If You Want My Listmaker, Vol. 3

For those who don't know - the cover is a tribute to my bocce team, If You Want My Bocce. Also, for the record, I give all the credit for the artwork and assembly thereof to SHR.

The songs --

1. Field Music - A House is Not a Home, 2007
Their last album failed to impress me after a couple of listens. So I banished it to the sell pile. But then Jack W started telling me how much he liked it and I began to doubt myself. Then I kept seeing one of their videos a lot and I really liked the song. I realized that maybe I had made a mistake.

When Tones of Town ended up in the apartment, I was pretty excited to listen to it. It did not disappoint. The whole album is quite a nice listen. I recently rectified my mistake and downloaded their first album from eMusic.

2. Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks, 2007
The LP from which this is taken, Writer's Block, is definitely an early contender for my favorite album of the year. Yes, this is the catchiest song on the record but the whole thing puts a big smile on my face from beginning to end. Get it or burn it from me!

3. Jo-Jo and the Fugitives - Chips - Chicken - Banana Split
From the recent CD Jamaica To Toronto: Soul Funk & Reggae 1967-1974. The title says it all. I love this CD. I read about it somewheres and then downloaded it through eMusic. Every song is a winner but this is the winningest of them all. I especially like it because I feel like it would fit well on some future Hot Tub Eric mix. And that to me is the top honor that any song can possibly achieve.

4. Yo La Tengo - Beanbag Chair, 2006
The first of many singles on this CD. Back in my indie rock heyday, I would never ever ever put a single on a mix tape. Either I've gotten less rigid, I'm under no allusions that everyone listens to the same stuff I do anymore, or I've just gotten soft. Whatever the reason, what's not to like about this song? Yo La Tengo at their most charming, don't you think?

5. Los Yaki - Baila el Fredy, mid 60's
When I was getting my class all excited about Do the Freddie back in the day, I never would have thought that there was a Mexican cover of it. Alex J. burned the comp that this is on for me and I'm eternally grateful. Stone Groove, of course, is a big fan of this song. I debuted it for him at the beginning of our baseball trip last year and I'm convinced that it was the main reason he decided he had to have an iPod. Any device that could hold so many songs and always have a brilliant one like this at the ready had to be owned by Stone Groove.

6. The Tammys - Egyptian Shumba, mid 60's
Part of perhaps the best box set ever assembled - the Rhino girl group box set from 2005. I love the screaming.

7. Voxtrot - Raised by Wolves, 2005
For some reason, I didn't put this on Listmaker II. What a jackass I am, huh? Better late than never. This is what I wrote back in August, 2005.

Youthlarge randomly saw them play at a hair salon/ art gallery at South by Southwest and came home raving about them. They have one five song EP out and it is pretty good if not occasionally a wee bit twee. However, seeing them live takes the cake. Youthlarge and I saw them at Magnetic Field the other night and they blew my mind. I felt like I was 19 again watching this merry band of indiepop marauders. Imagine Holiday with more balls or the Housemartins updated for the My Space generation and you can begin to imagine the fun.

Apparently, the band saw this as well because they link to me from their My Space page. Thanks guys.

8. Destroyer - Your Blood, 2006
I couldn't stop listening to this album when it came out last year. It is so damn good. I almost put on the ten minute opening song on the mix but I didn't have the nerve. Dan Bejar has completely won me over.

9. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins - The Charging Sky, 2006
This album will always remind me of the road trip to Maine last Memorial Day. I was so grateful that Mondale liked this album so much because when he decided he wanted to hear it over and over, it meant more time not having to listen to his Catatonia CD's.

10. Jamie Lidell - Multiply, 2005
This is another song that should have been on the last Listmaker. This is another single. I think the reason I didn't put this on the last Listmaker was because I was afraid that Chris Larry would hate it.

Speaking of Chris Larry, he should play this for his students during the next installment of his "Guess the Race" game.
Dig the video.

11. Bill Moss - Sock It to 'Em Soul Brother, late 60's
From a great Eddie Murray inspired mix that Hot Tub Eric put together for me after being so disappointed in the last Listmaker CD. Since Eddie was on the cover, Eric assumed that it would be music that Eddie would like. So he took the matter into his own hands and made me a CD that Eddie could shake his ass to. Check Eddie's review of the CD here.

12. Vichan Maneechot - Dance Dance Dance, 60's
I really can't get enough of this Thai 60's comp.

13. The King Khan and BBQ Show - Love You So, 2005
Yet another song that should have been on Listmaker II. What the hell was I thinking last March when I was putting that CD together?

14. The Speedies - You Need Pop, late 70's
I love the power pop comp Yellow Pills that this is from. Two CDs of amazing goodness. This band was from Brooklyn!

15. Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken, 2006
This album reminds me of swanky Tokyo highrise hotels, endless airport stays, crazy bus rides through Cambodia, and being in love with SHR, with traveling, with having summers off to take super fun vacations.

16. El Perro Del Mar - It's All Good, 2006
Everytime I listen to this album, I have a different favorite song. This was mine as I put this CD together.

17. Margo Guryan - Sun, 1968
Thank you to Noiseboy for inspiring me to actually look at some of the CDs in my apartment.

This is what I wrote a few months ago in my review of the Cd.

I listened to a couple of songs and was hooked. I was thinking of buying it and wanted to tell SHR about it. When she came home, I started to describe to her the song I had found on the Internet. Before I could finish my sentence, she cut me off and said, "Is it Margo Guryan?" I still don't know how she knew who I was talking about. She said, "I have that Cd." She promptly went to our collection and pulled it out. I was in shock. Not only did she immediately know who the obscure singer that I was talking about was but she had it in her collection! What? Who is this magical woman I'm married to?

Enjoy this before the next Devendra Banhart discovers it and ruins it for everybody.

18. The Pernice Brothers - Somerville, 2006
I like this because it's catchy. I like this because of the way he says Suck City. I just plain like this.

19. The Thermals - A Pillar of Salt, 2006
Another single. Another stupendous video. However, I surprised myself for putting this particular song on here. I wrote this a few months ago.

The new Bad Religion? I don't say this in a bad way necessarily. They are in your face earnest and political. But they aren't as in love with showing off their 50 cent words as Bad Religion is.

The hooks are gorgeous but some of the lyrics drive me crazy. Lyrics like "We don't think we're special sir/ We know everybody is." are cringeworthy. But gosh darnit, Hutch Harris means it so much. I think I'm being too harsh on this record, I like it, honest I do. However, the first album was so frenetic and the lyrics were so buried that maybe I didn't notice how silly some of the lyrics were. This one, there's no mistaking that there is a message that our leaders have no shame - "power doesn't run on nothing" brotha. Not that I'm against political songs but some of the lyrics just don't work. Then again, his heart is in the right place so I'm just going to shut up.

I wrote that before the video convinced me to shut up for good about my dumb ideas about this song.

20. Sin Sisamouth - Nothing to Worry, 60's
A star in Cambodia during the 60's, he was killed during the Pol Pot regime. His music sounds like nothing else I've ever heard. This is part of the comp Cambodian Rocks. Everytime I hear this, I think about seeing kickboxing in Cambodia last summer. In between each round, they played Sin Sisamouth songs.

21. TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me, 2006
The first single (another single!) from their most recent record Return to Cookie Mountain. This band has gotten a lot of hype over the past couple of years. I've liked their records and all but I didn't think they quite lived up to the hype. I think that this most recent LP does. I spent a good portion of the past few months grooving to this LP.

22. Built to Spill - Goin' Against Your Mind, 2006
I love this song and I love it as the ending to a mix CD. An epic is what this is. SHR has this as a ring tone on her phone these days. It is kind of driving me crazy at this point despite how much I love the song. Honey, it might be time to change your ring tone? Pretty pretty please.

A couple of days after giving this to Chris Larry, he texted me this message.
Wow, if I can impress Chris, I've really done something. I live in fear of that guy.

If you haven't received one from me and would like one, let me know. I might just say yes.
And whoever added the mix to the iTunes playlist, I salute you. I should have thought of that.