NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
THE ROLLING STONES . . . . . Winter . . . . . Goats Head Soup
BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS . . . . . Sometimes In Winter . . . . . Blood, Sweat & Tears
THE AMAZING PILOTS . . . . . The Price Of Winter . . . . . Hello My Captor
CAT POWER . . . . . Empty Shell . . . . . The Greatest
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD . . . . . No Easy Way Down . . . . . Dusty in Memphis
TINDERSTICKS . . . . . Hubbard Hill . . . . . Falling Down a Mountain
LOU REED . . . . . Perfect Day . . . . . Transformer

THE POSTMARKS . . . . . I’m In Deep . . . . . Memoirs at the End of the World (Dig)
HOLLY MIRANDA . . . . . Sleep On Fire . . . . . Magician's Private Library
JULIAN PLENTI . . . . . Unwind . . . . . Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper
THE POSSIBILITIES . . . . . Now And Then You Appear . . . . . Way Out!
THE SIGHTS . . . . . It’d Be Nice (To Have You Around) . . . . . Got What We Want
THE BEATLES . . . . . That Means A Lot . . . . . Anthology 2
GIRLS . . . . . Headache . . . . . Album
SCOTT WALKER . . . . . The World’s Strongest Man . . . . . It's Raining Today: The Scott Walker Story (1967-70)
JARVIS COCKER . . . . . Slush . . . . . Further Complications

NEKO CASE . . . . . Star Witness . . . . . Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
YO LA TENGO . . . . . Fourth Time Around . . . . . I'm Not There
BOB DYLAN . . . . . Lonesome Day Blues . . . . . "Love and Theft"
SPOON . . . . . I Saw The Light . . . . . Transference
TOM VERLAINE . . . . . Breakin’ In My Heart . . . . . Tom Verlaine
BECK . . . . . Think I’m In Love . . . . . The Information

CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG . . . . . Le Chat Du Café Des Artists . . . . . Irm
BERTRAND BURGALAT . . . . . Le Pays Imaginaire . . . . . The Sssound of Mmmusic
THE HIGH LLAMAS . . . . . Leaf And Lime . . . . . Beet Maize & Corn
DEPARTMENT OF EAGLES . . . . . In Ear Park . . . . . In Ear Park
EFTERKLANG . . . . . Mirror Mirror . . . . . Magic Chairs
DAVID BYRNE AND BRIAN ENO . . . . . One Fine Day . . . . . Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
TAKEN BY TREES . . . . . Greyest Love Of All . . . . . East of Eden
DAVID QUALEY . . . . . Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring . . . . . Essential Winter's Solstice

As mentioned in the last wrap-up, I'm sick of Winter, especially after the last major snowstorm that blew through recently—full of heart-attack snow, wet and heavy and not fun to shovel. So the program began this time with a trio of relevant tunes from the Rolling Stones, Blood, Sweat & Tears and the Amazing Pilots. Then we heard a new tune from Graham Parker that used some winter imagry and seemed to flow well into one full of hard-earned knowledge about relationships from Cat Power. She always reminds me of Dusty Springfield, and from there Tindersticks offered an instrumental that perfectly set up the Lou Reed track that left us with a subtly menacing end to this opener. Of course, that part of the song was left out when it was used for a TV commercial during the recent Winter Olympics, but that's OK 'cause it was still fun to hear coming out of the television . . . over and over again.

Another ubiquitous commercial from the Olympics was for cat food; it featured a feline wondering through a very trippy animated landscape on its way to an eventual bowl full of product at the end. Accompanying this ad was music that sounded like an homage to (or should that be ripoff of) the Postmarks; I wonder if any of the band members saw it and had the same reaction. After the Postmarks tune we moved on to Holly Miranda's new disc, which features nicely accenting horns on many tracks, including the one we heard here. The Julian Plenti track that followed featues a rather prominent trumpet, and the dense pop feel of that tune brought on one with a similar approach from the Possibilities. Next we heard the Sights sounding a lot like the early Beatles, who followed with a tune from early 1965 that didn't get an official release until more than 30 years had passed. Girls made their romantic intentions clear with one that brought to mind prime Scott Walker, who was an acknowledged influence on Jarvis Cocker (and, in fact, produced the final Pulp album).

This set began with a Neko Case song that has a rhythmic feel remeniscent of a Bob Dylan tune covered here by Yo La Tengo, which was followed by Dylan with a track of recent vintage that always sounds to me as if it would work well among all the other songs from Blonde on Blonde. Spoon was next with one that continues to unwind until the tempo suddenly picks up and rocks out to the end; it segued nicely into Tom Verlaine offering his special brand of guitar magic, which then brought on Beck in an energetic mood to finish up.

Charlotte Gainsbourg's latest disc was produced by Beck, and after hearing her sing in her dad's native tongue we moved to Bertrand Burgalat for some moody French pop. The scene shifted to the British countryside with the High Llamas, and then it was another bucolic setting from Department of Eagles. A new one from Efterklang maintained the mood, which brought on a tune with a more stately appeal from David Byrne and Brian Eno. Finally, Taken By Trees offered a song that has a guitar running through it that consistently calls to mind the well-known portion of Bach's famous cantata, heard here by David Qualey on acoustic guitar.

Here's another one from Lou Reed

NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
THE MINUS 5 . . . . . Great News Around You . . . . . Because We Hate You/Let the War Against Music Begin
THE BEACH BOYS . . . . . I’m Waiting For The Day . . . . . Pet Sounds
ZEUS . . . . . Marching Through Your Head . . . . . Say Us
LANGHORNE SLIM . . . . . Say Yes . . . . . Be Set Free
JOSH RITTER . . . . . Right Moves . . . . . The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
BOB DYLAN . . . . . Absolutely Sweet Marie . . . . . Blonde on Blonde
THE CAESARS . . . . . Boo Boo Goo Goo . . . . . Strawberry Weed
THE KINKS . . . . . Tired Of Waiting For You . . . . . Kinda Kinks
THE PRETENDERS . . . . . Stop Your Sobbing . . . . . Pretenders: Live In London

JASON COLLETT . . . . . Love Is A Dirty Word . . . . . Rat a Tat Tat
HOLLY GOLIGHTLY . . . . . All Around The Houses . . . . . The Transgressors
LEE HAZLEWOOD . . . . . Sacrifice . . . . . Cake or Death
THE TRANSGRESSORS . . . . . The Beginning Of The End . . . . . The Transgressors
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS . . . . . Lie Down Here (& Be My Girl) . . . . . Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
YOKO ONO & JOHN LENNON . . . . . Walking On Thin Ice . . . . . Double Fantasy
GIL SCOTT-HERON . . . . . Your Soul And Mine . . . . . I'm New Here

HOLLY MIRANDA . . . . . Forest Green Oh Forest Green . . . . . The Magician's Private Library
PULP . . . . . Weeds II (The Origin Of The Species) . . . . . We Love Life
YO LA TENGO . . . . . By Twos . . . . . Popular Songs
CLUSTER & BRIAN ENO . . . . . Old Land . . . . . Old Land
THE MARBLE TEA . . . . . The Center Of The Universe . . . . . A Blizzard / A True Storm
ROKY ERICKSON & OKKERVIL RIVER . . . . . Goodbye Sweet Dreams . . . . . True Love Cast Out All Evil
OASIS . . . . . Falling Down . . . . . Dig Out Your Soul
THE HELIO SEQUENCE . . . . . Tomorrow Never Knows . . . . . Com Plex

THE BEATLES . . . . . Love You To . . . . . Revolver (Remastered)
SUPER FURRY ANIMALS . . . . . Cardiff In The Sun . . . . . Dark Days/Light Years
PINK FLOYD . . . . . Interstellar Overdrive . . . . . The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (40th Anniversary Edition)
CHRIS SPEDDING . . . . . Time Warp . . . . . Guitar Graffiti
ROBYN HITCHCOCK & THE VENUS 3 . . . . . Adventure Rocketship . . . . . Olé! Tarantula
THE SATURN 5 . . . . . Voyage To The Moon . . . . . That Thing You Do!: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
THE B-52’S . . . . . Planet Claire . . . . . The B-52's

This one opened with the MInus 5 incorporating a bit of the Beach Boys sound, and they came to mind when I heard the catchy new track from Zeus's debut album that followed. That flowed nicely into my favorite Langhorne Slim tune from last fall's disc, and the energy of that one worked well with Josh Ritter as well as Bob Dylan from his 1966 masterpiece. The Caesars kept it going with a track that has a particularly appealing title, and then we finished with two early KInks tracks—first from the Muswell Hill lads, and then from the Pretenders with the version from their new live disc of the first single they issued in 1979.

After hearing from Zeus in the first set, this section opened with Jason Collett, who has been working with them in recent years and also has a disc coming soon. His new tune has a twangy appeal that laid the groundwork for the tracks by Holly Golightly, Lee Hazlewood, Tindersticks from their latest, and the Transgressors that followed. The galloping pace of that last one was matched by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and the desperate, slashing guitar on their track conjured up John Lennon's work on Yoko Ono's single, which happened to be the last track on which he ever worked and was recorded on the day he was murdered. Finally, it was GIl Scott-Heron meditating on life and death from his terrific new disc to close it out.

Thoughts of Spring's upcoming arrival led to this set's opener from Holly Miranda's darkly enchanting new disc, and the vegetation focus was extended for one more song with an atmospheric track by Pulp. Yo La Tengo maintained the mood, and then Cluster and Brian Eno provided one with an eternal feel that flowed well into a tune from the new Marble Tea EP. After being battered by life for a long time, Roky Erickson has returned to creative work in recent years and has a new disc with Okkervil River coming next month. The advance track we heard seemed to work well into Oasis, and that segued nicely into the Helio Sequence with one of my favorite Beatles cover versions.

We heard the Fab Four with another Revolver track, which brought on Super Furry Animals to take us on a mesmerizing journey to their home base in Wales. From there Pink Floyd shifted the venue out into the heavens, where Chris Spedding proceeded to mess with the space-time continuum and Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 seemed to be doing the same. Saturn V was the name given the rocket that launched the Apollo astronauts to the moon; it's also the name of a fictitious band from the film That Thing You Do!, which was Tom Hanks' first directorial effort. Their Ventures-like tune brought us to the B-52s, who provided an appropriate place to end our journey.

Here's another one from the B-52s

NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
THE ROLLING STONES . . . . .19th Nervous Breakdown . . . . . Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)
THE MARBLE TEA . . . . . My Analyst Told Me . . . . . A Blizzard/A True Storm
JONATHAN RICHMAN & THE MODERN LOVERS . . . . . Government Center . . . . . 23 Great Recordings by Jonathan Richman ...
IKE REILLY . . . . . 7 Come 11 . . . . . Hard Luck Stories
BEN KWELLLER . . . . . Walk On Me . . . . . Sha Sha
NICK LOWE . . . . . Cruel To Be Kind . . . . . Quiet Please: The New Best of Nick Lowe
THE NEW YORK DOLLS . . . . . Lonely So Long . . . . . 'Cause I Sez So
PETER AND GORDON . . . . . I Go To Pieces . . . . . The British Invasion: History of British Rock, Vol. 3
MOJAVE 3 . . . . . Big Star Baby . . . . . Puzzles Like You
THE RASPBERRIES . . . . . Let’s Pretend . . . . . Capitol Collectors Series

EMMYLOU HARRIS . . . . . Wrecking Ball . . . . . The Best Of Sessions At West 54th
NEIL YOUNG . . . . . Oh Lonesome Me . . . . . After the Gold Rush
ROSANNE CASH & BRUCE SPRINGSGTEEN . . . . . Sea Of Heartbreak . . . . . The List
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN . . . . . One Step Up . . . . . Tunnel of Love
THE PERNICE BROTHERS . . . . . Zero Refills . . . . . Live a Little
THE WATSON TWINS . . . . . Tell Me Why . . . . . Talking to You Talking to Me

EELS . . . . . Little Bird . . . . . End Times
BOB DYLAN . . . . . Most Of The Time . . . . . Oh Mercy
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND . . . . . Pale Blue Eyes . . . . . The Velvet Underground
TINDERSTICKS . . . . . No Place So Alone . . . . . Falling Down a Mountain
THE PRETENDERS . . . . . Day After Day . . . . . Pretenders: Live In London
BE BOP DELUXE . . . . . Ships In The Night . . . . . Live! In the Air Age
PATRICK WOLF . . . . . Get Lost . . . . . The Magic Position
JOHN CALE . . . . . Perfect . . . . . Black Acetate
THE FLESH LIGHTS . . . . . Crush On You . . . . . Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010
RICHARD HELL . . . . . Love Comes In Spurts . . . . . Time

THE POSTMARKS . . . . . All You Ever Wanted . . . . . Memoirs at the End of the World (Dig)
LEMON JELLY . . . . . His Majesty King Raam . . . . . LemonJelly.KY
THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES . . . . . Lone Summer Dream . . . . . Origin, Vol. 1
HOLLY MIRANDA . . . . . Sweet Dreams . . . . . Magician's Private Library
A BAND OF BEES . . . . . Sky Holds The Sun . . . . . Sunshine Hit Me
M. WARD . . . . . Hold Time . . . . . Hold Time
CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG . . . . . Vanities . . . . . Irm

The Marble Tea is the main music project of Knight Berman, Jr., a multi-talented guy who lives down the Jersey Shore and every so often releases an EP's worth of music—usually for free (at least at first). His latest maintains his usual high standards, and the title of the tune we heard, which seems clearly to have been inspired by the old Lambert, Hendricks and Ross song, conjured up a Rolling Stones track that I haven't played in a long time. After the Marble Tea's psychoanalytic session we moved on to Jonathan Richman & the Msodern Lovers offering to help improve the secretaries' mood over at the government offices, and then it was back to the personal with Ike Reilly looking to rekindle an old flame. Ben Kweller struggling to keep his relationship alive brought on an old favorite from Nick Lowe that really doesn't leave room for much of a response. The New York Dolls feeling down in the dumps fed nicely into a heartbreaking classic from Peter and Gordon, and then we heard a confused and unhappy Mojave 3 followed by the Raspberries hoping for better times ahead.

A wonderful live version from Emmylou Harris of a Neil Young song kicked off this section and led to a pair of Don Gibson tunes covered by others—the first by Neil from the early days, followed by Rosanne Cash from her latest disc, where she was joined by Bruce Springsteen. Then we heard Bruce taking a hard look at a relationship, which brought on the Pernice Brothers showing care and concern about a past love and the Watson Twins trying to understand why it all had to end.

Inspiration for Eels latest disc has clearly come from Mark Oliver Everett's recent divorce, and the track we heard to open this set shows how much he's struggled to move on. Bob Dylan evoking a similar mood was followed by the Velvet Underground with Lou Reed's powerful recollection of an affair he once had with a married woman. Tindersticks sounding like the VU told a sad tale of being replaced in a relationship by someone else, and then we heard the Pretenders with a song of yearning from their new live disc that rocks quite nicely followed by Be Bop Deluxe offering a handy simile for life without love. Patrick Wolf with an alluring invitation fed nicely into some noisy guitars backing a seemingly content John Cale; from there it was the Flesh Lights inspired by such mid-to-late '70s artists as Richard Hell, who we heard in an early version of the Heartbreakers to finish up.

The final section began with the Postmarks taking us on trippy journey to personal satisfaction, which brought on Lemon Jelly and their chilled-out meander through the far-off lands ruled by King Raam. Sweden's Soundtrack of Our Lives maintained the mood while adding some horns to the mix, which provided a nice link to the Holly Miranda track that followed. A Band of Bees pared that back to a muted trumpet accenting a calming flow, and then it was the sublime beauty of the title track to M. Ward's last disc feeding into the soft, strings-cushioned vocals of Charlotte Gainsbourg to close this one out.

Here's another one from the Pretenders