1. Muzzle of Bees- Wilco

• "And the sun gets passed from tree to tree, silently and back to me, with the breeze blown through, pushed up against the sea, finally back to me." Finally the great band Wilco makes an appearance on this blog. "Muzzle of Bees" is from 2004's "A Ghost is Born". The studio version is fine but not one of my favorite songs from the band. However "Muzzle of Bees" is one of my favorites to hear live. The song is largely built on a mid tempo acoustic guitar riff but eventually takes flight with powerful flourishes of electric guitar mastery-I hate to say the band has a template given how diverse their sound are styles are, but this might be it. I've had the fortune of seeing the band twice and the song was featured in both shows. Check out the live version from the "Kicking Television" album for the best take on this number.

2. Too Little Too Late- Barenaked Ladies

• "You say, why does everything revolve around you?, you say, why does everything I do confound you?, you say that I pulled the world from under you, you cant go through it this time." Finally the great Barenaked Ladies make an appearance on this blog. "Too Little Too Late" kicks off the album "Maroon" which was the follow up to the massively successful "Stunt". The album title was taken from a song (of the same name) by jazz artist Ken Nordine on the "Colors" album. "Too Little Too Late" is a straight forward rock song musically but is a bit darker lyrically. "This time isn't hell, last time, I couldn't tell, this mind wasn't well." Many BNL songs feature references to mental illness, depression and suicide. Perhaps my personal favorite is from the song "I'll Be That Girl"- "all the things I'd do to make myself turn blue, I suppose I'd start by removing all my clothes, tie my pantyhose around my neck." Great image.

3. Keep It Rollin'- A Tribe Called Quest

• "Styles be fat like Jackie Gleason, the rest be Art Carney, people love the Dawg like the kids love Barney, "I love you, you love me", the shorty Phife Dawg is your favorite MC." "Keep It Rollin'" comes from the "Midnight Marauders" album best known for the hit "Award Tour". For hip hop heads the song is probably best known for featuring The Large Professor. The Large Professor had recently left the group Main Source (who's debut "Breaking Atoms" is a hip hop classic) and went on to diss his old crew on this song. "I'm Uptown chillin, takin in this grand master Vic blend, from the projects, the PJ's, f**k them two DJ's". Hearing 3 great lryicists on the same song is a joy and makes me wonder what happened to main stream hip-hop. I caught De La Soul in concert last weekend and realized that old school hip hop is alive and well.