Matty's Playlist EPs vol. 9

'Bitten By The Tailfly' - Elbow (Asleep In The Back): This song is flat-out badass wicked. Sweet tribal drums and drone-ish singing/chanting is interrupted by jagged, stabbing shards of buzzsaw distorted guitar. I totally fell in love with Elbow after listening to their brilliant 2008 album The Seldom Seen Kid and I then went back and listened to their highly accomplished debut, Asleep In The Back. Definitely a track, and a band, to check out. They make Coldplay sound banal by comparison.

'Bell Bottom Blues' - Derek & The Dominos (Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs): This track, along with 'Layla', is the most well-known song from their classic album. It features wonderful harmony vocals and dueling guitars, often in harmony themselves. Sweet bluesy goodness about unrequited love (essentially the entire album deals with that subject). Contrary to popular belief, Duane Allman doesn't feature on this track at all, with Clapton doing all the overdubbing of the rhythm and lead guitars. I believe it's the finest track of his storied career, in terms of guitar architecture in a song. Phenomenal.

'All the Diamonds in the World' - Bruce Cockburn (Salt, Sun and Time): This little acoustic gem is an early period Cockburn classic. Gentle, lilting, and delicate, it's a heartfelt meditation on the beauty of creation and a song that still makes it into his setlists (I saw him in March and this was one of the songs in the encore--stunning). My stepfather first put this on a mix CD for me years ago and it has stuck with me ever since.

'Silver Rider' - Robert Plant (Band Of Joy): I love this entire album--Plant was brilliant to get Buddy Miller as well as Patty Griffin (!!) to be part of his band. However, this song absolutely levelled me when I first heard it. Ethereal, atmospheric, Lanois-esque production and devastatingly gorgeous vocal interplay between Plant and Griffin make this one of my favourite songs of last year. For me, this song is very much an example of "what's not played is even more important than what's played". Miller's guitar work is understated and virtually perfect. Incredible. Check it out.

Listen to this playlist here.