Cat's Eyes: Face in the Crowd: 2011:  From Horrors singer and his girlfriend. Then, from that same album, the track "I'm Not Stupid," but here, performed live. This is jaw-dropping amazing. The album version plays like a kitschy track from an imaginary post-punk version of Grease. But this live version throws that in the trash, transforming Rachel's stark emotional wreckage of sexual-market-value realism into music, and showing that this band has no rules, no plan, and nothing but inspiration.

Sharon Van Etten: Femme Fatale: 2021:  Post-Mazzy slowcore. I don't hate it. 

Nico: I'll Keep It With Mine: 1966.  Nico, covering Dylan. What could be better? Pretty much, nothing. Meanwhile, on the YouTube feed, up popped this later version, by the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs, from an obscure cassette from the 80s called Rainy Day. Also from that album, this, featuring Kendra Smith, and again, David Roback on guitar.

Iggy Pop & James Williamson: Kill City: 1975/77. There is a rock sub-genre which exists somewhere between scuzz rock, art rock, punk, and glam. I have a soft spot for this genre, which, arguably, includes tracks like this, this, this, this, this, this, this, or even this, this, this, this, this, notwithstanding this. 

The Animals: Work Song: 1965. On fire.

Kasabian: Last Trip (In Flight):  2006. Easily the best rock band of the 2000s. Not even close.

The Charlatans: Impossible:  The Charlatans UK were never a great band, that is, until this 1999 release, which was surely one of the top ten Britpop releases ever. Nearly every track is topnotch. On "Impossible," they sound like Blur, but more honest. In "A House is Not a Home," they sound like Dylan '66, unleashed and on fire. In "Forever," they jam like Stone Roses. Re: "Senses," you have to wonder, where is this stuff even coming from? Lucky me: I saw them on this tour, at the Troubadour.

Siouxsie: They Follow You: 2007: This album still sounds great to me, and still strikes me as one of Siouxsie's best albums. This is my favorite track on the album. Similar to tracks like "Kiss Them for Me," this one also seems to come out of nowhere. It's weirdly out of tune, and that octave-down guitar solo sounds like a big, drunk bumblebee. But, together, it all just works, and ends up being one of the best tracks she ever cut. (Among those, this, this and this).

Yard Act: New Beginnings:  2026. Looks good.

Fat White Family: Whitest Boy On The Beach:  2016.

David Bowie: The Jean Genie. 1973. Iconic.

The Beatles: It's All Too Much: 1967/69. This is my favorite Beatles track. This song, at once, sounds like the end of the sixties and the beginning of Britpop; at once, the greatest groove ever, and a train wreck. In an alternate universe, this song is probably written and recorded by Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, John Squire, and Ringo.

Shocking Blue: Venus. 1970. Here they are, playing on Top of the Pops, with the band miming to the recorded track. But, here, Mariska is actually singing live. Which is simply amazing. A great moment in rock history, no doubt. Want more? Check this out; and if that's not enough, there's this, a rare live version, and this, a country scorcher. And, fun fact: Venus is pretty much an unauthorized rewrite (i.e., rip-off) of "The Banjo Song" from Big 3 (featuring Mama Cass), circa 1963.

Maria Muldaur: My Tennessee Mountain Home: 1973. So, today, 8-25-26, Dolly Parton passed away. Strangely, given the enormity of her career, her music only once crossed my way: Dolly wrote this track, appearing on an album which was inadvertently part of the soundtrack of my childhood, and now, in my mind, simply the mystical sound of nature itself. At that time, female artists like Emmylou, Raitt, Ronstadt, and Muldaur were the rootsy hipsters of the day, shortly before punk hit.

Green Jelly [featuring CJ Buscaglia]: Jump. 1994.  I always hated Green Jelly, and CJ and I never once talked about his experience in that band. The band was a joke, and as Phil told me, they ripped of CJ in cold blood. But for a moment, CJ was up front, playing for real, and in this, you could see how his raw talent and vision [as guitarist, songwriter, lyricist, producer] might have influenced bands from Smashing Pumpkins to Queens of the Stone Age to Foo Fighters.

Gwen Mars: Cosmic Dick: 1995.  Now, barely a speck of dust on the continuum of world history, in the mid-nineties, this band was hugely influential in L.A. As an art-rock three-piece, they delivered the goods onstage, and they preceded bands such as Plexi, BRMC, my own bands, and, now that I think of it, probably Helen Stellar. In the Hollywood clubs of the mid/late 90s, band leader Mike Thrasher was just another guy you could hang out with in the middle of the week. Such things now seem lost.

Blondie: Under The Gun.  1999.  One of Blondie's greatest tracks.