1. Good Times – Matt Costa – A hand clapping, sax swinging, folkie singalong giving new meaning to the happy songs about sad things ruse. One of the most fun and apocalyptic songs you'll ever hear – Grade: A
2. Scarlet Begonias – Jazz Is Dead – Here is a place we don't usually go, a jazz fusion band who play instrumental covers of Gratetful Dead songs and here they have chosen a super obscure track (to me at least) off the Deads From The Mars Hotel, an album I like a whole whole lot . Incidentally, Jazz Is Dead guitarist Jimmy Herring is playing the 8pm set at BB Kings on Friday – Grade: B+
3.Rise Above – Tomas Doncker – The finished mix is great stuff, with a spoken word Ethiopian recitation in the middle and a Marvin Gaye in full mercy mercy me mode and a world music verse – Grade: A
4. Wedding Song Afro – Teddy Afro -World music in its bass not its horns and the drums are in constant motion – Grade: B+
5. You Can't Be My Girl – Darwin Deez – Herky jerky rhythm till you get to the bridge which wanders off somewhere or the other? "Slurring Gorbachev" than grabs you back at the chorus – Grade: A
6. I Lost My Job Of Loving You – Buddy Miller And Jim Lauderdale – A lot livelier than when he works with Julie Miller, Buddy and Jim have a country blues work out where they go with the conceit of loving being a job as far as they possibly can – Grade: B+
7. Temper Temper – My Bloody Valentine – Comes awful close to a meeting of explosive lyric to explosive playing – Grade: B+
8. So Much Better – The Stone Foxes – Starts off so good, like the first verse is brilliant 1960s blues rock, but the pay off doesn't pay off at the chorus – Grade: B+
9. Lost Weekend – The virginmarys – Another song with a great beginning and no pay off – Grade: B+
10. Rainy Days And Sundays – Pat Metheny – Pat pays off the early 1970s by not messing with anything but the melody and playing it note for note – Grade: A