WEDNESDAY SHUFFLE 
OMG, is it Wednesday again ALREADY?

1. "Veronica" / Elvis Costello
From Spike (1989)
As I recall, this was the album that made me "go off" Elvis -- despite this perky pop single co-written with Paul McCartney (that's him on the old Hofner bass, though I think EC dubbed his own backing vocals). It ticks along too briskly, the lyrics nearly unintelligible, as if Elvis was trying to disguise the fact that this is no love song, but a fretful rehash of "Eleanor Rigby."  That soaring, swinging melody though -- it's hard to resist.

2. "Eros' Entropic Tundra" / Of Montreal
From Satanic Panic in the Attic (2004)
Absurd song title aside (all Of Montreal's titles are overwrought like this), it's a winsome bit of indie pop, with a definitely Kinky flavor.  As Kevin Barnes miserably moans, "All I ever get / Is sa-a-ad love . . ."

3. "A Question of Temperature" / Balloon Farm
1967
Hazy, hectic, with an insistent beat -- this psychedelic classic, with a definite garage-y vibe, emanated from a New Jersey band that barely outlasted this one single's blip of underground success.  Thanks to my pal Blamo for introducing me to it on his famous Blast-o-palooza mix-tape CD; you can also find it on the first Nuggets set.

4. "You Want It" / The Village Green
From When the Creepers Creep In (EP, 2006)
Another rarity -- an impulse download from a quirky Seattle band with an uncanny predilection for neo-British Beat pop.  Most of this EP ended up on their later album, but "You Want It" mysteriously fell by the wayside. Too bad -- it glowers and lurks very nicely.

5. "Gospel Night" / Dave Alvin
From Blue Blvd (1991)
I love how Dave Alvin's slightly gruff voice narrates the unglamorous lives and loves of ordinary  people, the stuff of California trailer parks and roadside diners, served up with a whomping beat, honkytonk piano, and spanking guitar licks.

6. "League of Failures" / Jill Sobule
From California Years (2009)
Loveable losers -- does anybody get them better than Jill Sobule?

7. "Take Me With U" / Marshall Crenshaw
From What's in the Bag? (2003)
Marshall covering a Prince song?  Well, why not -- that foxy syncopation, those sneaky guitar riffs -- a perfect MC vehicle, it turns out.

8. "Love Like a Glove" / Nick Lowe and His Cowboy Outfit
From Nick Lowe And His Cowboy Outfit (1984)
Another cover -- as it happens, Nick singing his then-wife Carlene Carter's song.  Rather an undistinguished cut, I have to say.  And I'm not jealous of Carlene Carter at all.

9. "Say It Isn't True" / Alan Price
From Liberty (1989)
And yet another cover, this one of a Jackson Browne track from Lawyers in Love.  Alan must have loved this bittersweet song, because after making it the last cut on this rather obscure 1989 album, he threw an even longer version onto 1995's A Gigster's Life for Me. Alan's take is much more dramatic than Jackson's -- if only it didn't drift into bombastic overkill.

10. "One Irish Rover" / Van Morrison
From No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986)
Gotta love this Van classic, a tenderly lurching waltz with just a whiff of lonely self-pity.  Self-mythologizing, yes, but Van wears that soulful troubadour mask so convincingly.  A lovely song to [yawn] go to sleep on . . . .

"My British Tour Diary" /
Of Montreal

To begin with, Of Montreal isn't from Montreal at all -- they're from Athens, Georgia. And calling them "they" is a bit of a stretch, since the only person who's been in every incarnation of the band is front man and songwriter Kevin Barnes. That's most of what I know about this indie band, except that their (okay, his) songs are devilishly catchy and danceable.

This track from 2004's Satanic Panic in the Attic gives you a good idea of their crisp pop spirit. Granted, the lyrics are self-referential ("Hanging out with Steven Drew, Theo, / Paul and Sorrel too / Eating at Welcome Breaks daily / We danced in Leeds with Brit Pop Haley") but it's propelled by a cheery backbeat rhythm that's hard to resist. That bass line is so darn funky, it really betrays their Athens roots. Barnes' boyish vocals let him get away with murder, really: "On our trip to England I noticed something obscene / People still actually give a shit about the Queen." Oh, you irreverent Yanks.

One thing he does capture in this song is the surreal quality of life on tour, mixed up with a dose of culture shock: "Left alone to drive ourselves on the opposite side / Man it was a miracle that nobody died"; "Bitching because Steven booked us / On such early flights / Always in a foggy haze / Because we hadn't slept for days." I have a feeling that everybody in the band remembers incidents like "Every single one of our London cabbies played / The most truly repellent techno music ever made / But they'll drop you without hesitation / If you try changing the station." I imagine it as a scene out of Hard Days Night, mixed with a little Trainspotting.

"Up to our necks in crisps and litter / In the van we dubbed the Gary Glitter," he recalls at the end, almost fondly. This is what it's like to travel with your bandmates when being a rock musician is still exciting and new, and I dig being brought along for the ride. Despite the electronic gloss of their sound, they've got too much youthful energy to sound like robots. Apparently there are other Of Montreal albums where Kevin Barnes gets depressive -- but if that's so, I'm happy to stick to this one. (Other favorite tracks: the wistful psychedelic "Will You Come and Fetch Me?" and the jazzy "Spike the Senses.") It's a mere pop confection --but some days, that's just what I want.

My British Tour Diary sample