No Hits 8.22.05

Brad Wood (mp3) - Hartley Goldstein

Ha ha novelty song or sincere tribute? Hard to say, but "Brad Wood" by New Yorker Hartley Goldstein has a certain charm. And it's an excuse for me to walk down memory lane, all the way back to the mid-90s when Mr. Wood was the "it" indie rock producer. When Goldstein sings "I want whiny vocals, distortion and hooks galore," we all know exactly what watershed album he's referring to.

But as great as Exile in Guyville was (and I try very hard not to let Liz Phair's subsequent artistic meltdown ruin the record for me), my favorite Wood production's gotta be Ben Lee's Grandpaw Would--one of the best pop albums of that decade. If you like catchy tunes, if you appreciate most of the stuff I post, you'll love it. Promise. Incredibly, Lee was like 15 when these gems were recorded. He flew from Sydney to Chicago on his school break and stayed at Wood's place for two weeks, going to shows and hanging with the likes of Phair and Rebecca Gates of The Spinanes. Heady stuff for a kid, but obviously, a massively talented one. To increase the length of the recording so it qualified as a full-length LP, Lee later recorded several additional tracks in Australia with Wood collaborator Casey Rice.

Away With The Pixies (with Liz Phair) (mp3) - Ben Lee

Green Hearts (mp3) - Ben Lee

And to tie this post up in a nice little knot, I'm sharing what's probably my favorite novelty/indie rock hero tribute song by none other than the Spinanes:

Jad Fair Drives Women Wild (mp3) - The Spinanes

From International Pop Underground Convention. "Brad Wood" comes from Hartley Goldstein's first EP, Songs In the Key of Zoloft.