Must Hear Americana You Probably Missed

Rootsy Stuff You May Have Missed This is a truly beautiful playlist. It includes newer roots-based music that you may have missed over the past year. If you like Americana, Alt Country, Blues, Folk, Bluegrass or Acoustic music you HAVE to hear this. Just trust me on this one. (via: Rhapsody Radish)

Song of the day: The Cure/"The Exploding Boy"

On Tuesday, we added the excellent Join the Dots, a 70-song box set compiling 20+ years of b-sides and rarities by England's favorite moping sons, The Cure. I was giving the set a listen today and liked the song "The Exploding Boy" quite a bit. What about you -- what's your favorite Cure song? And do you have any recommendations on other songs on the box that are worth checking out?

Finally: The Smiths/Meat is Murder

It looks like The Smiths logjam is finally breaking up. I've always been bummed that the band's music is (mostly) M.I.A. from Rhapsody, but today I noticed that the their second album, Meat is Murder, was just added to the library. Click here to listen to the album in its jangly, morose glory. Mmmm....MarrMorrissey goodness.

Goodbye to the Lonesome Organist: Jimmy Smith, R.I.P.

Damn it. Jazz organist Jimmy Smith passed away today at the age of 76. For more than 50 years, the Hammond B3 virtuoso had been coaxing new, innovative and funky sounds out of his instrument, and Smith was universally acknowledged as the world's greatest jazz organist. Click here for a sampler of some of Smith's handiwork.

Song of the day: Asobi Seksu/"Sooner"

The blissed-out shoegazing sound popularized in the late 80s and early 90s is alive and well, thanks to bands like Asobi Seksu. The Brooklyn-based band's self-titled album, released last year on indie Friendly Fire Recordings and added to Rhapsody in the past few days, was sadly overlooked by many critics. Click here to listen to the Asobi Seksu song "Sooner," which sounds like a Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine b-side. Delicious.

Cribbed, for your pleasure: Village Voice Pazz & Jop 2004

One month into 2005, the critics at the Village Voice have finally weighed in with their selections for the best songs and albums of 2004 with their annual Pazz & Jop list. You can click here to read the article, or click the links below to hear their take on the top 50 songs of the year. I've split it into bite-sized Rhapsody playlists. Cribbed for your pleasure.

Pazz & Jop 2004 - Top Singles #1-25
Pazz & Jop 2004 - Top Singles #26-50

Song of the day: Elyse/"Houses"

I discovered the Elyse song "Houses" while poring over the "Just Added" listings in Rhapsody recently. The song evokes memories of my wasted youth in a beaten-down Texas factory town where the only escape was a strong drink and a good song. Which, considering that I grew up in a whitebread town around Boston, is kind of messed up. But the song is that good. It sounds like a slice of late 1960s/early 1970s country rock, a la Gram Parsons or After the Gold Rush-era Neil Young (which I guess it should, given that Young delivers some searing guest guitar work). A highly recommended listen.

Found sounds: Snowden

My friend Hill turned me onto the band Snowden last year, when he sent me a couple of mixes as very welcome housewarming presents for my new apartment. One of the standout bands was Snowden, an Atlanta-based combo who proudly make British-influenced shoegazing music in the tradition of the Stone Roses and Jesus and Mary Chain. We just added the band's self-titled EP to Rhapsody yesterday; it includes a couple of absolutely killer singles -- "Good News" and "Kill the Power" -- that will improve even the most lackluster of days. Click here to listen to the EP, then visit the band's website and download it for free (click on "Music").

Song of the day: Deathray/"Now That I Am Blind"

Deathray is one of those bands whose CD you see in record store $1 bins over and over, and you're never quite sure whether to take the plunge. In this case, the answer is yes. Deathray is fronted by original Cake guitarist Greg Brown, who left that band in 1997. Deathray's self-titled and new-wave influenced first album, released in 2000 on Capricorn Records and added to Rhapsody within the past few weeks, includes the song "Now That I Am Blind," perhaps the best (and only) pop song ever written about going blind as a result of careless driving. Other recommended songs on the album include the power-pop gem "What Would You Do?" and "My Lunatic Friends." Enjoy (and drive safe)!