Current Playlist 7/16/05: Beer Does Not Go Well with Claritin

I need to learn to read those silly warning labels on over-the-counter medications.

I took Claritin at lunch for my allergies. I decided, since I had nothing else to wash it down with, I'd just have a couple of beers with the little pill and my turkey and provalone sandwich.

Bad idea.

Not quite at the Bicardi-and-Vicatin level, but I've been a bit lethargic all afternoon. I watched golf on television. In between naps.

Golf! I never watch golf. And I don't like naps.

Anyway, the playlist for my accidental drug/booze faux-pas:

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1. Vital Media - The Dead Artists

I miss hip-hop that involved artistry, not just rappers or producers. The turntables are a weapon. The Dead Artists use break beats wisely.

2. Fram - Eltro

An Absolutely Kosher artist, it has such an awesome Suzanne Vega Meets the Neptunes kinda vibe going. Very chill.

3. Suffragette City - David Bowie

One of the defining Bowie tracks from the Ziggy Stardust album (1972). One of my favorites and rumored to be one of Bowie's, too.

4. Builds the Bone - The Hidden Cameras

People who dig Belle and Sebastian and the Shins should check out this Toronto-based collective's work.

5. The Banana Splits - The Dickies

One of the most energetic, happy-feet Brit-punk songs of all time. From the A&M Records' 1979 7-inch vinyl of the same name.

6. I Just Want You - Ozzy Osbourne

What can I say? I still hold a warm, fuzzy place in my heart for the Prince of fuckin' Darkness. Ozzy is, regardless of what many so-called hipsters think, one of those iconic voices of rock and roll. Probably one of the best love songs of his solo career, right up there with "Mama I'm Coming Home."

7. Skin Against Skin (Hitotsu No Mirai) - DJ Krush

The definitive Japanese beatmaster. This downtempo track, featuring Deborah Anderson on vocals. A lot of folks didn't like the 1997 album that featured this track.

8. Murphy's Law - Baldwin

Baldwin (aka Big Steel) is probably the best unknown MC in the States right now - straight from the Delaware Valley. Straight-up lyrical flow, simple, catchy as hell.

9. Por El Lente Del Cielo (Through the Sky's Lens) - Vico C

Amazingly talented guy. Brooklyn-born rapper was a staple of Latin and Caribbean hip-hop stations throughout the 90s. Did he get any airplay on English-language stations? Uh. No. I first heard the track on a Spanish Language station in California. I asked an ex of mine about Vico, and she about had an orgasm on the phone. Vico C is a multi-platinum selling artist and an renowned MC throughout the Spanish speaking world. Much love for the puertorriquenos. People tend to forget they're Americans, too.

10. Time - Tom Waits

"When you're east of East St.Louis, and the wind is making speeches, and the rain sounds like a round of applause..."