Dear Fellow Citizens

Gustav “We Shall Overcome” – In spite of a fairly minimal arrangement, this song implies the epic sweep of a U2 anthem while sounding more like Bjork circa Homogenic. Without ever seeming trite or condescending, the song expresses sincere hope and optimism in the face of a world with an ever-darkening moral grey scale. Like most ethical informed people, Gustav struggles with the guilt of complicity and the frustation of endlessly compromised idealism, but refuses to give in to despair. The song has a rather beautiful sentiment, and is exactly the kind of stump speech that a lot of us need to hear these days, especially here in the United States as Election Day looms, and four more years of the Bush administration becomes a very real possibility. (Click here for Gustav’s bio on the Mosz label site and here for her official site.)

Curtis Knight “The Devil Made Me Do It” – This is for everyone who wanted to hear more from the out-of-print Chains & Black Exhaust compilation. “The Devil Made Me Do It” is absolute proof that pop music has never at any point been a meritocracy. By all rights, this should’ve been a smash in the late 60s, the kind of song which pops up nowadays in retro movies and is played ad nauseum on classic rock radio. For one reason or another (probably in part due to the title), the song is hopelessly obscure; lost to generations of people who would probably love it if they ever had a chance to hear it. If we absolutely must have a Lenny Kravitz, can he at least perform a public service by popularizing a song like this? There’s no way Lenny (or most anyone else) could ever touch this recording – especially not the priceless bit at the 1:26 mark with the sassy woman interjecting at the end of the verse – but at least people would know that this song exists.

Also: Thanks to everyone who has responded to the poll thus far, but there’s still a great many of you who have yet to respond. I’m hoping to get at least 10% of the regular audience, and right now, it’s more like 5%. After everything is done, I’ll do the math and post a list of the top ten songs according to the results.