CD (EP) of the Day, 1/30/07: Warm In The Wake-Gold Dust Trail

Warm In The Wake's Gold Dust Trail EP isn't purely power pop, but it's a great example of a hybrid tuneful Americana and indie rock that should appeal to many power poppers who place melody in high regard. It's also on the Livewire Recordings label, the folks who brought us two great discs from last year, The Rewinds' self-titled debut, and The Comfies' Close To Me EP.

The best track here is the opener, "Tame Thoughts", which has an Autumn Defense meets Jayhawks sound to it (speaking of AD, they just put out a fine disc of their own). "Hearts vs Heads" is no slouch either, much in the same vein. "Golden Inhibition Destroyer", meanwhile, reminds me of Guster with a taste of Teenage Fanclub. And "Ironworkers" is pure Americana, something The Band wouldn't be ashamed to record. The good news: it was just added to eMusic (see link below).

MySpace | eMusic | Amazon

Audities Top 20 of 2006.

The Audities community has voted on their top 20 of 2006. Here it is, with where the disc placed in the Absolute Powerpop Top 100 of 2006:

1. The Nines – Calling Distance Stations (23)
2. Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. – Land Of Pure Imagination (N/E)
3. L.E.O. – Alpacas Orgling (4)
4. The Feeling – Twelve Stops And Home (56)
5. The Format – Dog Problems (5)
6. Cheap Trick – Rockford (14)
7. Chris Brown – Now That You’re Fed (8)
8. Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs – Under The Covers, Vol. 1 (-)
9. Pernice Brothers – Live A Little (47)
10. Jon Auer – Songs From The Year Of Our Demise (79)
11. Belle And Sebastian – The Life Pursuit (-)
12. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (-)
13. Bob Dylan – Modern Times (-)
14. Sloan – Never Hear The End Of It (HM)
15. The Winnerys – Daily Urban Times (68)
16. Cloud Eleven – Sweet Happy Life (saved for 2007)
17. The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers (-)
18. Wisely – Parador (-)
19. Lindsey Buckingham – Under The Skin (-)
20. Josh Rouse – Subtitulo (-)

N/E-Not Eligible for my list; see original post. HM-Honorable Mention

A few comments: I like this list a lot better than 2005's, which had a high number of "indie rock" acts placing higher. With a list drawn from 113 entrants, there's going to be a bias toward bigger names, some not even power pop, hence the presence of luminaries such as Dylan, Neko Case, and Lindsey Buckingham. I still stand by my opinion that Subtitulo was Josh Rouse's weakest album in years, and would have made a great EP instead, and I thought The Raconteurs was a slog.

As for some of my favorites that weren't in the top 20, #1 Bob Evans landed in a tie for 40 with fellow Aussie Michael Carpenter. I have no doubt Suburban Songbook would have placed higher had it been widely available in the USA. #2 Supraluxe was shut out, although they did place #42 in David Bash's top 100 list. No love for Andrew LeDrew (technically 05), Copperdown or David William either. Rhett Miller, who I had at #7, was #21. And The Goldbergs, at #6, undoubtedly came out too late in the year as a relative unknown act to make a wide impact.

For the full Audities list (which goes down to 50), click here.

Rubinoos on eMusic!

Veteran/legendary/seminal power pop band The Rubinoos had four of their discs added to eMusic this morning including their latest, Twist Pop Spin. Check them all out here.

Friday roundup.

I have several discs I've been meaning to mention, so I'm going to clear them out today via blurb rather than full review.

Yusuf-An Other Cup. Those of us who love 70s soft rock have great news: The Cat is back! Cat Stevens, n/k/a Yusuf Islam, as many of you know, has returned to a secular sound with An Other Cup, and in many respects it's like he never left. Recommended tracks: "In The End", "One Day at at Time", the cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (a rather appropriate track given his ability to stop Transatlantic flights). Sample and watch a video at Amazon.

Walty-Let It Out. Walty is San Fran's John Walter, and this is his second disc, which comes down somewhere between singer/songwriter pop and power pop. Bruce at Not Lame described his first disc as "Sounding like a lost great Swedish pop band from the 90`s(think early Merrymakers, Beagle, The Grass Show) combined with the more modern sounds of Phantom Planet and Rooney after listening to lots of Crowded House and Split Enz", and this is more of the same. Standout tracks: "Coverband" (a sly reference to Walter's own work in the 80's cover band Tainted Love), "2 Lovers", "Motorcycle Ride". CD Baby | MySpace

The Hard Left-The Avant-Garde Sounds of The Hard Left. The Hard Left hail from Minneapolis, and they have the garage power pop sound the area is known for (i.e., The 'Mats). This release is an 8-track, mini-CD that's all killer, no filler, with the top tracks being "Lover Girl", "Who's She Gonna Turn To?" and "Take It Out on Me". They're graciously streaming the whole disc at their site, and it's available for purchase at Not Lame and Kool Kat. If Steve Van Zandt isn't featuring these guys on his Underground Garage, it's probably because he hasn't heard them yet.

CD of the Day, 1/24/07: John Krueger-Later

Augusta, Georgia is famously known as the home of The Masters golf tournament, but now has something to recommend itself to the power pop world: 19-year-old John Krueger, whose debut disc Later is something more than par for the course. It'd probably be more appropriate if his name was Ben Krueger, since his sound is reminiscent of The Bens (Kweller, Lee & Folds), and there's also some Guster in there as well as another teen who made a nice debut last year, Evan Hillhouse.

"Can't Take That Away" opens the disc, and it's catchy as anything you'll likely hear this year. It would have fit right on the last Ben Kweller disc, and the "Twist & Shout"-like "ah, ah, AH"s are a nice touch. "Ohio" is a wistful piano ballad about his days spent growing up in Columbus, and shows a lyrical and musical maturity beyond his years, and "I Don't Have a Band" is his acoustic answer to those who might be looking for a bigger sound. "Message" is another catchy track as well, and "It Takes Time" closes the disc with a piano ballad as good as any ballad Folds has recorded.

As is often the case, the Baby is the best place to sample and buy, and "Can't Take That Away", "I Don't Have a Band" and "Message" are all streaming at his myspace page. There are also a couple of additional tracks streaming at his own site.

The Broken West on eMusic (and the street).

From the Absolute Powerpop followup department: The Broken West's I Can't Go On I'll Go On is finally out today on Merge Records, which means it's also available on eMusic. It's the long-awaited full-length from the dudes formerly known as The Brokedown, and about whom I've mentioned on several previous occasions.

So how's the album itself? I've had a chance to listen to it over the last couple of weeks, and it's pretty good. Not quite the near-perfection of The Dutchman's Gold EP (with which it shares "Down In The Valley"), but pretty darn good. The move to Merge has them sounding a bit more "indie rock" than power pop ("Brass Ring" is a nice track, but it sounds like someone told them to write one that sounds like Spoon - ditto for "Big City"), but they never were a pure power pop band to begin with. Among the highlights, "So It Goes" is an excellent number, as is "Shiftee", which features their alt-country roots, and "You Can Build An Island" is Dutchman's Gold-worthy.

It's OK to push The Red Button.

The Red Button is a new band featuring Seth Swirsky (who put out the fine 2004 record Instant Pleasure) and ex-Rex Daisy Mike Ruekberg, and their disc She's About To Cross My Mind is getting the full red carpet (or is that red button) treatment from Not Lame. You know what that means: a full stream of the disc, and all kinds of bonus goodies. The hype machine is cranking up for this one, and with good reason: from a quick listen, it sounds like Merseybeat perfection. So get on over and listen, and although the order page link didn't work, I have a feeling it'll be operational tonight when Not Lame unveils its new releases for the week.

(hat tip to Powerpopaholic for finding the NL page.)

CD of the Day, 1/23/07: Ed James-In The 21st Century

I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but Ed James' ...In The 21st Century is either the last great power pop album of 2006, or one of the first for 2007. (It came out in early-mid December, but I didn't have a chance to process until around the 1st, so it's in the 2007 pile for me.) Ed's reputation precedes this disc, with great releases like Meet Ed James!, Big Time and Poprocket already under his belt. But in case you're new to Mr. James, you're in for a treat: his records are power pop in the classic sense, always hooky, always melodic, usually a bit loud, and never boring. And In The 21st Century is no exception.

It doesn't take very long for the hooks to sink in: "Out of This Town" opens with some guitar crunch, while "She's The One" follows with jangly goodness. Other highlights include "Miss Polly", the story of a fading beauty; "And Then She Smiles", whose chorus will make you smile; and the unashamedly geeky "Star Trek Girl", which boldly goes into the Trek references where no song has gone before.

Check it out and/or buy:

CD Baby | MySpace | Not Lame | Kool Kat

CD of the Day, 1/21/07: Danny Scherr-Richmond Special

No, Danny Scherr isn't from Richmond (he's actually from San Francisco), but his debut release is most certainly special. It's an expert evocation of the 70's California sound, with enough punch to keep it from being overly mellow.

The rocker "Always Goes That Way" starts things off, and it'll have you checking the credits to see if Danny Kortchmar played or produced the track. The wistful mid-tempo "Fade Me In" follows, and if you close your eyes, you'll see Laurel Canyon. "How I Lost a Day" has the quintessential "western rock" sound to it, and "til I'm Love Again" reminds of the rare James Taylor rocker, "Honey Don't Leave LA". By the time you get done with Richmond Special, you'll be wondering why there isn't an Elektra Records logo on the CD.

Sample and buy it for a reasonable for $10 at CD Baby. And he has a myspace page streaming four of the tracks. If any of this sounds remotely appealing to you, grab it.

CD of the Day, 1/19/07: Locksley-Don't Make Me Wait

We've discussed Locksley before (unfortunately the EP in question is no longer on eMusic, for reasons that may soon become clear) on this site, and now they've just released their latest full-length, Don't Make Me Wait, yet another contender for Best of 2007 honors. What makes Locksley special is the fact that they have the potential to transcend the power pop genre in terms of success and recognition, having already received exposure via MTV, and the fact that they have youthful appeal going for them, something usually lacking in this genre normally dominated by 30 and 40-somethings (and beyond). They manage to capture the sound (and much of the spirit) of early period Beatles without sounding hopelessly retro, and with some of the hype they're getting (plus note the Arctic Monkeys-like cover art), they stand a good chance of being one of 2007's "buzz bands".

The core of the disc comes from the EP linked to above, and to quote myself:

(it) starts off with the absolutely fab "Into The Sun", a great evocation of early-period Beatles. "All of the Time" is a slower number in the vein of "If I Fell" that would make Paul proud, and "She Does" is a powerful rocker that reminds me of Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?"

The new stuff is oustanding as well: the title track both rocks and is danceable; "Let Me Know" would fit in perfectly on Meet The Beatles (it beats listening to Smithereens covers), and "My Kind of Lover" is primo British Invasion pop.

Apparently, they've discontinued their back catalog of the EP and Safely From The City, their first full-length, so to get the Locksley experience, you'll have to pick up the new one, which is now conveniently available from CD Baby. And four of these tracks are streaming at their myspace, so start right there if you're uninitiated.

More eMusic.

Bunch of interesting stuff added.

The Smithereens-Meet The Smithereens. If you ever wanted to hear The Smithereens cover Meet The Beatles in its entirety, well here you go. Fun stuff, and more worth a download than a CD purchase.

Jon Auer-The Perfect Size. This 5-track EP from 2000 is the perfect size if you only have five downloads left for the month. Includes a GbV cover.

Pugwash & Friends-Tinsel and Marzipan. And if you're down to two downloads left, grab this Christmas single from Pugwash (and Friends). Good stuff.

Wisely-Parador. This appeared on a lot of top 20 lists submitted to Audities this go 'round, although I enjoyed it but didn't love it. It also really came out in 2005 in Japan first, so I didn't consider for 06 on that basis as well.

The Nice Boys-The Nice Boys. Aside from being a great human interest story (surviving member of the Exploding Hearts soldiers on with new band), it's a great disc of 70s-style English power pop (Stiff Records and all that).

CD of the Day, 1/18/07: Peabody-Peabody

Pennsylvania's Peabody features former members of The Polins and Cherry Twister as well as current members of the alt. country band Wayne Supergenius, and the sound they've crafted here is classic Big Star-styled power pop (a point they make a bit obvious on the finale, a decent cover of "Back of a Car"). In fact, it might be the most Big Star-sounding disc since The Golden Apples' Cooler Jets Will Prevail.

"New Day", "Start Again", and "Movin' On" open the disc and are all excellent power pop tracks, while "Stars" is an excellent midtempo tune. The least Big Star-sounding track here is a great one, too; "Stay" has more of a Jayhawks feel, and undoubtedly bear the influence of the Wayne Supergenius members in the band.

Check 'em out at myspace and CD Baby.

Shake Some eMusic!

Well that didn't take long. Shake Some Action!, Friday's CD of the Day, is now on eMusic. 12 downloads that will be worth it regardless of which plan you have.

Also debuting is Actual Sighs, an interesting release from power pop guru Richard X. Heyman. The disc is a re-recording of his 1986 debut EP, Actual Size, along with 14 additional tracks he wrote at the time but didn't make the cut. You can read more about this release at his site.

CD of the Day, 1/16/07: Cloud Eleven-Sweet Happy Life

With Not Lame sadly discontinuing its own label last summer, Kool Kat stands alone as the top independent power pop label in the USA, and they've done a great job over the past few weeks and months. Their most notable release of late is Cloud Eleven's Sweet Happy Life. Cloud Eleven has quite the impressive track record (2002's Orange and Green and Yellow and Near belongs in a top 20 pop records of the decade list), and Rick Gallego & Co. have turned in another quality disc here.

Sweet Happy Life is one of those records that demands to be listened to the old-fashioned way: straight through. Listening the way I normally do to music, random tracks on the iPod, radio-style, I was a bit underwhelmed at first. But after listening to it as a whole, I came away considerably more impressed. It's quite a mellow, laid-back affair, but if you let it in, its melodic beauty will overcome any thoughts of "when is this going to start to rock a bit?". For me, the highlight of the disc are the middle three tracks of "Innocence", "Sea & Soul" and "Wishing".

You can listen to a couple of tracks at myspace, sample them all at CD Baby, and when you're ready to buy, make sure you go right to the source, as Kool Kat is offering up a free bonus EP of demos with purchase of the disc.

CD of the Day, 1/12/07: Shake Some Action!-Shake Some Action!

If the phrase "Shake Some Action!" sounds familiar to the power poppers out there, it's because it's the name of the classic track by the seminal power pop band The Flamin' Groovies. Shake Some Action! is the brainchild of James Hall, born in Australia, based in Seattle, and late of The Jeunes. Aside from the obvious Flamin' Groovies influence, this is classic British-flavored late 70s/early 80s sounding power pop, sounding as if it should have been released on Stiff Records. Hall's voice is perfect for the sound, recalling Ian Dury as well as Ian Brown.

There really aren't any subpar tracks on this disc, but standouts include the opening triumvirate of "Sound of Your Mind", "Complicated" and "I Can See Where This Is Going Now", which can be best described as "punchy power pop". Other highlights include "Not Even Close" which manages to be jaunty and sneering at the same time, "Couldn't Help Yourself", which sounds like a lost La's track, and the absolutely brilliant "Someone Else's Friend", which jangles like there's no tomorrow and boasts an indelible guitar hook.

Sample and buy at the usual suspects: CD Baby, Not Lame, Kool Kat, MySpace.

SIDE NOTE: Although SSA! the album is primarily a one-man undertaking by Hall, the touring version of the band includes power pop renaissance man Gary Miller of The Scheme, who plays bass and also runs the outstanding Seattle Powerpop Blog. Hats off to Gary for being an excellent musician and blogger; by contrast, my musical ability is primarily limited to singing The Beatles' "Good Night" to my 4-year-old each evening when he goes to bed.

CD(s) Digital Downloads of the Day, 1/11/07: Adam Daniel - The Adam Daniel Frequency & Where You Are EP (4-track demos)

Back in 1999, Adam Daniel made a huge splash in the power pop/pop underground world with the release of Blue Pop. Lauded by many as one of the top guitar pop discs of the 90s, Blue Pop is an essential part of the music collection of anyone who reads the blog. But he kind of disappeared after that, going on hiatus from the music business for the last several years. Well, as you can see above, he's back with not one, but two new releases: The Adam Daniel Frequency & the Where You Are EP.
Let's take 'em one at at time. The Adam Daniel Frequency is the name of his touring/recording band, and it's the more uptempo of the two releases. Opener "Cameo" actually has a funky feel to it (not unlike David Mead's "Chatterbox"). "It's Automatic" is power pop bliss, an excellent midtempo number; "Breathe" is a great ballad; "Supernova" sounds like vintage Teenage Fanclub; "Captain Hallucination" is Beatlesque; and "Where You Are" (which interestingly is on this disc, but not the Where You Are EP) is a haunting slow number.
As for the "Where You Are"-less Where You Are EP, it's a much mellower affair, with some fine ballads. The real standout here is the finale, "Soundtrack", which sounds like vintage Emitt Rhodes, early McCartney, etc.
CD Baby (ADF) | CD Baby (WYA) | iTunes (ADF) | iTunes (WYA)

New goodness from eMusic.

Two big releases today were added to eMusic. One is literally big, Sloan's Never Hear The End of It, in its full 30-track glory. Actually this isn't the greatest disc for eMu purposes since you'd use anywhere from 1/3 to 3/4 of your monthly downloads on it.

The other, clocking in at a more reasonable 10 tracks, is Bryan Estepa's outstanding All The Bells and Whistles, which we waxed rhapsodic on a few months ago and placed an impressive #28 in our top 100 list.

Champions - Again!

National champions in football and basketball at the same time! An NCAA first.

Listen to the song.

thank you for the invitation
we're sure your show will be very nice
gonna see if we can make it but hey maybe
we can offer you some advice
no, we're not trying to talk down at you
it's from the goodness of the whole of our heart
but we can tell just by looking at you
that you better quit before you start
in the meantime i need some mean time
to wipe out any good will building up
check the score, we're #1
turn round now back where you're from
wrote this tune, soon everyone's gonna
check the score and see that we're #1
yeah you make a decent stand in
typically boring of course
and anyone who asks yeah well we feel
we've got to give them our full report
in the meantime i need some mean time
to break down the defenses of our enemies
one less person in dress rehearsal
one less hopeless dreamer

Thanks to The World Record for coming up with the perfect power pop theme song for the Florida Gators.

CD of the Day, 1/8/07: Keith LuBrant-Searching For Signal

New Jersey's Keith LuBrant, who burst onto the power pop scene with 2001's Face In The Crowd, is back to give us yet another quality early-year 2007 release with Searching For Signal, due out this week on Kool Kat. Helping Keith out on this disc are Mike Viola and Jim Boggia, which is quite appropriate as his style on Searching For Signal is comparable to a cross between those two. Speaking of the help, Pete Donnelly of The Figgs plays bass on several tracks as well. Throw in the fact that Kool Kat is releasing it on their imprint, and the pedigree of power pop quality is certainly there.

So it's no surprise that say that the tunes come through - from the uptempo title track to the impossibly catchy "Too Late" (perhaps my favorite track of 2007 so far - yeah, I know it's only been 8 days, but the song is really good) to the Michael Carpenter-like "I Survived" to the rocking "Disconnected" to the Neil Finn-esque "February Day" to the wistful "Postcards & Memories", to which Boggia contributes vocals (and which would have fit nicely on Boggia's Safe In Sound), it's one solid track after another.

Intrigued? Then head over to his site, which has samples of all tracks; although they're approximately 30 seconds apiece, they get right to the hooks. And if you're hooked, get it at Kool Kat, where Ray & Co. have a great deal on the disc, complete with a 6-track bonus disc, and the CD itself comes with a code to download nearly 20 additional demos and unreleased tracks from the Searching For Signal recording sessions.

If the first three discs I've featured this year are going to be indicative of the quality of power pop coming down the pike for 2007, I'm going to need to get cracking on a top 200, let alone 100.

Pugwash on eMusic.

Haven't done an eMusic update in several weeks, mainly because they haven't added too much lately worth mentioning here. That changed today with the addition of Pugwash's Jollity, which placed at #13 in my top 20 of 2005. Get this one if you haven't already - I know its US distribution was spotty upon its original release.

Also on eMusic today is the latest from the Sprague Brothers, Changing The World One Chick at a Time. The Spragues are a bit on the retro side for me, but I know that a lot of power poppers enjoy them.

Finally, not a new addition, but a new discovery on eMu: The self-titled album from Story, which was featured on Not Lame earlier this week. This is a good one.

CD of the Day, 1/5/07: Wiretree-Bouldin

Here's another early contender for Best of 2007 honors: Bouldin, the long-awaited (by me, at least) full-length debut of Wiretree, whose 2005 EP was a real favorite of mine.

For those who missed the EP, Wiretee (actually Kevin Peroni) has a somewhat idiosyncratic sound, best described as somewhere between Elliott Smith and Brendan Benson, as well as reminding me somewhat of two of my true favorites, Supraluxe and Derby. To make it simpler, if you're familiar with The Smithereens' classic "Blood and Roses", you'll have a great idea of the template for the "Wiretree sound".

Things start off with "Big Coat" (the track I cajoled Peroni into posting over the summer on his myspace page in full-length form), an excellent shuffle that's instantly catchy. Meanwhile, "Secret Law" sounds like Tom Petty meets The Pernice Brothers; "Feel Me" has that "Blood and Roses" feel to it; "Don't Need It" is an untempo marvel that has an early Posies sound; "Notion" is a great keyboard and acoustic guitar-driven number; and I'm not sure I'll hear a more beautiful melody the rest of the year than the one belonging to "Whirl", although the closing track that follows it, "Summercity", comes damn close.

Where to listen? If you want to hear the whole thing, it's on Rhapsody. You can listen to up to 25 tracks without giving any credit card info or signing up, and it'll be worth using 9 of those on this disc. Five of the tracks can be streamed here, while a sixth ("Big Coat") is on the aforementioned myspace page. Right now, the only place to buy it is from the Wiretree site, where it's $11.99 shipped.

CD of the Day, 1/4/07: Peter Baldrachi-Solid Ground

Our first new discovery of 2007 is technically a 2006 release, but since it didn't appear on CD Baby until December 20, I'm counting it for 2007, and it'll be an early contender for the top half of my first top 10 list of the new year.

Solid Ground, from Boston's Peter Baldrachi, grabs you right from the get-go with the staccato guitar riff and pure power pop chorus of the title track, and doesn't let you go until it's over. "A Better Place" and "Breakdown" follow with more of the same, and you'll probably already have given your credit card info to CD Baby by the time the 2-minute sample ends. But if you haven't, the midtempo "You're Gonna Miss Me Someday" probably will get you to do so. Other standouts include "Wait In Vain" (which reminds me of the great Aussie band The Chevelles), the Smithereensesque "Round and Round", "Start It Up Again" (I'm hearing some Eugene Edwards there), "Making Sense of Nothing" (which borrows the melody from Paul Westerberg's "Silent Film Star"), the jangly "(Are You Sure) That We Belong" and "What Do You Want From Me?", which has a Teenage Fanclub feel to it. Wait - I just listed every track on the disc. Gee, I guess they're all standouts.

Unfortunately, I'm not finding a myspace page for Peter, so you'll have to make do with the 2-minute samples of all the tracks on CD Baby, where you can (you mean you still haven't yet?) order it. If you can't wait for the mailman to arrive with this disc, it's available for digital download at this site for $9.99.

In any event, this is really a quintessential power pop album; if you were to look up "power pop" in the dictionary, there ought to be a picture of this disc staring you back in the face.

Top Songs of 2006.

UPDATE: Links for the top 20 now posted.

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone out there! 2006 was a great year for power pop, and I'll ring it out with my final year-end list: the top songs of 2006. Even if many of these weren't the purest, most ambitious expressions of songcraft out there, they were tracks I enjoyed the most. Favorite songs ebb and flow throughout the year, so I'm not going to rank them in order; instead, I'll list my 20 favorite in alphabetical order and list quite a few honorable mentions thereafter. And yes, my eligibility requirements are a lot more lax than on the top 100 album list, so that explains the Pop Is Art track.

Absolute Powerpop's Favorite Songs of 2006:

"All Dressed Up"-The Yayhoos (listen)
"All My Rivals"-Chris Brown (mp3)
"Always Almost"-Mark McAdam (mp3)
"Asking Annie Out"-Willie Nile (listen)
"Blue Sky"-Supraluxe (listen)
"Chatterbox"-David Mead (sample)
"Comin' Around"-Bob Evans (listen)
"Did You See Her Dance"-Rob Laufer (listen, but use IE, not Firefox)
"Don't Let It Go"-L.E.O. (listen)
"Friend"-Bob Evans (listen)
"Help Me Suzanne"-Rhett Miller (sample)
"I Don't Feel Like Dancin'"-Scissor Sisters (sample)
"Inches and Falling"-The Format (sample)
"Louisville"-The Damnwells (listen)
"Love Sweet Love"-Supraluxe (listen)
"River to Ocean"-Phil Ayoub (listen)
"Smile!"-Pop Is Art (listen)
"Something to Hide"-Tommi Zender (mp3)
"The Way It Goes"-Paper Airplane Pilots (mp3)
"We're #1"-The World Record (listen)

Honorable Mentions (in artist alpha order):
"Sunflower", "For Dear Life", "Spotlight"-Andrew LeDrew
"Crank It Out"-Ari Shine
"Something Must Be Wrong"-Arthur Yoria
"Sadness & Whiskey"-Bob Evans
"By The Window"-Bryan Estepa
"Heart Don't Say"-Buva
"Done So Secretly"-Champagne Francis
"O Claire"-Cheap Trick
"Slave No More"-Chris LeDrew
"Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall"-Chris Murphy
"Good Morning Radio"-Codaphonic
"The Royal Standard"-Corin Ashley
"Myopic Day"-Craig Bartock
"I am a Leaver"-The Damnwells
"Cricket Scores"-Dave Stoops
"Hard to Remember"-David Mead
"Satellites"-David William
"Vespa Girl"-David Wolfenberger
"Somebody Leave The Lights On"-Don DiLego
"Feel for You"-Doug Powell
"Feet on the Ground"-Edmund's Crown
"Shattered (You Left Me)"-Exploding Hearts
"Kettle's On", "Fill My Little World"-The Feeling
"I'm Actual", "Time Bomb"-The Format
"Curded Wheys"-Fresh Mowed Lawn
"She's an Elevator"-Galore
"The Coast Is Clear"-Gary Henson
"So I'm Writing"-Geoff Smith & The Tonewheels
"Bric-a-Brac"-Grapeland
"Kissy Kissy (New York City)"-Greg Hoy
"Already All Ready"-Grey Does Matter
"One Man Wrecking Machine"-Guster
"Talking to Lisa"-Hotel Lights
"You Remind Me of the Sun", "Southaways"-Jeff Larson
"Angelita"-Jon Auer
"It Looks Like Love"-Josh Rouse
"This Is What We Are"-The Junior League
"On The Wind"-Kenny Roby
"Goodbye Innocence"-L.E.O.
"Eye Eye", "Me and Barbara Stanwyck"-The Lolas
"Two in a Million"-The Mains
"I'm Okay"-The Mellowmen
"Rat's Alley"-The Mendoza Line
"She Arrives"-Mike Elgert
"The Man In My Head"-Monkeeman
"Hard Luck", "Darkening Sky"-The Nines
"Bright Idea", "Downtown"-Orson
"Somerville", "Grudge F*** (2006)"-The Pernice Brothers
"I'm In Love (with Arthur Dove)", "You Blanks"-Portastatic
"V-Day", "Beauty Will Save The World"-Red Guitar
"My Valentine"-Rhett Miller
"Could It Be That Bad"-Rick Oliver
"On and On"-Ryan Calhoun
"A Good Day"-Ryan Coughlan
"Peter Shilton", "Chocolate"-The Sails
"Parachute"-Sean Lennon
"Acrobat Ache"-Shane Nicholson
"Lindbergh"-Skytone
"Fading Into Obscurity"-Sloan
"No Love 4 The Loser"-Spyderbaby
"You Were Looking"-Status Green
"Boyfriend"-Supraluxe
"Sara Jean"-The Sw!ms
"Lonely City", "Always Dragging Me Down"-Third Floor Story
"Never Knows Your Name"-Tide
"Tietze Park", "Four Pictures"-Travis Hopper
"Jr's Bag of Tricks"-Warren Zanes
"Roam"-The Yayhoos
"Tonight"-Yesen Damen