NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
ROBYN HITCHCOCK . . . . . Belly Full Of Arms And Legs . . . . . Free Digital Single
THE PRETENDERS . . . . . Cuban Slide . . . . . The Best of the Pretenders 2009 + Break Up the Concrete
THE METERS . . . . . Go For Yourself . . . . . Funky Miracle
THE CLASH . . . . . Revolution Rock . . . . . London Calling
TOMMY T. . . . . . Tribute To A King . . . . . Prester John Sessions
VAMPIRE WEEKEND . . . . . Run . . . . . Contra
SPOON . . . . . Mystery Zone . . . . . Transference

IKE REILLY . . . . . Morning Glory . . . . . Hard Luck Stories
ETTA JAMES . . . . . I Just Want To Make Love To You . . . . . At Last!
THE BONZO DOG BAND . . . . . Death Cab For Cutie . . . . . Cornology [3CD Set]
PROFESSOR LONGHAIR . . . . . Hey Now Baby . . . . . New Orleans Piano
JAMES HUNTER . . . . . Jacqueline . . . . . The Hard Way
JAMES BROWN . . . . . I Got You (I Feel Good) . . . . . Star Time (4CD)
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS . . . . . I Stand Accused . . . . . Get Happy!!
THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP . . . . . Gimme Some Lovin’ . . . . . The British Invasion: History of British Rock, Vol. 4
CAMERA OBSCURA . . . . . Honey In The Sun . . . . . My Maudlin Career
VAN MORRISON . . . . . Come Running . . . . . Moondance

YO LA TENGO . . . . . Black Flowers . . . . . I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
THE LEFT BANKE . . . . . Pretty Ballerina . . . . . There's Gonna Be a Storm
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN . . . . . I’m Waking Up . . . . . I'm Waking Up to Us
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS . . . . . Seduced And Abandoned . . . . . Realism
CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG . . . . . Me And Jane Doe . . . . . Irm
BRASSTRONAUT . . . . . Requiem For A Scene . . . . . Old World Lies
BECK . . . . . Round The Bend . . . . . Sea Change
GIL SCOTT-HERON . . . . . I’m New Here . . . . . I'm New Here

TINDERSTICKS . . . . . Black Smoke . . . . . Falling Down a Mountain
ROXY MUSIC . . . . . Both Ends Burning . . . . . Siren
THE BIG PINK . . . . . Too Young To Love . . . . . A Brief History of Love
BRIAN ENO . . . . . Needles In The Camel’s Eye . . . . . Here Come the Warm Jets
RADIOHEAD . . . . . Bodysnatchers . . . . . In Rainbows
THE SOFT PACK . . . . . Answer To Yourself . . . . . The Soft Pack
BUZZCOCKS . . . . . I Believe . . . . . Operators Manual

Robyn Hitchcock's website has been redesigned, and to celebrate he's offering a Phantom 45 consisting of two tracks you can download for free. The one we heard used the Bo Diddley beat, which fed nicely into an old one coming from the same place by the Pretenders. From there it was on to the New Orleans funk of the Meters followed by the Clash with an irresistable chunk of reggae (I love the end of that tune, with Joe Strummer offering El Clash Combo for weddings and parties and "bongos jams a speciality.") A terrific dub reggae/Ethiopian roots track from Tommy T. was next, and that led to new tracks from Vampire Weekend and Spoon that are all about locking in to an infectious rhythm.

The track that opens Ike Reilly's latest CD has a laid-back bluesy feel and a semi-pleading tone that brought to mind an old one from Etta James, which is more direct both musically and lyrically. The Bonzo Dog Band gave us the sad tale of Cutie, who shouldn't have gotten into that taxi, and the semi-boogie piano on that flowed quite well into a tune from the great New Orleans piano master Professor Longhair. The R&B from James Hunter that followed bears a strong resemblance to James Brown, and from there we heard Elvis Costello & the Attractions with one off of their valentine to soul music. The Spencer Davis Group followed with their first big hit from the '60s, featuring an 18-year-old Stevie Winwood on lead vocals, and that led to Camera Obscura showcasing their love of soul music into Van Morrison doing the same.

An urge to hear an old Left Banke tune from the originators of "baroque & roll" brought us Yo La Tengo and Belle and Sebastian working in a similar vein to surround it. A new Magnetic Fields track showcased Stephen Merritt's uncanny ability to write lyrics that combine sad with silly, and that flowed nicely into a beguiling new one from Charlotte Gainsbourg that seems to be about a search for answers, which is how we came to the Brasstronaut tune that followed. After that we had Beck thinking about life on planet Earth and not really thrilled by what he sees, and that led to Gil Scott-Heron coming to terms with where he's been and who he is on the title track from his excellent new disc.

Tindersticks has a new disc with a track that conjured up an old Roxy Music tune both in sound and title, and that seemed to flow well into the Big Pink with a song from their debut that offers echoes of the guitar provided by Roxy's Phil Manzanera on the Brian Eno track we heard from his first solo disc after leaving that band. Radiohead maintained the guitar energy before the Soft Pack kicked it up a notch, and then the Buzzcocks finished it off with Pete Shelley taking stock around the time the band initially broke up.

Here's another one from the Clash