As in, 3 degree wind chill cold.
1. “3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds,” Jefferson Airplane, 1967. From Surrealistic Pillow; come on, it’s good cheesy fun. 6/10
2. “Hotel Yorba,” The White Stripes, 2001. I have a weakness for this song. It’s cute. And almost certainly the catchiest thing they’ve ever done. 7/10
3. “This Old Guitar,” Neil Young, 2005. From Prairie Wind, his most recent attempt. It seems maudlin at first listen, but then you remember that his dad died right before recording started, and Neil had brain surgery during recording, and it suddenly becomes a lot more haunting than saccharine. Great Emmylou Harris backup vocal. 8/10
4. “Cold Water,” Damien Rice, 2003. Even by the Rice’s neo-folk standards, this is a slooooow song. 5/10
5. “Sad Eyed Lady of the Low Lands,” Bob Dylan, 1966. Honestly, it acheives nothing in 11 minutes it couldn’t achieve in 5. But as the climax to Blonde on Blonde, I guess it earns it. 5/10
6. “No One Will Ever Love You,” The Magnetic Fields, 1999. Not even close to my favorite track from 69 Love Songs, but it does have a really nice ghostly quality to the vocal. 6/10
7. “You Don’t Move Me No More,” Big Mama Thornton, 1955. My favorite female blues vocalist ever. Ever. Sadly, she doesn’t give this one 110%…95% at most. 8/10
8. “Blue Condition,” Cream, 1967. The sort of blues that makes me wish I’d given Big Mama 10. It’s not that they’re bad, but they’re so white. 6/10
9. “Bring It On Home,” Led Zeppelin, 1969. Okay, weird little blues run here. There’s more of a dangerous sexual quality to this one than the Cream. Then, about midway through, it goes for hard rock, and sounds like every other Zeppelin track. 6/10
10. “Say It Isn’t So,” Billie Holiday, 1955. If I need to explain why Billie is an automatic 10/10, you really need to listen to more music.
Average 6.7/10
Bonus track: “When I See You Again,” Fleetwood Mac, 1987. Thank God that wasn’t in the audit.