Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Linton Kwesi Johnson Edition

Today is a special day for a true reggae innovator, Linton Kwesi Johnson. The native Jamaican moved to London as a child and became a major figure in the reggae scene in England. Johnson was dubbed a ‘dub poet,’ as he put his pointed lyrics about life and struggle to fantastic reggae back tracks, often produced by the great Dennis Bovell. LKJ’s hypnotic cadence locked together well with the great grooves beneath him. Moreover, he took reggae’s burgeoning social consciousness to an entirely higher level. In honor of Johnson, go grab your iPod or MP3 player, hit shuffle and share the first 10 songs that come up. 

1. Talking Heads — Happy Day (Talking Heads ’77): It’s weird to think that they were lumped into the punk designation by lazy writers trying to sum up the diverse CBGB’s scene in New York. The early Talking Heads were just a great art-pop band. Listening to this mellow tune, it’s not hard to hear what would have caught Brian Eno’s ear and led him to produce the band, as there is a somewhat similar sensibility going on here.
2. Midnight Oil — Forgotten Years (Blue Sky Mining): The follow up album to Diesel And Dust found the band continuing their simplified, more anthemic approach, but with less success, as some of the songs turned out pretty bland. But this may be the best song on the album, a rousing track that would have fit very well on its predecessor.
3. Nicole Atkins — Bleeding Diamonds (Bleeding Diamonds EP):An early track from the New Jersey chanteuse. The production is not as full as her subsequent albums, but this puts her voice even more front and center, and what a singer she is. This track would have fit very well on either of her albums, though I can see why it didn’t make the cut. That is a testament to the high quality of her first two albums.
4. Lindsay Buckingham — A Satisfied Mind (Law and Order): A somewhat twee version of this country standard (how standard? In 1955, three different versions of the song hit the Top 5 of the country charts) from Buckingham’s first solo album. Buckingham tries to get a bit of an early ’70s country production feel to this (especially in the backing vocals), but doesn’t quite get there. Not a highlight from a pretty good album.
5. The Posies — Saying Sorry To Myself (Yellow Pills, Volume 2): A really nice jangly pop tune from Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow and company. This is taken from the Yellow Pills series of power pop comps put together by Jordan Oakes, which are littered with fantastic songs. This is an outtake, but not a dud — it may have fit on their first album, but wouldn’t have fit as well on subsequent albums. Good song, great vocals.
6. Outkast featuring BackBone and Big Gipp) — We Luv Deez Hoez (Stankonia): Apparently consulting the Slade Dictionary to come up with the title, this is a cool track from Outkast’s best album. The rhythm track is so simple — a farty looped keyboard noise, some bass keyboard with drums kicking in for the chorus. The lyrics are silly, but the raps sound great.
7. Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach — The Sweetest Punch (Painted From Memory): There was no doubt that Elvis and Burt could write songs together, as there is a ponit where some of Costello’s talents intersected with Bacharach’s melodic genius. The question was whether Costello’s lyrics and vocals would mesh well with the sophisticated pop sound. I think they did. Bacharach gives Costello the space to get his words out, and Costello also reduces the clutter in spots. And Costello’s passion is evident as he negotiates the tunes quite well. This is one of the highlights of the album, as it sounds like a tune that might have been composed in 1967, not 30 years later.
8. Swervedriver — Harry & Maggie (Mezcal Head): While Swervedriver is best remember for their incredibly rocking tunes, and this tune rocks very well indeed, what made them special is the loud chords were often underpinned by wan, sad melodies from Adam Franklin, giving their songs depth that was missing from contemporary alt-rockers. This song has both the loud guitars and the great melody. It’s a real gem.
9. Richard Thompson — Lovers’ Lane (Daring Adventures): A haunting number from Thompson, from one of his many quality solo records from the ’80s. This is a very atmospheric track, with Thompson’s voice floating over the keyboards and his lightly strummed and picked guitar playing.
10. She & Him — In The Sun (Volume Two): I wish I liked Zoey and M. more than I do. In concept, I like what they are trying to do, but I don’t think they always succeed in their goal of making modern ’70s AM Gold. I think it’s a bit self-conscious and the songs aren’t strong enough. But some of them work and this tune is pretty good, with a solid chorus and great guitar work, as per usual, from Mr. Ward.