matt.geek.nz

One of the things I look forward to is a semi-regular get together with friends that’s centred around music. We call it a Music Appreciation Society, and the concept’s pretty simple. About a week before we meet, we select a theme (everyone gets a turn) and then we all bring along three songs that have some relationship to that theme. On the night, we play a song each, until all the songs have been played, maybe with a spiel about how the song relates to the theme.  We also have dinner and a few glasses of wine. It’s great. And it’s much better than book club because it’s a much smaller time commitment than it is to read a book that one person might like and the rest will hate.

You could consider it a collaborative version of Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour.

Our group has fairly diverse tastes: there’s a guy into hip-hop, reggae and alt-country, a girl into 80s hits and female singer-songwriters, another who’s into show tunes, ballads and classical, and then there’s me, who’s pretty much into anything, but I probably focus more on alt-rock and experimental more than anything else. Past themes have included Time, Face Cards, War, Colours, Animals, and Heroes.

Here’s the tracklisting for our Covers night:

• This Land Is Your Land – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (Woody Guthrie cover)
• I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself – The White Stripes (Burt Bacharach cover)
• Ceremony – Radiohead (New Order cover)
• When Doves Cry – The Be Good Tanyas (Prince cover)
• Everybody Wants To Rule The World – The Bad Plus (Tears for Fears cover)
• Straight Outta Compton – Nina Gordon (N.W.A. cover)
• Hand On Your Heart – Jose Gonzalez (Kylie Minogue cover)
• You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go – Ben Watt (Bob Dylan cover)
• Superstar – Sonic Youth (Carpenters cover)
• Fast Car – Xiu Xiu (Tracy Chapman cover)
• Helpless – k.d. lang (Neil Young cover)
• Cars – Katzenjammers (Gary Numan cover)
• Love Will Tear Us Apart – Jose Gonzalez (Joy Division cover)

Our next theme is Sex. Any suggestions?