The Rob Gordon Shuffle, 1.21.07

Photo by David Greenwald

Ted Leo – “Heart Problems”: mp3
Ted Leo — my boy, Ted Leo — and I get along better all the time, especially now that I’m going to the gym and I need a soundtrack. That’s why I was shocked and amused by Pitchfork’s “exclusive” blurb on his new song, which completely overlooked the existence of 2004’s Shake the Sheets. “Oops.” Shake the Sheets is pretty clearly my favorite TL/RX/Pharmacists album; it’s easily his most consistent and consistently enjoyable. Listen to this song and you’ll hear why.

Edan – “Funky Voltron”: mp3
I listened to Beauty and the Beat lots in 2005, back when CMG was hyping it to high heaven and I was trying to get into hip-hop. Well, now I’m into hip-hop and this album sounds a whole lot better. It sounds great, actually, and this track is the best: Edan’s psychadelic patchwork beat perfectly underscores his hard-spit rhymes.

Neil Young – “Helpless” (live, 1.12.71): mp3
If you’re a Young fan, this could be our year. Supposedly (it’s always “supposedly” when it comes to the infamous Neil Young archive) he’s finally going to release The Box Set this year. That’s right, the one with the original version of Tonight’s The Night and his unreleased albums from the ’70s and who knows what else. But we do know he’s putting out another live record, one recorded at Massey Hall in January of 1971. This song is from a show earlier in the week, but I’m sure it’s no less incredible.

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The Rob Gordon Shuffle is a weekly Sunday rundown of fascinating songs without particular regard to genre or timeliness. It is absolutely not a top five. To read further installments, click below.