There are dirty words. you’ve been warned.

You can contact the show via email, rant[at]thegingeshow.com or leave a message on the rant line at 713-36GINGE (713-364-4643).

Here goes, welcome to The Weekly Shuffle…by the way, click on the song name header to hear it on YouTube.

Queen – “Don’t Stop Me Now”

Like most people who grew up before the MP3 revolution (my freshman year in college intersected with Napster), my music was shaped by my parents, friends and stuff you stumbled across on the radio, TV and film. Queen was a band that I was aware of but never really payed much attention to until Wayne’s World came out and the Bohemian Rhapsody scene caught my attention. This probably happened to millions of kids across the country but in the end it doesn’t matter where you find the music.

“Don’t Stop Me Now” is such a  fun song and was also boosted by its inclusion in Shaun of the Dead during a scene that features the main characters battle zombies with pool cues in beat to the music. Classic.

Phoenix – 1901

I’d like to think I would have stumbled across Phoenix at some point but they initially got on my radar thanks to a Cadillac commercial. People who read Pitchfork regularly had probably already tossed the band on the pyre for allowing their music to be used commercially but these guys just want to make money and if a company you’re comfortable doing business with comes calling, who cares. The amusing thing for me about 1901 is that the song is so much better than the small intro slip that Cadillac used but I’m sure there are people who who never give it chance because of that. Oh well, their loss.

Van Halen – “Runnin’ With the Devil”

Van Halen kicks ass. Forget all the weirdness and drama over the year, Van Halen simply kicks ass. Especially everything pre-1984 when Eddie Van Halen got obsessed with synthesizers. Between David Lee Roth’s showmanship and Eddie’s ridiculous guitar riffs, it’s hard to find a better example of the insane excess that was 1970′s and 80′s rock.

I was too young for Van Halen at their peak but I did see them live a few years go during a tour that featured David Lee Roth back as the frontman. Not having Michael Anthony around was a bummer but it was still an enjoyable experience. I can only imagine what seeing them during their heyday was like though.

The Word – “Untitled”

I’m an atheist  Gospel music, while not bad, does nothing for me. Call it a flaw but it’s hard for me to look past the lyrics and just enjoy the fact that the music is good. However, if you take gospel music, remove the lyrics and add in easily the best steel guitar player in the world — Robert Randolph — along with some kick ass musicians  I’m definitely in. The Word was a one off project that produced easily one of the greatest unknown albums every to exist (at least in terms of mainstream interest).

The Word was Randolph, John Medeski, and the North Mississippi Allstars — Luther Dickinson, Cody Dickinson and Chris Chew — and they beautifully fused gospel with Sacred steel to produce gospel music for those of us that just wanted to enjoy the music. Find the album, check it out, I dare you not find yourself dancing around without even realizing it.

moe. – “Plane Crash”

Jam bands aren’t for everyone. The idea of a band taking a song and going on a 20+ minute musical journey isn’t the most appealing thing for some listeners. I love it…as long as it’s good. moe is a jam band I enjoy and recommend to anyone wanting to give their style of music a chance. Plane Crash is my favorite song in their catalog and the version I linked above is fantastic.

Quick story. Bonnaroo 2004 I went to Umphrey’s McGee late night set to check them out. Halfway through the musicians in UM started leaving the stage one-by-one, being replaced by the corresponding member from moe. They never stopped playing, it was a seamless switch. moe played a couple tunes and they switched back. It’s the coolest set break I ever witnessed live.

Here goes, welcome to The Weekly Shuffle…by the way, click on the song name header to hear it on YouTube.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Learning to Fly”

I love this song. I also love the album it’s on — Into the Great Wide Open — as it’s easily one of my favorite albums on the 1990′s. The album version is great but if you see Petty live and he does the subdued version of the song, that’s worth the price of admission by itself. In 2006 I saw Petty at Bonnaroo and he played the version of the song I love with none other than the great Steve Nicks on backup vocals. I found a great video of that performance that you can check out with the link above. It’s worth a couple minutes of your day.

Wilco – “Muzzle of Bees”

I’m a big fan of Wilco — I named my infamous cat after the band after all — and while some of their recent work hasn’t been my favorite, you can’t go wrong with track from A Ghost is Born and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Muzzle of Bees is a song I don’t think fully appreciated until it randomly showed up on day when I had my iPod on shuffle and I really listened to it. The slow build is great and the final 1:30 or so of the song is just fantastic and beautiful.

The Lonely Island featuring Julian Casablancas – “Boombox”

Not every song has to be serious or blow your mind. Having fun is just as important and this song cracks me up every time I hear it. It also reminds at how annoyed I can get with The Strokes for being so damn inconsistent. “It was a rainbow coalition of dancing”…come on! That’s funny.

Pink Floyd – “Time”

It’s hard to pull a song out of Dark Side of the Moon and listen to it apart from the complete work. It sounds a bit snobbish I guess to say that listening to the album in its entirety is really the best way but IT’S A FACT. However, if you must fly solo with a DSOM song, give me “Time” every single day of the week. It’s the best track on the album, which is saying something, and the one I will always stop down a listen to even if it’s only for the final few seconds.

In addition when you sync up DSOM and The Wizard of Oz, “Time” is the best part.

Guster – (Nothing But) Flowers [Talking Heads cover]

Guster is a go to band for me when I need a pick me up, they’re just fun. I’m also pretty sure I’ve seen them live more than any other band, the first time being at the now gone Gypsy Team Room in Dallas (I miss that place). Seriously, check them out if they’ve managed to stay off your radar. This song is from their live album called Guster on Ice and is a cover of my favorite Talking Heads song. The Talking Heads are definitely an acquired taste but this song isn’t nearly as quirky as some of their other work. Guster to a great job keeping the original feeling of the song while making it their own.

“I dream of cherry pies, candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies! You got it, you got it.”

If you’ve watched enough Barcelona this season you’re probably very aware of their problems on the back line. Barca have not been known for their defensive prowess over the past few seasons but it hasn’t stopped them from soaring to great heights both in the league and in Europe.

Their “devil may care” defensive attitude and seemingly suicidal use of their fullbacks as highly offensive wing backs leaves their central defense duo nearly alone at the back to deal with the opposition’s attacking forays. It started to be less effective last season and the wheels have flown off this season.

The problem isn’t really shielded in mystery of course as regular injuries to, and the general degrading of Carles Puyol’s ability has thrown a sabot in the defensive machine.

In the past Puyol has been the unshakable foundation of Barcelona’s defense. Imagine him as an incredibly strong pillar holding up a house, it doesn’t look stable, it probably shouldn’t work, but because of Puyol being able to do exactly the job he was needed to do, it did work.

Without Puyol in the lineup, or in most cases even with him in it, the pillar has eroded and cracked, becoming weakened and unable to properly support the house. Javier Mascherano was alright but he really isn’t the type of defender to play the Puyol role. Alex Song certainly isn’t the type of defender to fill the role and neither is the recently returned Eric Abidal (though he could help temporarily). Marc Barta might be the guy one day but he’s certainly not there yet.

There’s nobody on the roster who can replace Puyol and when the Barca captain is available, he’s not what he used to be.

Barcelona are left with two options. Either they sign a central defender in the summer that they believe can be a defensive anchor and allow Piqué and the fullbacks to do their thing, or they change the whole system. The second option doesn’t seem likely because Barcelona’s system is now engrained in the club and I can’t see them making a titanic shift without bringing in an entire new coaching staff.

So that leaves signing someone.

Plenty of names have been thrown out for Barcelona to consider including Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany or Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels. There are others of course, those just happen to be two of the biggest names. It really doesn’t matter who Barcelona sign as long as sign the right guy. They need a defender who can do what Puyol did so well for the last few years and if they don’t sign the right player, it’s hard to see their defensive woes somehow magically getting better.

They also need to not miss out on getting a player they so desperately need. Barcelona either failed to go after or just whiffed on Thiago Silva and Javi Martinez last summer and they cannot afford to see another transfer window go by with no defender brought in. A stubborn belief that Puyol can find his past form is going to cripple Tito Vilanova going forward.

Don’t forget about Victor Valdés and the his apparent decision to leave the club. Finding a proper central defender will become even more important to help deal with the integration of the inevitable new goalkeeper signing that will come as well.

If Barca sign another Alex Song-type, their issues will continue to get worse. If they sign a Puyol-esque (in his prime) pillar of defensive awesomeness, things should settle down at the back for the Blaugrana.If you’ve watched enough Barcelona this season you’re probably very aware of their problems on the back line. Barca have not been known for their defensive prowess over the past few seasons but it hasn’t stopped them from soaring to great heights both in the league and in Europe.

There are dirty words. you’ve been warned.

You can contact the show via email, rant[at]thegingeshow.com or leave a message on the rant line at 713-36GINGE (713-364-4643).

There are dirty words. you’ve been warned.

You can contact the show via email, rant[at]thegingeshow.com or leave a message on the rant line at 713-36GINGE (713-364-4643).

There are dirty words. you’ve been warned.

You can contact the show via email, rant[at]thegingeshow.com or leave a message on the rant line at 713-36GINGE (713-364-4643).

Here goes, welcome to The Weekly Shuffle.

The Beatles – “With a Little Help From My Friends”

I love Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it’s been one of may favorite albums since my Dad introduced me to The Beatles when I was wee little ginger. I’ve never been a huge Ringo Starr fan but I also think he’s received far more abuse and shtick over the years than he deserved. When you’re working in the shadow of three amazing musicians like Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, it’s easy to be swept under the rug by pop culturalist and fans. Starr does a great job on the vocals in this tune and honestly, who hasn’t gotten by with a little help from their friends in their life?

This song is also great because it was covered by Joe Cocker which led to one of John Belushi’s greatest musical skits on Saturday Night Live.

Go ahead and get the jokes out of your system and then read on…done? Ok.

Adele really is fantastic. She’s possess a beautiful singing voice and her songs are free of over production and nonsense, which is important. Granted great singers usually avoid that kind of stuff but there’s always a chance a producer will come along and think the show is all about them. I was late getting on the Adele train but I’m glad I did.

Yes – “Roundabout”

Yes are awesome. They’re easily on of my favorite bands and I finally got to see them live a few weeks ago in Grand Prairie, TX. Unfortunately they not longer include original lead singer Jon Anderon but the latest frontman Jon Davison did a tremendous job. I actually had tickets to see Yes when Anderson was still touring with them a few years ago but he got sick a few weeks before the show and the tour was cancelled. That was a huge bummer for me so finally getting to see them at least, even without Anderson, was great. I love Roundabout, one of my favorite songs by the band from the great Fragile album.

The Decemberists - “The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)”

Admittedly the Decemberists are not for everyone. They’re folk rock stylings combined with Colin Meloy’s love of historical references tends to confuse and scare way the casual listener. The Hazards of Love album is insanely good and is a concept album/rock opera that was originally written as a play. It tells the story of a forbidden love between a woman named Margaret who falls in love with a shape-shifting boreal forest dweller named William. William’s mother, a jealous fairy queen, attempts to use villainous Rake (not the garden tool) to prevent the love and calamity and chaos ensue.

It sounds crazy, but it’s beautiful, haunting and so well done. If you’re going to give it a try, sit down with a good stereo or pair of headphones and listen to the album in its entirety, uninterrupted for the full experience. If you’d like a more accessible Decemberists album to get started with, check out The King is Dead.

Robert Earl Keen – “Lonely Feeling”

There is a difference between country music and Texas country music. There are of course fundamental similarities in the sound and arrangements, but Texas country is not the more pop-centric music that the modern country industry has become. Nothing wrong with that, just not my taste. Few artist have risen to the heights of Texas country than Robert Earl Keen. Outside the state of Texas he might be an unknown for the most part but here in the Lone Star State he’s a legend on par with Jerry Jeff Walker (yes I know he’s from New York).

Keen is a storyteller and his music is a wonderful mix of great lyrics with a comedic touch. Lonely Feeling is a beautiful song that most people can relate to from experiences in their life. I recommend checking out two of his most famous songs, “Merry Christmas from the Family“ (great example of his comedic work) and “The Road Goes On Forever” (a great example of his storytelling).

there are dirty words. you’ve been warned.

you can contact the show via email, rant[at]thegingeshow.com or leave a message on the rant line at 713-36GINGE (713-364-4643).

ginge talks about what happened to radio cuju and some other issues connected to that situation. ginge offers his thoughts on alan gordon and why jimmy nielsen should be suspended along with juninho.

check it out.