( continues...) Lightning”
• The Cale song is so beautiful. I was very happy to shoehorn it in. The RT song is sublime.
12. A song about traveling
• The Fall – “I’m Going To Spain”
• RT – “When I Get To The Border”
• Hey, this Fall track is a cover of a Eurovision winner! Awesome! And the RT song is a metaphor, but traveling is definitely involved.
13. A song that does not feature a guitar or a piano as the main instrument
• Eric Matthews – “Poisons Will Pass Me”
• RT - “Mary and Joseph”
• I love this Eric Matthews song, a chamber-pop extravaganza where you can hear the man decide that his music is just too lovely for another verse. The RT track is ok, but it’s one of his best not featuring guitar as the main instrument.
14. A song by a band that you could have, but didn't, write about for Lost in The Grooves.
• Armand Schaubroeck – “Ratfucker”
• The GP’s – “Saturday Rolling Around”
• If I hadn’t been sure that William Ham would write about Schaubroeck, I would have pitched one of the guy’s albums. Or maybe all, I dunno. He’s like 1977 Lou Reed times 10, except no one has ever heard of him. As great as Ratfucker is, his concept album about the forbidden love between a priest and a nun (I Came To Visit But Decided To Stay) is even better. The GP’s was a mostly neglected one-off project with Richard Thompson and Ralph McTell doing mostly folk, country, and rockabilly covers. This is the only original on the set, a RT song from Sunnyvista.
15. An upbeat song about a sad thing.
• Mekons – "Beaten and Broken"
• RT - "Man In Need"
• Mekons! Richard Thompson! This is too easy.
16. Midnight driving in the rain music.
• Eric Matthews – “Poisons Will Pass Me” (same as 13)
• RT – “Calvary Cross” (Same as 2)
• The message: when driving in the rain at midnight, I either want to hear sad chamber-pop or insane guitar.
17. More cowbell: A song containing that essential instrument
• Pavement – “Silence Kit”
• R & L T – “Layla”
• “Silence Kit” is from Pavement’s incredible second album. “Layla” is the only RT track I could find with cowbell (appearing in the pre-chorus).
18. A song that reminds you of your first love
• Lee & Nancy – “Sundown, Sundown”
• Fairport Convention – “The Ballad of Easy Rider”
• Besides Dylan, my first love loved Nancy Sinatra. I didn’t get Lee & Nancy until much later, but she got ‘em just fine back then. We also watched Easy Rider together for the first time. Perhaps because of their many Dylan covers, Sandy Denny of Fairport just reminds me of my first love.
19. A song that references some kind of technology
• Spoon – “Car Radio”
• RT – “Alexander Graham Bell”
• The Spoon song is one of their first that sounds like Spoon, from their second album. The RT track is a contribution to a kids’ album that never saw the light of day.
20. A song with a chorus that compels you to sing along or that you cannot not dance to
• Lyrics Born – “I’m Just Raw”
• RT – “Tear Stained Letter”
• The Lyrics Born was one of my favorite tracks of 2005. Any boast that ends with “goshdarnit, people like me” is a-ok in my book, yessirree bob. The RT is irresistible and features another jawbreaking solo.
21. A song that starts with a bassline
• Minutemen – “The Politics of Time”
• RT – “She Steers By Lightning”
• One of my favorite free-jazz/Beefheart-weird Minutemen tracks, “The Politics of Time” is one of Mike Watt’s 324 crowning achievements as a songwriter. The RT track is ok, but it’s the only one I could find that starts with a bassline.
22. A song that relates to science
• Talking Heads – “Electricity (Drugs)”
• RT – “Alexander Graham Bell” (same as 19)
• The TH song is from The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads, the greatest live album ever released. The RT song you’ve already heard about.
23. A song you sing (or would sing) to your pet and/or child
• Neil Young – “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”
• R & L T – “A Heart Needs A Home”
• Sang both of these just last night, as a matter of fact.
24. A song that haunts you
• The Band – “Whispering (continued...)