Lit By Lots Of Glowworms

Chicks On Speed “Coventry” – This is one of the highlights of their great new record 99 Cents. The new album is just a huge leap foward from their previous work, with better lyrics, melodies, and arrangements. One thing that I really like about the album is that they are using that stuttering guitar-sample trick that’s been used on a lot of mainstream pop records over the past few years. Instrumentally, this song could easily be an Ashanti or J. Lo song. I’d like to see more indie/arty groups embrace mainstream pop production techniques. Why should only the mainstream folks sound so fresh and so clean?

Traffic “House For Everyone” – Steve Winwood has had a weird career. He starts off in the rocking British Invasion band the Spencer Davis Group, then does Traffic for a while, which begins as a whimsical psychedelic pop band before turning into a wanky jam fest. A decade later, he ends up somehow becoming an adult contemporary pop singer. In a way, his career arc makes him the ultimate stereotypical Baby Boomer; with groovy beginnings, an experimental period eventually leading to an incogruous complacency and bloated lameness, and finally ending up awash in a sea of nostalgia and irrelevance. Please remember him for when he was young and beautiful. This song comes from the best record of his career, Traffic’s first LP Mr. Fantasy, which is a damn great psychedelic album and well worth your time.