Instructional Tuesday Fresh Catch Playlist

I don't know how it took me this long to look up the Lonesome Brothers in Rhapsody. They're one of the most steadfast but inventive outfits based in this part of the bioMass. An entirely edifying and catchy track from their Rhapvailable 2004 Spirithouse release Fences kicks off this brief, satisfying fresh catch playlist.

Instructional Tuesday Fresh Catch Playlist

I Aim Low - Lonesome Brothers
Last Date - Floyd Cramer
How Much I Feel - Ambrosia

Out To Lunch With Donovan Friday Playlist

Winding through Rhapsody yesterday somehow this Eartha Kitt version of Wear Your Love Like Heaven wound up in my Play tab. I swear it's not mine, mom. I'm just holding it for a friend.

Truth be told, I liked it so much I started sniffing out for more oddball Donovan covers. What's most remarkable is that the latter-day Butthole Surfers are vastly out-weirded by Dandy Livingstone, Mel Torme, and Eartha Kitt. Their Hurdy Gurdy Man just isn't out to lunch at all, really.

Of note, Dandy Livingstone was the first one to record Rudy, A Message To You. To wind up I've included my own favorite high-schmaltz Donovan original.

Out To Lunch With Donovan Friday Playlist

Wear Your Love Like Heaven - Eartha Kitt
There Is A Mountain - Dandy Livingstone
Colours - Billy Strange
Sunshine Superman - Mel Torme
Superlungs My Supergirl - Terry Reid
There Is A Mountain - Herbie Mann
Guinevere - Donovan

P.S. Among the many fine additions to Rhapsody over the last couple days, the entirety of Group Sex by the Circle Jerks is up (only four tracks were playable before). Any Friday is ripe for Don't Care and World Up My Ass.

Greaser 'n' Schmaltz Fresh Catch Playlist

I spent a bit of this week with a pack of Larks rolled up in my t-shirt sleeve, pomade dripping down onto the keyboard, rocking out to some vintage kicks. Here's a fresh catch crop of keepers brought back from the Dog 'n' Suds. Sure it's as much mod as greaser, but the vibe is pretty consistent.

Of course, this whole interlude was inspired by listening to the Runaway EP from Jim Carroll, so the list closes with a track from that fine document.

Greaser -n- Schmaltz Fresh Catch Playlist

Hungry - Paul Revere and the Raiders
Milk Cow Blues - The Kinks
Runaway - Del Shannon
Rollin' Machine - The Seeds
His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley
It's Too Late - Jim Carroll

Bill Simmons 21st Century Football Playlist

I'm a big fan of the sports writing of Bill Simmons. His style and humor certainly have universal appeal, but as a New Englander and a Red Sox fan some of his columns have offered a special spiritual solace.

I was tickled and curious when he included a playlist in a recap of the NFL Playoffs Week 2 action earlier this week. It goes a little something like this:

"The Harlem Shuffle Award for Funniest Attempt to Prove You're Hip
To Fox and CBS for moving out of the '70s with their "Cool music with a quick riff to get you fired up for the football game" choices -- Fox played the Killers (welcome to the 21st century, Fox!), while CBS played "Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction (welcome to the '90s, CBS!). Terrible news for Billy Squier, Bad Company, George Thorogood and everyone else who relied on the royalties from live sporting events.

(Note to the networks: If you're interested in songs from the last year with good instrumental hooks, try "Banquet" by Bloc Party, "Sweet Troubled Soul" by StellaStarr*, "Tribulations" by LCD Soundsystem, "This Isn't It" by Giant Drag and "Finding Out True Love is Blind" by Louis XIV. We're all pulling for you guys to get this right some day. And yes, I spend way too much time on iTunes and checking my e-mail, hoping they'll ask me to make a Celebrity Playlist before remembering that I'm not a celebrity. Back to the column.)"

Indeed. Mister Simmons is an iTunes man, but all his recommendations are available in Rhapsody. Here's the rundown, coming to a commercial bumper near you some time next century:

Bill Simmons 21st Century Football Playlist

Banquet - Bloc Party
Sweet Troubled Soul - Stellastarr*
Tribulations - LCD Soundsystem
This Isn't It - Giant Drag
Finding Out True Love Is Blind - Louis XIV

Thursday Fresh Catch Playlist, Backwoods Edition

I've been roaming the Rhapsody catalog wantonly the last couple weeks, so the fresh catch love fest goes on. The current obessions with off-kilter classical tracks is represented by this intense grind from the Kronos Quartet. It makes me think of the beginning of Wilco's Misunderstood with its nipples clamped to a car battery and stretched out over six minutes, with no drums. Or maybe being tied to a pole watching a slow oncoming cloud of wasps. Delightful.

Scissorfight is a New Hampshire institution hellbent on exploring and enriching New England mythology. How Planet of Ass fits into that schema is open to interpretation. If you're at all curious, beware that they are one of the growing number of bands whose catalog is split over three different identical band names in Rhapsody.

Back Woods Fresh Catch Playlist

John Oswald: Spectre (1990) - Kronos Quartet
Wicked Messenger - Faces
Planet of Ass - Scissorfight
Spooky - Classics IV
Dreaming - Blondie
I Love A Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbit

Fresh Catch Playlist, Bottom-Feeder Edition

A fresh catch batch from the Rhapsody depths, where the light seldom shines: some lumpy and pale, others slow-moving and vicious.

Bottom-Feeding Fresh Catch Playlist

Who Slapped John? - Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps
The Odd Couple - Billy May & His Orchestra
Sunday Kind Of Love - The Del-Vikings
Santa's in a Wheelchair - The Kids of Widney High
The Bloodening - Altamont
Let Me Put My Love Into You - Robbie Gennet

Addendum: The playlist rhapid numbers are rapidly approaching the 1,000,000 mark. It looks like the current rhapid scheme started some time in April. Somebody's cranking these puppies out at quite a rate.

Doctor King Monday Supplement Playlist

The "Celebrating Martin Luther King" playlist assembled by Nick Dedina on the Rhapsody Home page is pretty complete. Here's a couple R&S Labs-style supplementary songs for the day.

The Roland Kirk version of I Say A Little Prayer was recorded at Newport not long after Doctor King was assassinated, and certainly delivers a passionate sound.

Doctor King Monday Supplement Playlist

I Say A Little Prayer - Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Why (The King of Love Is Dead) - Nina Simone

Out To Lunch Friday Playlist - Pedal Steel Edition

Here's something compellingly unique even for an Out To Lunch Friday.

Yesterday I was poking around for the first Masters of Reality record, but had to settle for a later release. This trail of listening led to Ginger Baker's solo output as a jazz drummer. Curiouser and curiouser, the title track to his 1999 release Coward of the County includes a pedal steel guitar well-employed in a jazz song.

This led me to delve into the Rhapsody backwoods for other odd pedal steel outlets. I was thoroughly shocked and delighted to discover classical composer Sasha Matson's Steel Chords/ I-5: Works for Pedal Steel Guitar. Again, it seems like something that just shouldn't be, but it flows through famously. The track below features the pedal steel most prominently, but the whole record is worth exploring.

The last two songs in the playlist are hitchhikers I couldn't deny a ride during the investigations. Happy Friday.

Out To Lunch Friday Playlist - Pedal Steel Edition

Mvt. III: Steel Dancers - Sasha Matson
Coward of the County - Ginger Baker
Annihilation of the Spirit - Masters of Reality
The Confessor - Joe Walsh

Dreadful Fresh Catch

After a restful lapse, the fresh catchup continues, today with a playlist of recently harvested reggae uniquities more than worth a listen. The proverbial collie sandwich. A chunk of these tracks were culled from or inspired by the relatively recent mass additions to Rhapsody from the Blood and Fire record label.

Dreadful Fresh Catch Playlist

One Train Load Of Collie - Tommy McCook/The Observers
Sesame - Sly Dunbar
Step On The Dragon - Niney the Observer
Organ Satta - The Observers
Come Along/Jamaican Collie - The Maytones with U Brown