Thursday's Playlist 2-24-11

Doves – “Kingdom of Rust”
Duffy – “Live and Let Die”
Def Leppard – “Switch 625”
The Smiths – “William, it Was Really Nothing (Live)”
A Sunny Day in Glasgow – “Lights”
Big Star – “Big Black Car”
Electronic – “Get the Message (DNA Remix)”
Robyn – “Get Myself Together”
Philip Selway – “A Simple Life”
Phoenix – “Lisztomania”
Swans – “Reeling the Liars In”
The Bangles – “If She Knew What She Wants”
En Vogue – “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)”
We Were Promised Jetpacks – “This is My House, This is My Home”
Rilo Kiley – “Xmas Cake”
Foo Fighters – “Breakout”
The Auteurs – “Unsolved Child Murder”
Def Leppard – “Stagefright (Live)”
The Walkmen – “Angela Surf City”
Jimi Hendrix – “May This Be Love”
Jenny and Johnny – “Big Wave”
Doves – “Valley”
F#$@ed Up – “Magic Kingdom”
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros – “Kisses Over Babylon”
Mogwai – “With Portfolio”
REO Speedwagon – “Keep On Loving You”
Doves – “M62 Song”
Final Fantasy – “Mount Alpentine”
Bright Eyes – “Amy in the White Coat”
The Roots – “Hustla”
Aimee Mann – “Nothing is Good Enough”
She & Him – “Home”
Liquid Liquid – “Optimo”
LCD Soundsystem – “Disco Infiltrator”
Danzig – “She Rides”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Maps”
Future Sound of London – “Glass”
Best Coast – “I Want To”
Big Pink – “Too Young to Love”
Chicago – “Baby, What a Big Surprise”
Rush – “Subdivisions”
Fences – “Girls with Accents”
Suede – “Animal Nitrate”
Explosions in the Sky – “First Breath After Coma”
Silverchair – “Pure Massacre”
Journey – “Girl Can’t Help It”
Life Without Buildings – “Let’s Get Out”
Little River Band – “Lady”
Sigur Rós – “Med Sud I Eryum”
Rush – “Freewill”
Cornershop – “Brimful of Asha”
Liars – “Scarecrows on a Killer Slant”
The Bird and the Bee – “F#$@ing Boyfriend (Peaches Remix)”
The Smiths – “Last Night I Dreamt that Somebody Loved Me”
Medicine – “Lime 6”
Sufjan Stevens – “The Lord God Bird”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Aeroplane Flies High”
Sunn O))) – “Aghartha”
Morrissey – “Everyday is Like Sunday”
The Lodger – “Lost”
Santogold – “Shove It”
Sunny Day Real Estate – “Waffle”
Jónsi – “Around Us”
Q-Tip – “Gettin Up”
Teenage Fanclub – “The Concept”
The Waterboys – “The Pan Within”
The Smiths – “You’ve Got Everything Now (Live)”

Wednesday's Playlist 2-23-11

Black Grape – “In the Name of the Father”
Future of the Left – “Land of My Formers”
The Autumn Defense – “Huntington Fair”
Sunny Day Real Estate – “48”
Grizzly Bear – “While You Wait for the Others”
Okkervil River – “All You Little Suckers”
Rasputina – “Barracuda”
Jay-Z – “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
David Bowie – “Let’s Dance”
Free Design – “Kije’s Ouija”
The Swell Season – “Fitzcarraldo (Live)”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Here’s to the Atom Bomb”
D’Angelo – “Untitled (How Does it Feel)”
John Lennon & Yoko Ono – “Watching the Wheels”
Semisonic – “F.N.T.”
Metric – “Satellite Mind (Acoustic)”
Simple Minds – “Come a Long Way”
Dan Wilson – “Secret Smile (Live)”
The New Pornographers – “Moves”
The Human League – “Don’t You Want Me”
Future Sound of London – “Cerebral”
Shudder to Think – “On the Rain”
Bryan Ferry – “Reason or Rhyme”
Grant-Lee Phillips – “Age of Consent”
The Black Keys – “Black Door”
Menomena – “Intil”
Kid ‘n Play – “Back to Basics”
Tom Waits – “Underground”
Silverchair – “Suicidal Dream”
Yes – “Roundabout”
Morrissey – “That’s Entertainment”
Morrissey – “Suedehead”
Ivy – “Edge of the Ocean”
Tears for Fears – “Mothers Talk”
Final Fantasy – “Flare Gun”
The Ting Tings – “That’s Not My Name”
The Go-Go’s – “Blades”
X- “Nausea Spoken Word – End of Show”
Oingo Boingo – “Wild Sex (in the Working Class)”
Digital Underground – “Sons of the P”
Broken Social Scene – “Looks Just Like the Sun”
The Twilight Singers – “Last Night in Town”
Future Sound of London – “You’re Creeping Me Out”
Jawbox – “His Only Trade”
Liquid Liquid – “Cavern”
Modest Mouse – “Dashboard”
Boston – “Foreplay / Long Time”
Nine Inch Nails – “Down In It (Shred)”
Faunts – “Das Malefitz”
The Innocence Mission – “Bright as Yellow”
The Sleepy Jackson – “I Understand What You Want But I Just Don’t Agree”
Kool Moe Dee – “I Go to Work”
Marcel King – “Reach for Love”
Soft Cell – “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”
Kool Moe Dee – “Can U Feel It”
Travis – “Re-Offender”
Prince – “Head”
The Motels – “Suddenly Last Summer”
Duran Duran – “Is There Something I Should Know (Monster Mix)”
Depeche Mode – “Everything Counts (Live)”
Morrissey – “Oh Phoney”
T. Rex – “Metal Guru”
Eels – “Losing Streak”
The Dream Academy – “Life in a Northern Town”
The Smiths – “The Headmaster Ritual (Live)”
Nine Inch Nails – “Screaming Slave”
The Mike Flowers Pops – “Wonderwall”
The Swell Season – “Drown Out”
Marshall Jefferson – “Move Your Body”
Sigur Rós – “Von (Heima Version)”
Brian Reitzell & Roger Manning, Jr. – “Shibuya”
Hans Zimmer – “Time”
Neil Finn – “Souvenir”
Scritti Politti – “Lover to Fall”
Ministry – “Destruction”
Drive Like Jehu – “Hand Over Fist”
The Beach Boys – “Feel Flows”
Boogie Down Productions – “Advance”
Modest Mouse – “Dig Your Grave”
Radiohead – “Fog”
Badly Drawn Boy – “A Minor Incident”
Tom Waits – “Anywhere I Lay My Head”
The Smithereens – “Till There Was You”
X – “Back 2 the Base”
New Order – “The Beach”

Monday's Playlist 2-21-11

Presidents Day Edition!

The Jesus & Mary Chain – “Head On”
Doves – “Jetstream”
The Smiths – “What She Said (Live)”
Fugazi – “Give Me the Cure”
Yazoo – “Don’t Go”
Kim Wilde – “Kids in America (D-Bops Bright Lights Mix)”
Aveo – “Frostbitten”
Jónsi – “Around Us (Live)”
The Smiths – “The Boy with the Thorn in His Side”
Eels – “Novacaine for the Soul (Live from Hell)”
Sigur Rós – “Heima”
Mew – “Swimmer’s Chant”
!!! – “Hollow”
Duran Duran – “Lake Shore Driving”
Morrissey – “Lifeguard on Duty”
Twin Shadow – “Tyrant Destroyed”
James Murphy – “Gente”
John Legend & the Roots – “Compared to What”
Russian Circles – “Philos”
Echo & The Bunnymen – “Over the Wall”
Underworld – “Cherry Pie”
Tears for Fears – “The Big Chair”
Billy Squier – “Too Daze Gone”
Scott Walker – “You’re Gonna Hear From Me”
Ariel Pink – “West Coast Calamities”
Sia – “Breathe Me”
Scritti Politti – “Perfect Way”
Torche – “Sundown”
World Party – “Love Street”
Seahorses – “Love is the Law”
Don Covay – “Can’t Stay Away”
Joan Jett – “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)”
Simple Minds – “Waterfront”
N.E.R.D. – “Hot-n-Fun”
Prince – “Little Red Corvette”
Girl Talk – “Jump on Stage”
Rihanna w. Jay-Z – “Umbrella”
Q-Tip – “A Million Times”
Def Leppard – “Let it Go (Live)”
The Knack – “Maybe Tonight (Rehearsal)”
Jeff Buckley – “So Real (KCRW)”
Kansas – “Lightning’s Hand”
Nine Inch Nails – “Sin (Dub)”
Eels – “I Like the Way This is Going”
Hans Zimmer – “Radical Notion”
Mogwai – “Haunted by a Freak”
Free Design – “Don’t Cry Baby”
The Morning Benders – “Hand Me Downs”
Arvo Pärt – “Tabula Rasa”
Ministry – “Never Believe”
Sufjan Stevens – “All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands”
Little Dragon – “Stormy Weather”
James Blake – “CMYK”
Wall of Voodoo – “Mexican Radio”
Walter Carlos – “Timesteps”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Landslide”
Surfer Blood – “Neighbor Riffs”

Readers without Borders: A Diatribe and Manifesto

I’ve been thinking a lot about the recent news that Borders has declared bankruptcy. Out of the 200 stores they are closing, several are attached either to me personally, or to friends I’ve met over the years. I’m not here to talk about those friends, though they certainly might come up. Besides, James Yates, a fellow bookseller and good friend, has already written about this admirably and with grace and pathos. I certainly could talk about the many wonderful people I’ve met at Waterstone’s, Bookstar, Barnes & Noble, and Borders, and that could be a fairly long and wistful post, remembering all of the great times I’ve had with other readers. But, I am not feeling wistful right now. In fact, if there’s an opposite of wistful, that’s what I’m feeling. Once I finally do get to that point, maybe I’ll write about those people, and the quirky ‘book’ things I remember about them. No, I am not looking at the Pensieve with a reverent eye, or eating a Madeleine cookie and falling back headlong into personal memories. I wish that I could, and I might someday soon. Currently, I am angry.

I have somewhat addressed pieces of my anger previously, as Mr. Yates refers to in his own piece on Chicago Ex-Patriate (if you’re not reading it, you should). That particular essay was my comparison of books as a consumable product to wine, something in which everyone can partake, yet can also be explored indefinitely with the knowledge and tastes of a connoisseur. I feel strongly in this connection, and I might come back to that before long. Let me first admit that, yes, some of my anger comes from personal feelings of hurt, betrayal, abuse, diminishment, insult, and the awful memories unfortunately outweighing the good. There’s no avoiding it. So, you can imagine that my reaction to the announcement of bankruptcy was met with a certain amount of schadenfreude. Unlike many of the comments I’ve read at the end of articles on said bankruptcy, this turn of events was not a surprise. In fact, I’m shocked it didn’t happen sooner.

Part the First: The Executives
I am angry. I’m angry at the string of corporate CEOs who have mismanaged a powerful force in the book industry, playing a large part in the objectification and marginalization of books as opposed to the celebration of the written word. I’m especially angry at them for making incredibly unwise and poor decisions about the business, then lashing out at the people implementing their asinine vision. I’m angry at the executives, choosing to ignore the wealth of knowledge inherent in their employees, forging ahead with their own deluded ideas, having come from a business background, but never one that involved books. I’m angry with them for implementing costly projects with nothing other than a pet philosophical bias, with no basis in practicality or knowledge of the business, such as ‘flushing’ and moving every subject in the store to a different location, with the only result being frustrated loyal customers and wasted payroll, man hours, and optimism. I'm angry at the self-fulfilling prophecy of poor sales by leaving Borders stores with skeletal staffs, but no decrease in tasking or goals. I’m angry at the lack of technological vision, years behind the curve on nearly every aspect of a computer driven culture, miring the company in debt for bad decision upon bad decision, creating yet another self-fulfilling prophecy of failure in which executives were never at the center of blame. I am angry with those people in the company who managed with suspicion and paranoia, accusing blameless people in their charge for crimes they did not commit, and for treating their employees like criminals, when all they wanted to do was share the love of books with their customers.

Part the Second: The Customers

I’m angry at the book buying public, or lack thereof. This is not a new anger. I worked as a buyer at Waterstone’s in Delaware. Lack of a reading culture was ultimately what caused the store to close after only a year in business. Once the closure was announced, people came in to say how sad they were about it, and that it ‘seemed’ like a good idea, never once having actually purchased a book at the store. I have read recent comments on blogs that claim to be sad about any bookstore closing or how Borders was a great place to hang out all day. But, the truth is, these self-same commenters most likely didn’t purchase books there, and in their comments about ‘hanging out’ prove that the stores were more used as libraries and social centers as opposed to community businesses. Both the corporation and the customer were complicit in this arrangement, purposefully providing an atmosphere for reading as opposed to buying, complete with comfortable chairs and cafés. What should have been emphasized is the culture and enjoyment of reading, or even building a personal library, which, in my sixteen years in the business, I never saw from a corporate bookstore. Both of the big chains offer regular discounts, through sales or coupons, that far outweighed the 20% given during these current Borders liquidation sales, and yet people have unsurprisingly and characteristically mobbed the closing stores, salivating at the idea of a ‘sale,’ a Pavlovian response to the dog whistles of rhetoric that make them believe they are actually getting some kind of deal, picking at the carcass of yet another closed bookstore. Before the closure, the stores in which I worked were populated with people who asked for Shakespeare in ‘play form,’ insisted that Jane Austen wrote Jane Eyre, and were angry that the words of Jesus were not present in the ‘entire first half’ of the Bible they purchased. This kind of ignorance can’t be blamed on eBooks, and nor can the demise of print. Most of the eBooks being purchased are the popular literature and bestsellers that every store sells, the book business having been under a long succession of dilution, with Costco and Wal-Mart taking a big chunk, and Harry Potter books being sold at gas stations. 70% of book sales are backlist, and Borders failed at every level to emphasize the great reads that waited around every corner. They also failed to recognize, and this is what will ultimately doom Barnes & Noble in the long run, that all good bookselling is local, and that great bookselling comes from voracious readers, not from corporate edicts, deals with publishers, or marginal cost.

Part the Third: Corporate America

Most of all, I’m angry at corporate America, in which this form of accumulating personal wealth off of the backs of hardworking people doing what they love has become the norm, not the exception. Ron Marshall, the CEO who drove the Borders stock price to under a dollar, ruled with an iron fist, drove many good people out of jobs, and specifically chose not to compete in the eReader platform business, thus perpetuating Borders’ long line of technological incompetence, left after only a year, bailing out on a sinking ship he was heralded to save, and possibly left with a contractual 4.3 million dollars in compensation. While he revels in his millions, and is rewarded with another CEO position, at his former company (which he also brought to bankruptcy some months later), thousands of people have just lost jobs that, while they didn’t pay terribly much, were jobs that these people did with passion, care, and love. Ironically, during his tenure, he and his minions treated booksellers, the lifeblood of the industry, as whining, selfish, resistant, and replaceable automatons who should do exactly as asked, and recommend the same book to vastly different readers, a notion that pleased some publishers, but not customers or booksellers. But, this is America. This is where people vote against their own interests because of the fear mongering, selfish, and manipulative diatribes of messianic talking heads. This is where people fought hard to gain rights for workers, while other workers claim that unions are destroying America, secure in their delusion that they one day could be that CEO, gaining from the sweat and toil of others. Because of this, I am indeed angry, but sadly, not surprised.

Part the Fourth: Beyond Borders

I hope that someday soon, the anger subsides. Like Jamie, I have met some absolutely wonderful people in this business of books, two ‘b’ words that somehow don’t seem to go together in the most harmonious fashion. I cherish the memories of the sixteen years I’ve spent selling books, in over twelve stores, with three different companies. My anger will eventually recede, and it will only start to vanish by both recalling those incredibly valuable memories and picking up a good book, getting lost in the pages of a well-written narrative.

This isn’t the end of bookselling, or even the end of Borders…yet. Borders will ultimately fail, as I stand with the publishers in a lack of faith that the executives of the company have the vision and foresight to dig themselves out of an ever deepening chasm. My wish is that with the loss of Borders stores in 200 locations, customers begin to frequent the independent stores in those areas, started by people who love books and have risked their financial stakes on bringing that passion to their communities. Like the music industry, some will go digital. The Lady Gagas, Justin Biebers, Stephenie Meyers, James Pattersons, and political pundits of the world will find a home in the worlds of digital media, but that leaves the hidden gems for the rest of us, the discerning listeners and readers. Record stores have thrived with a return to vinyl, and independent bookstores will continue on with lovingly used books, midlist critical darlings, and word of mouth masterpieces. With lower overhead, due to an increase in digital distribution, publishers will hopefully still be able to publish great authors in bound form, but possibly at lower volume, much like vinyl. And, for those people lamenting the loss of Borders because it was the only game in town, I urge you, if your passion so envelops you, to find a way to open an independent bookstore, or at least visit your local library. Many of us, in this climate of rampant consumer culture, have forgotten the joy of a local library, where the reading is free and the smell of a well-read book is just a bonus.

Attached is a link to a post in which a good citizen gives indie alternatives to those neighborhoods that have lost a Borders. The comments here add hundreds more.



Works Cited:
Bomey, N. (2010, Jan. 26). Borders CEO Ron Marshall resigns to accept position at another retailer. Retrieved from http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/borders-ceo-ron-marshall-resigns-prompts-ann-arbor-retailer/

Thursday's Playlist 2-17-11

Matt Pond PA – “Remains”
Little River Band – “Help Is On Its Way”
Ruby – “Bud”
Iron & Wine – “Freedom Hangs Like Heaven (Live)”
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) (Live)”
The Cure – “In Between Days”
New Order – “The Beach”
Echo & the Bunnymen – “Villiers Terrace”
The Maldives – “Whidbey Island Blues”
Dexys Midnight Runners – “Liars A to E”
Pharcyde – “Runnin’”
Nirvana – “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”
Clint Mansell – “Mother Me (Black Swan)”
Bryan Ferry – “Me Oh My”
Flight of the Conchords – “Rambling Through the Avenues of Time”
Sugarcubes – “Hit”
The xx – “Intro”
M.I.A. – “Lovalot”
La Rocca – “Sketches (20 Something Life)”
Suede – “Stay Together”
Cake – “Italian Leather Sofa”
Bright Eyes – “Firewall”
Stars – “What I’m Trying to Say”
Split Enz – “History Never Repeats”
Japandroids – “Sexual Aerosol”
Spoon – “Paper Tiger”
Baroness – “Jake Leg”
The Tallest Man on Earth – “A Lion’s Heart”
Placebo – “Burger Queen / Evil Dildo”
Foals – “Black Gold”
Bruce Springsteen – “The River”
Gravenhurst – “East of the City”
Grant-Lee Phillips – “The Killing Moon”
Simian Mobile Disco – “Ortolan”
Everest – “Unfortunate Sea”
New Order – “World in Motion (Carabinieri Mix)”
James Brown – “Hot Pants Pt. 1”
Depeche Mode – “Enjoy the Silence”
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “High / Low”
Howard Jones – “Like to Get to Know You Well”
The Jayhawks – “Red’s Song”
The Cure – “Primary”
The Verve – “The Drugs Don’t Work”
Gang of Four – “She Said ‘You Made a Thing of Me’”
Jose González – “Broken Arrows”
Oingo Boingo – “Sweat”
James – “Laid”
!!! – “Wannagain Wannagain”
The Innocence Mission – “North American Field Song”
Dishwalla – “Miss Emma Peel”
Yes – “Siberian Khatru”
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – “Hand Covers Bruise (Reprise)”
Revenge – “Seven Reasons”
R.E.M. – “Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)”
Grand Archives – “Silver Amongst the Gold”
Bad Brains – “Pay to Cum”
The Smithereens – “Top of the Pops”
The Smiths – “Panic”
Adam Ant – “Puss ‘n Boots”
Foals – “Fugue”
Tears for Fears – “The Prisoner”
Morrissey – “Cosmic Dancer (Live)”
The Smiths – “Miserable Lie (Live)”

Wednesday's Playlist 2-16-11

Van Morrison – “The Way Young Lovers Do”
Kansas – “Point of Know Return”
Steve Martin – “Drop Thumb Medley”
Frankie Goes to Hollywood – “The Waves”
Metric – “Twilight Galaxy (Acoustic)”
Nick Lowe – “Cruel to be Kind”
The Black Keys – “Strange Desire”
Liars – “Drop Dead”
Jens Lekman – “Maple Leaves (EP Version)”
Sun Kil Moon – “You Are My Sun”
Def Leppard – “Rock of Ages”
Placebo – “20th Century Boy”
The English Beat – “I Confess”
Stars – “The Black House, The Blue Sky”
New Order – “Thieves Like Us”
Nine Inch Nails – “Pilgrimage”
Travis – “Paperclips”
The Go-Go’s – “Beneath the Blue Sky”
Foals – “Spanish Sahara (Sonar)”
Gene – “Don’t Let Me Down”
Little Dragon – “Test”
Craig Robinson – “Let’s Get it Started”
Broadcast – “Ominous Cloud”
U2 – “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”
The Roots – “Don’t Feel Right”
Stabbing Westward – “Crushing Me”
This Mortal Coil – “Another Day”
Split Enz – “Nobody Takes Me Seriously”
Eels – “Vice President Fruitley”
OK Go – “Before the Earth Was Round”
The Lodger – “Welcome to My World”
Kanye West – “See Me Now”
The Smiths – “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”
Frightened Rabbit – “I Feel Better (Live)”
Photek – “Six Feet Under Main Theme”
The Cure – “The Lovecats”
Midlake – “Small Mountain”
Oasis – “Cigarettes & Alcohol (Live)”
Bee Gees – “Spirits Having Flown”
Suckers – “2 Eyes 2 C”
Suede – “Filmstar”
The Magnetic Fields – “I Don’t Know What to Say”
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Spread Your Love”
A Sunny Day in Glasgow – “Failure”
Them Crooked Vultures – “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I”
New Order feat. Moby – “New Dawn Fades”
…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead – “Pure Radio Cosplay”
Phosphorescent – “My Dove, My Lamb”
Matthew Dear – “Monkey”
Q-Tip – “Life is Better”
Local Natives – “Cubism Dream”
Women – “Untogether”
The Trash Can Sinatras – “The Best Man’s Fall”
De La Soul – “Breakadawn”
Bebel Gilberto – “Aganjú (Latin Project Remix)”
Garbage – “Only Happy When it Rains”
X-Ray Spex – “Oh Bondage Up Yours!”
The Cult – “Brother Wolf, Sister Moon”
Small Black – “Camouflage”
Biz Markie – “Just a Friend”
Kansas – “Nobody’s Home”
Sigur Rós – “Samskeyti (Heima Version)”
The Dandy Warhols – “This is the Tide”
Hothouse Flowers – “Hardstone City”
The Fixx – “The Sign of Fire”
Tracey Thorn – “Kentish Town”
Ruby – “Heidi”
Passion Pit – “Sleepyhead”
The Bible – “Glorybound”
The Killers – “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine”
Mystery Jets – “Flash a Hungry Smile”
Kansas – “Paradox”
Duran Duran – “New Moon on Monday”
New Order – “True Faith”
Wild Beasts – “Two Dancers (II)”
Harold Faltermeyer & Steve Stevens – “Top Gun Anthem”
Rosebuds – “Boxcar”
Shout Out Louds – “Throwing Stones”
The Delgados – “Coming in from the Cold”
The Fixx – “One Thing Leads to Another”
New Order – “Let’s Go”
The Orb – “Little Fluffy Clouds”
Northside – “Shall We Take a Trip”
Kvelertak – “Sultans of Satan”
New Order – “Round and Round”
Tom Waits – “Time”
Michael Jackson – “It’s the Falling in Love”
Mumford & Sons – “White Blank Page”
The Strange Death of Liberal England – “Lighthouse”
Harvey Danger – “Flagpole Sitta”
Liz Phair – “Mesmerizing”
Them Crooked Vultures – “Elephants”
Erykah Badu – “Turn Me Away (Get Munny)”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Try, Try Try”
Heavy D & the Boyz – “Somebody for Me”

Friday's Playlist 2-11-11

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – “Gracie”
Fleet Foxes – “English House”
Eels – “Saw a UFO”
Mötley Crüe – “Primal Scream”
Sufjan Stevens – “Djohariah”
Public Enemy – “Countdown to Armageddon”
The Roots – “How I Got Over”
Echo & the Bunnymen – “Lips Like Sugar (12” Mix)”
Finn Brothers – “Only Talking Sense (KCRW)”
N.E.R.D. – “Help Me”
U2 – “Staring at the Sun (New Mix)”
Blackstreet – “No Diggity”
Music Go Music – “Love, Violent Love”
Espers – “Caroline”
Ariel Pink – “Interesting Results”
Echo & the Bunnymen – “Everlasting Neverendless”
Modest Mouse – “Florida”
Seefeel – “Spangle”
Eric B. & Rakim – “Put Your Hands Together (Fon Force Mix)”
Arcade Fire – “Month of May”
Crystal Castles – “Celestica”
Frank Black – “I Heard Ramona Sing”
Red House Painters – “Katy Song”
Lou Reed – “Satellite of Love”
Eddy Grant – “Electric Avenue”
Failure – “Enjoy the Silence”
Slowdive – “Shine”
Happy Mondays – “W.F.L. (Think About The Future)”
Faunts – “Out on a Limb”
Spoon – “Jonathan Fisk”
Hall & Oates – “Back Together Again”
Flying Lotus – “Time Vampires”
The Bangles – “Not Like You”
Mumford & Sons – “Dust Bowl Dance”
Broadcast – “Ominous Cloud”
Teenage Fanclub – “The Concept”
Howard Jones – “Hide and Seek”
Aimee Mann – “Pavlov’s Bell”
Malcolm McLaren – “World’s Famous”
The Animated Egg – “Sock it My Way”
Serge Gainsbourg – “Valse de Melody”
The Roots – “The Next Movement”
Billy Squier – “You Know What I Like”
Eels – “Stepmother”
Sarah McLachlan – “Answer (KCRW)”
The Hold Steady – “Our Whole Lives”

Thursday's Playlist 2-10-11

Aimee Mann – “It Takes All Kinds”
The Smiths – “William, it was Really Nothing (Live)”
Stereolab – “Sun Demon”
Public Enemy – “Brothers Gonna Work It Out”
Wilco – “Radio Cure”
Drive Like Jehu – “Future Home of Stucco Monstrosity”
Laura Veirs – “Carol Kaye”
HEALTH – “Die Slow (Pictureplane Remix)”
The Format – “On Your Porch (Acoustic)”
Here We Go Magic – “Casual”
Simple Minds – “See the Lights”
Gorillaz – “Dare (Junior Sanchez Remix)”
Fugazi – “Oh”
Broken Social Scene – “Ungrateful Little Father”
Hans Zimmer – “Time”
3rd Bass – “Pop Goes the Weasel”
Jawbreaker – “Crane”
Sun Kil Moon – “Half Moon Bay”
Jay-Zeezer – “99 Luft Problems”
Hum – “The Very Old Man”
Silverchair – “Findaway”
+ /- - “Snow blind”
Ja Rule – “Put it On Me”
Buffalo Tom – “Going Underground”
Supertramp – “Child of Vision (Live)”
The Roots – “Dear God 2.0”
AC/DC – “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”
Cat Power – “I Found a Reason”
John Fred & His Playboy Band – “Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)”
Sufjan Stevens – “Say Yes! To Michigan!”
Terry Edwards & London Voices – “Adagio for Strings (Vocal Version)”
A Flock of Seagulls – “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)”
Jimi Hendrix – “Purple Haze (Live)”
Surfer Blood – “Fast Jabroni”
Devo – “Sumthin’”
The Big Pink – “Dominos”
OMD – “If You Leave”
Squeeze – “Someone Else’s Heart”
Sigur Rós – “ĺ Gær”
No Doubt – “Underneath It All”
Perfume – “Lover”
Gravenhurst – “Tunnels”
Embrace – “All You Good Good People”
Scott Walker – “My Death”
John Cougar Mellencamp – “Human Wheels”
The Raconteurs – “Salute Your Solution”
Wilco – “Sunken Treasure”
Rush – “The Temples of Syrinx”
Glenn Miller – “Blue Rain”
F#$@ed Up – “I Hate Summer”
Sigur Rós – “Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur”
Kelly Clarkson – “Since U Been Gone”
Paul Weller – “Amongst Butterflies”
Chicago – “Baby, What a Big Surprise”
Robyn – “Love Kills”
Midlake – “Winter Dies”
This Mortal Coil – “Kangaroo”
The Bird and the Bee – “Preparedness”
Jimi Hendrix – “Angel”
The Cure – “Homesick (Live)”
The Jayhawks – “Settled Down Like Rain”
U2 – “Endless Deep”
The Cure – “Untitled (Instrumental)”
Jónsi – “Grow Till Tall”
LCD Soundsystem – “I Can Change”
Beulah – “Ballad of the Lonely Argonaut”
Rick Springfield – “Jessie’s Girl”
Duffy – “London Girls”
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Ha Ha High Babe”
The Prodigy – “One Love”
Red House Painters – “Mistress”
Tears for Fears – “Change”
Fountains of Wayne – “Hey Julie”
Slowdive – “Golden Hair”
Natalie Merchant – “Not in This Life”
Cake – “Rock ‘n’ Roll Lifestyle”
Fleet Foxes – “Drops in the River”
Duran Duran – “Of Crime and Passion”

Friday's Playlist 2-4-11

Prince – “Dirty Mind”
Raphael Saadiq – “Calling”
Boogie Down Productions – “South Bronx (Album Instrumental Version)
Black Mountain – “Sadie”
HEALTH – “Die Slow”
Steve Earle – “Jerusalem”
Drive Like Jehu – “New Math”
David Bowie – “Blue Jean”
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – “Sewers at the Bottom of the Wishing Well”
Bee Gees – “Tragedy”
Aimee Mann – “I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas”
Supertramp – “Lord is it Mine”
Dishwalla – “Charlie Brown’s Parents”
The Autumn Defense – “The Rift”
The New Pornographers – “Your Hands (Together)”
Journey – “Wheel in the Sky”
The Smiths – “Handsome Devil (Live)”
Gorillaz – “California & the Slipping of the Sun”
BLK JKS – “Lietys”
Camera Obscura – “The Sweetest Thing (Richard Hawley Remix)”
Thin Lizzy – “The Sun Goes Down”
James Murphy – “Birthday Song”
The Smiths – “William, It Was Really Nothing (Live)”
The Little River Band – “I’ll Always Call Your Name”
Paul Young – “Every Time You Go Away”
Blitzen Trapper – “The Tree”
New Order – “586”
M.I.A. – “Internet Connection”
Crowded House – “Into Temptation”
Natalie Merchant – “Life is Sweet”
Joseph Arthur – “In the Sun”
AC/DC – “Back in Black”
That Dog – “Never Say Never”
Deltron 3030 – “State of the Nation”
Moby – “Spiders”
Eddie Money – “Take Me Home Tonight”
The Stone Roses – “Fool’s Gold”
Glasser – “Tremel (Astronomer Remix)”
Philip Selway – “By Some Miracle”
Alphaville – “A Victory of Love”
Joy Division – “Love Will Tear Us Apart”
The Drums – “Let’s Go Surfing”
Neil Finn – “The Truth”
Oasis – “Morning Glory (Live)”
The White Stripes – “Black Math (Live)”
De La Soul – “Big Brother Beat”
P.J. Harvey & Thom Yorke – “This Mess We’re In”
Sunny Day Real Estate – “Iscarabaid”
Crooked Fingers – “Black Rose”
Supertramp – “The Logical Song”
Clem Snide – “BFF”
Foals – “This Orient”
The English Beat – “Pato and Roger A Go Talk”
Cat Power – “I Found a Reason”
Refused – “The Shape of Punk to Come”
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Berlin”
OK Go – “Back from Kathmandu”
Blonde Redhead – “Love or Poison”
Van Morrison – “Caravan”
Doves – “There Goes the Fear”
Tallest Man on Earth – “The Sparrow and the Medicine”
Eels – “Saturday Morning”
Turin Brakes – “Never Stops”
My Life Story – “12 Reasons Why”
Small Black – “Camouflage”
Carissa’s Wierd – “September Come Take this Heart Away”
New Order – “Thieves Like Us (Instrumental)”
Mogwai – “R U Still In 2 It”
Iron Maiden – “Aces High”
Here We Go Magic – “Hibernation”
BLK JKS – “Mzabalazo (Demo)”
Echo & the Bunnymen – “Seven Seas”
The Chameleons – “On the Beach”
Admiral Radley – “The Thread”
Explosions in the Sky – “From West Texas”
Duran Duran – “Save a Prayer”
Shudder to Think – “Final Dream”
Otis Redding – “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”
Daft Punk – “The Game Has Changed”
Madonna – “Crazy for You”
Grizzly Bear – “While You Wait for the Others”
Future Sound of London – “Life Form Ends”
Ozomatli – “Cut Chemist Suite (KCRW)”