Late Train - Part 3

11. Coma Girl -- Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros (Streetcore)
I like this album better than Global A Go-Go, it is a little more punk (not much, though) and less World Music. This song is particularly sweet, very catchy with a bit of an edge.


12. Shave Yo' Legs -- Keb' Mo' (Keep It Simple)
His voice is as smooth as silk. The title is a little unfortunate, the sentiment of the song is along the lines of "you don't have to make yourself beautiful, you are beautiful just the way you are, shaved legs, or not". Something everyone wants to hear occasionally.


13. Downtown Train -- Tom Waits (Raindogs)
Rod Stewart covered this in 1989. I remember it fondly, but it is a great song and, whatever I might think of his terrible music choices, he has an amazing set of pipes. Tom Waits, however, is something else altogether. Once I got used to his voice, a mixture of cigarettes and cheap whiskey, I can't help but find it beautiful (the way a Diane Arbus photo is disturbing but beautiful).


14. Evangeline -- Matthew Sweet (Girlfriend)
Before Georgie James was power pop, Matthew Sweet was. This album was stuck in my player for weeks in the early '90s (and I even got it autographed, back when there was a place for musicians to do that). This is a great song for driving around singing at the top of your lungs. I can't link to a video as I am writing this from home, in my pajamas, and we are still in the land of dial-up. I can't help but suspect You Tube would completely gum up my computer.

Late Train - Part 2

6. Kiko and the Lavender Moon -- Los Lobos (Kiko)
Los Lobos is an unclassifiable band -- rock, folk, Tex-Mex -- Wikipedia describes Kiko as "creative and wildly experimental". I myself think the album is a classic, the songs work individually and as a complete whole. This song is hot, slinky and very sexy. Click through to the video and you will see what was meant by creative and wildly experimental:


7. You Really Got a Hold on Me -- She & Him (Volume One)
This is a lovely cover of the Smokey Robinson classic.


8. More Adventurous -- Rilo Kiley (More Adventurous)
This is one of those songs that I don't know what to say about. It is big, full of fear and hope: "I've been trying to nod my head, but it's like I've got a broken neck
Wanting to say I will as my last testament
For me to be saved and you to be brave
We don't have to walk down that aisle
'Cause if marriage ain't enough
Well at least we'll be loved"


9. Cake Parade -- Georgie James (Places)


10. Hooky Junk -- The Gourds (Heavy Ornamentals)
Another NPR find, and it was the story behind this song that did it for me: the writer's very young kid kept wanting to hear some of that "Hooky junk", which he finally figured out was Tom Waits (that kid has some very mature taste in music). No video, but you can hear the song here.

Late Train - CDs for Sarah

A couple of months ago, I made a 2 volume set of CD mixes for my sister, Sarah ("CD mix" just does not have the same ring as "Mixtape"), and because I was fairly busy at work (where I do anything having to do with the computer) I did not manage to come up with an annotated song list. Also, I will admit that I was rather lazy about getting them to the post office, so she didn't actually get the mixes until Thanksgiving, with a song list, but no annotation. That just won't do. So, I have decided to present the list here, over the course of several days. It is 40 songs, after all.

Late Train, vol. 1

1. "Shake Ya Boogie" -- Mocean Worker (Cinco de Mowo!)
On the one hand, I don't tend to find music NPR presents all that interesting; on the other hand, three of the albums represented on this set came to me via NPR. Go figure. This one is even odder in that it is "Electronica", a genre which has never appealed to me. Mocean Worker takes classic jazz lines (played by the likes of Herbie Hancock), cuts them apart and remixes them into a Latin beat. The result is an interesting, infectious collage. I don't necessarily want to listen to the whole album in one sitting, but the individual cuts work well in a mix.


2. "Look Me Up" -- Georgie James (Places)
NPR find number 2. They are pretty rockin' power pop, but also like Mocean Worker, the songs work better in mixes than all together. As Heidi Klum might say, the album very matchy-matchy. Very fun, but a bit much all at once.


3. "Sentimental Heart" -- She & Him (Volume One)
I love this song. I love this album. And I have a massive girl crush on Zooey Deschanel. There is a vintage early-60's feel to this. Her singing chops may not blow you out of the water, but her voice is sweet and heartfelt, as are her songs.


4. "Johnny Appleseed" -- Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros (Global A Go Go)
A couple of years ago, HBO chose to cancel "Deadwood", some of the best television ever to air (once you got past the cussing, which was...plentiful and operatic) in favor of a show called "John from Cinncinati". One of the only good things about that show was it's theme song, "Johnny Appleseed". He has a voice that just makes me melt.


5. "Hesitating Beauty" -- Billy Bragg & Wilco (Mermaid Avenue)
If you have any love for folk music, the two "Mermaid Avenue" albums need to be in your collection. This is such a sweet, romantic song and is one of my favorites from the project: "We can ramble hand in hand/across the grasses of our land/I'll kiss you for each leaf on every tree".

That is all for now..