What I love in 2010 (so far)

I'm still alive!

Apologies for all but leaving our belov'd blog behind while I ran away to culinary school in Montpelier, Vermont and then home to Seattle, but now that life has some pauses I intend to fully make good with the MP3s and such! So let's find a basic starting point: What're the fresh and ripe picking for ears this season?

Some might say I've taken a turn to the dark side with a newfound affinity for pop, or could it be that suddenly there's actually good pop music out there? Lady Gaga's endlessly changing looks and enviable stage productions take already awesome songs and elevate them further. From personal experience, The Fame Monster is an excellent album to cook or bake to.
Lady Gaga - So Happy I Could Die.mp3

"Broken Bells, sounds like the guy from the Shins with a DJ." Close, it's the Shins' James Mercer with Brian Burton of Danger Mouse. Local station KEXP made a good point: After listening to the album, wait 2 hours, then try to sing one of the songs. You can't, because they completely lack hooks of any kind. The Shins' least-poppy songs are still poppier than anything from BB but don't categorize them with artists like Fiery Furnaces just yet. They hold their own musically and deserve multiple listens. Here's the first track off the album:
Broken Bells - The High Road.mp3

Considering most of my preferred viewing fare is along the lines of Breaking Bad and The X-Files, Glee is a wonderfully refreshing change. The musical dramedy's impeccable attention to detail, the incredibly talented cast, and fresh writing make this show a true gem.
Glee taught me two things: 1, the influence of Bollywood supports the idea that culture doesn't (and shouldn't) move strictly from west to east, and 2, that in recession times people cut back on the serifs and flourishes of life but that singing and dancing will always be popular. Glee does it right with a healthy dose of snark. If you like cover songs as much as we do, then this is a bandwagon you should definitely get on.
Glee - Total Eclipse of the Heart.mp3 (Bonnie Tyler cover)
Glee - Poker Face.mp3 (acoustic Lady Gaga cover... aw yeah)

Now that hipsters have decided to move on from the 80's to the 90's, I'm hoping for a revival of some of my favorite artists from that decade. 20 years ago, Jeff Buckley worked on his first fledgling recordings: the Babylon Dungeon Demos and an album with Captain Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas. Here're two songs from that time:
Jeff Buckley - All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun.mp3 (Rare, high-quality studio recording with Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins)
Jeff Buckley - Unforgiven.mp3 (aka Last Goodbye, this early version is from the Babylon Dungeon Demos)

I love Stephin Merritt. It's too bad that he's a gay 40-something smoker with a tiny dog named Irving Berlin; otherwise, we'd be perfect for each other. I love his lyrics, his gravelly voice, his depressing demeanor and deadpan, dry wit. His straightforwardness in even titling songs is a nice balanced reflection opposing the previous album, Distortion, which was electronica artfully obscuring music. In Realism we have a reprieve, where Mr. Merritt steps away from the keyboard and sits down with his fellow bandmates to bring songs back to their raw element. Even the cover art is almost meta-literal about this. It's one of the best Magnetic Fields albums in some time.
The Magnetic Fields - The Dada Polka.mp3

The classic 1988 punk album Beelzebubba contains the same raw anger and youth passion as albums from a decade before, but with more toxic under-sink solutions (sniffing glue, drinking bleach, smoking banana peels) and hilariously ill-informed attempts to woo through song. Without being overly grating, this energetic album is totally awesome as a soundtrack to working or grocery shopping.
The Dead Milkmen - Born to Love Volcanoes.mp3

I was lucky enough to attend the Mountain Goats show @ Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon on May 30. It was a bit rough in production but very full of love. JD lived only blocks from the venue at one time, with mixed but intense memories that he shared with the crowd in a high-energy "hometown" show They ran through a nice selection of favorites. JD attempted a new song from the "Going to" series, "Going to Brazil," but he couldn't remember the lyrics so we only got the first line and he moved on to "Going to Bogotá."
Only about a half-dozen pictures of the show are on flickr, from one guy, and nothing you haven't seen before. Tons more are of the Sasquatch festival, which I suspect might be due (in part) to JD complaining in Portland about how there's nothing worse than one really serious guy in the front trying to hold a phone up the entire time. JD said if you're in the mental health field, you just immediately get the urge to help, like "oh you look so sad" and you need to fix them... but mostly it's annoying.
Aand if you don't already have a copy, know tMG have and listen to Hi, We're Not the Mountain Goats, with proceeds going to the purchase of a goat from Farm Sanctuary.
the Mountain Goats - Going to Bogotá.mp3

Sure, I could try to justify why I bother with this bubblegum teen-pop at all. Like cheap candy and butterflies, this 16-year old pop star provides absolutely nothing of value or substance, but is always an immensely entertaining draw nonetheless. Who says guilty pleasures should be guilty? S/He who is without New Kids on the Block or Beatles(!) fandom, cast the first comment.
Justin Bieber - Common Denominator.mp3

Yes, yes I know:

Consider this offering of Mashups an olive branch:

Life's a Bitch, Loser (Nas vs. Beck).mp3
Ghost Beasties (Ghostbusters Theme vs. Beastie Boys).mp3
Seasons Of Juice (Chambaland vs. Rent).mp3
The XX Gon' Give It To Ya (DMX vs. The XX).mp3
Tipsy In The Sun (Weezer vs. J-Kwon).mp3
Tik Tok Seattle (Ke$ha vs. Owl City).mp3
Heartbreaker Baby (Justin Bieber vs. MSTRKRFT).mp3

Headed for the Future!

Happy 2010, VK readers! Here's your collection of songs to kick the year (and decade) off right:

Neil Diamond - Headed For the Future.mp3

Flight of the Conchords - Robots.mp3

Zager and Evans - In the Year 2525.mp3

Death Cab for Cutie - New Year.m4a

Jeff Buckley - New Year's Prayer (remix).mp3

Massive Attack - Future Proof.mp3

Future Bible Heroes - Doris Daytheearthstoodstill.mp3

Elvis Costello - Good Year For the Roses.mp3

Tori Amos - Pretty Good Year.mp3

Sage Francis - Hell of a Year.mp3

Ten Years After - I'd Love to Change the World.mp3

Jens Lekman - Firecracker (On Our Way to a New Year's Party).mp3

U2 - New Year's Day (live Under a Blood Red Sky).mp3

Matt & Kim - No More Long Years.mp3

Nine Inch Nails - The Beginning of the End.mp3

Steely Dan - Reelin' in the Years.mp3

Led Zeppelin - Ten Years Gone.mp3

Tom Waits - So It Goes.mp3

the Mountain Goats - This Year (live @ Last Happy Night of Your Life).mp3

19 tracks
1:16:57 total time

Story of My Life: The Musical!

A meme circulating around Facebook about one's Top 25 Most Influential albums needs new life here, if you'll allow the indulgence. These're in chronological order. This might help explain my musical weirdness, or it might just confuse you:

The Early Years (1981 - 1993)

1. Tickle Tune Typhoon - Circle Around ...Kinder-pop!

2. Firesign Theatre - Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers / I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus ...This was not by choice; it was my dad's pick
Side A of "Don't Crush That Dwarf".mp3

3. The Beatles - Revolver ...Mom's pick
And Your Bird Can Sing.mp3

4. Steely Dan - A Decade of Steely Dan ...From both parents
Reelin' in the Years.mp3

5. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream ...I have listened to this album far, far more than any other.
Geek U.S.A..mp3

The Teen Years (1993 - 1999)

6. U2 - Achtung Baby ...Can YOU pick out the (supposed) 11 oral sex references throughout the album?
Even Better Than the Real Thing.m4a

7. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill ...Quintessential angsty mid-90's femme-rock

8. Radiohead - OK Computer ...Revolution #1: Changed the way I listened to music
Let Down.mp3

9. Tori Amos - Boys for Pele ...So, so important
Father Lucifer.mp3

10. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Kinda I Want To.mp3

The College/Bellingham Years (1999 - 2003)

11. Jeff Buckley - Grace ...Revolution #2, and my top "desert island" album pick
So Real.mp3

12. They Might Be Giants - Flood
Istanbul (Not Constantinople).mp3

13. The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs ...I still worship Stephin Merritt as the lyrical god he is
Epitaph for My Heart.mp3

14. Velvet Goldmine OST ...Ah yes, the important Bowie/glam phase
Placebo - 20th Century Boy (T. Rex cover).mp3

15. Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Words and Guitar.mp3

The Post-College Years (2003 - 2008)

16. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans / Illinois ...Revolution #3. Sufjan is my hero.
To Be Alone With You.mp3

17. Elliott Smith - XO
XO (Waltz #2).mp3

18. Andrew Bird - Weather Systems
Weather Systems.mp3

19. the Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree / Ghana ...Revolution #4 -- an epiphany! John Darnielle and Peter Hughes as friends and influences
Going To Kirby Sigston.mp3

20. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
My Body is a Cage.m4a

These Days (2008 - Present)

21. Jens Lekman -When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog
You Are The Light (By Which I Travel Into This And That).m4a

22. Cut/Copy - In Ghost Colours
So Haunted.m4a

23. Islands - Arm's Way ...My pick for best album of last year. Epic! Move over, NMH
J'aime Vous Voire Quitter.m4a

24. the Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed ...A whole new perspective
Mole.mp3

25. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals ...Ridic catchy. I think this album'll last the years.
Set It Off.mp3

Instrumentals

Because sometimes there are just no words.

Tori Amos - Over It (B's Over the Pool mix).mp3 from the "Y Kant Tori Mix" Bootleg.
A soft, dreamy, ethereal a cappella which might be considered an early mash-up, if they weren't both Tori songs and didn't result in quite such a perfect blend. I listen to this much more than either of the two original songs the create it.
"The Pool" is originally found on the Winter EP and "Over It" is part of an instrumental piano suite found on the God single.

Estradasphere - Six Hands.mp3 from Palace Of Mirrors
All their songs are instrumental, and it's a good thing: The degree of brash, cacophonous complexity would only be burdened by the presence of any lyrics. This short punch of a song screams "CIRCUS!" with its calliope-like staccato piano that surely must only be played with six hands.

Sufjan Stevens - Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou).mp3 from Michigan
Yia-Yia & Pappou are code named for Dear Abby and her sister, Ann Landers, both Michigan natives as well. Deliberate and cerebral, this instrumental pause of heavenly vocalizations backing hesitant piano in an otherwise richly poetic album, serves as a moment of silence for reflection.

Mason Williams - Classical Gas.mp3 from The Mason Williams Phonograph Record
A favorite of mine since I was a kid. Hard to believe this song is 40 years old! His most well-known and one of his best pieces, this guitar-based classic builds to full orchestral blast in barely over three minutes.

Neutral Milk Hotel - Untitled.mp3 from In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Not sure if I love it or hate it when there's a fucking amazing album with a single instrumental track in the middle of it. Bagpipes, and roaring trombone are the signatures in this admittedly very odd song.

Islands - Tsuxiit.mp3 from Return To The Sea
Very similar to the above: the single instrumental track dividing (uniting?) the halves of a 11-star (our of four stars) album. Featuring gongs, piano, fluttery synthesizer and of course strings, this Instrumental Intermission cleanses the palate in a cheery way.

Sunn O))) & Boris - N.L.T..mp3 from Altar
NOT a relaxing piece, and definitely not for grandma. If you've never heard Sunn O))), it's like drinking two bottles of Robitussin, then putting a Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath vinyl on at 20 RPM, adjust the 100khz up to max, and putting the speakers on the floor.

Jeff Buckley - Peace Offering.mp3 from ??????
Sorry for the (lack-of) sound quality on this one; it's an ultra-rare/random/unreleased/b-side/whatever from back in the day. To give you a Jeff Buckley song without his gorgeous vocals seems like a crime, but this only showcases what talented songwriter and guitarist he was.
What? You don't own Grace? SHAME ON YOU. BUY IT.

Two Gallants - Instrumental Song.mp3 from Live at The Independent
This punchy rock piece holds more than a bit of southern flavor as it boldly twings and jangles through the night, driven by relentless drums and a walking baseline, occasionally pausing and delivering what can only seem like a musical punch line.
Buy their Self-Titled Album.

Aphex Twin - Avril 14th.mp3 from Drukqs
One of my favorite instrumental pieces of all time. This short, soft piano piece plucks along gently and makes good use of the residual instrument sounds, as if caught wandering and daydreaming.

Django Reinhardt - Limehouse Blues.mp3 from The Complete Django Reinhardt and Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Swing-HMV Sessions 1936-1948
If you've never heard Django play, then you've missed out on one of the greatest guitarists of our--or our parents' or grandparents'--time. His light, cheery strums bounce along jazz beats with incomprehensible complexity for such a feather-touch sound. Paired here with violin reminiscent of Andrew Bird's early works, this is a happy piece to lift any mood.

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson & Sigur Rós - Pictures & Memory.mp3 from Angels of the Universe OST
Hot Icelandic-on-Icelandic action! Here the two artists team up for the floaty, gorgeous soundtrack to the 2004 documentary of aerial scenes of Iceland. The rich violin is backed by Sigur Rós' classic dreamy soundscape.

Philip Glass - Metamorphosis One.mp3 from Solo Piano
Think: Gershwin Plays Gershwin. The only other song that could be considered a "classical" selection here (I could have all-too-easily done an all-classical mix!) but is probably the best example of the all-explaining joke:

Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?

Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass

Happy Mother's Day

Send her a card, or hey, better yet, make her a mix of all things maternal:

• Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Happy Mother's Day.m4a
  
• Neutral Milk Hotel - Mother (live with Chris Knox).mp3
  
• Beulah - Your Mother Loves You Son.m4a
  
• Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives.mp3
  
• Jeff Buckley - Mama You've Been On My Mind (Bob Dylan cover).mp3
  
• The Decemberists - My Mother Was A Famous Trapeze Artist.mp3
  
• The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health.mp3
  
• Elliott Smith - Wouldn't Mama Be Proud?.mp3
  
• Kanye West - Hey Mama.mp3
  
• Sufjan Stevens - Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!.mp3
  
• Willie Nelson - Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.mp3
  
• The Beatles - Your Mother Should Know.mp3
  
• Paul Simon - Mother and Child Reunion.mp3
  
• Tori Amos - Mother.mp3
  
• John Lee Hooker - Mama, You Got A Daughter.mp3
  
• Neil Halstead - Two Stones In My Pocket.mp3
  

(Your mother's arms will keep you safe, however you may be)

Songs to love to, songs to make love to.

For all you lovers out there...

Jeff Buckley - Lover You Should Have Come Over (live).mp3

Ben Lee - Dirty Mind.mp3

The Beatles - Love Me Do.mp3

Tenacious D - Fuck Her Gently.mp3

Air - Sexy Boy.mp3

Nina Simone - I Loves You Porgy.mp3

Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man.mp3

Touch & Go - Would You...?.mp3

Howie Day - Lick My Lips.mp3

Barry White - Can't Get Enough of Your Love.mp3

Nina Simone - Feelin' Good (Joe Claussel Remix).mp3

Sufjan Stevens - Super Sexy Woman.mp3

Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice?.mp3

Smashing Pumpkins - Dancing in the Moonlight (Thin Lizzy cover).mp3

Bob Dylan - What Was It You Wanted.mp3

Van Morrison - The Way Young Lovers Do.mp3

Cibo Matto - White Pepper Ice Cream.mp3

Rufus Wainwright - Instant Pleasure.mp3

U2 - Your Blue Room.mp3

Holcombe Waller - Fireflies.mp3

Handsome Boy Modeling School (feat. Cat Power) - I've Been Thinking.mp3

This Year

Happy 2008! Now that we've all had a moment of silence and recovered from our hangovers, here's a special kickoff to the new year. If you can make it through this cover, you can make it through this year:

Aaaaand the requisite dose of New-Year-themed tunes:

Barenaked Ladies - Auld Lang Syne.mp3

Jeff Buckley - New Year's Prayer.mp3

U2 - New Year's Day.mp3

Bedouin Soundclash - New Year's Day (U2 cover).mp3

Death Cab for Cutie - New Year.mp3

Thrushes - New Year's Kiss.mp3

OK Go! - This Will Be Our Year (Zombies cover).mp3

69 Pork Songs

Whenever I'm feeling down, I play this game where I replace the word "love" with "pork" in same favorite songs, often with weird, hilarious or outright inappropriate results. So here's a whole mix of it, just to make you giggle:

21 Songs / 1:17:16 total time

Side A
The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Pork.mp3
Benni Hemm Hemm - I Can Pork You In A Wheelchair Baby.mp3
Jeff Buckley - We All Fall in Pork Sometimes (WFMU) (Elton John cover).mp3
The Magnetic Fields - I'm Sorry I Pork You.mp3
Elvis Presley - Burning Pork.mp3
Billie Holiday - Pork Me Or Leave Me.mp3
Bright Eyes - Porker I Don't Have To Pork.mp3
Deftones - No Ordinary Pork (Sade cover).mp3
Tina Turner - What's Pork Got To Do With It.mp3
The Doors - Pork Me Two Times.mp3

Side B
Eddie Vedder - You've Got to Hide Your Pork Away (Beatles cover).mp3
Elvis Costello - (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Pork & Understanding.mp3
Future Bible Heroes - Memories Of Pork.mp3
Jens Lekman - I'm Leaving You Because I Don't Pork You.mp3
Liam Lynch - Horny Kind of Pork.mp3
Ryan Adams - Gonna' Make You Pork Me.mp3
AC/DC - Let Me Put My Pork Into You.mp3
B-52's - Pork Shack.mp3
Peter Bjorn & John - Teen Pork.mp3
Justin Timberlake - Porkstoned.mp3
the Mountain Goats - Pork Pork Pork.mp3

Feel No Shame for What You Are

Today is a popular day for birthdays... count back about 40 weeks and you'll know why. Here's a cover song for all of you who are alive thanks to a little New Year's Eve nookie on your parents' behalf:

Howie Day - Sweet/New Year's Prayer (Jeff Buckley cover).mp3

Mix tape!

There's about 23,984 birthdays happening right now, so what's better than the gift of music? Here is a mix a made for one person. (Another will follow shortly.)
21 tracks / Total time: 1:17:04 (yes, it fits onto one Audio CD!) Enjoy!

Side "A"
I'm From Barcelona - The Painter.mp3 (from Let Me Introduce My Friends)
a 29-member band from Sweden. They are so happy with their limited English!

Little Horse - Running Just Ahead Of The Devil.mp3 (from Perils And Thrills EP)
This is how Ben Folds would be if he were brothers instead of one guy, and some Spanish flair.

Cibo Matto - Birthday Cake.mp3 (from Viva! La Woman)
"Cibo Matto" meaning "strange food." Who wouldn't want a birthday cake with "extra sugar, extra salt, extra oil and MSG!"

Franz Ferdinand - Michael.mp3 (from Franz Ferdinand)
Namedropping for the person this mix is for.

Sufjan Stevens - In the Words of the Governor.mp3
You wouldn't believe this was Sufjan if I didn't tell you, but it's his newest song. Harkening back to his "Enjoy Your Rabbit" days, does the phrase "screamo" mean anything to you?

Saul Williams - Grippo.mp3 (from Saul Williams)
The last song reminds me of this one, sonically.

Patrick Wolf - The Libertine.mp3 (from Wind In The Wires)
Taking it down a notch somewhat, I love the pulsing rhythym, the unusual instrumentartion and strained strings.

Joe Jackson - Angel (Lust).mp3 (from Heaven & Hell)
"Heaven&Hell" came out nearly a decade ago and it still awes and amazes. Seven songs for seven deadly sins, each lyrically and acoustically appropriate to its topic. Here, we have a saucy Suzanne Vega on vocals catcalling men.

Lyle Lovett - Here I Am.mp3 (from Lyle Lovett and His Large Band)
I have long considered performing the spoken parts as a monologue. Perhaps at an audition. Anything. I just want to say these words in front of large groups of peole with the passion that Lyle delivers here.

Jeff Buckley - New Year's Prayer.mp3 (from Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk)
Jeff Buckley needs neither reason nor explanation, expecially for such a darkly ethereal track.

Side "B"
Bascom Lamar Lumford - I Wish I Were a Mole in the Ground.mp3 (from Ballads, Banjo Tunes and Sacred Sons of Western North Carolina)
BLL was a lawyer during the Great Depression. He wrote one fantastic album, and this is my favorite cut off it.

Daniel Johnston - Etiquette.mp3 (from Continued Story)
Daniel Johnston speaks to me. Here he offers the lowest-of-the-fi kind of song with his buddy: simple, happy and fun with some good advice on "how to make friends and influence people."

The Mountain Goats - Golden Boy.mp3 (from Ghana)
More ultra low-fi. John Darnielle must REALLY love these peanuts. I've never had them myself, but I'm obsessed with the funniness of the song, so I think today I might go out of my way to find a pan-Asian supermarket to find those golden boys from Singapore.

The Magnetic Fields - Strange Powers.mp3 (from Holiday)
This song contains such amazing imagery.

Les Sexareenos - Everybody Sexareeno!.mp3 (from Live! In The Bed)
They are putting the FUN back into RAWK. I especially love the "Hang on Sloopy" part in the middle.

The Beatles - What Goes On.mp3 (from Rubber Soul)
Some classic but not cliche Beatles, to sort to tie things together with a shred of familiarity.

Nickel Creek - Spit On A Stranger.mp3 (from This Side)
This is their cover of a Pavement song. It's much better than their cover of a Britney Spears song.

The Divine Comedy - Gin Soaked Boy.mp3 (from A Secret History)
The happiest, most positive and rhymingest song, with the BEST second-to-last-line EVAR.

The Smiths - Reel Around The Fountain.mp3 (from The Best Of The Smiths, Vol. 2)
Awwww, Morrisey attempts to be somewhat non-melancholic!

Mirah - La Familia.mp3 (from Joyride: Remixes)
A song I am obsessed with from an [Ever]Greener Grad. It's always important to distinguish, with a chorus like this, that it is a PONDERANCE ONLY and not a proposition.

Future Bible Heroes - The Lonely Robot.mp3 (from The Lonely Robot EP)
Epic story-songs always make for the best end credits.

Arlene's Grocery show

Despite our best technical efforts, we seem to be unable to resolve the file issues many are having with the previously posted download to Jeff Buckley's entire Arlene's Grocery Show (NYC, Feb. 9, 1997). So I present the show in a different format, broken down into individual songs. Enjoy!

1. Intro
2. Nightmares by the Sea
3. Witches' Rave
4. So Real
5. Haven't You Heard
6. Lover, You Should Have Come Over
7. Morning Theft
8. Vancouver
9. Snail
10. The Sky Is a Landfill
11. Chocolate/Mojo Pin
12. Grace
13. Last Goodbye

Many of these songs are found on the wonderful album (Sketches For) My Sweetheart The Drunk.

Eternal Life pt. 2

"Jeff Buckley, Gregorian Punk," Stephen Alcorn

...As promised, enough Jeff Buckley rarities, live cuts, covers, tributes and so on to last you until your tears finally run dry.

Re-Uploaded! Entire Arlene Grocery show From February 9, 1997 in NYC.
(Warning: 1:13:32 long, 67.4MB)
Here's the tracklist:

1. Intro
2. Nightmares by the Sea
3. Witches' Rave
4. So Real
5. Haven't You Heard
6. Lover, You Should Have Come Over
7. Morning Theft
8. Vancouver
9. Snail
10. The Sky Is a Landfill
11. Chocolate/Mojo Pin
12. Grace
13. Last Goodbye

What's great in this complete show is the between-song commentary and banter with the audience. Jeff talk about quitting smoking with the patch (and it failing), he spoofs on Tom Waits in a very "Piano Has Been Drinking" sort of way, and has laughs at his own expense.

• 3 is a Magic Number (Schoolhouse Rock cover, live at the New Year's Eve 1995 show at the Mercury Lounge in NYC)
• Catnip Dream (Shonen Knife cover)
• White Man Trouble (live blues)
• Radio (from the Babylon Dungeon Demos, 1990)
• I Want Someone Badly (with Shudder To Think, from the First Love, Last Rites Soundtrack)
• Dido's Lament (from "Dido and Æneas," the Henry Purcell opera. Performed at the Meltdown Festival, London, July 1, 1995)
• When the Levee Breaks
• Ulalume (Spoken word Edgar Allen Poe poem)
• Alligator Wine (Screamin' Jay Hawkins cover, from WFMU's The Music Faucet, October 10, 1994.)
• We All Fall In Love Sometimes (Elton John cover, from same WFMU broadcast)

The above tracks are non-album bootlegs and thusly aren't available to buy anywhere. And as much as I'd like to stick it to Mary Guibert, I'm providing some purchase links. These are albums you need to have:
Grace, the 1994 masterwork that put Jeff on the map. A "Top 10/desert island" album for just about everyone. SHAME ON YOU IF YOU DO NOT OWN THIS.
Mystery White Boy, the album collection of some of Jeff's greatest live performances from 1995-1996.
Live at Sin-é (Legacy Edition) Jeff at his best. Before Grace, his live solo acoustic performances from a tiny café in New York.

Various covers:

• Howie Day - Secret/New Year's Prayer (live)
• Auto Pilot - Jewel Box (from the Jeff Buckley Tribute Concert Live at Uncommon Ground in 2005)
• Adem - Mojo Pin (from the album Dream Brother: a Tribute to Tim & Jeff Buckley. I don't go much for tribute or cover albums as a rule, but this one was exceptionally well done and heartfelt. Recommended!)
• The Tea Party - Everybody Here Wants You (live)

Rufus Wainwright did a heartbreaking tribute to Jeff on his Want Two album. All too appropriate for today:

Rufus Wainwright - Memphis Skyline

Eternal Life

"Grace Going Down" by Ken Meyer Jr.

For those unaware, today marks the 10th anniversary of Jeff Buckley's drowning in the Wolf River in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 30 at the time.

Tonight there will be gatherings and celebrations worldwide for fans to remember his life and music.

There's been so much said and written about the our favorite male chanteuse who channelled Edith Piaf, Leonard Cohen, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Robert Plant with equal passion and fervor.

Anything I could say has already been said, so instead I'll let his music speak for itself. Here's a *small* batch of rarities I've collected over the years. Expect a much larger one later today.

Mama, You've Been On My Mind (Bob Dylan cover)
All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun (with Elizabeth Fraizer)
Jolly Street
Once I Was (Tim Buckley cover at St. Anne's cathedral)
You & I (guitar version)
We Could Be So Happy
Snail (live at Arlene Grocery)
The Boy With The Thorn in His Side (Smiths cover)

Also check out The J Files: Jeff Buckley, an Australian radio tribute.

Here's a *short* list of concerts and other events for remembering Jeff.

Leaked! "So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley"

This is basically a "Best Of" compilation album. What's amazing is--and this is assuming that the artistic purpose of releasing this is to showcase Jeff's songwriting skills-- is that it features three covers. That's either poor planning, or it demonstrates how amazing Jeff was at his craft: that he could take another's song and so completely, so convincingly make it his own.

Other than that, while a nice selection, what is the purpose of this album? Many Buckley fans tend to be completionists, and even those that aren't are bound to have all this material. At best it's redundant; at worst it's another stab at milking out the estate for all it's worth (Mary Guibert, I'm looking in your direction!)

Track listing (and the album where it originally appears):
01. Last Goodbye (Grace)
02. Lover You Should Have Come Over (Grace)
03. Forget Her (Grace Legacy Edition)
04. Eternal Life (Road Version) (Grace Legacy Edition)
05. Dream Brother (Alternate Take) (Grace Legacy Edition)
06. The Sky Is A Landfill (Sketches)
07. Everybody Here Wants You (Sketches)
08. So Real (Grace)
09. Mojo Pin (Live at Sin-é)
10. Vancouver (Sketches)
11. Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin* (Live At Sin-é)
12. Grace (Grace)
13. Hallelujah** (Grace)
14. I Know It's Over*** (WFMU's The Music Faucet, 1992)
* Edith Piaf song
** Leonard Cohen song
***The Smiths song

Get it HERE! (the password is BUTTERFLY)
Stereogum.com is also streaming the 14th track here.

For those even faintly interested in investing in some Buckley would be wise to skip So Real and go for Grace or Mystery White Boy instead. Umpteen posthumous releases aren't flattering on ANYone (coughcoughTUPACcough).