A twisted year deserves a twisted collection. This best of 2009 playlist is too long, and probably too uncomfortable. It is spiked with a couple songs from the 1920s that seemed to fit so they are also included — Mississippi John Hurt’s “Avalon Blues” and the Carter Family’s “Wildwood Flower”.
“I Don’t Intend to Spend Christmas Without You” was a hit Christmas single for the French singer Claudine Longet in 1968. She shot and killed her skier boyfriend in the spring of 1976. Supposedly he was cheating on her. That version of the song is included here as well as the recent cover by St. Etienne. Also included is the Stones song about Claudine. Only available on bootlegs.
First Halloween collection this year. I made this one – you know, for kids. There are a few excerpts from classic Halloween cartoons and original black & white shows like Dracula, Mummy etc. mixed in with songs from the Ramones, the Who, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, CCR and Louis Armstrong.
btw – check out the video from Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. He might be crazy.
These are the best of the MJ mashups I could find. The Guns N’ Roses / Jackson 5 mashup is by far the most well done. I find it fascinating to hear billie jean on top of teen spirit especially since Nirvana replaced Jacko on the charts and was supposed to represent a changing of the guard. I also snuck in a couple other unrelated but noteworthy mashups – I doubt Beyonce will ever sound as good as she does singing with Hendrix backing her, and hearing Morrison & Cobain exchange lines on the penultimate track is a very strange, time-bending experience.
For rainy days in May. Amazingly, this collection has Gordon Lightfoot and the Carpenters. If you can make it past that it also has Hendrix, Tom Waits, Jesus & Mary Chain, and several blues artists. All good stuff.
In memoriam, I am posting a mono version of the Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers album. Today there was a Gizmodo post on how “Sgt. Peppers” sounds better in mono vs stereo. The article quotes George Martin as saying “You’ve never really heard Sgt Pepper until you’ve heard it in mono.”
2009 Do Celiacs Need Crutches compilation.zip
