I was inspired by Sam’s nuclear post to put together my own list of radioactive music. I grew up at a time of transition for the world. I was born the day before the Watergate break-in (so I have an alibi), when I was six months old the last men walked on the Moon, my entire school life existed under the shadow of the Cold War, a Faustian trade-off for being the first American generation in a long time to not have to march off to war. Right after I graduated high school in 1990, things heated up around the world again, and now of course we’re living in the post-USSR but also post-9/11 world. I know it left an indelible impression on me; growing up knowing that there was a “button” somewhere in the Oval Office that, if pressed, would blow up the world sixteen times over. I see this most clearly when I look through any creative writing I did in high school - there is a subliminal yet detectable apocalyptic undercurrent to everything. My last-inning at bat in the Cold War paranoia game links me in an odd way to an older generation that had birthed “Fail-Safe” and “Dr. Strangelove”, “no nukes” and “ban the bomb”. It also separates me philosophically from a younger generation that grew up during the blissfully unaware years between glasnost and jihad.

Anyway, here’s my Cold-War-inspired list of glowing recommendations:

1. Bonzo Goes To Washington, “Five Minutes”
Former Modern Lover and Talking Head Jerry Harrison leapt upon the opportunity given to him when Ronald Reagan made an off-the-cuff joke into what he thought was a dead mike. Harrison found a copy of the audio, recruited Bootsy Collins (BOOTSY!) on bass, and built a simple electro-funk track to run behind his primitive and repetitive sampling of the joke. It’s along much the same lines as Paul Hardcastle’s “19″, or Keith LeBlanc’s “No Sellout”, only with an 80s Cold War slant.

2. U2, “Seconds”
This song is wedged neatly between the hits “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day” on U2’s fantastic album “War” - and in fact fits there perfectly, combining the rhythm and biting commentary of the first with the blood-red sky apocalyptic imagery of the second. With lyrics like “lightning flashes across the sky, east to west, do or die” and labeling all the world players as “puppets on a string”, the song labels the nuclear threat as the actual enemy, holding the human race under its thumb.

3. Frankie Goes To Hollywood, “Two Tribes”
Here’s one that most will remember for its sublimely satirical Godley & Creme music video, featuring the leaders of the world engaged in a bloody battle in a wrestling ring. The much longer album version also features calmly and coldly read Cold War Era instructions on how to survive a nuclear attack, adding to the overall “we all lose” theme of the song.

4. Roger Waters, “Four Minutes”
Waters has written some of the most pointed anti-war songs in the history of pop music, and in this he finishes off his “Radio K.A.O.S.” opus with the button actually being pushed, and all the world forced to face their final few minutes. Thank goodness he added on his Live-Aid-inspired “The Tide Is Turning” to leave us with at least some hope.

5. Hiroshima, “Atomic Cafe”
And now to prove that not everything apocalyptically-themed has to be a downer, here we have a jazz ensemble named after the first bloody chapter in the Atomic Age, performing a song named after a famous Cold War documentary, and it’s bouncy acid jazz fun! I don’t know what that really means, but I hope you hurry up and enjoy the song. We begin bombing in five minutes.

Download: Bonzo Goes To Washington, “Five Minutes” (AAC)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: U2, “Seconds” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Frankie Goes To Hollywood, “Two Tribes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Roger Waters, “Four Minutes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Hiroshima, “Atomic Cafe” (AAC)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download the whole list as a ZIP file:

Download: Half-Life Crisis (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

As I think we’re all aware, it’s getting harder and harder these days to find a complete album that’s enjoyable to listen to al the way through. With most people downloading single tracks from iTunes or Amazon (if they pay for them at all), the very concept of an album seems to be falling by the wayside. But every once in a while something does come along that is crafted as a whole, an immersive experience, even going so far as having intros, tracks blending together, skits, whatever. The Decemberists gave us a virtual rock opera last year with “The Hazards Of Love”, and that almost made my list. …Almost. Here’s what did (in no particular order). Thanks as always to Sam for showing me most of these.

1. “Hospice” by The Antlers
This is a perfect example of what I was talking about; all the songs ebb and flow into each other, often drifting off into washes of ambient noise and flutter only to resolve back into simple but poignant chord structures. The vocals are choked and hushed, the lyrics impenetrably personal and melancholy, the overall effect feeling a bit like this is a work of music-as-therapy. Haunting and beautiful, a cross between Antony & The Johnsons and Neutral Milk Hotel, this closes with a stunning and jarring transition between crescendo and epilogue, as if the singer has simply given all he can and just turns himself off and disappears right in front of you, leaving the album echoing in your emotions. Although this is best enjoyed as a whole, if I had to pick two stand-out tracks they would be: “Bear” and “Two”.

2. “Go God Go” by Fred
This album snuck up on me, offering up single track after single track until finally I realized the whole damned thing was good. This is a work of exuberance, a joyous romp, a rollercoaster of bright pop music that never rests on any laurels, instead always striving to surprise with the next twist of song arrangement or guest appearance by off-beat instrumentation. Stand-out tracks: “Fear” and “The Lights”.

3. “Lungs” by Florence + The Machine
A kick-ass soulful voice, big sprawling arrangements, a HARP as lead instrument? There really wasn’t much like this last year, but it’s not some quirky experiment, this is solid quality stuff. Setting aside the Ting-Ting-y single “Kiss With A Fist”, there’s barely a guitar within earshot - this is the sound of pop music done right, what all the Lady GaGas of the world COULD be doing with their time, but don’t really need to in order to sell records (records? what are those?). Stand-out tracks: “Cosmic Love” and “Dog Days Are Over”.

4. “vs. Children” by Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
Another album that’s really all one big thing, this sounds a bit like one woke up Zach Galifianakis from a dead sleep, hit “demo” on a cheap keyboard, thrust a newspaper in front of him, and forced him on the spot to come up with songs based on the headlines. The songs are wonderful little fables with clever wordplay and structure, blatant and specific lyrics, and simple but whistle-worthy melodies, every bit as home-made - and as GOOD - as anything by Baby Bird. Stand-out tracks: “Optimist vs. The Silent Alarm (When The Saints Go Marching In)” and “Traveling Salesman’s Young Wife Home Alone On Christmas In Montpelier, VT”.

5. “You Can Have What You Want” by Papercuts
Every once in a while something comes along that really does sound like it fell through a wormhole from long ago, and you wonder what has possessed this new young band to record it. Do you guys not know you could be selling a lot more songs if you just made whiny teen angst pop punk? Okay, nobody tell Papercuts, because for whatever reason they’ve decided to marry the hypnotic dreamy fuzz of Velvet Underground with Moog-y garage surf psychedelia, and we’re all better off because of it. Stand-out tracks: “Future Primitive” and “Dead Love”.

6. “Technicolor Health” by Harlem Shakes
Another work just bursting at the seams, this almost defies description, it’s just a big old good-mood machine perfectly suited for recovering from your post-Grammy woes. Equal parts quirky analog dance and folky mountain music, this always sounds as if it’s teetering on the edge of falling apart or crossing over into pretension, but it manages to reign itself into jumpy fun little mini-symphonies. Stand-out tracks: “Natural Man” and “Marian”.

7. “La Roux” by La Roux
This would be a guilty pleasure if it wasn’t so damned GOOD. Electronic club music infused with soulful singing and R&B chord changes, this is a simply irrepressible throwback to the New York club scene 80s when women quite possibly, however briefly, ruled the roost of pop music. Do you miss Yaz/Yazoo? Come check this out. Stand-out tracks: “Fascination” and “Bulletproof”.

(I originally had “Weathervanes” by Freelance Whales listed as #8, but apparently it’s not being released here in the States until later this year, so that gives me the opportunity to add the following)

8. “The Love Language” by The Love Language
This collection of beautiful piano-based anthems seems somewhat at cross-purposes. On the one hand, these are tried-and-true traditional chord progressions that Hank Williams would be proud to still see in heavy rotation. But on the other, all the vocals are recorded with over-the-top distortion, possibly in an attempt to still seem “quirky” and “indie” even though the guy really can sing and makes wonderful use of harmony. The overall effect sounds a bit like taking a Belle & Sebastian album, plugging it into Spinal Tap’s amp and cranking it up to 11. However, all the lo-fi in the world can’t disguise these well-crafted pop arrangements, plinky pianos and jingle bells creating a warm wintery tone to everything, until the whole album reaches a chorale crescendo that would make Frankie Valli proud. Short, sweet, heartachingly gorgeous, and highly recommended. Stand-out tracks: “Providence” and “Gray Court”.

9. “Dusk Till Dawn” by Breakestra
Yeah I’m not buying it. I know they’re trying to say this is brand-new music by current musicians using instruments and recording techniques from the heyday of funk and soul, but really, if it was that easy why haven’t we heard anything this good for 30 years? And yeah I know they went and put Chali 2na on a track to make it seem new, but come on, that’s just overdubbing. This is just a new compilation of previously unheard tracks from The Meters, The J.B.s, Funkadelic, Weather Report, Mandrill, The Blackbyrds etc. Because there’s no way anyone around these days could be this good and not walking away with every award in the music biz. Stand-out tracks: “Lowdown Stank” and “Back At The Boathouse”.

10. “Reservoir” by Fanfarlo
There was no Arcade Fire last year. And Matt was sad. Then Matt discovered that Arcade Fire had merely snuck over to London and recorded an album under the name Fanfarlo. …Or at least that’s what it sounds like. And so now Matt is happy. Stand-out tracks: “Luna” and “Drowning Men”.

Hello and happy holidays! It’s that time of the year again, when we SS-ers take a break fom being mere purveyors of fun recommendations, and resize our music-snob-critic hats for yet another year’s worth of “songs from this year that we loved but you may not have heard”. I’ll try to keep the accompanying text down to a dull roar this year…

01. The Airborne Toxic Event, “Sometime Around Midnight”
Sometimes I’m glad I’m not as tuned into the world of popular musical criticism as most (well, most who would go on to write something like this). Case in point, the way I was completely unaware of the whole Airborne / Pitchfork debate until after I’d already loved this song for far too long for any of that ridiculousness to make a difference. Rather than rehash that whole tete-a-TATE, I’ll simply say this: sometimes how you relate to a song has a lot to do with how you feel about yourself and your life at that moment. …Maybe that is in fact everything to do with how you relate to a song. For while I don’t disagree with anything that Pitchfork said about this song, I gotta say I heard all the same stuff and liked it anyway. And as a thought experiment, I’ve pictured this song as recorded by Coldplay (possible biggest hit song of the year?), or as recorded by Sum 41 (a laughable whiny mess well-deserving of Pitchfork’s disdain).

02. Florence And The Machine, “Cosmic Love”
Sam gave me F+TMs stuff early on this year and I fell in love with “Dog Days Are Over”, just knowing it would end up on my end-of-the-year list. Somewhere along the way I got to like this song better - perhaps only as a matter of sequence, maybe if I’d discovered this song first I would have eventually gravitated towards the other, I don’t know.

03. Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard, “Broken Broken Broken Heart”
Lewis’ “Back When I Was 4″ was such a delightful discovery that I’ve perked up and listened to everything he’s done. This is yet another example of his whimsical quirky delivery of clever word imagery, a baring of the soul about not only not knowing what you have until it’s gone, but knowing that you drove it away.

04. Fred, “Fear”
The word “exuberant” comes to mind as this jumps out of my headphones and into the pleasure center of my brain. I’ve often bemoaned the way that most pop music is just an interesting first 30 seconds and then lather-rinse-repeat, no interesting bridge, no unexpected key change, never going anywhere. This happily blows that out of the water with an entertaining roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, always leaving me in a good mood once I’ve heard it.

05. Camera Obscura, “Swans”
Sam admonished me that this new Obscura album sounds just like the old one. Good, I replied, I loved the old one! Some more of that Spectorish girl-group fun I’ve been happy to see creep back into pop music over the past few years.

06. Chali 2na, “Comin’ Thru”
Sure, the state of pop rap music these days is in dire straits, as I’ve ranted about far too much elsewhere. But even if I do have to keep digging deeper and deeper to find good stuff, there’s thankfully still something waiting there to be found. In this case it’s a catchy bouncy track from one of my favorite rap vocalists’ second solo album.

07. Marilyn Manson, “We’re From America”
While I’ve always appreciated Manson’s artistry, creative spirit and willingness to push the envelope, his music has never really done it for me - and it seemed that the songs were the least of what he was going for anyway. But this one grabbed me, slightly more melodic than most of his other work, and seeming more in keeping with the spirit of The Stooges than some new goth sensibility.

08. The Antlers, “Bear”
This was an early find in 2009, an album that offered a complete enveloping melancholy experience. Obviously coming out of extremely personal experiences, this seemed like one of those good old artistic products that just had to be made, to get this stuff out of his head. This song in particular contains some pull-no-punches lyrics that may make one wince, but I for one am glad that I purchased this album and did my part to help his therapy along.

09. The Aliens, “Blue Mantle”
A year after we lost Richard Wright, “Those Who Were Once Beta” have given us this lasting tribute to his sound and the whole 60s psychedelia movement, with just a hint of the organ from Led Zep’s “Thank You” thrown in for 70s flavor.

10. The Submarines, “You, Me & The Bourgeoisie (Tonetiger remix)”
Okay so the song actually came out (and drove us nuts in commercials) last year. But this remix jumped out and surprised me, switching the time signature and phrasing around to achieve a whole new slightly hip-hop feel to it.

11. Papercuts, “Future Primitive”
This was a last-minute addition to my list, a hypnotic slice of surf / psychedelic nostalgia that I simply could not get out of my head. There. Now it’s out.

12. Marina & The Diamonds, “I Am Not A Robot”
This might be my favorite song on the list, a spacey angelic pop song that is tragically not yet available here in the States.

13. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, “Optimist vs. The Silent Alarm (When The Saints Go Marching In)”
Another album that I loved as a whole, giving us all the quirky melancholy sadly lacking on recent eels projects.

14. Throw Me The Statue, “Ancestors”
Another song that just chugs along and then remembers to stop and give your ear something different here and there. Breaking off into a ukulele? Really? Cool!

15. Gin Wigmore, “Dying Day”
Another song that is not yet available here in the US, there’s nothing new in the songwriting but her voice is stellar heartbreaking stuff.

16. The Grouch & Eligh, “All In (feat. Gift Of Gab & Pigeon John)”
Okay so yes, it’s one of those damned songs with a thousand “featuring” subtitles I can’t stand. But in this case it works, each guest vocalist coming up with his own way of adapting to the fast double-time tempo. Gift Of Gab (of course) embraces the challenge most elegantly, his non-stop style perfectly suited for this kind of groove.

17. The High Strung, “Bad With My Hands”
I didn’t think this would end up on my list, but then it just kept popping up in my head and I had to reward it. This is the sound of a Phil Spector parade going by your first-floor window, waking you up at 2 AM. The single lyrical metaphor pays off well, and in today’s world of the simpler-than-simple chord progression (if any), I adore the way this song takes measure after measure to build up its chord changes to their final resolution. This will most likely not mean anything to anyone else, but what it reminds me most of is Toots And The Maytals’ song “Watermelon” - a song that really only cycles through its progression a couple of times because it takes so long to get there. Well worth the wait.

18. Soulsavers, “Can’t Catch The Train”
Sam gave me this and I immediately latched onto this dirge. Lanegan’s voice conjures up Cohen and Dylan, perfect for the overall cold dark midwinter tinge to this song.

19. Terribly Empty Pockets, “A-Okay”
This was a fun little EP full of very well-produced songs, this being my favorite. Unfortunately the beauty of this track is slightly marred by what I can only think are mastering issues. Over-compression results in some odd volume shifts, and there are a couple of disembodies clicks (perhaps upload / download issues?). But overall, a wonderfully anthemic end to my year in song.

For those who demand quantity over quality, here you go - a selection of songs all less than a minute long! In the interests of maintaining listenability I’ve excluded hundreds of intros / skits / interludes etc, choosing instead to focus on pieces that, while short, still establish their own identity as songs. So here we go, strap yourself in and feel the Gs: thirty-four songs in twenty-five minutes, twenty seconds!

1. The Dodos, “Eyelids” (mp3)
2. Black Flag, “Wasted” (mp3)
3. De La Soul, “A Little Bit Of Soap” (mp3)
4. Mellow, “Codename Dragonfly” (mp3)
5. Why?, “Twenty-Eight” (mp3)
6. The Flaming Lips, “The Spontaneous Combustion Of John” (mp3)
7. Monty Python, “I Bet You They Won’t Play This Song On The Radio” (mp3)
8. The Bulgarian Voices, “Stoyan Ide Ot Grad Zarigrad” (mp3)
9. The Undertones, “Casbah Rock” (mp3)
10. The Stone Roses, “Elizabeth My Dear” (mp3)
11. The Polyphonic Spree, “The Crash” (mp3)
12. Porn Theatre Ushers, “Nabo Himself” (mp3)
13. Sublime, “Drunk Drivin’” (mp3)
14. Fight Like Apes, “Megameanie” (mp3)
15. The Beatles, “Moonlight Bay” (mp3)
16. The Art Of Noise, “Nothing Was Going To Stop Them Then, Anyway” (mp3)
17. Consolidated, “There Is A Mountain Filled With Blood” (mp3)
18. The White Stripes, “Passive Manipulation” (mp3)
19. Minor Threat, “Small Man, Big Mouth” (mp3)
20. Princess Superstar, “Blue Beretta” (mp3)
21. The Red Elvises, “Follow The Yellow Brick Road” (mp3)
22. Ween, “Old Man Thunder” (mp3)
23. Neutral Milk Hotel, “Seven” (mp3)
24. Richard Cheese, “99 Luftballoons” (mp3)
25. Jenny Owen Youngs, “First Person” (mp3)
26. Stiff Little Fingers, “Here We Are Nowhere” (mp3)
27. Men Without Hats, “Bright Side Of The Sun” (mp3)
28. Michael Andrews, “Cellar Door” (mp3)
29. Run-DMC, “Son Of Byford” (mp3)
30. Primus, “Sathington Willoby” (mp3)
31. Deerhoof, “The Eyebright Bugler” (mp3)
32. Pink Floyd, “New Machine, Pt. 2″ (mp3)
33. The Books, “PS” (mp3)
34. Raymond Scott, “In The Hall Of The Mountain Queen” (mp3)

ZIP file of all songs will be posted tomorrow!

For my homonym I chose “Sometimes“, which was a lot of fun in that it opened up my search to avenues less traveled by. While a couple of these are songs I know and love, most were ones that manifested themselves to me only when I arranged my iTunes by song to see what I had. I love finding pleasant surprises among things I already own!

1. James
I blabbed about James in a previous post, so I’ll just say that this is the song that initially grabbed me. A long rambling jangly anthem with beautiful but non sequitur word imagery, I fell in love with it and played it over and over. Still do. Which touches upon a little mini-rant that’s been kicking around in my head for a while: who the hell is this new band called “U2″ and why don’t they write, y’know, good songs like that old band I used to love called U2? Sidestepping a few paragraphs of criticism of U2 themselves, I just find it very sad to hear many current bands (James, The Helio Sequence, We Are Scientists) obviously immensely influenced by U2, that write and release songs that would be astounding smash hits if they were by U2. But no, we get stuff about how crazy my boots are tonight, crap like that. Same thing has happened to Depeche Mode. These guys are obviously still great musicians, with a world following, that can smear feces onto iTunes and everyone will still buy it - but why not wait until you actually have something to say before you squirt out an album? And if you just find yourself with nothing interesting to say, having progressed from struggling artists to comfortable millionaires, then please, for the love of MLK, please buy some good songs from some struggling new songwriters. Y’know, like James.

2. The Psychedelic Furs
A wonderful little song I’ve had forever but never really paid much attention to until now. It sounds like it’s going to be The Troggs at the beginning before settling into that 80s haze that The Furs excelled at. There would be no M83 if there had not first been The Psychedelic Furs.

3. Erykah Badu
I’ve never liked Miss Badu as much as everyone else, finding her a bit too arch, too precious, seemingly concerned more with creating a strong vocal presence than writing a catchy song - but that’s just me. This one is fine, grabbing the mood of Eric B & Rakim’s “The Ghetto” and spinning some smooth riffs on top. I guess when all is said and done, if I’m not A) seeing her live, B) having sex, or C) a woman who’s going to relate to the lyrics by interrupting here and there with an “mmmhmmm, that’s right!”, I don’t get much out of her music. Yeah, I’m probably just not the target audience.

4. Erasure
In a world full of pop music narcissists, Vince Clarke may well be a standout. After all he’s been writing beautiful love songs for decades, then hearing his own words sung back to him by the love of his life, Andy Bell. And thank God he is so into himself in that way, for we get to enjoy the byproduct.

5. The Zombies
Last year I finally got around to picking up “Odessey And Oracle” for myself and was blown away listening to something that should be mentioned in the same breath as “Sgt Peppers” and “Pet Sounds”, but of course is not. I mentioned this to my brother and voila on my birthday he gave me MP3s of their entire oeuvre! Thankfully my brother doesn’t do things halfway.

6. Blind Melon
There’s a very good reason I owned this but never paid it much attention. It’s from the “new” Blind Melon, reuniting the old band with new lead singer Travis Warren. Not bad, certainly, but there really isn’t anyone who could ever fill the sandals of Joplinesque whirling dervish Shannon Hoon. Admittedly this affected my attempted enjoyment of their new work, but upon further review this is just fine, sounding more like a new Jellyfish song than anything else.

7. Noisettes
Sam gave me all the Noisettes stuff a little while ago, this is hardly a standout track but is still a good example of the kind of soulful strut female artists in the UK are currently enjoying, and which we here across the pond are almost completely missing out on. Thank you Sam, for continually broadening my horizons. har de har.

8. Depeche Mode
A nice little coda for my list, this is off the “go ahead, try to pick a single” immersive experience of Depeche Mode’s best album, “Black Celebration”. Hey, remember when these guys were good? And wrote melodies, instead of just picking the darkest and most awkward chords possible in an ongoing attempt to hang onto that dark gothic image that was thrust upon them by teenagers of the world? I mean come on guys, take a page out of your founder Vince Clarke’s book, and remember that people loved you when you wrote love songs, fer Robert Smith’s sake! It would be nice to hear one of my historically favorite band get back to that sometime. Or sometimes.

Download: James, “Sometimes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Psychedelic Furs, “Sometimes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Erykah Badu, “Sometimes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Erasure, “Sometimes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Zombies, “Sometimes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Blind Melon, “Sometimes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Noisettes, “Sometimes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Depeche Mode, “Sometimes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download all the songs in a handy ZIP file:

Download: “Some X 8″ (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

“If you will suck my soul, I will lick your funky emotions” - George Clinton, 1970. Sorry this took so long to finish, and all the corresponding innuendo thus implied. I’ll make this a quickie:

1. Harry Belafonte, “Man Piaba”
One of the earliest “birds and the bees” songs I’ve been able to dig up. I have the feeling if we all followed Harry’s advice the human race would have died out thousands of years ago.

2. Digital Underground, “Packet Man”
A sly wink to the misogynistic sex-soaked hip-hop of the time, this is my favorite song from the album that gave us the ubiquitous “Humpty Dance” as well as the eventual Tupac Shakur. One thing to keep in mind is that Shock G and Humpty are the same person, there’s only one guy rapping to himself, a triumph of imagination, pre-planning and multi-tracking. My favorite bits come at the end (sorry, more unavoidable innuendo) as the deal gets more desperate and the dealer gets more exasperated.

3. Stereo Total, “L’amour A 3″
I don’t speak French, but I sure do speak Sexy. I’m pretty sure this is the theme song to the French version of “Three’s Company”, sage advice to Archie that rather than finally settling down with one, why not invite Betty and Veronica to share?

4. Evil Cowards, “Sex Wars”
Yeah I dunno, I found this recently and it’s silly fun, pushing its metaphors to their breaking point. For a far more clever take on the “sex as warfare” analogy, please seek out Alan Moore and Mike Matthews’ 1989 comic “Lust”, kindly reprinted in the “Extraordinary Works Of Alan Moore” book.

5. De La Soul, “Jenifa Taught Me (12″ version)”
Just like the Digital Underground song, this plays with sexual innuendo in hip-hop without actually delving into the specificity of say, Kool G Rap’s “Talk Like Sex”. I’ve included the original 12″ vinyl version, which gets criminally chopped in half on the classic “3 Feet High And Rising” album.

6. Lovage, “Strangers On A Train”
A song about sex that’s actually sexy for a change! I take the T to work every day, and I can tell you this NEVER happens…

7. Coldcut, “I’m Wild About That Thing (The Lost Sex Tapes Position)”
Tries to set the record straight on all that stuff Belafonte skirted around. …Come to think of it, Belafonte would probably look great in a skirt…

Download: Harry Belafonte, “Man Piaba” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Digital Underground, “Packet Man” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Stereo Total, “L’amour A 3″ (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Evil Cowards, “Sex Wars” (AAC)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: De La Soul, “Jenifa Taught Me (12″ version)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Lovage, “Strangers On A Train” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Coldcut, “I’m Wild About That Thing (The Lost Sex Tapes Position)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download all the songs in a handy ZIP file:

Download: “Pleasure Delayer” (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

01. Johnny Cash, “Cocaine Blues”
Rick James said it best: “Cocaine is a hell of a drug!” This really is the sound of someone holding on to life with his teeth and fingernails, the white devil on one shoulder being drowned out by the even bigger white devil on the other shoulder. Gotta say, it doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.

02. Debbie Harry, “Rush Rush”
When this subject came up, I originally noodled with the idea of coming up with a list of “hey, drugs really aren’t that bad” songs. Songs that support Renton’s rationale in “Trainspotting”; that they wouldn’t do drugs if they didn’t feel good - I mean they’re stupid but they’re not that stupid… But my heart really wasn’t in it. I’ve had a bit too much personal experience with young people having fun turning into older people bound by liquid handcuffs. So this song from the “Scarface” soundtrack is the only “drugs are fun” song to survive. Ah the 1980s…

03. Jeffrey Lewis, “No LSD Tonight”
This is a lighthearted version of the kind of problem people like The Sex Pistols and Sublime used to have: they’d built up such a public image of “hey we love getting high” that it was impossible to get the “hey we’re dying, stop giving us drugs” memo through to their fans. Part of the problem of course is keeping up that image, not wanting to “disappoint” their fans by saying “y’know, you think you’re doing us a favor, but if you’re really a fan maybe you might consider not trying to kill us!”

04. Travesty, Ltd., “Rock & Roll Doctor”
A hilarious bit from the Doctor Demento show, harkening back to the Cheech & Chong / Led Zeppelin late-70s sex-and-drugs-and-rock-n-roll scene.

05. Frick & Frack, “You Shouldn’t Have Done It”
Right from hip-hop’s genesis, rappers wrote songs dealing with the real-life drug problems they saw around them every day. At the beginning you had stuff like “White Lines” or “King Heroin”, but soon came the urban plague of crack. Suddenly you just couldn’t write a rap song without commenting on how crack was destroying lives left and right. There are better known anti-crack songs, such as MC Shan’s “Another One To Get Jealous Of” or Shinehead’s “Gimme No Crack”, but I’ve chosen a lesser-known slice of vinyl, another cautionary tale from the hip-hop stable of producer Marley Marl.

06. Unified Theory, “Wither”
One of the most poignant songs about the fallout from drug abuse, this is the surviving members of Blind Melon eulogizing Shannon Hoon, while also commenting on the frustration they felt watching it happen.

07. The Durutti Column (featuring Eley Rudge), “The Drinking Song”
“Why do you do this, there’s easier ways to die”. Though about alcohol abuse, this unfortunately applies equally well to those afflicted by addictions of any kind.

08. The Onion Radio News, “Ritalin”
Okay well I guess there still is a lighter side to drugs…

Download: Johnny Cash, “Cocaine Blues” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Debbie Harry, “Rush Rush” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Jeffrey Lewis, “No LSD Tonight” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Travesty, Ltd., “Rock & Roll Doctor” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Frick & Frack, “You Shouldn’t Have Done It” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Unified Theory, “Wither” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Durutti Column (featuring Eley Rudge), “The Drinking Song” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Onion Radio News, “Ritalin” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download a handy ZIP of all of the songs:

Download: Bad Things, Man (ZIP)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

“Buddy? I’m gonna punch you in the face, if you don’t get your hands on the f***ing dash!!!”

Let the pugilism begin:

1. General Patton vs The X-Ecutioners, “Doctrine & Declaration”
This is an introduction from the Marvel(ous) Team-Up of Faith No More’s Mike Patton and turntablists extraordinaire The X-Ecutioners. I first heard its introductory vocal sample in an old Stereo MCs song, but it serves its purpose better here.

2. The Flaming Lips, “Fight Test”
A lot of the Lips’ music seems to reference some great unseen war going on between Heaven & Hell, light & darkness, sentient mushrooms & glowing orbs, and of course giant robots & little girls. Wayne Coyne is apparently the only one aware of this chaos going on all around us, and attempts to warn us all through song.

3. Depth Charge, “Depth Charge”
Although overshadowed by contemporaries Norman Cook and Adrian Sherwood, J. Saul Kane quietly made some of the best sample-based electro / dub / hip-hop records of the 1980s. His particular specialty was to utilize bits of audio from films, mainly horror and spaghetti western, which is probably why most of his catalog is out of print. This song chooses to look on the chop-socky side of life.

4. Pietro Mascagni, “Cavalleria Rusticana (intermezzo)”
If you’re wondering why, just picture a black & white Robert DeNiro jumping around a boxing ring in slow motion.

5. Public Enemy, “Fight The Power (12″ mix)”
For someone of my philosophical makeup, one of the things that “punching” can evoke is the image of a raised black-gloved fist, breaking its way through prejudice and racism. There aren’t many songs that sum that spirit up better than PE’s anthem from the “Do The Right Thing” soundtrack. Here’s the original 12″ single mix, complete with noisier brighter mix, sax by Branford Marsalis, and un-bleeped-up commentary on Elvis and John Wayne.

6. Malcolm Middleton, “Fight Like The Night”
A track from 2007’s addictive parasitic audio meme “A Brighter Beat”, sneakily disguised as a pop album.

7. Tomoyasu Hotei, “Battle Without Honor Or Humanity”
There are certain songs that are just made for scenes of psycho samurai chicks walking at the camera. This is one.

8. Shel Silverstein, “Hitting”
In case you can’t make it out (I didn’t at first), that indistinct word that makes the whole joke work is “feather”.

Download: General Patton vs The X-Ecutioners, “Doctrine & Declaration” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Flaming Lips, “Fight Test” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Depth Charge, “Depth Charge” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Pietro Mascagni, “Cavalleria Rusticana (intermezzo)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Public Enemy, “Fight The Power (12″ mix)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Malcolm Middleton, “Fight Like The Night” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Tomoyasu Hotei, “Battle Without Honor Or Humanity” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Shel Silverstein, “Hitting” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

I guess there’s not a lot to say about these, the idea is they tell their own story. But as David Clennon stressed in “From The Earth To The Moon”, it’s all about context. And it is that which I propose to give you a lesson in… right now:

1. Pink Floyd, “When The Tigers Broke Free”
This is from the film version of “Pink Floyd: The Wall”, and does not appear in any version on the album or many and varied live performances of said work. I can only think that this song - a poetic and visceral summing up of the circumstances surrounding Roger Waters’ father’s death in World War II - is just too personal and soul-rending for the Floyd frontman to want to dilute through casual repetition. Understandable, since his father’s death is clearly, along with the mental self-destruction of Roger “Syd” Barrett, a formative experience in Waters’ life and in one way or another the subject matter of almost everything he’s ever written. I find this scathing indictment of the professional detachment of those planning war, and the personal cost exacted upon those waging it, quite moving every time I hear it.

2. Johnny Cash, “Casey Jones”
Another tragic and honorable sacrifice rendered in classic Americana style, this is the story of the very real John Luther “Casey” Jones and one fateful night in 1900 in Mississippi.

3. Christine Lavin, “The Wild Blue”
Long and rambling and a bit forced and awkward at times, this nonetheless manages to be an emotionally enthralling tale of the origins of the Japanese World War II kamikaze, and the personal toll it took on all involved. It’s rare that I feel that I actually learned something new and interesting from a song, but this is a clear example.

4. Jonathan Coulton, “Kenesaw Mountain Landis”
Shifting gears into the absurd and humorous, we get this slightly exaggerated retelling of the 1919 Black Sox scandal, embellished just a bit here and there by Coulton, who enjoys mining that grey area between the works of Robert Allen Zimmerman and Alfred Matthew Yankovic. This is a stellar example of Maxwell Scott’s adage that “when the legend becomes fact, print the legend”. Make sure you stay tuned for the end of the song where it suddenly takes a hilarious left turn into modern pop rock culture.

5. Bob Dylan, “Billy (part 4)”
This is from the aforementioned Zimmerman’s collection of songs written for the 1973 film “Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid”, Sam Peckinpah’s post-modern revisionist history of the last days of Henry McCarty and the man who knew him well enough to kill him.

6. James Brown, “King Heroin”
Believe me, I wish this wasn’t a true story - but unfortunately Brown knew all too well the power and influence of this immigrant from the Far East. There have been far too many songs written about this opioid and the crafty precision with which it seems to seek and destroy our best and brightest, but no others have personalized the battle by casting the adversary as an actual sentient entity. And here’s where I unfortunately know too much about the subject matter, as I watched this evil seductive being insinuate itself into the lives of far too many people close to me. Unlike some of the previous songs on this list, James is not exaggerating or embellishing one bit. He recorded this back in 1974, long before the “27 List” claimed a few more famous victims. Unfortunately it seems that this King’s reign will persist long past that of this Godfather.

Download: Pink Floyd, “When The Tigers Broke Free” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Johnny Cash, “Casey Jones” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Christine Lavin, “The Wild Blue” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Jonathan Coulton, “Kenesaw Mountain Landis” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Bob Dylan, “Billy (part 4)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: James Brown, “King Heroin” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Not much to say about this one, it’s just as the intro post describes: songs that get me pumped up, motivated, inspired, etc. I’ve already posted plenty of vim and vigor on other playlists, but this category finally opens things up for me to include a few of my favorite songs of all time.

1. David Bowie, “Suffragette City”
There are few more kick-ass rock songs than this, a timeless classic that ties together everything from boogie woogie and the blues-riff roots of rock-n-roll through the analog synth glee of glam rock. KISS tried, over and over, for friggin’ decades, to come up with something to sum up Detroit Rock City better than this song by an British omnisexual former folkie named Davy Jones - and failed. Deal with it.

2. St. Germain, “Rose Rouge”
Cool modern sample-based hypnotic jazz mantra. I used to hear this every Wednesday morning on Emerson College’s WERS radio station while I was getting the store ready for “New Arrival Day”, and it helped the day get going with a spring in my step.

3. The Modern Lovers, “Roadrunner”
I’ve mentioned this song a bunch of times before - it’s just one of my favorite songs and has an energy that can instantly improve my state of mind.

4. Peter Gabriel, “A Different Drum”
This is from one of my favorite albums, Peter Gabriel’s music for “The Last Temptation Of Christ”.

5. Sniff ‘n’ The Tears, “Driver’s Seat”
Okay here we go. This is, with no apologies or qualifications, my favorite song of all time. It came out in 1979, I taped it off the radio, listened to it incessantly, was under the misconception that it was by The Cars, found it on 45 quite by accident at a library sale a few years later, and then finally got it on CD when it showed up on the soundtrack for “Boogie Nights”. I don’t know why it’s my favorite song, it’s just a combination of entering my life when I was at the impressionable age of 7, and featuring bits of things representative of lots of music I would later love; dancy beat, catchy synchopated chords, analog synths, vocal harmony, nonsensical but vivid word imagery… I guess it was just love at first listen, and I haven’t fallen out of love even thirty years later. Sure it’s got a high cheese factor as well - this was the disco-rock era that gave us stuff like “I Want To Kiss You All Over” and “Dream Weaver”. I don’t care. My love affair with cheese goes back even farther than 1979.

6. Sly & The Family Stone, “Stand!”
The first two thirds of this song are fine, the kind of “you can make it if you try” feel-good emotion that Sly was pumping out into the world at the time. But then the end break kicks in and wow! I’ll still play this over and over in my headphones when I need a pick-me-up and it just jams! I just want to jump up and down when this comes on, no matter how embarrassing it might be to do so on a crowded T platform. The essence of Up And Atom, distilled into a far-too-short-before-it-fades riff. Thank you, Mr. Stone and Family.

Download: David Bowie, “Suffragette City” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: St. Germain, “Rose Rouge” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Modern Lovers, “Roadrunner” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Peter Gabriel, “A Different Drum” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sniff ‘n’ The Tears, “Driver’s Seat” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sly & The Family Stone, “Stand!” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)