Anyway, I’d rather not give away the entire tracklist just in case you’re one of the lucky folks who will receive this gift, but I will say that it moves quite nicely from Herman’s Hermits to Roy Orbison to Mitch Ryder to The Strangeloves. There’s plenty of songs you’ll already know that made the cut, plus a few surprises. Here’s a sneak peak…

The Kinks — “Susannah’s Still Alive”

I have quite the fondness for the Davies brothers. Is it possible that The Kinks are underrated? I think so.

Dr. West’s Medicine Show & Junk Band — “Nora”

This was the starting point for Norman Greenbaum (of “Spirit in the Sky” fame). On the whole, their lone 1967 album is as wacky as its title, The Eggplant That Ate Chicago, might suggest. It’s a lovely affair if you’re into kazoos, jugs, and Zappa.

Dean Carter — “Mary Sue”

Regular readers of my blog from my hometown of Champaign, Illinois, should rush out to purchase Dean Carter’s anthology, Call of the Wild. For one, it’s a helluva unsung rock and roll record that compiles his work from the ’60s. (Carter was known for being a rockabilly reject who could play a mean dobro solo.) But more importantly to the local aspect, he was based in Champaign. “Mary Sue” is his homage to The Sonics, I assume.

Today I was picking up a wig for my Halloween costume and I couldn’t get The Free Design’s “Kites Are Fun” out of my head. I think it was due to the fact that I was standing in a costume store, which made me feel like a kid again. And The Free Design have the same affect on me, even if their lyrics are a little oddball. To note:

All that’s between us is a little yellow string
But we like each other more than anything
And we run along together through the field behind my house
And the little drops of rain caress our face and wash my blouse
And we’d like to be a zillion miles away from everyone
Cause Mom and Dad and Uncle Bill don’t realize
Kites are fun!

As I said, not your typical take on flying a kite, even for these Greenwich Village sibling hippies. The Free Design is not for everyone, and even the people who dig them can probably admit with ease that you have to be in the right mood to enjoy a song like “Kije’s Ouija”. Anyway, if the mood strikes you…

The Free Design - “Kites Are Fun”
The Free Design - “Kije’s Ouija” 

Sorry dear blog for neglecting you. I’ve been busy as of late with my mistress, the latest recording from frizzy-haired Vancouver singer-songwriter Dan Bejar, who goes by the stage name Destroyer and moonlights on New Pornographers’ recordings in his spare time. I love me some Dan Bejar. I love his silly impassioned voice; his furry beard; his ridiculous, counterintuitive band name; his dramatic, over-the-top songwriting; his unique way with melody (and countermelody); his oddball, poetic lyrics that seem plainly personal and relative to Bejar, but yet otherworldly to most others; and the effortless nature with which he composes his tiny pop ‘n’ roll symphonies. A good Destroyer song — and there are plenty to choose from — do not sound like anyone else’s creation. They are simply songs of Destroyer. And Destroyer’s Rubies, which came out last month on Merge Records, is his strongest effort to date. Buy it now and it will add wonderful, fresh character to the stale set of tunes crammed into your plastic portable music device.

Destroyer - "European Oils"

Destroyer - "Priest’s Knees" 

It dawned on me yesterday that March is one of my favorite months of the year, and not simply because it brings with it "March Madness". In the third month, the sickly grip of winter begins to loosen as cool showers give way to warmer skies and the occasional tornado siren. Earth wakes up, and in doing so provokes in me a few sporadic bursts of silly optimism, the kind that is brought on most easily by sunshine. I love me some late-winter/early-spring sunshine — the kind that warms your automobile’s inside, so that even though it’s only 46 degrees outside, it’s warm enough inside the car that you feel like cracking the window.

Today was such a day. And driving at lunchtime, I couldn’t get the string melody from Big Star’s "Stroke It Noel" outta my head. So after lunch I doodled on the internet — my phrase for surfing aimlessly — for a half-hour and listened to Sister Lovers, an awkward album to be sure, but one that I’ve always had a strange attraction to. Maybe it’s the inherent sense of awakening that radiates throughout these tunes — some of the best Alex Chilton ever penned — that leaves me dumbfounded even on the umpteenth listen. Anyway, upon listening, I was especially taken by "Kangaroo", which struck me as a worthy parallel to the month of March. Listen for yourself.

Big Star - "Kangaroo"

Big Star - "Stroke It Noel" 

Interesting side note about "Stroke It Noel" that I absolutely love for the adolescent nature of the story, from the liner notes to the album:

"Stroke It Noel" was actually given a new set of lyrics, due to the atmosphere created by the string sessions. "It originally had a whole different set of lyrics. After we put the violins on, Alex [Chilton] came up with new lyrics, which were far superior," said [producer Jim] Dickinson."‘Noel’ is Noel Gilbert, one of the string players. … Alex was really enjoying the string sessions, when we finally got around to doing them, because he was just being the naughty little boy, and really getting off on it. That’s where the lyrics came from."

The Left Banke’s debut was a terrific if largely unrecognized effort of classy baroque pop, featuring entirely original material. The two hit title tracks ["Pretty Ballerina" and "Walk Away Renee"] were standouts, but nearly every other cut was in the same league, the glowing arrangements intertwining with their beautiful harmonies, at times rocking fairly hard.

Here’s a couple break-up tunes to get you motivated to hunt down the compilation. The first will sound familiar to Jens Lekman fans, as he lifted the harpsichord lick in his own "Black Cab". The second is a personal fave of mine, featuring a rumbling, country-and-western guitar hook that pops up on the verses.

The Left Banke - "I’ve Got Something on My Mind"

The Left Banke - "Let Go of You Girl" 

But I don’t want to share her more familiar tunes with you today. I’d rather you dig on "Love Songs", which reminds me of Vashti Bunyan if she were interested in the delicate pop songs of Francoise Hardy. Vashti is actually a fairly good leaping off point for Margo, since the two both released stellar debuts and then faded from the public eye for some time until their work was discovered by a new generation in the ’90s. Unlike Vashti, however, Margo remained interested in music throughout her life and served as a classical piano teacher as she aged.

For a second selection, I wanted to go with the strange, psychedelic nugget "Love", which closed her debut album and truly stood apart from the rest of her songs. But, I think I’ll leave that one for your own personal discovery once you listen to these two songs, fall madly in love with her, and purchase the record for yourself. (And keep in mind that these aren’t even her "hits".)

Margo Guryan - "Love Songs" 

Margo Guryan - "Someone I Know" (Yes, that is Johann Sebastian Bach!) 

Today my procrastination centered upon not trimming my beard and not cleaning the bathroom. But I did manage to enjoy some leftover cookie cake, watch a little college basketball, and remember to return some media to the library. All the while, I had the following song by ’70s Peruvian pop gods We All Together stuck in my head. It’s remarkable that the influence of John Lennon and Paul McCartney had reached South America by the early ’70s. And it’s even more surprising that any South American band would have had an interest in singing in English, since one would presume doing so would have probably been of little interest to peers. Anyway, on their self-titled 1973 album (one of two the band released that has been reissued by Lazarus in the States and can be found with little effort), they actually cover three McCartney tunes in addition to two Badfinger songs. But the album is worth owning for the originals — of which there are nine to choose from — and the cover art. Here’s a couple of my favorites, starting with the one that was stuck in my head this afternoon.

We All Together - "Symbolic Queen"

We All Together - "It’s a Sin to Go Away"

It’s odd how sometimes you get in to music in an ass backward sort of way. A full decade-plus after I first fell in love with Six Finger Satellite, I discovered Chrome, the brainchild of guitarist Helios Creed and drummer Damon Edge.Much of the early industrial noise, the sinister yelping, the raw guitar, and the general quirkiness (talk of "abstract nymphos", "chromosome damage", and "magnetic dwarf reptiles") of early Chrome recordings rears its head in 6FS as well. Listening to Chrome as of late inspired me to throw 6FS on the turntable for the first time in probably two years. 6FS was a great live band (who I of course completely forgot about seeing until just now), but it was on their records that they truly let their freak flag fly. Have a listen for yourself. Here’s a couple tunes from Chrome’s third album, Half Machine Lip Moves (released in 1979), followed by a couple songs from Six Finger Satellite’s 1995 record Severe Exposure (on Sub Pop). "Mistaken Street" is from the bonus 12-inch to the vinyl release.

Chrome - "TV as Eyes"

Chrome - "Zombie Warfare (Can’t Let You Down)"

Six Finger Satellite - "Bad Comrade"

Six Finger Satellite - "Mistaken Street"