* Dave Arneson really did die and he is missed.

* Thank you to all those who donated to Luke Appreciation Week, even those whose last names we can’t pronounce

* Kal Penn, House, and Public Service

* Adam is sick of fighting (he also hates happiness)

* Castle Crashers is an awesome game

* We talk about things you might have missed

* System Shock 2

* Red Dwarf

* Black Adder

* Invader Zim

* Venture Bros.

* Failure to Launch

* Supernatural

* Greg the Bunny

* Jim Henson’s Storyteller

* Avatar: The Last Airbender

* O

* The Monster Squad

* Grim Fandango

* Arrested Development

* Steel-Cut Oatmeal

* Emiliana Torrini

* The Sugar Queen

Time, much like music, is described in many forms. Everyone has an opinion on time and how we perceive it. From a simple measurement between then and now, to a scientific theory on relativistic time versus Newtonian time. In M. Ward’s newest album Hold Time he has much to say about time. Nothing that will expand any scientific fields of research, but bits from the past and the future that can spin into a much longer yarn if you will your imagination to take you there.

The song “Never Had Nobody Like You” dwells for a short time on the past, but never so far back as to not see the person who’s standing right in front of him, shows how well this album has been crafted around it’s title. It’s almost novel-like in how there’s a loose narrative flowing throughout. This track features Zooey Deschanel and has some fantastically catchy guitar rifts and drum beats.

“One Hundred Million Years” is a simple love song that spans eons. The mellow sound that flutters from the guitar sets a soothing and lovely tone for the song. Which carries right over into the next track, “Stars of Leo.” Another love song, but this time a bit more heavy on the symbolism and wordplay. It does take a minute to build up to the real catchy rifts, but if you follow the narrative you can understand why.

While sifting through the lines in this album, I came to realize that he’s layered this album with many, many religious references. The first song “For Beginners” mentions Mount Zion and the original sinners, an obvious reference to Adam and Eve. “Jailbird” tells the haunting last moments of a prisoner on death row. And “Epistemology” which tells us how the singer, whether that be M. Ward or someone else, had found religion.

I liked this album, a lot. It showcases a lot of the reasons why I love M. Ward’s music so much. Haunting melodies, rolling guitars that make me dance in my seat, and fun catchy lyrics that I’ll sing along with. However, I can’t get past the fact that a few of the tracks sound vaguely similar to his past work. They have that simple touch of a few notes that make me think back on previous tracks, and then I come back to the tune at hand. It almost takes me out of the moment. But then, I’d be fooling myself if I didn’t think about those crazy power chord guitarist of the ‘80’s. Oh, how they loved to reuse so many chords.

The only criticism I have for this album is that the tracks are short. Much too short for my tastes, but Ward does put a lot of effort into squeezing his mind in each track. Another fifteen or so minutes could have really filled this one out, but then, we can’t all hold onto so much time like Ward does.

No, this is a list about a man who can take hours away from you at a time by just listening to him. A man who is known and unknown by many. Bob Dylan has a catalogue of music that will take you days to sift through, weeks to find the gems that others glance over, and months to appreciate that one verse, that one smidge of pure glee that you might have otherwise missed the first twenty times you listened to it.

For you, the reader and listener, I have taken years going over these songs over and over. Listening to them at work, listening to them on walks, and listening to them when I’m playing games. I’ve combined both the original recorded track and all the live tracks I could. This clocks in at over six hours of music. I’m going to distill as much as I can for you, while still not gloating about how much I love Bob Dylan. (Go ahead, get your sneers in about his raspy-taspy voice now. I’ll wait.)

Ok, ready? These six are those that benefit from being played live, and are better than the original recording.

I’ll start with It Ain’t Me Babe from “Another Side of Bob Dylan.” It’s a simple song, and simply put it doesn’t stand out that much from the rest of the album. In it’s entirety you may wonder why Dylan chose this song to include in his live set lists. I couldn’t tell you exactly, since I wasn’t around in those days, but I can tell you I’m glad he did. There are four live versions of this song. My favorite of them all is from the “Rolling Thunder Revue” which is a deliciously fantastic album. There’s energy, power, and force behind Dylan on this song. He brings it all here, and he’s really performing superbly. Check this one out for some great licks.

My next pick is one of Dylan’s more silly songs. Yes, I’m talking about Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 from “Blonde on Blonde.” The original album recording is already choke full of fun sounds, and then you get into the lyrics and you can tell he’s having a good time. Now, you get into the Live versions of the song and everything just comes off the hinges. From the “MTV Unplugged” album he knocks it out of the park a little further and does a fantastic job of juicing this up with some great sounds. Give it a listen, you’ll be happy you did. (Side note: This was the one Dylan song my boss at Target knew of, and he had little talent for singing. I smiled and nodded, and continued to think of him as an idiot.)

This is not the exact song I’m talking about here, but it is Dylan playing with Elvis Costello, so it’s just as good.

This one you might roll your eyes at because it’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door from the “Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid” film. I’ve actually watched the film, and can say it’s not all that great. However, this song is one of the few good things to come from that. Now, you might be saying that Guns N’ Roses cover is a good one, and that I shouldn’t bother. Ok, but consider this: Axl Rose is an asshole. I understand I don’t know the man, but c’mon. Who just throws “hey’s” and “whoa’s” around? That dick, that’s who. However, Dylan does a live version of this song on his “MTV Unplugged” album that’s heart-felt and powerful in execution. The added three minutes from the original stand out, but do take a minute to build up and draw you into the song. Also, if you want to hear this song with a flute solo you should check out the “Live At Budokan” recording.

From the “Blood on the Tracks” album comes Shelter From the Storm. This already well written song is bolstered even further up along the reasons of why I love Dylan so much. On the “Hard Rain” album his performance of this song truly goes to create a gorgeous melody and a lilting playfulness you might not expect from him. An album that’s been said to be a ghost train with little steam from the “Rolling Thunder Revue” tour, there’s still plenty of gems here and this song is just one of them.

Tombstone Blues has always been one of those high concept songs to me. With lyrics that, at first glance, blow your mind, and slowly turns toward something more compelling and frightening to find out what Dylan is talking about. From the “MTV Unplugged” album he’s turned the song into a quasi-country jamband tune. It deviates the tune just enough to recast it in a light that any fan of Dylan can appreciate

The song Maggie’s Farm was one I had originally heard from the Bootleg Series Volume 7 in which it was performed live during that infamous period where Dylan started playing electric guitar. I then heard the original recording from the “Bringing It All Back Home” album. I was stunned to hear such a difference between the two and that’s when I started digging further into his live albums. My favorite live track though comes from the “Hard Rain” album. The guitars all roll along the same twangy pattern that’s just fun to listen to, but the great part is the way Dylan executes his vocals for this song. It just pulls you in and makes you want to sing along.

And those are my picks for Dylan’s live tracks. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you’ve got some favorites of your own let me know! Tune in next time when I point out the tracks that should have been left off the set list from his live albums.

- Zak Kaveney

Zak Kaveney made my day by giving some in-depth analysis on one of my favorite bands.  Check out his thoughts below and see if you agree or not.

They Might Be Giants | My Top Ten Tracks

by Zak Kaveney

I was on my way home, trudging through the snow and trying not to slip on the ice in my horribly soled shoes when I started listing my favorite albums by They Might Be Giants. I was doing this because a friend had recently asked me for my top picks of the bands grand catalogue since he had never given them much of a listen. So, I named for him my favorite album, along with their two latest releases: John Henry, The Spine, and The Else.

Now, for those who want the quickest and easiest route to find themselves knee deep in a 2-disc collection of some of the finest TMBG songs can go and purchase Dial-A-Song. This set collects twenty years of TMBG and serves as a good starting point of creating a life-long fan. However, for my purposes (and because I enjoy songs that just aren’t always played on local radio stations) I’m going to delve into the vault a little deeper. There may be a few that aren’t as obscure, but they deserve just as much attention. So, let’s get to it.

Number Ten goes to Narrow Your Eyes from their fourth album Apollo 18. This entire album is full of great treasures that could fool a dark hearted man into tapping his foot because of all the upbeat rhythms the John’s throw behind the lyrics. This song stands out to me because it’s such a light-hearted love song that you might just not find the little strands of it until you narrow your eyes.

Number Nine might seem like an odd pick, but stay with me, we’re only just getting started. I’ve picked Hovering Sombrero for a few reasons. It’s a mellow song on an album that is already filled with an unruly amount of varying genres. It’s got soothing guitar rifts that flow from your speakers and through your heart, and maybe even able to touch some dark grey space in your head. But, most importantly, it should speak to a lot of people. With lines like ‘and the old familiar things are mostly all gone/but the old sombrero just keeps hovering on’ people should find that indeed, they’re never just a hat.

Number Eight is found on the self titled album from this dynamic duo. She’s An Angel is, if you’ll excuse the wordplay, an angelic song that I would hope Phil Collins never tries to sing. However, if you can find a live version of this song you’ll be much better off. Specifically, the Severe Tire Damage album has a wonderful version of this song with a fantastic horn section. How else can you describe love when you find the one and you can’t help but chase after the angel?

Number Seven gives us the metaphor of people as water and the land acting as their ship. This one, of course, is for Women and Men from the third album Flood. This song is a melodic affair to all the women and men that help make our planet 100% water based.

Side Note: Maybe you remember the promotion that was done for Flood? John and John sitting in a coffee shop as they pitch to the audience the album with snippets of a few songs thrown in. Either way, this one’s choke full of the Johns’ great sense of silly, outlandish lyrics, and will fill the eccentric’s ears with delight. Where else would you find a record with its own theme song? Exactly. And you can find the always delightful staples, Istanbul (Not Constantinople) and Particle Man, on it as well.

Number Six is on one of my favorite albums John Henry. That’s right; No One Knows My Plan is a fun, bouncy song, that I imagine Lex Luthor hearing in his mind as he bides his time in his prison cell, cooking up his plans to eliminate Superman. Really, what else can I say about this one?

Number Five will find you tapping your foot, clapping your hands, and smiling all before you realize that this song is actually much less about the happy, and much more about the sadness. I’m talking about Mr. Me from the second album Lincoln. If there’s one thing TMBG is capable of, it’s taking the most upbeat rhythm and throwing the saddest lyrics against them. The alliteration here could be the fault of your smile, but I think if you whistle along it’s your own fault.

Number Four is a simple melody. A melody about Your Own Worst Enemy. From their sixth album Factory Showroom, this song brings you the trouble of a bottle, work, and in the end becoming your own worst memory. There’s not much to the song, clocking in at 1:45, but it hits the liver like a double shot of whiskey.

Number Three showcases a lovely horn section; one might even call it bitchin’. From the bands tenth album The Spine, Museum of Idiots is a fun, fun song. I will be so bold as to say it’s about the love of two wax figures in their museum. But the song builds up through the horns so well, that by the last verse you’ve fallen in love with these two idiots who love each other. Even if they’re burning, even if the one is chopping the other into pieces, and even if they’ve forgotten one another. They’ll still say ‘I love you.’

Number Two is a bit of a guilty pick because it features my name. And of course, as I read the lyrics I find I am mistaken. It’s actually ‘sack’ not ‘Zak.’ Oh well! Withered Hope from the twelfth album The Else is a fantastic song that reminds me of I Palindrome I in the loosest sense. It’s more of a cyclical song that finds one character loving another character, loving another character, loving another character, loving another character that loves the first character. I think I got that right. But no matter! It’s a great song and you should give it a listen!

Number One! I’m choosing a song from the EP The Spine Surfs Alone for a few reasons. The song Now Is Strange is many things to me. It reminds me, after 20+ years of being a band that they can still do what they’ve always done. And that’s make a compelling song out of the strangest lyrics. Secondly, the song is just so haunting that whenever you listen to it you expect someone with a pumpkin to show up, kids dressed up in costumes, and fog. With lines like ‘Have you seen that naughty boy/Who steals each blade of grass/And replaces it with wires and batteries’ you cannot help but wonder just who this boy is and why he’d do such a heinous thing.

Alternately my number one would be Absolutely Bill’s Mood from their first album only because I want to hear it live. And I know they will never play this one live because it’s far too obscure and far too old for them to get any use out of it. There’s always cover bands, right?

That’s my far too wordy list. Whether you agree or disagree is one thing, whether you know the songs or not is another. Altogether though, you should do yourself a favor, find them, and listen to them if you’re at all interested in They Might Be Giants.

* Dave from the Iron Agenda is here

* Matt is here in body if not mind

* V3 is this Saturday. Come play.

* Play video games with Luke not Joe

* WAR update: We’re moving to the Badlands server

* Leslie and the Badgers

* Can too many rules inhibit role playing?

* Adam revisits a topic from 17 episodes ago

* Iron Agenda is about Big Vagina Islands

* Number of times we discuss Burning Wheel: 6

*Are published settings crap?

*What makes a setting good?

*Convincing the yonkels

*Matt becomes the center of a deep mystery and a foul conspiracy

*Joe gets teleported in the Hodge.  Seriously.

People who like good music should email Joe and recommend him some more stuff that could actually be considered “music.”

—Luke