NOTE: Each entry below is accompanied by a song you can download
for free and play on your computer. No party involved with my
web site stands to profit in any way from posting these tracks.
I just want to spread the music a little.
If any artist or label wishes for the download to be removed,
please e-mail me at Michael@MichaelPatrickHarrington.com.
All of these titles can be purchased through www.amazon.com.
(But support your local independent record store!)
1. Get Behind Me Satan by the White Stripes (2005)
Why (in three sentences or less): this is the point in Jack and
Meg’s career where they should be recording live albums
in Pompeii, but instead they perversely go in the opposite direction.
The record review cliché that comes to mind is “warts
and all,” but Jack’s sly intelligence and subtle humor
are evident even on the throwaway tracks. And speaking of throwaway,
after the incendiary single “Blue Orchard,” Jack stashes
the guitar for most of the remainder of the record and satiates
his libido (the man has a major Rita Hayworth fetish developing
here) by bashing at a piano or molesting a marimba.
Click
here to listen to “My Doorbell” from Get Behind
Me Satan by the White Stripes © Third Man Records
2. Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House by
Crowded House (1996)
Crowded House’s eponymous 1986 debut was a pristine rock-pop
record that managed to never sound pristine. Their second, messier
album, Temple of Low Men (1988), was where I disembarked,
but this compilation brought me back: four tracks from each of
their four studio albums augmented by three tunes recorded shortly
before the band’s demise. It’s especially nice to
discover the songs from the band’s third album, Woodface
(1991), where singer/songwriter Neil Finn reunited with brother
Tim for the first time since their Split Enz days.
Click
here to listen to “Mean to Me” from Recurring
Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House by Crowded House ©
Capitol Records
3. The Lift and the Drag by Stargazer Lily (2002)
On the now-defunct band’s third album (following their debut
as Cory and a cdr-only release hawked at shows), Philadelphia’s
finest put a little studio polish on their rootsy harmonies. On
an off night live, “Train Song” could send you into
another world; on a great night, “Christopher” could
bring you right back.
Click
here to listen to “Christopher” from The Lift
and the Drag by Stargazer Lily © Stargazer Lily
4. A-Sides by Soundgarden (1997)
Almost overshadowed by Nirvana and Pearl Jam in the great 90s
grunge-off, Soundgarden didn’t just “punk up”
metal: they stapled the two beasts together and had sex with it
– at least that’s what it sounded like. This chronological
compilation begins with their indie darling Sub Pop days as Sabbath-riff-masters
and follows their development as they reached the top of the pops
by bending the shards into actual songs. If you don’t believe
me, then you’ll believe the Man in Black: Johnny Cash covered
the band’s “Rusty Cage” on Unchained
(1996).
Click
here to listen to “Jesus Christ Pose” from A-Sides
by Soundgarden © A&M Records, Inc.
5. X&Y by Coldplay (2005)
I wanted to love this album. Their last, A Rush of Blood to
the Head (2002), was a staggering U2-sized treatise on the
state of stress, but X&Y comes across too studied
and too pretty with lyrics straight from a guidance counselor’s
manual on empathy. It’s not terrible by any means, but it’s
not memorable either.
Click
here to listen to “Til Kingdom Come” from X&Y
by Coldplay © EMI Records Ltd.
6. Mary, Star of the Sea by Zwan (2003)
Billy Corgan’s first post-Smashing Pumpkins effort is a
record whose beauty develops over repeated listens. Even if Corgan
dominates the compositions, Zwan was very much a band, albeit
a short-lived one not that terribly removed from the Pumpkins
(Jimmy Chamberlain drummed for both outfits). Mary, Star of
the Sea never quite takes off in the expected ways; instead,
with three guitars practicing Keith Richards’ “ancient
form of weaving,” the band burrows itself into each hook
and riff for a surprisingly subtle (but loud) performance.
Click
here to listen to “Lyric” from Mary, Star
of the Sea by Zwan © Martha’s Music
7. Collaborations by Sinéad O’Connor (2005)
Outside of ripping a picture of the Pope and covering Prince’s
“Nothing Compares 2 U,” Sinéad remains firmly
a figment of her time (late ‘80s/early ‘90s) for most
people – which is a shame, because she’s continued
to release good work (when she’s not announcing her retirement
or taking up the Holy Orders). Collaborations, as the
title suggests, collects some of Sinéad’s guest work
with Massive Attack, Afro Celt Sound System, Jah Wobble, U2, and
many more (including a couple of repeats from the 1997 compilation
So Far). Not everything works (“Monkey in Winter”
with Colourfield, for example), and there are a few glaring omissions
(where’s “The Dreaming of the Bones” recorded
with Davy Spillane?), but the CD contains more than a fistful
of startling moments.
Click
here to listen to “Guide Me God” (by Ghostland
with Sinéad O’Connor) from Collaborations
by Sinéad O’Connor © EMI Records Ltd.
8. Just Lookin’ for a Hit by Dwight Yoakam (1989)
Dwight Yoakam (and producer/guitarist Pete Anderson) cut a quite
a path in the late 80s (the time period covered on this compilation),
eschewing conventional country music commercial avenues (read:
Nashville) for an ornery, corner bar approach. Equally at home
covering Dave Alvin and Gram Parsons (as well as writing his own
material), Yoakam frequently trawls dark waters without ever succumbing
to the undertow – most of the time.
Click
here to listen to “Long White Cadillac” from Just
Lookin’ for a Hit by Dwight Yoakam © Reprise Records
9. I Can’t Stop by Al Green (2003)
Reverend Al Green reunited with Willie Mitchell (the producer
of Green’s best Hi Records material in the 70s) for I
Can’t Stop, and the result is an intoxicating mixture
of church and street, as Green leads an expert combo that sounds
like a twenty-piece band (before the horns or strings kick in).
The melodies tease (isn’t that…), as if Green and
Mitchell want to remind you of their heritage, but the playing,
writing, and singing are so deft, the album never sinks to nostalgia.
Click
here to listen to “I Can’t Stop” from I
Can’t Stop by Al Green © Blue Note Records
10. The Woods by Sleater-Kinney (2005)
It would be easy to write that on The Woods Sleater-Kinney
have finally embraced their inner-classic-rock children, but this
trio have always made sure their riot grrrl clatter was in the
service of actual songs and melodies. At times so dense it’s
hard to believe you’re listening to just two guitars and
a drum kit (no bass required), the band also knows when and where
to leave pockets of air, and it’s in those pockets that
the songs (whether socially conscious or unnervingly confessional)
reveal their sputtering, hard won truths. (My CD came with a bonus
live DVD.)
Click
here to listen to “The Fox” from The Woods by
Sleater-Kinney © Sub Pop
THESE WERE ALSO SPUN:
Open Season by British Sea Power (2005)
Futures by Jimmy Eat World (2004)
No Wow by the Kills (2005)
The Forgotten Arm by Aimee Mann (2005)
The Very Best of Curtis Mayfield by Curtis Mayfield (1997)
With Teeth by Nine Inch Nails (2005)
Ollabelle by Ollabelle (2004)
History Never Repeats: The Best of Split Enz by Split
Enz (1987)
Gimme Fiction by Spoon (2005)
Devils & Dust by Bruce Springsteen (2005)
The Lost River Tapes by Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street
Band (bootleg)
Asbury Park All-Stars by Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven,
& the Asbury Jukes (bootleg)
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2 (2004)
Folker by Paul Westerberg (2004)
Pink Flag by Wire (1977)
Loud, Fast, & Out of Control by various artists {4CD
box set of 50’s rock’n’roll: Sun, rockabilly,
surf}(1999)
