The Ledge #702: Random Forgotten Gems

I think it's safe to say that, for the most part, I'm a forward thinking music obsessive who is always on the hunt for my next favorite record. It's that attitude that allows for this show to constantly have two new release episodes almost every single month.

There's a downside to this fanaticism, though. When one collects so much music but is so focused on the future, a lot of great music is pretty much forgotten. Over the last couple of weeks, however, I have taken steps to recreate myself with some of these great releases.

The story actually begins a few months ago when I discovered that the popular video streaming/sharing program Plex had an audio add-on called Plexamp. This simple program allows me to stream my entire master library on my various devices. 

This has been a game-changer, although for the last few months I have primarily utilized it to stream my favorite classic records from the past. Two weeks ago, though, I decided to do a little experiment. I put my entire 160,000 tracks on shuffle, and tonight's show consists of tracks that have sprung up over these last fourteen days.

I must admit I'm a little surprised by what came up. Even at the number of tracks I have on my external drives, there are certain artists that dominate the proceedings. Having dozens of digitized live Replacements concerts certainly inflate the numbers, as do the entire catalogs, including bootlegs, of the likes of Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Guided By Voices, and so many others.

Yet outside of a couple of side projects by Guided By Voices leader Robert Pollard, none of these biggies came up on shuffle. In fact, my listening was primarily the lesser known types that I was hoping to get reacquainted with. You'll see a handful of familiar names in this episode, but even in the majority of those cases it's not the usual songs you hear by these groups.

What tracks did you enjoy the most?

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1. The Fleshtones - Remember The Ramones

2. Tommy Keene - Karl Marx

3. Prix - Girl

4. Robert Pollard - I Can Illustrate

5. Teenage Guitar - A Year That Could Have Been Worse

6. F.U.2. - Sniffin Glue

7. Shake Some Action! - Stranger in the House

8. Helta Skelta - 55mm

9. Titanic Love Affair - Fading So Fast

10. The Eyes - When The Night Falls

11. The Tell Tale Hearts - Crawling Back To Me

12. The Radiators From Space - Enemies

13. The Novaks - Goodbye Rock And Roll Band

14. The Del Fuegos - Nervous and Shakey

15. Mike Ness - The Devil In Miss Jones

16. Sonny Vincent & Rocket From The Crypt - Unlock

17. The Rip-Offs - I Can't Stop

18. Jim and the French Vanilla - Not Even War

19. PAINT FUMES - Dice Eyes

20. Bambi Kino - Some Other Guy

21. PERFECTORS - Bat Beat

22. Country Teasers - Black Change

23. Son of Dribble - Hard to Care

24. The Screws - Story 16

25. Starflyer 59 - Young in My Head

26. The Muffs - Weird Boy Next Door

27. Scrunchies - Wichita

28. THE CELEBRITIES - Party In My Chevrolet

29. The Shrieks - Sunbathing

30. The 5.6.7.8's - 19th Nervous Breakdown

31. The Rezillos - Top Of The Pops

32. Downtown Boys - Lips That Bite

33. Les Deuxluxes - Lighter Fluid

34. Negative Scanner - Low

35. Thee Sgt. Major III - Battery Operated

36. The Glycereens - Tell Me