Sound Team - “Handful of Billions” - 2006, I heard about these guys through friends that knew them in high school. Unfortunately they were short lived, because there were some real gems on this album.

The Dirtbombs - “Chains of Love” - 2001, Imagine 50’s rock n roll mixed with punk raucousness, and you still don’t make it to where the Dirtbombs are.

The Kinks - “Powerman” - 1970, The Kinks were a power house back in the day, but Wes Anderson brought them into the present for a whole new generation. This song straight rocks.

Tenor Saw - “Ring the Alarm” - 1985, Tenor Saw did not have a long career - he was killed in a hit and run in Houston, Tx (though it was rumored to be a murder/hit) after only less than 5 years as a professional musician. Despite this, he is considered one of the most influential Dancehall singjays. Dancehall is known for using digital samples of “riddims” from classic reggae songs. The “riddim” is from a “Stalag 17” which coincidently was also used in Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam”. It was also sampled by Public Enemy’s “Don’t Believe the Hype,” and Too Short’s “Blowjob Betty”.

Spoon - “Don’t Make Me A Target” - 2017, The album that this is from, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, took Spoon from an indie Austin band to national recognition. The whole album is great.

Stephen Malkmus - “Juliefuckingette” - 2020, This man did not get near enough recognition in the 90s (as the band Pavement) or 2000s (Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks). Not even sure he gets enough recognition now. One of the few bands I haven’t seen live that I am actually pissed about.

Severina - “Tridesete” - 2008, I was watching Instagram reels and my friend’s wife, who is Bosnian-Serb, used this song in her reel - shout out to Nataša! Severina is a Croatian singer and is absolutely HUGE in Croatia, even being called “the only bona fide Croatian celebrity” by the Croatian magazine Nacional.

Khruangbin, Leon Bridges - “B-Side” - 2022, Houston psych rock mixed with the smooth soul of Leon Bridges. Incredible match.

Led Zeppelin - “That’s the Way” - 1970, I feel like this Zep song slips under the radar, but I love it.

Pretty Lights - “Rainbows & Waterfalls” - 2017, Pretty Lights remixes Strawberry Letter 23 by Shuggie Otis

Fela Kuti - “Zombie” - 1977, Fela is a legendary Nigerian musician and activist. He is considered the pioneer of Afrobeat, which combines West African music with Jazz and Funk. The song Zombie (and the eponymous album that it came from) is a critique of the Nigerian military. The Nigerian government didn’t exactly like this, and raided Fela’s commune with 1000 soldiers, severely beating Fela, and killing his mother by throwing her out of a window. this was 1977. In 1978, Fela threw a wedding to commemorate the attack, and married 27 women at once. He continued to tour and record albums until the early 90s. This doesn’t even scratch the surface. There are enough stories about Fela to fill multiple books.

The National - “All the Wine” - 2005, Though the album, The Boxer, is what put me on to the National originally, I think Alligator is a better album. This song in particular is one of my favorites of the 2000s.

Midlake - “Roscoe” - 2006, I’m honestly not sure where I heard Midlake for the first time. But they make their own style of melancholy rock that was great for late night drives.

The Flaming Lips - “She Don’t Use Jelly” - 1993, The Flaming Lips have been around as long as I’ve been alive, founded in 1983. Their first album came out in 1985, however they did not see commercial success until 1993’s Transmissions of the Satellite Heart was released, with “She Don’t Use Jelly” became a Top 40 hit. Since then the band has exploded into being one of the most prolific bands out there through their unique brand of psych noise-rock and wild stage performances.

My Morning Jacket - “Lowdown” - 2001, MMJ might be the last true rock n roll band. That is a ridiculous statement but I’ll die on that hill.

Aaron Frazer - “Girl on the Phone” - 2021, Originally the drummer for soul artist Durand Jones, he was discovered by Dan Aurbach because of his unique ability to sing in 1950s style falsetto. This led to Dan producing his debut solo album.

Songs: Ohia - Farewell Transmission - 2003, Technically Songs: Ohia was one man, Jason Molina and he toured and recorded under more names than makes sense. I compare him to Neil Young at his most intense, musically.

The Doors - “Peace Frog” - 1970, I think probably because of living in Carney’s in College Station for essentially five years straight, I went through a massive Doors phase (I swear it was one of like maaaybe 10 discs in the juke box).

Futurebirds - “Crazy Boys” - 2020, In my opinion, this album, “Teamwork,” took Futurebirds from good to great. The whole album is great, front to back, but this is probably my favorite song on there.

Rolf Harris - “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport” - 1953, I understand that this song is totally out of left field. But I love it in the corniest way possible. Rolf was an interesting dude. He was an Australian musician, television personality, and painter (he painted an official portrait of Queen Elizabeth in 2005). In 1985 he ran a campaign called “Kid’s Can Say No!” which taught young children how to escape sexual abuse. This sounds nice except for 30 years later, he was convicted and served jail time (at age 84) for the sexual assault of four teenage girls in the 80s. This is why we can’t have nice things.