1. “The Poet Game” by Greg Brown (sung by Ani DiFranco)–Greg Brown is about as brilliant an American songwriter as we have, but I didn’t know that–sorry Greg–until I heard his songs sung by other people, especially the women compiled on Going Driftless, an absolutely transcendent album of Greg Brown covers. He’s also married, last I heard, to the amazing Iris DeMent, from whom we need another album.
2. “Mercy” by Duffy–another great one-named British singer.
3. “Good Times, Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin–I got tired of these guys after a while, but their first album, as former Yardbirds, was mind-blowing.
4. “The Farmer’s Daughter” by Merle Haggard–the purest, loveliest sort of Merle.
5. “Futile Devices” by Sufjan Stevens–a genius and definitely a road trip kind of guy.
And since we did a lot of driving today:
6. “7/4 (Shoreline)” by Broken Social Scene–another great Canadian group, especially when Feist is with them.