Slime Life Music presents…

Slime Life Music presents:

WhatIGotSoFar’s Christmas Gift 2008 Music Collection

Collected together, for the first time, outside my iPod, the eight songs that rocked my world this year.

Spanning four decades and two languages, these are the songs that rocked me the most this year. And for a limited time, Slime Life Music is offering them to you in mp3 format, free of charge, for a limited time only.

Colin James – Better Way to Heaven
A happy bouncy tune from the Canadian blues guitarist, though this is not quite blues. It’s too happy to be blue. Although I had the album Limelight I never really gave this tune a chance until I saw Colin James perform this song live late last year. It was without a backing band, just Colin and Craig Northey (formerly of The Odds and apparently the guy who did the theme song to the television series Corner Gas). After the show, I gave the record another listen and this song stuck out. It’s a feel good tune and it always cheers me up.

Stiff Little Fingers – Barbed Wire Love
This song goes way back to the earlier days of punk when the sound was raw and the production was pure shit. This song has always made me feel good. Sure, punk is not supposed to do that, but song does. Maybe it’s the doo-wop section, or maybe it’s just a fun little romp through scratchy dirty music.

Spacehog – In the Meantime
I like glam. I love glam when it’s done right. Spacehog brought back glam ever so briefly with this tune. I was a teenager when this song came out and everytime I hear it, I’m back in the basement of my parents’ old house with the wall of Cerwin Vega’s blasting my eardrums apart.

Rammstein – Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen
I have no idea what this song is about, it’s in German. I’d like to think the title means “What do you think I’m saying?” I haven’t got really much to say about this violent German industrial tune except that I’m pretty sure there’s a sample sound effect from the video game Doom throughout the song. Every once in a while, I play a couple levels of Doom and this song always leads off my DooMusic playlist.

Faith No More – Last Cup of Sorrow
Everytime I hear some shitty nümetal song, I go back to my Faith No More. This band never got the spotlight I thought they most certainly deserved and broke up before nümetal exploded. It’s probably better that way. They stay that unspoiled gem, kept away from the greedy paws of music’s homogenizer.

Iron Maiden – The Wicker Man (radio edit)
An elusive mix of an under-appreciated Iron Maiden song. This, is, Iron, Maiden, metal.

The Five Stairsteps – O-O-H Child
I know nothing about this group. This is the only song I’ve ever heard by them. They were a soul group from Chicago in the late ’60s and early ’70s. I heard this song in a music montage at the end of a rather mediocre episode of How I Met Your Mother. I didn’t care much for the show, but I liked the song that was playing. I did a little sniffing around and found this song. I really like how the drums stand out in the mix. Rob from The Delete Bin called it “an unabashed anthem to optimism.” I can’t word it any better, so why try?

Todd Rundgren – Dust in the Wind
Has there ever been a song that the more you hear it, the more you want to hear it? This has been that song for me for the last year or so. It’s both happy and sad simultaneously. I don’t quite understand how such a blend of emotions is possible, but this Todd Rundgren guy got it all down on record.

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This is my Christmas gift to you. Enjoy it. Oh heck, you can re-gift it. I don’t care. Any dead links or wrong links or screwy sound files, please report them to me in the comments section and I’ll get right on it.

Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings and all that wonderful gooey stuff people throw around like confetti this time of year. I love you all.