"I ZIMBRA" TALKING HEADS (1979)

“I Zimbra” is the record that launched the band’s exploration into new sounds and dimensions. It’s a portal to African popular music. And it showed us how you can take the continent’s textures and rhythms and weave them into new wave. Congas, djembes and surdos mixed freely with guitars, synthesizers and bass. At the same time, “I Zimbra” was a foreshadowing of the sound that would manifest itself in the landmark album Remain in Light.

“Gadji beri bimba clandridi. Lauli lonni cadori gadjam. A bim beri glassala glandride. E glassala tuffm I zimbra.”

"FEEL GOOD INC." GORILLAZ (2005)

Concept albums are a rare thing. Concept bands are even rarer. One of the most impressive musical evolutions in the last 25 years belongs to Blur frontman and Gorillaz co-founder Damon Albarn. When “Feel Good Inc.” came out, it went beyond the music and found a way to us through animated personas and a fictional universe. The images of four characters grabbed us. But none of this could’ve been pulled off without really good music.

“City's breaking down on a camel's back.”

"JUMPIN' JACK FLASH" THE ROLLING STONES (1969)

I probably can’t count the number of times this song lifted me up. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” is a song of redemption. It’s the reset button. It’s about getting knocked on your ass and getting back up again. It’s uttered in Jagger’s snarl. It’s flowing in those sweet guitar riffs from Richards. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” is a caffeinated jolt to your head. The kind of song that can help you get over a bad week or even a very bad year.

“I was schooled with a strap right across my back. But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas.”

"U-MASS" PIXIES (1991)

This is the song that recounts the hallowed academic grounds where Black Francis and Joey Santiago met. It’s not where The Pixies started, but there would also be no Pixies without U Mass. This is not the best Pixies song, but its opening guitar riff hooked me in on the first listen. And as Pixie fans know, all it takes is a single guitar riff or a signature howl from Francis to make us play these condensed rock songs over and over again.

“We' re not just kids to say the least.”

"TO BE ALONE WITH YOU" SUFJAN STEVENS (2004)

Much of Sufjan’s work gives us a glimpse into the places, the people and the ideologies that have helped shaped him. And in many ways, Seven Swans is his equivalent of Dylan’s Slow Train Coming, an exploration of his Christian faith and journey. The fourth track, “To Be Alone With You”, is a musical memoir sung and played for his maker. The beauty of it is in its vulnerability and in its minimalism. A stark acoustic guitar replaces Sufjan’s flair for the experimental.

“To be alone with me you went up on the tree.”

"REDEMPTION SONG" BOB MARLEY (1980)

This is still my favorite Bob Marley song of all time, and it’s considered by many critics to be one of the greatest songs by any artist. it was probably the most unlikeliest of his songs. More Bob Dylan than Bob Marley. Most of his recordings had the ability to transport us to Kingston. But “Redemption Song” liberated us. It was stripped of any accompanying instrumentation—not a hint of reggae in there. Just Marley’s beautiful vocals and his acoustic guitar.

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our mind.”

"SOUL FINGER" THE BAR-KAYS (1967)

If you’re an 80’s child, chances are you can’t think of Soviet missile control personnel parties without remembering this song. Spies Like Us’ unforgettable scene went back a couple of decades to uncover this instrumental soul fest. Overly simple and repetitious, “Soul Finger” checks two boxes for likeability. First, it’s infectious. The kind of song you can’t get out of your head even if you tried. Second, it’s nostalgiac, whether you grew up in the 60’s or in the 80’s.

"EMPIRE" OF MONSTERS AND MEN (2015)

Like many other OMAM songs, “Empire” straddles two musical worlds. In one world, it lives in the epic, in the cinematic. It seems like a perfect audio companion for forest strolls and mountain treks. But in another world, it’s the perfect campfire song. The kind where everyone joins in. With guitars, voices and anything you can bang on to get a rhythm fired up. Last year, I saw OMAM at Radio City Music Hall where they ushered us into both of these visceral experiences.

“From the rain comes a river. Running wild that will create. An empire for you.”

"FAKE PLASTIC TREES" RADIOHEAD (1995)

Radiohead hadn’t quite hit their experimental rock stride yet on The Bends, but their sound was already evolving substantially. “Fake Plastic Trees” stood out on an album full of the more abrasive guitar stuff. I think it’s perhaps one of rock & roll’s finest examples of a crescendo rise and fall. It’s Radiohead unlocking the ability to trigger multiple emotions in under five minutes. And it’s one of the finest tracks from one of the finest albums of the 90’s.

“A green plastic watering can for a fake Chinese rubber plant in the fake plastic earth that she bought from a rubber man in a town full of rubber plans.”

"AUTUMN IN NEW YORK" ELLA FITZGERALD & LOUIS ARMSTRONG (1957)

Crunchy, rustling leaves. Crisp, cool air. Fall has always been the season I enjoy most in NYC. The slow, peaceful weather traits are a perfect complement to the pace and energy of the city. Like many of their collaborations, Ella and Armstrong are also a perfect combination. In “Autumn in New York”, the duo took the jazz standard and created a timeless rendition that feels as current as the day it was recorded.

“Glittering crowds and shimmering clouds in canyons of steel. They're making me feel I'm home.”

"NARC" INTERPOL (2004)

Everything great about the early Interpol years came together nearly flawlessly on “NARC”. Kessler’s pointed and grating guitar strums. Paul Banks’ haunting baritone belting and echoing in space. And Carlos D and Sam Fogarino laying down a multi-rhythmic tapestry. It’s one of the underrated glue tracks on Antics. It’s powerful and magnetic in concert. And it’s still one of my all-time favorite Interpol anthems after all these years.

“You can see that the gazing eye won't lie.”

"DISAPPOINTED" PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. (1989)

Through the years, Johny Lydon has evolved like a musical chameleon. From the Johnny Rotten days with the Sex Pistols to the evolution of PiL. They were experimental. They were danceable. They were raw. They were polished. By the time “Disappointed” and the entire 9 album came out, PiL had aligned with the modern rock masters of the time. But they still had Lydon’s unique edge and frantic vocal delivery.

“Disappointed a few people. When friendship reared its ugly head. Disappointed a few people. Well, isn't that what friends are for?”

"HIGHER GROUND" STEVIE WONDER (1973)

This was Stevie’s funk statement. The clavinet, wah-wah pedals, Moog synthesizers, overdubs and drums were all saturated in the sounds and attitude of funk. And it was all orchestrated and recorded by the one-man band known as Stevie Wonder. He took the song about as far as anyone possibly could, and then the Red Hot Chili Peppers found a way to bring it rest of the way with a potent and explosive cover.

“Powers keep on lyin' while your people keep on dyin'. World keep on turnin' 'cause it won't be too long.”

"THE SOUND OF SILENCE" DISTURBED (2015)

Epic. Cinematic. I first heard this amazing cover of the Simon & Garfunkel classic on an episode of The Blacklist. It was the perfect soundtrack for the gripping and spiraling episode. So many cover songs are just glorified karaoke-fests. But Disturbed unleashed a newfound power in the song, a new meaning without changing a single word. They took “The Sound of Silence” and made it entirely their own.

“Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping left its seeds while I was sleeping.”

"NOTHING ELSE MATTERS" METALLICA (1991)

“Nothing Else Matters” proves you don’t need thrash and speed to deliver a metal performance. It hailed from the album that finally launched Metallica to the masses. Up until then, they were the band that you only touched if you liked metal. But “Nothing Else Matters” wasn’t a small delicate thing either. It contained a slow-driving power, sung with conviction and structured with classic orchestral roots and metal-inspired arpeggios.

“So close, no matter how far, couldn't be much more from the heart. Forever trusting who we are, and nothing else matters.”

"DAY IS DONE" NICK DRAKE (1969)

I’ve zeroed in on several string arrangement masterpieces lately on Mental Jukebox. Today I’m writing about one more. “Day is Done” is the kind of musical genius that you may overlook at first. Even when people started to finally appreciate Nick Drake well after his death, “Day is Done” was often overshadowed by other well-known songs. But it’s a favorite of mine because it packed so much punch in just two minutes with one of the best string arrangements to be featured on a Nick Drake album.

“When the day is done, down to earth then sinks the sun. Along with everything that was lost and won.”

"STEPPIN' OUT" JOE JACKSON (1982)

Growing up on MTV, I witnessed the heavy and ubiquitous airplay of Joe Jackson’s musical transformation. Almost overnight, this artist went from new wave to something with hints of jazz. “Steppin’ Out” was one of the more overt expressions of the shift. It stuck out like a sore thumb on MTV. The most impressive thing about “Steppin’ Out” was that it represented Joe Jackson’s own stepping out of a budding new wave career and into a musical unknown.

“Now the mist across the window hides the lines. But nothing hides the color of the lights that shine. Electricity so fine, look and dry your eyes.”

"POSTCARDS FROM ITALY" BEIRUT (2006)

This song has always made me envious over the place, the moment and the experience that Zach Condon recounted for us. Every Beirut song is like an entry inside a travel journal. The kind that pulls you right back in the moment. “Postcards from Italy” did it by way of trumpet, ukulele and Zach Condon’s vagabond vocal delivery. It went somewhere far beyond the tourist traps and allowed our imaginations to discover places we never knew existed.

“The times we had, oh, when the wind would blow with rain and snow were not all bad. We put our feet just where they had, had to go, never to go.”

"PERFECT DAY" LOU REED (1972)

Not a single guitar chord to be heard. There’s just something very unrock and roll about “Perfect Day”. But there is MIchael Ronson’s piano interlude. A stunning string arrangement. A tuba. And a song that was nothing like the Velvet Underground. It was Lou Reed’s poem about his girl. It wasn’t about heroin. It was about a perfect day with a girl and sangria in the park. What Reed wrote and sang is exactly what he meant.

“Just a perfect day. You made me forget myself. I thought I was someone else, someone good.”

"A LETTER TO ELISE" THE CURE (1992)

For decades, The Cure have oscillated between euphoria and despair. Between the accessible and the experimental. They have been a band of extremes. But somewhere in the middle sits “A Letter to Elise”. It meandered its way into no man’s land and it became a fan favorite especially in the live setting. It’s easy to forget about “A Letter to Elise” because it sat somewhere between the big hits and the deep cuts. But it remains one of my favorites.

“I just can't stay here every yesterday.”