TRACY CHAPMAN - PART 1

Back in 1988, TRACY CHAPMAN's "Fast Car" was something of a phenomenon. Much like SUZANNE VEGA's "Luka," the song's quiet, understated urgency stood in stark contrast to that testosterone-besotted era's loud, fast, and glossy-to-a-fault codpiece rock. If a woman was to be seen or heard at all at the time, she pretty much needed to be a perky pop-princess (TIFFANY, DEBBIE GIBSON), an axe-wielding, vamping vixen (LITA FORD), or a glorified hood-ornament (TAWNY KITAEN writhing about on WHITESNAKE's Jag). That it also helped to be white kind of went without saying.

Sure, a not-yet-coked-to-the-gills WHITNEY HOUSTON was then quite the Miss Thang, but Tracy Chapman didn't much look like Whitney Houston, and she sure as hell didn't sound like her. No Casio dance-pop; no overblown love ballads. Yet, somehow, Ms. Chapman's eponymous debut managed to top the charts, garner three Grammys, and sell 6+ million units in the U.S. alone. Not bad, for openers. But what was she going to do for an encore?

As it happens, that encore has played out as a quiet, understated, 20-year-career in the music business. Chapman has released six subsequent albums -- two of which have gone platinum, two of which have gone gold. She picked up another Grammy for her 1995 out-of-the-blue comeback single, "Give Me One Reason," and has duetted with everyone from B.B. KING and ERIC CLAPTON to LUCIANO PAVAROTTI and ZIGGY MARLEY.

So... for not burning out, and for not fading away, Tracy Chapman has earned herself a generous, two-part helping of love & respect here today. "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...."

From her self-titled LP, 1988 >>>
[MP3] "Fast Car"
[MP3] "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution"

From the LP CROSSROADS, 1989 >>>
[MP3] "Bridges"
[MP3] "Subcity"

From the LP MATTERS OF THE HEART, 1992 >>>
[MP3] "So"
[MP3] "The Love That You Had"

BONUS TRACK >>>

[MP3] "House of the Rising Sun"

MORE COWBELL! MORE COCK ROCK!

Well, "cock rock" may or may not be the most appropriate label here. "Classic rock," more like. A bit o' the ol' "prog rock." Even an Aquanet-heavy whiff of "hair metal," perhaps. In some ways, a partial soundtrack to the years 13-19 of my life. Unfashionable nostalgia? No question. Guilty pleasures? You betcha. But presented here with a minimum of irony and as further proof that some things never go out of style. (Well, not for very long, anyway.)

[Further proof: JOURNEY's "Don't Stop Believin'" as "Sopranos" swan-song. REO SPEEDWAGON's "Take It on the Run" as Holiday Inn jingle. NIGHT RANGER's "Sister Christian" in "Boogie Nights." STYX's "Come Sail Away" in "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut." ELTON JOHN's "Tiny Dancer" in "Almost Famous." ELO and QUEEN songs backing nearly every other ad currently on TV. And etc.]

Please left-click [HERE] if you miss the '70s and '80s (or, if you were born after 1989, if you literally missed the '70s and '80s).

TRACKLIST >>>

01 heart/crazy on you
02 ozzy osbourne/crazy train
03 ac/dc/you shook me all night long
04 rick derringer/rock and roll, hoochie koo
05 bon jovi/runaway
06 rainbow/since you been gone
07 george thorogood & the destroyers/i drink alone
08 eddie money/think i'm in love
09 billy squier/my kinda lover
10 nazareth/love hurts
11 van halen/ain't talkin' 'bout love
12 billy idol/white wedding
13 styx/blue collar man (long nights)
14 loverboy/working for the weekend
15 def leppard/photograph
16 blue oyster cult/(don't fear) the reaper
17 foreigner/cold as ice
18 pink floyd/comfortably numb
19 kansas/dust in the wind

LOUIS XIV

Call me crazy, but I don't think PITCHFORK is overly fond of LOUIS XIV and their newest disc, SLICK DOGS AND PONIES.

Maybe it's the 2.5 rating that gives it away. Or this: "Testosterone-fueled rock at its least appealing extremes." (Oh my!) "Disgusting." (Ouch!) "Dull." (Heavens to Betsy!)

Then again, there's this: "... [F]ollowing their debut's asscrack-on-the-bathroom-tile smut, [SLICK DOGS] looks like a freakin' Van Gogh." (Ahh... high praise if ever I've heard it!) (And you have to admit: A 2.5 rating beats the living crap out of the 1.2 their first album was granted. So, you see? Things are looking up!)

Actually, I'm not overly enamored with this San Diego quartet's aggressively-oversexed schtick, either. There are countless bands that do the '70s-Stones/alternative-glam-rock thing a hell of a lot more competently and convincingly than these party-hearty poseurs. But Fridays were all-but-designed for over-amped backbeats and cock-rock riffs, and it just so happens that Louis XIV are on hand to supply them....

LOUIS XIV on MySPACE.

From the LP SLICK DOGS AND PONIES, 2008 >>>
[MP3] "Misguided Sheep"
[MP3] "Tina"

From the LP THE BEST LITTLE SECRETS ARE KEPT, 2005 >>>
[MP3] "A Letter to Dominique"
[MP3] "Finding Out True Love is Blind"

GRANDADDY (1992-2006)

Dead band walking!

Yesterday, I suggested that Belgian band GIRLS IN HAWAII seemed to take some cues from the now-defunct Modesto, California collective GRANDADDY. The six-song "EP" I've tongue-and-grooved together below may or may not prove my point....

[MP3] "Now It's On"

[MP3] "Elevate Myself"

[MP3] "I'm on Standby"

[MP3] "Lost on Yer Merry Way"

[MP3] "The Crystal Lake"

[MP3] "Shangri-La (Outro)"

GIRLS IN HAWAII

GIRLS IN HAWAII are, in fact, boys from Belgium. As near as I can tell, the only other Belgian act I've ever bothered spotlighting around here was AN PIERLE & WHITE VELVET back in August. Which is inexcusable. And embarrassing.

So, in a no-doubt-misguided effort to set things right, I'm going to gorge myself on Belgian waffles, chocolates, and endive (not to mention Brussels sprouts). Wash it all down with a succession of Belgian beers. Perhaps adopt a dog of Belgian breed. Griffon Bruxellois? Bichon frise? And the next time I'm asked at the the drive-thru if I want with fries with that, I shall imperiously reply: "Only if they are authentically Belgian! Arrayed in a cone of paper! With mustard, mayo, or peanut satay!" All of these things I will do (just as soon as I stop confusing Belgium with Holland and Holland with Denmark and Denmark with Delaware and Delaware with New Hampshire and New Hampshire with Hawaii and Hawaii with Holland... er... Belgium).

Many of the songs on Girls in Hawaii's second album, PLAN YOUR ESCAPE, evoke the late, lamented GRANDADDY. That may be reason enough right there to feature them here....

GIRLS IN HAWAII on MySPACE.

[MP3] "Bored"

[MP3] "Summer Storm"

ODDS 'N' SODS #3

[MP3] WEEZER/"This is Such a Pity"

[MP3] SHERYL CROW/"Love is All There Is"

[MP3] TORPEDO/"From Russia With Love"

[MP3] M.I.A./"Paper Planes"

[MP3] MOTO BOY/"Blue Motorbike"

[MP3] k.d. lang/"Thread"

BEST OF 2005

Just trying to get these year-end mixes up and out there... willy-nilly though the process be....

Left-click [HERE] to download the 2005 mix.

Portal to other year-end mixes [HERE].

BEST OF 2005 TRACKLIST >>>

01 depeche mode/precious
02 stars/ageless beauty
03 kent/du ar anga
04 sambassadeur/new moon
05 new rhodes/i wish i was you
06 stellastarr*/sweet troubled soul
07 spoon/the two sides of monsieur valentine
08 franz ferdinand/you're the reason i'm leaving
09 levy/you be sweet
10 metric/combat baby
11 belle and sebastian/another sunny day
12 the fine arts showcase/chemical girl
13 we are scientists/inaction
14 matt pond pa/several arrows later
15 editors/blood
16 goldspot/it's getting old
17 maplewood lane/wildwood drive
18 british sea power/please stand up
19 the raveonettes/ode to l.a.
20 death cab for cutie/soul meets body
21 ed harcourt/loneliness
22 gustav & the seasick sailors/angels fable [demo]
23 madonna/hung up

KAREN CARPENTER (1950-1983)

Today marks the 25th anniversary of KAREN CARPENTER's death by heart failure at the age of 32. The heart failure, of course, was the consequence of her long struggle with anorexia nervosa. Much like Rock Hudson would come to symbolize (and humanize) AIDS just a few years later, Carpenter would provide a face (and a voice) for a disease that was then little-known and little-understood by the population at large. There can be no doubt that this "fatal flaw" contributes significantly to her legacy today.

Mostly, though, it was her voice. A quarter century after her death, it remains a one-of-a-kind instrument: deep, rich, innocent, intimate. And, even when pitted against her control-freak/lodestar brother's sticky-sweet arrangements, there is a tangible sense of sadness, loneliness, and loss there that serves to both ground and elevate the material. "Soft rock"? Sure. "Easy listening"? Perhaps. But something more as well. Something deeper and more intricately tied to the human condition than, say, the average CAPTAIN & TENNILLE tune.

Perhaps more than any other, Karen Carpenter's is the voice of my childhood. Her first #1 hit ("Close to You") was released the month after I was born; she died two months before I turned 13. "Goodbye to innocence," and all that....

[For me, the Carpenters' most effective (and "affecting") songs tend to be the ballads. Even so, I couldn't resist throwing in their absurdly-titled (and absurdly "over-the-top") opus of 1977 -- "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day)." There must have been something in the air back then (so to speak) -- seeing as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" came out at almost exactly the same time.]

[Finally, any self-respecting BEATLES' fan is likely to find the Carpenters' version of "Ticket to Ride" a slow-motion abomination. It's included here merely to serve as yet another showcase for Karen's aching alto -- and as proof that that voice was already well-in-place when she recorded it at age 18.]

[MP3] "(They Long to Be) Close to You" [1970]
[MP3] "We've Only Just Begun" [1970]

[MP3] "Superstar" [1971]
[MP3] "Rainy Days and Mondays" [1971]

[MP3] "Top of the World" [1972]
[MP3] "I Won't Last a Day Without You" [1972]

[MP3] "Yesterday Once More" [1973]

[MP3] "Solitaire" [1975]

[MP3] "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" [1977]

[MP3] "Ticket to Ride" [1969]

TOM PETTY

Barring something utterly unforeseen, there should be no "wardrobe malfunctions" at this year's Super Bowl. And thank Christ for that. The sight of one of TOM PETTY's albino-cadaver boobs might just set off one giant, global upchuck of chips, dip, and chicken wings.

As for the game, I'll be pulling for the Patriots and my favorite Brady since "Mike." Tom Terrific and I are both University of Michigan grads, after all, though our times there did not coincide. So, here's sending a salutary Super Bowl shout-out to all the starting U-M quarterbacks of my bygone era (Michael Taylor, Demetrius Brown, Elvis Grbac, Todd Collins): Eat your maize-and-blue hearts out....

[MP3] "American Girl" [1976]
[MP3] "Breakdown" [1976]

[MP3] "I Need to Know" [1978]

[MP3] "Refugee" [1979]
[MP3] "Even the Losers [1979]

[MP3] "The Waiting" [1981]

[MP3] "You Got Lucky" [1982]

[MP3] "Don't Come Around Here No More" [1985]
[MP3] "Rebels" [1985]

[MP3] "Learning to Fly" [1989]
[MP3] "Two Gunslingers" [1989]

BEST OF JANUARY 2008

Another year, another month, another mix. This one feels pretty laid-back -- downright moody in stretches. Soundtrack to Seasonal Affective Disorder? Nah. It ain't that moody....

Left-click [HERE] for the download.

Portal to previous monthly mixes [HERE].

BEST OF JANUARY 2008 TRACKLIST >>>

01 CRASH VEGAS/on and on (lodestar)
02 SUEDE/everything will flow
03 MONKEY SWALLOWS THE UNIVERSE/bloodline
04 MORRISSEY/that's how people grow up
05 SONS AND DAUGHTERS/gilt complex
06 SPARKS/ride 'em cowboy
07 THE KNIFE/silent shout
08 FISCHERSPOONER/the best revenge
09 PORTISHEAD/roads [live]
10 PAUL BUCHANAN & CRAIG ARMSTRONG/let's go out tonight
11 BADLY DRAWN BOY/a journey from a to b
12 THE DUKE SPIRIT/lassoo
13 THE WHITLAMS/no aphrodisiac
14 GENE LOVES JEZEBEL/love keeps dragging me down
15 MERCURY REV/goddess on a hiway
16 GARBAGE/you look so fine
17 THE HONEYDRIPS/hej da karolin
18 THE HEAVY CIRCLES/henri
19 ORWELL/tout entier

TOM WAITS

Apropos of nothing whatsoever... a helter-skelter smattering of TOM WAITS, whose rusty croak of a voice all-but-implores me to drink whiskey and smoke. Except I'm not a smoker. And I haven't had a drink since August. (Let me assure you: Diet Coke and sugarless gum are pale, pale substitutes....)

[MP3] "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You" [1973]

[MP3] "Little Drop of Poison" [1997]

[MP3] "Georgia Lee" [1999]

[MP3] "Hold On" [1999]

BUTTERFLY BOUCHER

Not all that many hours ago, I wrote about the boy/girl pop duo LOVERS ELECTRIC. The "girl" was EDEN BOUCHER. Turns out, Ms. Boucher has six sisters, one of whom is BUTTERFLY BOUCHER -- a singer & musician in her own right.

Checking my mix-CD archives, I discovered two songs by the latter sister, both of which sounded pretty damn solid in a poppy sort of way. (Probably didn't hurt that one of them was DAVID BOWIE's "Changes," and that the man himself contributed some sly, tossed-off vocals to the thing.)

Not all that many minutes after that, I found "Another White Dash" on the Net. I thought you might like to hear that one as well....

(By all accounts, Butterfly is due to release her sophomore long-player damn-near any day now. It may or may not be titled SCARY FRAGILE.)

BUTTERFLY BOUCHER on MySPACE.

From the LP FLUTTERBY, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "I Can't Make Me"
[MP3] "Another White Dash"

BONUS TRACK >>>

[MP3] "Changes" [w/DAVID BOWIE]

LOVERS ELECTRIC

LOVERS ELECTRIC. A duo. '80s-evocative electropop. From Down Under. Adelaide. AUS.

The duo: EDEN & DAVID. Met each other as children. Reconnected in 2005. Have supported ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK.

One album (for all practical purposes) to call their own: WHATEVER YOU WANT. 2008. See cover art above. Hear two songs below....

LOVERS ELECTRIC on MySPACE.

[MP3] [VID] "Honey"

[MP3] "In Love"

THE ENVY CORPS

THE ENVY CORPS. A band. Purveyors of indie-pop. Ames. Iowa. USA.

The band: BRANDON, LUKE, DAVID & SCOTT. Have been compared to RADIOHEAD, DOVES, NEW ORDER, MODEST MOUSE & so on. Have supported THE KILLERS.

Two albums to call their own. The new one: DWELL. See cover art above. Hear two songs below. Own it, officially, 7 April 08.

THE ENVY CORPS on MySPACE.

[MP3] [VID] "Rhinemaidens"

[MP3] "99100"

THE DUKE SPIRIT

THE DUKE SPIRIT. A band. Garage-y indie rock. London by way of Cheltenham. UK.

The band: LIELA, LUKE, DAN, TOBY & OLLY. Together five years now. Have supported QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, YEAH YEAH YEAHS, KASABIAN, MERCURY REV, RAZORLIGHT & so on. Have recorded with UNKLE.

Two albums to call their own. The new one: NEPTUNE. Made in America. CA. See cover art above. Hear two songs below....

THE DUKE SPIRIT on MySPACE.

[MP3] [VID] "Lassoo"

[MP3] "My Sunken Treasure"

ODDS 'N' SODS #2

[MP3] TEGAN AND SARA/"Back in Your Head" [RAC remix]

[MP3] DESTROYER/"Shooting Rockets (From the Desk of Night's Ape)"

[MP3] CARLA BRUNI/"Chanson Triste"

[MP3] THE BRUNETTES/"Wall Poster Star"

[MP3] JUDE/"The Asshole Song"

[MP3] AMY WINEHOUSE/"Back to Black" [THE RUMBLE STRIPS remix]

R.E.M.

A six-pack of b-sides/rarities from R.E.M., whose new LP, ACCELERATE, will drop April 1. Let's hope the joke's not on us. They are, after all, loooooong overdue for a solid song-cycle....

[MP3] "Draggin' the Line" [TOMMY JAMES & THE SHONDELLS cover]

[MP3] "First We Take Manhattan" [LEONARD COHEN cover]

[MP3] "All the Right Friends"

[MP3] "Fretless"

[MP3] "Yellow River" [CHRISTIE cover]

[MP3] "Wall of Death" [RICHARD THOMPSON cover]

QUEEN

R.I.P., FARROKH BULSARA

[MP3] "Killer Queen" [1974]

[MP3] "Bohemian Rhapsody" [1975]

[MP3] "Somebody to Love" [1976]

[MP3] "Don't Stop Me Now" [1978]

[MP3] "Under Pressure" [w/DAVID BOWIE] [1981]

[MP3] "I Want to Break Free" [1984]

[MP3] "Hammer to Fall" [1984]

[MP3] "I Want It All" [1989]

[MP3] "The Show Must Go On" [1991]

BEST OF 2002, VOL. 2

Please left-click [HERE] to download the concluding volume of 2002.

BEST OF 2002, V. 1 (AND BEST OF 2004) [HERE].

BEST OF 2002, V. 2 TRACKLIST >>>

1 the raveonettes/attack of the ghost riders
2 the new pornographers/letter from an occupant
3 the white stripes/fell in love with a girl
4 patti smith/glitter in their eyes
5 the hives/hate to say i told you so
6 lush/ladykillers
7 alex lloyd/green
8 ivy/the best thing
9 beck/lost cause
10 edwyn collins/a girl like you
11 israel kamakawiwo'ole/somewhere over the rainbow/what a wonderful world
12 delerium & sarah mclachlan/silence [airscape]
13 n.e.r.d./truth or dare
14 morcheeba/shallow end
15 depeche mode/it's no good
16 marianne faithfull/song for nico
17 dire straits/brothers in arms
18 edith piaf/non, je ne regrette rien
19 andy williams/happy heart
20 electric light orchestra/do ya

LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION

Once the third-man-in on the short-lived TEST ICICLES, DEVONTE HYNES has now dubbed himself LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION and is just on the cusp of releasing his first album under that moniker -- FALLING OFF THE LAVENDER BRIDGE.

At various times sounding like a dead ringer for MARK EITZEL ("Galaxy of the Lost"), ED HARCOURT ("Tell Me What It's Worth"), and/or MATT POND PA ("Dry Lips"), Mr. Hynes mines a decidedly laid-back, folk-pop vibe.

LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION on MySPACE.

From the LP FALLING OFF THE LAVENDER BRIDGE, 2008 >>>
[MP3] [VID] "Tell Me What It's Worth"
[MP3] "Dry Lips"

From the EP GALAXY OF THE LOST, 2007 >>>
[MP3] [VID] "Galaxy of the Lost"
[MP3] "The Flesh Failures"