So, it’s Sunday night, which means another working week starts tomorrow. I’m not sure if that warranted a depressing song or something happier to lift the mood, so I tossed a coin. It came up happy, so here is a song from Paul Williams’ appearance on the Muppet Show back in 1976. Hot dang, that is a long time ago. Anyway, Williams actually did a fair bit with the Muppets: after his appearance on the show, he co-wrote the soundtrack for the first Muppet film (notably Rainbow Connection).

There’s something about the verses of this song that I love, and Williams performs it with some adorable Muppet doppelgängers. What’s not to love? I mean, the only thing that could sour the mood of this song is if you had to go to work the next day and-oh, damnit!

Yesterday’s post is still making me retch, so let’s just consider this a palette cleanser. Thankfully, this palette cleanser is triple strength and will no doubt reaffirm your belief in brilliant music. That bass! That voice! Those lyrics! It’s sublime: a perennial classic, completely overflowing in joyfulness and class. So, hit play below and just try and stop smiling!

Today is a very special day. My wonderful work ‘big sister’, Sarah, is going on maternity leave! So, I let her choose today’s song, and like any good big sister, she has decided to mess with me by torturing me with this incredibly terrible song!

I… I don’t know where to start with this. I mean, I grew up in the 90s, so this should all be nostalgic and awesome… but it isn’t. It’s awful! High-waisted denim! Open shirts casually draped across shoulders! Synchronised (and completely crappy) dance moves! A spoken-word section half-way through! High-pitched singing! I feel like I’m watching a Lonely Island video, except this song… oh good lord man, PUT ON A SHIRT YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’RE 15!

So anyway, congratulations Sarah! You’re the best! Now, excuse me while I go weep in a corner.

Here is some music for you if you are a fan of Ben Folds. Or heck, maybe if you just like purely joyous pop rock that’s driven by some spirited piano playing. Come one, come all, I say!

It really is just a giant pack of fun: I imagine it’s the kind of song that could accompany you as you walk down the street, while everyone behind you breaks out into song and dance. Heck, it diverts into a samba-esque arrangement towards the end, so if that doesn’t inspire you to dance, then my deepest condolences to you on the recent loss of your legs and your soul.

I did prognosticate that Ms. Bulley would feature again sometime on either/or. Turns out, I was right. Totally called it. Never mind that I write all the content!

So, why did I make such a bold assertion? Because Ms. Bulley’s music is accessible and deeply charming, and such qualities deserve equally nice things written about them. Here is a new song from Katie that continues to evoke these fine qualities, but does so with an extra, blues-flavoured, peppy twist tossed in. Guaranteed to get your feet a’shufflin’!

Should you find yourself digging the tune, you could do worse than to chip in a buck or two in Katie’s direction to get her album released. I would consider it quite rad, and we all know that I am a certified beacon for what is cool and what is not.

Ok, it’s time to get to some stuff you probably haven’t heard of before. Because I am a hipster, and that is the kind of thing that hipsters say!

Sometimes, I would like to adequately communicate exactly how I feel when listening to certain songs, using all manner of intelligent and descriptive words. It mostly doesn’t work. So while I’d like to explain exactly why I love this track, you will just have to settle with “it’s so pretty!”. And it truly is. It’s gentle and sweet and wonderfully peaceful and I just want to hug it to bits. Aww heck, man up, dude!

Man, McCartney sure can belt them out, can he? I mean, he’s 71 and still as energetic and enthusiastic as he ever was. I can’t even match it at 26! God knows what kind of vegetative zombie I’ll be when I’m 71.

But enough of that mildly depressing talk: let’s listen to another tune off McCartney’s new album, er, New. This one doesn’t sound Beatle-y, but it is certainly a corking tune: a sort of manic bit of rock with its roots in the 80s. Top work, sir.

Many moons again, I briefly mentioned the Brit punk stylings that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club exuded, despite their American origins. Well, here is a song that upends that trend by sounding more like ZZ Top! Yeah! Go America!

Fortunately, it seems that whatever style the Club dabbles in, something pretty danged amazing will materialise: it is another bit of crunchy rock/roots that I’ve been quite digging lately.

Oh, and best be careful with the embed below: it’s a tad bit not safe for work, for numerous reasons.

What a delightful collection of tunes I’ve enjoyed this evening! Thanks to my real-life work colleagues and their birthday gift to me, I was able to treat myself to Camera Obscura’s Desire Lines and Nick Drake’s Pink Moon on vinyl. Both albums are chock full of wonderful tunes, which made it quite difficult to choose which one to post about. But I’ve gone for Place to Be, as it is one of my favourite Nick Drake tunes.

It’s the kind of song that eases you away from difficult situations, as, like all of Drake’s songs, it is just effortlessly, and hauntingly, beautiful. It’s nothing but his voice and his guitar, but is saturated with the kind of style and warmth that studio engineering just can’t match. Time to go wile away the rest of the evening with this!

There’s a scene in Back to the Future Part III in which, during the Hill Valley festival, the band starts up a great bit of old-timey country-western music, prompting a dance. I’ve always loved this tune. Years later, I found out that the tune is actually a cover version of Doubleback, a song ZZ Top wrote for the film. As well as that, ZZ Top play the part of the band performing the song! So they covered their own song. Songception!

I love both versions of this song. It’s wild and rollocking and chock full of ZZ Top goodness, which everyone needs as part of a healthy music diet.