Wednesday, November 24, 2010

On the Right Side of Christmas 2010

Well, I decided to make it an annual thing, so here's another Christmas music comp. (You can also still download last year's comp, btw.)


A Christmas Duel Cyndi Lauper & The Hives
Jingle Bells Johnny Paycheck
Christmas (The Buzz Of Delight) Matthew Sweet
Up On A Housetop The Jackson 5
Mele Kalikimaka Arthur Lyman
The Christmas Song Alex Chilton
Silent Night Temptations
In the Bleak Midwinter The Pipettes
Christmas in Hollis Run DMC
The Little Wiped-out Drummer Boy The Spongetones
Frosty The Snowman The Ronettes
Cold, Cold Winter The Pixies Three
Purple Snowflakes Marvin Gaye
Calling on Mary Aimee Mann
Merry Christmas From A Bar Mike Ireland And Holler
Christmas Must be Tonight The Band
Everything Is Cool John Prine
Please Come Home For Christmas Little Johnny Taylor
The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot A Girl Called Eddy
Las Mananitas Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass
Jingle Bell Jamboree Keb' Mo'
Xmas Shelby Lynne
What Are You Doing New Years Eve Nancy Wilson
Hello Mr. New Year The Coolbreezers

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Aretha and Dusty


There's a scene in Woody Allen's Manhattan where he discusses the things that make life worth living. Now the scene may be a tad overwrought, but I have to confess to sometimes thinking along the same lines. Specifically, I would definitely put a lot of Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield songs on my list. Now, I'll confess, the idea to put the two together in a mixtape didn't occur to me until I saw a post on the great blog http://soul-sides.com comparing their versions of I Can't Wait to See My Baby's Face (Yes, I also used the same pix from the post.) As with my previous Dusty mixtapes, I tried to limit my use of tracks from the albums Dusty in Memphis and A Brand New Me (since they're so perfect on their own), but I weakened and started the mix with Breakfast in Bed.


Breakfast in Bed Dusty Springfield
Groovin' Aretha Franklin
Try Matty's Aretha Franklin
Your Hurtin' Kind of Love Dusty Springfield
Crazy He Calls Me Aretha Franklin
Every Ounce of Strength Dusty Springfield
I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face Aretha Franklin
All the King's Horses Dusty Springfield
O-o-h Child Dusty Springfield
Ramblin' Aretha Franklin
Bring It On Home To Me Aretha Franklin
Sunny Dusty Springfield
Can You Love Again (Hey Now Hey) Aretha Franklin
Easy Evil Dusty Springfield
Master Of Eyes Aretha Franklin
Mamas Little Girl Dusty Springfield
Love Letters Aretha Franklin
Sweetest Smile And The Funkiest Style Aretha Franklin
I've Got A Good Thing Dusty Springfield
To Love Somebody Dusty Springfield
That's The Way I Feel About Cha Aretha Franklin

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Heat Takes a Walk: The Stan Ridgway Collection


I've always liked those albums that begin with an instrumental track that leads into the rest of the album - in addition to Fun Boy Three's Waiting, Lyle Lovett's Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, another favorite from the 80s is Stan Ridgway's Mosquitos. While it's been a long time since Stan's band Wall of Voodoo hit it big, he's still putting out good solo album, most recently Neon Mirage, as well as projects with Pietra Wexstun and Drywall. My faves are still Wall of Voodoo's Call of the West and Mosquitos, as well as his greatest hits collection, Songs That Made This Country Great (which seems to only be available as a download through emusic). So here's some of Stan's classic noir stylings.


Heat Takes A Walk
Lonely Town
The Overlords
Mexican Radio
Afghan Forklift
Good, Bad and Ugly
Triangle Head
Don't Box Me In
Monsters of the Id
Rose
High On a Mountain
Mouthful of Sand/Roadblock
Turn A Blind Eye
Camouflage


Mission Bell
Back Towards Diamond Bar
Longarm
Bing Can't Walk
Talkin' Wall of Voodoo Blues
This Town Called Fate
Luther Played Guitar
Mr. Moon Man
Lost Weekend
Watch Your Step/Jack Talked (Like a Man on Fire)
Cannon Song
Twisted Classic Hollywood Ending
The Last Honest Man

Thursday, November 4, 2010

A Long Way Home


Last year, I put together a comp of stuff with a late 60s/70s country vibe that I thought was a good driving mixtape. In a similar vein, here's a collection of road songs or, a tad more accurately, songs about travelling.


Windfall Son Volt
555 X 2 Bo Ramsey
Nowhere Road Steve Earle & The Dukes
East Bound and Down Dave Dudley
Graceland Paul Simon
El Paso The Gourds
East Of Houston, West Of Baton Rouge Chris Gaffney
Ramblin' Fever Billy Joe Shaver
To Her Door Paul Kelly & the Messengers
40, 80 or 10 Tanya Savory
Come a Long Way Michelle Shocked
I've Been Everywhere Hank Snow
To The Homeland Malcolm Holcombe
Interstate Bill Kirchen
Long Time Gone Jann Browne
Good to Be on the Road Back Home Cornershop
Shangri-La M. Ward
A Long Way Home Dwight Yoakam
Roadworn And Weary Supersuckers
Can't Hardly Wait The Replacements