((( Don’t forget: each My5 title is a link. Click on, NoCo! )))
Wow, where have the last 9 months gone? As we head into the holidays, keep in mind some of the ways your gift list can help out the “smaller guys” via gift cards or donations!
1. Independent Record Stores – Music can help us through so many hardships, while giving us good memories. Check out the Bizarre Bazaar in Fort Collins or shop your neighborhood store! fortcollinsbazaar.com
2. Independent Music Venues – We all gotta do what we can to help those small venues where we saw our favorite artists as they came up through the ranks! Check out saveourstages.com
3. Independent Restaurants – Those mom & pop places started by our neighbors & friends. The places that support the Little League teams. The place where everybody knows your name.
4. Your Favorite Charity or Non-Profit – These groups do so much all through the year, every year, and are facing tough times. Helping them helps so many more people who need the assistance! Visit greatnonprofits.org for starters.
5. Holiday Cards – This year’s been a real doozy so let’s help out those close to us. Maybe you’ve not sent holiday cards in a while. This is probably a great time to send a meaningful, personal note to someone who could use it. (i.e. ALL of us!)
Our Top 20 of 2020 question for November is “What is your favorite song about food”? Submit yours at ColoradoSound.org and listen on Friday, Nov 27 as we count down your Top 20. (You can also use this to avoid politics at family gatherings!) Here are some less obvious ones to consider:
1. “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” by Jay & The Techniques – This 1966 one-hit wonder is perhaps the quintessential food song (next to “Do The Mashed Potato”).
2. “Alice’s Restaurant Masacree” by Arlo Guthrie – AKA “Alice’s Restaurant” is based-on-a-true story Thanksgiving classic isn’t technically about food, it’s about how the clean-up after a holiday feast goes awry. However, in our estimation, it counts.
3. “Crawfish” by Elvis Presley (and the cover by Johnny Thunders & Patti Palladin) – This song from the soundtrack of the Elvis movie King Creole is brief but memorable. For a fun punk twist, check out the cover by Johnny Thunders.
4. “Saturday Night Fish Fry” by Louis Jordan – Keeping with the New Orleans theme of crawfish, this 1949 song from bandleader and “King Of The Jukebox,” Louis Jordan, is just a good time.
5. “Your Name On A Grain Of Rice” Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers – This 2004 song references the unique carnival attraction of getting your name engraved on a grain of rice. It was inspired by a trip Clyne took to Mexico.
1. Knuckleball! – Extend your baseball season with this terrific sports documentary. Knuckleball! follows the lives of two knuckleball pitchers, Tim Wakefield and RA Dickey, during the 2011 MLB season. More than just a baseball story, Knuckleball! is one of resilience, following your dreams and rooting for the underdog!
2. My Favorite Murder – This weekly true crime podcast is hosted by comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. The ladies look at sensational cases through the last century and have created a whole new genre of Murderinos (true crime fans). Worth the listen and, as the ladies say, “stay sexy and don’t get murdered!”
3. Schitt’s Creek – This Canadian sitcom follows an uber-wealthy family who loses (almost) everything and are forced to relocate to Schitt’s Creek, a small town they once purchased as a joke. The perfectly cast ensemble features Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, his son Dan (with whom he created the show) and daughter Sarah. Binge all six seasons on Netflix!
4. Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest – This set contains the remastered version of the classic 1994 Wildflowers plus 15 demos and 14 live recordings in a four CD set. There’s also a super-deluxe set with five CDs, nine LPs and even more B-Sides and alternate versions.
5. The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You – Australia’s The Avalanches have only released two albums in twenty years, so this is big news! Their third album We Will Always Love You is out December 11, featuring collaborations from Denzel Curry, Tricky, Blood Orange, Rivers Cuomo and Jamie xx. theavalanches.com
1. I Shouldn’t Be Alive – If you’re having a bad day, watch this 2005 docu-series. Stories about surviving shipwrecks, being caught in avalanches, and planes crashing into active volcanoes will have you on the edge of your seat. It may not turn your day around, but you will realize how much other people have gone through and lived to tell the tale.
2. Hot Dogs – Summer may be over, but who doesn’t like a good hot dog? Maybe you’re a fan of New York style of perhaps you’re a classic Chicago dog person. Whatever the season a tasty dog will always make your day better.
3. The Allergies – The Allergies are a DJ duo out of Great Britain. They’ve been around since 2012 but are recent discoveries at The Colorado Sound. They love combining soul, funk and hip hop for some very danceable music.
4. Kurt Vile – Speed, Sound, Lonely KV (ep) – Kurt Vile is a huge fan of John Prine. Vile was beside himself when he convinced Prine to work with him on this EP. As fate would have it, this was also Prine’s last recording. Enjoy a great duet of Prine’s classic “How Lucky” as well as a cover of “Speed of The Sound of Loneliness” and much more.
5. Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse – The name is unusual, but the music is exceptional. Singer Greta Valenti hails from New Orleans but the rest of the band is British including British Blues Hall of Famer, Robin Davey. The nostalgic sound will make you break out the Tiki Torches and mix a strong cocktail. beauxgrisgris.com
