10 Songs I Can’t Live Without, Vol. 4

Ah, Volume 4…

This is a bit of an odd mix, but, as with all other volumes, I love every one of these songs. It is probably the first time Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue” was included in the same list with “Sex On Wheelz” by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. “Sex On Wheelz” comes from the TKK’s whimsically dark 1991 album Sexplosion!, their most accomplished effort and a big favorite in alternative circles at the time.

“Come On In, The Dreams Are Fine” is from Deee-Lite’s Infinity Within album, the second of their three-record run. The album never did as well as World Clique, their debut record, but I always loved it. “Come On In…” was neither released as a single nor played as a hit, though it is a thoroughly delightful pop song and it features the famous “Amen Break,” the most ubiquitous six-second drum solo sample in music history.

I have a keen ear for film scores. When I saw Tom Ford’s A Single Man, I heard familiar music at one point in the soundtrack. It immediately reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. After the movie, I looked up the score for A Single Man and saw a track titled “A Variation On Scotty Tails Madeline.” Then I looked up Bernard Herrmann’s score for Vertigo, which includes a track called “Scotty Trails Madeline.” (In Vertigo, Scotty was played by James Stewart and Madeline was played by Kim Novak.) Anyway… composer Shigeru Umebayashi’s resulting recycle/update to the original Bernard Herrmann piece is stunning.

Enjoy Volume 4!