Glasvegas - "Geraldine": "You can't tell me that the intro isn't catchy in the best U2/Snow Patrol kind of way - and when it repeats with the "oooooooo" vocals on top of it - even better.
(You can hear it in the new Rhapsody ad too, btw.)"
Morrissey - "Boxers": "Melancholy-as-comfort - or, perhaps, revelling in light gloom - as only Morrissey can do it."
Giant Sand - "Satellite": "Often, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb is too far off into his own strata for my enjoyment - but his skewed delivery here plays as a nice counterpoint to the oft-rocking backing track. The female backing vocals ('sateliiiite') are also a nice touch."
Rob Zombie - "Dead Girl Superstar": "This song is a bit Zombie-by-Numbers - but the dialog samples are first rate, even the way they're manipulated for the song. I'm not sure if it's more Russ Meyer or not, but it certainly sounds like it comes from one of his tough-and-sexy girls."
Chavez - "Break Up Your Band": "Some find this song abrasive, but I think the high guitar contrasting with the thundering bass, driven by the pummeling drums, is amazing. So is the video, which is also sad and awkward in the best (intentional) way."
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Star Ghost Dog - "It Happens All the Time": "Great song, weird band name. The intro may not grab you at first, but the "ooohs" are sweet and sad and the chorus is pure melancholy sugar rush. You know, pogo and cry, but in a great rock'n'roll way and not some stupid emo way. Please do enjoy - I stumbled on this band at Brownies in NYC years ago and am now trying to make up for the fact that no one else did."
Superchunk - "Iron On": "Lyrics like 'iron this on when you get home' almost sound like hipster posturing, but Mac's vocals are so impassioned and earnest that he could sing commercial slogans and they would still sound like an emotional imperative, like it does here."
Ministry - "Effigy (I'm Not An)": "There's something about Al J dressing up in faux-goth-Brit trappings that makes me think of Halloween dress-up...thus my Halloween post today."
Mahogany - "One Plus One Equals Three Or More": "I know I'm breaking my own rules by blogging the same song twice (a first!), but I'm obsessed with this song and couldn't stop myself. Plus they were owed bonus points for making phrases like "inverse the arc with positension" sound cool. This is the way to the new connectivity..."
The B-52's - "Funplex": "This song from the new B-52's record is classic Kate and Cindy - especially the catchy chorus - but, although I am usually a big fan, it could have done with a little less Fred. Still, the nonsensical call-and-response exchange of "'Hey lady!' 'What?' 'What lady?' 'That lady!'" tickles me. (It sounds better in the song, trust me.)"
Grace Jones - "Warm Leatherette": 
Blue Man Group w/Venus Hum - "I Feel Love": "...and, while nothing can top Donna Summer's masterful tranced-vocals-vs.-Kraftwerk-future original, Blue Man Group and Venus Hum's aggro-percussive take on the track is also worth noting. The original depends on a strangely icy cool, while this version throws all abandon to the wind. They also get extra credit points here for replacing the key synthesizer line with odd percussion, somehow playing the same role in the song while giving it a different tonal quality."
Donna Summer - "I Feel Love": "...and you can't talk about Moroder without this song, so here it is."
Giorgio Moroder - "Chase": "Classy Euro-disco, from the movie Midnight Express, no less. I think the SF Muni system would be much more enjoyable if they played this on the buses, etc., 24/7...not like it isn't already a mega-loop on its own already.
(This track does also recall Giorgio's later Never Ending Story score as well.)"
Juliana Hatfield - "Universal Heart-Beat": "I freaking *love* this song - rock me, Juliana!
An aside: I used to have the Only Everything poster in my bedroom when this record came out. In the photo, Juliana was posed with her wrists pointed up to the camera - which, in my morbid interpretation of the photo, was her offering her wrists up and crying 'I've given you only everything'...which was kinda goth, don't you think? Kinda goth for me, anyway. I'm sure the photo was completely light-hearted to anyone else..."
The Jesus and Mary Chain - "Something I Can't Have": "JAMC had a great skill for making songs like this that could be up-tempo, distortingly loud, catchy - and yet completely melancholy. This song has bounced around compilations for a while (I believe it's originally a b-side), so I'm glad to see it find a home on the new JAMC box set."
The Crystals - "Girls Can Tell": "Allegedly the inspiration for the title of Spoon's Girls Can Tell LP, this is a tasty slice of girl group harmonies."
The Psychedelic Furs - "So Run Down": "Well, I'm not so run down, but I am definitely under the weather."
Blondie - "Sunday Girl (French Version)": "This popped into my head while I was getting my lunch, for no reason at all. And, yes, specifically the French version, again for no reason at all."
My Bloody Valentine - "Only Shallow": "Last night, My Bloody Valentine played S.F. and washed away all the fears of them not being able to pull it off live, despite the many years out of commission. "Only Shallow" was a particular highlight, sounding even more aggressive than it does on record, with the 'distorted whalesong' (I can't explain it any other way) reaching even more extreme heights. Of course, this did not compare to their set closer which, as one fan in attendance recalled in a press article, sounded like a jet crashing at 300 miles per hour for 20 minutes. It was literally 20 minutes of noise that is hard for me to put into words and I'm sure I'll never hear anything like it again."
Jack White and Alicia Keys - "Another Way To Die": "I think this is definitely one of the hipper Bond themes, but I think Jack White oozes through the music so much already that I wish he wasn't singing and let Alicia Keys have her own rock-belting, Lisa Kekaula moment instead."
Liz Phair - "Nashville": "I can't quite explain why, but this song sounds like what I feel like right now - well, at least the sleepy, quiet part up until the horns at the end. That part, not so much."
Spoon - "Nefarious": "A classic song from Spoon's under appreciated first record (Telephono) that I had resigned myself to never hearing live again. I've been seeing Spoon live since 1998 and, for reasons unknown (although I assume it has to do with their acrimonious split with their original bassist who appears on Telephono), they hardly did songs from that record then, let alone anytime afterwards. Then, last night, hell froze over and they did "Nefarious" live at The Fillmore. I almost died - it's still amazing."
Spoon - "Me And The Bean": "...as heard last night, live at the Fillmore. It's amazing how this can be such a classic Spoon song when they didn't write it - it's a cover that originally pre-dates Girls Can Tell - but it always carries so much emotional heft that you'd never know it. There's something very sad about this tune, but I still think it's a love song."
Spoon - "Advance Cassette (alternate)": "In advance of my two nights of Spoon at the Fillmore, I wanted to highlight this exclusive alternate version of "Advance Cassette", originally from Series of Sneaks. Here, it's Britt solo and it's a strange take of the song, but still captivating. Can't wait to see them live tonight!"
Skee-Lo - "I Wish": "It got played out at the time, but it's kind of nice to hear again after all these years."
Land of Talk - "Some Are Lakes": "New Land of Talk - finally! It's a bit quiter and more mellow than I would have expected, after their first EP, but it's still tastily bittersweet. I look forward to the full-length."
Kenny Rogers - "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)": "It's hard to think of country Kenny (or his Roasters) being this groovily psychedelic, but lo and behold, here he is. Oh, and:
'Nice marmot.' "
The Juan Maclean - "Happy House (Original)": "Juan gets things even dancier than before, while also continuing my love affair with LCD Soundsystem's Nancy Whang. The piano loop gets a little repetitive when you're just listening to it, but I bet it works great on a dance floor."
Portastatic - "Race You Home":
"I'm torn between being excited to finally have this track on something besides a 7" - and feeling like this private moment between myself, a record player and this fairly naked song from Mac, over a decade ago, has been exposed. I guess that's the ongoing challenge of being a fan of 'indie rock' - the frustration of no one knowing the music you love and the frustration when other people finally do."
Evelyn 'Champagne' King - "Love Come Down": "A bit of a non sequitur, but something about the last two days' songs made me think of this song...so here it is."
Ready for the World - "Oh Sheila": "Wow - thanks to Universal putting out a hits disc split between The Jets (see yesterday's post) and this band, I've been reminded of some of the best Prince that wasn't, you know, actually Prince - but not for lack of trying."
The Jets - "Crush On You": "Hey Tim Q - when we were at that party this weekend and you said that so-and-so just wanted to talk about The Jets...this is who I thought you meant. Not the football team. Just goes to show you the kinds of things that wind up being a frame-of-reference in my mind. (And I was wrong, they're Samoan, not Tongan.)"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes": "I heard this song a million times this weekend and it got drilled into my head even more than before. It's still probably the strangest song to turn into a 'hit' in a while. Just count the gunshots in the song..."
Cut Copy - "Future (Rhapsody Originals)": "Check out this hot alternate version of 'Future', live from the Rhapsody Rocks Austin party earlier this year."
Junior Walker - "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)": "Nice and smooth - one of my favorite 'oldies radio' tunes."
The Futureheads - "With Every Heartbeat": "Interesting, snotty yet potentially sincere take on the Robyn tune."
The Rolling Stones - "Some Girls": "Get it?
It makes sense, at least in my mind."
Peaches - "Hot Rod": "Initially, the first Peaches song I heard (and often!) was 'F*ck The Pain Away' and I was really irritated by it. I figured I must hate her - but, eventually, I started hearing other tunes and her obvious button-pushing sex songs (no pun intended) really started to grow on me. It didn't hurt that I really liked how she used keyboards, making them sound dirty and rough, instead of glassy and pristine.
She really brought things to a new level for me when I later booked her for a Rolling Stone Originals performance. She came into the studio with a gold handbag that said "BITCHES" on it and...well, see for yourself:
There you go. It takes some stones to do that, mixing sexy and ugly (bruises!!!) like that."
Cranes - "Jewel": "There's something disturbing about listening to a song that sounds like it's being sung by a four year old being possessed by the spirit of an adult. It may walk a tightrope between creepy and pretty, but it winds up being more listenable than you would expect from this description.
(Well, they sometimes tip the scale over to creepy - check out "Lilies" - 'Goodbye, goodbye / I'll miss you!'.)"
The Spinanes - "Noel, Jonah And Me": "I love the bass, but the Spinanes prove you don't need one to have a great song. Rebecca Gates' sweet and sultry vocals pair up with her rough riffs, along with Scott Plouf's pounding drums, and you have more than enough rock on their own."
50 Foot Wave - "Long Painting": "Throwing Muses' Kristin Hersh proves that sticking around in music for more than a few years doesn't mean that you eventually have to mellow out. In fact, her 50 Foot Wave songs might actually be the most aggressive music she's ever done, bellowing and rocking so hard it sounds like it hurts."
Belly - "Sad Dress": "This is a great album of twisted pop - in that many elements are standard pop-rock, with cooing female vocals, but there's a dark undercurrent that runs throughout, both musically and lyrically. Here, frontwoman Tanya Donelly closes off the song singing sweetly, but it takes a second to realize she's singing: 'I'd chew my foot off / to get out of this dress'. Not exactly shiny and happy, but it's the crunch that goes with the sweet and makes this album so subtly complex."
Stevie Wonder - "Did I Hear You Say You Love Me": "Agressively exhuberant, this is a hard and funky courting song, with Stevie and his backup singers going all out. The horns add a lot, especially around the song's 2:45 mark, when they briefly go counter to the lead melody, adding extra drama to the tune."
Spoon - "All I Got Is Me": "How awesome is Spoon's Britt Daniel? He's so awesome that he'll put an A-List song like this on what's essentially a remix EP, throwing it out there like these songs grow on trees for him. Hey, that's ok, so long as he keeps putting them out there for us to hear - Más Spoon, por favor!"
The Cure - "New Day": "I first discovered this Cure b-side on the b-side of Standing On A Beach - the cassette version of Staring At The Sea, the first Cure singles collection, which included the b-sides to many of the singles' a-sides. I recall once listening to the track on my headset at school, in class. The room was silent, but I didn't think anyone could hear the music...which they didn't, until the 1:05 mark on the song, when Robert Smith shreiks out "NEEEEWWWWWW DAAAAAY!" like a cat in a grinder - and the room suddenly broke out into laughter. To them, it did sound like a maimed animal's scream cutting through a silent room...which led people to ask just what the hell I was listening to."
The Broken West - "Hale Sunrise": "Is there a bad song on this album? I think not. They're different every time, but at some point in most every song, the harmonies and handclaps kick in and I just melt. Here the tone is a little darker, but no less juicy."
The Rock*A*Teens - "Losers, Weepers": "I know most folks would probably find this song a little dissonant - and it's hard for me to argue with that. The lead vocals might be a little rough, but I dare anyone to proclaim that they're not very impassioned. When coupled with the garbage can Phil Spector backing instrumentation, it's lo-fi grandeur that feels very retro and very timeless, all at once."
Steely Dan - "Only A Fool Would Say That": "I'm excited that folks are actually treating today like a real Friday by playing Rock Band outside of my office - but since all I can hear in here is the horse carriage CLOMP! CLOMP! CLOMP! of the drum kit, I had to make the mood in here a little more nice and easy...and this song is very nice and easy. You go, Donald Fagen."
"Addendum, 30 minutes later: I love Steely Dan. I just want you all to know."
Imogen Heap - "Not Now But Soon": "New Imogen Heap single. Not radically different from her previous work, but just as magical - still multi-layered without being overproduced, with her unique vocals up front."
Metric - "Hardwire": "The song starts off like a piano bar and a dance club sharing the same wall, sounds bleeding through from one side to the other. By the end, a rock venue has displaced the piano bar, while frontwoman Emily Haines wails (pleads?) "You hardwire / I'll try to play the guitar!". I think the song has been remixed since the original, self-recorded version the band self-released around 2000, but it's still great."
Sebastien Grainger - "American Names": "...and speaking of Sebastien, here he is, resurfacing on his own with this new track. It's pretty much unlike any DFA79 material - if anything, it's more in the vein of the first Stills record - but it's just as good."
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - "Let's Make Out" (Extended Mix): "Ex-DFA79 frontman Sebastien meets up with the DIOYY boys to yell at you about making out in this sexed-up extended mix."
Jude - "King of Yesterday": "Glistening adult pop in the vein of Michael Penn or edgier Duncan Sheik, with (what should have been) crunchy radio-ready goodness, but it just wound up passing people by. Jude's multi-tracked vocals are especially nice."
Nada Surf - "Amateur": "Sweet and sad - but uptempo - indie rock from the 'lost' Nada Surf album - totally worth discovering."
Art of Noise - "Close (To The Edit)": "Nearly wordless pop songs are pretty clever in their own way, but it's hard for me to hear this song without thinking of its' video, particularly with the little girl diva and the chainsawing of the piano."
Red Aunts - "Detroit Valentine": "YES!!!! I am so excited to get this into Rhapsody. This song captured my attention many a year ago (somewhere in the mid-90s) with its aggressive manhunting lyrics and dangerously exuberant thrashing. Watch out for these girls, they're gonna cut you if you stand still and shoot you if you ruuuuuuuuuuun!"
Right Said Fred - "I'm Too Sexy": "I'm too sexy for your party, no way I'm disco dancing!"
Yelle - "A Cause Des Garcons": "It's kind of French electroclash, but I just love the part where she starts rapping about...er, it's in French, so I'm not sure, but I think about magazines and Marie Claire. Maybe it's the French version of "Lip Gloss", but someone's gonna have to translate it for me to be sure."
N.E.R.D. - "Run To The Sun": "A nice, mellow groove to close out the week. It's Friday, y'all!"
Kreidler- "Au-Pair": "I think yesterday's post reminded me of a more jaunty version of songs like this."
Joakim & The Disco - "A New Career In A New Town": "Bowie covers usually don't work because you just can't do better than Bowie and very few can even be as good. Here, you're dealing with a Bowie instrumental to start with, so you don't have to measure up to Bowie's vocals or delivery, making this playful and fun take on the track interesting in its own right. (Maybe I'm off base, but it makes me think a bit about Kreidler too.)"
Refrigerator - "Home Run Kings": "I wound up skimming the Revolver Distribution site for the first time in a while today and I stumbled back on this EP. When I did music distribution in L.A. in the 90s, I called on Dennis Callaci as the manager of Clairmont's Rhino Records and later learned he was in Refrigerator (he sings lead vocals on this track). The song seems like a hodge-podge of guitars, vocals and drums from other songs that were assembled into a new song, but one that still works - making something that jells together completely while still feeling strangely (pleasantly) off-kilter."
The Pointer Sisters - "He Turned Me Out": "This is the theme to Action Jackson with Carl Weathers and Vanity (!), so you know this song is quality. For being sisters, the lyrics suggest some fairly dirty stuff - but you could be easily be distracted from that by the 'new' sampling technology of the time: 't-t-t-t-t-turned me out!' Amazing."
Hercules And Love Affair - "Hercules Theme": "This is a pretty straight-forward disco tune - requisite strings and bass line are both in place - but the song still has a great slow burn groove and the strings/horn interplay is well-crafted. Is it 2008 or 1978? It's so good that it doesn't matter."
Underworld - "Jumbo": "Underworld plays this track cool enough to mask the flickering pulse running just under the surface, providing a track that's both laid back and energetic at the same time."
Jeremy Jay - "Airwalker": "I caught a part of Jeremy's set at SXSW and just realized I had never made him part of my SXSW `08 coverage. This song is one of my highlights from him - the vocals are a tad understated but the music sounds like a great 70s roller-skating groove."
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SXSW 2008 Recap
Ex-Boyfriends - "The Sound of Your Music": "The backing vocal 'oh-owoah-ho's are completely narcotic, while the guitars recall a blend of first-rate 90s indie rock, the kind that is simultaneously melancholy and exuberant - the drums in the chorus particularly supporting the latter."
The Lovin' Spoonful - "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice": "The song is kind of dopey, but the lead guitar part melody is the real star of the song - and its backbone as well."
Marianne Faithfull - "Sex With Strangers": "Beck sexes up Marianne Faithfull with a full Midnight Vultures makeover. She's all proper-sounding spoken word, but it still sounds like a slinky runway walk-off, punctuated by 'aaah's - probably by Beck - and dirty, burbling synths."
Franz Ferdinand - "The Fallen (Ruined By Justice)": "I don't know that I actually like this remix, but I do applaud how Justice totally re-invented this song in a way where the original elements can still be recognized without sounding at all like they did in the original version."
ZZ Top - "Rough Boy": "I know it makes the songs cheesier, but I love the synth-era ZZ Top tunes - even this 'sensitive' ZZ number. It's also probably because I have fond memories of its 'car wash in space' video, which is cooler than it sounds (but probably not nearly as cool as I remember it). They somehow found a way to get the ZZ Top car, girls, sci-fi elements, girls, searing guitar work, girls and Dusty all in one video and there's a certain magic in that combination."
The Kills - "U.R.A Fever": "I didn't like this track at first, but it's since grown on me. The minimalist programming of the initial verses still throws me off a little, but the stomping chorus, followed up by guitar stabs, is a great blend of dirtiness and crispness."
Meg Hentges - "This Kind Of Love": "New wave power pop with a Fountains of Wayne vibe, but the chorus is catchy and that's what you really need to know. The song is also appropriate for closing out this particular month."
Club 8 - "The Friend I Once Had": "Sweet and pretty, but also sad - you get the gist from the title. Kind of like a strummy Smiths song, but with soft female vocals."
Liz Phair - "6'1"": "I got to see Liz Phair doing Exile on Guyvile live in its entirety last night (thanks ATO!) and it reminded me how much I missed listening to this record. It came out when I still made mixtapes for myself and I swear that I must have put half of this album on various ones. It also made me realize that I never did the 'song-by-song' comparison between this album and the Stones' Exile on Main Street (which Guyville is a response to) - which is kind of odd, since that's one of my favorite records. Regardless, last night was a pleasant moment of nostalgia, even if it freaked me out that the record is 15 years old already."
The Foxglove Hunt - "A Concealed Weapon": "The music is so New Order, it's insane - but I mean that in the best possible way. The vocals are different, so it doesn't feel like a total NO knock-off, but it does glean some of their best elements from them. (No surprise that this band involves Joy Electric's frontman, Ronnie Martin, who made similar New Order-y grooves in the Brothers Martin project.)
Thanks to Matt Graves for this one."
Helium - "Silver Strings": "Even though I seem to recall the rest of this EP being overwhelmed with RenFaire Prog touches, this song doesn't share that baggage. Mary Timony's guitar leads spread magic across the song, the bass and drums propel her along and synth handclaps are just the frosting on top."
New Order - "Crystal": "Get Ready may not be the best New Order album, but I think this track stands up with some of their best. Many of the guitar parts are classic New Order (even the ones buried in the mix - some of those at the end deserve their own song!), but the production and programming makes the track feel fresh, especially with a harder vibe not seen much since "Blue Monday"."
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Butter 08 - "Butter of 69": "It's funny how much I enjoy what's essentially a throw-away, one-off album from a veritable who's who of quirky alt/indie rockers from the 90s. Russell Simins brings the grooves of Blues Explosion (without Jon Spencer's overbearing swagger), while Miho and Yuka (of Cibo Matto) offer quirky touches associated with their main band, except in a much more rough and electric setting. It's all in good fun, wrapped in a strange butter obsession."
The Twilight Sad - "Some Things Last a Long Time": "Uber-Scottish band The Twilight Sad take on the Jad Fair/Daniel Johnston melancholy classic (which has also been covered, with equal but different magic, by Built To Spill). Here, the vocals are impassioned, while the music is minimal and ghostly, creating a powerful - if fragile - dirge."
Marvin Pontiac - "Runnin' Round": "John Lurie masquerading as a slightly unhinged bluesman (the imaginary Marvin Pontiac) leads to great grooves and off-kilter lyrics - which is actually not that surprising, factoring in his offbeat acting roles. The album kind of got buried because it came from someone who didn't actually exist, but that doesn't mean it's not captivating in its blend of bar blues-rock and head-scratching lyrics - see also "Bring Me Rocks"."
David Bowie - "After Today": "This Bowie outtake from Young Americans overcomes its safe sax and sometimes-strained falsetto with a casually swinging vibe and a bit more earthiness than most of the other YA tracks. It feels like a refreshingly naked view at what were, otherwise, very polished sessions (albeit amazing, polished sessions)."
Joy Division - "Transmission": "What an awesomely kinetic song! I especially love the drums, the guitar lead that kicks in at the 1:42 mark and the vocals/chanting at the song's end ("and we can daaaaaaaaaaaance!") - all bursting with energy. Never fails to feel electric, no matter how many times I've heard this."
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Radiohead - "Myxomatosis": "Great later-period Radiohead - The drums are off-kilter and a bit frantic, the keyboards are aggressive and ominous, and Thom Yorke's vocals run the gamut from disaffected to panicked. It's a dark number filled with unease - not unlike falling down a long staircase - but it shakes the arty detachment that is often the downside of their recent work."
Aimee Mann - "Long Shot": "Great power-pop guitar riffs tempered with cool-but-sweet vocals and pretty guitar leads equal a more subtle take on alt rock - appropriately catchy and crunchy, but with better restraint."
"It's strange to find two very different, but almost equally perfect versions of the same song, but if anyone's done it, Yo La Tengo has.
Yo La Tengo - "Blue Line Swinger"
In the Original version, from Electr-o-pura, "Blue Line Swinger" is a sprawling 9+ minute epic that grows gradually until the cymbals and guitars crash like building ocean waves. By the time you reach the sweetly reverbed "ba ba ba ba"s at the song's conclusion, they're the candy-coated life preservers in an ocean of sound. (In fact, few do "ba ba ba"s as well as YTL - especially on this record - and, here, they're freaking perfect.)
Yo La Tengo - "(thin) Blue Line Swinger"
In the "thin" version, from the Camp Yo La Tengo EP, the song has been edited and remixed down to a roughly four-minute version. While one could argue that the song has definitely been reined in, it somehow segues together key parts of the original, but in new ways. This is most notable in the intro, which strips the instrumentation to the acoustic guitar largely buried in the chaos of the original, building up musically from that instead of the multi-minute intro jam that originally birthed it.
It always amazes me that YTL were able to craft a new song out of their own work - as opposed to a third party remixer finding the different pieces for themselves.
It's a great song either way, so it just depends on which version you're in the mood for."
Marilyn Manson - "Long Hard Road Out Of Hell": ""Not that different than many other Manson rock numbers, but the female backing vocals (which I think come from the Sneaker Pimps??*) definitely provide a nice contrast to Marilyn's brooding, especially the "doo doo doo" part after the chorus. The "I wanna LIVE! I wanna LOVE!" delivery building up to the explosive, thrashy chorus, also provides the song with a great dramatic flow. Highly enjoyable.
* - As well as debuted on the Spawn movie soundtrack"
David Bowie - "The Secret Life Of Arabia": "This song may be low-key, but it still blows me away. From the grand-standing dramatic poses that also seem to double as narcissistic sexual ambiguity ("I walk through a desert song as the heroine dies..."), the song feels like the 1920s by way of outer space. I'll always love the processed-sounding drums by Dennis Davis (as on Bowie's other late-70s work) and the (male? female?) backing vocals creating a sound that's simultaneously modern and retro."
Morcheeba - "What New York Couples Fight About (featuring Kurt Wagner)": "I'm not sure that this pairing of electronic-tinged Morcheeba and Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner totally works - the beginning verses are particularly sparse and awkward - but the chorus is pretty alluring. A strange sing-song duet, it doesn't really sound like either band, but you can still pick out their respective sounds from it. It's like a science experiment gone wrong, but the chorus still bears fruit."
Ladytron - "Paco!": "I don't actually know for sure that this is a tribute to Are You Being Served?, but it sure feels like it is. It may not have the cash-register percussion of the show's theme, but it's still the coolest tribute to that show I can think of."
Family Fodder - "Debbie Harry": "I had posted about this song before, as covered by Unrest (which they revised as "Winona Ryder"), which is amazing, but the original still takes the cake. The Family Fodder's version is sexier (thanks to the French-accented vocals) and is simultaneously both funnier and more extreme ("Deborah Harry, I'm having your baby!"; "Debbie is ac/dc!"). Thanks to Chris O for pointing me at this many a year ago."
Weezer - "Pork and Beans": "The verses are throwaway (and creepily reminiscent of Sugar Ray - ew!), but the chorus is gold, even if it sounds like they're thieving from their debut album - at least they did it well!"
X - "Los Angeles": "This song still blows me away - and it's been around for how long now? The interplay between John and Exene sounds just as fresh today as it did when they made it - literally: I saw them do this song at SXSW this year and they still rock this live. The energy of this song is always infectious - a classic song for the City of Angels."
Autolux - "Audience No. 2": "Ladies and gentlemen, Autolux is back - and they are still excellent. As always, Carla Azar's drumming is a sparce but religious experience, so good it could be a song on its own. It just helps that it has woozy rock to go with it, making it even better."
Fischerspooner - "The Best Revenge": "The horns are a nice touch, but if this is the best they can do now, it seems like Fischerspooner is suffering from the law of diminishing returns..."
The Apples in Stereo - "Shine (In Your Mind)": "Yes! I am so excited that this track has surfaced. I discovered it as a bonus track on an old Spin Art sampler years ago - and, even then, I could not believe how such a great song could be abandoned on what was essentially a retail sampler. I'm glad that the Apples have finally put out a new odds-n-sods collection and put this on it. It's jangly, pretty and sweetly infectious. I get tingly just listening to it."
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