It’s so fine. It’s sunshine.

Well, my father’s beckoning me to accompany him to our cottage in the Northwoods of Wisconsin for the annual “time to put the pier and boats in the water and kick off another summer” routine. So that means that, yes, it’s Memorial Day weekend, and yes, another summer is upon us.

Our last summer? Who knows? The Mayans thought so, but now apparently we’ve found another Mayan calendar (presumably they just ran out of space on the first piece of paper or something), so maybe we all got a little too excited about the end of the world before we knew the whole story. Then again, the Stone Roses are back together, Manchester City rules the EPL and Brian Wilson and Mike Love are now sharing the same stages. Apocalypse might truly be near. If the Cubs find a way into October baseball, start saying your goodbyes to family and call your long-lost crushes to make sure they know how you feel before we all leave this planet.

I’m not trying to be bleak, trust me. I’d LOVE a Cubs World Series win. Perfect way to go out.

But looking at the Cubs season thus far, it seems much more likely that we’re set for another 104 years of misery on this f*cking rock and I’ll be back with another batch of sunny tunes this time next year.

So use this to soundtrack your possible last summer on Earth, but also every good drive, day out or sun-kissed experience you undertake between now and when I post the Autumn mix. I’ve been listening to this in thing in the car all week and I can report with no false modesty that I hit it out of the park with this sixth volume of summer is a mixtape.

Enjoy.

summer is a mixtape. vol VI
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01. Louis Armstrong – Skokiaan
Some songs have a beat that’ll just get you every time. This is one of them. In a day and age of computers and iPods where you can pinball to any one of thousands of songs in an instant (this is something which I’m guilty of, by the way), I never find myself able to skip ahead when this comes on. Armstrong recorded this in 1954 with Sy Oliver’s Orchestra, and by the time he got to the tune, it had become an interesting hybrid. Unsurprisingly, the tune started out as an instrumental that was composed by South African composer August Musarurwa with a title that referred to some kind of alcoholic beverage that I’ve never tried. As things go in North America, the white man got a hold of it by way of Four Lads (yes, of “Istanbul”and “On Top of Spaghetti” fame) and added some lyrics that probably were perfectly acceptable by 1954 standards, but if you had a white man today basically equating the language in “happy happy Africa” to “a-bing-a-bing-a-bingo!” I’d imagine there’d be a lot of talking heads pontificating on the cable news networks. Apparently Louis didn’t have too big of a problem with it, and if you can get past the blatant-condescension-by-2012-standards in the lyrics, it’s pretty damn enjoyable. You’ll even find yourself singing along quite happily.

02. Nick Miller – Raunch
I saw this guy perform at the Metro in the fall of 2010. He used this song to open his set, and I’ve been obsessed with it since. I don’t know if it’s the lyrics (“I’m not a nice guy—No, I just play one on TV, but I’ve rehearsed extensively, so enjoy the show” doesn’t look that great on paper, but it sounds really damn good) or just the general groove of this thing, but it’s a beast. I have no idea whether this guy is known outside of certain Chicago circles, but if me putting this song on this mix gets him a little more interest outside the Windy City, then I’ll be happy.

03. The Big Kids – For a Moment
This is Edgar Jones in one of his first post-Stairs outfits during the 1990s. Like most outfits that Edgar Jones has been a part of, the Big Kids’ reputation never traveled too far beyond the streets of Liverpool, but ever since being hooked by his Soothing Music for Stray Cats album and his work with the Joneses, I’ve been on a mission to find everything Jones has put his name too. This came into my collection by way of a compilation called 21^st Century Liverpool Underground, which I believe contains pretty much everything the Big Kids committed to tape for release since they never did a proper album. They did a few great tunes (go searching for “I’m Bored” and “Too Much Baby” also), but this is easily the best of the lot. Total laid back summer tune that sounds like it could’ve been plucked straight out of 1968. Great track, but of course it is. It’s Edgar.

04. Spoon – Written in Reverse
I’m interested to see where Spoon go next, because I was left a little flat after Transference. It felt like an odds and ends collection rather than a solidly built album like pretty much everything they’d done previously. Still, even in that mixed bag was this song, which is one of my all-time favorites from them. They have a way about them of getting a pulse out of a piano (see also: “My Mathematical Mind,” “The Way We Get By”) and this song is kind of like a stressed heart. Pumps hard, makes you feel a bit uneasy, but also excitable at the same time because it just shifts into slightly higher gears as it progresses. Truly wonderful. That reminds me, though, I should probably schedule a checkup.

05. Harvey Fuqua – (Dance) Any Way You Wanta
Getting into Northern Soul music a few years ago led me to this song. Fuqua is actually pretty well known as a member of the Moonglows, songwriter and talent scout who worked with Etta James and brought Tammi Terrell to Motown. This is a song (released as a single in 1962 and subsequently covered by Junior Walker and the All Stars) that I heard out on a dance floor one night and something about it just hooked me. I still don’t know what it is. It’s a pretty ridiculous song, but it’s tight as hell, fun to listen to and entertaining if you’re on the floor with some good dancers. The vibe is playful and choppy and it just seemed to slide into this mix perfectly. Who am I to argue with sound logic?

06. The Beatles – Drive My Car/The Word/What You’re Doing
When Love was first released in 2006, I was generally indifferent. Yes, I’m a massive Beatles fan, but when you get to the point where you’re reconstructing songs because there’s nothing else to put out, it starts to stink of barrel-scraping. Of course, I was hearing it out of context. When my employer sent me to Las Vegas in January, I decided to take a night and see Cirque du Soleil’s “Love” show and I was absolutely blown away. And yes, within that production, the music makes complete sense. Now when I hear the mashups, I think about the performance and the feeling of seeing it for the first time and it excites me rather than making me think “Um, OK. I guess.” Plus to include “What You’re Doing” (which has always been one of the most overlooked and underrated songs in the Beatles oeuvre) is just awesome. The fact that this splices together a handful of songs (listen also for the “Taxman” solo and “Savoy Truffle” horns) and still comes and goes in less than 2 minutes is amazing. Great bit of fun here.

07. The Stone Roses – Waterfall
Still holding out hope that the guys make the reunion “world tour” a little more global and start looking at some dates in the States. Very happy that these guys patched up all the hurt left over from their split 17 years ago and are getting back out there (and getting the paychecks they deserve for it). The Stone Roses’ debut is summer music to me. I know I’ve put other cuts from it on previous summer mixes, and like any other track on the album, “Waterfall” belongs on one too. The guitar break just before it goes into the wild instrumental outro is one of my all time favorite guitar parts ever and reason why I’ll always think John Squire is a genius (and staunchly defend his two solo albums too). This track is better than anything on either of those solo albums, though. Pure bliss.

08. Bobby Darin – Jive
This song first bubbled up into my consciousness last year when someone compared it to Beady Eye’s “World Outside My Room” (which, you’ll recall, topped my list of the 15 Best of 2011). The fact that the Beady Eye boys might be drawing inspiration from a really rare Darin track piqued my interest, but this song also just found its way into my own rotation because of its awesomely laid-back feel. Something about hearing classic crooners taking steps down Recreational Drug Use Lane always makes me laugh (see also: Sinatra’s cocaine allusion in “I Get a Kick Out of You”), as it seems a little out of place for, you know, the artists our grandparents loved. So “been stoned since half past one” or “got my papers rolled” might sound kind of hokey, but hell, it’s Bobby Darin. The guy always had a great level of cool about him. This song was recorded very late in Darin’s career, when he was signed to the little-known Direction label. It hails from his 1969 album Commitment. I’ve not heard anything else from that album, but given my appreciation of this, maybe I’ll take a listen.

09. Mayer Hawthorne – The Walk
I’m a big fan of Mayer now, but this is the song that started it all for me just a few months ago. Funnily enough, my first exposure to it was in the Limited, whilst my girlfriend was in a changing room trying on new pairs of pants. Trying thought that may have been on my patience, something good came of it. Mayer’s 2011 album How Do You Do is quite phenomenal and worth your investigation. By now, most of my friends have probably heard this as the CD has not left my car and the LP is quite frequently on my turntable, but if you’ve not heard it yet, you’re welcome. Perfect summer tune, even if the subject matter is a little blacker than the other songs on this mix. And I think we’ve all been in the type of relationship described here within.

10. Andre Williams & His Orchestra – Sweet Little Pussycat
This is sleazy as hell, but it’s an unbelievable groove and a lot of fun too. I have a good friend who convinced me to see Williams recently, and believe me, however sleazy this record sounds, you must believe that a recording from 1960 isn’t half as filthy/fun as a 75-year-old, frazzled soul survivor belting out in 2012 is—particularly when he gets to the “You wanna know why? Because you’re MINE!” bit. If you get the chance to see Williams live, do it. But if this is enough of an incentive for you to start checking out some of his other work, I’ll also be happy. The guy’s name is affixed to a few tunes you already know. Some of the stuff you don’t know is what you really want to hear, though.

11. Ritchie Valens – Come On Let’s Go
Ritchie was only 17 when he cut this single in 1958, and he was also only about seven months away from boarding a plane with Buddy Holly and J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson that would crash shortly after takeoff and kill all of its passengers. Valens only amassed an album’s worth of studio recordings before he died, and that self-titled studio album would be released after his death. But while most of his recognition lies with “La Bamba” and “Donna,” this is often the overlooked gun in Valens’ limited arsenal. Which is a bit as it’s as much a classic recording (and representation) of the early rock and roll era as anything by Elvis, Gene Vincent or Bill Haley.

12. Gruff Rhys – Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru
Last year’s summer mix had a Gruff-penned tune sung entirely in Welsh too, so maybe this will become a tradition for the summer mixes. I’ll have to think about it. I have to believe that whatever language this song was in though, it would’ve merited a spot on this mix. The track, which comes from Gruff’s solo album Candylion, hooks you right away and thanks to my Welsh friend, I can tell you exactly what the title and all the choruses mean. You ready? “Driving driving driving driving driving driving driving driving driving driving driving driving driving driving driving driving.” Now if you’re ever lost in Wales and need a method of transportation away from all the sheep, you know what to say. There’s some other Welsh lightly scattered about that I haven’t worked out yet, but admit it: This is already the song you want in your car for all the $4/gallon trips you make this year. It makes the pain at the pump a little more tolerable. Only a little, yes, but still more tolerable.

13. Pharrell – Prettiest Girls
I waited eons to see “Despicable Me” because I have this “Pixar is better than anything else out there” attitude about me that manifested itself after I saw (and disliked) the first “Shrek.” But last summer, a friend visited and we had an afternoon to kill and we decided to rent a movie. We stared at the Redbox machine for probably way too long and finally just decided on “Despicable Me” and lo and behold, not only was it very entertaining, but Pharrell’s soundtrack work was pretty great too. Both “Fun, Fun, Fun” and this track jumped out at me—I actually first thought there was new Earth, Wind & Fire material I hadn’t been aware of when the songs played in the movie. This is the best cut from the soundtrack, and even though it’s music for a kids movie, it works for all ages.

14. Phoenix – Too Young
When Phoenix are at their best, they’re giving you a hook and a piece of melody that makes you want to move some part of your body. This was a lot of people’s first introduction to the band via the (still very good) soundtrack for “Lost in Translation.” It originally stems from the band’s 2000 album, United and is evocative enough to make you not think about middle aged Bill Murray wandering around Japan. In the years since this song has been released, it’s popped up in my rotation at various parties and get togethers and someone invariably says, “This is good. What is this?” So if there’s anyone left out there who hasn’t heard it, here you go. And if you have heard it, well, you probably dig it all the same.

15. The Archies – Sugar, Sugar
The story goes that this song was originally offered to the Monkees and given that Monkees puppetmaster Don Kirschner put together the studio musicians that play on this cut, it’s believable. Of course, by the time it was to be pitched to them, the Monkees were looking beyond this kind of music, so their involvement with it was not to be. Apparently one of the song’s composers says it was never meant for the Monkees, but who knows. I kind of like the idea that they were silly enough to turn it down and instead release Instant Replay and The Monkees Present in 1969. What, you don’t remember those albums either? So instead, a bunch of studio musicians laid this track down, released it under the guise of comic book characters and it becomes a huge hit. Sure it’s kind of corny, but admit it, you kind of like it too. Hell, Homer Simpson liked it enough to put it in his Walkman, so you’re gonna argue with him? I don’t think so. Not the guy who got a Starland Vocal Band tattoo. Wait …

16. Paul Weller – Starlite
The Wella fella released this as a standalone single last year, although I’m sure there are some bonus-tracked editions of this year’s Sonik Kicks album that contain it. I’ve been a bit down on some of Weller’s output lately, and feel that he gives space to too many “experiments” on recent albums as opposed to well-structured songs (which he’s always been pretty good at writing). I like that this is well-structured (and the groove is fabulous), but I like it moreso because it’s the first thing he’s done since his 1992 solo debut that actually can recall a bit of the Style Council. I can’t pin a specific Council trait on this one—it’s too easy to say the tinkling piano line does it—but the overall breeziness of it kind of harkens back to that stuff. And that’s a great thing as the Style Council too often get screwed over by Weller fans when they look at his career. They had a lot of good stuff besides “Shout to the Top” and “My Ever Changing Moods.” Also—take it from a guy who’s cruised through downtown Chicago at night with the sunroof open. This is GREAT summer night driving music.

17. The Traveling Wilburys – Dirty World
Probably my favorite Wilburys song. I like the way it chugs along and I think raspy old Dylan going on about a girl’s sexy body and wanting to park his pickup truck where the sun don’t shine is charming in its own odd way. I also think that this kind of song represents the point of the Wilburys in that it sounds like five dudes busting out their guitars and just having a laugh. Nevermind the names, the history, the egos, whatever. If it couldn’t provide a good time, then there probably was no point. You get the vibe that this was a good time all around. Has there ever been official affirmation that an “F” bomb is dropped in the last line, by the way? Is that a handy bit of editing or are they just saying “it’s a clean dirty world”? I’d prefer to believe the former.

18. The Dave Clark Five – Glad All Over
My earliest memories of listening to the radio go back to when I was about four years old and my mother would drive my infant sister and me around the streets of Denver to the sounds of modern radio. This is why I still have a deep affinity for Hall & Oates—their music is so deeply entrenched in my head. But sometime around 1990, my mom decided that she wasn’t that into the form modern music was taking, and the preset radio stations changed over to oldies stations. I think I was about 11 when I first heard “Glad All Over,” and this song, as much as anything Ringo Starr ever did, made me want to learn the drums. It’s not a terribly complex beat, but it just pounds and makes the song that much more exciting (this was also done to great effect on “Bits and Pieces,” which coincidentally came from the DC5’s same 1964 Glad All Over album). Nowadays when I listen, it isn’t the drumming that wows me, but Mike Smith’s lead vocal and that top harmony (particularly on the “So glad you’re mine” line). One of the most exciting and fun recordings ever.

19. Raphael Saadiq – It’s a Shame
For Raphael to cover this early Spinners tune seems just about right. Raphael’s 2008 album The Way I See It was incredibly steeped in 1960s Motown flavor, so his cover of this song (co-written by Stevie Wonder and the best cut on the Spinners’ Motown LP Second Time Around) is just what you’d expect. And even though it hits every mark you think it will, you can’t help but love it. Saadiq did this cover in 2010 for some kind of project to promote Levi’s jeans. I guess we have a certain amount of commercialism to thank for this cut, but I think the job does a better job promoting summer. Maybe it’s just me.

20. Frank Sinatra – Blue Moon
I did mention that Manchester City won the Premier League right? Beady Eye’s version just wouldn’t work as a closer. Besides, City affinity or not, “Blue Moon” is a classic little ditty, and Frank’s version from Sinatra’s Swingin’ Session!! is probably the classiest reading of the song ever committed to tape. It just sounds like the end of a nice summer night, doesn’t it? Life is good, things are relaxed, the air is warm and there are a few stars out to boot. Viva verano and all that …

Download. Listen. Enjoy. Feel the sun shining.

I’m in a brightness I can feel surround me.

For the past 11 years, I’ve lived on my own during winters.

In Milwaukee I would walk around Marquette’s campus some days in winds that were so biting, they would cause you to tear up.  Then when the small tears ran down your cheeks, they would freeze. Then, for reasons that I’ve still not made sense of, I decided to do this for five hours a night for minimal pay as part of the school’s safety patrol program. One night my fingers were so frozen that I couldn’t turn the doorknob to get back into my apartment at 12 a.m. Moments after my roommate awoke to let me in, I removed my boots and socks to gaze down on toes that were the most beautiful shade of purple this side of a proper paisley shirt.

In Madison I got to know the concept not only of bitter cold, but lots of snow. I was there during the winter that saw more than 100 inches of snow accumulate. Left turns became “try it ‘n’ see” gambles as you couldn’t see oncoming traffic due to the snow piles stacked up on medians. In addition to getting nailed by every snowstorm that picks up steam over the Midwest (as Madison is smack dab in the middle of that jet stream time and again), you also get horribly bitter temperatures. Rhett Miller once had the cajones to make a tour stop to Madison on a subzero February night. He regaled the audience with a tale of playing in Madison during the Old 97’s formative years, crossing a street to run a quick errand before the show, and ending up flat on his back in the middle of the street after losing his footing on ice. “As I laid on my back, looking at the night sky,” he told the crowd, “I thought to myself: ‘People DON’T have to live here.’”

He has a point. My sister wasted no time in moving to Tampa after graduating college.

But after 9 consecutive Wisconsin winters, I thought moving to Chicago would be a bit more bearable. For one, technically, Chicago is south of Madison and Milwaukee. As such, it’s out of the smack-dab-center of the jet streams that would bury Madison every December-through-March. But then last February, we got snowmageddon. The worst snowstorm to hit Chicago in 44 years, and one that left running cars buried on Lake Shore Drive.

I mention all this to say that this past winter has been very, very weird.

I thought I had a good plan of attack in that I stuck a 10-day vacation to the UK into December (not that British winters are that much more attractive than Chicago winters, but at least you find yourself crossing the street in Manchester at the same time as Johnny Marr—true story) and a weeklong getaway to Las Vegas in January. I thought it would break up the unbearable frozenness of winter nicely. Thing is, the weather in Chicago really did that for me and everyone else in the city. Sure, we had a few snowstorms. But the snow rarely stuck around more than three days as for every snowstorm or deep freeze we entered, a three- or four-day stretch of unseasonable warmth was right around the corner to do away with the snow and give everyone a nice break.

Did I mind it? Hell no. No one in Chicago did. And after the past decade of winters I’ve endured, it was a nice break.

But it also reminded me of my former newspaper job in Madison when I would talk to various state lawmakers. Every winter, without fail, I would find myself on the phone with some GOP senator or representative and to kick off the call, I’d start the conversation off with a banality such as “Cold enough for ya?” or “Didn’t think it could get worse than last winter …” Without fail the GOP senator or representative would reply to this with a hearty laugh and banality of his/her own: “And the Dems are still trying to make us buy into this global warming business!”

Look, I’m not about to go political or Madison-granola-friend-of-the-Earth on you. This blog isn’t the forum for that. But given the weather we experienced these past few months (which should put the Farmer and his “bad winter a-comin’!” Almanac right out of print), well, something’s f*cked.

Ironic then that I just caught that “Mr. Plow” episode of “The Simpsons” which ends with this Kent Brockman comment:

Could this record-breaking heat wave be the result of the dreaded “Greenhouse Effect”?  Well, if 70-degree days in the middle of winter  are the `price’ of car pollution, you’ll forgive me if I keep my old Pontiac.

My old Pontiac is starting its expensive decay into old age.

But at least warm days and the shedding of heavy jackets on a consistent basis is something we can look forward to in spring. Feel the sun. And the rain. And the wind. Here’s your spring mix.

Spring Chicken, Vol. 4
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01. Big Audio Dynamite – Medicine Show
I only discovered Big Audio Dynamite recently and am kind of kicking myself for being late to the game—particularly as the band were just in my area last year on a reunion tour while I was completely unawares. I picked up a vinyl copy of their 1985 debut, This is Big Audio Dynamite a couple months ago and that was my first time hearing this cut, which opens the LP. Sure, it meanders a bit and goes a bit overboard on movie samples (I can spot “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and “Fistful of Dollars”), but it’s a got a nice steady drive about it that made me smile and say aloud on my first listen: “This is really cool.” It’s kind of like that first day of warm weather after a few months of winter. That renewal of hope. Sure, the song’s about a roving band of cons that eventually get punished for hoodwinking consumers, but … well, it gets cold again after that first day of warmness, doesn’t it? (At least most winters it does.)

02. Ann Peebles – I Can’t Stand the Rain
You know, ‘cos April showers and all that … right? Anyway, I’ve known this song for years through various covers and samples, but I only got around to hearing Peebles’ 1973 take on it within the past couple of years and I was surprised that it spawned so many covers and samples. Obviously it’s a great song, but I’ve always bought into Paul Weller’s theory that songs should be covered only if you feel you can improve on them or add something. That’s why you seldom see him recording Kinks or Small Faces covers. This song is so fabulous in this form, I don’t see the need to slice it or reassess it. Sure, it’s a fun song to sing along to and probably jam on, but this is so good as is. Why not just constantly defer to it?

03. Icarus Himself – Girl>Boy
I’m a big fan of this Madison outfit and I’ve seen them live on a couple occasions. Every time they’ve performed this song, I’ve thought “God, that’s great.” Still, I don’t actually know how to pronounce the song’s title. Like “Digging Holes,” the other song I adore from the band’s 2010 “Mexico” EP, there’s a lot of uneasiness on the track, but its tempered with an air of hope and a hint of celebration. This is a band that deserves more attention. Pay ‘em some.

04. The Kinks – Misty Water
“Misty Water” was recorded in early 1968 and intended for the “most successful flop of all time,” The Village Green Preservation Society. But after Pye Records got a bug up its collective arse when Ray Davies pitched the album as a double, a lot of whittling down occurred to make 15 songs fit on one piece of vinyl and some phenomenal tracks got shelved in the shuffle. “Misty Water,” a whimsical ode to the days of fog and haze was one of the unlucky ones stranded in the vaults (or on bootlegs) until the 3-CD deluxe edition of Village Green came to light in 2004. Thank God that happened, eh?

05. Dean Martin – Louise
This is a cut from Dean’s first LP, 1953’s Dean Martin Sings. Like a lot of mid-tempo to upbeat stuff that Dean tackled, this song just has a wonderful ease about it. Feels nice and breezy, and that’s really enough to make this particular mix. Although, can I add this: I’m always amused at how easily a Dean track slides in between modern tunes and vintage British rock? He’s just a hell of a bridge for any mixer. I’m kind of surprised more people haven’t cottoned on to that.

06. The Temptations – I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)
A few days ago I was pleasantly surprised to see David Ruffin’s name trending on Twitter. Apparently he’d been highlighted on some show or other and so people felt compelled to say (in 140 characters) what a great voice he was. Can’t argue with that, but the other Temps might have a few things to say after: “Yeah, he could sing, BUT …” Ruffin was just a bit of an asshole which explains why, despite great performances like on this track from 1968’s Wish it Would Rain, the Temptations would see fit to dismiss him, despite him still being such a powerful vocal presence. Not like David’s the first or last ego to find himself in a musical group, but the nice thing about music groups is that they tend to leave work behind that makes you forget all that extraneous BS and go, “GodDAMN they were good.” Besides, David needs a bit more exposure than just “My Girl” or “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.”

07. Paul McCartney & Wings – Get on the Right Thing
Originally laid down during Paul & Linda’s sessions for the 1971 LP Ram, “Get on the Right Thing” wouldn’t find its way onto disc until 2 years later when Macca’s new outfit, Wings, put out Red Rose Speedway. Likely included at the urging of Denny Laine (Laine once said in an interview that though he loved it, McCartney never felt satisfied with it, the vocal was an end-of-the-day afterthought with no finalized lyrics that he feared McCartney would fail to improve upon if he tried again), it probably ambles on a bit too long and comes off as a bit nonsensical. How, pray tell, is a penny kind? But Macca’s raw vocal, particularly when the song dives into its first chorus, is one of the finest he laid down and proves Denny had a point when he suggested it was too dangerous to risk losing that flare in favor of a more concentrated set of lyrics and/or structure. Loose as it may be, you can’t deny the power contained within. And without it, the cringe-worthy Red Rose Speedway would’ve only been worse.

08. The Association – Windy
Despite its titular subject matter, the song is really more sunny, isn’t it? For years I’ve been meaning to dig into the Association a little deeper. Still need to do it. They had a run of some great singles, including this, from 1967’s Insight Out, “Along Comes Mary” and “Never My Love,” and something about their whole vibe whenever they’d show up on Ed Sullivan clip shows amused me. It’s a California band, but they never really exuded laid back calm as much as a “OK, we’ve come straight from the office where we just spent some time crafting a really, oh, what’s the word you kids use, far out new pop smash!” You can’t argue with the product though. Earworm though this song may be, you’ve loved it for years and its use in “Breaking Bad” to soundtrack a montage of sleazy-motel-hooker Wendy’s various dealings only made it cool for a new generation. Dig that harmony over the outro.

09. Crowded House – Archer’s Arrows
Since Crowded House reformed in 2007 with Time on Earth, I haven’t paid much attention. True, “Nobody Wants To” made my 2007 “15 of the Best” and this track, from 2010’s Intriguer now gets elbow room on a seasonal mix, but aside from a few great tracks too sparsely peppered on the albums, they don’t have the magic that they did in the 1980s and early 1990s. Or Neil Finn’s solo albums for that matter. Maybe it’s a petty complaint, maybe I’m just growing old and a bit more cynical myself. But what’s frustrating about it is “Nobody Wants To” and this song are as good as the best of Neil’s back catalogue, so I find myself wishing he’d step up to the plate with these kinds of efforts with a bit more regularity. If not, OK. We’ve had a lot of great stuff from him. And when a tune like this comes along, I suppose it’s just gravy.

10. Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love
The title track to the Scots’ fine 2010 album, “Write About Love” doesn’t sound quite as 21^st century as it does like a summer 1965 single. And there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. The other surprising factor? We learn how good of a singer actress Carey Mulligan is. She had to have a bit of game to step up to the plate here – it’s an immaculately crafted pop song with tight production, brilliant orchestrational flourishes and (as would be expected by now from B&S) cleverish lyrics pertaining to a school assignment. Mulligan handles it easily. Maybe if the acting thing doesn’t work out, you know, the Belles will leave a spot open.

11. The Rolling Stones – Sad Day
I got into an argument a few years ago with one of my best friends because I had the gall to call this song one of the top 3 Stones songs of all time. Given the depth of the Stones catalogue, it’s a ballsy statement to make, but to this day, I still stand by it. I don’t think many people would agree with me (that’d mean it places above at least one of the following: “Gimme Shelter,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Satisfaction,” whatever your favorite Stones song is), but there’s so many things about the song that strike me. For one, lyrically it’s built as a classic blues lament—guy wakes up to find his “Dear John” letter with the morning mail, and includes the immortal line: “There is the only one thing in this world that I can’t understand—that’s a girl,” yet it’s a sunny (by Stones standards) backing track. For two, the piano/keyboard parts by Jack Nitzsche are absolutely ramshackle and weave in and out of time, but they’re brilliant. For three, the song was an absolute afterthought for the Stones. Recorded in 1965, they stuck it on the B-side of the American “19^th Nervous Breakdown” single in February 1966, but completely forgot to show it to UK audiences until 7 years later when it was included in a compilation. I love when bands just completely forget about perfectly wonderful tunes like that. Makes a music fan’s catalogue scouring that much more rewarding. Maybe it’s not as good as the Stones’ 10 best. But you know what? It always affects me much more than many of the Stones’ best. So I stand by my top 3 placement.

12. Badfinger – Sweet Tuesday Morning
I go through two phases with Badfinger. One in which they’re completely off my radar for months at a time. And then I hear one song—maybe it’s “No Matter What” or “Day After Day” on the radio, or maybe something like “Midnight Caller” pops up when I set my iPod to “shuffle”—and all of the sudden its “I must listen to this band incessantly now for the next few weeks.” The recent rerelease of the non-Beatles Apple catalogue has prompted me to repeatedly play their 1971 pièce de résistance, Straight Up. This cut, a Joey Molland-penned and sung tune, has been there all along throughout my fascination with Badfinger, but for whatever reason, it’s just begun to sink in recently. It’s in the same vein as a “Here Comes the Sun”; obvious joy at the dawning of a new day with new prospects, but that kick drum gives this thing a great pulse without ever letting the song veer into schmaltz.

13. Robbie Fulks – When I See an Elephant Fly
Fulks is an excellent songwriter, even if his popularity may suggest otherwise. Stick any Fulks-penned tune onto your nearest sound system and there likely will be at least one lyric that makes you smirk, but if you’re the curmudgeonly type that would rather not appreciate a smarmy turn of phrase, perhaps you’re better served taking in a cover that seems out of place for an alt-country pioneer to embrace (Cher, No Doubt, ABBA … the guy just wheeled off a whole album of surprisingly good Michael Jackson covers). Here he takes on one of the finer tunes from the Disney catalogue and whittles away the pretty overt racism the singing crows delivered in “Dumbo” so that you can enjoy it (seriously—dig those lyrics) in a folksy, well-harmonized setting. Quite endearing.

14. The Monkees – Cuddly Toy
I’ll be honest: if Davy Jones hadn’t passed recently, this cut wouldn’t have made it. I’ve always fashioned myself as a Monkees fan/critic/apologist (as all real Monkees fans are), but in going back through the tracklists of all my seasonal mixes since 2006, I was astounded to see that I’d never included a Monkees song in any of the ranks. Maybe it was a gross oversight on my part, or maybe I was endlessly waiting for the right opportunity to drop. More than likely, I just looked over the Monkees as I was assembling these things. That’s OK. They’re an easy band to look over because when you’re presented with a set of Monkees albums, you think, “OK, one great song on this one, three great songs on that one, two great songs on this one” and it gets to be a bit daunting to think of cherry picking through so much material. But with Jones’ passing, I found myself actively searching through Jones-sung tracks, and just as with “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)” for my memorial piece a couple weeks ago, I remembered “Cuddly Toy”—Harry Nilsson’s original that the band included on 1967’s “we’ll let the pros play the instruments again” album, Pieces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. Sunny as hell, and don’t Jones and Dolenz sound great together? Fun legend: Apparently the suggestion that this song is about group sex sent the group’s management into a rage. Given that Nilsson wrote it, the jury might still be out.

15. The 88 – Love is the Thing
Introduced to the 88 in Madison in November when they opened for and then backed up my all time favorite songwriter, Ray Davies. I dug a few of the songs from their opening set, but this is the one that made me think, “OK, I’m gonna go out and get some of their stuff.” Few of their other songs charge me up like this one does, but that’s OK, because it’s always a wonderful thing to find a new tune to get excited about. Especially as you grow older and more curmudgeonly towards “the music of today.” To the best of my knowledge (that is, Google and YouTube searching), the basic tracks on this song were laid down on an iPhone. As a current Android customer, that’s intriguing. But to pull back and look at the larger picture, boys, if love isn’t a wonderful thing, then certainly technology is.

16. Nat King Cole – Almost Like Being in Love
Because what is spring if at some point you don’t feel like you’re in one of the happy bits of a Nora Ephron movie? You know, the world where business tycoons fall hopelessly in love with their competition and men willingly give up their fiancées without putting up so much as a hint of a fight? Spring, baby. Hope springs eternal. And if Nat’s voice doesn’t make you feel hopeful, well, sucks to be you. This might be the runaway favorite from his 1953 album Nat King Cole Sings for Two in Love, but that whole album is worth your time. Lots of good stuff on there, so when the bookstore closes (as it surely will), or you flip out about the goddamn wagon wheel table, have the album on hand to brighten your spirits.

17. Fountains of Wayne – Hey Julie
I have an ongoing debate about Fountains of Wayne with my girlfriend. She’s dismissive of them as lightweight, easy “bubble gum” pop, and I always find myself shaking my fists above my head like a gorilla and exclaiming “That’s not a bad thing!” The funny thing is that I tend to dismiss most of Fountains of Wayne’s material myself. I usually end up enjoying one-third to, at best, one-half of their albums. But when they hit the nail on the head, as they do here, (from 2003’s Welcome Interstate Managers, or, as you know it, “That ‘Stacy’s Mom’ CD”), it’s so good. My argument for good Fountains of Wayne material is that it hits me in the way the good stuff from the Beach Boys circa 1965 did. You know they’re on the cusp of something great, but they’re still kind of finding their legs and falling back into early pop sensibilities. Again, not always a bad thing—I still get pumped if “Help Me Rhonda” pops up on shuffle, but you know the good stuff that you REALLY want to show your friends is still to come. The only problem with Fountains of Wayne is that we’re kind of perpetually waiting on that cusp. But that’s OK. Give me a “Hey Julie” or two per album, and I’ll continue the argument with my girlfriend.

18. The Reflections – (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet
This is one of those songs that just makes you feel good. I had a CD a few years ago with this song on it, and I was driving an old friend around Madison and this song comes on. The friend goes, “I love that you have this song.” I reply, “Well, of course.” Not another word. We both just sat there listening to it and doing our respective foot tapping/head nodding/steering wheel and dashboard drumming. As it goes, this song, which was a single on the Golden World label in 1964, would prove to be the Reflections’ only hit. But coming out of Detroit and being a hit on an R&B label tells you that for a group of four doo-wopping white boys, they had a bit of soul and boogie about them. I always say that this drumbeat is still probably pounding inside Lee Mavers’ skull.

19. Beady Eye – In the Bubble With a Bullet
You know, last summer I went to see Beady Eye’s first American show with some of my dearest friends. It fell on a beautiful summer Saturday, it was a small gig with a lot of energy and I was on an absolute high because I’d spent a few minutes chatting with Liam f*cking Gallagher at the hotel bar the evening prior. After the gig, we came out and remarked what a great show it was, how Liam’s voice was absolutely electric and we were buzzing off all the power generated in the Metro that night. Then Beady Eye left town and we began waiting for Noel’s album and his eventual arrival in Chicago (April 1). I kind of feel like most of my friends took the same attitude toward Beady Eye that the media did, (e.g. “OK, that’s very nice, boys. Oooh! Noel’s coming. Why don’t you go back and play in the sandbox while we talk to daddy…”). It pisses me off. In the end, yes, Noel’s album is better than Beady Eye’s. But that doesn’t mean Beady Eye should be waved off completely simply because Noel’s back in the fold. Sure, Beady Eye are squandering arguably their best songs on the B-sides of limited edition vinyl singles that you probably won’t acquire unless you have more than a passing interest in the band, but listen to this. Just listen to this! This is as good as anything latter day Oasis pulled together, and frankly, I like it just as much as classic-era Oasis stuff. This is sunshine. When that bass drum kicks in and you’ve got this on in a car that’s cruising, there’s no denying good times are coming.

20. Irma Thomas – Time is On My Side (live)
On my first pass of putting this mix together, I included Irma’s original 1964 take on the song (which was only a B-side with lyrics that were finished in the moments before Irma arrived at the studio), but after watching the first season of “Treme” and picking up Treme: Music From the HBO Original Series, Season 1, I opted for the live take of the song that includes Allen Toussaint on piano and Dave Bartholomew blowing his horn. It’s a bit tighter than the original, particularly in the “Time. Time. Time. Is on my siiide…” bit, but also, I’ve always adored how Irma’s voice has aged with time. It’s seriously aged like fine wine, which is a rare quality in many singers, whether they’re female or male. I find myself digger her vocals a lot more in recently recorded tracks. There’s an air of sophistication to her soul, which I love. And if you haven’t seen Treme, by the way, you should check it out.

Happy spring, everybody.

Snowflakes in the air, carols everywhere.

Look.

I’m a big enough person to admit when I’ve been wrong. And it’s that time of year when I’m wrong again.

2007: “… there’s no way I’m doing another one next year. I probably couldn’t be bothered again, BUT the other thing is that the fruits of my labor this year have produced quite simply (and with no false modesty) the greatest Christmas mix ever. There’s no topping this.”

2008: “So I’m a liar.”

2009: N/A (No damning statements to be found. Seems like I resigned myself to becoming an annual Christmas music supplier.)

2010: “…it’s likely this will be the final Christmas mix. For one, giving listeners a 100-Christmas song playlist should be enough to satisfy soundtracking needs for any Christmas party you’ll be throwing in the next month. We’re talking about 6 hours of music. Could I find 20 more songs that haven’t already been done by another artist throughout this five-year series? I bet I could, but … as it goes with Christmas albums, true quality is hard to come by … So the chances I’ll have one out in 2011? If you ask me right now I’ll say slim.”

And if you ask me right now, I guess I look like a big, fat liar. Again. Because as much as I hate the annual process of sifting through so many horrible Christmas songs, the deeper I dig each year means the good ones I do find sound that much more magical. Plus every year there are new ditties added to the barrel and I get to skim around the top and pick out good recent tracks too.

In a quick exchange with my comrade Grandma Cyd earlier this week, I told her that Lyle Lovett and Gruff Rhys have likely bullied me into a 2012 mix too, because both artists will be releasing Christmas-themed records this year after this mix is posted. She opined: “Out of a two-song lemon you will squeeze a 20-track lemonade? Good luck.”

My response?

“That’s how the last 3 mixes have gone. Two new songs come out after I finish the mix and I have a few months to decide whether it’s worth listening to hours and hours of crap to find 18 more good tracks. I think you’ll agree that the last 3 mixes have been good lemonade. And this year’s is pretty fabulous as well.”

Of course, that’s just me. Why don’t you decide for yourself and download It’s Been Christmas Here For a While, which is this blog’s 6th annual Christmas mix and adds 20 new songs to your ever expanding ASBTTIS Christmas playlist.

(And for tradition’s sake, ahem … this is the last one.)

(… maybe not though.)

It’s Been Christmas Here For a While
The 2011 “Ain’t Superstitious, But These Things I’ve Seen …” Christmas mix

01. Kermit Ruffins – This Christmas
Obviously you’re all so happy to get a sixth installment of this blog’s Christmas mix that we might as well kick things off with a party piece. Who better to lead it, then, than a co-founder of the famed Rebirth Brass Band? This is from Kermit’s 2009 holiday album, Have a Crazy Cool Christmas, and I think it beats out every version of the song that I’ve heard, including Donny Hathaway’s signature version. While Hathaway’s version is laudable, it always seemed to be lacking something. Maybe it wasn’t Hathaway’s fault … it could very well be a product of the song, which is why I’ve struggled to find an enjoyable version of it. But you give it that street steppers beat and New Orleans brass, and pretty much any song can be made to sound absolutely wonderful. Plus Kermit’s gravelly vocal wipes away the sheen that’s annoyed me so much in every other version I’ve heard.

02. Kula Shaker – Snowflake
Kula Shaker have been pretty good to their fans every year since reforming in 2007. Members of their mailing list are usually alerted to special Christmastime recordings made by the band, and last year we got two tracks—a psychedelic meshup of the Beatles’ “Christmas Time is Here Again” and “Flying,” and this track, which was written by the band Bucky. Sung from the (cold) perspective of a snowflake who always is made to wait just a little too long (e.g. after Christmas) before falling to Earth. I particularly dig the laundry list of Christmas annoyances that anyone pick from to relate to (“Away in a manger and three wise men, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is on TV again, Santa and his elves are looting the shelves, your alcoholic uncle’s having dizzy spells, an hour-long extension of the worst TV shows, get a nosebleed under the mistletoe …”). Not exactly the most cheery thing, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from the music. It’s pretty fun.

03. Vince Guaraldi Trio – Christmas Time is Here (Vocal)
There are a handful of friends and family every year who harp on me when I say “This is the last Christmas mix.” I really wanted last year’s to be the end because it would’ve meant 5 mixes of 20 songs each—100 songs total with no repeats or alternative versions—but my father of all people lambasted me for failing to put any cuts from Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack to “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in the original 100. OK, OK. Here, Dad. But besides just appeasing the guy who always collaborated with my mom to make sure my sister and I had an awesome Christmas every year, one must stay applied to the rule that every good Christmas mix needs a few familiar pieces in them. Not that you all wouldn’t have enjoyed non-traditional fare from Kula Shaker, Flash Atkins or the Cute Lepers, anyway, but everyone needs a couple things to sing along to on the first go-round, don’t they? This is another one that people have tried to cover for years and years since “A Charlie Brown Christmas” first aired. Maybe it’s the sparse production (sounds like it was recorded in a drafty barn in the middle of a windy December night), but there’s something just a little haunting about this that makes it all the more endearing.

04. The Moonglows – Hey Santa Claus
Apparently this song’s been popular for a while? Not popular in a “Feliz Navidad” sort of way, but popular for people who get really into Christmas music (despite evidence supporting the contrary, I do not consider myself some who’s “really into” Christmas music. I just like finding good tunes for you lovely people). I had no knowledge of it prior to this year, but I’m sure it’s shown up in a few Christmas-themed big Hollywood movies. The thing that caught me about it was that the Moonglows were one of Harvey Fuqua’s first outfits. Fuqua was an underrated R&B pioneer who had connections with both the Chess and Motown labels and was actually responsible for bringing Tammi Terrell to Motown. Thank you, by the way. The best thing he’s done to my mind is a rare number called “Any Way You Wanta.” Find it after Christmas. It’ll hold you over until the next Christmas season. This track isn’t anything overly spectacular, but it’s 2 and a half minutes of fun, and with a collection of songs like these, it dutifully serves a purpose, even if it’s underground popularity makes it fodder for all those hipsters hanging around Wicker Park. Sorry to non-Chicagoans who can’t appreciate that zinger.

05. The Cute Lepers – All I Ever Wanted Under the Christmas Tree
This is a song that featured on a compilation a couple years back called Blackheart Christmas. This is the only song I know by the Cute Lepers, but if it ends being the only one I know by them forever after, that’s enough for me. With Christmas songs, there’s something you can hear. You can deduce within 10 seconds whether a Christmas song is going to go pear-shaped because it’s oversaturated with cheesiness. In fact, most times I’m compiling Christmas mixes, I’m listening to song after song waiting for the “Yikes, this fails” moment. I’ve heard plenty of nice musical setups only for a particular lyric or vocal delivery to make me roll my eyes and move on to the next one. I kept waiting for the other shoe to fall here, but it never did, and by the end I was even doing a bit of foot-tapping. So well done, lepers of varying degrees of cuteness. It’s got that “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me”-era Billy Joel quality to it, which isn’t a horrible thing if it comes in quick doses and doesn’t overstay its welcome.

06. Good Lovelies – Maybe This Time
This Canadian trio came to my attention earlier this year when I did a weeklong series on the blog with WSUM’s Grandma Cyd about new artists doing songs in old-time styles. I got into them enough to include their cut “Crabbuckit” on my summer mix, and when I found out later that summer they had a Christmas album (Under the Mistletoe, 2009), well, I had to see if there was anything interesting on there. The fact that I found this original cut, which is just a simple, enjoyable tune—nothing more, nothing less—actually kicked me into doing a third Christmas mix. I’d already thought, “Boy this Kula Shaker cut is pretty fun,” and had my dad on my case for failing to include anything from A Charlie Brown Christmas in the first five mixes. Once I found this track, I figured, “Hell, why not start digging for 17 more?” Odds that’ll happen again next year? (Sarcastic guffaw)

07. Jimmy Charles – Santa Won’t Be Blue This Christmas
I found this tune while scouring through a bunch of 1950s and 1960s rare doo-wop Christmas singles and of the 50 or so songs included on the collection this is the only one that caught my ear. This was a 1960 single for Charles that was written by Phil Medley (who earned his most famous credit by co-writing “Twist and Shout”). Lyrically, the subject of domestic disputes during the holidays have probably been handled better elsewhere, but you can’t deny the hook here. It’s happy enough to make “Yeah yeah! And a diddlee-dee” sound appropriate.

08. The Mills Brothers – Here Comes Santa Claus
I noticed a little late in the compiling of this mix that I’d shied away from crooners this time around, presumably because I don’t want the mixes to be subject to 2^nd-rate Frank, Dean, Bing, Bobby, Peggy, et. al tunes because the “A” material’s already been used. Also because when you set forth a strict policy not to repeat songs (even if done by a different artist) on future Christmas mixes once it’s already been spoken for, the well runs dry pretty fast. Thankfully, some great vintage material could be found to appease my old Madison pal Grandma Cyd with the Mills Brothers. This track, from the bros.’ 1959 LP, Merry Christmas, is done in their signature cool style (something that Dean Martin grew up adoring, mind you) and handles one of the season’s cheesier songs in more-than-tolerable measure. I still kind of laugh at the “Santa knows we’re all God’s children—that makes everything right”  line, though. It’s like Gene Autry (who co-wrote the song) tried to fix this “reason for the season” business in one fell swoop. “It’s about God sending his only son, Gene …” “Yeah, well, I know that. Don’t you think Santa KNOWS that?! It’s cool.”

09. Flash Atkins – All I Want For Christmas is You
Looking at the title, you might think it’s that ubiquitous Mariah Carey song, but you’d be wrong. Actually, I don’t know anything about Flash Atkins … from rudimentary research I’ve deduced that he very possibly is UK-based and may or may not dress as a superhero and/or live in a camper van. When he’s not doing that, he’s mixing up old records for all our delight. As I’ve said in many Christmas mix writeups before, I’m not the biggest fan of random mashups or remixes, but for some reason, I do enjoy running through Christmas-based ones to see if any hit that holiday sweet spot. This one does nicely. Based on nothing more than a bassline looped from the Bee Gees’ “Fanny (Be Tender With My Love),” a spruced up backbeat and a couple lines from Julie London’s “I’d Like You For Christmas” (which I always thought was a yawner on its own), these ingredients together make for a nicely chilled holiday groove. The fact that you get to hear Barry Gibb whisper, “First I rise, then I fall …” a couple times also helps.

10. Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song
I’ve avoided putting this on previous Christmas mixes because it is just so absolutely ubiquitous, but once I got to the third installment, that “you need to include some classics amongst the rarities” mindset kicked in. I searched high and low for a version of this song that carried it’s own kind of cool and unique flavor, but there’s really no hope with “The Christmas Song.” This is the version. That’s it. There’s no need to ever hear another recording of this song. What you might not know is that this particular version is actually the fourth that Nat released in his career. He took his first stab at it in 1946 for a radio session and another later in 1946 that was the first time it was put on record with his name on it. His third go at it took place in 1952 for a single that would be one of his first with Capitol Records before doing this in 1961 (the year AFTER his Christmas album, The Magic of Christmas was released). Capitol realized the power of this recording, tacked it onto the front of the album and every subsequent release of Cole’s Christmas album has since been retitled The Christmas Song. This isn’t the first Christmas song I ever fell in love with, but this is the first version of a particular song that I ever fell in love with. Since I’ve been about 12 years old, I’ve scoffed at a lot of other pretenders’ takes on the song.

11. Lee Rogers – You Won’t Have to Wait Till Xmas
For as many good R’n’B Christmas cuts I’ve found throughout the years, finding some true Northern Soul Christmas gets a little tough. That’s what makes this find so cool for me. Rogers put this song out as a single in 1965 and it did pretty much nothing, but hell, didn’t all the very best Northern Soul songs do the same? Originally released on the D-Town label, a Detroit imprint that was obviously trying to hitch its wagon to Motown’s star, this song bears no resemblance to any typical Christmas song. No bells, no wistful melody—all this is is an R’n’B love song infused with some basic Christmas references (“under the mistletoe,” “sheltered from the snow,” “you’re my Santa Claus and I believe in you”). As part of a Northern Soul night, it’d be pretty stock, but amongst its peers here, it stands out nicely.

12. Brenda Lee – Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day
I never knew who Brenda Lee’s audience was. Most people just know here for “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” but she recorded scores of Christmas songs, so maybe it’s just Christmasheads who go nuts for her. Then again, she’s got some good non-Yuletide fare like “Dynamite,” so maybe it’s not just Christmasheads. I took a trip down to Nashville last winter and judging by the amount of Brenda Lee material I found in record stores down there, I think it’s safe to say I came close to finding her fanbase’s home base. It’s a country thing, I suppose. This song is another in Lee’s Christmas canon that isn’t named “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” so lots of points for that. Sometimes it’s a little thing that can hook me and in this case it’s the drumbeat. It’s got that strong late 1950s/early 1960s rock-via-surf feel to it but that blends nicely with the whole country “oh-woe-is-me”ness of spending Christmas solo.

13. David Ian featuring Andre Miguel Mayo – Christmas Time With You
I don’t know anything about David Ian. This cut comes from an album released this year (way to get it out early and be considered for the mix, Dave). The album’s called Vintage Christmas and it’s a piano-led jazz trio thing, so that’s will pique my interest enough to make me have a listen. Sounds like it could have been recorded in the late 1950s or early 1960s, which again, is alright by me. Good chill feel to it, and it’s got that good end of Harry Connick, Jr.-ness about it where things stay cool instead of going overblown and gaudy. Harry’s kind lost perspective of that in putting out three Christmas albums, so it’s good that someone else is there to pick up the pieces.

14. Berlin Symphony Orchestra – Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Red Baron Remix)
Another pull from the remix bin. I like this because it’s basically just augmenting a well-known instrumental with a great piece of live drumming. Did you ever think you could air drum to “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”? Well, friend, neither did I. But, alas, whoever this Red Baron is (and if you do find out, please tell Snoopy) has come to save us all from the injustice of another Christmas in which we can’t air drum to “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” The jury’s out on whether this will make future viewings of “Home Alone” any less enjoyable.

15. The Puppini Sisters – All I Want For Christmas
Looking at the title, you might again think it’s that ubiquitous Mariah Carey song, and this time you’d be right. Look, it’s out of my hands now when it comes to judging that song. Popular opinion has already made it a Christmas standard and despite my own annoyance with it, I did kind of enjoy the way it was used in “Love Actually” a few years back. My own annoyance with it also kept me from putting it on earlier Christmas mixes, particularly because everyone seemed to cover it, but nobody (frustratingly) matched or bettered Mariah’s original. And there was no way Mariah was going on one of these mixes. Why? Because f*ck Mariah, that’s why (and bah humbug to you, too). She had a pretty good run for a few years in getting into that rarified air of having a writing credit on a tune so popular that it’s become a holiday standard, but when you use it as an excuse to anchor more annoying holiday albums as she did last year with Merry Christmas II You, well then I’m kind of done with you. Besides, this take on the song, from the UK’s Puppini Sisters (who apparently are neither named Puppini nor are Sisters … discuss) is ridiculously more charming. They go the Andrew Sisters/hint of Dixieland route with it and while it hurtles toward campiness, it avoids going over the guardrail and actually manages to make me smile. It’s a hard thing to do after trolling through loads of garbage to put a SIXTH Christmas mix together, you know …

16. Fitz and the Tantrums – Santa Stole My Lady
After I’d decided I was going to do this Christmas mix, I delved into a bunch of 2010 releases to see what I’d missed last year and this song bubbled up as one of those one-off digital only Christmas releases from Dangerbird Records. I don’t know much about Fitz or his gang of Tantrums, but if the rest of the catalog is anything like this, I’ll have to check them out. This is the kind of holiday song that Hall & Oates should’ve done instead of that godforsaken “Jingle Bell Rock” cover. Having your woman two-time you with Santa can’t be any easy pill to swallow, but at least Fitz and the gang allow you to groove a little through your seething anger. This is actually one of my favorites from this year’s mix and I thank the band profusely for allowing me not to have to tread through an array of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” covers for yet another year. This song handles the sentiment way better anyway.

17. Chris Standring & Kathrin Shorr – Send Me Some Snow
Another piano jazz thing that’ll sound good under the din of a Christmas party. Someone posted this song somewhere last year—it was part of a compilation called Share the Gifts from A-Train records. Apparently this duo got enough good response out of it to put a whole holiday album out this year under the title of Send Me Some Snow. If I’m being entirely honest, after snowpocalypse last year and the annual “this is going to be the worst winter ever” reports, I’m not particularly looking forward to the heavens’ sending of snow. I even feel a little skittish playing it too soon, as if I’m tempting fate. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the sentiment. Especially when it’s on a Christmas mix. And it has a chorus that is that sweet.

18. Harry Crafton with Doc Bagby Orchestra – Bring That Cadillac Back
Why? Because I’m not going to let Brenda Lee and a white boy moaning about his wife’s infidelities with Kris Kringle represent the blues component of the mix. I will get some proper blues in here, dammit. It’s a familiar story here. Boy loves girl, girl loves boy, boy buys Cadillac, boy and girl have a tremendous fight before Christmas morning, girl takes Cadillac, boy demands Cadillac back. We’ve all been there. My girlfriend is steadfastly against me even considering this a Christmas song, but just because she’s never absconded with somebody’s Cadillac on Christmas morning doesn’t make it any less of a Christmas song. Maybe I’ll buy her a Cadillac and then severely tick her off just to prove a point. No. Well … not this year at least.

19. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings – Ain’t No Chimneys in the Projects
This is a one-off single that Jones and her Dap-Kings released last year that can not only be appreciated by her own sturdy fanbase but all the rest of the “Hey, you know, that Amy Winehouse wasn’t such a bad singer, I should check out some more of that good R ‘n’ B stuff” offshoots. The moral of the song? Even though there aren’t chimneys in the projects, your mother will lie to you about the existence of Santa Claus just like the mothers in chimney-equipped suburban homes will. In the end, there’s really so much that ties us all together. So how about a little peace on Earth?

20. Blondfire – It’s Been Christmas Here
Blondfire actually worked their way into my consciousness four years ago when I was compiling the 2^nd annual ASBTTIS Christmas mix, Shake Hands with Santa Claus! I found their tune “Underneath the Mistletoe” quite charming and it actually sent me headlong into Blondfire fandom—their EP “Don’t Whisper Lies” from when they were still called Astaire is particularly fabulous. This cut comes off the same EP that featured “Underneath the Mistletoe.” I don’t know why I look passed it all those years ago, maybe I was just consciously searching for more upbeat stuff, but thankfully I went back and reassessed this tune, and by God, if it isn’t just a beautiful little song and a perfect note to end this mix on. Hell, it’s so good it can even give this mix its title.

A happy holiday season to all my readers. Check back next week for the start of the annual “15 of the Best” countdown.

Everyday you watch the colors fall, fall, fall …

Right-o, well summer ended up being a busy season for me and it looks like autumn shall be that way as well. These are the perils one faces living in a major city, you know. Things to do. Egad. BUT! Second to the summer mix (which is second to the Christmas mix), this is the next most popular seasonal mix that I provide on an annual basis. Something about grey days and leaves changing colors make people want to listen to appropriate tunes as they go out on brisk walks or curl up by the window with a cup of tea and book e-book reader.

In addition to the Christmas and summer mixes, the “Autumnal” mix is the third of the seasonal compilations that I’ve offered each and every year since this blog’s inception once upon a long ago. This is Vol. 5 of the mix, and I hope it serves all you dear people as well as Vols. 1-4 did. Oh and I hope it brings even more people around. For although my posts now may be (extremely) limited in nature, seasonal music never goes out of season. Or something. Enjoy.

Autumnal, Vol. 5

Download Part 1 (tracks 1-1o) HERE
Download Part 2 (tracks 11-20) HERE

01. Jon Brion – The Break-Up Theme
I’m a massive Jon Brion fan, and one thing I love about him that absolutely separates him from nearly every other artist I adore is that when he does instrumental work, be it for film scoring or whatever else, he keeps me absolutely entranced. I haven’t even seen “The Break-Up.” I know it includes Cubs games and an Old 97’s concert, so it seems like it’d be right up my alley, but I’m not a huge Vince Vaughn fan and as far as Jennifer Aniston goes, well, she needs to let the Brad Pitt thing go. If I was still talking about the girl I was with 6 years ago, I think it’d be hard to keep potential new mates interested too. Anyway, musically speaking, this is just a wonderful moody little piece that sets the stage perfectly for the mix. I think it owes so heavily to Paul McCartney’s “Big Boys Bickering” that it deserves a co-writing credit, but if that means Brion is listening to Off the Ground era B-sides from Macca, well, that really just makes me love him so much more.

02. The Stills – Halo the Harpoons
Probably my favorite cut from the Stills’ 2006 album Without Feathers, which took a pretty nasty beating from critics, but remains a solid favorite for me. Lyrically, this song teeters on ridiculous in terms of pushing metaphors. I don’t really know what any of them mean, but it’s all saved by the lovely piano and Tim Fletcher’s emotive vocal.

03. The Jackson 5 – Never Can Say Goodbye
I never understood why “I’ll Be There” was always the sentimental favorite when it came to J5 ballads. It’s a nice enough song, but it’s always just come off a bit too syrupy for me. This is where it’s at as far as I’m concerned. Listen to the bassline and harmonies—the song has far more showmanship than “I’ll Be There,” and as is ever the case with Jackson 5 songs, a blinder of a vocal from little Michael. The rest of the 1971 Maybe Tomorrow album was well-crafted, but song-wise the rest of the stock proved to be forgettable next to this one. It’s hard to sit beside perfection, after all.

04. The Everly Brothers – All I Have to Do is Dream
There’s not much to say about this song that hasn’t already been said. In fact, it’s kind of puzzling that it took me five years to put this on an autumn mix. Breezy, wistful, gorgeous harmonies and guitars that modern acts (anyone else hear an obvious cover from the Last Shadow Puppets lurking?) are now falling over themselves to return to. In terms of subject matter, it’s kind of the less spooky predecessor to something like “Every Breath You Take,” but full-fledged stalking seems imminent once the guy awakes. Also—this song should never be done as a boy-girl duet. I have a version of Bobby Darin and Petula Clark trading verses on this song. It’s ridiculous. Why tell the other sex about how you fall asleep to have them? He/she is right there. Just proposition him/her.

05. Natalie Merchant – The King of China’s Daughter
I was really excited last year when I found out Natalie was going to be releasing a new album. Ever since the 10,000 Maniacs Unplugged session, which I must’ve seen at 11 years of age or so, there was something about Natalie that struck me. I’ve stuck with her throughout the solo career, despite facing derision for it from my friends. I just think she’s been fairly consistent. Then The House Carpenter’s Daughter came along and I just kind of lost interest as she was going into this rustic folk dalliance that seemed devoid of hooks. Last year’s Leave Your Sleep had it’s moments, but the concept of the album—setting old poems to new music—seemed like one of those “Oh dear, this is one of those ideas that sounds good but actually turns out to be a bit of a shambles” ventures. For the most part it was, but there are a few good cuts on the album and this is one of them. Don’t know who wrote the poem, but I dig the Far East flavor.

06. Frank Sinatra – I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You
I can’t count how many artists have recorded this tune since it’s 1932 inception, but I think the fact that it has been so many is testament to what a cool tune it is. First off it’s a great title and while the concept for the song (“I thought at last I’d found you, but other loves surround you”) is so worn over in the songwriting pantheon to be laughably cliché, it still says something that almost 80 years later, musicians are still trying to chase this. Sinatra did a take on this in his younger days when he was signed to Columbia, but when he revisited it for his 1959 LP No One Cares (with one of the very best sleeves of Sinatra’s career), he nailed the merger of being both resoundingly forlorn while also breezily resigned. Harder than it sounds, you know.

07. Conway Twitty – Lonely Blue Boy
This song was supposed to be included in the Elvis-starring movie “King Creole,” substituting the name “Danny” for “Lonely Blue Boy,” but for whatever reason, it got axed from the picture. Conway Twitty took the discarded song, washed it in country rockabilly guitar and although basically doing his own impression of Elvis in the song, he nailed down a stronger and more emotive vocal than the King ever managed with the tune. Jon Brion and Paul Thomas Anderson should also get some props here for inserting Conway’s take on it into “Punch-Drunk Love” in that great scene where Adam Sandler stands toe-to-toe with Phillip Seymour-Hoffman and delivers that great “I have a love in my life, it makes me stronger than anything you can imagine” monologue.

08. Primal Scream – Gamblin’ Bar Room Blues
This was recorded by the Scream in the Riot City Blues era and actually ended up on the B-side of their “Christmas” single “Sometimes I Feel So Lonely.” There’s not a lot to discuss about the track, it’s obviously about an alcohol-fuelled scrap and carries all the aura of a bender in the Old West … it even probably goes on a little longer than it should, as drunks tend to do. But I can’t criticize it too much because like many of Primal Scream’s songs (far more than your average critic will admit), it’s far more alluring than they’d ever get credit for.

09. Jon Langford and His Sadies – Strange Birds
From a 2003 collaboration album between Langford and the Sadies (brilliantly titled), The Mayors of the Moon, this song has always struck me and I’m not quite sure why. It’s a beautiful lyric, even if it is oblique—“If I had bounty on my head, they’d never raise the money. I’d wake up laughing in the night, and wonder what’s so funny.” It’s just such a dreamy little tune but it’s got this very real foreboding air about it. Langford’s always a safe bet to give you a kick up the backside, but more often than not it’s in his delivery as much as it is in his lyrics. Here, he sounds totally resigned, which is odd, but there’s still potent food for thought. Again, I don’t know what it is exactly, but it makes you think a little, doesn’t it?

10. Randy Newman – Dixie Flyer
“Dixie Flyer” originally opened Newman’s 1988 album Land of Dreams, but the full band treatment always kind of betrayed the intimate nature of the song. Newman has staked his claim in the songwriting pantheon as someone who gives voice to characters and personas that are more often than not willfully forgotten—ridiculous bigot (“Short People”), tunnel-vision homer (“Birmingham”), cake-eater with an overinflated sense of entitlement (“My Life is Good”), cradle-robbing rich old man (“Shame”), the list goes on. With “Dixie Flyer,” Newman dropped his characteristic role of becoming a character and actually sang about his parents and his mother’s move with him to New Orleans shortly after his birth. Lightly referencing the unorthodoxy of a Jewish family in religious right stomping grounds (“An American Christian—Goddamn!”), there’s a lot of close-to-home matter here for the author, but it still comes off like any number of his assumed identity classics. The piano-only version here from this year’s The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 2 finally gives this cut the up-close-and-personal feel it’s lacked for 23 years.

11. Bobby Darin – I Wanna Be Around
One of the very best post-breakup Eff-You songs of all time, Bobby characteristically nails the delivery, going from passive to aggressive in the span of about two minutes. What really intrigues me about this cut, from his 1965 LP, Venice Blue, is the drumming. Listen to it when it picks up at the end – it’s actually more aggressive than most rock and roll drumming of the time. For whatever reason, downbeats on the snare drum seemed to be discouraged from vocal/crooner tunes before about 1962 (probably to keep your attention on the singer), and drummers would instead always rely on beat-keeping through the ride or hi-hat cymbals. Maybe the advent of rock and roll changed things, and if so, great. It doesn’t drown out Bobby’s singing, doesn’t it? If anything it just makes him rise to the occasion and sing with an even stronger voice.

12. Major Lance – It Ain’t No Use
I discovered Major Lance just a few months before I moved back to the Chicago area from Madison last year and I’ve been absolutely entranced by his early-to-mid 1960s output ever since. Hailing from Chicago and actually using the Impressions on most of his OKeh Records-era tunes (an overwhelming amount, including this one, happened to be written by Curtis Mayfield), the songs he got were just R&B perfection. They lacked the polish and some of the punch of output from Motown and Stax, but they more than made up for it in pure heart. This is an absolute bummer of a song when you sit down and listen to the lyrics, but if you’re hearing the music at the same time, you can’t help but be pretty happy. Even better, it’s a B-side.

13. New Radicals – Someday We’ll Know
I never got that deeply into the New Radicals when they were all the rage around 1998 or so. I liked “You Get What You Give,” but the first time I heard it, I was sure it was a cover of an old pop tune because that bridge and chorus just sounded liked they’d been there forever. It wasn’t until about three years later that a friend of mine gave me the album and I ended up thinking “OK, I like the singles and that’s about it.” “Someday We’ll Know” is an interesting one, though, because as saccharine as it is and as much as it seems like an obvious go-to for every quasi-dramatic moment in a teen movie or TV drama of that era, there’s something about this version that hits the landing. I don’t know why. Hall & Oates covered it (with Todd Rundgren to boot) for some adult contemporary album and it sounded like cheese. Whenever anyone attempts to do this song it just sounds like schmaltz. But something about this version has power, enough even to carry it through a eye roll-inducing line like “Did the captain of the Titanic cry?”

14. Sasha Dobson – Without You
I first heard this song when I was going through a bunch of music that had been featured on “Breaking Bad” (devoted seasonal mix downloaders should notice a pattern here as both “It is Such a Good Night” and “Catch Yer Own Train” share similar backstories), but I couldn’t place when this song had been used. In subsequent DVD viewings, I found it’s the song on in the background of that shoestore when Marie pinches that pair on display. This tune bears a resemblance to the music of one of my favorite artists, Bebel Gilberto, but as summery as Bebel’s stuff is, this one just a bit more wistful and cool.

15. Kula Shaker – Ruby
Kula Shaker’s last album Pilgrim’s Progress went generally unnoticed, which, as a Kula Shaker fan, is disappointing but also not at all surprising. The problem is that it actually is stronger than its 2007 predecessor Strangefolk, which got a bit more buzz just by virtue of a band that every critic had long since dismissed reuniting. I’d say almost any cut on Pilgrim’s Progress would make a good addition to a fall mix, but what with this mentioning leaves falling, it’s kind of the shoo-in. I will say this was the one track that really struck me on the first listen though—it’s a love song from a broken place and while it apes a couple George Harrison (or I guess, Eastern religion) “beware of darkness” sentiments, it’s a gorgeous little chilled song throughout.

16. Ann Peebles – Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You
Early on when I was putting this mix together, my girlfriend heard a few of the tracks and commented that I’d loaded it with too many depressing break-up songs. I shrugged and said “Well it’s not a spring mix, is it? Things are getting cold and falling apart. It’s a thematic theme.” She countered that people stay together in autumn and that our relationship in fact began in the thick of autumn. I fully concede she has a point, but if you think about it, “Sunshine and Lollipops” just doesn’t fit on an autumn mix, does it? Anyway, as much as she loathes me placating her, here you are. This is from a magnificent 2005 compilation called I Believe to My Soul, that was done under the eye of Allen Toussaint and featured the likes of Peebles, Irma Thomas, Mavis Staples and Billy Preston. This cover of Dylan’s classic from the Nashville Skyline album just oozes sensual soul, but I guess it’s kind of ironic that Peebles voice actually might be a tad more gravelly than Bob’s given his “Pee Wee Herman” adopted voice on Nashville Skyline. Still, I prefer Peebles’ take. Stunning.

17. The Bee Gees – To Love Somebody
The big story with this song is that the Gibb brothers had actually pitched this song for Otis Redding and he’d said he planned to record it. Unfortunately, despite crappy weather, Otis decided to fly in to Madison, Wisconsin, but the plane went down in Lake Monona instead of Dane County Regional Airport and took Redding with it. Really would’ve loved to hear Otis’ take on this, but credit where credit is due—the Bee Gees aren’t as crappy as a lot of people after 1977 wanted to believe and this fits very nicely in line with a bunch of their unimpeachable 1960s oeuvre, including “Massachusetts” and “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You.” Fabulous stuff.

18. The Dave Clark Five – Because
Much as I love the Beach Boys and I love the Beatles’ take on “Words of Love,” this song has always kind of been the go-to example when pointing out a song with extraordinary harmony singing. This is an absolutely perfect pop song, and it always blows me away that in spite of how (stunningly) simple it is, the harmonized vocals make it a tough nut to crack when it comes to trying to cover it. It’s really better left as is.

19. Morrissey – Trouble Loves Me
My Smiths obsessions started after Morrissey released Maladjusted in 1997. It was right in that 7-year drought between albums and although I’ll pass kind judgment on a couple You Are the Quarry tracks, I’ll also say (and have said many times before), it’s not worth it anymore. The humor’s gone and so have the remarkable turns of phrase. He’s turned into the old grump that he envisioned (and we all laughed about) when he was younger. And he’s also stepped over that line he warned other aging rockers off with “Get Off the Stage.” In hindsight, he should’ve walked off with Maladjusted, which overall is a terribly average album, but it does have a few majestic moments—this being the best. This should’ve been the farewell single—“Ready with ready wit” and “In the half-light, so English, frowning” are just glorious little sighs. Ah well. We can bid adieu to summer with it.

20. Ronnie Lane – Sweet Virginia (live)
It’s probably some form of sacrilege to say I prefer this cut to the Stones’ original from the thou-shalt-not-speak-ill-of-THIS-one album Exile on Main St., but where the Stones original wore itself with shambolic pride, Ronnie keys in on the gospel aspects of the song and turns it into an outright prayer of thanks. It sounds glorious, particularly because it seems to be tainted with just the smallest bit of heartbreak. Quite autumnal, no?

Happy fall, everyone.

Summer ’92, I remember it clearly, when he choked on the olive in his dry martini.

Well, it’s that time of season again. Though the posts have dwindled year to year (I’ve decided I can’t be faulted for developing a life), the summer mix is always here. As it should be. What is summer without a good soundtrack? Just a bunch of hot days designed to make you bitch about heat, that’s what.

I know I’m in that nowhere land of posting a seasonal mix. Perhaps I should have had this ready for Memorial Day weekend, but then again at the time, the Chicago weather was dwindling in the 50s with a lot of rain, and it didn’t quite seem opportune to post then. By that Monday, there was a 40-degree jump and it seemed like summer wanted to make an early statement (the official start is still 12 days away, you know), but as schizophrenic as the weather’s been here, I thought I might as well do it now before the snow decides to make a brief encore (you can never be too sure) and put me off the mixing mood entirely.

This year’s mix goes a bit of a different route thematically. While this is still fabulous road trip or cookout music, it also shifts focus away from hot sunny days and beachside drinks and so on and so forth to the goings-on once the sun goes down. After all, it’s like that Scientologist and that “Physical” Aussie said in that ridiculous movie: “Oh, those summer nights!”

Again, this is not a strictly nighttime mix (seriously, it sounds great during any one of the 24 hours a day allots), but more than any of it’s four predecessors, this year’s summamix pays tribute to summer moon and all that happens underneath it. So, as Krusty the Clown once said (for some reason attributing it to former President Ike Eisenhower): “Let’s get bizzzay!”

summer is a mixtape. vol. V
The “Ain’t Superstitious, But These Things I’ve Seen…” fifth annual summer mix

DOWNLOAD PART 1 (Mediafire) (Tracks 1 – 10)
DOWNLOAD PART 2 (Mediafire) (Tracks 11 – 20)

01. The Charlie Steinmann Orchestra and Singers – It is Such a Good Night
I firmly believe that this song rests on different production studios’ shelves for moments when a writer or producer bursts through the door in a panic, going “We got a great comedy bit that we need some bossa nova type kitsch to soundtrack!” Boom. “It is Such a Good Night.” The answer every time. Where it comes from eludes me, the earliest debut my research turned up was an album called Stereo Explosion, but suffice to say, I’m not a Charlie Steinmann Orchestra and Singers-phile, so I failed to dig deeper. However, I think it works as a great opening to a summer mix and actually if this song makes you think of slinging meth around the shadier spots of Albuquerque, I salute your television taste.

02. Raphael Saadiq – Staying in Love
It’s pretty easy these days to point to Raphael Saadiq and say, “That guy’s pretty damn good.” Everyone knows that. What perplexes me is why more “R & B” acts don’t follow his template. Sure, he’s pilfering the Motown sound with more audacity than even Oasis pinched Beatles’ tunes, but when you do it this well, it’s pretty hard to cry foul. Maybe this song isn’t the perfect summer love song, but if it doesn’t stink of truth, then I’ll be damned. But even a hard truth goes down easy when it’s got a 4/4 pocket like this and a fabulous bassline. Check out the rest of 2008’s The Way I See It—it’s all just as good.

03. Harry Connick, Jr. – (I Could Only) Whisper Your Name
I remember when Connick’s 1994 album She came out, and my mother—who roundly enjoyed his career of easy listening piano ballads and big band throwbacks—got a bit taken aback by the updated “funky” sound Connick was producing. As I recall, the album didn’t do as well as others, but it wasn’t without its charms, namely this song and the title track. Even though the album drifted somewhat amiss, this song was saved and put onto the soundtrack for the Jim Carrey vehicle “The Mask,” which garnered it a little more time in the public consciousness, and with good reason. It’s a damn good tune, and I’ve enjoyed it since I was 11.

04. Peggy Lee – He’s a Tramp
For everyone who finds themselves in the proverbial dog pound this summer, here’s one for you from the “Lady and the Tramp” soundtrack. While this tune does well to turn my image of Peggy Lee into a rather spent Maltese who pops Lady’s vision of her man, it’s also got a warm sultry swing to it that—salacious innuendo aside—is pretty damn endearing. May all you Ladies find your Tramps this warm season.

05. Good Lovelies – Crabbuckit
I’ve only just discovered these Canadian lasses, and earlier this year when I ran a series on modern tunes that sound like old timey classics with Grandma Cyd of WSUM in Madison (not nearly enough of you participated in that, by the way, but I hope you enjoyed the music all the same), another track from this year’s Let the Rain Fall found its way into that mix. “Crabbuckit” actually cropped up on my iTunes as I was putting the album together and listening to it, I couldn’t help but think, “Yes. This would sound right at home on this mix.” Hopefully I raise a little American awareness for these girls and help coax them into a U.S. tour sometime. They’re quickly winning me over.

06. John Hiatt – The Open Road
I’ve  recently discovered Mr. Hiatt, thanks to his connection with Lyle Lovett, and every song that floats into my ear from this man sticks there like a good dinner would stick in my stomach. Satisfying, like. This song is the title track to his 2010 album of the same name (obviously), and it always entrances me. Bit of a daytime driving song than a “good night out” tune, but here’s one for the road trips for sure. I also appreciate that he calls the open road a “sonabitch.” I share the sentiment. I have even less kind feelings for a congested road, however.

07. Stereophonics – Have a Nice Day
The runaway hit (at least stateside) from the ‘Phonics’ 2001 album Just Enough Education to Perform. Within the track, the Welsh trio release their inner Beach Boys and while Kelly Jones’ leather voice is not quite reminiscent of Brian Wilson in his prime, the “ba-ba-da-ba-ba-ba-da-da-da” backing vocals and sunny backing track more than compensate. I have a Welsh friend who informs me that the land is not quite as bright and cheery as this song would suggest, so maybe it’s significant that Kelly would use the sunny backing to go awful on a San Franciscan trip. The lyrics aren’t actually all that bright and cheery, but it’s usually the chorus that sticks with you, doesn’t it? And how can you not enjoy a bit of this under the sun?

08. Liz Phair – Never Said
It’s interesting living in Chicago again and getting into discussions about Ms. Phair. If whitechocolatespaceegg didn’t get right up this city’s hipsters’ noses, then certain her highly sheened pop albums since 2003 have left many people more than scratching their heads. But talking to them, you’d think even Exile in Guyville was a knife in the city’s back … something that was theirs but then became consumable for the rest of the country, if not world. I always opine that getting beyond a city’s borders is pretty much every artist’s dream, but some people can’t be convinced. For what it’s worth, people really love Liz in Wisconsin. So there you go. Anyway, I’ll still go to bat for Exile, and as “obvious single” as this is, you can’t argue. If the legend is correct, then this is the answer to the Stones’ “Tumbling Dice” and it seems about right to me.

09. Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs – Stay
I blogged about this years ago and implored readers to try to appreciate it outside of its connotations with “Dirty Dancing.” I revive that request right now. Just enjoy it for what it is, a perfect breeze of a pop tune that says everything it needs to say in a paltry 1 minute and 39 seconds and leaves you aching for more. I don’t know how they got that drum sound, and I don’t know why more artists don’t strive for it. Williams wrote this song when he was but 15 years old, and it hit the number one spot 7 years later in November of 1960. There’s a lot to the argument that rock and roll has digressed a bit from its formative days. Proof’s in the pudding?

10. The Clash – Rudie Can’t Fail
For as aggressive as their songs (including this one) were, the Clash knew how to bring a bit of sunshine to proceedings too. Critical as it may be of growing boys that can’t act like responsible adults (or maybe critical of those who are doing the criticizing), it’s all done over a horn-spiked bounce from the seminal London Calling LP and ranks as one of the best moments (if not THE best moment) from that album. Guaranteed to having you moving some part of your body for its duration and more than likely singing along by the end.

11. The Rifles – The Great Escape
This is from the Rifles 2009 album of the same name. I saw these boys open for Paul Weller back in 2008, and I can see why he would be behind them—they’ve got that observational aggression within which he’s so well versed. The lyrics read like a to-do list for summer (the British summertime’s just great—whatever), although I might advise against purchasing a brand new semi next door to the Taliban. The government’s just going to end up getting really annoyed about how you didn’t KNOW they were living so close.

12. The Bird and the Bee – Heard it on the Radio
Longtime visitors to the blog will know of my admiration of Inara George, so putting her voice in this mix should be no surprise. This catchy little ditty is actually an original that they included on a 2010 album consisting (otherwise) solely of Hall & Oates covers. And yes, it captures the H&O framework for a perfect pop chorus nicely. Part of me wishes they’d shot an appropriately cheesy video for it featuring superfluous hamminess from G.E. Smith. But life’s full of disappointments, isn’t it?

13. Dean Martin – Carolina Moon
This is the lead cut from Dean Martin’s first 12” LP for Capitol, Swingin’ Down Yonder, which was released in 1955. As one might guess from the title, all the songs revolved around southern states or cities. New Orleans and the Carolinas got three songs apiece, so maybe Dean didn’t take in as much of the south as he could’ve for a 12-song LP, or maybe songwriters from Arkansas and Tennessee were just a little bit behind the guys putting the likes of “Georgia on My Mind” or “Mississippi Mud” together. Of the three Carolina-based songs, this one’s far and away the best. Actually wants to make me see the moon in North (or South) Carolina. Could it be THAT much better than what I’ve seen over Chicago? Or the Northwoods?

14. Kula Shaker – Moonshine
If you don’t have access to a moon over North or South Carolina, then perhaps this should suit you just as well. Kula Shaker bring a bit of Eastern ambiance to this track, which was a B-side to the “Tattva” single before emerging in the United States as part of the (appropriately titled) “Summer Sun EP.” The guitar solo’s a bit undercooked, but the swelling organ and the catchy-as-all-get-out chorus are more than redemptive.

15. Gruff Rhys – Gwn Mi Wn
This is from Gruff’s solo album, Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, which is done entirely in Welsh and makes for cool, but entirely incomprehensible, reading for Yanks like myself. Gruff’s description of the song: “It’s a bit of a long story. It literally means, ‘Yes, I know.’ It’s also a play on words; extended. It’s about this MC called Glyn Kysgod Angau, which means ‘The Valley of Death’ and his mate called D. Chwaeth [Ob Scene]. So it’s kind of biblical. It’s a track about these two fictional MC’s who have a battle with bows and arrows that shoot words, and they pour beer on their cornflakes in the morning. It’s just bragging really.” Beer on cornflakes and MC duals. Summer! Fact is, you’re going to have this thing stuck in your head for eons and we all owe Gruff a debt of gratitude for saving that drumbeat from forever being linked to “Mickey.”

16. Old 97’s – Bel Air
Certainly, the 97’s have written more summer-y themed material (“She Loves the Sunset” and “Melt Show” come immediately to mind), but something about this chestnut from 1995’s Wreck Your Life always reminds me of a night on the town after a sweltering day on the job. I suppose that it starts out in a boiler room gives it that feel, but from fooling around in the backseat to whiskey-spiked Slurpees to scaring kids on motorcycles, it just contains all the debauchery a good summer eve should. Maybe the chorus’ sentiment of “I’ll stomp a mudhole in your heart” doesn’t give a lot of hope for a sunny tomorrow, but hey, seize the moment.

17. Brenda Holloway – We’ll Keep on Rolling
I’m a huge, huge fan of Brenda’s and for the limited amount of material that was actually released during her heyday with the Tamla Motown set, it was all pretty top notch. Thanks be to the big one then, that she also left the vaults pretty well stocked. This cut, which I believe was recorded in 1966 was made available on the 3^rd volume of the Cellarful of Motown series. Got everything the great Motown hits did as far as drive, a sharp pocket and sing-a-long-able chorus, but as 1966 went, a lot of potential classics had to be set aside (grave injustice to Tammi Terrell too) for what that label was actually issuing. The problems with having so much good material, you know.

18. Sleeper – Nice Guy Eddie
Ah, that ever present story of the seemingly sweet young British lass who takes up with an elder man with eyes on the man’s fat stacks. Sure he may be old, but he’s rich and kind. And rich. Because I’ve always held a spot of affection for Louise Wener (the video still knocks me out), I’ll assume that the olive-choking incident was purely accidental, but the tragic (or commonplace) story unfolds over an unflinchingly catchy backing track and the coquettish coos over the chorus, well… give me a moment.

19. The Stone Roses – What the World is Waiting For
The Stone Roses were unstoppable in that time surrounding their through-and-through perfect debut album, even stocking the singles with A-level non-album B-sides. So high was the swell after that debut album hit that they wanted to release a follow up single with this song destined for the A-side. The record company brass put on the other side first, however, which just happened to be “Fools Gold.” The rest is history. Even drunk college kids who don’t know who Ian, John and Mani are – let alone would care about the fact that the three recently shared the same room for the first time since 1996 – know this song. While “What the World is Waiting For” did achieve “Double A-side” status, it quickly got washed away in the tides of history too. Reissues of the debut include “Fools Gold.” This one can be a little trickier too find. But there it is … like a splash of cool water on a brutally hot day. Refreshing as ever.

20. Nat King Cole – Walkin’ My Baby Back Home
The perfect way to end the great summer evening … walking the gal back in the wee small hours. This tune was an early hit for Nat and featured on his 1952 album Top Pops, and with all the petting and talcum on the vest and whatnot, it’s amazing those tightly wound execs made any room for it at all it to become such a smash. Maybe they too had affinity for stopping at barbecue stands. The only part of this song I don’t get is when they park. The whole song is about a walk home. Then in the middle of the song they’re in a car for some reason. WTF? Regardless, still a good closer.

And so there you have it. Now load it up, bust the speakers out and get off your computer and into the sunshine (or moonlight).

Whoever named the fall sure did a bang-up job.

Is anyone still out there?

I’ve taken a lot of guff in the last few weeks from a certain host of Madison’s finest 2-hour radio block for becoming entirely too lax in my blogging duties — it started with kind chiding about the need of an autumn mix that recently morphed into a “maybe you can write a f*cking blog about it” after I posted a Facebook update relaying my excitement about revisiting Rolling Stones Records in Norridge after a years-long absence. Such language from a Grandma!

There’s a good explanation why I’ve drifted away from this medium. Well, maybe that’s up to you to decide whether or not it’s good, but there is an explanation. Over the summer I relocated from Madison to Chicago. I found new employment and also that a lot of my nearest and dearest friends were more than happy to have me back within the distance of a few-minute El or taxi ride as opposed to the 3-hour jaunt between the two cities. This led to me being out fairly often when not in my new office, and I also survived in my new Chicago digs for quite sometime without Internet.

I could be snooty and say that there’s simply too much to do in Chicago to devote time to a blog, but that’s not the entire truth. The truth is, I just got out of habit — my former job stripped me of a lot of my desire to write in free time, even if it was about music. I wouldn’t say I’m back in habit yet, but I’m a lot more positive about writing than I was when I posted the summer mix. Moreover, I’ve got some ideas for new posts (why the hell is Paul McCartney re-re-releasing Band on the Run?), and with the year-end now quickly approaching, I’m realizing it’s time to start compiling my annual “15 of the Best” and, of course, the Christmas mix.

All that in due time. I know it’s been fall for a little while now and I’m a little late in posting this. Blame it on the prolonged summer-ish weather in the Midwest, but today was the first day I was driving to work and felt the crisp tinge of autumn in the air. The smell of it too. Fortunately, I had Volume 4 of the “Ain’t Superstitious, But These Things I’ve Seen…” autumn mix with me. Now you can have it too.

Are you happy, Grandma Cyd?

Autumnal, Vol. 4
Download Part 1 (tracks 1-10) HERE
Download Part 2 (tracks 11-20) HERE

01. Billy Bragg & Wilco – Walt Whitman’s Niece
It’s a blustery opener to the first (and superior) volume of Bragg & Wilco’s Mermaid Avenue, and it sounds a right nice way to open the fourth volume of this blog’s autumn mix. While I wouldn’t tag this tune as breezy – there’s certainly a stiff wind about it, and a bit of fun as the boys put music to Woody Guthrie’s 1946 lyric about a friendly seaman leaving the song’s protagonist alone in a room with some (but not which) niece of Walt Whitman’s. Enjoy the double entendres of seamen, heads and laps. And remember even though the music is just over a decade old, the lyric itself is more than a half century old.

02. Wyclef Jean – Gone Till November
I’ve always wanted to like Wyclef much more than I’ve ever been able to, simply because his output is so consistently spotty. There are moments of genius, and maybe 1997’s The Carnival was the most ready-loaded of the bunch, but when it comes to one good song on 19-track or more albums, I just can’t be bothered. Couple that with the fact that most people saw the writing on the wall when he considered Haitian presidency, I’m as uninterested now in the details of his relationship with Lauryn Hill and/or Pras as I was in 1998 and I’m more likely to hear him shouting basic Spanish over a Shakira single than I am to hear something completely his, and it’s just… meh. Ah, but this is the track that spawned my hope for him. A beautifully lush single that sugarcoats the hard-to-see-through familial commitments of a drug dealer and produces a strong enough emotional swell to surf upon. I would love an album of this kind of stuff. And I more than believe he has the talent in him to arrange and produce an album that merges hip-hop, soul and orchestration like this. The problem is his focus for it seems to be as fleeting as that shot of Dylan in the song’s video.

03. Michael Penn – Out of My Hand
Probably the best cut from Penn’s 1997 album, Resigned. Michael’s always had a knack for writing a good song, but after “No Myth,” the public at large seemed to stop caring. I’ve been a proponent of his on this blog before and I’m sure I’ll continue to be – his songwriting runs in the same vein of Beatle-esque whimsy that Neil Finn frequents. This is a song that never comes immediately to mind for me if I’m thinking of good Michael Penn songs to show people or, much less, putting together a mix, but every time it comes up at random or alongside a host of other Michael Penn tracks, I always stop and go, “Oh yeah … I like this one … a lot.” So if you haven’t heard it, enjoy. There are some pretty phenomenal chord changes in here. I know it’s kind of a tepid thing to compliment, but once you hear it, I believe you’ll think so too.

04. Ride – Starlight Motel
A lot of people are pretty hard on Ride’s final album, 1996’s Tarantula, and I can understand why. Andy Bell’s foil Mark Gardener is virtually absent from the album, leaving Bell to front a three-piece band that seems hellbent on building an album based on the Oasis blueprint—a trait Bell would carry into the Hurricane #1 days before inevitably becoming a member of Oasis himself. Most Ride fans yearned for more of the band’s early 1990’s output, shoegazing stuff of hushed vocals buried in layers of reverb-heavy guitar. I actually enjoyed them more when they went retro, beginning with 1994’s Carnival of Light. I just thought the songs made more sense and the vocals were more intelligible. Call me simple, but there you go. Anyway, I wouldn’t rate Tarantula as one of the finest albums in rock’s history, much less in 1990s history, but the slating it got at the time of release was unjustified. It was a decent album buoyed by some charming little tunes, and this one probably being the best, or at least most charming, of the lot. It’s a pretty obvious veer into Buffalo Springfield territory, but at the end of the day, what’s so bad about that? It’s an optimistic end to a rather pessimistic album, and it’s a nice audio accompaniment to some of fall’s more simple pleasures.

05. Electric Light Orchestra – In My Own Time
I hate the fact that this is an ELO song. I hate the fact that 2001’s Zoom is even referred to as an ELO album, despite the fact that besides Jeff Lynne, only one other member of ELO plays on it. And that other member plays on only one track. George Harrison and Ringo Starr play on more of the album than any other ELO-er besides Lynne, which, maybe makes it the ELO album that Lynne always wanted to make anyway, but still – just make it a damn solo album. Zoom is actually a surprisingly fabulous album, full of the glossy production and sturdy songwriting you would want from the shaded-n-bearded one, but the decision to put it out under the ELO moniker and force some kind of sentimentality from a public that absolutely did not want it (the album tanked and the ensuing tour was cancelled after a few shows) forever nullified this album to the point of general obscurity. Which is annoying on several fronts, the least of which being that this shimmery take on basic 1950s blues gets more propulsion from one of my seasonal mixes than it did from the creator himself. Listen to this on an autumn afternoon and try to tell me it’s no good.

06. Elvis Presley – (Marie’s the Name of) His Latest Flame
It’s by no means a stretch when I tell people I can count the number of Elvis songs I truly adore on one hand. Actually it is. I can count the number of Elvis songs I really like on one hand. I can count the number of Elvis songs I truly adore on one finger. Here it is. My personal opinions and critiques on the man and his oeuvre aside, he delivers a damn fine vocal here, but it’s the backing track that always gets me. It’s a picture perfect shuffle that uses only sparse amplification. The dance-ability of this considering the heavy use of acoustic instruments (and brush sticks, no less) just astounds me. Great, great stuff and a stiff musical counterpoint to one of the most heartbreaking little lyrics ever. And is it just me, or does this song seem grossly appropriate for the Facebook age of people who can’t help but to stalk exes?

07. Happy Mondays – Stinkin’ Thinkin’
This song is the absolute opposite of what made the Mondays so fantastic. It never explicitly asks the listener for forgiveness, it actually asks that all the hedonism and access that the Mondays condoned in their glory years (and bigger hits) be acknowledged. But the whole tone of the song drips with regret, and given where Ryder & Co. were in 1992 (the Yes! Please album being a terrific underwhelm, despite the sheer ridiculousness of its Barbados-birthed backstory), the fallout from Ryder and Bez’s quasi-homophobic rent-boy bashing, and the implosion of Factory Records—it all seemed to make for a downtrodden epitaph. Still, there’s something uplifting about this tune, even if it’s sighing that things probably won’t ever change (for better or worse). It’s the perfect morning after song.

08. Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine
The very first time I listened to NPR, this song was playing. It was a dreary fall day in Madison, Wisconsin and I usually avoid the radio at all costs – a symptom of growing up in a family prone to radio-soundtracked roadtrips that required constant channel changing to maintain signals or find something listenable. The odds of finding anything good were too slim for my liking so I started crafting roadtrip mix tapes, and as long as I’ve been able to drive my own car, the radio has never stayed on for an extended stretch (unless it’s an important Cubs game and Pat and Ronny have the call). But I was switching CDs one day and this was on the radio (I don’t know why it was tuned to NPR, but it was) and all I could think was, “F*ck me, this sounds incredible.” I didn’t associate it with Fiona at first, nor did I associate it with the fabulous Jon Brion, but lo and behold, it was both of their handywork. Thankfully, the people at Epic believed this was one track worth saving from Apple and Brion’s original Extraordinary Machine sessions (which trump the properly released album) and it got to see the proper light of day. The second time I heard this song was at a New Year’s Eve Party in 2005 and I thought, “God, this even sounds good at a party. I must find this album.” Something about it is appealing to me at any time of year, but when the weather runs just a bit colder, it seems to make this thing more effective. And yes, it still amazes me as a listener as it did on that first NPR airing. Oh, and my radio is always set to NPR now, too, just incase you know, something good ever comes on between my CD changes.

09. Elliott Smith – Angeles
I’ve been listening to this song for years, whether it comes up on Smith’s 1997 album Either/Or, or as part of that phone call/Minnie Driver leaving sequence whenever “Good Will Hunting” shows up on basic cable channel in weekend syndication. After all that, I still don’t know exactly what this song means, but having said that, I almost prefer it that way. It sounds cold and lonely and whatever positive sentiments bubble up in the lyric, some cynical undertone pops them—particularly the “I could make you satisfied” closing verse. Still, as cold as could be, this song always leaves me decidedly forward-looking. As if this is the soundtrack to the kind-of-crummy bit, but something better is waiting around the corner. Funny, that, because while I profess to not know what the song is about, I can tell it’s almost certainly not about that. But I digress.

10. Massive Attack – Blue Lines
Every time I listen to Massive Attack, I always think, “God… I really need to dig into this band more,” but to this day, I still haven’t. Maybe someday. This track, the title cut from their 1991 opus always just sinks its teeth into me. I’m not an avid trip-hop fan of any sorts and I seldom find myself singing, er… rapping along to this, but I always listen intently and at the very least nod my head. Something about the whole tone of the song, it’s just very beguiling. And when it came on my iPod the other day during a cool walk by Chicago’s lakefront, it seemed even more effective. For Chicago listeners, I also recommend this driving at night along Lake Shore Drive. For everyone else, find your place to put it on and groove. It’s a very cool groove.

11. Paul Weller – Cold Moments
I believe Weller has the distinction of making every autumn mix to date, so why stop at No. 4? Depending on what day you ask, I’ll probably say that this is the best moment on his 2008 album, 22 Dreams (then the next day I’ll go back to “Have You Made Up Your Mind?”). To my knowledge, it’s the last solo song of his to feature Steve White on drums, and you can audibly notice a tighter beat here than elsewhere on that album, but everything about this song is just so windy-overcast-fall-day crisp, if you will. As someone who positively despises being made to wait for phone calls (I should probably pick a different line of work), I can lock right in with the song’s sentiment, but additional kudos for the sparingly effective organ and “sha-la-la-la-la-la”s. I’m all for Weller’s recent creative burst, but my criticism has been the general loss of songs like this in favor of minute-and-a-half soundscapes with stream-of-conscious lyrics. I like a bit of structure. And where there’s good structure there, it doesn’t even bother me that this song clocks in at five minutes. Frankly, I could take another five.

12. Cilla Black – It’s For You
One of the great Lennon/McCartney originals that the Beatles never actually took on themselves, this was instead lofted over to Cilla – another artist tied to Parlophone Records and under the management of Brian Epstein. The fact that it had the John & Paul songwriting credit helped its popularity (it peaked at #7 in the UK), but the maturity in the production and, dare I say, songwriting, might not have appealed to the same group of kids putting “Can’t Buy Me Love” atop the charts. Though this is a bit of a melodramatic song, it also sounds quite pastoral, and it must have been nice for George Martin to produce something that could employ his ear for larger orchestrational arrangements (the Beatles were still about a year away from doing that themselves).

13. Souvenir – Ne Dis Pas
This is Souvenir’s contribution to the 2000 Beach Boys/Brian Wilson tribute album, Caroline Now! “Girl Don’t Tell Me” just might be my all time favorite Beach Boys tune, so to hear it in French in the breathless vocals of Patricia De La Fuente is interesting enough, but even more enjoyable in that they kept the right balance between the original’s breeziness and immediacy. There are few people that could compete with Carl Wilson as a singer, and I don’t think this version is even a threatening competitor to the original, but kudos for an interesting angle and atmospheric production that sounds right at home on a fall mix.

14. Rhett Miller – Haphazardly
If there is a downside to Rhett Miller’s 2009 self-titled solo album, it’s that it’s a little back-heavy with dreary ballads that veer away from the cleverness for which he’s known and respected. “Haphazardly” could have fallen into that category, save for the absolutely brilliant line “Whoever named the fall sure did a bang-up job – they might as well have been talking about me.” It’s an easily identifiable line for any listener prone to even a slight mood swing, but getting some heavy accentuation from the crack studio band backing Stuart Ransom II, the song carries some bombast to bulk up its self-critical protagonist. Doubt is always a little better when there’s some muscle behind it … don’t ask me why.

15. The Beatles – For No One
It’s probably not fair to call any Beatles song underrated, but even when thinking about Revolver, how many people have “For No One” come right to the fore as an example of why that album’s so great? I would wager not many, although I would also wager that not many people would have a bad thing to say about the tune. The thing that still astounds me is McCartney’s songwriting chops by 1966. The guy’s 24 years old and he’s writing a ballad like this about the pain of middle age. Whether the lady’s muse in question is  actually dead or just a sad case of unrequited love, I guess that’s up to the listener, but the Beatles were handling topics like this even 2 years before with songs like “Baby’s in Black.” It’s really pretty amazing to think about when you think about pre-facial hair Beatles, and it’s why I’ll never understand anyone that really wants to argue about anyone in the history of popular music being better. They do here in two minutes what most bands could never even think to conjure.

16. Dean Martin – Who’s Your Little Who-Zis!
This is the lead cut from Dean’s first LP, 1953′s Dean Martin Sings. Martin had actually done the song in his 1952 movie with Jerry Lewis, “The Stooge,” and the LP basically worked as a catch-all for songs that had featured in that movie and a few other cuts (the 12″ version featured Dean’s standard “That’s Amore”), but this little number has always charmed me. In my entire life, I’ve known only one lady who vehemently defended Martin as the greatest crooner of all time. I grew up in a Sinatra-adoring extended family. Dean was always respected, but never considered to be a patch on Frank. In my own rebellious way, I’ll actually staunchly defend Bobby Darin as the greatest crooner, but I think Martin outdid Frank on a number of fronts. Frank had the arrogance and the implied cool about him. Dean just had the cool — listen to the way his voice goes up when he sings “melts your heart LIKE butter…” You can visualize him almost shrugging when he sings it, and it’s just that offhandedness about it that always gets me.

17. Emmitt Long – Call Me
I know very little about Mr. Long and about this song, actually, as I unearthed it on some old Northern Soul compilation. I will say that being in Chicago has freshened my ears for good, rare soul and R&B music — you just don’t get “Mod Night”s in Madison, sadly. This song has an incredibly dusty overtone that I don’t know is a quality of simply not being well-known enough to merit a proper CD remaster or was simply recorded in such simple circumstances that it will be forever how the tape sounds. But really listen to this thing — it sounds like a classic-era Al Green demo. And I mean that in the best way possible. Even the little spoken interlude isn’t too ridiculous. Nice one to do a slow float around the floor to, and you can easily groove to it with or without a partner.

18. Heavy Stereo – Cartoon Moon
I have a lot of faith in Gem Archer, which is what’s holding my interest in Beady Eye as I wait (maybe forever) for a Noel Gallagher solo album. Gem’s writing wasn’t put to good use during his Oasis tenure – he wrote some moderately enjoyable songs, but nothing like the best stuff he penned during his days fronting Heavy Stereo, and I want to believe it was because he was constantly writing in Gallagher Sr.’s shadow. But look back a little ways and you’ll see that Gem has some fine songwriting chops of his own. “Cartoon Moon” could have been a huge Oasis hit (the heavier, full-band version can be found on Heavy Stereo’s lone LP, Deja Voodoo), but this acoustic treatment can be found as a B-side to their rollicking 1995 single, “Smiler.” Sure, the lead guitar lick is an obvious knock off of the lick from “Supersonic” (which, in itself, is an obvious knock off of the lick from “My Sweet Lord”), but listen to that simple lyric – particularly when Gem insists “Shine on me.” He can be quite affecting, you know. I really hope he steps back up to it with Beady Eye.

19. Morrissey – The Loop
I was heartened to learn that Morrissey reestablished this song as part of his live sets in recent years, but it’s still too grossly underrated and generally unknown for my liking. The rockabilly thump is exhilarating enough, but what’s really key about this tune is something that Morrissey never does nowadays – subscribe to the idea that less is more. All the lyric is is one simple verse that’s repeated just once. Yes, friends, there was a time when Morrissey had the ability to say what he meant in the fewest, choicest words possible and not mercilessly drag out a point over an uninspired (and tuneless) backing track. Here’s a glorious reminder.

20. Joe Brown – I’ll See You in My Dreams
I was surprised how frequently I was moved to tears the first time I saw “The Concert for George.” The big reasons for me are as follows: 1.) I’m not a big cryer. During uncomfortable moments, I’m much more likely to burst into laughter – it’s a defense mechanism, and don’t think for a minute it hasn’t got me in a lot of trouble at times. Wakes and funerals, in particular. 2.) I’m incredibly wary of tributes – particularly ones that merit DVD release and big spectacle concerts. I’m all for George Harrison’s music, but do I need to hear Tom Petty singing “I Need You,” when I can just go upstairs and plug in my own copy of Help!? No. Nevertheless, I found myself teary-eyed on multiple instances watching the DVD. From when the Pythons saluted the portrait of George after “The Lumberjack Song,” to Billy Preston’s reading of “My Sweet Lord,” and yes, even Petty’s version of “I Need You” (singing it to/about a dead person just makes it that much of a sadder song). But Joe Brown’s finale of a ukulele-led “I’ll See You in My Dreams”? I was watching it was five other people, and I had to leave the room. It’s the sweetest song, and doing it ukulele style just absolutely killed me. Brown isn’t the first to do it with a ukulele leading it – Cliff Edwards recorded it as such multiple times, but something about Brown’s voice and gentle delivery just makes it the ultimate version. Thankfully, the only time I get really emotional is when I see the DVD. I can listen to the song and just appreciate the tune without getting particularly emotional, and this version, from Brown’s 2004 LP Hittin’ the Hi Spots is a fabulous studio rendition and a perfect closing to this year’s autumn volume.

Happy Falling.

Let all the Russians and the Chinese and the Spanish do the fighting. The sun is shining.

I know, I haven’t been around in months. Things are hectic on the job front and even when I do get the inspiration to write these days, I find myself going, “But… I’m just going to be writing so much tomorrow. So what else is on T.V.?” I know, selfish. Especially for all you followers wondering where the hell else you can get turned on to great music.

Well, I want you to know I’d never abandon you entirely, and I do promise that one day posts will return with nice frequency. I’m just not sure exactly when that will be. In the meantime, I missed the unofficial start of summer, but I’m still a couple weeks early for the unofficial start, so I think it’s high-time for the fourth installment of summer is a mixtape.

As always, this is the only soundtrack you need until the Tuesday after Labor Day. Play it loudly at your cookouts, parties, road trips, beach visits, boat outings, lake visits, camping trips and any applicable social function. Hell, even if you’re alone and need a pick-me-up, play it. Summer is here, says I.

Download Part 1 (tracks 1 – 10 in a .zip file)
Download Part 2 (tracks 11- 20 in a .zip file)

 

01. The Style Council – A Solid Bond in Your Heart
Quite likely the best Northern Soul song of the 1980s, Paul Weller wrote this as the Jam’s time was coming to an end, and first thought it might make a good swan song for his first group. Then he thought it was too good to be a last word and pocketed it so he could help launch his new outfit, The Style Council, with the song. The Style Council still catches a lot of guff to this day — even from fans of Weller — and while god-awful 1980s production techniques marred plenty of their output, you can’t deny that the Modfather had plenty of good songs in him through the decade. The great thing about “Solid Bond” is that it’s not only a fab song, but it came in before that horrible 1980s production moved into the Style Council’s studio chambers. Overloaded with strings, horns, multi-tracked vocals and one of the liveliest basslines ever to anchor a Weller song, this is just 12 kinds of glorious and a fitting tribute to the music that still motivates the guy to this day.

02. Bebel Gilberto – Chica Chica Boom Chic
Have no idea what 97% of this song is about, pretty sure about 65% is nonsense, though, and I don’t care. Bebel is a summer staple, and this single from last year’s All in One is as ridiculously sun-kissed as just about everything she’s put her name to. Bebel’s stepmom (technically, I guess) Astrud recorded this tune years ago and now as Bebel is home on the Verve label that housed Astrud and Bebel’s father, João, I guess it’s more than appropriate that she gets a crack at an old standard. The fact that she knocks it way out of the park is completely unsurprising. And completely welcome.

03. Black Grape – Kelly’s Heroes
Black Grape’s 1995 debut, It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah is not only one of the finest summer records ever, but hands-down one of the finest records ever made. Coming off a rather dismal end to the Happy Mondays, Shaun Ryder sounded 110% rejuvenated here, and undoubtedly spurred on by new rapping/singing foil Kermit. The two’s exchange at the 0:40 mark (“Jesus was a black man!” “No, Jesus was Batman!” “No, no, no, no, no, no — that was Bruce Wayne!”) is hilarious on every listen, and the rejection of anyone tabbed a “hero” might just be enough to make you disavow the person or persons you might follow. I mean, admit it. They’ve never been categorically dismissed with as good a backing track as this, have they?

04. Paolo Nutini – 10/10
I never bought into the Nutini craze a couple years ago with the These Streets album and all that hubbub surrounding “New Shoes.” That song wasn’t as good as “Jenny Don’t Be Hasty” anyway. So when Nutini last year released Sunny Side Up, I wasn’t paying attention and really had no intention of checking it out until I overheard “Pencil Full of Lead” somewhere and thought someone had stumbled into a whole vault of unreleased Louis Prima material. “10/10,” the album’s opening cut, would have made me think the same thing had I heard it first instead. You gotta hand it to Paolo — taking a step away from an adoring flock of girls aged 14 to 28 and gravitating toward a style of music that appealed to their mothers and maybe grandmothers is a bold step to take. But the guy’s got the chops to do it and doesn’t sound contrived or forced trying it. It hasn’t made me a full-fledged Nutini Nut or anything, but I tip my hat to him for this track and a few others on Sunny Side Up. Takes some stones to go running in a direction far away from your first solo album the next time out.

05. Robbie Nevil – C’est La Vie
Big slice of 1980′s pop for you here, and indeed this smacks of all the downfalls of ’80s music — overreliance on synthesizers, phased beats and group participation choruses. Then again, this song has the same traits that make you still secretly like Hall & Oates (or, hell, even a lot of the Style Council), and that’s the fact that this is just a great, great pop song. White boys taking on R&B with all the 1980s trappings is always a case of venturing into treacherous waters, and few ever made it out unscathed, but “C’est La Vie” sounds like pretty clear sailing to me. Indeed the testament to the song is that the synths, beats, and group insistence in the chorus (“THAT’S RIGHT!”) fail to sink the song. Christ, even a comedically inept music video, featuring Robbie as perhaps the most dispassionate artist ever to star (and look really bad wielding a stratocaster) in a video couldn’t bring this song down. Impressive. But more importantly, fun. That’s what summer’s about.

06. Rebirth Brass Band – It’s All Over Now (Live)
N’awlins music is just going to put you in a sunny state of mind, if not remind you of some glorious days (and long nights) out, so it seems more than appropriate to put a Second Line staple in the mix here. Rebirth and some other New Orleans great are getting a little more exposure in the new HBO series “Treme,” which might be where you’ve heard a similar rendition of this old blues classic. And I’m sure anyone who’s ever heard Rebirth’s take on the song will agree that it just doesn’t get any better. Forget the Stones. Forget Rod. Forget Bobby Womack. This is where it’s at. If this can’t get you over a break-up, you’re hopeless. Seriously. The table’s turning and it’s turning tonight. Viva the next opportunity!

07. Edgar Jones & Friends – Seven Years
Edgar made his ASBTTIS mix debut last season on the third volume of “Spring Chicken,” and he’s back for a consecutive seasonal mix with this cut from his splendiferous 2008 record, The Masked Marauder. The guy’s well known around northern England as one of the premier guitarists and R&B/blues enthusiasts, and listening to his stuff, it’s sometimes hard to imagine he’s not a product of toiling away in Chicago’s blues scene. The music comes to the guy so naturally. This is like Chic if Chic was fronted by Eddie Kendricks. Even though the subject matter is kind of a drag — looking at a relationship and realizing you’ve wasted years on it — the groove is chill enough to let bygones and be bygones and dance into the future. Or, I guess, if it’s too much of a drag, you can just skip back two tracks to Rebirth. Still, you’ll never hear cooler music coming from a guy named Edgar.

08. The Rolling Stones – Tumbling Dice
The recent re-release of 1972′s Exile on Main St. reignited all those well-worn music snob debates: Is it the best Stones album? How important, really, was Mick to this whole thing? What’s the best cut out of the double album’s 18? It’s terribly easy to go with “Tumbling Dice,” you know. I mean, could you be more obvious? The first single? Really? I mean, hell, you can go for cool points and rattle off “Ventilator Blues.” I certainly like to make impassioned arguments for “Rocks Off.” I even have my days where I forget just how much I really do like “Happy.” But see, then you HEAR “Tumbling Dice,” and kind of have to go, “…oh yeah.” I mean, it’s just the confluence of ingredients here. Charlie’s drumming. That plodding piano line. Mick’s just-buried-enough vocal. Keith’s ramshackle harmonies. The bit where Mick insists “You can be my partner-in-crime.” This is musical medicine. It’s very hard not to feel good after cranking this.

09. Bobby Darin & Johnny Mercer – My Cutey’s Due at Two-to-Two Today
Probably the best moment on 1961′s Darin/Mercer duet album, Two of a Kind. It’s a pretty solid pairing and, actually, I could probably do with another album or two from the combo, but maybe it’s better that there was just one solid offering. Both Darin and Mercer had pretty defined personalities and deliveries, and as you can hear, they play off each other quite nicely. But what I particularly like about the record and this song in particular is you can hear that Darin counted himself as a bit of an understudy to Mercer. Each man interrupts the other’s verse with smart-ass little comments, but Mercer never cracks, try as Darin might. Darin on the other hand, not only verges on the giggles a couple times, he also tries to extend the funny by laying a cowboy accent on the “And how those western stars can fight” line.  It could get kitsch in lesser hands, but here it just ends up being a fun swing with some nice wordplay.

10. Suede – Beautiful Ones
Being a big Bernard Butler fan, I didn’t really ever get deeply into Suede, because the guitarist didn’t stick around long enough to make it seem like it would be worth my time. Especially in the mid-90s when he was doing the exquisite “Yes” with David McAlmont and releasing two still-under appreciated solo albums of his own. Brett Anderson? Smart guy, but a little too flamboyant vocally and stylistically for my own tastes. But hell, who am I to deny a great pop song? This cut, from Suede’s 1996 record, Coming Up, is just a great pop song. I know the point of the song is to take aim at all the trappings and dismalities of being in the “in-crowd,” but jeez, the way Mr. Anderson lists diesel gasoline, drum machines, sex and glue, I kind of wonder what I was missing by studiously never allowing myself to conform. Maybe it would’ve been fun. At least when I was 22.

11. The Black Crowes – Ozone Mama
I’ve never been able to buy into the Black Crowes at fill tilt. I don’t have an aversion to southern-tinged rock, just bands that stake the majority of their career on it. Two or three (maybe four, depending upon the depth of your catalogue) albums worth? OK. But a whole discography? That said, I’d vociferously defend 2001′s Lions as one of the better rock albums ever created, and this track is a great summation of the reason the album works. This track is just plain silly. How many times does Chris Robinson say “y’all”? What are the odds the lyrics were written on the spot? How unnecessary is screaming “I LIKE IT LIKE THAT!” at the end? Ah, but then again, you’re tapping your foot as you listen, aren’t you? You’re thinking this would sound quite nice at your next Saturday barbecue, aren’t you? There’s no pretension here — it’s just “Eh, let’s try having a little fun.” Great bridge in this song, and the one-two punch of an electric piano AND organ? Hats off, boys.

12. T. Rex – Mambo Sun
Easily my favorite Marc Bolan composition and very possibly the sexiest song ever written. There’s probably not much I can say about T. Rex or 1971′s Electric Warrior that hasn’t already been said a million times, so I guess the trick is just to listen to this. This is a one off. You could try for a million years to recreate the vibe and sound that was captured here for just over three and a half minutes, but it’s not going to happen. Aural magic. F*ck John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. THIS is Summer Lovin’

13. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes – Home
A friend showed me this track a few months ago, and to date this is all I know about Mr. Sharpe and the apparent Zeroes with whom he surrounds himself. This is a stunningly charming track — a dude and his lady basically singing each other’s praises and saying that being in love with each other is preferable to Alabama, Arkansas, love for Ma and Pa, hot and heavy pumpkin pie, chocolate cake and Jesus Christ. Pretty random list, but I think the point gets across and it’ll put a smile on  your face. When my friend played this for me, I remarked to him it’s the kind of music She & Him should be making. “If She & Him were, you know…” I began, before my friend interjected with “…good?” I don’t know if I’d be that critical, but Ms. Deschanel and Mr. Ward should pay attention. Kudos to these guys for thinking up this one first, though.

14. Ocean Colour Scene – Up on the Downside
The masses forgot about OCS after 1998′s Marchin’ Already and even the lingering diehards are hard-pressed to make a case for any album to compare with their last truly great LP, 1999′s One From the Modern. But the people who’ve given up or looked the other way have missed out on a lot of great tunes scattered amongst an ever-growing array of folk ballads. Tracks like this, from 2001′s so-so Mechanical Wonder, are the exact reason you still need to pay attention. This cut rivals the very best things the Scene ever released and even goes further in terms of fun and dance-ability than some of their designated classics. I still don’t quite get exactly what point Foxy’s trying to make in these lyrics, but I think it’s about paying your dues during the week to enjoy the hell out of the weekend. You know, like you do in summer.

15. The Traveling Wilburys – New Blue Moon
George Harrison and Jeff Lynne’s voices just sounded wonderful together, didn’t they? I mean, you put George, Jeff, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan in a studio and you don’t figure you’re going to get a lovely calypso-tinged ballad, but lo and behold, this is one of the finer moments on the 1990′s Vol. 3. Letting Dylan taking the solo on the bridge still kind of throws a little cold water on the mood of the song, but I have to imagine George especially was having a good laugh when Bob stepped to the mic for his part. Particularly the last line, when he pulls out a falsetto (you-you-ya-you-hoo-OOOH!) that, even 20 years later, I can’t tell whether it’s serious or a piss-take. I guess it doesn’t matter. Some gorgeous slide-playing by George, some incredible percussion by Jim Keltner, and George and Jeff’s voices winding around each other on the verses… this is a starry night on the beach right here.

16. Elastica – Car Song
Like all the best tracks on Elastica’s 1995 self-titled debut, this one doesn’t even crack 3 minutes. Most of the best pop songs leave you wanting more, and this song is chock-full of stuff I’d love to hear much more about. Be it Justine Frischmann’s sexual connotations with Ford and Honda jalopies (you wouldn’t want to hear more from her?), why exactly we need to count to ten and how anything in a Fiesta can possibly go too far. Hell, I could take another four minutes of repeating that chorus. This is just catchy as sin.

17. Alejandro Escovedo – One More Time
Alejandro’s getting a lot more play in mainstream thanks to duets with Bruce Springsteen and a continuing stream of solid albums that is set to continue this summer. Those who take the time to really dig into his catalogue will find that the solid songwriting’s always been there, and this song from his 1992 solo debut, Gravity, just proves the point. It’s got a early 1970s Stones feel to it, but as much as it tips its hat to the ramshackle rock ‘n’ roll Alejandro grew up loving, it doesn’t really strike you as derivative — just really fun. My guess is even if you try to be a critical curmudgeon about it, you’ll be singing along by the time the second chorus comes around.

18. The Kinks – Drivin’
There’s a reason Ray Davies is my single favorite songwriter of all time and I can explain that reason by pointing to both the singles and albums the Kinks put out between 1966 and 1969. The stuff before and after was good — much of it DAMN good, in fact — but anything bearing the Kinks’ name released in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969 was perfect. Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) was the last entry to the run of perfection, but Davies himself has always rated it lower than it should be because the original idea for the album was to serve as the soundtrack to a televised musical. The TV end fell through, so all that came out was a 12-song concept album about a dude who gets all put off by England and the fighting in World War II and leaves with his family for Australia. It’d be a tough pitch for any TV or film exec and the idea of it for a concept album is also pretty flimsy. But my God, the songs are perfect and the album is one of the best of all time (and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Who — who’d been following the Kinks since 1965 anyway — released Tommy a few months later). Taken out of the context of the album, “Drivin’” sounds pretty f*cking smarmy and borderline irritating, but there’s enough English charm to carry it through. Really, Davies’ deliberately cockney delivery is probably the only way a lyric such as “The sandwiches are packed, the tea’s in the flask, we’ve plenty of beer and gooseberry tarts — so take a drive with me” would ever work in a pop/rock song. And really, if there’s plenty of gooseberry tarts, what more convincing do you need?

19. The Silver Seas – Catch Yer Own Train
I could try to be hip and original and claim I’ve been onto these guys for years and 2006′s High Society has been in my CD tower since its release, but I’ll be honest and say, “Look, I heard the song on ‘Breaking Bad’ and really dug it, so get off my back.” Had I tried to get into the Silver Seas another way, I might have given up quickly — I don’t know if this kind of music is poor man’s Dylan, or hell, even poor man’s Stealers Wheel. But for the sake of appreciating a 3-minute pop song, let’s just dispense with the cynicism, shall we? Rest assured I’ve already tested it — roll down your windows on the highway and blast this one on a sunny day. Works exceedingly well.

20. Frank Sinatra – Love is Just Around the Corner
Pulled from the chairman’s 1962 Reprise LP, Sinatra and Swingin’ Brass, this is a pretty fabulous take on the old Gensler/Robin standard. Frank gets a little carried away toward the end — going all Frank with his delivery of the Venus de Milo middle section (“I must inform you that that Venus de Milo…”, “and what’s more, you got-uh de arms! — WOW!!” etc.), but it’s still a great version. Like Frank’s other early records on Reprise, there’s a real sense of command here. By this time, he’d done swing records so much that it could have easily verged on old hat, but there’s still a good amount of vigor. It would be a few years yet before the coasting became audible. Neal Hefti’s arrangements play to Sinatra’s vocal strengths here — kicking in some unique musical ticks to match Sinatra’s delivery, and it all amounts to a fun, breezy little tune. Perfect conclusion to a summer mix, even.

Happy summer, all.

Spring wind blowing straight through the window.

Well, everyone in Madison’s a bit bothered this weekend, because winter’s decided it’s not quite done. It decided to show up for a few more days after a week of fabulously spring-like weather that took care of all the snow accumulated over the past four months. And so we got a little more snow.

But checking any good calendar will reassure Madisonites and other people throughout the world that spring is indeed upon us, and well, I guess that means it’s time for the blog’s annual spring mix. Good for spring drives, walks, or yes, even soundtracking spring cleaning.

Bonus points to anyone who appreciates the reference on the cover art.

Spring Chicken, Vol. 3
The “Ain’t Superstitious, But These Things I’ve Seen…” Spring Mix

Download Part 1 (Tracks 1 – 10 in a .zip file)
Download Part 2 (Tracks 11 – 20 in a .zip file)

01. The La’s – Son of a Gun
The opening to the La’s one and only self-titled album is also the perfect opening for a spring mix. It’s the sound of running full throttle into a promising day, with a beat that’s as simple as it is complicated. It still astounds me that Lee Mavers despised this album so much. I mean, this song isn’t even the best thing on it, but it’s still better than what most bands spend their whole careers trying to achieve. I mean if this is the sound of fantastic songs being submarined by modern production techniques, then the album Mavers was hearing in his head must have been f*cking incredible. Without an earpiece to plug into his skull however, I’m quite happy to listen to this.

02. Blur – Coffee & TV
I remember when 13 was released and the big deal about it being Damon Albarn’s diary about breaking up with Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann. So people listened to “Tender” and “No Distance Left to Run” and thought “Oh wow…” as if no one in the history of popular music had written a breakup song before, let alone about somebody popular. So Graham Coxon’s spritely contribution to the album — even if it is a bit of a lyrical drag — is a nice change of pace. Coxon always kind of hated the fact that Albarn wrote the fantastically catchy chorus, so he tried to rewrite the song entirely on his own in 2004 with “Bittersweet Bundle of Misery,” which was pretty great, but this still seems to be where it’s at. And how great of a spring message is the ending coda of “Oh, we can start over again”? Seriously. Oh, by the way — still one of my all time favorite music videos.

03. Lily Frost – Lover Come Back To Me
Lily’s version of “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” landed on last year’s Christmas mix, and this cut is also pulled from her Billie Holliday tribute LP, Lily Swings. This track opens the record and is what immediately endeared it to my heart. Lily’s in wonderful voice, the Dukes sound great and the production sounds straight out of 1948 instead of 2008 (not only a good thing, but exceedingly appropriate for the record’s spirit). Surely I’m not the only one who smiles when this one starts.

04. Dr. Robert – The Coming of Grace
My only knowledge of Dr. Robert (the artist, not the Beatles song) was that the dude showed up a bit on Paul Weller’s 1995 album Stanley Road. Weller returned the favor, showing up on the doctor’s 1996 album, Realms of Gold. Weller’s involvement is what led me to this track, although I’m not sure I can detect the man’s presence. Ah well, the song’s still a laid-back, sunny 3:46 of general goodness. It’s not made me investigate the dude’s career any further, be it the Blow Monkeys or solo work, but maybe in time. For right now, this song is pretty great on its own and a fabulous addition to a spring mix.

05. Michael Penn – Bunker Hill
Michael showed up on last year’s spring mix too, and he should show up on a lot more mixes and critical “Best of” lists, but I have a feeling he’s just never going to get the kind of notoriety his brother Sean will, so he can just keep writing awesome little tunes and playing to those in tune enough to pay any notice. This track is from 1992′s Free-for-All, which wasn’t too famous because it didn’t have “No Myth.” But with “Bunker Hill” and “Look What the Cat’s Drug In,” it’s hard to say it wasn’t worth a listen. There’s something rudimentarily charming about this song — maybe it’s the simple piano runs or the lyrics (I’ve always loved the line “The only points of light are fires on Vermont” — I’m not sure what it means, but it sounds great) — I can’t put my finger on it, but something about this song just demands listens again and again. It’s not the best thing you’ll ever hear in your life. But it’s far from the worst. And it has a funny way of burrowing into your brain.

06. Elvis Costello & the Attractions – Secondary Modern
This song is an absolute obsession of mine at the moment. Severely. Like, Top 10 greatest things about life… right up there with girls and the feeling Cubs fans have during spring training. The fact that the song doesn’t last two minutes and covers the former subject only makes it more incredible. Costello’s 1980 album Get Happy!! had a distinct R&B tinge and A LOT of songs on it, but none better than this. I believe it’s about the trials and tribulations of the crushes experienced during middle school years, but that’s just my interpretation. Doesn’t really matter what age you are — girls will destroy your psyche, but it’d be a real problem if they weren’t around at all. Listen to that drum fill after the middle section and the way Costello sings “Nobody makes me sad like you, now my whole world goes from blue to blue.” Incredible. And yeah, it’s a bit of a downer, but spring has its crappy days. And the beat is brisk enough to keep you moving along.

07. Nicholas Tremulis – Perchance to Dream
Tremulis, one of Chicago’s best-kept musical secrets, is known to bust out the banjo during solo slots and play this song, and since I first heard it in that form way back in 2005, the song’s just captivated me. And it takes a hell of a song to captivate me if all that’s pushing it is your voice and a banjo. It works fine in that form, but a bit of left-field accompaniment for the 2008 album Little Big Songs. I don’t know if my own predilection to pore over travel books and dream of visiting places makes this song hit closer to home, but I’m actually pretty sure it’s the way he repeats  ”She said that it would be a miracle if we could rest for just one day” that is the real zinger. This song is really like nothing else I’ve heard from Nick, and I love it for that very reason.

08. Sam Cooke – Rome (Wasn’t Built in a Day)
The best moment on 1964′s Ain’t That Good News, and (in my opinion) the best moment in Cooke’s catalogue. Nevermind the fact that Sam could sing a song like nobody else — it’s the way he delivers this song, a bit of advice for anyone considering giving up on another person or even pursuing a person, that just knocks it out of the park. I always have this song somewhere in my mind if I’m working up the gumption to get a first date, but when my offer is rebuked, the song usually leaves my mind and my mental jukebox pulls up something like “Secondary Modern.” Still need to process the message here, you see, but there’s time, dammit. There’s always time.

09. Rhett Miller – Sunny
Stuart Ransom Miller just recorded this song for a one-off single issued on iTunes earlier this year, and while pretty much everybody has done a version of Bobby Hebb’s classic, this version has a lot going for it that others don’t. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a Rhett fan and have a bit of bias anyway, but I just love the delivery here. Rhett’s vocal grows a bit more impassioned with every key change and the urgency just builds as the song progresses. It’s the way Bobby did the song back in the sixties and as much as I love alternate versions that reinvented the song in jazz or easy listening formats, the style changes always seem to abandon the urgency. This song is a guy standing up and thanking the sun for being fantastic. But it’s not just a thank you. It’s a “No, seriously. Thank you. I really mean it.” Which is the best kind of thank you anyone (or any celestial body) can get.

10. The Robbie McIntosh Band – Oh Judy
A lot of people know Robbie as a former member of the Pretenders. I’ll always remember him first as the lead guitarist in the greatest of any of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles groups (the glory years from 1989 to 1993). But Robbie’s a decent enough songwriter in his own right and has put out a couple fantastic solo albums. This cut, from 2000′s Emotional Bends, is by no means a knock-out, but it’s effective. I don’t know if it’s that cajun accordian or the middle bit — “I’ve been towing the line, I’ll be better in time” — but something about this song screams “throwaway,” and yet when you actually listen to it, it holds your attention magnificently. Cheers, Robbie.

11. Nat King Cole – Just For the Fun of It
I’m a big fan of Nat’s 1957 LP Just One of Those Things (And More), it’s a good breakup album, but it has a nice swing to it as opposed to the suicidal tendencies of some of his contemporaries (I’m looking your way, Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, but I still love you). I don’t know what it is about this song, depressing as it should be, it just puts a smile on my face. I don’t think listening to Nat can be depressing. It can be tedious at times to be sure, but it can never be depressing.

12. The Supremes – Come See About Me
My mother was a big Diana Ross fan when I was growing up and whenever Supremes songs came on oldies radio in the family car, the volume would inch a few clicks higher. I never really got it. I know every word to “Baby Love,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Where Did Our Love Go” and a bunch of others, but they never really got to me. I always preferred Martha & the Vandellas. Ah, but “Come See About Me” is different. I don’t know what it was, but at some point during my teenage years, I actually HEARD that bassline. And the beat. My God, the beat. To me, this beat is the preeminent example of the Motown pocket. It doesn’t get any tighter. And as bleak as this song could be, it’s just all kinds of hopeful. You’ve got to love it.

13. The Beatles – Mother Nature’s Son
I’ve always thought of this as one of the most underrated bits on the White Album. Yes, I actually called a Beatles song underrated. I know. But calling a Beatles song underrated within the context of 29 other Beatles songs is different. Anyway, this is far from one of the popular cuts on the album, and even when you think of that album’s best acoustic, folky moments, the mind seems to veer quickly to “Rocky Raccoon” or “I Will” or “Julia.” Maybe it’s this song’s position on the album. Tucking it between Lennon’s monstrous “Yer Blues” and “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey” is a nice breather, but it also obviously slows the roll Macca himself had started with “Birthday.” At any rate, this song is gorgeous. Just listen to it. The arrangement. The melody. That guitar line. Oh right, it’s the Beatles…

14. Edgar ‘Jones’ Jones – Freedom
This guy releases music under different plays on his name – sometimes it’s Edgar Jones, sometimes it’s Edgar Summertyme Jones, sometimes it’s Edgar Jones Jones, sometimes it’s Edgar Jones & Friends… but this Edgar cat, who apparently hails from Liverpool and is well-revered by pretty much any British musician or music fan who matters, tends to put out solid stuff no matter what moniker he’s working under. It’s all retro fabulous, and this cut, from 2004’s typically solid Soothing Music for Stray Cats is pretty much a microcosm of his best traits. I’m not sure I understand this song, but I do know I like it. And I do know it revs me up.

15. Frank Sinatra – S’posin
This song comes right out of the Sinatra era I love most — right at the end of his Capitol tenure and on the brink of running his own Reprise label. From about 1958 to 1963, Sinatra just had an audible cockiness in his voice. He sounded great, don’t get me wrong, but his delivery just seemed to imply, “I’m Frank F*cking Sinatra, and don’t you forget it.” Despite that, everyone talks up Sinatra’s Swingin’ Session!!! (And More) as his last great triumph for Capitol and I listen to it and am left underwhelmed. It’s a good album, but it doesn’t really have the oomph that Swing Along With Me does. Nevertheless, “S’posin” is a fabulous little under 2-minute party and is one of Swingin’ Session‘s truly remarkable bright spots. And the perfect kind of song to add a kick to a spring day.

16. Nick Drake – Northern Sky
For everything everyone says about Nick Drake, I’ll just say this: I’ve made three summer mixes, three autumn mixes, two winter mixes and three spring mixes to date. Nick Drake has only shown up on two of those mixes — both spring ones. Sure, he’s more of a winter artist and one deep cut off Pink Moon could add an even colder chill to such a mix, but for as tragic and depressing as the guy’s supposed to be, 1970′s Bryter Layter is just through and through gorgeous and uplifting. And as cynical as I am about romantic comedies, I freely admit I applauded the use of this song at the romantic climax of “Serendipity.” It was a perfect choice. This is a stunning tune and the sound of life blooming.

17. God Help the Girl – Funny Little Frog
I was talking to a friend a few years ago, after Belle & Sebastian’s The Life Pursuit was released. I was staunchly defending the album and citing specific lyrics and musical bits to make the point as to why it was underrated and categorically fantastic, when the friend just said, “Yeah I know. It’s a great album. It’s just so … happy.” It’s not the word I would’ve used, but it was the right word. There’s nothing wrong with happy music. Happy music done right can wind you up to the point where you’re over-defending an album to someone who agreed with you all along. And “Funny Little Frog” was probably the happiest track on that album. When Stuart Murdoch recycled it last year for the God Help the Girl project, he put contest winner Brittany Stallings in front of the band and souled up the arrangement to devastatingly fantastic effect. It’s not as happy as its predecessor, but thankfully, that’s not at the cost of brilliance.

18. The Libertines – What Katie Did
It’d be a lot easier for me to dismiss the Libertines — all the hype surrounding them, all the unnecessary romanticizing of Pete Doherty, all the “this is the band of our generation” crap — if they didn’t have songs like this. Part of it annoys me, because I really want to be able to not like them with good reason, but I can’t. The very reasons I want to dislike them — they sound shambolic and incoherent over chords that a lot of other artists have and will continue to use more effectively — are the very reasons this song is so wonderful. It’s just too bad these gems are in the minority of the band’s oeuvre (fire away in the comments section, Libs fans, I’m waiting).

19. Travis – Follow the Light
I sat on the fence for a long time as to whether or not to include this. This is one of the few cuts on The Invisible Band that I genuinely like, yet it irritates me to pieces because it sounds at best like a children’s song and at worst like Christian pop. And don’t tell me there’s not anything wrong with Christian pop. But somehow, the music just makes everything OK. I mean I actually like the rhythm guitar in this song. It’s hard to usually identify a good rhythm guitar bit. This isn’t even a GOOD rhythm guitar bit. It’s just a nice piece of the whole. And this sounds absolutely blinding in a car on a nice sunny day. So I jumped off the fence and stuck it on.

20. Paul Weller – It’s a New Day, Baby
Unless you’re a Weller completist, chances are you haven’t heard this track, which first debuted as a tucked-away B-side on “The Changingman” single in 1995. But the Fly on the Wall compilation and Stanley Road reissue gave it new airings (ironically, to the people who would probably have sought out the single in 1995 anyway). But this has always been one of my favorite Weller cuts. Dave Liddle’s slide playing is not to be underestimated, but the charm of this song is really the Modfather’s gruff delivery of sunny lyrics over one of the sunniest, simplest backing tracks he ever concocted. It’s spring encapsulated in song.

So yeah, roll on spring! Enjoy the mix.

Car seat is freezing.

I last did a Winter Mix in 2008, but I skipped it last year because of the conversion to the new blog site and a general apathy towards the season last year anyway.

But seeing as how the blog is getting more frequent (relatively, of course) updates now, it seems mighty unfair to leave all you good readers with no mix until spring rolls around again. After Christmas, there’s still a hell of a lot of winter to go, you know, and it’s only natural that a handful of good tunes could make the insufferable days a little more sufferable.

Here’s 20 I think should help.

The Winter’s Tale
The “Ain’t Superstitious, But These Things I’ve Seen” 2010 winter mix

Download Part 1 (tracks 1-11 in a .zip file)
Download Part 2 (tracks 12-20 in a .zip file)

01. The Bird and the Bee – Last Day of Our Love
This song is culled from Inara and Greg’s 2008 EP “One Too Many Hearts,” which is a very charming little set of songs (as all their EPs and LPs are). This may not be the finest moment on that EP (that honor has to go to the faithful cover of “Tonight You Belong to Me”), but this song is awash in that Bird and Bee sheen and the pulsating strings and keyboards just add a lovely little soundtrack to the coldness of the season. May not warm you up in itself, you know, but still brings a bit of a smile to your face.

02. Jon Brion – Theme
One of the many lovely instrumental bits Brion composed for the 2004 film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” Maybe I think this song has a winter feel because of the movie — the scenes of Joel and Clementine driving around on cold days and nights and that great scene during the memory erasure montage where they jump out of bed on a snow-covered beach. This piece has a beautiful tone to it and a very beguiling charm that seems to innately makes you that happy kind of sad.

03. Oasis – Waiting For the Rapture (Alternate Version #2)
This outtake was pinned onto the deluxe edition of Oasis’ fabulous 2008 album Dig Out Your Soul, and likely represents the way Noel Gallagher originally intended the song to be heard. The “Five to One” pastiche of the final version that made the album certainly has its own brand of awesomeness, but there’s also a great brooding feel to this version that gives you a little chill. Noel sings in a voice just a little above a whisper, exchanging all the conviction of the final version for a bit more foreboding. Still romantically tinged, of course, but something about slowing the song down and delivering like this makes it a bit more dangerous than with the electric guitars and big rock and roll stomp.

04. Joy Division – Atmosphere
This song was originally a French-only B-side, but after Ian Curtis’ suicide, the song gained new legs and kind of worked as his (and Joy Division’s) almighty epitaph. Like the whole of Joy Division’s catalogue, there’s no really friendly sing along feel to this, but there’s a certain indefinable quality here that makes it 10 times more hopeful and optimistic than anything else they ever did. Maybe it’s the synthesized strings and chimes, or maybe it’s the repeated orders of “Don’t walk away in silence.” Pretty much any Joy Division song could be on a winter’s mix, but this is more for those sunny winter days that are brutally cold. Yeah, it’s still a pain to be outside, but something about the sun being out makes everything slightly more bearable.

05. The Raveonettes – Here Comes Mary
Everything about this song sounds straight out of 1958, which I’m sure was Sune and Sharin’s intention, but it still baffles me that this is actually a product of 2005 and their excellent album Pretty in Black. The melody and harmonies bear a striking similarity to the Everly Brothers’ “All I Have to Do is Dream,” but with a lyric about a suicidal girl who’s just had her man die, the comparisons probably don’t go too far. Although I wonder if the Everly Brothers could’ve sung a song like that on Ed Sullivan in the late ’50s… Anyway, the bleak storyline aside, this song positively shimmers and for my money, is the best thing the duo has done.

06. Damien Rice – Lonelily
I never got onto the whole Damien Rice train that everyone else did in 2004 and 2005. It was all just a little too college-popular for me, but I was also chasing a girl for a little while in 2005 that was absolutely crazy for him and I thought if I was to have any shot with her, I would have to do my due diligence and try to get into him myself. This was the only song that ever struck me. Maybe it’s appropriate as it kind of describes what happened between me and her, but my chief memory of this song is a late-April snowstorm (as we’re prone to in Wisconsin) and driving to meet her for lunch as this song played. Something about it seemed very promising, and so this song has always carried a winter feel for me.

07. Electronic – Can’t Find My Way Home
Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner didn’t venture into other bands’ material too much when they were working together as Electronic, but this Blind Faith deep cut provided them a lovely little opportunity to pay due respects to the past and put their own unique stamp on the song. Pulled from 2000′s sorely overlooked Twisted Tenderness, this is the kind of thing I think a lot of people would have enjoyed a lot more from Electronic — some incredible Johnny  Marr acoustic and electric guitar work, prominent but not overbearing synth and programming work by Barney, and a fabulously direct but unimpressive vocal.

08. Ben Folds Five – Brick
A recent entry in my “Confessions of a ’90s Survivor” series, but the song really is too good to be hamstrung by its popularity in wildly expansive musical decade. I don’t know of any other songs dealing with abortion that were this popular or this effective, but if the plodding bass and drum lines don’t stir up a bit of coldness, Folds’ description of the fateful day — down to the smells and feel of the journey between the apartment and clinic probably will get you. Of course, the chorus is still pretty gorgeous and saves the song from making you want to down all the Prozac you have left. It sent the Whatever and Ever Amen album into the stratosphere and pretty much unfairly pigeonholed the band of smartasses as a troupe of heavy balladeers, but eh… between tongue-in-cheek covers of “Careless Whisper” and “Bitches Ain’t Sh*t,” Folds is doing a pretty good job of keeping the stigma at bay.

09. Betty Carter – I Can’t Help It
Beautiful pull from Carter’s 1958 album Out There With Betty Carter, this song just sounds to me like a Saturday inside watching a crazy snowstorm outside the window. Of course, many great female jazz singers should be able to deliver that kind of calm in the storm feel, but the production here — and the way Carter backs off the mic to wail “That’s the way that I am, I don’t know how to share” at the 1:24 mark — it’s a great combination to illustrate calm in the storm.

10. Billy Bragg – Ash Wednesday (Band Version)
A lot of Bragg fans missed this track, as it was tucked away as B-side to the 2008 “I Keep Faith” single, and, to my knowledge, only made available to those who could track down the single on iTunes. I don’t know if there is an acoustic or non-band version, like the rest of the Mr. Love & Justice album, but something about this minimalist melody and furrowed-brow delivery makes me think it probably found its most powerful delivery in this state.

11. Phoenix – (You Can’t Blame it On) Anybody
My personal favorite Phoenix track and the centerpiece of 2004′s Alphabetical album (“Everything is Everything” is good, but it ain’t this good). Like many of their tracks, the productive gives the track a cold sterility, but the groove is just perfect and warms any listener up to it. If this is the sound of falling in love with bespectacled Italian girls, well I’m looking that much more forward to my trip over there come this summer. They also need major kudos for using the line “Let me misunderstand you” in the chorus. In writing, it doesn’t look like much, but listen to that line. Very powerful. Maybe I’ll use that next time I’m picking a girl up…

12. Noonday Underground – Go it Alone
Noonday Underground is the kind of band you don’t know enough about and definitely need to check out, because it’s categorically enjoyable groove music. Everything great about the band is captured on their 2002 album Surface Noise, which includes this ice cold cut. Simon Dine is the brains behind the outfit and you can tell by the soul grooves he puts together that it’s no surprise Paul Weller is eager to work with him time and again. Daisy Martey’s vocal on this thing is all kinds of cool. Listen to how she lets go at the 1:50 mark with that “What do I need to erase?” line. It’s those little moments that make you love music.

13. Sleeper – Come On Come On
It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know about Sleeper in the 1990s. Between Justine Frischmann, the Spice Girls and Diane out of “Trainspotting,” my teenage mind had enough UK ladies to think about, but since finding out about Sleeper a couple years ago, I’ve fallen desperately in love with the Louise Wener of 1995-1999. One view of the “Nice Guy Eddie” video should more than explain why, but the other thing about Wener is that she could write a fabulous little song time and again. This ethereal little piece never got much exposure since it was a B-side to the overlooked-even-in-England single “She’s a Good Girl,” so I feel a sense of civic duty in making this as available to the masses as possible. That way I can go, “You know, that Louise Wener…” and more of my American male friends can say, “Oh, dude… I know.”

14. Elliott Smith – Twilight
I don’t often listen to Smith’s posthumous album From a Basement on the Hill, because aside from the opening “Coast to Coast,” it just feels a bit too much like a funeral record to me. Posthumous albums should be more like wakes, I think. Given’s Smith’s suicide, the album just invited all sorts of lyrical overanalysis, and while his output during him time on earth wasn’t exactly of the “Hooray for Everything!” variety, there was a bit more charm. The crickets on “Twilight” kind of make it a bit less wintery, but the way he just seems to hit the guitar and the absolutely-defeated delivery… this thing is just cold. I’m sure everyone’s been in a relationship and thought “This other person seems to get me a lot better,” and while that’s probably served as a lot of couples’ ruin, it’s never sounded quite as painful as when Elliott sang about it. Still, this is kind of pretty.

15. Keith Richards – Hate it When You Leave
This song is the single reason why Keef should be everybody’s favorite Stone. Forget the riffs, forget the “cockroaches and Keith Richards” jokes, forget the complete embodiment of rock and roll that he is. Just listen to this. He’s not a great singer, this song features no flash guitar solos — just a bit of musing on a tired Motown-era beat — but it’s more effective than anything Mick Jagger’s ever done on his own and it’s more powerful than anything the Stones have done since Some Girls. The rest of 1992′s Main Offender isn’t a patch on this song, but this is the kind of track that makes an otherwise iffy album entirely worth the price of purchase.

16. Fiona Apple – Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song)
I know I said in a recent “Vs.” that I prefer the Jon Brion-produced version of this song that featured fabulous live drumming and a carnival-esque backing, but this version from the “proper” version of Extraordinary Machine, is a bit more appropriate for a winter mix. The keys and beat just sound like icicles falling, and while this version lacks the verve of Brion’s, Apple’s take-no-sh*t delivery mirrors the mindset of pretty much everyone (in Madison at least) around the time of the third or fourth big snowfall of the season. The camaraderie and willingness to help neighbors shovel is out the window as everyone takes an “everyone for themselves because this now is everyone else’s fault” mindset.

17. Tom Waits – Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis
A lot of bloggers put this song on their Christmas mixes, and while I’ve noodled with the idea, I just don’t see this song as a Christmas song. I can listen to it any time of year, although the sentiment does seem tailor made for a cold winter day. Waits reads the letter with no defined lyrical form, just in his pained growl over a sad piano and electric piano backing, but it suits the song so perfectly. And while I find parts of it absolutely hilarious — “Still have that record of Little Anthony and the Imperials, but someone stole my record player, now how do you like that?” But I also find the end of the song where the author admits everything is a lie and she just needs a bit of cash heartbreaking every damn time I listen to it. From 1978′s Blue Valentine, this is not only the best moment on the album, but it’s one of the best moments of Waits extensive catalogue.

18. Radiohead – 15 Step
Radiohead’s kind of like Joy Division in the sense that you could probably make a winter mix out of their songs alone, but this thrilling opening to the In Rainbows album is one of the better (if less obvious) candidates. Something about the frenetic beat reminds me of driving down a just-cleared road after a big snowstorm. Hitting a few patches of ice, newly popped potholes — never really getting into a comfortable groove and gripping the steering wheel just a little tighter than you normally would. Of course, when the guitar comes in, it’s kind of that chill moment you get when you realize driving is far from ideal, but it’s also not quite as treacherous as you thought it would be.  Doesn’t mean you don’t continue squeezing the wheel, though.

19. Morrissey – Late Night, Maudlin Street
I’ve always thought this song was a little too over the top, and one of the prominent reasons most people think of Morrissey the way they do. It’s more than 7 minutes of melodrama, there’s nothing about the music that makes you want to move — in fact, it almost forces you to sulk as you listen. But the reason I don’t skip ahead to the next track every time I’m listening to Viva Hate is that lyrically, there’s some genuine Morrissey brilliance in here. The admission of sleeping with a framed picture being “silly,” the profession to love at first sight being real, and the potent quotable: “But you without clothes, oh, I could not keep a straight face. Me without clothes? Well, a nation turns it back and gags.” Unless you’re a through-and-through Morrissey-phile, it’s hard to find a proper place to put this song for good listening. Even on Viva Hate, its a little more laborious than it needs to be. But a winter mix? Ah, we just might have found a home, Moz.

20. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – Hang On
Partly because you need something sprightly to follow “Late Night, Maudlin Street” and partly because you need a bit of brightness to pull you through the always unreasonably long winter, Isobel’s porcelain voice breezing over a great little guitar hook is a good send off for this kind of mix and the bright spot that makes the rest of winter not look so bad. Even when the f*cking groundhog sees his shadow. A lot was made about Isobel and Mark’s first teaming on Ballad of the Broken Seas, but 2008′s Sunday at Devil Dirt – which this comes from — also deserves a good listen. 

Stay warm, folks.

That crazy Santa Claus keeps knock-knock-knockin’ on the roof.

Alright cats and kittens, Black Friday is upon us, which means the official start of the Christmas season.

As has been tradition for the past four years I’ve been running the blog, 2009 brings a new Christmas mix as a present for all you dear readers and background music for whatever shopping excursions you’re mad enough to go on today and all the travels you’ll take throughout the next month. I’ve felt the mixes really started hitting their stride in 2007, and this year’s certainly lives up to the standards set by its predecessors.

Obviously the year’s end is always a good time around this blog — the “15 of the Best” series will debut next week — but the fun always starts with the Christmas mix and here’s hoping this (like the three Christmas mixes before it) adds a fabulous soundtrack to the season. Let’s get on wiffit!

Everybody’s Waitin’ For The Man With The Bag.
The “Ain’t Superstitious, But These Things I’ve Seen…” 2009 Christmas mix

Download Part 1 (tracks 1-10)
Download Part 2 (tracks 11-20)

01. Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra – Do You Hear What I Hear?
I know I’m going to catch flack from (and consequently maybe never make another radio appearance with) Grandma Cyd for going with the Ping Pong Orchestra’s take on this Christmas classic instead of Bing Crosby, but this version is just too cool to be swept under the rug. Kicking off a mix with an instrumental (nevermind one that passes the 4-minute mark) is a calculated risk to be sure, but I defy you to try not grooving out to this. Impossible. Plus the instrumental saves me from hearing my long-detested lyric in this song – “A child, a child, shivering in the cold, let us bring him silver and gold.” I’ve said it before and I say it again. Bring blankets, for Christ’s sake. Literally.

02. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Christmas All Over Again
Even if you never bought the second volume of that A Very Special Christmas series (which I still believe is a con – all those albums and you MAYBE get two good songs on each), you knew this song was a stone cold classic from the little snippet you heard while Kevin missed the flight announcement that he was on his way to New York City in “Home Alone 2.” Several of Petty’s latter day sins post-She’s the One can be forgiven because this song has reached a level of popularity that’s put it on the cusp of yearly carol-standard popularity not seen in a long, long time. I would say since “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” but I’m sure all the Pogues or John Lennon fans would come bellowing at me. This is popular and somewhat obvious, sure, but it’s also incredible fun.

03. Lily Frost – I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
I’ve fallen desperately in love with Lily’s 2008 album, Lily Swings, from which this is culled. For the album, she basically hired the Dukes and recorded 11 songs that Billie Holliday made famous. She held to faithful dusty arrangements, and the entire album is really a fabulous purchase, but this is one of the best versions I’ve ever heard of this song. The ultimate, probably, is Dean Martin’s, but Dean gets space elsewhere here and I think Lily’s delivery brings a little something new to proceedings, with a nice warm-me-up winter vibe.

04. Oasis – Merry Xmas Everybody
No doubt the Slade original is classic and this song has been butchered by many since its 1973 release (I’m thinking of Steps, mainly). I never gathered how many actual Oasis members are on this track – I always thought it was something Noel did especially for BBC radio during the 2002 Christmas season, but the next year it showed up on an NME compilation entitled 1 Love, where a bunch of contemporary artists covered old classics and this was listed as “Oasis” and not “Noel Gallagher,” so… With Oasis (definitely maybe) reaching the end of their rope this year, it’s a nice little memorial for this year’s mix, and Noel’s delivery does emphasize how sweet this song really can be.

05. Marcy Playground – Keegan’s Christmas
I feel like including Marcy Playground in anything is leaving me wide open to snide remarks or a general dismissal of this mix as a whole. I openly admit that the only other Marcy Playground song I’ve ever heard in my life is the one you have, “Sex and Candy,” and I still have no interest in pursuing their catalogue further. However, this cut landed on the Alternative Rock Xmas compilation and I was sold straightaway. Not because it’s the smartest or best thing I’ve ever heard, but that bouncing two-chord exchange during what I guess would be constituted as the song’s choruses are just irresistibly hooky. I have no idea who Keegan is and I’m not really moved by his conviction to his father that he knows Santa is on the roof, but I’m also nowhere near Scrooge-ish enough to deny a good hook when I hear one. I put Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on last year’s Christmas mix. What do you want from me?

06. The Jackson 5 – Up on the Housetop
I’m guessing this and other selections from the Jackson 5’s lone Christmas album are going to be hitting the various music blogs and Christmas mixes with additional frequency this year because of Mike’s breaking on through to the other side this summer. I actually listened to the whole album and was hard pressed to find a song to include here, and that’s for a number of reasons: 1.) terrible, hokey Christmas messages built in to the recordings, 2.) frightening lack of coolness (this is actually a recurring problem with several Motown Christmas albums – few diamonds in a lot of rough) 3.) perceived insincerity with the whole Jehovah Witness thing. But this recording stands out for a few reasons: 1.) You get to hear Marlon solo (very momentarily) 2.) You get to hear Tito solo (damn) 3.) You get to hear Michael totally sell out Jermaine. After Michael ribs him for asking Santa for girls, Jermaine counters that all his younger brother wants is toys, but since Michael’s got the mic, he curbs that by saying, well, he ALSO wants peace for everyone. If my little sibling pulled that kind of crap on me, I’d deck ‘em. Afterthought: Why doesn’t Jackie get a solo? It must have sucked being the oldest in that family.

07. The Cameos – Merry Christmas
Every year when I’m putting these Christmas mixes together, I dig through albums and albums of material to the point where my eyes and ears kind of go numb and all the packaging and music starts to sound the same. The bad thing about this is that it’s exhausting to the senses. The good thing about it is that it refines your ears to perk up when you hear something that’s really good. This track comes off a box set (box set, damn you!) of 1950s doo-wop Christmas tunes. Most are originals and are every bit as corny as you would expect. But I don’t know. There’s something really charming about this one, which was released as a standalone single in 1957. On Cameo Records. Crackerjack job they did in deciding on a group name, eh?

08. Count Basie and his Orchestra – Good Morning Blues (Real Tuesday Weld Clerkenwell Remix)
If my research is correct, I believe this track was originally recorded all the way back in 1937 with Jimmy Rushing taking vocal duties in front of Count Basie’s orchestra. It was updated for the 2008 Verve Records compilation, Christmas Remixed, to nice effect. Remixes have become a habitual inclusion on my mixes since the 2007 mix, and although there are heaps upon heaps of old Christmas songs remixed out there, it’s truly a long trudge to find the good ones. You see, the best remixes don’t simply put a loud, pulsating backbeat behind one line of a song repeated over and over and over. They should enhance the song. Give it a bit of new sheen. And give it a healthy (but not overbearing) groove. This is done to good effect here.

09. Peggy Lee – Winter Wonderland
The thing about “Winter Wonderland” is that everybody and their grandmother has done a version of the song, and it becomes increasingly difficult to find really good versions. This song seems like it was specially composed to walk the line between nice and hokey like a drunken backwoods barcrawler, and too often artists just stumble helplessly into hokey territory. To her eternal credit, Peggy found a nifty little groove to propel the song on her 1965 Happy Holiday album, but she damn near blows it by using a bit of her trademark “ad libbing” technique (perhaps most famously displayed in “Fever”) by substituting “Parson Brown” for “Santa clown.” It sinks that whole bit of the lyric. The image of being hopeless enough to have a snowman marry you is something everyone can subscribe to at Christmas time. But if the thing’s just a Santa clown, well… it’s only fun until the jerky kids down the street come destroy it. Even so, this is still one of the finest readings of the song out there.

10. Money Mark – Stuck at the Airport
I don’t know that this is strictly a Christmas song, but in that it was on last year’s Christmas compilation, This Warm December, it counts. And I will admit that as quirky as this song is, I really dig it. It likely will date itself in just a few years’ time by decrying a broken iPod and an inability to text (which sounds like a bullsh*t excuse to whoever’s awaiting said text – just my opinion), but given the headaches of being anywhere near an airport between the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I think there are a lot of people that can understand where this guy’s coming from. Plus the song unwittingly gets extra points this season for the “Someone is sneezin’ on my carry-on bag” lyric. With H1N1 (I still prefer calling it swine flu) not having run its course in society yet, that’s definitely an added demerit to holiday traveling this year. Let’s hope the lyric stays observational and not ultimately tragic.

11. Kay Starr – (Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With the Bag
Apparently Kay Starr had a pretty big career in the 1950s, but I’m hard-pressed to remember or think of anything to her name besides this cut. I mean, even in the case of Brenda Lee, I do know ONE of her non-Yuletide tunes. But if you’re stuck with a seasonal hit, I guess the best you can hope for is the good fortune to have said tune played at bombardment level every December, which this song has since its release in 1950. It’s not the best holiday tune out there, but it’s nice enough, and it provides a bit of familiarity – which every Christmas mix truly needs. Don’t let the other bloggers fool you with unending streams of rarities.

12. Rosie Thomas – Why Can’t it Be Christmas All Year?
I’ll admit that I know jack about Rosie’s non-holiday repertoire, but was pushed to include this track after hearing it in passing during some shopping run last winter. I’m usually a sucker for piano-pounding numbers, but you had some horns on top of it, and forget about it – I’m sold. This song was one of the few originals to pepper Thomas’ 2008 stocking stuffer, A Very Rosie Christmas, which might have done better if it hadn’t shared a titular similarity with one of those god-awful compilations Rosie O’Donnell did when she still had her own talk show and inexplicable popularity. Thomas’ album is much better, of course, but buyers can be completely forgiven if they saw the title on a loved one’s Christmas list and said, “No, I’m not encouraging that.”

13. Dean Martin – A Marshmallow World
The most famous version of this song for the last few years has probably been Martin’s comedic duet of the song with Rat Pack pally Frank Sinatra off one of his old variety shows and enlisted for duties as closer of the “Christmas with the Rat Pack” collection released in the former part of this decade. Martin originally recorded the song for The Dean Martin Christmas Album, issued in 1966 on Frank’s Reprise label. Now it’s popping up almost annually on Dean Martin Christmas compilations. Seriously, the estate is getting a little too free and easy about all these compilations. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You want to be productive, a lot of us would love some remastered original albums as opposed to the umpteenth reissue of “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” or “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

14. The Waking Eyes – Everybody Needs Somebody at Christmas
In continuing my personal crusade to get this Canadian band the increased international exposure they deserve, putting this track on the Christmas Mix was a must. Unless I’m mistaken, the song actually made its debut on the band’s MySpace page two years ago, but given that they had a lot of momentum last year with the release of the fantastic Holding On To Whatever It Is, the track was spruced up and released as a download-only single. The song’s muscular pop is everything you’d expect from the boys and while the thought of Matt Peters single-handedly saving Christmas because “Santa musta given up tonight” is a good chuckle – he has at least enough humility to admit he doesn’t look the part. But hey, if someone’s gotta save Christmas, I’m all for it being these guys.

15. Ledisi – Be There For Christmas
I mentioned the hokey messages built into Christmas songs in my little write up for the Jackson 5 track, but I feel inclined to reiterate the point here. I don’t know what it is about Christmas records, but artists for whatever reason feel some godforsaken need to mar their songs with little raps about the reasons for the season, and why all the listeners should have a Merry Christmas, and what they’re looking forward to at Christmas. I’ve never understood it. Good music should make you want to sing along. Those little messages are impossible to sing along to. And one of those little messages kicks off this cut, from Ledisi’s 2008 record It’s Christmas. I’d be a hell of a lot more critical of it if the song didn’t have the groove it does. The good thing is the nonsense is dispensed with quickly and it goes right into solid soul, so Ledisi gets a pass this time. But next time – and please, everyone else keep this in mind – if you’ve got thoughts to put on a Christmas song, just sing them. And try to do it in a catchy melody.

16. Charles Brown – I’ll Be Home For Christmas (Ohmega Watts Remix)
I still haven’t been able to track down where or for what exactly Brown originally recorded this track – which is not the “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” everyone is expecting. The original track with its guitar and prototypical synth effects sounds like a product of the 1970s, but it got a colorful boost from whoever the hell Ohmega Watts is for the Holiday Lounge compilation in 2004. The song doesn’t have too much extracurricular work done to it (which, as always, is the sign of a great remix), mostly just a heavy backbeat designed to make you dance a bit.  It loses focus a little toward the end, but for saving what would have otherwise been just a lost or rather unspectacular Charles Brown Christmas song from total obscurity, this remix gets a lot of credit. I mean, Brown did give us “Merry Christmas, Baby” and “Please Come Home For Christmas.” Most people are lucky to COVER one good Christmas song in their careers.

17. Thurl Ravenscroft – You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
Sometime in the 1990s, this became a popular choice for punk and indie bands to cover in concert and on lo-fi Christmas compilations, but in all the years of other people doing it now, I’ve realized there’s simply nothing that matches with Thurl’s original vocal and delivery from the 1966 TV special “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” My favorite lyric always changes any time I hear the song, but I think it should be everyone’s New Year’s resolution to call somebody they find particularly displeasing a “nauseous super-naus.” If not that, then certainly “you’re a crooked, jerky jockey and you ride a crooked horse.”

18. Chris Isaak – Hey Santa!
I’ve always kind of wanted to like Chris Isaak, but every time I see him in an interview he always comes off a little too smug for my liking, and the fact that he’s still getting mileage on “Wicked Game” (which I never thought was that sexy of a tune to begin with) also bothers me. However, I still dig “Somebody’s Cryin’” and I’ll be damned if this isn’t one of the best rockabilly Christmas tunes I’ve ever heard. From the tone of that electric guitar to the impassioned “Honey, please come on home,” I’m sold. It’s really the only great thing on his Christmas album, but hey, better than nothing, right? Now stop being so smug.

19. Allen Toussaint – Silent Night, Holy Night
Another instrumental, but anybody who’s ever seen or heard Allen alone at a piano understands what a fabulously regal experience it is. This cut showed up on the 1997 compilation, A New Orleans Christmas, released on Toussaint’s NYNO label. I liked “Silent Night” a lot when I was a little boy, but my attitude toward it has become less favorable as I’ve aged. Mainly because it’s such a religious song and whenever artists try to do it, they seem to feel like Jesus is right there in the studio with them, furrowed brow like an A&R man, going “Now come on guys, this is about my birth. Let’s class it up. OK. Take 2.” So you end up with a lot of very “proper” versions that are all well and good, but have all the fun of a Catholic mass. Give Toussaint endless credit for at least putting a little boogie into the keys.

20. Otis Redding & Carla Thomas – New Year’s Resolution
Not really a Christmas/holiday tune as much as a general male/female duet about the trials and tribulations of that funny old thing called love. Great soul ballad from 1967’s King and Queen album, but it’s hard to think of any instance where Otis misfired. And I feel it’s a more than appropriate end to this year’s mix as 2009 turns into 2010. But that just might be because my love/relationship-related resolutions always end up being about as solid as your resolution to exercise more and that one’s resolution to eat less McDonald’s. If we make it into February, fabulous, but if not, well, who remembered what was pledged Dec. 31 anyway?

Happy Holidays, everybody.