Hit "Shuffle Songs," Then Type.
- "Moving On Up" by M-People. Big, cheesy handbag house. Heather Small's got a fantastic voice, though, and Mike Pickering and the rest do what they do very well. I love the swoop on the chorus. This is the version that came from Deconstruction compilation or another. My god, I did love Deconstruction Records back when.
- "Sun in the Morning" by Saint Etienne. This is from their last album, Tales from the Turnpike House, which I keep forgetting I love as much as I do. This tune merges the band's restrained British pop aesthetic with some seriously Pet Sounds treatment on the background vocals. Sarah Cracknell is the singer I write songs for in my head, including "Kevin, I'm Madly In Love With You."
- "A Pretty Girl Is Like..." by The Magnetic Fields. Stephin Merritt is one of my four favorite songwriters. This is pure Tinpan Alley, and it's about what a pretty girl is like. If you don't own 69 Love Songs, go buy it. I'll wait.
- "Fugitive" (Richard X Extended Mix) by Pet Shop Boys. This song (so far) only appears on Fundamentalism, the extra CD included with some versions of their latest album. Go check out what superfan Wayne Studer says. He speaks smart. (For the record, I go with the second, equally depressing interpretation.)
- "The Golden Horn" by Count Basie and his Orchestra. From the agreeable bit of froth, Basie Meets Bond. Completely inessential, but there's something about that big-ish band soundtrack jazz sound I just love.
- "Recovery" by Curve. Ah, the remnants of the shoegazer sound, when Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia were kind of stretching out, gathering different bits and pieces of whatever genre they thought they could use. Curve is caput, which may be for the best considering the overall weakness of their material from Gift onwards.
- "Babylon Medicine" by Roots Manuva. Roots Manuva is my favorite rapper. Lots of heavy, heavy dub influence in this, and I love Manuva's "pick it up / put it down" delivery.
- "Spacehopper" by A Positive Life. Speaking of dub, this is some great, great, great ambient dub work music. I wonder how much Enigma paid these guys for that big ol' sample from "The Calling."
- "Dark Center of the Universe" by Modest Mouse. Yes, I jumped on their bandwagon in 2004 and you know what? I think they're fantastic. Can't beat a chorus that includes the phrase "I'm pretty damn sure that anyone can easily, equally fuck you over."
- "Sit Down, Stand Up (Snakes And Ladders)" by Radiohead. I get into this argument about once a month: I think their newer material is far, far more interesting than "Creep." No, I don't care if you can't sing along with it on MIKE or FRANK or whatever your local giant-hard-drive-on-shuffle radio station is called.
- "Interzone" (RCA Demo Version) by Joy Division. Spiky, punky, near-perfect. It's from the band's first attempt to record for a label. It didn't go that well, but the few bits that remain from those sessions are very nice indeed.
- "Redemption Song" by Moodswings. I will defend to the death my love of this Ibiza-sunset version of Bob Marley's biggest song. Poor Moodswings - they came off as a gimmick act thanks to this and "Spiritual High," but their production really was top-notch.
Bonus Music Links
- The Torontoist talks about cover versions
- There's a new Joy Division documentary on DVD
- Make your own New Age Music at work
- Erasure's producer is blogging the recording of the new album
- eMusic has a spotlight article on Underworld
