Big Barking Dog

SCHOOL FOR BARBARIANS: TV on the Radio - "Wolf like me", Rise Against - "The First Drop" & "Life Less Frightening", Sisters of Mercy - "Lucretia My Reflection", Brooke Candy - "Changes", Amy Winehouse - "Back to Black", AFI - "Miss Murder" & "Bleed Black", Iggy Pop and the Stoogies - "I got a right", G.B.H. - "Diplomatic Immunity", Fiona Apple - "Criminal", Velvet Underground and Nico - "All Tomorrow’s Parties”

ALTERNATIVE COVERS - The Day Begins by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Gloria by Patti Smith (Live) & Them, Norwegian Wood by Cornershop & The Beatles, Sweet Jane by Cowboy Junkies & Lou Reed (Live), Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Chromatics, Nothing Compares to You by Sinead O Connor, HURT by Johnny Cash, Hallelujah by John Cale, Jealous Guy by Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music

Alternative Anthems . . . the soundtrack of your emotional life. Peter Gabriel - "Games without Frontiers", Oasis - "Wonderwall", Richard Durand - "There is Hope", Badly Drawn Boy - "Something to Talk About", Red Hot Silly Peppers. . . I mean Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Snow", Metric - "Help I'm Alive", Florence and the Machine - "Drumming Song (live)", Smithereens - "Behind the Wall of Sleep", ChoA & Iron - "Don't Be Shy", Peter Murphy - "Cuts You Up", Chameleons - "Second Skin"

After the sacred and before the profane there is Enigma MCMXC A.D.

Today's "Alternative, Soulful & Righteous" songs include: Bonzai - “2B1”, Jessie Ware - “Who says No to love", TLC - "Creep", Linda Perry - "Fruitloop Daydream", Stacy Barthe - "Flawed Beautiful Creatures", Macy Gray - "I try", Whitney Houston - "I’m Your baby", Mahalia Jackson - "I’m going to live the life that I sing about in my songs", Aretha Franklin - "Save me" "Think" and "I Say A Little Prayer", Rihanna - "America Oxygen", Asa - "Bimpe", Grace Jones - "La Vie en Rose"

Music by . . . The Cowsills (Hair), Fleetwood Mac (Tusk), Haddaway (What Is Love), Madness (Our House), Madonna (Holiday), ABC (The Look of Love), Electric Light Orchestra (Mr Blue Sky, Turn to Stone, 10538 Overture), Eagle Eye Cherry (Save Tonight), Edwyn Collins (A Girl Like You) and Eric Clapton (Layla). Guilty Pleasures? Hells Yeah . . For The Love of God . . . Get these songs . . . OUT OF MY HEAD . . . ! ! !

This is essentially a rerelease of the first Deep Forest Album supported by the addition of club remixes. It is a wonderfully skillful blend of voices from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Solomon Islands and Burundi . . . married with electronica melodies, chants and lullabies as produced by Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez. The voices of the Efe people are predominately featured. "Deep Forest" is one of my favorite World Music albums from the 1990's.

"Adore" by Smashing Pumpkins is a controversial album. Coming after the success of two highly regarded efforts ("Siamese Dreams" and "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"), it marked a shift into alternative electronica. The mood is dark as befits a band buffeted by divorce, drug addition and line up changes. It is also one of my very favorite Smashing Pumpkins efforts. With heavy musical textures . . . and a heart breaking libretto . . . it is not to be missed.

Velvet Underground Alumni John Cale dazzles with this requiem for the dead of the Falklands War. Alternative Classical with a Dylan Thomas Libretto ? Yeah. Got it here. "Words for the Dying" is de rigueur for the Living.

There are many great bands from the 1970's. Unfortunately a lot of their songs are over played. Check out lesser known but sensation tracks from Graham Nash & David Crosby, T Rex, The Rolling Stones, Brian Ferry, Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens, The Clash, The Dead Boys, David Bowie, Dolly Parton, Brian Eno and Blue Oyster Cult.