last night i dreamt that somebody made a list of fifteen under-exposed tunes

Jen Byck has posted 15 songs that she feels are under-exposed; deserving far more recognition than they get and has requested that I do the same. I must respond in kind with a Smiths-referencing title and 15 songs that I deem under appreciated.

1. A Place To Bury Strangers – Don’t Think Lover
   APTBS take the best things about the Jesus and Mary Chain, Joy Division and Cocteu Twins, mix it all together, play it really loudly.
2. Aqueduct – Hardcore Days and Softcore Nights
   This song is gangsta! But not really.
3. Boards of Canada – Music Is Math
   Even though this was a single, I don’t think any of BoC’s singles will ever tear up the charts. This one should’ve, if the masses didn’t have such sucky musical tastes.
4. Catherine Wheel – Broken Nose
   Adam and Eve was one of Catherine Wheel’s best albums. If I had to pick one track, and I do, it’s this one.
5. The Flaming Lips – Talkin’ ‘Bout The Smiling Deathporn Immortality Blues (Everyone Wants To Live Forever)
   The Flamings Lips have come a long way. You can find their recent music on movie soundtracks, TV shows, and commercials. But once upon a time, they dropped a lot of acid and wrote weird and catchy guitar pop.
6. Mew – The Zookeeper’s Boy
   My fave from their very under-appreciated …And the Glass Handed Kites album.
7. Mogwai – 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
   I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a Mogwai song in this list…love the ‘gwai – love them! If I had to pick a song from their catalogue that I feel is under-valued it’s “2 Rights Make 1 Wrong”.
8. My Bloody Valentine – You Made Me Realise
   One year before releasing Isn’t Anything and three years before releasing like simply the most wicked sounding album EVER – Loveless – MBV tossed out the You Made Me Realise EP. The title track is a blistering little ditty that apparently becomes absolutely gargantuan when they perform it live and stretch it into a lengthy endurance test for your ear drums.
9. Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – Grey Cell Green
   I’m not sure why the Neds weren’t bigger on this side of the pond.
10. The Notwist – One With the Freaks
    12, Shrink and the recently released The Devil, You + Me are amazing albums, but The Notwist’s 2002 album, Neon Golden, is their pinnacle.
11. Spacemen 3 – Revolution
    Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to. No kiddin’.
12. The Twilight Sad – Cold Days From the Birdhouse
    Great way to kick off an amazing album from a band that I expect big things from.
13. Ween – Mutilated Lips
    Ween’s entire discography is completely underrated – they have amazing musical chops. The Mollusk is a masterpiece, I would say, and “Mutilated Lips” is my choice cut (“Waving My Dick In The Wind” would be a close second).
14. XTC – Making Plans for Nigel
    I was a big XTC fan when I was only on this planet for a mere fours years. When kids were doodling on their notebooks and humming songs from the Minipops or Sesame Street, I was scrawling the XTC logo and that cat-lookin’ thing from the cover of the English Settlement album – I was a weird kid thanks to my cousins, I suppose. XTC would go on to release some up-tempo jangle pop radio hits like “Dear God” and “The Battle of Peter Pumpkinhead”, but “Making Plans for Nigel” is probably the one song I’ve liked since I could remember…well, anything.
15. Yo La Tengo – Sugarcube
    Everything YLT is golden in my books; ‘twee rock, noise freakouts, fuzz pop and even their free-jazz sojourns. How “Sugarcube” didn’t find more success when it was released in the post-grunge era is beyond me. Even the video for it was pretty cool; way ahead of Jack Black’s School of Rock movie.

Fifteen songs are not enough. There’s so much more that I could add to a list like this. Where’s the Sonic Youth, Ride, Archers of Loaf, Swervedriver, Constantines, Butthole Surfers, Isis, Aphex Twin? I could go on…really, I could.