Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I Envy, You're Jealous


Green-eyed monstah courtesy of Janice

This week Contrast Podcast goes green, and I don't mean tree-huggy and eco-friendly (though I'm sure our carbon emissions are refreshingly low). No, we're talking about reveling in yet another deadly sin, that of envy. Download the podcast here, listen to what our contributors covet, then tell everyone how envious you are over here. And let me also take this opportunity to say how thrilled I am that Dearest Brad, my ex-roomie and great friend, is making his third appearance on the podcast! Yay!!

(00:00) Intro from Mr G. Letch & Mr A. Thrub

(02:55) Damgok - Penis envy
Tim from The face of today

(05:41) The Dead Milkmen - Everybody’s got nice stuff
SiD from Too Much Rock

(08:58) Reel Big Fish - I want your girlfriend to be my girlfriend
Natalie from Mini-obs

(12:56) Joe Jackson - Is she really going out with him (live acapella)
Brad from Brad’s Blog

(17:33) Pulp - I want you
ZB from So the wind won’t blow it all away

(22:41) Jonathan Richman - No mas por fun
JC from The Vinyl Villain

(25:07) Cat Power - She’s got you
Linda from Speed of dark

(29:18) The Jam - David Watts
FiL from Pogoagogo

(32:20) Envy and Other Sins - Prodigal Son
Crash from Pretending life is like a song

(37:03) Barenaked Ladies - Just a toy (live)
James from Appetite For Distraction

(40:48) The Hellcows - Jealousy
Eiron from A Blog of No Importance

(42:49) Bettye Lavette - I do not want what I haven’t got
Anna from the Music I-Quiz

(45:47) Ash - Envy
Ross from Just gimme indie rock

(49:39) Elliot Smith - Jealous guy (live)
Dirk from Sacred Loser

At first I considered going with a track about jealousy, but then the pedantic old sod in me emerged from the fusty recesses of my brain and reminded me that jealousy and envy are not one and the same. Technically speaking , envy refers to the discomfort caused by fixating on and/or coveting something that someone else has, while jealousy refers to the feeling generated by a perceived threat to something or someone with which one has a relationship. So, for example, I'm envious of you when I realize that you're shacking up with PJ Harvey. You, on the other hand, are jealous when I begin flirting with her and she returns my attentions. Oh, just face it, you're not good enough for her! She really wants to be with ME so just fuck off and leave us to --

Er, ahem. Sorry, got carried away... Anyway, here are the two jealous tracks I was weighing up before David Watts came to me in a revelatory flash:

The Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers (buy here)
I'm telling you, Peej is MINE MINE MINE!! She and I will dance like mad fools to this Noo Yawk No Wave masterpiece. As an aside, I saw The Rapture live twice and both times they were absolutely superlative. Once was on an NME bill along with The Von Bondies and Franz Ferdinand (and headliners Funeral for a Friend, who were so middling I left halfway through). The second time was supporting The Sex Pistols at Crystal Palace. Also on that bill were The Dropkick Murphys, The Libertines ("Pete Doherty Shows Up For Gig Shocker!!"), and And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (who I'm offering up as a free suggestion for next week's CP episode of "Bands With Ridiculous Names"). That was quite a long aside, wasn't it? And those italics can be hard on the eyes. So, where was I? Oh, PJ Harvey! MINE!!

Black Flag - Jealous Again (buy here or e-here)
Angry young man in seminal angry SoCal hardcore band singing an angry song about an angry girlfriend. There's a soap operatic story behind the recording of this choon, which you can read here. This version has vocal duties performed by Ron Reyes a/k/a Chavo Pederast, who is apparently now a born-again Christian living in my fair city of Vancouver. Ye gods!

You know, Dearest PJ isn't the jealous type. So say if I wanted to take up with Siouxsie Sioux, or a thirtysomething, not dead Audrey Hepburn, I'm sure she'd be cool with that. Don't believe me? Well, listen here:

PJ Harvey - Oh My Lover (buy here )