Good Music to Chill out to: Steve Gunn and Kurt Vile

     I've always loved the scene in 24 Hour Party People where Tony Wilson gets very high and imagines that he meets God (who looks exactly like Tony Wilson).  God reassures him about the choices he's made and also tells him that he should release a Vini Reilly greatest hits compilation as it's "good music to chill out to".  Well, this isn't a Vini Reilly compilation, but I've increasingly found both Kurt Vile and Steve Gunn (who was/sometimes still is Kurt Vile's guitarist) excellent music to, well, chill out to.  For those wanting more Vile or Gunn, I'd recommend Kurt Vile's Childish Prodigy and Steve Gunn's The Unseen in Between.

Download

Clay Pigeons	Shannon Lay & Steve Gunn
Red Apples	Kurt Vile
New Moon	Steve Gunn
It's Alright	Kurt Vile
Goodbye, Freaks	Kurt Vile
Conditions Wild	Steve Gunn
I'm an Outlaw	Kurt Vile
Trailways Ramble	Steve Gunn
Over Everything	Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile
Way Out Weather	Steve Gunn
Dive for the Pearl	Steve Gunn
Speed of the Sound of Loneliness	Kurt Vile
Other You	Steve Gunn
Wakin' on a Pretty Day	Kurt Vile

 

Isaac Hayes: A Tribute and a Retrospective

Isaac Hayes would have turned 80 on 

August 20 (and died on August 10, 2008) so I thought I though it appropriate to post both a 

retrospective of his solo work as well as a set of covers of Isaac Hayes' songs.  In addition to being a truly iconic figure in American popular culture, he really had one of the greatest ten year runs in pop music - from the mid to late 1960s, he was an incredibly prolific songwriter (though one must give ample credit as well to his songwriting partner, David Porter) and then he released a string of great solo albums from 1969 to 1974.   

Doing His Thing: An Isaac Hayes Retrospective

I'll Never Fall In Love Again
It's Too Late (She's Gone)
(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right
Bumpy's Lament
You Never Cross My Mind
The Feeling Keeps On Coming
Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic
Theme From "The Men"
You're In My Arms Again
Blue Groove
Soulsville
Your Loving Is Much Too Strong
I Stand Accused
Runnin' Out Of Fools
Songs from the Book of Isaac
I Had A Dream	Johnnie Taylor
As Long As I've Got You	The Charmels
Let Me Be Good To You	Carla Thomas
Sister's Got A Boyfriend	Rufus Thomas
In The Twilight Zone	The Astors
I Take What I Want	Aretha Franklin
You Got Me Hummin'	Reigning Sound
You Don’t Know Like I Know	Sam & Dave
Weak Spot	The Detroit Cobras
I'm A Big Girl Now	Mable John
Soul Girl	Jeanne & The Darlings
Boot-Leg	Booker T. & The MG's
It's Happening All Over	William Bell
Do Your Thing	Lyn Collins
B-A-B-Y	Rachel Sweet
Shaft	El Michels Affair
Make It Me	The Premiers
The Sweeter He Is (Pt. 1 & 2)	The Soul Children
I'll Run Your Heart Away	Lisa Miller
If I Ever Needed Love (I Sure Do Need It Now)	Ruby Johnson