Compiled by Michael Stack
Untitled
1. Juliana Hatfield, “Such a Beautiful Girl”, taken from How to Walk Away, Ye Olde Records, 2008.
Ms. Hatfield’s been a long-time favorite of mine. I’ve got several thousand CDs, I’m not the kind of person who listens to a song over and over again. This one was an exception—I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played this piece, it floored me and I wanted it to be the first thing you guys heard.
2. No-Man, “Beautiful Songs You Should Know”, taken from Schoolyard Ghosts, K-Scope, 2008.|
Not quite up my alley, but Tim Bowness’ voice gets to me, plus I can never get enough of their production—they put his vocal right in your ear. The other half of this band is Steven Wilson from the somewhat more successful Porcupine Tree.
3. Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, “Break on Through”, taken from Party Intellectuals, Pi Recordings, 2008.
The first of several covers I went with on this compilation, Ribot’s a genius guitarist from downtown New York who has played with everyone from Tom Waits to Alison Krauss to my musical hero, John Zorn (more on him in a minute). In the ‘90s, he was known for noisy avant-rock. This is a return of sorts for him.
4. Yo La Tengo, “Beanbag Chair”, taken from I Am Not Afraid of You And I Will Beat Your Ass, Matador Records, 2006.
A band that I’d been recommended to several times by the owner of the record store near where I grew up, but that I just really took notice of, I find this piece just absolutely infectious.
5. David Byrne and Brian Eno, “Life is Long”, taken from Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, Todomundo Limited, 2008.
When I was younger, I was big into Talking Heads. When I got older, I realized the only albums by either band I really liked were the ones that Eno produced. Byrne’s solo career hasn’t been my thing, but per expectation, this record was just awesome. My favorite cut from it.
6. Scott Bennett & the Dotted Line, “Unbelievable”, taken from The Dotted Line, Not Lame Records, 2005.
Just missed the cut last time I did one of these for the group. Lyrically, it touched on some long buried resentment, that’s as powerful an endorsement as I can offer. Bennett serves as utility-man in Brian Wilson’s band, singing and playing damn near anything that makes sound.
7. Don Cherry, “Multikulti Soothsayer”, taken from Multikulti, A&M Records, 1990.
When I was in college, Don Cherry taught me that musical excellence does not come from staggering talents but from staggering sensitivity. His trumpet playing changed the way I approached my instrument. This piece, I think, captures his musical persona nicely.
8. Eric Bibb, “Dr. Shine”, taken from Diamond Days, Telarc Blues, 2006.
This one speaks for itself.
9. Sea Wolf, “I Made a Resolution”, taken from the Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low EP, Dangerbird Records, 2007.
Modern music is proving difficult for me because I find that most mainstream performers have little to say that hasn’t been said already. Sea Wolf isn’t exactly knocking out platinum records, but I did first hear him on a TV show (the superb “Friday Night Lights”), making it more mainstream than most my exposure, and he’s got something quite intriguing here.
10. David Ford, “Cheer Up (You Miserable Fuck)”, taken from I Sincerely Apologise For All the Trouble I’ve Caused, Independiente, 2005.
The guy with an acoustic guitar thing never did much for me, but Ford digs in so deep I was knocked over when I saw him do this piece opening for Aimee Mann. It’s stuck with me ever since.
11. John Zorn, “Mow Mow”, taken from The Dreamers, Tzadik Records, 2008.
Zorn is incredibly prolific and covers dozens of genres. One of the things he does best is hitting those sort of ‘60s vibes, surf, Hawaiian, exotica, etc. This one features guitarist Marc Ribot in a just fantastic performance.
12. Nathan Aweau, “All Blues”, taken from Bass Etude. B.P. Music Arts, 2005.
When my wife and I went on our honeymoon in Hawaii, we had 20 minutes to kill before we went to the airport to come home. We wandered into a Borders and I put on some headphones and listened to some local performers. As a sometime bassist myself, I was blown away by Aweau’s cover of the Miles Davis classic from “A Kind of Blue”. Apparently, Aweau is most famous for being in Don Ho's band.
13. Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, taken from Tails Out, DIW/Disk Union, 2003.
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. A Japanese avant-jazz/noise guitarist, Otomo is beyond category. While the piece won't be to everyone's (anyone's?) tastes, it does, I think, capture the trippy, vaguely manic energy of the Beatles classic. But in its own way.
14. Poe, “Hello (Band Version)”, from the Hello CD single, Atlantic Records, 1996.
I didn’t dig very deep into my archives, preferring recent material, but for whatever reason, I’ve been spinning Poe a lot. In the studio, she was a trip hop performer, live, she fronted a fantastic alt-rock band. Atlantic had no idea what they had when they dropped her.
15. Nellie McKay, “Identity Theft”, taken from Obligatory Villagers, Hungry Mouse, 2007.
Speaking of people who labels had no idea what they had… McKay’s now recording on her own after a brief stint with Sony. I can say that in the past few years, she's struck me as the most original and inventive musicians of her generation. As an added bonus, this album was done with some assistance by Bob Dorough, best known for his work on the Schoolhouse Rock television show, aka what teachers did with us in the '80s when they didn't feel like teaching.
16. Jeff Buckley, “Hallelujah”, taken from Grace, Columbia, 1994.
It’s been ten years now since Jeff Buckley died. A reminder of what we lost, just in case anyone's unfamiliar.
17. Amy Kuney, “Breaking Bad Habits”, taken from the EP EP, Spin Move Records, 2006.
It seems like everybody with a cheap digital camera is recording bad clips of themselves singing great songs and posting them on YouTube. When a clip of Amy Kuney was IM’d to me, I figured it’d be good for a laugh. I was wrong.
18. Secret Chiefs 3, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, taken from the Path of Most Resistence compilation, Web of Mimicry, 2007.
