summer sky; idea shamelessly stolen from Natalie

My friends, the Colliers, recently moved to LA and I wanted to send them off with a nice mix that would help them get settled in the City of Angles. Since then I’ve been listening to it a lot and I thought it was just too good not to post. I’m pretty excited about it! All the songs on it evoke imagines or feelings of summer or sunshine to me.

Go ahead and check out the playlist (below) or the liner notes for volume 1 or volume 2.

Ipickmynose Sounds Like Sunshine Mixtape, vol 1 (zip file, mediafire link)

Ipickmynose Sounds Like Sunshine Mixtape, vol 2 (zip file, mediafire link)

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You can download the zip file with the following:
1. mp3s of the songs
2. liner notes (pdf)
3. playlist files (iTunes txt file and an m3u file)

(for the iTunes file, simply add all the songs to your library and then go to File->Library->Import Playlist and then select the song list (the txt file). you should now have the playlist collier-sunshine1 (or collier-sunshine2) in your iTunes with all the songs in the correct order).

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Collier Sounds Like Sunshine, vol 1:

1. The Lucksmiths T-Shirt Weather
2. Lucky Soul Whoa Billy
3. Allo Darlin’ My Heart is a Drummer
4. The Morning Benders Excuses
5. Marching Band Feel Good About It
6. Coconut Records The Summer
7. Matt Pond PA Summer is Coming
8. Polyphonic Spree Light & Day (Orchestral Version)
9. Seabear Arms
10. The Apples in stereo Go
11. The Beatles And Your Bird Can Sing
12. Kind of Like Spitting Birds of a Feather
13. Karl Blau Into the Nada
14. Paul Simon I Know What I Know
15. Fool’s Gold Surprise Hotel
16. S. Pilso & His Super Seven Kuya Hanjwa
17. The Very Best Kamphopo
18. Camera Obscura French Navy
19. Belle & Sebastian Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying
20. The Supremes When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes
21. Martha & the Vandellas (Love is Like a) Heat Wave
22. Ben E. King Spanish Harlem
23. Buddy Holly Everyday

Collier Sounds Like Sunshine, vol 2:

1. The Beach Boys Good Vibrations
2. Electric Light Orchestra Mr. Blue Sky
3. The Tremeloes Here Comes My Baby
4. The Drifters Under the Boardwalk
5. The Del Vikings Come Go With Me
6. The Beach Boys Barbara Ann
7. Toots & the Maytals Bla Bla Bla
8. Candie Payne One More Chance
9. Gnarls Barkley Going On
10. Kings Go Forth One Day
11. Mayer Hawthorne Maybe So, Maybe No
12. Lissie Stranger
13. Matt & Kim Daylight
14. Simon & Garfunkel Cecilia
15. Patty Griffin No Bad News
16. Feist I Feel It All
17. David Wax Museum Born With a Broken Heart
18. My Latest Novel The Reputation of Ross Francis
19. Florence & the Machine Dog Days Are Over
20. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes Home
21. Noah & the Whale 5 Years Time
22. Fanfarlo You Are One Of The Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us
23. Oh No! Oh My! Party Punch
24. Rogue Waves Eyes

If you like the artists or songs, I suggest supporting them by buying their music, going to a show, buying merchandise from them or at least telling other people about them.

Today would have been the truly incomparable Sam Cooke’s–called the Inventor of Soul–80th birthday. He started singing in soul groups and ended up in the influential Soul Stirrers.

Eventually he took that gospel sound into secular music, first in 1956 with a reworked gospel song called “Lovable” released under the pseudonym Dale Cooke in order to hide his identity from gospel fans who might not like his foray into secular music.

He left the Soul Stirrers in 1957 to pursue pop music. By 1960, years before Motown and Stax were churning out soul hits, he was putting out iconic songs like “Chain Gang.” When he was killed by a motel manager in 1964, some news reports described him as a “teen pop idol”, but I think he’s rightly come to be regarded as much more than just that in the time since.

Here are some of my favorite songs by him to celebrate this day.

• Sam Cooke – Cupid (mp3) (buy)

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  “Cupid” is one of my all time favorite songs. It’s so beautiful and melancholy at the same time. Perfect orchestration married with Cooke’s truly soulful croon to make an amazing song.

• Sam Cooke – Were You There (mp3) (buy)

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  This is a unique take on the African-American spiritual. I love the arrangement–the rough guitar and those fantastic background vocals–and Sam’s anguished squeal throughout.

• Sam Cooke – Chain Gang (mp3) (buy)

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  It’s so hard not to sing along to this song. It’s such a catchy song. And the lyrics are simple and heartbreaking as well “My work is so hard// Give me water// I’m thirsty// My work is so hard”; they’re even more devastating when Sam sings them.

• Sam Cooke – A Change is Gonna Come (mp3) (buy)

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  A discussion of Sam Cooke would be incomplete without discussing his only major effort in “protest” music, “A Change is Gonna Come”. Reportedly written after Cooke heard “Blowing In the Wind”, Cooke wanted to write his own anthem addressing the situation at the time. And what a fantastic effort it was. Simultaneously hopeful and mournful and sympathetic. The opening lyrics (“I was born by a river// in a little tent// and just like the river // I’ve been runnin’ every since.”) I often find stuck in my head.

• Sam Cooke – Having a Party (live) (mp3) (buy)

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  If you have never heard any of Cooke’s live recordings, you need to listen to this and then get the album it’s off of (Live at the Harlem Square Club). As smooth and polished as Cooke is on his recordings, he lets loose on the live recordings. This song is practically unrecognizable from the studio version. In this version, when he sings about everyone swinging at the party you feel it.

• Sam Cooke – Sad Mood (mp3) (buy)

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  He may not have had the rough, angsty voice of someone like Otis Redding, but Cooke could show anguish in his music. There’s almost no better sign that a song is personally meaningful than it comes to mind because of personal events. And this song has come to mind nearly every time I was sad or heartbroken in the last few years.

I hope you listen to and enjoy all of these like I have.

“Nothing Like You” by Frightened Rabbit was my top song obsession, photo by ipickmynose

2010 has been the oddest of my life, full of contradictions: the most amazing and most boring times; the most lovelorn and most disinterested; the most outgoing and most antisocial. It’ll take years to see what it all means and where it will lead, but I have to say it was pretty good. But these contradictions led to a vast and odd array of music getting caught in my head, twisting and turning around in there and begging to be heard again and again.

As I’m sure I’ve said before, I don’t pick song obsessions. Well, I don’t pick them consciously. Something in the song and in my brain mesh in an addictive way and an ear worm is born.

Without any further delay, here’s the list of songs I was most obsessed with in 2010.

1. Frightened Rabbit – Nothing Like You (mp3) (buy)

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   Pair an immediately catchy song with some fantastic lyrics about turning over a new leaf in love—the song starts with “This is a song// And you’re not in it”—and you have a winner. I’ve listened to it at least 142 times this year and I still love it.

2. Mumford & Sons – Little Lion Man (mp3) (buy)

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   This was a band I initially wrote off, but have come around to them since seeing them live a while ago. Pair that new-found love of the band with their newish album Sigh No More, which I think presents their music in a much better light than their previous EPs and I was obsessed with the entire album, listening to it probably a hundred plus times over the year. But the song that stuck out more than other was this one (and to a lesser extent “Roll Away Your Stone”). I’m not sure why; perhaps it’s the catchy and f-bomb dropping chorus that seals the deal.

3. Kanye West – Power (mp3) (buy)

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   A simple riff with some straight-beat clapping seems like it might be the basis for some fairly harmless hip hop track, but is anything but that. This is unstoppable, incorrigible, unbreakable, and incalculably addictive. Not even some sub-par rhymes or annoying faux-singing can trip up what must be one of the best hip hop productions in recent memory.

4. Jonsi – Hengilas (mp3) (buy)

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   There have been a few times I felt like I was on crazy pills and this song proved to be an immediate antidote. The last time I wrote about this song, I compared it to some of Aaron Copland’s finer work and I think that is still an apt comparison. Few have used open, slow-moving chords to create such beautiful music since that famed composer, but Jonsi has created a song here with beauty one can get lost in.

5. Carissa’s Weird – Die (mp3) (buy)

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   For this one, I’ll have to go back to what I said before: “It’s difficult to describe what makes this song so obsession-worthy but it’s a song that I’ve listened to dozens of times in the last few months… Maybe it’s the layers of instruments and vocals. Maybe it’s the hypnotic way the instruments loop that draws me in. Maybe it’s the slow breakdown. Who knows why, but I know what: it’s good.”

6. The Rural Alberta Advantage – Barnesyard (mp3) (from Daytrotter session)

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   I’d had this Daytrotter session for a while and listened to it plenty of times, but for some reason this spring (October-November, in the Southern Hemisphere) it hit me anew and I couldn’t get enough of this earnest and urgent song. (By the way, the studio version of this song will be released as “Barnes’ Yard” on the RAA’s forthcoming album Departed out on March 1.)

7. Guided by Voices – Game of Pricks (mp3) (buy)

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   Somehow I’d missed this song for years until I saw/ heard Owen Pallett’s charming violin-based cover. That lead me to listen to the original and boy was I hooked. No wonder it’s an absolutely classic indie rock tune. It’s seemingly the archetypal song of perhaps the most archetypal indie rock band.

8. Florence and the Machine – Dog Days are Over (mp3) (buy)

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   I had no idea about this band when I started playing around the idea of a Stomp-Clap mix (which eventually Heather took off with and did really well), but a friend suggested this song and I’m glad she did. A magnificent voice backed with compelling and interesting orchestration. A winner from the first listen.

9. Paul Jacobsen – Six O’Clock News (mp3) (unreleased, band website)

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   What a heartbreaking stunner of a song…and it’s only a demo! This cover of Kathleen Edwards perfectly matches the tone and emotion of the music to those of the lyrics. Also of special note are the high and lonesome harmonies which really add some emotional gravity to the singing.

10. Adele – Hometown Glory (mp3) (buy)

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    This is how you know that I didn’t plan this list: because no idiot would purposefully have the same song on his list two years in a row. And, furthermore, if I was going to plan a song to repeat, it wouldn’t be a pop song. But my head wrapped itself around this gorgeous song. My obsession can neatly be summed up by an anecdote: at some point during Natalie’s and my epic roadtrip in South Africa, this song came on in a mix and she said “I was hoping this song would come on.” And I replied “Me too.”

11. Diana Ross and the Supremes – Reflections (mp3) (buy)

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    I was at Firemen’s Arms, a historic and smokey bar in downtown Cape Town for my weekly trivia night. I’d grumbled for months about the horrible quality of the music they played. While in the bathroom, this song came on and, though I didn’t remember what song it was I knew two things: 1) that it was the unmistakable voice of Diana Ross and 2) I had to hear this song again (and again). Later that night I found the track and started the second of many, many listens.

12. We Were Promised Jetpacks – It’s Thunder and It’s Lightening (mp3) (buy)

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    As I said previoiusly: “Deep inside of me somewhere there’s still a bit of High School Adrian, still listening to Seam and Sebadoh’s Bakesale, still a bit angry and still with plenty of angst. That part of me loves this song, from the first guitar notes to the Scottish brogued vocals to the build up and strong, huge guitars and fast strumming to the way the song winds down with an almost whimper. The secret is, the rest of me loves it too. ”

13. Paul Simon – Graceland (mp3) (buy)

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    After hearing Tallest Man on Earth’s cover I found myself listening to the original again for the first time in a while. And I soon found myself walking down the narrow, winding, hilly streets of Green Point, Cape Town crooning that amazing verse “Losing love is a window into your heart// Everybody sees you’re blown apart” oblivious of everything around me.

14. The Tallest Man on Earth – King of Spain (mp3) (buy)

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    The Tallest Man on Earth release an album this and of course I was obsessed with it, mostly equally, but this song stuck out. It’s insistent, driving and oddly uplifting.

15. Horse Feathers – Cascades (mp3) (buy)

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    The hallmarks of all good Horse Feathers songs—beautiful orchestration, plaintive and breathy vocals, a dynamic build—are stamped all over this song. I loved this song on the 7″ and again when it came out on Thistled Spring

16. Loney, Dear – Ignorant Boy, Beautiful Girl (mp3) (buy)

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    Two days after arriving back from South Africa I was in my friend’s car and he asked me “Do you know Loney, Dear?” I did–I’d seen them open for Andrew Bird years ago and had heard a few of their songs. I wasn’t exactly a fan, I said. “Well I gotta play you this one song. I think you’ll like it.” And I did. As much as I didn’t want to (the beginning sounds a bit like college acapella), I really did.

And there it is.

If you’re wondering how I came up with this list, it was at least in part influenced by how many times I listened to a song, how much I was obsessed with the song initially and how much I was obsessed with it over time.

a reissue of an early Tamla record

You know I love soul. I love Motown’s soul pop sound. I love Stax’s hard driving soul and soul-funk. I’m into Dusty’s blue-eyed soul and some of that Northern Soul sound.

But sometimes I want that other stuff, that down and dirty rhythm and blues, with sauntering bass lines and tight-but-rough horn lines. With swinging drums and voices that tell you they know a little something about the world. That music that makes you feel like dancing, like swaggering. The stuff that transports you to dank and smokey juke joints somewhere in the Deep South, many years ago, when things were better, but things were worse.

I love “Down Home Girl” which comes from a great collection of music by famed producer team Lieber and Stoller. I’m not quite sure how two Jewish guys from New York produced such a fantastic R&B record, but here it is.

Alvin Robinson – Down Home Girl (mp3) (buy)

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OKeh was a pretty important label in early R&B and there are some excellent collections of their material out. From Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” to absolute winners like Big Maybelle, who recorded “A Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On” two years before Jerry Lee Lewis had a hit with it. Check out “New Kind of Mambo” and see if you don’t want to move a little bit.

Big Maybelle – New Kind of Mambo (mp3) (buy)

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Early in Motown’s history, before they became Detroit’s hit factory (complete with a quality control department) and became synonymous with a type of soul pop, they dabbled some in rhythm and blues. Released on Tamla (a Motown subsidiary) in September 1960, this Smokey Robinson & Berry Gordy-penned number broke the top-30 on the R&B charts, qualifying it to be one of Motown’s earliest hits. Still it remains obscure—and awesome.

Singin’ Sammy Ward – Who’s the Fool? (mp3) (buy)

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This is emphatically not a return to form. I’ve been sharing songs with friends and I thought it was a bit silly to not share them here too.

colo(u)rful houses in Bo Kaap

I quite like this Alberta Cross song. The whole album is good, too, though I don’t love every song.
Alberta Cross – Low Man (mp3)

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Volcano Choir is a side project of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. This track was not what I expected, but it’s quite catchy/ good. And Justin’s vocals are wonderful as always.
Volcano Choir – Island, IS (mp3)

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Soul Sides has been posting some fantastic stuff lately and you’d be remiss to not check it out. Bobby Freeman’s “Good Good Lovin’” is a classic blues-based, Motown-sound track with a hard driving sax part. They posted two tracks by the Metros and both are excellent soul tracks, but I like the dark, swaggering “Since I Found My Baby” better.

They also posted these oh-those-are-funny videos of Lushlife doing acoustic covers of classic hip hop tunes. They are so funny, until you realize they’re actually quite compelling. For example, this Jay Z cover:

I definitely am going to keep my eye out for Mayer Hawthorne after a few tracks of his I heard recently. Grab the breezy, oldies- and Motown-inspired “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’” at MBV.

I don’t know much about Monogrenade but I quite like folky The Acorn-reminiscent track “Ce Soir” that Anyone’s Guess posted.

The B-side of the Very Best 7″, “Yalira”, available here, is beautiful and worth the listen.

I’ve been listening to the Frightened Rabbit Daytrotter session a lot. The featured version of “My Backwards Walk” is great.

And, finally, if I’m posting, I feel it’s my duty to mention the great KevvyKev’s (one of KZSU’s own) 25th anniversary Bang the Drum concert with 25 DJs and 25 MCs. It’s definitely another impressive line up. Check out all the details.

boats in Kalk Bay, False Bay

So the month is up. I sit here with my bags packed, an empty apartment now across town and a boarding pass ready to be printed. This is it, the end of ipickmynose as we know it. What that actually means is yet to be seen, but I know I’m taking a break and if I come back, I’m not going to be blogging all the time.

I’m proud of what I’ve done here. 1137 posts over 860 days. But more than the numbers, I think I’ve written good stuff–though I still wouldn’t claim to be a “writer”–and championed plenty of bands that ought to be championed. I’m proud that I never put advertising on this site. It’s always been a labor of love and both a time and money sink, but I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t like doing it. It’s certainly been a fun pursuit.

I really have a lot of people I’d like to thank for help and support. Dave for kickass design work on posters for ipickmynose presents shows and other stuff for the site. Andy for introducing me to rad bands, making KZSU live mp3s sound better, and telling me when I was getting too full of myself as a blogger. Liz for being my unofficial editor and for being possibly my first reader. Smurph, for engineering all those KZSU sessions. All the song obsession panelists, especially Keith, my college radio hero. All the bands that I’ve met and have been great and appreciative. Fellow bloggers, for the encouragement and for introducing me to great bands, especially Will of New & Used Records, Ben, Christian and Emily of the Bay Bridged, Nick of Monosyllabic/ albondigas!, Scott of Anyone’s Guess, Oz of Hearya, Natalie of It’s Too Sunny Out Here, and Smansmith of Slowcoustic. Largehearted boy, Chromewaves and Gorilla v Bear for something aspire to.

I’d like to thank you, the readers. When I decided to branch off my music writing from my personal blog to a separate music blog, there was the implicit acknowledgment that I was writing for more than just myself. Initially I thought it would just be some friends and things and I’m still tickled that people who don’t know me read this. So thanks for that.

I’m not disappearing entirely of course. There will be things of mine on the internet that will still be around if you want to keep track of me:

• personal blog
• photo blog
• twitter
• last.fm

Anyway, keep ipickmynose in your RSS readers or check back in occasionally. Who knows what the future will bring?

The Miracles – What’s So Good About Good Bye (mp3) (buy)

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Phil Spector is more in the news for being a convicted murderer these days than anything else. Before that, people may know him for screwing up Let It Be (at least in the opinion of one knight).

But I wanted to bring some focus back to the genius music he produced and one of my favorite box sets of all time: Phil Spector: Back to Mono. It’s has three discs of Spector singles and the full length Spector Christmas album as the fourth disc. It’s an overview of the Wall of Sound, with its huge drums, layered production and diverse instrumentation. You can also hear that Spector introducing Latin elements into pop songs in a time when that was not yet commonplace.

Of course it has the hits and Phil Spector’s hits are among the best pop songs made: “Be My Baby”, “He’s a Rebel”, “Then He Kissed Me”, and “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” among them. Then there are many other songs you’d recognize, but the real value in the set are the lost gems hidden in here. I love Ben E. King’s “Spanish Harlem”, a light and straight-forward soul ballad with some great orchestrations and fun vocal lines. Lee Curtis’ “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” borders on doo wop and has a driving rhythm and a fantastic chorus. “Uptown” by the Crystals is a Latin-tinged love song with a great pre-chorus->chorus build.

“Heartbreaker”, also by the Crystals, has a harder groove and more swagger than most of Spector’s numbers, putting it closer to a Motown track than most. It also has a classic sax solo in it. Treasures’ “Hold Me Tight” is built upon a percussion line than may be close to “Be My Baby”‘s in how good it is. The vocal melodies are also really catchy. It holds a fairly rare distinction of being a Beatlest cover that is much better than the original.

The Crystals – Heartbreaker (mp3)

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Treasures – Hold Me Tight (mp3)

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This is really a fantastic box set and I recommend it to anyone that’s interested in oldies, girl group or soul music.

While going through some of my stuff, I found an extra, unopened copy of Phil Spector: Back to Mono. I bought this with my own money, but I’ll give it away to one lucky reader. To enter to win the box set, leave a comment with the song on the collection you most look forward to listening to again and again by 11:59pm Sunday July 19. (See here for tracklist.) I’ll pick one winner at random. Be sure to put a valid email address because I’ll need to contact you to get an address to ship it to if you win. This contest is open to residents of US and Canada only.

You can buy it at amazon.

Update: The contest is closed and with the help of random.org, I’ve chosen Will as the winner. Thanks for the entries!

cred: ipickmynose

After a week off, I’m back on the air. My radio show, which is called “I Once Was Canadian”, on KZSU 90.1FM will run until 6pm PST. Listen on the “radio” (remember those?) or online. Maybe you want to listen?

You can follow along with my playlist online.

Update: Here’s my playlist and show. Unfortunately I missed the first hour.

KZSU – I once was Canadian 6/2/09 [second hour] (mp3)

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KZSU – I once was Canadian 6/2/09 [third hour] (mp3)

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• Iron & Wine – The Trapeze Swinger
  —
• Mark Kozelek – Up to My Neck in You [sound bed]
  —
• Fionn Regan – Put a Penny in the Slot
• Great Lake Swimmers – Concrete Heart
• Elvis Perkins In Dearland – Shampoo
• M. Ward – Rave On
  —
• Tallest Man on Earth – Shallow Grave
• Sufjan Stevens – Vito’s Ordination Song (acoustic version)
• Alexi Murdoch – Breathe
• Dawes – When My Time Comes
  —
• The Deep Dark Woods – All The Money I Had Is Gone
• Anni Rossi – Wheelpushers
• Dirty Three – Great Waves
• Swim Party – Sunlight & Sprawl
  —
• Wooden Birds – Bad
• Pinback – Anti-Hu
• ms john soda – Solid Ground
• Lightning Bug Situation – Message to Myself after Franny was Born
  —
• Laura Veirs – Where Gravity Is Dead
• Bishop Allen – The Ancient Commonsense Of Things
• Jake Shimabukuro – Thriller
• John Vanderslice – Too Much Time
• Mirah – Generosity
  —
• Adele – Best for Last
• Candie Payne – By Tomorrow
• Raphael Saadiq – Big Easy
• James Hunter – Carina
• Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens – What Have You Done?
  —
• Sam Cooke – Bring It on Home
• David Ruffin – Anything You Ask For
• Smokey Robinson & the Miracles – Tears of a Clown
• Henry Lumpkin – Don’t Leave Me
  —
• Alder Ray – A Little Love (Will Go a Long Way)
• The Orchids (US) – That Boy is Messin’ Up My Mind
• the Cadillacs – Speedo
• The Ronettes – Be My Baby
  —
• Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career

cred: ipickmynose

Baseball is shortening my show again this week, so I’ll be on till 4:50pm PST. My radio show, which is called “I Once Was Canadian”, on KZSU 90.1FM will run until 6pm PST (or, actually, just before due to baseball again). Listen on the “radio” (remember those?) or online.

You can follow along with my playlist online.

Update: Here’s my show and playlist.

KZSU – I once was Canadian 5/19/09 [first hour] (mp3)

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KZSU – I once was Canadian 5/19/09 [second hour] (mp3)

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• P:ano – All of November, Most of of
  —
• Matt Pond Pa – Summer Is Coming
• Sufjan Stevens – No Man’s Land
• Andrew Bird – Fake Palindromes
• Laura Veirs – Where Gravity Is Dead
  —
• Apples in Stereo – Glowworm
• Olivia Tremor Control – Hideaway
• Beulah – Gene Autry
• Neutral Milk Hotel – Holland, 1945
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• The One Am Radio – Cast Away
• Low – In the Drugs
• The Low Anthem – Ticket Taker
• Sun Kil Moon – Gentle Moon
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• Or, The Whale – Fight Song
• Bruce Springsteen – The Last Carnival
• Bonnie Prince Billy – Death Final
• Great Lake Swimmers – Palmistry
• Langhorne Slim – Restless
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• Booker T – Get Behind The Mule
• Gospel Supremes – Sinner Man
• Shirley Ann Lee – There’s a Light
• Sam Cooke – Ain’t That Good News
  —
• Basia Bulat – Touch the Hem of his Garment

cred: ipickmynose

After last week’s baseball-shortened show, I’ll be returning to (almost) a full three hours starting in a couple minutes here (3pm PST). My radio show, which is called “I Once Was Canadian”, on KZSU 90.1FM will run until 6pm PST (or, actually, just before due to baseball again). Listen on the “radio” (remember those?) or online.

You can follow along with my playlist online.

KZSU – I Once was Canadian 5/12/09 [first hour] (mp3)

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KZSU – I Once was Canadian 5/12/09 [second hour] (mp3)

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KZSU – I Once was Canadian 5/12/09 [third hour] (mp3)

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Update: Here’s my show and playlist

• Iron & Wine – Trapeze Swinger
  —
• Iron & Wine – Waiting for Superman
• Bonnie Prince Billy – Beware Your Only Friend
• Bruce Springsteen – The Last Carnival
• Moyra Mcbride & Maxon Blewitt – Disorder
  —
• Low – Venus
• Elvis Perkins In Dearland – Shampoo
• Sufjan Stevens – Casmir Pulaski Day
• Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah
  —
• Anni Rossi – Wheelpushers
• Lily Allen – The Fear
• Regina Spektor – Fidelity
• Theresa Andersson – Birds Fly Away
  —
• Ben Kweller – Falling
• Aimee Mann – The Scientist (Live)
• Ben Folds – Brick
• Bishop Allen – Corazon
  —
• Say Hi – Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
• An Horse – Little Lungs
• The Long Winters – The Commander Thinks Aloud
• John Vanderslice – Peacocks in the Video Rain
  —
• the Wooden Birds – Bad
• Justin Vernon And Aaron Dessner – Big Red Machine
• Great Lake Swimmers – Everything Is Moving So Fast
• The Deep Dark Woods – All The Money I Had Is Gone
• Mirah – Shells
  —
• Booker T – Get Behind The Mule
• Ruby Andrews – You Made a Believer Out of Me
• David Ruffin – Anything You Ask For
• Smokey Robinson and the Miracles – Tears of a Clown
  —
• L. Hollis & The Mackadoos – Bui Bui [sound bed]
  —
• The Spinners – I’ll Always Love You
• Sam Cooke – You Send Me [demo]