Blog Posts by Robert of the Radish

badsingingI love all kinds of music. In fact, I'm such a music fanboi that I have an extremely high tolerance for bad music. From time to time I've been know to listen to  Europe's 1986 album The Final Countdown in its entirety. I can sometimes be found passionately defending the music of Journey, and one of the first music sites I ever did was called The Worst of the Worst, where I hunted for the worst unpublished music I could find.

But even with this background I have my limits.

There are some songs so bad they actually produce a physical reaction in me. When I hear one the reaction starts with the smell sesame sticks.  I attribute this odd illusion to a (mostly) repressed childhood memory. You see, when I was about six or seven, I had eaten a bag of sesame sticks right before going on a long, hot car ride. A car ride that, unfortunately, included an 8-track tape of the 70s soft rock outfit Bread. I became horribly car sick and projectile vomited that bag of sesame seed snacks all over our car's beautiful, beige vinyl bench seats . That smell  of sesame and vinyl comes flooding back whenever I hear a particularly horrible song even today. This is usually followed by  a gag reflex, which can sometimes result in mouthful of chunder.

It's a truly unfortunate affliction.

This playlist includes the top 10 songs that produce said reaction. I just pray it never finds its way into the hands of my enemies.

Depeche ModeMy earliest musical memories come from way back in grade school, when even a fifth grader could feel the palpable tension between the disco and rock & roll crowds. I think it may have been the Rolling Stones Some Girls album that cemented my young identity soundly with rock & roll. And when the 80's came I was not keen on all the synthetic music, but Depeche Mode changed that for me. I had already been falling for alternative rock bands who used "real" instruments like R.E.M, U2, The Cure and The Smiths, so when I heard Depeche Mode for the first time, it just fit. I realized that it doesn't matter what implements a band makes their sounds with, but that it sounds good.

And Depeche Mode didn't just sound good, they sounded great.

Depeche Mode really opened my mind and taught me that you could like different genres of music. You didn't have to pick between rock, or jazz, or disco, or electronic music. You could enjoy it all. My hunch is that Depeche Mode had the same impact on a lot more people than just I. In fact, if I had to guess, I would put the number in the millions. Their songs are just that good. So good, that it's not hard to find remakes of Depeche Mode songs around every corner.

This playlist includes 10 Depeche Mode covers that I find worthy. What would you add?

Shopping On Black FridayWe've just come through the biggest shopping weekend of the year, which started a day early as many retailers decided to open on Thanksgiving night instead of Black Friday morning. Black Friday is always the Friday after Thanksgiving,  a time when stores hold tempting sales to lure in customers who've started to think in earnest about Christmas.

I have conflicting opinions about it. On one hand, Black Friday represents the pinnacle of a consumerist culture, and brings out the worst in people. This year there were reports of pepper spraying, violence and even murder as people fought to get deals on material things made in China. However, on the other hand most people were not violent, and most are buying for others, not themselves. In our current economy, which is driven mostly by the consumer, we should all be hoping for a blockbuster holiday shopping season.

It looks like we may have gotten it. Over the four days from Thanksgiving until Sunday, American consumers spent $52,5 billion, that's up 16% from last year. And the stock market reacted quite favorably to the news yesterday. And this is before adding in online sales from Cyber Monday, which also seems to have been a blowout. Only time will tell is the spending will keep up until Christmas, but if it does, it will be good news for our economy at large.

In honor of all those who braved the crowds to help stimulate the economy, I've built this 18 song shopping-inspired playlist.

What would you add?

Fat catThe average American gains about 1 lb. during the winter holiday season. This is caused by two things. First, most of us are less active in the winter because it's too cold for many of the outdoor activities that help us burn calories during the warmer months. Second, Thanksgiving and Christmas are both holidays where people tend to eat way too much. If you want to maintain your weight during the winter you need to add to your physical activity -- skiing, basketball, or more time at the gym are all good suggestions. You can also pay close attention to what you eat over the holidays, but that can be really hard to do. Especially when you don't want to be a downer for those throwing caution to the wind. So, just pick up your activity level and you can still enjoy all the great holiday food that will surely be passing under your nose.

For this playlist I've pulled together 10 songs for those who overeat, and find themselves  laying around watching football with their belts loosened. Let it be a reminder that the party will come to an end, but the extra pounds will remain unless we choose to do something about it.

What songs would you add?

PilgrimsWhen Americans hear the word "pilgrim" they think of the settlers who landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts. We have an image of women in full length black dresses, and men wearing tall, black, buckled hats. Although the jury is out on how many pilgrims actually wore hats on that first Thanksgiving in 1621, there is no argument that the word "pilgrim" means something more.

A pilgrim is a traveler, someone who is usually on a a religious or cultural journey to some specific holy place. Muslims, for example, are required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. Catholics can receive a plenary indulgence when making a pilgrimage to one of four basilicas (Saint Peter's, Most Holy Saviour at the Lateran, Saint Mary Major and Saint Paul on the Ostian Way). Or an Elvis fan may make a pilgrimage to Graceland. A pilgrim can also refer to someone who is not making a physical journey, but a spiritual one. Some believe we are only pilgrims on a journey to an afterlife.

For this playlist I've selected a dozen "pilgrim" songs to ponder. What would you add?

Pumpkin PieMmmmm..... Pie time is almost here!

Most of us don't eat pie but a few times a year. But one occasion where most of us throw caution to the wind is Thanksgiving. I always look forward to pie on the fourth Thursday in November. And there are usually two, or three different types of pie available, whether we celebrate the holiday with my family, or my wife's. My wife's family usually has lemon meringue and pecan, along with the traditional pumpkin, or apple. My family substitutes the pecan for mincemeat, or chocolate. I'm good with it either way.

The biggest problem every year is always which pie to choose -- we're usually full by the time dessert comes, but its not Thanksgiving if you don't overdo it, right? So most of us find some room for pie. I usually choose not to decide, and instead take smaller slivers of each. But when I do go for one, I'm a sucker for the traditional pumpkin.

This playlist features 10 songs, each for a different popular pie flavor that will be served on Thanksgiving. What is your family's pie tradition, and is there a song for it?

RadioheadNot many music lovers, or music critics, have bad things to say about Radiohead. They're one of the most influential bands of the last 20 years. If I had to break it down, I'd say that the band's music possesses an abundance of things that make it great - an incredible dynamic range, tasteful & creative textures, excellent musicianship, memorable hooks, and most importantly, Radiohead is a band the obviously feels the music they're playing. It's something very hard to quantify, but you know it when you hear it, and it's impossible to keep from being sucked in.

There are a handful of critics who don't get the music of Radiohead, but for me it's just a red flag to avoid all future musical recommendations from such critics. One of the great things about Radiohead is this -- their music is just complex enough that it reveals itself over time, it's not the least common denominator, so prevalent in pop music today. Each new Radiohead album makes the listener feel as if they've earned something, and they have. Although it takes a bit of attention on the part of the listener, it doesn't require so much that it's out of reach for the average music fan.

This playlist includes 18 Radiohead songs as covered by 18 different artists. It's a great look into how their music has influenced fellow musicians.

SpaceIt's time to wrap up our series of space-related playlists. For this final list I thought I would look back and pick the very best songs from the playlists posted over the past week, as well as picking songs from other space-themed playlists we've published over the last four years or so. At the end of this blog post you'll find links to all of them.

Space is a popular subject for songwriters, and progressive rock bands seem especially drawn to the theme. This playlist includes 27 songs, and will provide a  couple hours + of space music for your listening enjoyment. I'm aware that this hardly scratches the surface. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of songs that have been inspired by the universe, so it would be impossible to include them all.

But tell me, what would be on your ultimate "space list"?