God bless you.

Glad you put this up. I was getting ready to do one.
The only things I would've done differently : more 'Special 20' and arguably his best song, Watching The Lighting.

i only just got special 20 like 3 weeks ago and haven't had a chance to listen to it all that much, really. as for Watching the Lightning, I agree its a good one, but I've put it on like a million other mixes I've made and thought that the Obners that would actually download this would find it a bit slow.

on Sexsmith, you went with a lot of early stuff and I don't even have his first two albums. I almost went with Just My Heart Talkin', though.

YES.

Luka Bloom

1. Background Noise Turf, 1994
2. The Shape of Love to Come Salty Heaven, 1999
3. Miracle Cure Innocence, 2005
4. An Irishman in Chinatown Riverside, 1990
5. Mary Watches Everything The Acoustic Motorbike, 1992
6. She Sings Her Songs With Open Eyes Before Sleep Comes, 2004
7. Change Tribe, 2007
8. Gone to Pablo (live) Amsterdam, 2003
9. Hands of a Farmer Between the Mountain and the Moon, 2002
10. Throw Your Arms Around Me Keeper of the Flame, 2000

Irish ex-pat acoustic singer-songwriter. A track each off ten releases. Gentle but never wimpy.
riyl: Christy Moore, Paul Kelly, Bruce Cockburn, The Blue Nile, Ellis Paul, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, The Men They Couldn't Hang, Gordon Lightfoot, Mike Scott/Waterboys, David Sylvian

Matt Keating is in that same class of songwriter as Ron Sexsmith and Elliot Smith, but doesn't sound at all like either of them. His songs are elegant in structure and packed with wordplay that can amuse, dazzle, or hit way too close to home.

I knew Creed from The Office used to be in The Grass Roots, but had no idea Dwight Schrute used to be in XTC.

XTC
We Thought We'd Base Our Civilization Upon Yours



They don't need much of an introduction here I'm sure. I chose one track from each of their first 10 proper full lengths starting with White Music up through Nonsuch, and for the most part tried to stay away from the bigger singles (tracks 2, 6 and 8 being the exceptions). Actually, from what I understand, "Are You Receiving Me?" wasn't even on the original version of Go 2 released in the UK. There's nothing from Dukes, Rag n' Bone Buffet, Apple Venus, Wasp Star, Dub Experiments, etc. Not that those are "unessential". I contemplated leaving off the Big Express, Go 2, or Nonsuch tracks in favor of something from Apple Venus V1. Overall, I consider this a decent intro, but others may disagree. It's quite an assignment to condense an almost 30 year career of a highly prolific band into a ten song compilation, and not fail on some level. Technically, this only covers 14 or so years of the band's existence (someone else can cover the other "half" - I'm wiped). Also, check out mcaputo's Dukes mix if you haven't already.

RIYL: Their countless imitators; catchy upbeat new wave driven by the repetitious angular riff; experimental, and sometimes orchestral pop/rock; intelligent lyrics.

1. Into the Atomic Age
2. Are You Receiving Me?
3. Chain of Command
4. Burning with Optimism's Flames
5. Knuckle Down
6. Love on a Farmboy's Wages
7. Wake Up
8. Earn Enough For Us
9. Scarecrow People
10. Dear Madam Barnum

John Howard made an obscure British singer/songwriter album in the mid-'70s, Kid in a Big World, which like several efforts from that period showed the heavy influence of then newly emergent superstar Elton John. Howard was lower-key and more inclined toward eccentric story-songs, and not as gifted with a flair for chart hooks, though he too had a keyboard base to his arrangements and melodic ideas combining Beatles-Beach Boys pop with '70s singer/songwriting.

Howard first tried to enter the record business in the late '60s, when the classically trained pianist unsuccessfully sent in a tape of his songs to Apple Records for consideration. Changing his name from Howard Jones (though he was no relation to the '80s pop star Howard Jones) to John Howard, he actually turned down the chance to join a band that later become Iron Maiden. Instead, he worked on the college circuit and folk clubs, and got a management contract with Hurricane Smith's manager, Stuart Reid. He signed to CBS UK in late 1973, and recorded Kid in a Big World with ex-Shadows drummer Tony Meehan as producer and Argent's Bob Henrit and Rod Argent among the session men. Preceded by the late-1974 release of the "Goodbye Suzie" single, Kid in a Big World was released in February 1975, although it suffered from indifferent promotion and didn't make much of an impact. Although a second album was started, it never reached completion, in part because of intervention from CBS to try making it more commercial. The RPM label finally released the demos for that album in 2004 as Technicolour Biography. A year later, RPM issued another collection of demos, Can You Hear Me OK?, while the Bad Pressing label issued The Dangerous Hours, the first new album he had recorded in three decades. The wait would be much shorter for the next new album as As I Was Saying appeared before the end of 2005 on Cherry Red.

XTC: Difficult Weapon
1. When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty Drums And Wires, 1979.