Take This Message to My Brother

Because one of our loyal readers has pointed out that the Wedding Present covered Butterglory’s “Waiting on the Guns” in the mid-1990s, and because said cover is surprisingly understated and starts off with some nicely ominous guitar churn moving from right channel to left & back again, here it is.

• The Wedding Present, “Waiting on the Guns”

And because thinking of the Wedding Present always reminds me that when they were doing that single-a-month project back in the early 1990s they covered the Close Lobsters’ great “Let’s Make Some Plans,” here it is.

• Close Lobsters, “Let’s Make Some Plans”

And because “Let’s Make Some Plans” is as mentioned great but really the definitive Close Lobsters statement is their first album, Foxheads Stalk This Land, and “I Kiss the Flower in Bloom” is one of the more instantly lovable songs thereon, here it is.

• Close Lobsters, “I Kiss the Flower in Bloom”

And because the Close Lobsters remind me of a friend who was into them before I was, they also tend to remind me of another one of said friend’s faves, another purveyor of offhand pop brilliance who seems more or less forgotten today, and because I’m always happy for an excuse to play “Southern Mark Smith” for myself or others, here it is.

• Jazz Butcher, “Southern Mark Smith”

And because we’re on a bit of a UK-pop thing here anyway, and because during a five-hour delay at Pearson Airport for my flight to Washington, D.C. last week (eventual liftoff 1:30 am, eventual arrival at hotel 3:30 am) one of the few things that kept me sane was having Lloyd Cole’s “Patience” come up unexpectedly on the iPod and falling in love with it all over again (so taken was I that at the time I didn’t even notice the convergence of song title & situation, even as I was gritting my teeth at yet another perfunctory “thank you for your patience” announcement), here it is.

• Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, “Patience” (live)

My other rediscovery on the D.C. trip – this one courtesy of a cabdriver’s choice of lite-rock radio station – was the Doobie Brothers’ “Takin’ It to the Streets.” Man, I thought, I can’t believe it, but right here, right now, I’m fucking loving this.

But I’ll spare you that one.

(Buy some Wedding Present here, some Close Lobsters here, some Jazz Butcher here, and some Lloyd Cole here.)