recently, the zappa family trust gained the rights to all of frank’s material, and they are releasing remasters of all of his albums, a great deal of which needed major improvements to match the mixes found on the original records. i’ve heard some of these remasters and i’m very happy with the work the zft has been done. frank zappa’s original mixes are the best, and it’s so awesome that people will once again be able to hear these albums for realzies.

this is probably my favourite bright eyes song. shit, that chorus gets me every time. with some great lyrics from conor oberst, very cool acoustic guitar work and great dynamics, “haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh” is pretty much as good as it gets.

sam cooke is just amazing. with his sweet, soulful voice, i imagine that if he could sing almost any song and kick that song’s ass. this song is one of my favourites of his, along with “only sixteen” and “wonderful world,” as well as the great “a change is gonna come.”

i was positively obsessed with this song a few weeks ago. i mean, i listened to almost nothing but this song for almost ten days. it was amazing.

this fine song was written by paul mccartney after friend dennis hoffman told him he thought there was no way he could write a song about “anything.” macca then took picasso’s actual last words and started putting them to music. thus, the song was born! sung by fellow wingsman denny laine, this tune is very experimental and very cool.

mc cullah is virtually unknown, but he’s got a few really fine tunes. this one has got some sweet harmonica and i quite enjoy the lyrics as well. it’s lo-fi as fuck and all-around rather cool.

i’ve been listening to a lot of synth pop these days, stuff like new order, depeche mode, tears for fears, etc. and i’ve found that this is just about as good as it gets (and it gets pretty damn good). here is the full 12-inch version of one of new order’s finest songs, and one of my absolute favourites. the dynamics here are great, and the build-ups and break-downs make this super badass.

radiohead NEED to do more jazz-oriented songs. this is fucking amazing. here’s the full-length version from the amnesiac bonus disc, complete with a wonderful trumpet solo that really hits the spot. this one should drag, with its tempo at 55 beats per minute, but it really doesn’t, at least not for me. i am thoroughly entertained with each and every listen. brilliant tune, and a perfect end to my favourite radiohead album.

i think this is one of the most poignant songs any of the beatles released as a solo artist. it’s very emotional and nostalgic and wonderful. ringo’s version at the concert for george, held for the late george harrison, is especially touching. ringo not only sings what he feels; he feels what he sings.

i fucking love on avery island. sometimes i think it might be my favourite nmh album. sometimes i think it might be the best album of all-time. calm down; it’s not. i guess i’m not even saying it’s better than aeroplane, but if it’s good enough to make me think that it is, it must be a pretty damn good album.