I Stand Upon This Stupid Platform

“Forget,” Mission of Burma
Peter Prescott’s martial drumming keeps the song in check as it quickly builds up steam and boils over at about the 2:20 mark. Mission of Burma are masters of controlled chaos. Greg Milner wrote this article for Salon in 2002, the year the band reunited.

“From Blown Speakers,” The New Pornographers
I dig The New Pornographers, but would I be as into them if Neko Case and Dan Bejar weren’t in the band? Not bloody likely! This song has more life performed live.

“Get Ready,” The Temptations
Heavenly falsetto, courtesy of Eddie Kendricks. I've secretly always wanted to be a Motown backup singer.

“Gunshy,” Liz Phair
It’s just too bad that she couldn’t replicate the depth of her debut. Her work afterward is so devoid of anything remotely resembling Exile in Guyville.

“Billion Dollar Babies,” Alice Cooper
I remember as a kid being very afraid of Alice Cooper, what with the snakes and the blood and the what-have-you. Tipper Gore didn’t help matters much. He represented the “dark side,” or so she and her ilk warned. Alice explains his on-stage persona in this interesting video from the CBC. He likes to golf, dammit! How scary can the man be?