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Guest List: Citay

Dear Reader,

Some of these songs lift me up, some lay me down. They are for everyone so don't be shy - go ahead and have a taste!

In no particular order...

- Ezra Feinberg

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Tracks

1. Popol Vuh - Der Grobe Krieger

This is the first song on the krautrock classic "Letzte Tage Letzte Nacht." It leads you to a strange and intense place, and with spare instrumentation and primitive production it leaves your ears with a tender, tingling feeling. But it's not happy, and it's not fun. It's beautiful, and really, really heavy.

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2. Todd Rundgren - Cold Morning Light

This song is so sweet, and so well crafted. The flute comes right in and that grabbed me at first, but it has this groove that is irresistible. Rundgren fans like the slogan "Todd is God": Indeed, this track is heavenly...

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3. The Byrds - Draft Morning

This is the most lush, lovely, groovy Byrds song and I will listen to it and love it for as long as I can hear, and even after that cuz 'll be able to conjure it in my head after having spent an entire lifetime listening to it...

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4. Chris Bell - Speed Of Sound

I have been obsessed with Big Star for a long, long time, but it wasn't until recently that I got my hands on Chris Bell's one and only solo album "I Am The Cosmos", recorded shortly before his death in 1978. It features the same classic sound - youthfully sad 70s power pop with both religious and psychedelic imagery - but this song has a longing all its own. Check out the soaring synth melody in the middle of the song, not to mention the steel drums at the chorus. One of my all time faves...

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5. Enemy Love - Weekender

This was a very, very short lived band who lived and recorded in Great Barrington, MA for about 2 years before splitting up (sadly because they were so good). They released one EP which was recorded with Thom Monahan (producer of Devendra Banhart, Vetiver, member of the Pernice Brothers). This song is a glistening side of Manchester meets Liverpool. Please check this out - you will thank me for it if we ever meet...

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6. Various Artists - Merta - Picchio Dal Pozzo

Picchio Dal Pozzo were an Italian prog band from the early 70s. I found this song on a recently released compilation of lost European Prog put together by Andy Votel entitled "Prog Is Not A Four letter Word." This song builds on a droney picked acoustic guitar and builds the layers until it's thick with swirling moogs and tasty intertwining guitar melodies. For the long drives of the mind...

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7. Neko Case - Deep Red Bells

If you've seen my band Citay live recently you might have noticed that one of the guitar players is a small Asian woman who rarely looks up from her axe while tastefully shredding her way through the mix. Her name is Adria and she made me a mix last summer that I still listen to all the time. This song was a highlight - I had never heard Neko Case before. Her voice is a force, and this is a powerful and addictive song...

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8. Rufus Wainwright - The Art Teacher

I'm a huge Rufus Wainwright fan - few contemporary songwriters have such a knack for inventive and yet still classic sounding melodies and arrangements. This song tells the story of a desperate housewife's longing for her high school art teacher. The story unfolds melodiously over a ringing and repetitive Phillip Glass-y piano figure. Most of Rufus' work is known for grand and elaborate orchestration (which I love), but this song is only piano and vocals (with a brief trumpet interlude). The story is wrenching even after so many listens.

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9. Pussy Galore - Hell Spawn

It's hard to describe the gnarled charm of this track, but for a band known for being a mess the clanging drums (which were made from scraps of metal) and superfuzzy lo-fi riff actually lock into a heavy groove that holds up Jon Spencer's yelping and makes this a thing of beauty.

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10. Gerry Rafferty - Don't Count Me Out

My friend Andy introduced me to this song. Rafferty was the voice behind Steeler's Wheel as well as the lite rock staple "Baker St" which is also a genius jam. But this tune is an inspired and inspirational anthem. Although the song is a slice of lush, harmonious and groovy 70s folk rock, the song's protagonist yells the title drunkenly at his friend for telling him he drinks too much.

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11. Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation

I couldn't write up a list of faves without including Thin Lizzy. The jubilance they brought to the composed electric guitar was unprecedented, and it gave rise to a beloved sound: the twin guitar harmony. This track has a guitarmony break in the middle that I love, but it's actually the series of drum fills between verses that gets me goin' - straight to the mirror to practice my air drumming. No joke.

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12. Funkadelic - Can You Get To That

Funkadelic are one of my favorite bands of all time, and "Maggot Brain" is probably my favorite album. This track is an instant good mood. How could you not like a song that begins "I once had a life/or rather life had me"???

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13. Espers - Widow's Weed

I love Espers, especially their heavier side. This song unfolds slowly, coming in and out of consciousness. It's been very inspiring for me and I can't wait to hear more from them, and their new side project Grass which I heard a bit of recently and loved...

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14. Mike Oldfield - Hergest Ridge, Pt. 1

This is Mike Oldfield's second record, after the hugely successful and better known "Tubular Bells." On all of his first three albums (Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn) Oldfield took up each side of the record with one 20+ minute long song in which he played all the instruments (of which there are many). "Hergest Ridge, Part 1" explores the softer side of early prog, with layers of acoustic guitar giving way to long organ melodies and ambient harmonized vocals. Mike Oldfield takes his time - and time itself seems to enter another dimension when you give yourself to his winding compositions and elaborate peaks and valleys.

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15. Heart - Love Alive

Heart mean a lot to me - sweet, powerful, heavy, lite - it's all there. This song opens like a flower. I think this song might even smell good. Seriously.

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