Pulp: This Is Hardcore: 1998. Simply amazing (the track, not the video). Here is the extended version. "That goes in there, and that goes in there, and that goes in there; and then it's over." How is it that Shakespeare and Dylan didn't say this first?

Ladytron: High Rise: 2005. Ladytron's overall catalogue is not very strong, with the single exception of their amazing 2005 release Witching Hour; easily one of the best albums of that decade. And, specifically, I'd say that "High Rise" has to be one of the best tracks of the last twenty-five years. Call it synth pop, post-punk, or whatever, the track is both ahead of its time and timeless. Also from that album, "International Dateline," and "Destroy...," a favorite at L.A.'s Club Bang.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Spitting Off the Edge of the World: 2022. Like.

Goat: Let it Burn: 2021. Perfect ten.

Kasabian: Where Did All the Love Go? 2009. 

British Sea Power: Please Stand Up: 2005. From their majestic and perfect album Open Season. Also from that album, "It Ended on an Oily Stage." This is one of the unknown masterpieces of British indie rock.

The Monkees: Can You Dig It?  1967/68. Would you believe that I actually like the Monkees more than I like the Beatles? For instance, what did the Beatles ever do (minus "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "It's All Too Much") that was as good as "Can You Dig It," or this, or this, or this, or this? Answer: nothing. Furthermore, I think that Mickey has one of the most distinctive and instantly recognizable voices in the history of rock. I actually met Mickey in 1998; he had no idea how honored I was.

Simon & Garfunkel: The Only Living Boy In New York: 1969/70. What's not to love about this track? Songwriter in top form, Hal Blaine on drums, echo chamber, backing vocals, and all.

The Yardbirds: Heart Full of Soul: 1968. Vintage Jimmy Page, while he was still a British hipster, and well before he became a boring classic rock god. Also from Yardbirds, White Summer, clearly influenced by Page favorite Bert Jansch, who later played with Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sandoval, on her excellent album Bavarian Fruit Bread. (FYI, I saw Hope on that tour, at the El Rey in L.A.). That musical DNA exends to here, on this mind-blowing track from Chemical Brothers, featuring Sandoval.

Velvet Underground: All Tomorrow's Parties (Live): 1966. Some magnetic footage. Also, for those not familiar with the "Unripened" versions, check this out. It's the CD with the green banana on the cover. 

Music Machine: Trouble: 1966. Also, "The People in Me." For my money, Sean Bonniwell's Music Machine was by far the most sinister of the psychedelic bands. Their whip-cracking rhythms, bubbling bass lines, satanic Farfisa organ, and deranged fuzz work are still unsurpassed. Here they are on television circa 1967. 

The Stranglers: Five Minutes: 1978. High postmodernity, as broadcast from the basement of the Centre Pompidou. 

Kasabian: Hippie Sunshine. 2025. 

Kasabian: Sixteen Blocks: 2017. It would be impossible to accurately describe how much I love this track. It comes off like some sinister hybrid of Volga boatmen angst and spaghetti western twang. Only Kasabian could pull this off. 

The Horrors: Sea Within a Sea: Directed by Douglas Hart. 2009. From Primary Colours, NME's Album of the Year, 2009. Clearly influenced by Can, Mother Sky. The Horrors demonstrate the rule, if you're going to borrow something, then leave it better than you found it. And make a brilliant video while you're at it.

Bauhaus: Stigmata Martyr: 1980.  This track still holds up. My special memory of this song comes from Sleepmask rehearsal 2009. Out of the blue, I started playing this song's bass line. Ming, coming alive, comes in on guitar, totally on fire, then, on vocal, even nailing the Latin part. But the other guys didn't know it, so the fire went out. It was dropped. Too bad we didn't play it at Release the Bats.