Eye fillets #001

I have a playlist on my iPod called Eye fillets, which has all of my 5-star rated songs in it (geddit...choice cuts?). There are currently 301 songs in this playlist, from a total library of approximately 13,000 songs. That's about 2% of my collection* which I consider to be prime quality, and worth paying $34.99 / kilo for. Okay, that's enough meat analogies for now...

* NB: I am continually adding songs to this playlist as I see fit, so more may appear in the future!

This is the first entry in a new type of post which I like to call Eye fillets. This is a similar idea to the random mixtape post, except for the following:

• The tracks chosen will all come from my Eye fillets playlist;
• I will only choose 5 tracks instead of 10;
• I will post temporary MP3s of each song so you can listen and enjoy.
  

Here's my first random selection:

Suede - The asphalt world [Link removed]

This is the penultimate track from Suede's superb 1994 album Dog man star. It's pretentious, epic and utterly brilliant. Many people look back on Suede as a has-been Britpop band, and they did eventually become that. But DMS was and still is an excellent album, an excellent artifact from the Britpop era that was different to everything else being released at the time, and has aged much better because of this. This song is one of its finest moments, a Bowie influenced epic which feels a lot shorter than its 9:25 running time. I have always said to myself that if I was ever going to make a movie, this song would have to feature in its soundtrack.

Elvis Costello - The beat [Link removed]

Elvis Costello's 2nd album (and first with the Attractions) This year's model was one of the first albums of his that I purchased, and is still my favourite album by the man. This is him at his punkiest; while the classics Pump it up and (I don't want to go to) Chelsea make up the core of the album, minor nuggets like this one made me realise that he was a songwriter to be reckoned with. This is a brilliant toe-tapping tune which for many lesser artists would be a hit, but for Elvis was merely tucked away as a lost album track.

Al Green - Let's stay together [Link removed]

Sentimental value here, as this is "our song" for Lorin (my wife) and me. In fact, this was the song we [tried to] dance to for our bridal waltz at our wedding. Most people will know it, as it was on the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece Pulp fiction. A beautiful song.

The Jam - Down in the tube station at midnight [Link removed]

Now here is a real eye fillet - possibly one of my favourite songs of all time. This is the final song on their excellent album All mod cons from 1978; a good decision, as nothing could really top it. The bassline at the start sets the urgency, and then Paul Weller sings a chilling tale about a bunch of skinhead thugs beating up a helpless Pakistani man who had bought a "take-away curry" and was bringing it back home to his wife. The song still gives me chills, from a lyrical and musical standpoint.

When I was in London last year, I was actually down in the tube station at midnight. I didn't listen to the song on my iPod at the time (it probably wasn't the best place or time to bring out expensive electronics), but I did give All mod cons a listen while walking around London a few days later. A potently powerful song.

Neil Young - Powderfinger [Link removed]

A song so good it inspired a band name (I wish I could say the same about the song Radio head by Talking Heads, but that is the topic of another thread. Or a band as mediocre as Pretty girls make graves stealing a great Smiths song title. Okay, enough now.)

This is one of my favourite Neil Young songs. Opening up the "electric" side of Rust never sleeps, this song has some of the Mr. Young's finest axe work. It's catchy, it rocks and it seems to have something deep to say lyrically (although, not really being a lyrics person, I have yet to interpret them). Great song.

UPDATE: Song links removed.