Don't Tell a Soul, Vol. 30

For the uninitiated, "Don't Tell a Soul" is my ongoing, semi-regular awesome* mix tape series.

This is just the latest installment.

As always, to encourage the consumption of music (that doesn't suck), I have provided -- wherever available -- links to free, artist-sanctioned MP3s of the songs.**

*No joke.
**At least they were free and artist-sanctioned at the time of this here blog's posting.

Enjoy!
Matt

(Questions or comments? E-mail mperrine@duluthbudgeteer.com.)

1. Muse - "Starlight"
R.I.Y.L. Placebo, U2, Radiohead's most mainstream tracks.

2. Marah - "Point Breeze"
R.I.Y.L. the Hold Steady (especially for Craig Finn's voice), Buster Poindexter's "Caribbean cruise" party atmosphere.

3. Jeffrey Foucault - "Lodi" (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
R.I.Y.L. M. Ward's famous interpretations of classics, the original "Lodi."

4. Ozma - "Barriers"
Holy shit, Ozma's back!

5. Peter Walker - "I'm Through"
R.I.Y.L. leather jackets on singer/songwriters. (How's that for a Josh Harty reference?)

6. Mull Historical Society - "Animal Cannabus"
R.I.Y.L. Jellyfish's "time warp" sound.

7. Tegan and Sara - "The Con"
R.I.Y.L. Avril Lavigne(-Whibley) ... I don't know, maybe?

8. The New Pornographers - "My Rights Versus Yours"
Life's always a little better when the NPs are releasing new music.

9. The Rentals - "She's Cool"
Same goes for these guys (let's face it; Matt Sharp's solo releases were kind of a bore), but, since I don't have any of those new tracks yet, here's an excellent track that somehow didn't make the "Seven More Minutes" cut.

10. My Diet Pill - "Sandy's Bathroom"
R.I.Y.L. Frank Black (with or without the Pixies dearest), slightly naughty lyrics and, I don't know, France!

11. D Generation - "Helpless"
This is the next best thing to a new Replacements record ... and I'm not even kidding.

12. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Weapon of Choice"
R.I.Y.L. bands that find their groove on record No. 1 and keep on hammering out that formula until you stop listening.

Well, lucky for BRMC, we're not sick of 'em yet.

13. Sonic Joyride - "Is Anybody Out There?"
Technically this is probably best categorized as "big, dumb rock," but it's quite alluring nonetheless.

14. Chris Trapper - "Party at the Andersons"
R.I.Y.L. Storyhill (if they went really pop) and Bostonians, exceedingly humble, charming Bostonians.

15. Golden Smog - "Magician"
A pretty (bizarre) instrumental before...

16. Oliver Hart (aka Eyedea) feat. Slug - "Forget Me"
Eyedea and Slug? Does it get better than this? (Don't answer that, haters....) There's a lot of talent on this track, and, yet, it's not weighed down by this fact.

17. Catherine Wheel - "Sparks are Gonna Fly"
FYI: Catherine Wheel's singer and guitarist, Rob Dickinson, is a cousin of Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson ... weird.

Conversely, here's a "TMI" for ya: I own (or at least used to) Bruce's '94 solo effort "Balls to Picasso" on tape, and I bought it for $1 (or less).

18. Joseph Arthur - "Chemical"
FYI: Singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur was discovered by Peter "Sledgehammer" Gabriel. How cool is that? That's probably -- if not more -- as monumental as Columbus "discovering" America!

19. Eric Idle (of Monty Python) - "Sit on My Face"
Sick. And wrong. But oh so funny!

20. Letters to Cleo - "Dreams" (Fleetwood Mac cover)
I've become quite the 'Mac aficionado of late, and I must say: this easily rivals the original.

Heresy, I know, but damn true.

21. Dan Hutt/Randy Watson - "Lantern Schematic"
It should come as no surprise that Hutt (of Acme ... and numerous other projects) has a thing for the Beach Boys. The harmonies on this piece are to die for.

22. Of Montreal - "Voltaic Crusher/Undrum to Muted Da"
R.I.Y.L. anything else Of Montreal has done in the last three to five years.

23. The Beautiful South - "Don't Marry Her"
Briana Corrigan has a lovely voice, and the backing track is quite jangly and pleasant, so ... it kind of makes you spit out your cereal when she unexpectedly belts out "Don't marry her / Fuck me."

OK, more than just "kind of"....