis Prima
   
   
7. Brandenburg - Beirut
   
   
8. Kolomeyke - The Klezmatics
   
   
9. Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box - Radiohead
   
   
10. Windows - Chick Corea
    
    From the landmark 1966-vintage Inner Space double LP set. I discovered this album as a freshman in college, some four years after its release. Now, here it is 40 years after that and Inner Space still sounds fresh, despite my familiarity with almost every note.
    
    

It’s Friday. What are you listening to?