HIDDEN TRACK IS PREDICTABLY NUMBER SIXTY NINE, DUDE

ARTIST: CRACKER
ALBUM: KEROSENE HAT
SONG: EUROTRASH GIRL
DATE: SEPTEMBER 13, 1994
STATUS: ACQUIRED

One of the first CD's I ever bought was Cracker's Kerosene Hat. When I put it in the CD player it registered 99 tracks. I assumed because Cracker was a little alternative band that didn't get much air play (at that time) that their recording studio didn't have the technology to set the number of tracks properly. In retrospect this was pretty stupid, but it was the mid 90's. When it came to technology we were only one step ahead of the monkey in front of the obelisk. Then one day out of curiosity I skipped ahead to track 99 to find an outtake from their recording, and that's when I realized they did it all on purpose. Hidden tracks are so 90's.

I never listened to the tracks between between Looser and that outtake until one day I came back into the room after leaving the CD player on to hear "Eurotrash Girl" playing. I loved the song, and it kept getting better and better, especially after I spent sometime bumming around Europe.

There where two other hidden tracks on that album, "Hi-Desert Meth Lab" a sort of sound collage on track 15, and "Take Me (Back) To You" on 88.

SOUTHSIDE BRONX!

ARTIST: BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS
ALBUM: SEX AND VIOLENCE
SONG: WE IN THERE
DATE: 1992
STATUS: ACQUIRED

Biggie? 2Pac? ... Nah. No one brought it like KRS1. That's why you never hear his name unless you are talking with a true hip-hop head; no emcee wanted to tangle with KRS.

Before going solo KRS ran with Boogie Down Productions. Over five albums there sound evolved along with the rest of hip hop from the slow stepping sound of early Bronx-centric rap to a more dynamic and diverse sound that would emerge as the mature sound of 90's hip hop.

Sex and Violence was BDP's final effort and KRS brings it, flipping Hip-Hop conventions, such as homophobia, to shame emcees who strike false hardcore gangster poses to rock a party. 90's rap, even when it was intelligently assembled by someone as talented as KRS, was rarely politically correct.

ONE HIT WONDERS HAVE SECOND ALBUMS AND THIRD ALBUMS

ARTIST: HARVEY DANGER
ALBUM: KING JAMES VERSION
SONG: SAD SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO
DATE: 2000
STATUS: ACQUIRED

Harvey Danger's Flagpole Sitta was a mega hit in America. None of there following songs ever approached its lofty heights, but that's not to say that they stopped making great songs. Sweetheart of the Rodeo was the first single from their follow up album. Maybe it lacks that "it" thing that makes a great song a hit, but all the Harvey Danger strengths are on display.

THINGS DOLOMITE WOULD SAY

ARTIST: DR. DRE
ALBUM: THE CHRONIC
SONG: LET ME RIDE
DATE: SEPTEMBER 13, 1993
STATUS: ACQUIRED

Few things actually changed everything, but Dre's 1992 album the Chronic did. For years afterwards every rap album sounded like the Chronic. It sounds like gangsters, but its really about parties.

MONDAY'S ARE EPIC. GET IN THE CAR AND DRIVE LIKE YOUR COMMUTE IS MEANINGLESS AND EPIC.

ARTIST: SOUL COUGHING
ALBUM: RUBY VROOM
SONG: SCREENWRITER'S BLUES
DATE: 1995
STATUS: NOT ACQUIRED

As grunge trickled out, burned out, or was washed under by waves of "grunge" bands quirky "alternative" pop acts surged into the ears of those of us listening for the authentic. Soul Coughing: strange, epic, groovy; stared into the epic nonsense that is life anywhere, even in America, especially in Los Angles where you don't have the secure urbane illusion of living a connective narrative, and channeled it into poetics.

AT FIVE-SEVEN SHE'S TWO INCHES TALLER THAN BLACK THOUGHT

ARTIST: THE ROOTS
ALBUM: N/A
SONG: THE SILENT TREATMENT
DATE: 1994
STATUS: NOT ACQUIRED

The Roots is one of the top five Hip-Hop acts of the 90's. Nobody sounds like them because of their live backing sound, and Black Thought is a supremely effective rapper and front man. This early jam is so smooth and so funky.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ALL THE GREAT SOUL BANDS

ARTIST: TONY TONI TONE
ALBUM: SONS OF SOUL
SONG: LEAVIN'
DATE: APRIL 12, 1994
STATUS: NOT ACQUIRED

Tony, Toni, Tone, was a great little soul band. Real music, real vocals. They were miscast as a New Jack Swing act, and many of there recordings suffer from the flat tinny sound of this style, but they quickly moved into a Proto-Neo-Soul mode that produced gem's like this one.

ALTERNATIVE TO ALTERNATIVE

ARTIST: FAITH NO MORE
ALBUM: ANGEL DUST
SONG: A SMALL VICTORY
DATE: AUGUST 3, 1992
STATUS: ACQUIRED

Faith No More was the genre bending act that seemed determined to never break out into the main stream. They wanted to thrash and rock, but were never afraid to mix in dance and hip hop influences. They created a strange mix much like Tai food.  It's not as popular as Chinese, but those who like it, love it.

ALMOST THE SONG OF THE DECADE

ARTIST: R.E.M.
ALBUM: OUT OF TIME
SONG: LOSING MY RELIGION
DATE: FEBRUARY 19, 1994
STATUS: AQUIRED

There are two R.E.M.s. The one before Out of Time, an emotional punkish rag tag act out of the southern collegiate hinterland of Athens Georgia, and the one after, a full blown artistic machine that could fully recognize any notion it collectively held.

"Losing My Religion's" instrumental exploration would set the metric against which all other R.E.M. work would be compared, before, after, return, etc. The lyrics are wonderfully poetic and impassioned without ever honing in on a narrative.

PICASO AND EINSTEIN DIAL IN

ARTIST: THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
ALBUM: APOLLO 18
SONG(S): FINGERTIPS
DATE: MARCH 24, 1992
STATUS: NOT ACQUIRED

Technology drives innovation, and innovation drives technology. In the early 90's, we had these things called "Compact Discs" or CD's for short. They were like records only they were digital, not analog. These CD's were played in machines that could play an album from beginning to end as they had been forever, or they could play the songs in a random order by pressing a button labeled "shuffle".

As an exploration of the potential of this technology, They Might be Giants recorded 21 mini songs for their 1992 album "Apollo 18". When one pressed "shuffle" there was no predicting what order the songs would come, but by far the weirdest way to play them was beginning to end, something TMBG does regularly in concert.

POSSIBLY THE COOLEST SONG NAME EVER

ARTIST: EVERCLEAR
ALBUM: WORLD OF NOICE
SONG: FIRE MAPLE SONG
DATE: 1993
STATUS: ACQUIRED

For those of you who haven't heard Everclear's first album, World of Noise, do yourself a solid and pick it up. It is what the title says it is.

I don't think "Fire Maple Song" is about anything I can relate to directly, but there's something in his voice that makes me cry. literally makes me cry. I'll just lose it when out running with my head phones on or riding on the bus. Does it every time. Suddenly a door opens connecting my inner and outer worlds. Things I've been keeping separate for so long I don't even know the barriers are there until their gone. Reminds me people I've lost.

ONE OF THE GREAT UNPLUGGED PERFORMANCES

ARTIST: NIRVANA
ALBUM: IN UTERO
SONG: ALL APOLOGIES
DATE: DECEMBER, 1993
STATUS: ACQUIRED

How good was MTV's Unplugged series. Ridiculously good. Hard rockin' (to many) Nirvana flash a rare direct look at the genius behind the howl.

EVERYTHING IS SOMETHING

ARTIST: DAVE MATTHEW'S BAND
ALBUM: UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING
SONG: SATELLITE
DATE: 1995
STATUS: ACQUIRED

A friend of mine who was really into Hip-Hop, lets call him Sepi, was riding in my car when "Satellite" came on.

"Stop" he said, "I love this song" After a little while he asked me if I could explain the lyrics.

"Well...um...satellites?"

It was hard to say. Its not literally about anything. Its about satellites as a metaphor, as many metaphors all at once. Cycles, perspectives, life, death, eternity, the sublime of it all, and probably being a little stoned and watching the weather channel.

CURTIS MAYFIELD APPROVED

ARTIST: BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS
ALBUM: EDUTAINMENT
SONG: LOVE'S GONNA GET'CHA
DATE: JULY 17, 1990

Hands down, KRS-One is one of the top two or three MC's of the late 80's and 90's. His work with Boogie Down Production mates D-Nice and DJ Scott La Rock spans from the choppy rough collage sounds of early Hip-Hop to more complex De La Soul influenced tracks like Love's Gonna Get'Cha. Through it all and in to a solo career KRS never bends his lyrics to anyone's expectations. He keeps it knowledgeable and honest. His reverent respect for the art of Hip-Hop rings through in every lyric. He never takes it easy on a track.

This is a fantastic minimal video. Cool, minimal, and hard, just like the cut.

LIBERTY IS LIGHT, FREEDOM IS SUPER HEAVY

ARTIST: WEEN
ALBUM: N/A
SONG: FREEDOM OF '76
DATE: 1995
STATUS: NOT ACQUIRED

Ween, a band so weird they can play it totally straight and come out sounding crazy avant-garde. Just a simple little ditty paying homage to the joys of their hometown, Philthadelphia. Where every you go, there you are. All things are equal.

BABY MAKING FRIDAY

ARTIST: D'ANGELO
ALBUM: BROWN SUGAR
SONG: BROWN SUGAR
DATE: JULY 3, 1885
STATUS: ACQUIRED

First Friday of the month is made for baby making...ughhhhhhhhhhh.

SCREW METAPHORS, JUST SAY WHATS ON YOUR MIND.

ARTIST: MAD COBRA
ALBUM: HARD TO WET EASY TO DRY
SONG: FLEX
DATE: 1993
STATUS: ACQUIRED

I had some very cool art teachers in high school. They offered a huge variety of classes. I took a photography class in which we made our own pin hole cameras. Very cool stuff. We'd spend have the class walking around the school unsupervised taking the pictures, and then our teacher would turn the class room into a dark room and we'd spend the second half of class all but unsupervised. Attempting to torment her by yelling obscene things in the dark was a favorite pass time. She never rose to the bait.

During dark room time a friend of mine and I would take turns yelling "Flex!" only to have the other reply "Time to have sex!"

THEY GO ALL THE WAY UP

ARTIST: RUPAUL
ALBUM: SUPERMODEL OF THE YEAR
SONG: SUPERMODEL (YOU BETTER WORK)
DATE: NOVEMBER, 17, 1992
STATUS: NOT ACQUIRED

Settle down, not every thing good is about starving children in Kosovo, or lonely teenage girls and their acoustic guitars. Fun's important. Sometimes damn important. In times of repression important ideas retreat to the world of frivolous and fabulous where they hide under a vale of vanity.

RuPaul burst on the national stage just as gays where making major strides towards widespread acceptance. It confused the hell out of a lot of suburban teenage boys, but one of the important things about the song is that it is unabashedly of its roots and doesn't apologize for itself. Love it for what it is.

Get up and vogue a little in your cubical too. It'll be good for you.

DON THE FISHERMAN

ARTIST: PRIMUS
ALBUM: TALES FROM THE PUNCH BOWL
SONG: MRS. BLAILEEN
DATE: MAY 23, 1995
STATUS: ACQUIRED

I have to guess that there are at least a few teachers out there that did little Les Claypool wrong. Mrs. Blaileen you're on the list! all little Don wanted to be was a fisherman.

FALSETTO BOSS

ARTIST: GRANT LEE BUFFALO
ALBUM: COPPEROPOLIS
SONG: BETHLEHEM STEEL
DATE: JUNE 1996
STATUS: ACQUIRED

I love the mix, the piano pounding low in the background and the way the song grows and swells. The lyrics sound a bit like Springsteen subject. Its Monday in America. Time to get out there and deliver some services!