your own fucking ten

My Bloody Valentine, "Soon" -- I refuse to explain this one again, I think I've done it about five different times on this board. Check the older threads. ;-)

The Cure, "A Forest" -- any particularly strung-out live version that I've got around, but especially the one from Germany in the early nineties I have where the mid-section is nothing but minimal guitars slowly building up again, and then the keyboard bass line hits...aaah. Bliss.

a-ha, "The Swing of Things" -- my semi-secret favorite love song of all time, particularly appropriate given the lyrics about distance and separation. My romantic life in a nutshell. *mopes*

A R Kane, "Up" -- song title describes song. Up, up and out, a rise to the heavens, and my god that voice.

Arvo Pärt, "Cantus [in memory of Benjamin Britten]" -- I doubt a sadder five minutes of music exists anywhere. When an orchestra heaves a huge, infinite sob. Talk about a tribute.

Young Marble Giants, "Wurlitzer Jukebox" -- this is actually a cheat, the entire damn album is so great, but I'll single this one out for now thanks to the chorus sticking in my head for some reason. One of those eternally, quietly perfect bands who don't do much and don't have to.

Tool, "Reflection" -- currently my favorite song of the year flat out, and without question an astounding performance. A song where * everything* connects from start to end, subtle to blasting and back, and the last minute is sheer emotional release and chill. Didn't hurt seeing a live version a few nights ago that just about knocked me on my butt.

The Divine Styler, "Width in My Depth" -- not actually typical of his material, but it's astoundingly pretty and one heck of a prayer to boot.

Motorhead, "Ace of Spades" -- because it rocks.

Joy Division, "Transmission" -- if electricity had a voice.

1) Wild Mountain Thyme - The Byrds (Fifth Dimension) The inimitable vocals never sounded so bittersweet, and the layered humming-with-strings middle section...man oh man...

2) Rainin' - Bobby Darin (The Very Best Of Bobby Darin: 1966-1969) A buried b-side classic, criminally ignored. Perfectly detailed arrangement with a cool brass section. Equally playful and mournful trumpet sings along with Darin, and the sax solo is pure Zalman King in Rick’s Americain.

3) On the Wings of a Nightingale - Everly Brothers (EB ’84) Unabashedly retro and Jeff Lynne is involved (gulp)...but this may be truly the last outstanding song Paul McCartney ever penned. Beatles optimism circa '64 channeled through the still (or, at least, was then) solid harmonies of the Don 'n' Phil.

4) Stealin' - Arlo Guthrie (Running on Down the Road) Hillbilly iambic I first heard in "Two-Lane Blacktop," playing in the background as Warren Oates tells James Taylor "One day this speed'll run all over you." Muchos infeciones.

5) Any Old Time - Maria Muldaur (Maria Muldaur) Will make you want to pack your Faulkner and head on out to the Land of the Stainless Maiden, or something like that.

6) Wheels - Flying Burrito Brothers (Gilded Palace of Sin) Though I used to blow it off, I have since come to recognize this as one of their greatest numbers. Great song for the road.

7) Hard - Grey Eye Glances (Eventide) Hooked from the opening line and chords. Bright-eyed and intelligent, but still thankfully humble and not overbearing. Too bad the rest of the album I found to be fairly forgettable.

8) Sorry to Be So Long - John & Beverly Martyn (Road to Ruin) So what do people think of the Beverly years? Whenever I listen to a track like this, I shuffle back and forth between thinking she was a pretty bad singer to thinking she was one of the best.

9) Annie - Ronnie Lane (Rough Mix, w /Pete Townsend) Ronnie could write 'em couldn't he? One of his finest. Though I'm still trying to figure what he sings after "Winter has come, Annie..." Anybody know?

10) Daring Night - Van Morrisson (Avalon Sunset) Penultimate song on Avalon Sunset (the album with "Have I Told You Lately"). For Van’s vocal riffing and the symphonic arrangement that manages to sound utterly spontaneous even though it's utterly orchestrated. Fantastic stuff, fits right in with that 60s album he made with the long tunes. :)

Beach Boys, "I Can Hear Music"-- Right now I'm going to say this is the.greatest.song.ever. You don't hear enough people talking about the Barry/Greenwich songwriting team. They're tops, yeah?

Moreno Veloso, "Enquanto Isso"-- Makes you wonder why we couldn't've updated traditional American music the way the Brazilians have update their trad. sounds.

Magnetic Fields, "Sad Little Moon"-- Go, Steve.

Talking Heads "And She Was"/David Byrne, "Miss America"-- Talking Heads are my favorite group ever and I just got tickets to see Dave for the first time. Also, today I read that big bad essay on David Byrne's lyrics at talking-heads.net. I guess the guy's, like, smart or something.

2) As lonley as the wind thru pine forrests, as stark as a shaker meeting house. Is it about losing love or losing buisness or losing hope in G-d. We are not sure but at the end of three minutes you feel hopeless and elgaic. It Reminds me of Elizabeth Bishops One Art

3) X Ray Spex Germ Free Adolescence

Being clean in Body, means being clean in Mind. Sterlizing your body makes you sterlize yourself. Love is a virus ,just calm down and let it move you.

4) Tom Paxton Forrest Lawn

It has everything irony , pastiche, sarcasm , a nasty streak of anti consumermism and a jaunty sing song melody that betrays everthing

5) The 6ths Turn to go

Jangling Charm is undercut with a meloncholic sigh. It is a sort of film strip running through your head. Trying despratly to plead for permanance by nostalgia .

6) Big Black Fish Fry

Pure electrictronic aggro. Does not mean anything but it sneaks thru your gut and spine.

7) Sinnead O Connor No Mans Woman

A song that indicates liberation of women. Not by hating men but by putting them away. Men cause pain and the "only loving man who does not treat you bad " is G-d. He liberates you, forgives you and gives you strength and hope. Nuns are the new femminists

8) Shirley Bassey Big Spend

Claim a standard by having the biggest brass ovaries. Every 2 cent bitch who claims the diva title should be forced to hear this. The horns are as penatrating as a two foot cock and the whoredom seems classy

9) Sun Ra Outer Spaceways Incorparated.

If they are selling interglatic flights in 2410 they will be selling it with this. The sound of a true visionary who belived his schtick and had the skills to back it up

10 Mary Gautier Drag Queens in Limosines

The best i hate small towns, big city liberation song in a long time. The power of finding like minds told in short story style with acoustic guitars and a drum . Sounds haggard and hopeful and a bit like a very young June Carter Cash

10 more , just names
1) Ben Folds Five - Carrying Cathy
2) Billy Bragg- Moving the Goal posts
3) Eliza Carthy- In the Company of Men
4) Rufus Wainwright- Somewhere over the Rainbow
5) Bran Van 3000- Discosis
6) Beck- Diamond Dogs
7) Christnia Agularia- Emimenem Diss
8) God Speed You Black Emperor -Moya
9) Saint Saens - Wedding Cake
10) Polly Jean Harvey - Shelia Na Gig

i) donna summer - "love to love you baby"

what can one say that hasn't been said? the pouting melodies interlock and pile, the beat throbs, the voice shifts from pure air to laughs to pants for over 16 entrancing minutes.

i) pixies - "alec eiffel"

for the angelic coda, which melody makes heart-rending the goofy lines about archways and aerodynamics.

iii) the trammps - "hooked for life"

in despair and in love, in desperate obsessive love, he pleads helplessly. the mocking strings won't relent.

iv) the trammps - "disco party"

some songs earn their cliches. "let the good times roll, let the rhythm take control" never made this much sense.

v) elliot carter - string quartet no 2

strings fight and howl, then a slow section that feels bottomless, then strings spit on the calm.

vi) led zeppelin - "how many more times?"

blues improved by being pummeled into mechanical rhythm.

vii) led zeppelin - "that's the way"

the guitars stare away in longing.

2) Neu!-"Hero" Sounds like the Velvets rocking out in a wind tunnel. I love the way Neu's rockers change in pace like a car shifting gears.

3)The Fall-"Just step s'ways" GRATE Fall stomper from Hex enduction hour. Great opening line too: "When what used to excite you does not, it's like you used up all your allownace of experience".

4) Jimmy castor Bunch-"Troglodyte" This is freakin' hilarious and as funky as a slurry pit. "I'll sock it to ya daddy!!" "Her name was Bertha Butt/One of the Butt sistas!"

5)Ultramarine-"Kingdom" Sweet pastoral techno with a luverly vocal from Robert Wyatt. "We're low, we're low/mere rabble we know"

6)Bone Thugs N' Harmony-"Ready 4 war" I always thought they were shit.I am so wrong. I just got a lend of "The art of war" and it's fantastic. Especially this tune and the rapping is fantastic.

7) Basement Jaxx-"Breakaway" Dark, clipped robo-funk with a vocal that sounds like a zombiefied Alvin Chipmunk.

8) Barry White-"Playing your game baby" From Groove Armada's "All back to mine" mix. Lush production with a swoonsome, hypnotic groove. "Playing your game baby/your game baby/nobody but youuuuuuuuu and me!"

9)The Congos-"Fisherman" Balmy, hazy Perry production with enchanting falsetto from The Congos. Might as well get the most out of this as summer draws to a close.

10)Slum Village-"Raise it up" Probably the best hip-hop tune I heard all year. "I aint got none of that dough and none of them cars/I aint fucked none of them ho's in none of them bars". A melody that sounds like a distorted music box.

10) Dillard & Clark - "Through the Morning, through the night" - heartbroke Everly bros. harmonies from ex-byrd & hippie bluegrass buddies

9) Ike & Tina Turner - "Betcha Can't Kiss Me (Just One Time)" - sinister groove, sabotaged by Ike's chipmunks vocal on the chorus, but still sexy and pissed off

8) The Deadly Snakes - "Pirate Cowboy" - pisstake of the Velvets or pure demented stompalong? both.

7) Van Morrison - "Madame George" - TB Sheets version - aging Irish transvestite, bottle caps and dominoes

6) The Remains - "Don't Look Back" - America's short-lived answer to the Stones on a pure garage number that somehow goes through all these sophisticated time changes and talks about God but retains its innocence

5) Elton Motello - "Pogo Pogo" - phony punk rock can be better than "real" punk rock

4) Alfreda Brockington "Your Love has Got Me Chained and Bound" - Philly soul on the verge of turning into disco, hammering 4/4 beat, diva vocals that peels paint off the walls

3) Alex Chilton - "Alligator Man" - Marc Bolan lost in a swamp

2) Bo Diddley - "Pills" - singing about dope and rock n roll nurses while playing a giant square guitar in a plaid tuxedo at its best.

1) Bob Dylan - "Ballad of Hollis Brown" - pre-electric punk rock bobby d., the song Nick Cave has been trying to write for 25 years.

yep.

Black Box Recorder: "Weekend"
Crowded House: "Don't Dream It's Over"
Nelly featuring City Spud: "Ride wit' Me"
Elton John: "Philadelphia Freedom"
Gloria Gaynor: "Never Can Say Goodbye"
New Order: "Bizarre Love Triangle"
Daft Punk: "Digital Love"
Dr. Alimantado: "Best Dressed Chicken in Town"
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: "Moanin'"
Lee Morgan: "The Sidewinder"

Radiohead- "I Might be Wrong" ( It's got a gorgeous, frail chorus set against menacing twang and mechanized beats and it's... danceable!)

Aaliyah - "Try Again" (Annoyed me while it was receiving heavy radio and MTV play, but I decided to really *listen* to it the other day and now I'm belatedly loving it.)

Low - "Over the Ocean" ( Who'd ever imagine that Alan and Mimi would deliver a frantic, jagged post-punk teen anthem? Well, no one, but that doesn't make this particular piece of delicate, intricate music any less serenely beautiful.)

The Stooges- "Search and Destroy", The Pixies - "Debaser" (Rock.)

Piano Magic- "No Closure" (Human. Devastatingly so.)

Boards of Canada- "Amo Bishop Roden" (see Melissa's response. Also, I listened to this while driving home from a seaside holiday and the lonely, lonely synths soundtracking the rolling hills was breathtaking. Rural Countryside!)

DJ Food- "The Crow" (I'm going to say something so that you'll *need* to hear it. Imagine the Avalanches covering Godspeed You Black Emperor!)

Speaking of GYBE!- "String loop manufactured during torrential downpour". (I've said this before on ILM- it's "To Here Knows When" the morning after.)

Also, I listened to Spiritualized's "All of My Tears" in-store and found it strikingly pretty so I'm downloading it now.

All of "Daydream Nation".

Basement Jaxx - "Romeo": judging by the number of times I've ended up singing it out loud it's the best pop song of the year. Appropriate dance: finger-wagging.

All Seeing I - "First Man In Space": there's a stiffness to it I find very appealing.

Toumani Diabate and Ballaki Sissoko - "Bi Lamban": highly brittle and beautiful guitar shimmer.

Dexy's Midnight Runners - "This Is What She's Like": I posted to ILM mentioning it and immediately found myself playing it for an hour straight.

Roots Manuva - Run Come Save Me: Actually what I like best about the album is the marvellous cover which has Manuva striding along the road, looking ten feet tall, implacable and ancient. Music also good.

Scritti Politti - "The Sweetest Girl": post-structuralist tongues untie (so that they might kiss).

The Beatles - "A Day In The Life": except for the silly doomchord, it's a great song. In some parallel and finer world, they never recorded anything afterwards, and just dissolved into their times like paint in water.

New Order - "Regret": see above, really. (There's a thread - songs which should have been bands' farewells).

The Clientele - "From A Window": Classic English psych themes (Mother, playtime, dreaming etc.) and a steady rhythmic pull.

Kate Bush - "Wuthering Heights": I hear so much Morrissey in this.

Some of these tracks can be further investigated here.

Beta Band - Eclipse
American Analog Set - Two Way Diamond I / II / Don't Wake Me (live)
Outkast - 13th Floor / Growin' Old
John Coltrane - Ole
Shipping News - Actual Blood
Mogwai - 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
Aaliyah - something in the middle of the album, don't know what it's called
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Nomadic Reverie (All Around)
DJ Shadow - Building Steam with a Grain of Salt

1. isaac hayes, 'by the time i get to phoenix' - so slow, so monumnetal, every beat hits harder when it finally comes.

2. radar bros, 'godess' - dolorous, accusatory, murderous.

3. company flow, 'patriotism' - spitting, vitriolic, almost obscene in its ugliness. and perfect for all that. a real hairs on back of neck record.

4. stevie wonder, 'you and i' - for the way it blends the hymnal and the secular into such a fragile, sad, beautiful paean to the comfort a love can give [while simultaneously acknowledging that said love might not last forever]. lodges a lump in m'throat harder than anything save beach boys' 'warmth of the sun'. but this is better somehow.

5. guided by voices, 'crocker's favourite song' - if i have to choose just the one pollard song... the sound of staring up at the sky and just dreaming.

6. albert ayler, 'angels' - just so strange, so otherworldly, the way the sax just keeps urging the song along at its own, stop-start pace.

7. white stripes, 'death letter' - blows me away, every time, for exactly the same reason zep's 'in my time of dying' was my favourite ever song, aged 15. especially the entended live versions.

8. screaming trees, 'black diamond desert' - spaced out psychedelic epic, just vocal, dubbed out piano and echo-drenched electric guitar. really beautiful, evocative.

9. specials, 'ghost town' - just perfect, in every way shape and form.

10. brainiac, 'i am a cracked machine' - they were sooooo awesome live when i saw them, very disturbing; unforgettable.

1.) My Bloody Valentine – Honey Power Only recently discovered in a Borders for 4 bucks. I have no idea if the songs on this EP were recorded before/concurrently/after “Loveless.” (Common sense tells me concurrently.) It may very well end up being my favorite MBV release.

2.) Arthur Russell – Let’s Go Swimming Currently writing a piece on Mssr. Russell, so I’ve been spinning mp3’s of his glorious future-disco pretty much non-stop. I hate to quote myself, but: “a lazy, amniotic drift like some ageless, graceful neuter, swathed in a nimbus of echo and reverb.”

3.) Basement Jaxx – Romeo Song of the year? Probably. It’s a guilty pleasure (all the best bits and pieces from 30 years of “dance” music strung together) executed with such finesse and charm that it transcends itself.

4.) Lightning Bolt – 13 Monsters Thump. Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump. Blarrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Thump. Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump. Blarrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Repeat as necessary.

5.) Tarwater – (well, just about anything….) Minimal art-pop transposed to a neo-electronica setting. If the Young Marble Giants were ex-German dance artists…

6.) Hombre Ojo - La Musica Nothing more or less than a perfect slice of minimal but oceanic house, dropped at the end of Matt Herbert’s excellent “Let’s All Make Mistakes” mix CD. The offspring of the Russell piece above.

7.) Trick Daddy – I’m A Thug I have no idea why (it’s definitely the chorus NOT the verses) but this makes me grin like an idiot every time I hear it.

8.) The Clash – Time Is Tight Bonus for the haters: it’s an INSTRUMENTAL chumps, so no Stummer- idiot-bark to get in your way.

9.) The Slits – Shoplifting (Peel Session) The perfect thing to play screaming out of a parking lot at 80 mph after a rather shitty job interview. ;]

10.) Replikants – Escape From The Cyber-ghetto Cheap-ass vocodered hiphop written by ex-hardcore kids too cheap to buy a Powerbook, having just read (and maybe not thoroughly digested) Eno’s Oblique Strategies and John Cage. And even better than that.

10) Big Star - "The Ballad Of El Goodo" - Number 1 Record
Drum fills and chord progresisons tumble like drunkenly falling down the stairs.

9) Angus MacLise - "St. Mark's Epiphany" - Invasion of the Thunderbolt Pagoda
The rhythms are truly amazing - you go back and forth between thinking it's free and thinking it's just really complicated, and you never really know which is which.

8) Tom Waits - "Get Behind The Mule" - Mule Variations
Try this one out when you're drunk, or just waking up to go to work. "I'll stir my brandy with a nail, boys." That about sums it up.

7) Pink Floyd - "Interstellar Overdrive" - Relics
Stodge riff turns into improv nonsense, with great bell-tone guitar sounding like an impatient elevator.

6) The Proclaimers - "Cap In Hand" - Sunshine On Leith
Scottish nationalism never seemed this simple.

5) John Lennon - "How Do You Sleep" - Imagine
Hating Paul McCartney never seemed this easy.

4) The Jesus Lizard - "My Own Urine" - Head/Pure
Sounds it.

3) PJ Harvey - "Dress" - Dry
Yeah Anthony, I'm feelin' the early PJ. I like girls.

2) Gord Downie - "Vancouver Divorce" - Coke Machine Glow
The first time Gord's vocal stumblings seemed appropriate. Makes me smile wistfully.

1) Quannum Spectrum - "I Changed My Mind" - EP
Stuck in my head for days, weeks, eons. Yay for pop muzik.

Sonic Youth -- The Sprawl.

Fabolus -- Can't Deny It

Isley Broters -- Contageous

Geraldine Fibbers -- In Seven or In Ten

Aaliyah -- More Than A Woman.

That oldies song which I don't remember the artist/title of -- "Who walks around the streets of the city/smiling at everybody she sees/Everyone knows its Mindy"

His Name Is Alive: "Wishing Ring" - I always wanted to do a remix of this, removing the Hendrix guitar (which I like) and letting the rhythm breath.

Nobukazu Takemura: "Sign" - life inside a playstation can be beautiful.

Lord Finnesse: "You Know What I'm About" - especially when blended with

Snoop's "Pump Pump" on Mixmaster Mike's Neckthrust One mixtape.

Johnny Hartman & John Coltrane: "Lush Life" - the words in this song are amazing, & Hartman's delivery is smooth as glass (but not fragile!)

Nina Simone: "Here Comes The Sun" - first time on record I've believed it.

Built To Spill: "Car" - sometimes wide-eyed is perfect.

Jonathan Richman: "Rooming House On Venice Beach" - A perfectly balanced take on nostalgia & youthful thrill-seeking.

Cowboy Junkies: "Thousand Year Prayer" - I like their new record.

1. Associates - "White Car in Germany".

Will still sound like the future in 3001 AD, - martial robot beats, keening cold war synths and THAT voice. Listen to this and the other early Associates singles and realise that Rankine had invented, perfected, chewed-up and then discarded practically all of the key elements of today's post-rock, electronica, trip-hop genres. In 1981!

2. David Bowie - "Waiting For The Man" from Bowie at The Beeb

Makes the song PROWL. Did I ever tell you that Ronno is the greatest guitarist of all time? No-one, bar Johnny Ramone, is even close. Which leads on to....

3. The Ramones - "Glad to See You Go"

OK, so I bought the remastered versions of Leave Home and The Ramones. It was time to retire my old vinyl anyway! Their greatest "song that's not mentioned much". Great melody and a chorus that kicks like a piledriver.

4. 23 Skidoo - "Coup"

Early 80's industro-funkmeisters whip it up with Aswad's brass section. Brutally, irresistably funky.

5. Echo and The Bunnymen - "Flowers"

Title track from the unexpectedly brilliant new 'un. Garagey, Televison-ish verse leads into their most epic chorus since The Killing Moon. Mac can still make the plainest of lyrics sound fresh, and Will is definitely INTERESTED this time around.

6. Mellow - "Another Mellow Winter" from "Another Mellow Summer"

Frog-pop is probably old hat by now, especially with the disappointing Air record. Anyway, who cares, this has some nice plastic mellotron and proggy/Beatlesy undertones- and you can sing "Satellite of Love" along with the chorus of this one. Try it - Bom, Bom, Bom, Satellite of Love, Bom,Bom, Bom, Satellite.....

7. Scott 4 - "Lefturno"

Nice kraut-country outfit, not so much of the kraut in this track, but some nice crispy slide guitar and deep beats. Good lyrics - "head down figurin', figurin'"....

Numbers 8-11 to follow, as I need to send this before my PC crashes. Why 11? Well Mark informed me that 10 was a cockfarmer's number, so I'll go for the indulgence of 11. Ok?

1, Basement Jaxx - 'Romeo' What Tom said. Single of the year. 2, Cex - 'rjyan kidwell's funeral' Alternating clean and crushingly distorted heavy breaks with the most achingly gorgeous digital melody superimposed over the top. It's just possible that Aphex has finally met his match.

3, Associates - 'Party Fears Two' One of you lot suggested that this might well be the best single ever made. Coming home on the bus last night through London's August dusk, drunk on vodka, I finally understood why.

4, Piano Magic - 'You Came To My Party Dressed As A Shadow' Minimalist gothic (with a small g) stalker pop: 'I have jars full of your breath, I have shelves of your words, but you have nothing of me but a space where I would be'

5, Shellac - 'Prayer To God' Albini goes totally over the top and it's great, best thing he's done since Big Black

6, Cannibal Ox - 'The F-word' Maybe not quite as inventive musically or lyrically clever as some of the other tracks on The Cold Vein but it doesn't resonate any the less for it. 'Like we're friends and shit.'

7, Insides - 'Clear Skin' 40 minute remix of Euphoria which I'd forgotten I owned until I stumbled upon Saturday morning mid cd-search. One long sparkling chime of a track that doesn't grow tired despite never really going anywhere.

8, The Go-Betweens - 'Wrong Road' The stately circular string riff underpins the exiled in London lyrics perfectly.

9, Red House Painters - 'Mistress' The most shoegazy they ever got but the surging loveliness of the music can't quite hide the brutality of the song.

10, Pere Ubu - 'Final Solution' As stated elsewhere, the best fuck you mom I'm an angst ridden teenager song in the world ever.

Anyhoo, this is the list of stuff that I listened to in high school, that which is dear to me even though completely unfashionable to any group of listeners except maybe the occasional Starbucks purveyor... c'est la vie, I say:

1. Crowded House - Four Seasons in One Day 2. Jayhawks - Two Hearts 3. Grant Lee Buffalo - Honey, Don't Think 4. Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should've Come Over 5. Edie Brickell - Good Times 6. Joe Henry - Buckdancer's Choice 7. World Party - Mystery Girl 8. Tom Waits - Johnsburg, Illinois 9. Ron Sexsmith - Strawberry Blonde 10.Aimee Mann - That's Just What You Are

2. Shox Lumania-I Have No Shoes. New York art fag response to New Romantic. With Eastern European overtones. The Fischer Spooner of 1982. I miss them.

3. Pixies-Palace of the Brine. Utah-The Underrated State.

4. Super Furry Animals-Rings Around the World. Let all the children boo-gay. Does he really sing "with this post-rock geritol/gonna vaporize your soul"? Uh, guess not.

5. Sadistic Mika Band-Picnic Boogie. Speaking of boo-gay. Krazee Japanese glamabilly. Nutty!

6. Edwin Starr-H.A.P.P.Y Radio. I luv inspirational Up With People-style disco, it really hits the spot these days. This has a real Village People/Jacques Morali feel to it.

7. Gloria Gaynor-I Am What I Am I luv it even more if it's an ultra-corny showtune anthem. So what if I love each sparkle and each bangle, I ask you?

8. Buffy St. Marie-Not the Lovin' Kind. Awesome hell hath no fury grind. Would have fit nicely on Broken English.

9. Eagle-Suzi Quatro. Local faves. Power pop with cowbell and "Fox on the Run" keyboards. Funny lyrics-"she'll burn you up like toast in the sky."

10. Janis Joplin-Little Girl Blue. She does empathy really really well.

8. The Kinks - "You Still Want Me"

The second single, the one before "You Really Got Me". Moptop- ordinaire verse erupts into high-energy chorus. Smells ike Muswell Hill spirit. That's several times I've mentioned the terms "verse" and "chorus". Could it be that I'm limbering up for that long promised debate on songwriting, Mr Pinefox, sir?

9. The Zombies - "Don't Cry For Me"

Another old one. That's because I'm old too, and I like old things. I need a Zombie's expert here, because I bought a second copy of Odessey and Oracle recently to get 16 bonus tracks of out-takes, singles and b-sides, of which this is one. (Yes, I know I should have bought the box-set, and I will, but later!) Anyway, the lousy sleevenotes don't give much away about the extra tracks, and I have a suspicion that this could be one of tracks recorded by the first line-up of Argent, after the Zombies had split in 1969. All I now is that it was included on a posthumous 1973 album "Time of the Zombies". It sounds like Rod Agent or Chris White singing rather than Colin Blunstone, and the chugging guitar sounds unlike Paul Atkinson's rather less "rock" style. If you know what's going on here let me know. I realize that it's the sort of question that one should address to Mojo's letters page, but I bet someone on FT knows.

10. Vic Godard and The Leopards - "Nasty Man"

Recorded live sometime in the late 90's and included on the 20 Odd years album. "You're a dirty little fucker/you're a dirty little fucker/laddie YOU!!"

11. Section 25 -"New Horizon"

Yep, the Factory box set has been dusted down and given a spin. Very long uber-grim intro gives way to a slightly looser and less martial bass n drum feel than most vintage Factory. Still very gloomy indeed. Yus, Can were big in Blackpool alright. Blackpool (kraut) rock! Hee Hee! Geddit.

New Order: "Bizarre Love Triangle"
Missy Elliott featuring Nelly Furtado: "Get Ur Freak On"
Skip James: "Devil Got My Woman"
The Jaynetts: "Sally Go Round the Roses"
Roy Davis, Jr.: "Join His Kingdom"
Azeem: "Immz Rmx"
Full Intention Presents Shana: "I'll Be Waiting (Gray & Pern Club Mix)"
De La Soul featuring Q-Tip: "A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'"
Barbara Tucker: "Beautiful People"
Toots & the Maytals: "Pressure Drop"

Yeah, but *who* supplied those vocal overdubs? Sorry, it doesn't say. Released as a b-side to "If It Don't Work Out" in America in June '69.

1) Orchids "Striving For The Lazy Perfection"
2) Galaxie 500 "Tell Me"
3) Ride "Today"
4) Ramones "Ramona"
5) The Dream Syndicate "Tell Me When It's Over"
6)House of Love "Love in a Car"
7)The Durutti Column "The Missing Boy"
8) This short MP3 of "Balloon",a song off the forthcoming 14 Iced Bears collection.
9) Aislers Set "The Way To Market Station"
10) Petula Clark "Don't Sleep In The Subway"

Beenie Man - Ring Pon Finger Computer Cougar - Stunt Pilot Squarepusher - My Red Hot Car Gang Starr - Work Sugar - JC Auto (Live) Ui - Ms. Lady

That's all for now...

Letter from An Occupant - The New Pornographers [there's been some great stuff coming out of Canada lately]

In Walked Bud - Thelonious Monk [live 1958]

When I'm With You - New Order [eleven minute version of old Sparks track recorded live in Italy 1982]

Child of Nature - The Beatles [The lovely acoustic demo version. There's loads of unreleased Beatles tracks that are much more interesting than the stuff on the crap Anthology series]

And Your Bird Can Sing - The Beatles [the earlier Byrdsy version but without the stoned laughter featured on the Anthology 2 take.]

Exultation - Henry Cowell [I don't understand what anyone sees in John Cage]

The Way to Market Station - The Aislers Set

The Times We've Known - Bob Dylan [old Charles Aznavour song from Dylan's 1998-99 tour]

I have all of the above apart from New Pornographers and T Monk on MP3. If anyone wants copies just drop me an email. (Did anything ever come of the idea of exchanging mp3s on ILM?)

scott.bassett@wsurrey-ha.sthames.nhs.uk

Bye Bye Badman - Stone Roses
Leave This City - Sundays
Wheels of Confusion - Sabbath
That's the Way - Zeppelin
Shapes of Things - Jeff Beck
You Wear it Well - Rod the Mod
Big Boring Wedding - GBV
Acquiesce - Oasis
Bold as Love - Jimi
Hello It's Me - Todd Rundgren

wrist-slashing beats!

2. Mr. Lif - Friends and Neighbors...songs can be heartfelt and political and be about the people you know and still be funky as fuck

3. Fishbone - Pressure...for when you absofuckinglutely are about to kill ever last motherfucker out there

4. They Might Be Giants - Alienation's For the Rich...if only for the lyric "but I'm workin' to make it better with a six of Miller High Life"

5. Cee-Lo ft. Ludacris - Childz Play...the problem with Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the lack of Organized Noize beats, this shit is OOOOOON

6. Homer Simpson - Very Good Beer...mmmmmm beer aaaaaaaaah

7. Zach De La Rocha/DJ Shadow - March of Death...release your fucking album already dillhole

8. Manu Dibango - Soul Makossa...the greatest crime Michael Jackson will ever get away with is wholesale ripping off the bassline & chanted bit from this song with Wanna Be Starting Something

9. Radiohead - Knives Out..."funky"

10.Masters of Illusion - We All Over...this was probably the last album on which Keith bothered with actually fucking rhyming, it's the album that makes me remember why I liked him; it's Motion Man aka Jacky Jasper that really fucking owns this song though

journey - don't stop believin'
smif 'n wessun - bucktown
aphex twin - xtal
nas - star wars
janet jackson - when we oooo
the streets - empty cans
bubba sparxxx - jimmy mathis
lil kim - came back for you
unkle - in a state (dfa remix)

Star Sign - Fannies
Arthur's Theme -- Christopher Cross
The Show - Doug E Fresh
Highwire Days - Psych Furs
Whatever's Cool With Me - Dino Jr
Deadbeat Club - B-52s
Tired Eyes - Neil Young
Moody Blue - Elvis
Silver Springs - Fleetwood Mac
and of course Wichita Lineman - Glenn Campbell

Disco Inferno - "Entertainment"
The Streets - "Dry Your Eyes"
The Streets - "Get Out of My House"
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Two Tribes (Annihilation)"
Happy Mondays - "Kinky (Groovy?) Afro"*
The Art of Noise - "Beat Box (Diversion Two)"
Maze - "Joy and Pain"
Soul II Soul - "Back to Life"
Energy 52 - "Cafe del Mar (Kid Paul mix)"
The Black Keys - "Have Love, Will Travel"

* - Anybody know the real name to this song? Is it "Kinky Afro" or "Kinky Groovy Afro"?

b.i.g. - long kiss goodnight -- i had the whole first verse memorized before i ever bought life after death. i downloaded wake up show freestyle where he spits it after lil cease sets it off with his light shit. make your mouthpiece obese like della reese / when i release you lose teeth like lil cease / nigga please, blood flood your dungarees / and that's just the half of my warpath / laugh now cry later, i rhyme greater / than the average playa hater and spectators buy my cd twice / they see me in the streets they be like 'yo he nice' / but that's on the low though / be the cats with no dough tryna play me at my show / i pull out four-fours and go up in they clothes / short change niggas, snort caine niggas / extortion came quicker, bought the range nigga. etc.

mobb deep - up north trip -- i downloaded it after an ilm mention, some guy talking about listening to mobb deep on his walkmen while working up north on a fishing boat, after a day of shitty work-- i forget exactly how it went and the search thing never works for me. it's a great song.

olivia - all -- someone i don't know singing against a tweaked version of the damn beat. it doesn't make sense right away but is very, very good.

dj screw - in the house tonight ft. lil flip -- i represent the southside of houston texas / i can't drive a acura cause i'm used to lexus. all of flip's good, early stuff is like this, a minute and a half of a big moe or big t hook before we get to hear flip. you can skip ahead but it feels like you're ruining the surprise but if you don't skip ahead you might get bored and skip the whole song entirely. and it's one of those cute, deliberate flip verses that make you melt. now when you see me on the streets, i'm smokin sweets / and i always keep a bad broad next to me / long hair yellabone with a college degree / i see big t's number on my caller i.d.

paul wall - bounce flow -- it's from after da kappa 2k4. paul wall back with the house, and standing more like chamillion than paul wall, which is interesting.

nas ft. billy joel - ny state of mind (lights out remix) -- yeah, funny. it's actually constructed very soundly, not the slapped-together bootleg remix you'd expect. nas's verse is from ny state of mind part two from i am... (you didn't know it's better than the original).

yung ro - loyalty -- just a slowed flow on the girls, girls, girls beat, following the same format as jay but with that texas flavor and saying hoes a lot. i got a country girl that's real slim and pretty / and she call where i'm from the city.

ying yang twins ft. lil jon -- saltshaker (acapella) -- they're voices are amazing without having to sing through that beat, which you can still sense even though it's invisible. all of the clean version sound effects are in there, too, the ohhhhh moans and barks and clipped beeps and cash register sounds over bitch and ass. i can sing along with the regular version now, too.

and nine others that this magnificent record has momentarily made me forget

Salt'N'Pepa, "None Of Your Business"
Britney Spears, "Toxic" (Lenny Bertoldo show mix)
Cherrelle, "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On"
Trina ft. Missy Elliott, "Rewind That Back"
Stardust, "Music Sounds Better With You"
Tom Waits, "Singapore"
Nina Simone, "I'm Gonna Leave You"
Ani DiFranco, "Superhero"
Jamelia ft. Rah Digga, "Bout"
Dawn Penn, "You Don't Love Me (No No No)"

theodore unit: pass the mic
libertines: man who would be king
police: can't stand losing you
viktor vaughn: road rage
viktor vaughn: doper skills
wedding present: my favorite dress
tiefschwarz: renix
lemon d: manhattan
model 500: no ufos (d mix)
jean grae: u don't know bootleg

Dizzee Rascal - Stand Up Tall
Nellie McKay - Clonie
Shystie - Woman's World (Gurlz Stand Up)
Tori Amos - Daisy Dead Petals
Twista ft. TI and Liffy Stokes - Like A 24
Ghostface ft. Missy Elliott - Tush
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
Chingy - Bagg Up
Estelle ft. Megaman - Free
An Pierlé - Are "Friends" Electric?

ni ni win shwe - "my darling's love arrow"
huoy meas - "delilah"
joan baez - "east virginia"
oohna truth - "so many ways to die"
my favorite - "burning hearts"
hawkwind - "you'd better believe it"
alan licht - "the old victrola"
marga peters van neijenhof - "confusion"
giant sand - "nyc of time"
mercury rev - "downs are feminine balloons"

New Order "Ceremony" 12" single on vinyl (the mix is the beat)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds "Mutiny in Heaven" 12" vinyl EP ditto
Fleetwood Mac "The Chain" yeah, shut up.
The Clash "White Man in Hammersmith Palais"
Siouxsie and the Banshees "Spellbound"
Blondie "Contact in Red Square"
Brian Jonestown Massacre "Woo"
Black Crows "Rememdy"
Jimi Hendrix "Manic Depression"
The Smoke "My Friend Jack"

suddenly feel like an ilm whore....

Vitalic - La Rock 01
The Prodigy - Breathe
Annie - Chewing Gum (FakeID remix)
Spektrum - Kinda New (Tiefschwarz Dub)
Britney Spears - Before The Goodbye
The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral
Crazy Titch ft. Keisha - Gully
Tori Amos - Sweet The Sting
Ciara ft. Ludacris - Oh
Davinche ft. Katy Pearl & Kano - Leave Me Alone

Urge Overkill - "Take Me"
RTX - "Speed To Roam"
Go Home Productions - "Love Will Freak Us"
Pavement - "Shoot The Singer (1 Sick Verse)"
Slits - "Vindictive"
MC5 - "Shakin' Street"
John Cale - "Paris 1919"
Wire - "Straight Line"
Air - "La Femme D'Argent"
Elliott Smith - "Junk Bond Trader"

2. the raincoats - "no looking" (last 30 seconds are cathartic and bashy in this way that resolves all the tension of the album. also something i dance like an idiot to.)

3. faust - "no harm" (its the horn part right before the DADDY TAKE THE BANANA part.)

4. adonis - "no way back" (does someone tell adonis to 'jack the box'? awesome!)

5. maurice - "this is acid" (ok - so i listened to the TRAX box today. this song also rules. i think it suprises me both how much it succeeds in its totally straightforward lyrical approach, and how important that is to me in the song.)

6. steve reich - music for 18 musicians (ive had this huge hard-on for clean, futuristic, chiming, and REPETI-TI-TI-TI-TI-TI-TI-TI-TIVE music for the past week.)

7. oneida - "hakuna matata" (see #6.)

8. neu! - "hallogallo" (see #7.)

9. animal collective - sung tongs (this record is gradually gaining steam, and just MIGHT overtake liars for my favorite album of 2004. i dont know - i was resistent at first, and after seeing them live, didnt think id ever want to hear them again. but something about their infantilism/freakfolkism/squelchy-electronics has become this weirdly tasteful experimental-rock aesthetic.)

10. jennifer gentle - valende (cant wait to see these guys open up for a band i sort of hate, dead meadow. i hope their live shows are like the weird-y side of this record. marco? any idea what theyll be like this tour?)

If i could ballpark a very "at the moment list" it would go something like:

Neil Young - Harvest Moon
Elliot Smith - Out On The Weekend, (Neil Young Cover)
Saturday Looks Good To Me - Ambulance
Hrvatski - Gemini (Revision)
Bark Psychosis - 400 Winters
DJ Shadow - The last track on Entroducing
Tullycraft - Twee
Monster Movie - Winter Is Coming
Bowery Electric - the last track off of Lushlife

That probably wasn't very accurate, but it was moreorless a write it as you go type thing.

Talk Talk - "Eden" [Clarke B.]
Pavement - "Elevate Me Later" [peter smith]
Built To Spill - "Car" [Mark]
Neutral Milk Hotel - "Naomi" [Jonathan Williams]
Sonic Youth - "Karen Revisited" [o. nate]
Disco Inferno - "It's a Kid's World" [Nick Southall]
Unwound - "Radio Gra" [Jonathan Williams]
Aphex Twin - "xtal" [kilian Murphy; m.]
Can - "Future Days" [RickyT]
Pixies - "Palace of the Brine" [Arthur]
Daft Punk - "Digital Love" [M. Matos; fred solinger]
Radiohead - "Dollars & Cents" [Melissa W]
Yo La Tengo - "From a Motel 6" [Johnny Badlees]
Wilco - "Jesus, Etc." [Donna Brown]
Boredoms - "Super Good" [dleone]
Wire - "Map Ref 41N 93W" [RickyT]
The Orb - "Little Fluffy Clouds" [kilian Murphy]
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - "It Was There That I Saw You" [Maciej; Callum]
Megaman 2 - the music on Air Man and Bubble Man's levels (and Wood Man and Crash Man, etc, etc.) [Dan I.]
Hüsker Dü - "Chartered Trips" [sundar subramanian]

Erlend Øye - "The Black Keys Work" (Phonique Remix)
Caribou - "A Final Warning"
Olivia Tremor Control - "Marking Time"
Skygreen Leopards - "The Heron (A Dream of Waters Part 2)"
Dälek - "Speak Volumes"
Fripp & Eno - "Swastika Girls"
Boards of Canada - "Kid for Today"
OOIOO - "I'm a Song"
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Theme from Unreleased 'Claris Gardens'"
My Bloody Valentine - "Swallow"

ten:
Warren G feat. Nate Dogg - Regulate
Logic - The Warning
Love & Rockets - Saudade
New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
Pete Heller - Big Love
Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes
Galaxie 500 - Tugboat
Sueno Latino - Sueno Latino (Guitar Mix)
Nu-Birth - Anytime
My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise

OMG this song is LE SWOON

100 On!Air!Library! Sad Sad Zoo / Feb.
99 Pavement Range Life
98 r - Ziq Brace Yourself Jason
97 The Clientele The Violet Hour
96 Underworld Cowgirl
95 Akufen Skidoos
94 Fugazi Long Distance Runner
93 Elliot Smith Waltz #2 / Miss Misery
92 Ulrich Schnauss Blumenthal
91 Boards Of Canada Dawn Chorus / Everything You Do Is A Balloon
90 The Durutti Column Otis
89 Squarepusher Beep Street
88 Luomo Tessio
87 Daft Punk Revolution 909
86 Nightmares On Wax Capumcap
85 Primal Scream Loaded
84 Madvillian Strangeways
83 Joy Zipper Valley Stream
82 Coldcut Timber
81 Broken Social Scene Anthems For A 17 Year Old Girl
80 Chapterhouse Pearl
79 Organized Konfusion Releasing Hypnotical Gases
78 This Mortal Coil Song To The Siren
77 Moose Untitled Love Song
76 Arovane Tokyo Ghost Stories
75 Eluvium New Animals From The Air
74 Radiohead Motion Picture Soundtrack
73 Massive Attack Unfinished Sympathy
72 Xiu Xiu Clowne Towne
71 Plaid Reishi
70 New Order Thieves Like Us
69 Aphex Twin Rhubarb
68 Explosions In The Sky First Breath After Coma / Your Hand In Mine
67 Saturday Looks Good To Me Ambulance
66 The Sabres Of Paradise Inter – Lergen – Ten - Ko
65 Aphex Twin Xtal / Heliosphann
64 Mogwai Mogwai Fear Satan
63 Cex It’s All About Guilt
62 Steve Reich Music For 18 Musicians – Section I
61 The Dead Kennedy’s Moon Over Marin
60 Radiohead Morning Bell
59 Joy Division Atmosphere
58 Spacemen 3 Revolution / Walking With Jesus
57 Aphex Twin Girl Boy Song
56 Pixies Debaser
55 Oval Line Extension
54 Talk Talk New Grass
53 Keith Fullerton Whitman Modena
52 Air Miami Special Angel
51 Four Tet Slow Jam
50 Global Communication 12 18
49 Bark Psychosis Blood Rush
48 Isan Scraph / Cutlery Flavours
47 Tullycraft Twee
46 Speedy J / Link De – Orbit / Arcadian
45 Tullycraft Sweet
44 Slowdive Souvlaki Space Station
43 Múm I’m 9 Today
42 Boards Of Canada Roygbiv
41 Bark Psychosis The Loom
40 Wu Tang Clan C.R.E.A.M.
39 Slowdive Waves
38 Unrest Cherry Cream On
37 Galaxie 500 4th Of July
36 Isan Cathart
35 Slowdive Machine Gun
34 B12 Hall Of Mirrors
33 Yo La Tengo Autumn Sweater
32 Underground Lovers Excerpt From A Winters Day
31 New Order Bizarre Love Triangle
30 John Callaghan I’m Not Comfortable Inside My Mind
29 Unrest Angel I’ll Walk You Home
28 New Order Perfect Kiss
27 Unrest Breather X.O.X.O
26 Sigur Rós The Nothing Song / Untitled 3
25 The Orb Little Fluffy Clouds
24 Yo La Tengo Deeper Into Movies
23 Hrvåtski Gemini (Revision)
22 Múm Finally We Are No One
21 A Silver Mt. Zion Could’ve Moved Mountains
20 Pixies Crackity Jones
19 Dntel (This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan
18 The Jesus And Mary Chain Taste Of Cindy
17 Neutral Milk Hotel Two Headed Boy Part 2.
16 The Jesus And Mary Chain Just Like Honey
15 A Silver Mt. Zion Built Then Burnt (Hurrah! Hurrah!)
14 Squarepusher Iambic 9 Poetry
13 DJ Shadow Midnight In A Perfect World
12 Neil Halstead I Dreamed I Saw Soldiers
11 The KLF Madrugada Eterna
10 Spiritualized Shine A Light
9 Neutral Milk Hotel Holland 1945
8 Slowdive Blue Skied An’ Clear
7 The Smiths There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
6 My Bloody Valentine Sometimes
5 A Silver Mt. Zion The Triumph Of Our Tired Eyes
4 Neil Young Out On The Weekend
3 Füxa Pleasant Orbiting
2 Orbital Halcyon + On + On
1 DJ Shadow What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part - Blue Sky Revisit)

ummm...best thread ever, right?