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. The Ave Maria Album by various artists (1998)
Why (in three sentences or less): A collection of 16 different
takes on the “Ave Maria,” including compositions by
Franz Schubert, Charles Gounod, Giuseppe Verdi, and others. Many
of the tracks were inexplicably mastered from vinyl, so the overall
sound is wobbly at best. All of the performances are extraordinary
(including Plácido Domingo and Mario Lanza), but Leontyne
Price’s version of the Schubert is truly not of this earth.
Click
here to listen to Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria”
performed by Leontyne Price from The Ave Maria Album
by various artists © BMG Entertainment
2. Celebration Castle by the Ponys (2005)
A garage band whose sob wracked vocals fight for space in the
guitar clatter, the Ponys mix underground influences (Television,
early Cure, Sleater-Kinney) with a pop sensibility that enables
the band to rock and emote without losing the power of either
verb. “You should take a look into the eyes of your friends/Maybe
you’d realize then you should get used to being alone.”
Click
here to listen to “I’ll Be With You” from
Celebration Castle by the Ponys © In the Red Records
3. Tracks by Bruce Springsteen (1998)
A four CD box of previously unreleased studio recordings (any
number of which would have fit nicely on the albums they were
originally recorded for), the set is a lot to swallow in one sitting
and may explain why it’s taken me years to fully ingest
everything it has to offer. For the hardcore, treasure trove is
an understatement (the curious are advised to start with just
about any studio album or The Essential Bruce Springsteen),
although its missing “The Fever” and “The Promise,”
a problem Springsteen rectified on the 1999 sampler 18 Songs.
It’s fascinating to listen to Springsteen’s songwriting
develop and occasionally get stuck in the mud.
Click
here to listen to “My Love Will Not Let You Down”
from Tracks by Bruce Springsteen © Bruce Springsteen
4. Electric Version by the New Pornographers (2003)
Near-perfect power pop combo led by A. C. Newman and featuring
the indelible Neko Case on vocals. There’s nary a false
note as the band reinvents the 80s in their own smart, funny image,
their songs bursting with fruit flavor. And did I mention Neko
Case sings on it?
Click
here to listen to “The Laws Have Changed” from
Electric Version by the New Pornographers © Matador
Records
5. Lost in Revelry by the Mendoza Line (2002)
This is the album where I fell for the Mendoza Line, a band that
merges the lyrical pursuits of Elvis Costello and (dare I say
it?) Bob Dylan with a musical approach that reveals the deeply
worn vinyl in the group’s record collection. Whether it’s
Timothy Bracy’s weary, but not-quite-beaten vocals, Peter
Hoffman’s almost-innocent restraint, or the crush-worthy,
Phil Spector girl-group stylings of Shannon McArdle, Lost
in Revelry exposes a literate, inebriated, stunned American
demographic tripping over themselves to make the parade.
Click
here to listen to “A Damn Good Disguise” from
Lost in Revelry by the Mendoza Line © the Mendoza
Line
6. Trouble by Ray LaMontagne (2004)
A friend of mine played this for me and asked me to guess if it
was a man or a woman, black or white – I was wrong on all
counts. Inspired to pick up a guitar and sing after hearing a
Stephen Stills song on his clock radio (he was working in a shoe
factory), Ray LaMontagne’s sand-in-the-throat vocals recalls
the Temptations’ Eddie Kendricks, Astral Weeks-era
Van Morrison, and even the high priestess of soul herself, Nina
Simone. The album works best in its less forced moments, allowing
the unfettered sincerity of his voice to coax heat from long-dead
coals.
Click
here to listen to “Hold You In My Arms” from Trouble
by Ray LaMontagne © Stone Dwarf/RCA Music Group
7. More Adventurous by Rilo Kiley (2004)
What makes Rilo Kiley’s most recent release so outstanding
isn’t the deft playing (always in service to the song) nor
Jenny Lewis’ appealing voice. It’s the sheer diversity
of the songwriting – and how good every single song
is. The band tackles a variety of styles (including country,
folk, and balls-out rock) without losing its identity in the process.
Click
here to listen to “A Man/Me/Then Jim” from More
Adventurous by Rilo Kiley © Brute/Beaute Records
8. Cheap Trick (1977); In Color (1977); Heaven
Tonight (1978); At Budokan (1979); Dream Police
(1979); & All Shook Up (1980) by Cheap Trick
When it comes to my monthly band obsessions, I believe in total
immersion. The first phase of Cheap Trick’s career is chock-full
of power pop pleasures: their twisted debut (no subject matter
was unworthy of their attention); the radio-friendly and infectious
In Color; the nearly flawless, dizzying Heaven Tonight;
the career-making live album At Budokan (too many screaming
teenagers for me); Dream Police (my first Cheap Trick
album; it reminds me of ice skating rinks and 7th grade); and
All Shook Up, the first chink in the armor (despite being
produced by George Martin).
Click
here to listen to “Dream Police” from Dream
Police by Cheap Trick © Sony Music Entertainment
9. Tommy (1969) & Quadrophenia (1973) by
the Who
Key adolescent totems for me in the early 80s, the deaf, dumb,
and blind Messiah of Tommy, and the personality-split
Mod of Quadrophenia have survived films, Broadway shows,
and reunion tours to stand relatively emotionally intact. What’s
sometimes overlooked in light of Pete Townshend’s sympathetic
compositions is how skillfully the foursome render the material.
Despite their grandiose concepts, rarely has rock’n’roll
captured the confusion of growing up so incisively.
Click
here to listen to “The Real Me” from Quadrophenia
by the Who © MCA Records
10. Let’s Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later On Tonight
by Marah (1998)
Before rapid lineup changes and Oasis-aping, the original quartet
were Philly’s great white hope, chewing up and spitting
out the Replacements, Townes Van Zandt, Phil Spector, and the
Mummers, crafting a sideways spin on Americana. Recorded above
a South Philadelphia auto garage using whatever was on hand (along
with copious amounts of Yuengling beer – I know; I was there),
the record sounds like an AM radio that can’t quite get
a fix on a station. (The album was reissued in 2004 with bonus
tracks including a raw version of the early classic “Muskie
Moon.”)
Click
here to listen to “Formula, Cola, Dollar Draft”
from Let’s Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later On Tonight
by Marah © Marah LLC
THESE WERE ALSO SPUN:
Redemption’s Son by Joseph Arthur (2002)
The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by the Black
Crowes (1992)
The Overture & the Underscore by Sarah Blasko (2005)
Dirty South by the Drive-By Truckers (2004)
Play Their Landlady’s Favorites by Maggi, Pierce,
& E.J. (2005)
Like Someone in Love by the Mendoza Line (1998)
Fortune by the Mendoza Line (2004)
“Julie Blue”: a River Record by Joe Purdy
(2004)
We Will Rock You by Queen {DVD} (1991)
Hot Rocks 1964-1971 by the Rolling Stones (1972)
Chutes Too Narrow by the Shins (2003)
Devils & Dust by Bruce Springsteen {CD/DVD} (2005)
Mojo: Chess Classics by various artists (2005)
