I’m currently in one of those periods where I feel the need for new music. I rarely keep up with the new releases every week, I just enjoy what I’ve got for long stretches of time, punctuated by flash shopping sprees and synchronicity of people like Sam or Bob or Ryan giving me new music. So recent pickups/givetos have been: Camera Obscura, Snow Patrol, Joshua Radin, Hard-Fi, Cut Chemist, Jurassic 5, Sam dubbed me The Pipettes (very fun stuff, conjuring up images of The Shirelles and The B-52s), Gnarls Barkley, Augustana, and I finally got around to picking up Jon Brion’s soundtrack for Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. All great stuff, and many playlists have been spawned. But as always, I find myself going back to old standards, little mini-soundtracks for moods and moments I’m in. That is, I’ve found the best way that having an iPod differs from all the other portable listening devices I’ve used over the years (and I started off in 1982 with a huge mono Radio Shack cassette recorder in a backpack and those headphones half the size of your head) is that you can instantly dial up the perfect song to fit your emotional state. Or, more poignantly, you can call up a song to defeat or counteract an emotional state you find yourself in and no longer want to feel.

This is the essence of Philip K. Dick’s device The Penfield Mood Organ, as described at the beginning of his novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? There is a device, a dial, right by your bed at the beginning of the day, and you can dial up specific emotions you’d like to feel: confidence to get you through the day, venom to get you through an argument, calm acceptance that everything is going to be alright. Whatever it is you want or need to feel, or whatever it is that you are already feeling and don’t want to anymore, it’s all possible with The Penfield Mood Organ. I saw this starting to come true in the late 80’s with the advent of the CD player (especially the multiple CD jukeboxes), people being able to skip right to a specific track that reminded them of some breakup, or another track that reminded them why they broke up with that no-good loser in the first place. Now that has been expanded by the emergence of MP3 and MP4 technology - people are quite literally walking around with every piece of music they own right on their hip, and they can instantaneously call up “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” or the techno remix of “Believe” or something from Mozart’s Requiem. Dick wasn’t talking about affecting emotions through music, but it’s the same result nontheless. And it gives even more personal meaning to the fact that I chose The Penfield Mood Organ as a professional alias under which to record my own electro-hip-hop instrumental music.

Anyway, treatise over with, I may now proceed to describe what I’ve been crushing on recently. I guess the reason I brought up the whole “affecting emotions” thing is because even though I seek out new music in order to instill new emotional experiences in my life, more often than not I call upon old standards to get me through the day. Escpecially since now I’m in such a routine - get up, get ready, go to work on the T, work, get a slurpee, go home on the T, watch the Sox lose, fall asleep to some random DVD commentary. When my day consists of such repetition, I can fall into habits of finding certain songs that fit well into specific portions of that day. I may find them by accident or go looking for them frantically, but once found, they become part of my daily soundtrack. I guess we’ve all got our own soundtracks going nowadays, don’t we? And it certainly can vary depending on mood, but that pre-supposes a change in mood to begin with. Recently I’ve been in rotten moods more often than not, either stemming from the combination of heat and packed trains, or the way summer vacation brings all the nuts, foreign and domestic, into my store, or the fact that I’d really rather be in Nantucket right now. So That’s When I Reach For My Revolv-ing selection of songs. I guess others might reach for a bong or a brew, but music has always been the drug of choice for me. Not quite as social as some other drugs, in fact it’s kind of isolating in an opiate kind of way, but whatever works.

What’s been working for me recently have been a very small group of songs, played over and over at high volume at different specific parts of the day. Some new songs that I keep revisiting have been: “Come Back Margaret” by Camera Obscura, a wonderful melodic anthem with sprinkles of Dion’s “Runaway” and the whole Phil Spector girl group movement. “What’s The Altitude?” by Cut Chemist & Hymnal, a jump-out-of-your-seat powerful hip-hop track that is set to a fast twangy guitar loop that sets all of Hymnal’s vocals to a swingy catchy half-time, backed by a beat that makes you blink every time the snare bashes you in the back of the head with a sonic baseball bat. “Everything’ll Be Alright (Will’s Lullaby)” by Joshua Radin, a Simon & Garfunkel-meet-Nick Drake kind of soothing breathy bit of emotional down comforter on a cold night. (Rudi, check out Joshua Radin, I think you as a Paul Simon fan will find much to enjoy)

But the song I’ve recently been calling up most often, that immediately sends me off into my own internal stereo world where I float sublimely through Harvard Square tourists in various stages of deodorant breakdown, is Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers’ “Roadrunner.” I remember this song from waaaaay back, but for some reason never owned a copy until fairly recently. It is fast becoming one of my favorite songs. And if my personal Penfield Mood Organ had emotional labels instead of track listings, this would top the heading of “Songs That Get You From Work To The T Without Punching Anyone In The Face.” It is a raw, powerful, fun, simple song, but it always takes me out of whatever crap I’m going through or thinking of, and transports me into my own little minimovie where I’m the badass untouchable action star being filmed in slow motion by Peckinpah or Woo, and rather than trudge through Harvard Square with my head down, I stride with my head up and eyes bright, shoving past all those that apparently think it’s called a sideSTAND instead of a sideWALK.

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

As promised, some more instrumental goodness for mid-month:

1. “Clarinet Concerto (KV 622): Adagio,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
   More classical music for the rock-and-roll ears. This piece hold a special place in my heart because I’ve actually performed this piece at my high school graduation. Granted, I performed it on a very out-of-repair clarinet, so it was bit trying. But my practice for the piece went great, before my good clarinet was stolen the night before my performance. No matter - it’s still a fine piece of music, and one that always brings back fond memories of my youth.
2. “God Only Knows (Stereo Backing Track),” The Beach Boys
   Perhaps the perfect pop song, stripped of its vocals to reveal Brian Wilson’s masterful wall of sound arrangement. Even without Carl Wilson and the other Boys singing their bits, it’s still a powerful piece of music.
3. “What Is Life,” George Harrison
   From George’s All Things Must Pass 2001 reissue, this is an all-instrumental version of a fun song. Sure, you can hear a smidge of vocals at times (thus why it didn’t make the cut for the top-of-the-month set), but it’s a spirited Phil Spector arrangement, with almost all of the instruments doubled-up.
4. “Anji,” Simon & Garfunkel
   Actually, there’s no Garfunkel in this - it’s all Paul Simon’s handiwork. When Simon went to England in 1964, he learned this guitar piece by Davy Graham. He often played it as a transition piece to give his voice a rest, or simply to pick up or change the mood of his set. He’s also played this live as a duet, including a few performances with his younger brother, Eddie.
5. “Eleanor Rigby (Strings Only),” The Beatles
   Again, a stripped down version of an otherwise familiar song. This doesn’t feature a single Beatle; rather, it’s a string section, arranged and conducted by Sir George Martin. However, just like with “God Only Knows,” the instrumental arrangement stands very well on its own.
6. “Chrono,” Kraftwerk
   There are a few random vocals in this piece, but c’mon: it’s Kraftwerk, fer chrissakes! And it’s from their brilliant soundtrack work for the Tour de France - what’s not to like?

After listening to that last track, I want to hop on my bike and ride for the maillot jaune!

Have fun with these!

Download: Onkel Rudi’s “Less Talk, More Music”
(Click here for download instructions)

This post is adapted from my other blog, You Can Take The Boy Outta Brooklyn…

Man oh man, my monthly crush makes me feel like a kid again. It reminds me of the glory days of oldies radio when I was a kid. Not the oldies radio of today, mind you - 80’s music, no matter what anyone tells, doesn’t count as “oldies.” I’m talking about the oldies radio of my youth when it was nothing but Phil Spector girl groups, early Motown, and blissful, perfect pop songs that lasted no more than two and a half minutes. The Pipettes are that kind of retro: their debut album We Are The Pipettes is a half-hour of non-stop joy as a result, and it easily qualifies them as my monthly crush for August.

The Pipettes are a 3-piece neo-girl group straight outta the UK; the three singers, (Gwenno, Rose, and Becki) all wear polka-dot dresses, and their stage antics are full of coreographed arm swings and finger-wags. Given the vibe and sound they’re trying to create, one can’t help but compare their voices to those of the Ronettes and Shirelles, and though their voices aren’t as strong or well-trained, the Pipettes make up for it with some great harmonizing, loads of energy and charisma, and the cutest British accents. The backing band, a quartet of men called The Cassettes, provide a faithful, muscular, classic Motown setting for their Spector-styled songs. The album’s production is prefectly done: while it doesn’t achieve a full Wall of Sound, the echo-filled atmosphere, jangly piano & guitars, and wonderfully-arranged accompanying strings make the disc sound like it was unearthed from a time capsule.

The whole album is consistently fantastic from beginning to end - there’s nothing worth skipping here, from the opening declaration/introduction of the title track through to the touching, album-closing “I Love You.” The production and arrangement are delightfully naive and retro, but the lyrical topics are very modern: it’s hard to imagine the Supremes singing about recreational sex (”One Night Stand”), kissing off their men (”Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me”), and about loving relationships with other women (”Judy”), but The Pipettes play the part perfectly. Highlights for me are “ABC,” a groovy, horn-drenched commentary on book smarts vs. relationship smarts (”He knows all about the movement of the planets/But he don’t know how to move me”); the delightfully cheeky “One Night Stand,” which details a hysterically sarcastic seduction; “A Winter’s Sky,” an unexpectedly tender ballad whose verses are augmented with a classic “doobie doobie doo doo;” and “Pull Shapes,” whose hand-clap-happy refrain and beautiful orchestrated melody makes it sound like it would fit perfectly on one of those classic girl-group best-of collections if it weren’t for the shout-out to disco and the occiasional turntable scratch.

We Are The Pipettes is one of the most fun and consistently winning albums I’ve heard in ages. Every song’s a winner, and their pep and gift for catchy melodies will keep you coming back - I’ve probably listened through the album more than 20 times (which may be an iPod-era record for me) and I’m sure it’ll see more action as the year wears on.

You’re excited - I know. So where can you buy this gem? Only through iTunes. They’ve released one of the best albums of the year, but, as far as I can tell, they’re still without a US label or distribution deal. There’s no info available on their official website or MySpace page, so for now you’ll have to stick to the iTMS or the import bins at your better record stores.

Teh internets are probably the best way to keep up with the Pipettes - YouTube’s hosting their delightfully cheeky music video for “Pull Shapes”:

While we wait for a US release of the album, enjoy mp3s of “Pull Shapes” and its’ excellent b-side from the UK single:

Download: The Pipettes, “Pull Shapes” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Pipettes, “Guess Who Ran Away With The Milkman?” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

This simple little task of Rudi’s turned out to be more problematic than I thought it would be. I mean, I listen to instrumental music all the time, whether it be new age, classical, techno, turntablism, my own loops, whatever. Being a producer, and more specifically a sampler, my ears prick up whenever I hear instrumentals, whether just for the pure joy of it or the looping opportunities they may provide. So yeah, my musical life is full of instrumentals. But when I sat down and tried to compile a list of “favourite” instrumentals that featured absolutely no vocals whatsoever, I kept getting stumped. Some of my favorite stuff: Vangelis, Salt Tank, The Art Of Noise - it all features snippets of dialog or sampled choruses or actual oohs and aahs by background singers. My favorite album is Peter Gabriel’s “Passion”, and I just knew I’d find something off there. Well that damned Shankar just won’t shut the hell up! And my original idea of presenting my favorite instrumental in several different genres (rock, jazz, new age, techno, etc.) ran into a brick wall as well, when it came to “rock.” I mean I love Booker T & The MG’s “Hip-Hug Her,” but that’s more soul than rock. And lots of my old prog-rock stuff is on tape or vinyl and it just would have taken forever to comb through to find some Emerson Lake & Palmer doodad. And that would hardly be “favourite” anyway. I know, Zeppelin! They’ve just got to have an instrumental or two that I can… Oh yeah, I only have the old crop-circle boxed set on cassette. Sigh…

Then, too late to do anything about it last night, inspiration hit! Part of me being a producer and sampler is that I am on a constant search for obscure vinyl. I pop into church fairs, yard sales, Salvation Army stores, and every once in a while I make a pilgrimage out to Worcester’s Al-Bums. Maybe one of these days I’ll get to go downstairs. Anyway, you know the type - dusty fingers, digging in the crates, pulling out anything that has a guy with an afro on it, or spoken word children’s records, or any record that seems to be making a big deal out of the fact that it’s recorded in this new thing called “stereo.” I’ve had the best luck in picking up albums by so-and-so “and his orchestra,” playing big band or loungy jazz versions of hit songs or themes from popular films. I pile that stuff up, sound unheard, and head to the register. I love getting home, cracking open the Technics 1200, popping on my headphones and picking out the gems amongst all the snap crackle and pop. I figure one cool track per album makes it all worthwhile.

And here they are - the cool tracks. I’ve put together a playlist of some of my favorite recent finds on vinyl. These are, for the most part, nothing that you could run out to Tower and pick up on CD. For that reason alone they’re kind of special. Then there’s the cool / kitsch factor. They’re mostly rollicking fun pop jazz versions of popular songs or movie themes of the day - some cheese, but plenty of cracker to go with it. I’ve grown fond of this stuff, and have sampled most of these tracks for songs that I’m currently working on. Obviously people like DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and RJD2 have mined this particular sound recently, but it was used as far back as “Follow The Leader” by Eric B & Rakim, and “Pease Porridge” by De La Soul. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you’re in the right mood to get this stuff. Yeah, it’s really just elevator muzak with delusions of grandeur, but it’s also just pretty damned cool.

1. Deodato, “Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)”
   This was used to wonderful effect in one of my favorite films, Hal Ashby and Peter Sellers’ Being There, ushering Chance The Gardener out into the world. This runs a close second to David Shire’s “The Taking Of Pelham 123″ as my favorite funky movie theme.
2. The Brass Ring, “Secret Love”
   If they could make good-mood pills, they’d taste like this.
3. Frank Chacksfield & His Orchestra, “Theme From The Good, The Bad And The Ugly”
   This is just nasty, and yeah I’ve sampled the hell out of this. It’s not quite as ethereal as Hugo Montenegro’s take on the same theme, but more in keeping with the mood of this mix.
4. Percussion All Stars, “El Choclo”
   If this doesn’t conjure up dancing cartoons in your head, you need to feed your inner child more Flintstones vitamins.
5. The Longines Symphonette, “Hey Jude”
   About as close to actual muzak as I get on this mix, but I actually really enjoy some of the noodling around with the arrangement. I had to turn away The Eddy Starr Orchestra’s “Let It Be” though - that was just pure K-Tel elevator crapola.
6. The Brass Ring, “Moment To Moment”
   This is obviously the theme song of some secret agent whose name just hasn’t quite yet made it up there next to the likes of Bond, Diabolik, Powers, Number 6, etc.
7. The Jungle Band (Duke Ellington And His Famous Orchestra), “Rockin’ In Rhythm”
   This is a bit out of left field, as it’s not really the same quirky red-shag lobby muzak as the rest of this mix. But as far as not being Tower-buyable, this takes the cake. It’s from the legendary soundtrack to the BBC TV series “The Singing Detective”, and I only own a copy on vinyl because I found one in a shop in New Zealand! I was stunned by my good fortune, and then the question became could I get the thing back a few thousand miles in one piece…
8. Percussion All Stars, “Hawaiian War Chant”
   I dunno, this sounds a lot less like a Hawaiian War Chant, and more like the background music to one of those insanely huge fiestas like you see at the end of “Moon Over Parador.”
9. Baja Marimba Band, “Portuguese Washerwoman (TYPE 4 Remix)”
   Okay, this is a little extra treat. I fell in love with this song upon finding it on vinyl last year, and took it upon myself to embellish it with some homemade drum & bass. Our next album is going to be full of this cool obscure vinyl stuff, so here’s an early preview. Enjoy!

Download: U.N.K.L.E. Matt’s “Lovin’ an Elevator”
(Click here for download instructions)

Onkel Rudi’s theme for this month was a bit of a challenge for me: Not only do I not listen to a heckuva lot of instrumental music (see next paragraph), but his playlist contains the one absolute must-have song that popped into my head when he whipped this little challenge together: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble’s cover of Hendrix’s “Little Wing.” It’s an extraordinary piece of interpretation, and is the standard to which I hold rock instrumentals. Damn you, Rudi! Damn you and your similar tastes!

Way to make a tough challenge for me that much tougher. Why is it so hard for me? Because I don’t listen to a whole lot of instrumental music intentionally - the occasional wordless song is okay by me, but if I buy an album and there are a handful of instrumental tracks on it, for some reason I feel ripped off. Dunno why, but I do. I let this slide when it comes to jazz and electronica, but, truth be told, neither of those genres get a lot of work on my iPod. That’s not to say I don’t dig them - I’ve got quite a few jazz albums in my collection [I'm a big fan of Miles Davis' work with Coltrane in particular], but I find that it mostly doesn’t suit my daily moods, and, more often than not, dance/electronica gets relegated to my workout mixes.

Once in a great while, tho, an instrumental track will totally captivate my imagination, so I decided to compile my playlist from that short, exclusive list. Hope you dig:

1. The Prodigy, “Climbatize”
   I really think it’s a shame that most people only know The Prodigy for their controversy-baiting, hyper-provocative material like “Smack My Bitch Up” and “Baby’s Got a Temper” (whose refrain chants “We love rohypnol”), because at the group’s core are Laim Howlett’s uncanny skills as a remixer, composer, and producer. Folks forget that next to the bleak and aggressive cyber-punk of “Firestarter” and “Fuel My Fire” were songs like “Narayan,” an eastern-influenced psychedelic epic featuring vocals from Kula Shaker’s Crispian Mills, the old-skool hip-hop on steroids cut “Diesel Power” that features the excellent Kool Keith, and this number, “Climbatize,” a soaring, vaguely eastern-sounding instrumental track that’s an addictive combination of swirling, hypnotic synths and non-stop beats.
2. Peter Gabriel, “A Different Drum”
   Peter Gabriel’s Passion, his score to Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, is fantastic fusion of Gabriel’s pop sensibilities and the the native sounds of African and Middle Eastern music. To create the score, Gabriel researched the indigenous music of Jesus’ time and brought together a stellar group of musicians (including Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N’Dour, L. Shankar, and Baaba Maal) from around the globe to create its’ unique sound. The resulting work is as beautiful and resonant as Scorsese’s film, and can easily be enjoyed without seeing the movie. In fact, a friend of mine from college owned the soundtrack & listened to it constantly, but absolutely refused to see the film - not because of religious objections, but because she didn’t want the images that the music conjured in her imagination to be replaced by those of the movie.
3. Nine Inch Nails, “The Frail (Version)”
   Trent Reznor’s never been afraid of peppering NIN’s albums with cinematic instrumental music (you’re probably familiar with some of it, too - “A Warm Place” from The Downward Spiral scored an important scene from Oliver Stone’s movie Natural Born Killers, and his score runs through most of David Lynch’s Lost Highway), but I thought it was an interesting touch to have it appear on one of NIN’s remix albums. How can a quiet 1 minute-30 second instrumental be remixed into something interesting? By re-recording the melody with live strings, complicating the mix with a second, different string section, and surrounding it with creepy, atmospheric sound effects. The result is something wholly new and different that sounds like the opening credits to some gothic horror movie.
4. Primal Scream, “Get Duffy”
   My obsession with Primal Scream was pretty well-documented in last month’s challenge, and their instrumental work warrants their inclusion here, too. All of their albums have had at least one wordless track on them, and “Get Duffy” is the best of the bunch from their 1997 album Vanishing Point. It’s a hazy, cinematic trip through dub and soul.
5. David Holmes, “Paper Underwear”
   Holmes is best known for his movie scoring work, which in recent years has included Out Of Sight, and both Ocean’s Eleven pictures, but he’s also well known for his production work with Primal Scream, Therapy? and Blues Explosion. His mixture of 70’s urban soul and modern electronica is right up my alley, and I was happy to discover that he’d released a couple of albums in his native UK with the Free Association, a band to put words to his music. This instrumental cut comes from 2002’s David Holmes Presents The Free Association, which, criminally, has never seen a US release.
6. The Chemical Brothers, “The Private Psychedelic Reel”
   This 9-minute epic closed the Bros.’ classic Dig Your Own Hole from 1997. I know 9 minutes sounds like an eternity, but “Reel”s gorgeous, sweeping, psychedelic whirlwind of gigantic rhythms and synths takes a bunch of interesting turns and never bores.

Download: Uncle Sam’s “Don’t Speak”
(Click here for download instructions)

For August, we’re going all instrumental!

That’s right: all of the selections this month are instrumentals. To be more specific: the selected songs can’t contain any verbal lyric content. The human voice may be used as an instrument, but said voice can’t speak any words.

Here’s the exact challenge posed to the Uncle and U.N.K.L.E.:

Assemble a playlist of your faves in the instrumental category.

The catch: there can be NO VOCALIZED LYRICS. This includes samples of vocals, speech, etc., though samples of other instruments/licks/riffs is perfectly okay (e.g. the guitar solo from “Something,” cutting out before the vocals come back in).

What we’re looking for is instrumental, non-vocal stuff. And feel free to use any genre of music: rock, pop, jazz, classical, bluegrass, middle-ages, etc.

Why instrumentals?

Truth be told, I’ve been inundated with words this summer:

• The 2006 election season is upon us, so there’s the inherent psychobabble of politicans and their minions.
• I went to a folk music festival that featured a lot of poetic lyrics set to wonderful instrumental backing.
• My job involves a lot of talking to people, helping them solve their IT problems.

This list could go on and on, but the point is that there are too many words floating around.

So I figured it was time to strip away the words and listen to everything that’s going on in the background.

I know this can be a challenge to some, especially those whose listening favors songs with a lot of samples and beats - a.k.a. modern, hip stuff. But in finding songs to fit this challenge was fun for me, and I’m sure it allowed Unkle and U.N.K.L.E. to revisit some songs that might’ve fallen through the musical cracks.

So enjoy!

• Onkel Rudi’s “No Words…”
• Uncle Sam’s “Don’t Speak”
• U.N.K.L.E. Matt’s “Lovin’ an Elevator”

Ah, instrumental pieces: no words, just sonic tapestries. I often find myself returning to instrumental tracks when I need to clear my mind and relax. And given that the first instrument I played (clarinet) didn’t allow for singing, I feel a bit of a bond with the format.

It also shows my roots a bit. I grew up listening to a lot of classical (my mom’s influence) and jazz (the influence of my high school music teacher), and both kind of music have an uncanny ability to make me feel centered and grounded. So this playlist is full of both - especially jazz - as well as some fun rock, pop and blues tracks.

1. “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Aaron Copland
   I’ve always been a fan of big, brass-laden fanfares. Think of the Olympics, and you think of Leo Arnand’s “Bugler’s Dream,” or any one of a number of John Williams compositions. But they all pay tribute to Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.” I especially like this version, as conducted by Zubin Mehta: it’s an inspirational opening, like the sunrise to a perfect day.
2. “Blu-Bop,” Béla Fleck & The Flecktones
   I’ve always thought of this song as a “wake up and get going” tune, and a friend of mine actually had an alarm clock that played this tune as his wake-up call. This is from the Flecktones’ second (and strongest) album, Flight Of The Cosmic Hippo, and shows what a potent unit the quartet of Fleck, Vic Wooten, Howard Levy and Future Man were, back in the day. Granted, the Flecktones are still terrific, but this original lineup is still may fave.
3. “Blue Rondo A La Turk,” The Dave Brubeck Quartet
   Connecticut’s own Dave Brubeck hit upon a winning formula in 1959: issue an album where each song uses a different (and often obscure) time signature. Time Out was a runaway success, and featured one song (”Take Five”) that topped the Billboard Hot 100 - the last jazz instrumental to do so. “Blue Rondo A La Turk” is in 9/8 time (a traditional Turkish construct), and drives along with a pace that’s urgent and playful.
4. “Blue in Green,” Miles Davis
   How could I not include a selection from the perfect (to these ears) jazz album? That’s all that needs to be said, really. If you don’t own a copy of Kind Of Blue, you’d best buy a copy now!
5. “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow,” The Beach Boys
   I could’ve gone with quite a few Brian Wilson instrumentals in this list, but chose to go with the main instrumental interlude from SMiLE. This song is reported to be the one that drove Brian over the edge, giving him nightmares. And the song is somewhat haunting, a musical depiction of the Great Chicago Fire. It’s said that Brian had the musicians wear fire helmets when they recorded this track in 1966, just to set the proper mood. This is the original Beach Boys version, as opposed to the version of Wilson’s own version of the SMiLE album.
6. “Little Wing,” Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
   “Little Wing” is one of my favorite songs by Jimi Hendrix, and it has been covered by many groups over the years, including Derek and the Dominos and Sting, among others. Most of these covers are unique, if disappointing. But Stevie Ray Vaughan’s version of this song trumps Jimi’s in almost every way - it’s like Jimi laid the groundwork for Stevie to paint a sonic masterpiece. This piece gives me chills, and reminds me of what could have been had SRV not been killed in his prime.
7. “Singalong Junk,” Paul McCartney
   This song appears on McCartney’s first post-Beatles solo album, and is a lovely little acoustic swing. All instruments are playd by McCartney, who recorded this album in various locales, including his farmhouse’s loo. There are lyrics to this song, as well, but the instrumental version has a nice, relaxing tempo that’s a perfect way to close this set.

Stay tuned for my mid-month crush, when I share more of my favorite instrumentals.

Download: Onkel Rudi’s “No Words…”
(Click here for download instructions)