(A SPECIAL LOUISIANA EPISODE!) First up the under heard indie band
The Essex Green with their catchy little ditty "New Orleans" from their out-of-print
Fabulous Day EP. Since you can't get that EP easily, check out their great new album
The Long Goodbye (
iTunes,
Amazon,
Other Music). Then, born and raised in Ruston, Louisiana, Jeff Magnum's rightfully lauded low-fi band
Neutral Milk Hotel hasn't released anything in a while, but we feature "The King of Carrot Flowers (Pt. 1)" from their awesome 1998 album In the
Aeroplane Over the Sea (
iTunes,
Other Music,
Amazon). Going back to 1986 for a song hardly obscure enough to warrant being on
The Sounds in My Head, if it weren't so great and so perfect for listening to in Louisiana. That's right
Paul Simon's "That was Your Mother" from his classic album
Graceland (
iTunes,
Amazon). Then another oldie-but-goodie, this one even older. The near perfect
Fats Domino and his "Walkin' to New Orleans" which is available on many Fats' collections (
Amazon). It should be noted that no record collection is complete without at least one Fats Domino collection.
And as a special bonus in this week's show, since all the songs were short, and it seemed lame to have such a short show, there's a special bonus rarity featured. One half of Brooklyn's Musical Ambassadors of Love,
They Might Be Giants, singer / song-writer / accordionist / horn player / keyboardist / etc.
John Linnell released a disc called State Songs (
iTunes,
Amazon) in 1999, and along with it a die-cut green record single for the song "Montana." The b-side was "Louisiana." As far as I know this track is not available anywhere anymore. I feel bad putting things in the show that you can't actually obtain, but if you want it, I'm sure you can find it on eBay or something.