On the Right Side of 2018

         Another year almost in the books.  It's kind of been a blur and I don't have that much to say, owing, at least partly to a head cold I just got.  My rules are the same as they've been - no artist/bands who has been on a best of compilation the previous two years unless it's the artist's last album, like the great Charles Bradley.   So even though I really liked Lera Lynn's new album, I had to refrain from including a cut from it.  The only change in the format is that this year's compilation is now three volumes - just too much good stuff to leave off.  Hope everyone has a great 2019!

p.s. In case you're wondering, the raccoon in the picture climbed a 25 story skyscraper in Minneapolis.


Download all three discs

Disc One
Born Under Punches	Angelique Kidjo
Old Town	Say Sue Me
Tokyo Bay	Nick Lowe
Sandra Monica	Rayland Baxter
Alabama	Tracyanne & Danny
Never Easy	Alela Diane
If I Had a Rose	Kelly Willis
Nite and Day	Meshell Ndegeocello
Palindrome	Azure Ray
All Night	Mandy Barnett
Turn	Young Fathers
Distant Stations	Andrew Bird
San Luis	Gregory Alan Isakov
Little Bird	Jessie Baylin
A Lamb, A Dove	H.C. McEntire
Why Keep on Breaking My Heart	Cornelia Murr
Disc Two
To June This Morning	Kacey Musgraves and Ruston Kelly
Good Lover	Donovan Woods
Deer Creek Canyon	Sera Cahoone
Ruby's Stool	Loretta Lynn
Bleeding Finger Blues	Gwenifer Raymond
Pacific Grove	Matt Costa
Talking Straight	Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
Heaven Is Closed	Willie Nelson
Beyond	Leon Bridges
Slip Away	Charles Bradley
Wishbone	Sarah Gillespie
Gum Gum	Hailu Mergia
Body Language	Kali Uchis
Pictures of You	Sonny Smith
Wildflowers	Soccer Mommy
If It's in Your Heart	The War and Treaty
Disc Three
This Is America	Childish Gambino
Mumudey Mumudey	Ebo Taylor
Under the Wheels	Calexico
Climb on the Cross	Shakey Graves
Tooth Ache	RF Shannon
One More Dollar	Rosali
Flower of the Universe	Sade
Black Waves / Silver Moon	Phosphorescent
World on Sticks	Sam Phillips
Downey to Lubbock	Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Mule Skinner	Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Before You Called Me Baby	Caitlyn Smith
Everybody Hurts	The Gibson Brothers
Open My Eyes	The Sha La Das
Souvenir	Campdogzz
Stay	Cat Power

On the Right Side of Christmas 2018

   I've already started to hear Christmas music when I've been out and about the last couple of days which means  I'm a little late this year posting my annual Christmas compilation.  So wait no longer, here's another 24 tracks of Christmas songs (well, it's actually 23 Christmas songs and one Hanukkah song this year).  I've also re-upped all the previous Christmas compilations.  Enjoy!

Download

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas	Cat Power
Carol Of The Bells	The Last Bison
Light Of The Stable	Emmylou Harris
Smokey Mountain Christmas	Jeannie Kendall
All I Want For Christmas	Timbuk 3
Teenage Christmas	Eux Autres
Joy to the World	The Fab Four
Remember (Christmas)	Harry Nilsson
Silent Night	Richard Hawley
Dear Mrs. Claus	The Barr Brothers
Greensleeves	John Coltrane
Merry Xmas I Love You	Sonny & The Sunsets
Hanukkah	The Living Sisters
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus	Amy Winehouse
Ding Dong Bell	The Ethiopians
Slipping Into Christmas	Leon Russell
Who Like Christmas Anyway	Luis And The Wildfires
We Three Kings of Orient Are	The Boxmasters
Sleigh Ride	Miss Mary Ann & The Ragtime
Mele Kalikimaka	Asylum Street Spankers
Feliz Navidad	Sea of Bees
Santa Claus	Sonny Boy Williamson
The Last Month Of The Year	The Fairfield Four & The Nashville Bluegrass Band
Auld Lang Syne	The Smithereens

Draped in Velvet: A Collection of Velvet Underground Covers

     It was often said in the 1980s that the Velvet Underground sold very few albums, but everyone who bought one formed their own band.  Consequently, for a band with a relatively limited output, there are a lot of great covers.  Here's seventeen of them to enjoy on lazy Fall Sunday mornings.

Download

I Found A Reason	Cat Power
Femme Fatale	Big Star
Pale Blue Eyes	Marisa Monte
All Tomorrow's Parties	Bryan Ferry
Sweet Jane	Cowboy Junkies
Sunday Morning	James
European Son	Beck
Foggy Notion	Echo And The Bunnymen
Who Loves The Sun	Hollis Brown
There She Goes Again	R.E.M.
Waiting For My Man	David Bowie
Here She Comes Now	Nirvana
What Goes On	The Feelies
The Black Angel's Death Song	Mitch Easter
I'm Set Free	Terry Bickers,Bradleigh Smith
Candy Says	Antony
I'll Be Your Mirror	Richard Barone

Saluting 70's Singer Songwriters Volume 5

I don't think I'll ever lose my fondness for all, well most, things  70's (though I do try to regularly put down my rose-colored glasses so I don't over engorge on nostalgia.)  Therefore, it's yet another 70's singer-songwriter compilation.  I've also re-upped the previous four volumes and the Sucking in the 70's compilations. 

Download

Here, My Dear	Marvin Gaye
Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)	Marvin Gaye
Oriente	Gilberto Gil
Patuscada De Gandhi	Gilberto Gil
Peace Like A River	Paul Simon
Kodachrome	Paul Simon
Where's the Money?	Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
I Scare Myself	Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
The Nights	Lee Hazelwood
Big Red Balloon	Nancy Sinatra And Lee Hazlewood
Coal Miner's Daughter	Loretta Lynn
I Know How	Loretta Lynn
Goodbye Old Missoula	Willis Alan Ramsey
Painted Lady	Willis Alan Ramsey
Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)	Merle Haggard
Tulare Dust	Merle Haggard
Avalanche	Leonard Cohen
A Singer Must Die	Leonard Cohen

  

Superfunkycalifragisexy: A Prince Trilogy

      I've always put Prince pretty high up on the pantheon of artists, but listening to the breadth of his work - the funk, the psychedelic soul-rock, the 70s soul covers, the stunning version of the gospel spiritual Mary Don't You Weep from the soon to be released ‘Piano & A Microphone 1983’ - I've really come to appreciate more fully his musical genius.  In putting this three disc set together, I included a bunch of cuts from his out of print 1990s albums - especially Emancipation.   

Download all three discs

Disc One

My Name Is Prince

Sex In The Summer

Pop Life

Come #2

Love and Sex

Thieves In The Temple

She's Always In My Hair

Love Sign

Life 'o' The Party

Rockhard In A Funky Place

Controversy

Play In The Sunshine Disc Two Eye No Superfunkycalifragisexy The Human Body When You Were Mine The Future Ten Pheremone Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? Get Yo Groove On What's My Name One Of Us Mary Don't You Weep Disc Three A Case Of You Shy #2 She Spoke 2 Me Girl O' My Dreams Peach Guitar Rebirth Of The Flesh $ ART OFFICIAL CAGE Hide The Bone La, La, La Means I Love You Sometimes It Snows In April

Where There's a (Hal) Willner

      I'm sitting here trying to write just a little something about Hal Willner and my mind is, well, not blank, but more like congested.  It's just really hard (at least for me) to do proper justice to the musical force that is Hal Willner.  I'll just say he's a producer who's been involved with innumerable interesting projects with an incredible number of performers and I'll let a New York Times feature on him from last year do the rest.  As for the compilation below, I took a cut from each of the fifteen musical projects he produced including a track from the out of print soundtrack to Short Cuts.  All of the stuff he's worked on has its charms - if I had to recommend one, though, I'd go with Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys.   

Download

The Traitor	Martha Wainwright
As Long As I Live	Shannon McNally
Sango Montamaria	Hal Willner
The Great Hall	Henry Threadgill
Leaving Of Liverpool	Shane MacGowan
Lowlands Low	Bryan Ferry & Antony
Ulalume	Jeff Buckley
Monk's Mood	Sharon Freeman
Sugar Baby	Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Juliet Of The Spirits	Bill Frisell
Heigh Ho	Tom Waits
Jump Monk	Don Alias/Michael Blair/Art Baron/Bill Frisell/Gary Lucas/Greg Cohen
Warning To Young Couples	William S. Burroughs
Evil California (These Blues)	Annie Ross & The Low Note Quintet With Iggy Pop &Anthony Coleman
Lonely House from Street Scene	Betty Carter

The Texas Legends Series - Volume Two: The Gourds, Doug Sahm, and Spoon

     Six years ago, I posted a compilation featuring three great Texas artists: James Hand, Justin Trevino, and Don Walser.   It's been a long time, but I finally have another volume in the series, this time with a more disparate collection of great Texas artists: The Gourds, Doug Sahm, and Spoon.  In addition to the aforementioned comp, I've also re-upped a bunch of other Texas-centric stuff: The Damnations' Where it Lands, the 3 named singer-songwriter compilation, and the Robert Earl Keen - Lyle Lovett compilation.

Download

Mendocino	Doug Sahm
(The New Way Of) Grievin' & Smokin'	The Gourds
Do You	Spoon
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb	Spoon
You're Gonna Miss Me	Doug Sahm & Sons
Gin And Juice	The Gourds
First Caress	Spoon
Stab	The Gourds
I Wanna' Be Mama Again	Doug Sahm
It's Gonna Be Easy	Doug Sahm
I Summon You	Spoon
Cold Bed	The Gourds
Love Don't Treat Me Fair	The Sir Douglas Quintet
Vittorio E.	Spoon
Bugs	The Gourds
I Don't Want	Doug Sahm
Everything Hits at Once	Spoon
Makes Me Roll	The Gourds

The Salad Days of the Late 80s and Early 90s

      The title of tonight's compilation may be a bit misleading as there seems to be very little generalized nostalgia for the late 1980s or early 1990s, but it was, nevertheless, an interesting time musically speaking.  It was also a time when cds were quite expensive so I'd occasionally purchase cheap label samplers.  I was listening to several of them a little while back and thought they'd make a dandy compilation (along with a few other songs from that time period that are personal faves).  

Download

Eye Know	De La Soul
A Deusa Dos Orixas	Clara Nunes
Babydoll	Laurie Anderson
Tweakin'	George S. Clinton
Freedom Of Speech	Ice-T
Zobi La Mouche	Les Negresses Vertes
Got To Give It Up	Love Tractor
Dirty Old Town	David Byrne
Yellow Moon	The Neville Brothers
In The Ghetto	Eric B. & Rakim
Country Skin	Oingo Boingo
Easy	Matthew Sweet
Here and Gone	Joe Henry
Didn't Know	Dumptruck
Play My Song	Redd Kross
Romeo Had Juliette	Lou Reed
Beyond This World	Jungle Brothers
Jimmy In The Valley	Lady Levi
She's Not Just Another Woman (Monique)	Biz Markie

Arthur Alexander and Jimmy Scott

    I was marveling at how well Arthur Alexander's 1993 comeback album Lonely Like Just Like Me holds up (as I hadn't listened to it in quite some time) and was surprised when I looked it up on Amazon to find out that it was out of print.  I also immediately thought of Jimmy Scott another great comeback story from the early 90s and discovered that one of his great albums - Lost and Found - was out of print.   Recorded in the late 60s and early 70s, Lost and Found was Jimmy's first attempt at a comeback but the lawyers for Savoy his record label in the 50s blocked it from being released at the time so it didn't see the light of day until 1993.  Anyway, both are truly wonderful albums - definitely in my top 100 of all time.  Enjoy (I've also re-upped my Jimmy Scott - Roy Orbison compilations, btw.)

Lonely Just Like Me

If It's Really Got To Be This Way

Go Home Girl

Sally Sue Brown

Mr. John

Lonely Just Like Me

Every Day I Have To Cry

In The Middle Of It All

Genie In The Jug

Johnny Heartbreak

All The Time

There Is A Road

I Believe In Miracles

Lost and Found

I Have Dreamed

Stay With Me

The Folks Who Live On The Hill

For Once In My Life

Dedicated To You

Day By Day

Unchained Melody

Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child

Exodus

I Wish I Knew

Alternative Country in the Aughties - Volumes Three and Four

      As promised, here's Volumes Three and Four of the 2000's alternative country compilation (once again together as one file.)  Enjoy.




Download both volumes

Volume Three

The Man of the People	Tres Chicas
Heartbreaks	Ben Mallott
Nowhere, Manitoba	Lee Mellor
Black Hearted Ways	Tim Easton
Catch Yer Own Train	The Silver Seas
He's Alright	Kurt Vile
Last Year's Leaves	Blanche
Plainest Thing	Tift Merritt
Listen Joe	Golden Smog
I Miss Being Broken, Lowdown And Alone	Andy Friedman
Honky Tonk Livin'	Starline Rhythm Boys
Bongo Ride	Jon Rauhouse
Vamos Nenas	Cordero
Long Time	Deer Tick
Why Would Anybody Live Here?	The Sadies
When the Night Comes	Dan Auerbach
Volume Four
Revelator	Gillian Welch
If I Could Only Fly	Merle Haggard
Faraway (From the North County)	John Doe
The Song of A Hundred Toads	The Handsome Family
The Chorus in the Underground	Great Lake Swimmers
When The Well Runs Dry	Drive-By Truckers
Barricades & Brickwalls	Kasey Chambers
In My Own Mind	Lyle Lovett
Chinese Translation	M. Ward
Nobody Wants To Go To The Moon Anymore	Kelly Willis
Telephone	Shelby Lynne
Indian Queens	Nick Lowe
The End	Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
Lonely Still	Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter
He Reached Down	Iris Dement
Heartaches of a Fool	Phosphorescent

Alternative Country in the Aughties - Volumes One and Two

       In an early Seinfeld episode, Kramer and Newman debate whether or not Tuesday and Wednesday have a "feel".  I'm not sure where I stand on that issue, but I was thinking about the idea of feel when putting together this compilation of alternative country music from the 2000s (i.e. the Aughties).  Specifically, I don't really discern a distinctive sound in the alternative country from that decade in the way that I do when listening to alternative country from the 1990s.  My 51 year old ears may be failing me so I've re-upped my 1990s alternative country compilations to let folks compare.  I did not include any acts that appeared on the 90s compilations, but I did include some of the bigger acts from both eras that I left off on the 90s compilations.   Volume One and Two are both one download (and I'll post Volumes Three and  Four in a month).

Download both Volumes

Volume One

Andy	Neko Case
Wave	Alejandro Escovedo
Fine Lines	Bosque Brown
Murder Ballad In G Minor	The Rosewood Thieves
Graveyard	Grayson Capps
Stop and Think It Over	Sarah Borges & Broken Singles
On a Monday	The Detroit Cobras
Gimme Back My Dog	Slobberbone
Closest (Look Out)	Matt Pond PA
I've Got A Tender Heart	Eleni Mandell
Why Go?	Thad Cockrell
The Way That He Sings	My Morning Jacket
Fair to Midland	Dwight Yoakam
Blue Shadows	Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Where Is My Love?	Lucinda Williams
The Bluest Eyes In Texas	A Camp

Volume Two

Melt Your Heart	Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins
Six Year Drought	James McMurtry
Hoping Wishers Never Lose,	Richard Buckner
Fleur de Lis	Slow Dazzle
The Pirate s Gospel	Alela Diane
Railroad Bill	Dave Alvin
Tell My Mother I Miss Her So	Ryan Bingham
Sputnik 57	The Minus 5
Throwin' Away My Money	Wayne Hancock
Slow Swinging Western Tunes	Sunny Sweeney
Adelaide	Old 97's
Your Adorable Beast	Bobby Bare Jr's Young Criminals' Starvation League
Close Behind	Calexico
I'm Wondering	The Mavericks
Sap	Freakwater
Sing Me to Sleep	Allison Moorer

They Crawled from the South: A Collection of R.E.M. Obscurities

    I was looking at Billboard's top rock albums for the last couple of years and was struck by the massive decline in popularity of rock music.  I know 70s and 80s acts like Bruce and U2 can still sell out football stadiums, but looking at those lists made me wonder if anybody over 30 listens to any contemporary rock music.  It also makes me smile when I recall the people in the 80's who said that hip-hop would never last.     

      To be clear, I'm not indulging in nostalgia for the golden era of rock or lamenting "trends in contemporary music".  But it did get me thinking about R.E.M - the all-stars of college rock (what indie rock was called in the 80's for those who weren't around then) which ultimately led, of course, to the compilation below.  It may be a little too heavy on 60s covers for some, but, as Grandpa Simpson would say, that was "style at the time" for 80s college rock acts.

Download

First We Take Manhattan

Wall Of Death

Only in America

Skin Tight

Draggin' The Line

Arms of Love

(All I've Got to Do is) Dream

Jesus Christ

Love Is All Around

Sponge

Fretless

#9 Dream

Tighten Up

I Walked With A Zombie

Academy Fight Song

Tricycle

Ghostriders in the Sky

Crazy