“September” – Earth, Wind & Fire
OK, we’re a day off. But I can’t miss my annual chance to throw this into a playlist.

“Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces) – The National
The National dropped a surprise album Monday, serving as a companion to First Two Pages of Frankenstein, released earlier this year. There are two really good songs on it. This is obviously one of them. You think I would waste your time with a bad track?

“Us Against The World” – Jungle
I hope some team, somewhere, that goes on to great success adopts this as their anthem so we can hear them chanting it after a big win.

“waterlilly” – crushed
This track has some serious early 90s overtones. I’m reminded a bit of Sophie B. Hawkins.

“Heaven Help Me” – The Bones of J.R. Jones
First time I heard this song, something about it struck me that I couldn’t quite place. Then I read that Jonathon Linaberry records and performs as a one-man-band and it made sense. There is a certain feel you get from those one-person acts who, using loops and pedals and a unique setup, can stand on stage and generate a band’s worth of music on their own. That vibe is definitely present here.

“Joiner” – Blondshell
I feel like I haven’t shared much of Blondshell’s music. Then I checked and this is the fourth of her songs I’ve posted in the past year-plus. That’s a sign both that she’s put out a lot of good songs and my memory isn’t as good as it used to be.

“Boys on the Radio” – Hole
This week I listened to the “Doll Parts” episode of 60 Songs That Explain the 90s. I owned Hole’s breakthrough album Live Through This, but not 1998’s Celebrity Skin. Host Rob Harvilla said this was one of three perfect rock songs that Courtney Love wrote in her career. I don’t recall ever hearing it. I have to agree with him, though, it’s pretty awesome. When she first formed Hole, Love listed Fleetwood Mac as one of her influences. That seems crazy if you just know Hole’s grungier songs where she is screaming. But this? I can totally hear Stevie Nicks singing it.

“Eyes to the Wind” – The War on Drugs
This is the last full day of astronomical summer. Every year, right around this time, I try to listen to this song while driving with the windows down. That started in, oh, 2015 or so. I was running an errand around 7:30 PM, driving our huge Chevy SUV, with the windows down, TWOD’s most Bob Seger song came on, and it all felt perfect. I imagined people driving big Chevys in 1977, listening to “Night Moves” or “Mainstreet” as the last of summer’s warm breezes moved the evening air. Even though I’m driving a smaller, German SUV now, it still feels right to repeat that act each September. It also gives me a chance to remind you of this most excellent, if slightly less autumnal, live version I’ve shared several times in the past.

“Throw Your Arms Around Me” – Neil Finn & Eddie Vedder covering Hunters & Collectors
This was one of the most excellent inclusions on season two of The Bear. It got me thinking of this time of year as well. Mostly because I’m pretty sure it was about this time in 2001, when I had just moved into a new apartment and got my first DSL line that had high speed (for 2001), dedicated internet, and I could start diving into the world of file sharing. I had heard of this song popping up in Pearl Jam shows for years and was finally able to track down boot-legged recordings of it.

One of the first I found listed it as a Crowded House cover, so for several years I assumed it was a Neil Finn song. Eventually I learned that Crowded House’s version was a cover itself. The original was written by Mark Seymour for his band Hunters & Collectors. Mark’s little brother Nick just happened to be the bassist in Crowded House. Eddie Vedder loved Neil Finn’s music, so I would not be surprised if his first exposure to the song was via the CH cover. Eventually Eddie would bring Mark Seymour on stage with him to sing this when PJ toured Australia.

That’s probably more information than you needed, but it’s a great song with several terrific interpretations by multiple artists that I love.