thesoftpackofficial.com/NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
THE SOFT PACK . . . . . Flammable . . . . . The Soft Pack
HARRY NILSSON . . . . . Jump Into The Fire . . . . . Nilsson Schmilsson
ISOBEL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN . . . . . The Flame That Burns . . . . . Sunday at Devil Dirt
MARK PICKEREL AND HIS PRAYING HANDS . . . . . The Last Leaves . . . . . Cody's Dream
ELVIS COSTELLO . . . . . My All Time Doll . . . . . Secret, Profane and Sugarcane
SPOON . . . . . Out Go The Lights . . . . . Transference
TELEVISON . . . . . Venus . . . . . Marquee Moon

THE ROLLING STONES . . . . . Dandelion . . . . . Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)
THE SLEEPY JACKSON . . . . . This Day . . . . . Lovers
GIRLS . . . . . Hellhole Ratrace . . . . . Album
HEADLESS HEROES . . . . . Just Like Honey . . . . . The Silence of Love
THE WITCH HAZEL SOUND . . . . . 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her . . . . . This World, Then the Fireworks
YO LA TENGO . . . . . Madeline . . . . . And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
THE COWSILLS . . . . . The Rain, The Park & Other Things . . . . . The Best of the Cowsills: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection
STEPHEN JONES & LUKE SCOTT . . . . . We All Make The Little Flowers Grow . . . . . Total Lee! The Songs of Lee Hazlewood
CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG . . . . . Dandelion . . . . . Irm

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS . . . . . You Must Be Out Of Your Mind . . . . . Realism
BOB DYLAN . . . . . One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) . . . . . Blonde on Blonde
STEVE FORBERT . . . . . Romeo’s Tune . . . . . Jackrabbit Slim
JOSH RITTER . . . . . Kathleen . . . . . Hello Starling
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN . . . . . 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) . . . . . The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
PAUL WESTERBERG . . . . . Love On The Wing . . . . . PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys (Amazon.com Exclusive)

ROBYN HITCHCOCK & THE VENUS 3 . . . . . Belltown Ramble . . . . . Goodnight Oslo
TRAFFIC . . . . . Heaven Is In Your Mind . . . . . Heaven Is in Your Mind
BECK . . . . . Strange Apparition . . . . . The Information
UNITED NATIONS OF SOUND . . . . . Are You Ready? . . . . . Digital Single
THE MOVE . . . . . Feel Too Good . . . . . Looking On

We began this time with one from the very enjoyable new disc by the Soft Pack, and that energetic dose of rock & roll brought to mind an old Harry Nilsson tune. One more on the subject from Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan brought with it a subdued intensity that was maintained in the Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands track that followed, creating a segue that should have worked for all the Screaming Trees fans out there in Listener Land as well. Elvis Costello pining for the lover he can't seem to shake led to Spoon knocked out by the girl who walked into the ballroom and Television intoxicated with the beauty that art so often can provide.

This section ended with a new tune from Charlotte Gainsbourg that shares a title with an old favorite from the Rolling Stones c. 1967, which opened things here. In between we heard some bright, late '60s-influenced pop from Australia's Sleepy Jackson followed by the darker overtones of Girls into Headless Heroes adding a bit of subdued jangle guitar to a Jesus and Mary Chain tune. From there the Witch Hazel Sound kept the '60s pop feel with some horns added to the mix, which seemed to flow nicely into one from Yo La Tengo with some wonderfully warm organ. That brought on a late '60s guilty pleasure from the Cowsills, followed by a remake of a Lee Hazlewood song from the same time period by Stephen Jones and Luke Scott with a title that led us to Charlotte Gainsbourg.

The new Magnetic Fields disc has a winning combination of smart, incisive lyrics and distinctive instrument combinations, and we started here with a tune that leaves no doubt a reconcilliation won't be happening any time soon. From there it was Bob Dylan apologizing for a breakup even as he's explaining that it wasn't his fault, but after that the tide turned with Steve Forbert anticipating better times, Josh Ritter making a bold move, Bruce Springsteen looking for a companion for the night (and maybe longer) and Paul Westerberg displaying an ornithologist-like feel for the vicissitudes of love.

A pleasant stroll through a Seattle neighborhood with Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 brought with it some philosophizing on one's place in the big picture, which is similar to what Traffic was driving at in the tune that followed, and the same can be said for the Beck track that came next. Richard Ashcroft of the Verve has a new disc coming next month; the project name is United Nations Of Sound and the tune heard here has been released through iTunes. In addition to carrying forward the theme of this set, it also conjured through its music an old favorite from the Move that takes me back to those halcyon days of the early '70s when it certainly seemed possible to simply "feel too good."

Here's another one from Traffic

NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS . . . . . Walk A Lonely Road . . . . . Realism
NANCY SINATRA & LEE HAZLEWOOD . . . . . Some Velvet Morning . . . . . The Hit Years
THE POSTMARKS . . . . . All You Ever Wanted . . . . . Memoirs at the End of the World (Dig)
XTC . . . . . Garden Of Earthly Delights . . . . . Oranges & Lemons
TAKEN BY TREES . . . . . Watch The Waves . . . . . East of Eden
JOHN LENNON . . . . . Watching The Wheels . . . . . Double Fantasy

JOHN LENNON . . . . . I’m The Greatest . . . . . Anthology
SPOON . . . . . Written In Reverse . . . . . Transference
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS . . . . . Turpentine . . . . . Momofuku
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS . . . . . Hold On To Yourself . . . . . Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
ROXY MUSIC . . . . . Out Of The Blue . . . . . Country Life
WATSON TWINS . . . . . Modern Man . . . . . Talking to You Talking to Me
GIANT SAND . . . . . Stranded Pearl . . . . . proVISIONS
JOHNNY CASH . . . . . I’m On Fire . . . . . Badlands: A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska

R.E.M. . . . . . Living Well Is The Best Revenge . . . . . Accelerate
THE SOFT PACK . . . . . Answer To Yourself . . . . . The Soft Pack
BUZZCOCKS . . . . . Harmony In My Head . . . . . Operators Manual
BRENDAN BENSON . . . . . I’m Easy . . . . . Lapalco
VISQUEEN . . . . . The Capitol . . . . . Message To Garcia
ASH . . . . . Burn Baby Burn . . . . . Free All Angels
SUPERGRASS . . . . . Grace . . . . . Life on Other Planets
IAN HUNTER . . . . . England Rocks . . . . . Shades of Ian Hunter: The Ballad of Ian Hunter & Mott the Hoople
THE SEX PISTOLS . . . . . Holidays In The Sun . . . . . Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols
ART BRUT . . . . . DC Comics And Chocolate Milkshake . . . . . Art Brut vs. Satan

JOE HENRY . . . . . Civil War . . . . . The Hissing of Summer Lawns
JONI MITCHELL . . . . . Harry’s House/Centerpiece . . . . . The Hissing of Summer Lawns
ST. VINCENT . . . . . Black Rainbow . . . . . Low
DAVID BOWIE . . . . . Sound And Vision . . . . . Low
CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG . . . . . Trick Pony . . . . . Irm
BECK . . . . . Paper Tiger . . . . . The Information
ELTON JOHN . . . . . Madman Across The Water . . . . . Madman Across the Water

When I heard the news that J.D. Salinger had died, I have to admit that the first thing that came to mind was Mark David Chapman, the man who murdered John Lennon. Like millions of others, I loved The Catcher in the Rye, but for some of us the book became infamous because of the major role it played in Chapman's pyschosis. Holden Caulfield was upset by the phoniness he saw in the adult world; Chapman latched onto that and it became entwined with his feelings of insignificance. He was a Beatles fan as a child, but came to see Lennon as a phony by the end of the '70s. His anger at Lennon combined with his belief that he would receive much attention for the killing led to his being outside the Dakota on December 8, 1980. Clearly, the idea of fame and noteriety is central to the story—Salinger rejected all that's attached to it for the second half of his long life; Lennon also let it all go during his five years as a "house-husband," but then moved back into the arena when he released a new album months before he was killed; and Chapman was seeking it when he took aim at Lennon as the former Beatle walked through the entrance to his building. So we heard a song from John Lennon's final record, one that reflects his pleasure at removing himself from the spotlight, and all of the tunes that preceded it in this opener were connected to that idea of changing one's situation and/or finding yourself within the world you inhabit.

The next set began with another Lennon tune that popped into my head recently, this after I heard the new Spoon track that followed, which has a piano rhythm that bears a strong resemblance to the song that first appeared on an old Ringo Starr album. After Spoon we heard from Elvis Costello & the Imposters looking back with some regret on a bad time that had a negative affect on a relationship, and that led to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds living through something like that in the present. The dread and menace in that one is also present at the beginning of the Roxy Music tune that followed, at least until "out of the blue love came rushing in." We finished with a trio of tunes that also feature ruminations on romance, starting with a new one from the Watson Twins with a nice sense of forward momentum into one with a dusty Southwest appeal by Giant Sand and then on to www.giantsand.com/www.johnnycash.com/ covering Bruce Springsteen.

The more I listen to the new Soft Pack album, the more I like their brand of high-energy rock & roll that makes up most of the tunes on the disc. This entire section was full of that kind of stuff, starting with R.E.M. from their most recent disc, and then after the Soft Pack moving on to the Buzzcocks with one of their early pop-punk gems followed by Brendan Benson sounding an awful lot like that Manchester quartet. Visqueen added a bit of crunch to the mix, and then we heard a couple of turn-of-the-century favorites from Ash and Supergrass before moving back 25 years or so for one from Ian Hunter that he wrote celebrating the punk explosion happening in England at the time. (The next year he reworked it to spotlight Cleveland, one of his favorite American cities.) The Sex Pistols were certainly poster boys for that period, and then we finished with Art Brut celebrating some of the mundane joys of everyday life.

The final section kicked off with Joe Henry highlighting a particularly combative couple and followed it with Joni Mitchell's cutting depiction of suburban ennui and angst. St. Vincent followed with one that comes from a beautifully dark place, and then we heard David Bowie reveling in the electric blue solitude of his room. The track from Charlotte Gainsbourg's new Beck-produced album has a similar density, and then we heard from her producer with a tune that samples the work of her dad. That one always conjures up the title track from an early Elton John disc with the Paul Buckmaster strings knifing through it, and that's where this show shut down.

Here's another one from R.E.M.

NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
VAMPIRE WEEKEND . . . . .White Sky . . . . . Contra
GEORGE GERSHWIN AND PAUL WHITEMAN . . . . . Rhapsody In Blue . . . . . Internet Archive
AL KOOPER . . . . . New York City (You’re A Woman) . . . . . Rare + Well Done: The Greatest & Most Obscure Recordings
THE DRIFTERS . . . . . On Broadway . . . . . The Very Best of The Drifters
NEW YORK DOLLS . . . . . Trash . . . . . 'Cause I Sez So
LOU REED . . . . . Walk On The Wild Side . . . . . Transformer

THE MINUS 5 . . . . . The Lurking Barrister . . . . . Killingsworth
THE KINKS . . . . . Sunny Afternoon . . . . . The Kink Kronikles
IKE REILLY . . . . . Lights Out (Anything Goes) . . . . . Hard Luck Stories
SUPER FURRY ANIMALS . . . . . Inconvenience . . . . . Dark Days/Light Years
THE SILENT LEAGUE . . . . . Victim Of Aeroplanes . . . . . Of Stars and Other Somebodies
WEST INDIAN GIRL . . . . . To Die In L.A. . . . . . 4th & Wall
YO LA TENGO . . . . . Here To Fall . . . . . Popular Songs
THE ELECTRIC FLAG . . . . . Peter’s Trip . . . . . The Trip: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

EELS . . . . . Little Bird . . . . . End Times
TOUSSAINT MCCALL . . . . . Nothing Takes The Place Of You . . . . . Hairspray: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
RICHARD HAWLEY . . . . . Precious Sight . . . . . Late Night Final
FINDLAY BROWN . . . . . Holding Back The Night . . . . . Love Will Find You
ROY ORBISON . . . . . She’s A Mystery To Me . . . . . Mystery Girl
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS . . . . . Stranger In The House . . . . . This Year's Model (With Bonus Disc)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND . . . . . Thunder Road . . . . . Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 (2CD)

RINGO STARR . . . . . Peace Dream . . . . . Y Not
ELVIS PERKINS . . . . . While You Were Sleeping . . . . . Ash Wednesday
AIR . . . . . Somewhere Between Waking And Sleeping . . . . . Pocket Symphony
MITCHELL FROOM . . . . . A Lullaby . . . . . A Thousand Days
NATACHA ATLAS . . . . . Adam’s Lullaby . . . . . Something Dangerous
IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS . . . . . Lullaby For Francies . . . . . Do It Yourself
NEIL FINN . . . . . Lullaby Requiem . . . . . One All
SPOON . . . . . Goodnight Laura . . . . . Transference
THE BEATLES . . . . . Good Night . . . . . The White Album (Remastered)

A tune from Vampire Weekend's new disc opened this show; it appears to be situated in a chunk of midtown Manhattan as it references certain landmarks, including the GM building and the Museum of Modern Art. That brought to mind Woody Allen's Manhattan, which used George Gershwin's music for it's soundtrack; we heard the original 1924 recording of this masterpiece with Gershwin on piano. Al Kooper was next with the title track from his 1971 album, and that was followed by the Drifters with a tune that I always associate with a 1960s Radio Free Europe TV commercial. We heard the New York Dolls from last year's disc offering their reggae reworking of an old favorite, and then the finishing touch was provided by Lou Reed with his snapshot of the New York City universe that revolved around Andy Warhol in the late '60s and early '70s.

I love the title of the Minus 5 tune that kicked off this section, and then we heard tracks from the Kinks and Ike Reilly featuring folks who probaly could have used a lawyer laying in the weeds. Super Furry Animals beset by a litany of problems brought on the Silent League narrowing the focus to one rather large predicament, and then we moved in a more psychedelic direction with West Indian Girl lost in the haze. Yo La Tengo kept us in that trippy place and then we finished with the Electric Flag from the soundtrack to an old Roger Corman flick that starred Peter Fonda as a guy who undergoes his first acid experience.

Mark Oliver Everett, who likes to be known as E, has released a new Eels disc, and it appears he's having a tough time coping with his recent divorce, as the final track from the album makes abundantly clear. Toussaint McCall maintained the gutted-by-your-leaving vibe, and the mournful organ on that one fed nicely into a Richard Hawley track that carries a similar sound. Findlay Brown followed with one that conjured up Roy Orbison, here performing a tune written by Bono and The Edge. That led to a rearranged Elvis Costello & the Attractions song for a 1978 John Peel session that almost sounds like it could be an outtake from a Bruce Springsteen session, and then we finished up with the Boss and the E Street Band recorded live in London in 1975.

Ringo Starr's new disc includes a couple of tracks with Paul McCartney; here he plays bass on a tune that sent us down a path designed especially for all the insomniacs in the listening audience. So we heard Elvis Perkins filling us in on what happened after we nodded off; Air taking us to that strange place that you inhabit just before you open your eyes; Mitchell Froom serving up a lovely piano meditation; Natacha Atlas combining her Middle Eastern-influenced singing with accompaniment from the Prague Symphony Orchestra; Ian Dury & the Blockheads covering all of the Franci/e's, be they male or female, with some excellent reggae; Neil Finn offering one straight from the heart; Spoon departing from their usual sound with a simple piano ballad; and the Beatles with Ringo on lead vocals stamping the seal on this one as we fade off.

Here's another one from Elvis Costello & the Attractions