XTC - Generals and Majors

Not long ago I stumbled upon a show flyer I made back in the 1990s where the background was a repeating pattern of generals and majors from the game Stratego. This song is 31 now years old and has aged well, I think. The video is charmingly lo-fi.

Black Tambourine - We Can't Be Friends

This is from the One Last Kiss compilation from 1992 and was a nice rediscovery when it popped up on shuffle play.

The Umbrella Puzzles - Slip Through The Cracks

Ryan Marquez performed a few times on the pandemic open-mic Hot Dog Water Cocktail Hour on Instagram.

Ducks Ltd - 18 Cigarettes

Tim Hinely from Dagger fanzine is nominating this for best in 2021, barring any December surprises.

Constant Smiles - Run To Stay

I heard this on WFMU recently. They have a ton of releases going back to 2011 but I was able to learn almost nothing about them, which reminded me of when that was true of a band like XTC when I was a kid.

Cesare Cremonini - Buon Viaggio (Share The Love)

This was the basis of one of my early Italian lessons back in 2015 when it was on the charts. Lately I've been trying to learn it (both words and guitar).

The Kinks - Lola

I was at a karaoke night not long ago, my first in a long time, going back way before the pandemic. It's a few blocks from where I live, so it seemed like a good way to practice singing into a microphone. I thought about singing this one, but changed my mind at the last minute. As much as this song seems canonical, I had a feeling the crowd there wouldn't know it. It is over 50 years old, after all.