James's+Songs

From the original jbiii submission to the KIS 2009 Top 20 Tune Swap

 * See if you can find the reference to Loz in the narrative below ;)...

1. Barbeque--Animal Liberation Orchestra (//Fly Between Falls//)
For those of you who have never heard of [|WXPN] in Philadelphia, I highly recommend tuning in through their website or iTunes. They have this nationally syndicated show called the [|World Cafe] that has introduced me to some great indie rock over the years, including this gem. I have no idea about anything else ALO does, but I love the lyrics to this song. If you don't toast yourself, who will?

2. Adeniji--The Budos Band (//The Budos Band II//)
This was another great find from the [|Jamnation] show on WXPN. The horn blasts, funky organ and percussion make a great soundtrack for riding my bike to school, working out, or grading some lackluster papers. There is not one bad track on this release, although some may find it a little repetitive if you listen from start to finish. If you like these guys, you may also like [|Antibalas] Afrobeat Orchestra. They have a very similar sound, and I almost put them on here, too, but I thought one was enough.

3. The Blower’s Daughter--Damien Rice (//[|Live at Union Chapel]//)
My mom used to work for BMG, the infamous "buy 1 CD at full-price and get 10 CDs free" company. Fortunately for me, it meant that I had a steady stream of free CDs growing up to the tune of 700+ now. Anyway, the head muckety-muck of this racket got invited to see Damien Rice play live and never got the memo that he was already a star, so he produced a limited edition of this concert because he thought all BMG employees and club members should be friends with him on mySpace. It was never released for sale. Fortunately, I got the CD through my mom and rediscovered this awesome track that I had originally heard at the beginning of the creepy love quadrangle movie, //Closer//. It's just as haunting live, especially with the gorgeous female background vocalist. If you want the whole set, let me know, and I can get it to you.

4. Crystal Village--Pete Yorn (//Day I Forgot//)
[|Pete Yorn] is another [|World Cafe] find that continues to blow me away. His excellent songwriting, distinctive voice, and tight arrangements make rock and roll viable again for me. //Day I Forgot// doesn't have a bad track, and //musicforthemorningafter// and //Nightcrawler// are right up there. He has a new CD on the way in June and will be opening for Coldplay this summer. If you like [|Ryan Adams], you will love Pete Yorn methinks.

5. Sand--Phish (//Farmhouse//)
Many falsely label [|Phish] as a wanna-be Grateful Dead jam band. Nothing could be further from the truth. Their style is completely different, and I daresay the four members of Phish could outmusician the Grateful Dead any day of the week, even though I dearly love and miss Jerry, Bobby and the boys. After seeing Phish 35 times, they are never absent from my iPod, and in commemoration of them getting back together this spring and summer, I wanted to add them here in hopes that you would give them a listen and hopefully catch them live some time, a fantastic sensory experience in itself. I have heard them jam this particular song for over 45 minutes live, and it has become a favorite I keep going back to again and again.

6. 1963--Rachael Yamagata (//Happenstance//)
Yeah, if it wasn't for [|WXPN], I would still be jamming out to Zeppelin and The Doors in perpetuity. Not a bad fate I guess, but I definitely am thankful to know that great music is still being created today. The first diva on the set is [|Rachael Yamagata] who just came through Seoul at the Sejong Center this month to promote her new album. This track comes from her first and blends a lot of groovy piano, tight rhythm and guitar, and her fabulous smoky voice. I'm wearing flowers in my hair, too, after listening to this one.

7. Stanton Hits the Bottle--Stanton Moore (//All Kooked Out//)
Thanks to the now-defunct Z93 radio show "The Dunhams" in Atlanta, I was introduced to the funk and groove outfit [|Galactic], which you will hear a little later in the set. Their drummer, [|Stanton Moore], has eclipsed John Bonham as my favorite drummer of all time, and I think this track demonstrates his brilliance beautifully. He literally hits bottles as an overlay to this smooth, jazzy track with some of the greatest funk and jazz cats on the scene right now. He's the only musician of whom I'm a fan on Facebook. If you dig this, check out his other solo releases as well as his sideprojects, the Stanton Moore Trio and [|Garage a Trois]. In addition, being a New Orleans native, he and his mates kick a lot of funding and love to rebuild the Crescent City.

8. Trick or Treat--Robert Cray (//Sweet Potato Pie//)
One of the most powerful live performances I ever experienced was [|The Robert Cray Band] at the Vogue theater in Indianapolis, my hometown. He absolutely punishes his guitar with power blues chords that just electrify your spine. Some of you may know of him through his breakthrough crossover hit, "Smokin' Gun," and his appearances with Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn during the blues comeback era of the late 80's and early 90's, but he often battles on in independent radio obscurity pumping out one fantastic album after another. If you like rhythm and blues, you must check him out. I also chose this track because every mix needs a cover, and I believe that every cover must be a new take or adaptation of the original. Here, Cray and the [|Memphis Horns] remake and recreate Otis Redding's original "Trick or Treat." Makes you want to grab a mask and a bag and terrorize your neighbors doesn't it?

9. The Sea--Morcheeba (//Parts of the Process//)
For those of you who are much more intertwined in the electronica scene, this is probably just scraping the surface for you, but hearing this song in 2001 totally opened a new door for me musically. I defy you to find a vocalist who anaesthetizes you more with her voice than [|Skye Edwards], the former lead singer of Morcheeba. Something tells me that the Godfrey brothers rue the day that they fired her from the band. Fortunately, they recorded five albums before that of which //Big Calm// and //Charango// are my favorites. This track definitely stands out among all their work, and I believe it is one of the best album openers by any band ever.

10. A Thousand Trees--Stereophonics (//Word Gets Around//)
Around the same time I heard of Morcheeba, I was playing in a band named Capable Gregg. We rocked Frankfurt twice. The lead singer was Welsh, and he introduced me to a lot of great British rock that was popular at the time. Of all the tunes he introduced me to and we later covered, this one has remained with me ever since. I love the overall throttle of the song mixed with the lead singer's raspy voice, and of course, it doesn't hurt that [|Stereophonics] is from Wales, a point every Welshman must painfully reiterate. You may recognize them as the band from the final song "[|Maybe Tomorrow]" in the Oscar winner //Crash// a few years ago, but this is more their style.

11. Wagon Wheel--Old Crow Medicine Show (//O.C.M.S.//)
This song may seem trite compared to the other tunes on this sampler, but I think it deserves more credit when you know about the history of the song, and I love hearing about the evolution of songs almost as much as the end products themselves. Many believe that this was a Bob Dylan song that [|OCMS] just covered, but there's much more to it than that, and I got to hear the story on NPR's [|Here and Now] (scroll down to the last news story on the left column) when roadtripping last summer. Afterward, I instantly downloaded it from iTunes, and now it stands as one of my all-time favorite traveling songs.

12. Bad Case of Love--B.B. King (//Blues on the Bayou//)
Of course you've heard of [|B.B. King], but you probably take him for granted, don't you? There's much, much more to the Beale Street Blues Boy than "Thrill is Gone." At age 76, B.B. King still averages 250 shows per year. In fact, many think he is playing some of his best music right now, and I think this track attests to that. He even admits that this is probably his best back-up band ever, and they are all showcased on this raucous song. Man, I wish I could have been in the room when they recorded this.

13. Funky Bahia--Sergio Mendes (//Encanto//)
One of the things that helped me discover new music last summer was the weekly download offered on iTunes from Starbucks. Merely walk into Starbucks, head to the CD rack, pick up a download card, and validate it on iTunes, or even better check out the iTunes Store on-line every Tuesday for their free "Single of the Week." That's how I got this outstanding track from [|Sergio Mendes]. It sounds like I always imagined Salvador de Bahia would be. I had been wanting to get into Brazilian music for a long while, and this was a great entree to the scene. Now, I just need to actually go further down this path. Suggestions anyone?

14. Sumthin’ Sumthin’--Maxwell (//Urban Hang Suite//)
Although I'm glad this amazing artist does not release music just for the sake of doing so, I wish [|Maxwell] would record a lot more often. His whole catalog is smooth, inventive R&B with great songwriting and incredible vocal range. If you need something to reinvigorate your love life, the whole //Urban Hang Suite// release is a must-have. The title of this track says it all. Also check out his MTV Unplugged performance; I especially like his take of NIN's "Animal."

15. Whatever Happened to Corey Haim?--The Thrills (//Let’s Bottle Bohemia//)
These cats bring the sunny California greatness of the late 1960's to the Y2K. Another great find from [|WXPN], [|The Thrills] have completely retooled this formula for the new millennium. They feature a great blend of random faux strings, keyboards, steel guitar, and one of the most distinctive voices I've heard in years. Despite singing extensively about northern California, these guys really hail from Ireland. Their first two albums, //So Much for the City// and //Let's Bottle Bohemia// show a wide range of styles and versatility for such a young band, but they don't take themselves too seriously as you can tell by the title of this song; whatever happened to [|Corey Haim] anyway?

16. Lebanese Blonde--Thievery Corporation (//Garden State Soundtrack//)
I will not proclaim to know anything about [|Thievery Corporation] except that I was pleased that such a renowned connoissuer as Jason Spivey also put this track on his offering for the Top 20 Tune Swap. My true aim was to draw attention to this fantastic soundtrack from the quirky film //[|Garden State]//. One of the best ways I find music is through movies I see, and I think this was one of the best soundtracks in years and won the Grammy for that year whatever that's worth. Other great tracks from this collection include "In the Waiting Line" by Zero 7, both songs by The Shins, Frou Frou's "Let Go," Iron and Wine's "Such Great Heights," and "One of These Things First" by Nick Drake. In many regards, the soundtrack beats the movie; click play, dim lights, stir beverage and enjoy.

17. Bittersweet--Galactic (//Ruckus//)
At this moment, if I had to play the trite game "you're stuck on a deserted island, which CD is essential for your long-term survival?," I would say //Ruckus// by [|Galactic]. I already introduced you to their drummer, [|Stanton Moore], but every member of this outfit brings it to the table. I first saw these guys at the Midtown Music Festival in Atlanta. There was just an incredible line-up, and I was hoping to sit a set out to recuperate when these guys came on and completely stole the show for me. Everyone in the crowd was just shakin' it the entire set, and I only think about 50 of the thousands of people there even knew who they were. What I like the most about their funk, jazz, Hammond B3 madness is that they have vocals half the time and the other half they don't. Just when the music gets a bit repetitive, the [|Houseman] comes out and rejuvenates the scene.

18. Fire of Heaven--Matisyahu (//Youth//)
Another great find from [|WXPN], [|Matisyahu] blew me away when he was featured as artist of the month. At the very least, you have to give him props for novelty. Hassidic Jew meets reggae and hip-hop. Somehow, the formula works, and what's great is that he doesn't let women touch him due to his religious beliefs, so you don't get jealous if your girlfriend digs him. This is probably my favorite of all his work, and there are some misses there but overall worth checking out more if you like this track. If you're going to be in New York on July 9th, he's playing Central Park with two of my other favorites, [|Umphrey's McGee] (from South Bend, Indiana baby--I played the drummer's set at a dive bar show when I studied at Notre Dame) and [|Les Claypool], former leadman for [|Primus] and singer of the //South Park// theme song.

19. Bongo Bong--Manu Chao (//World Playground//)
Who says kids' music has to suck? This doesn't sound like the soundtrack from Barney at all. We got this great [|Putumayo] music sampler for kids, and I popped it in for Bean and was about to insert my earplugs when this track came on. I already knew that being a dad was going to rock, but I had no idea that it was going to introduce me to great new music like [|Manu Chao]. Bean might get tired of this track before I do. Roberto also added a track from him on his playlist. I can't wait to hear more from this guy.

20. Float On--Modest Mouse (//Good News for People Who Love Bad News//)
Okay, so if it wasn't for [|WXPN], I wouldn't have had much to offer this Top 20 Tune Swap. Who said radio was dead? This song enjoyed a great run for awhile on the station when they featured this breakthrough release of the edgy, scrappy band from Seattle. Not all [|Modest Mouse] tunes are this infectious, but there are a lot of hidden treasures on this release and their other work. It's also a great closer to a formidable mix of music, no?

//If you made it this far, it means you actually read this and hopefully enjoyed the music on my swap disc. I am really thankful to everyone who participated in this amazing experience. When I first conceived this, I really only thought a few diehard music fans on the faculty would be game for it. Then, 49 people joined the fun. What else I didn't realize is how much our music says about us. When all the crazy e-mails on the first day of the swap were swirling around, I was taken aback at how people could have been offended by our resident clown, Sean Forrestal, but then I came to the realization that people were not merely swapping out some random songs from their collections, they were sharing a glimpse into their souls. People logged in delightfully unexpected hours whittling down their lists to meet the criteria, and many had their own take on what music they would share. Thanks for putting yourselves on the line, KIS! We're all the better for it...//