Pre-game! Hot rock!

I recently discovered nyc bloggers, a site that documents what blogs are being produced where in NYC. You select a subway station and see what people are posting nearby. It's s nice little tool for sketching out pet socio-economic theories, as well as a fun way to find new blogs. I was wandering through and discovered Living in Chinese Gitmo, a funny, exhibitionist and quite depressing diary blog by a hard-drinking young woman working the advertising biz in NYC.

She refers a few times to the concept of the "pre-game," the practice of knocking back the first of the evening's drinks at home, saving a bit of money and getting a "jump" on the rest of the crowd.

I have been known to "pre-game" myself; more for the opportunity to play some of my own rock loud and get pumped for the night ahead. These five tracks should do that job nicely; nothing fancy, but hard workers all of them.

My fiance played me this song not long ago and it made me wanna move. Chicago's Davis (on this track anyway) reminds me of other mid-western cow-punk types like Uncle Tupelo and Columbus, OH's under-heard Greenhorn. Don't miss the loud "Whooh!" in the background when the band slams into the second verse. And horns!

Devin Davis - Iron Woman
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Speaking of off-mic enthusiasm: around three minutes into "Gimme Shelter" Merry Clayton (the fantastic backup vocalist) shoots for a drama and her voice breaks hard. You can hear Mr. Jagger give a big yelp in the background. He was feeling it. For more on Merry Clayton and other soulful backup vocalists of the 60's and 70's, check out Funky16Corners.

From my young teens into my 20's, the only copy I had of this tune (on the album Gimme Shelter) was a tape copy I had made from my Mom's scratchy LP. I was never too dilligent about removing those copy-protect tabs from my tapes and somehow, about 3:30 into this tune, a short clip of someone (probably me) playing drums got recorded on to the tape. To this day, whenever I hear the song, I expect the drums to come in there. I kinda miss it.

The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
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According to classic rock rumor, Keith Richards and Gram Parsons were more than just junk buddies; some say Parsons actually wrote "Wild Horses" and other say that Keif and GP actually had few rolls in the hay. We'll never really know, but it's fun to wonder...

Gram Parsons didn't make a lot of albums before his young death, but everything he recorded was stellar. This track is from his time with The Flying Burrito Brothers, his project in between The Byrds and his solo albums. This stomper wouldn't sound out of place on The Velvet Underground's Loaded. ASIDE: Angus Young's band before he joined AC/DC was also called The Velvet Underground, a real testament to VU's un-fame.

The Flying Burrito Brothers - Older Guys
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Sure, these pretty boys sound like Pavement, although I don't think Malkmus and co. ever played this fast and tight. Used to be that everybody and their brother was ripping off Pavement, but it's a rarer sound these days. This track grabbed me from go.

Hockey Night - For Guy's Eyes Only
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I can't believe I've been blogging all this time and I have not yet posted a Thin Lizzy track (have I?) I'm a model of restraint. Anyhows, I thought the indie guitarmony of Hockey Night flowed nicely into the arena-rock of the dual-lead masters. Check out the flange on that bass!

Thin Lizzy - Waiting For An Alibi
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