Plastic Songs Vol. 2 Tracklist

Here's the breakdown on my compilation for the 2nd annual Plastic music exchange. There's a couple of mp3s and a couple of links to pages where you can stream some of the individual tuneage.

1. Senegal Fast Food - Amadou & Mariam
Blind couple from Mali bring a catchy, multicultural mixture of sounds together for some tasty ear candy. Lyrics sung in French, English, and various African languages.
2. Something About You [MP3] - Fink's Constant
Central Pennsylvania's only Ska band. They do an updated version of the 2-Tone style of Ska. These guys are a great live act and I'm usually at their shows if they're playing anywhere close to home. I've become good friends with the band so I'm pimpin' 'em a little. This song's a crowd favorite.
3. The Little Black Egg - The Nightcrawlers
Garage band from the '60s lets loose with a single of jangly, Byrds-influenced psychedelia. Single taken from: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 [BOX SET]
4. Get It Together - The Go! Team
Samples, whistles, cheerleading, TV and movie themes, and scratching all thrown together with more traditional instrumentation for a song that's greater than the sum of its parts
5. This Heart's On Fire - Wolf Parade
This is one of those songs that you just have to roll the windows down and crank it up when it plays. Slowly builds tension with the guitars and drums until the last minute and a half when it resolves itself with a fractured, fuzzed-out release.
6. People - Alfie
Now defunct U.K. band that worked the folky, dreampop side of the street. This song's a freshly polished convertible making its way to the coast - sunshine streaming down, a breeze blowing your hair around... Taken from a disc of songs compiled by the Flaming Lips, in the LateNightTales series
7. Maybe Sparrow - Neko Case
The Alt-Country chanteuse with the sweet, sweet voice brings her crystal-clear vocals to the party with soaring spirituality on this track.
8. I'm A Worried Man - Willie Nelson w/Toots Hibbert
The best track from Countryman, Willie's long-shelved experiment with mixing Reggae and Country that was finally released last year. It's a Johnny Cash cover and it features the one and only Toots Hibbert (of Toots And The Maytals fame). A great tune despite the seeming incongruencies involved.
9. Amazon - M.I.A.
Sri Lankan Hip-Hop artist and daughter of a Tamil Tiger who mixes pop and politics with gritty beats and a unique vocal style into a song that tells the tale of her being kidnapped...
10. Polyester Meets Acetate - The Brunettes
Twee-pop from New Zealand. This track has a definite Jonathan Richman feel to it. Yeah, it's a love song.
11. Morning Wonder - The Earlies
If you took Pink Floyd, The Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, and the Secret Machines and locked in 'em the studio, you'd probably get a song like this: spacey, dreamy, psychedelic, and with low-key harmonies throughout.
12. The Diner Song (Caesars) - State Radio
A fun, bouncy song about a diner that's packed with double entendres. If Ben Folds did skankin', Reggae influenced tunes they would sound like this.
13. Everyday - Rogue Wave
A cover of the Buddy Holly staple from the Indie-Poppers. Taken from the Stubbs The Zombie soundtrack.
14. (My Girl) Maryanne - The Spongetones
Released in '84, this track's a throwback to the Merseybeat era of the late '60s - an ultra-catchy boy-loves-girl deal. From the Children Of Nuggets Box Set
15. Off The Record - My Morning Jacket
Track finds the band - as it's been slowly doing for some time now - expanding the boundaries of its former Americana/Alt Country sound into something larger and more soulful.
16. Needle In A Haystack - The Velvelettes
Girl-group single from '64. It's all handclaps and harmonies - in other words, good stuff!
17. The Cute Band [MP3] - The Tah-Dahs
Savage Powerpop song with punk intensity. Relentless lyrics skewer indierockdom's self-inflicted stereotypes.
18. Bastardo - Charlotte Hatherley
Former guitarist for U.K. rockers, Ash, released a solo album in '04 entitled Grey Will Fade. The title character steals a blue guitar from a love-lorn girl (perhaps Charlotte?). Great pop song.
19. Cut Your Hair - Pavement
Slacker-rock from the Indie band that was more of a critical success than a commercial success. From the re-issue of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
20. I Chase The Devil - Madness
Cover of an old Ska chestnut from The Dangerman Sessions, an album full of mostly Ska and Reggae covers.
21. LUA - Bright Eyes
Absolutely heart-wrenching sadness from the young troubador in this tale of drug use, depression and break-up.