TRACK BY TRACK MTV2 HANDPICKED

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TRACK BY TRACK MTV2 HANDPICKED
by Kristi Kates

Compilation discs are a dime a dozen on the CD store circuit these days.

It seems like every label, every radio station, every company (K-Tel,

anyone?) has put together what they consider to be the best mix of tunes

around.

The problem with that is that "best" is a matter of opinion - so, as it

ends up, many of these compilation CDs are nothing more than a tossed salad

of whatever's in vogue and on the radio at the moment.

These sorts of compilation discs aren't exactly a risky venture, which is

probably why they're so ubiquitous.  The NOW! Compilation discs - the ones

that you most often see commercials for on late-night TV - are just one

step above the usual, with a few more eclectic choices and, at the very

least, a good mix, founded as they were by a company in England that first

brought the NOW! discs to consumer attention.

Then you have what might be called the upper echelon of compilation CDs -

movie soundtracks, for instance, like the ones for Almost Famous or perhaps

I Am Sam, with its in-crowd versions of Beatles tunes by a widely varied

slew of artists.  Or discs put out by radio stations that are perhaps more

cutting-edge.  Or the disc we're tracking out today - put out by the

uber-cool MTV2, the nifty cable alternative to the now sadly mainstream

"regular" MTV music channel.

Titled "Handpicked," this mix CD features a graphic of a tray of white eggs

on the cover, with one turquoise egg standing out in the crowd - as many of

the songs on this compilation do.

Track One starts things off on a good note - several of them, actually -

with the underrated Brit quartet Travis, and their latest single, "Sing," a

buoyant, melodic number about keeping your chin up and getting through this

crazy life with a little music; Travis' tunes always manage to somehow

blend sweetness with a good bite of British edginess, and this tune is no

exception - singer Fran Healy's vocals anchor the song nicely, and the

rhythm section keeps things chugging right along.

Next up at Track Two, another virtual unknown - at least, as far as the

NOW! crowd goes.  Pete Yorn brings the listener a tune from his album

"Musicfromthemorningafter," the quirky, folky "Life on a Chain."  Kicking

off with the reminiscent scratch of vinyl and segueing into a more polished

sound, "Life on a Chain" showcases Yorn's just-on-the-edge-of-gravel voice

as he mumbles through the lyrics of this folk-rock track.

A virtual alternative chart-topper, Cake take up Track Three with their

catchy "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" - Cake has managed throughout their career

to keep their songs interesting while still putting across that distinctive

Cake style, and this song stays right in with their game plan.

In-your-face, torpid machine-gun vocals, a funky-as-all-get-out bass line,

a guitar part that recalls The Velvet Underground's hit "Sweet Jane," that

initial trumpet flare, and that darned "Na-na-na-na-NAAA-na" refrain that

sticks in your head like... uh... day-old cake frosting... all make this

Cake track a winner.

The infamous Mr. Dave Navarro (he of the late Jane's Addiction and

sometimes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) steps in at Track Four with his own

"Rexall," a slightly grunge-infused but surprisingly sensitive-sounding

track from his "Trust No One" disc, singing with an almost pretty voice

that you wouldn't expect from the out-there guitarist.

Following up Dave at Track Five, we find another Brit export, Coldplay,

with their best-known tune, "Yellow," a sweeping, nearly-perfect pop song

that speaks of love and longing the way only a Beatles-influenced British

pop band can.  Listening to "Yellow," It's easy to see why this track

helped propel Coldplay into gigantic U.S. sales of their accompanying

album, "Parachutes."

Entering the mix at Track Six is California-based band named Remy Zero, who

first garnered larger audiences by opening up for Minneapolis-based band

Semisonic on one of their tours - well, with songs like this one - "Save

Me" - they won't need to be opening up for other bands for much longer.

"Save Me" is just one indication of what Remy Zero can do with California

alterna-pop, fusing their forward-thinking lyrics with a U2-meets-Flock of

Seagulls kinda thing to craft their own 21st-Century sound - you'll have to

grab their new album, "The Golden Hum," to find out the rest.

Yet another relative unknown can be found in the Sony Records band Ours,

whose track "Sometimes" takes up residence at Track Seven like they mean

it, with this sing-alongable, soaring tune, at once suspenseful and

powerful, that takes more than a little influence from Thom Yorke and

Radiohead.

And, speaking of the latter, alternative superstars Radiohead themselves

move in next door to Ours on Track Eight, with an amazing live version of

"Idioteque" that gives new depth to a song that was already a Radiohead

classic in its own right, from those first familiar synth tweaks all the

way to the end.

On Track Nine is a tune from The Crystal Method's latest disc, "Tweekend,"

that listeners might find familiar, too, as it's been heard as the backdrop

for many extreme sports events - the tune "Name of the Game" has a

churning, skateboarders-on-caffeine feel that'll get you up and moving, or

else, dude.

Lo Fidelity AllStars follow up the Method on Track Ten with the U.S. Mix

Edit of their track "Sleeping Faster" that segues well from The Crystal

Method's British techno to Lo Fidelity's own Brit-techno-meets-urban lounge

sound.

As of Track Eleven, things chill out a bit with a few modern folk tracks

that bring a new energy to the folk-rock genre.  Import troubadour David

Gray drops his big radio hit "Babylon" while still somehow maintaining his

cult-status energy, while Ryan Adams at Track Twelve contributes his

hopeful, affectionate tribute to what is still the East Coast's, and

perhaps the country's, greatest city, "New York, New York."

We're not done with the low gear yet, though - John Ondrasik and Five For

Fighting stop in at Track Thirteen with that now-recognizable piano line

opening up the thoughtful left-field track "Superman (It's Not Easy)," sung

by Ondrasik in a pensive tone that really puts the lyrics of this unusual

song across.

Moving on to Track Fourteen, Dashboard Confessional makes an appearance

with a remix of their track "Screaming Infidelities" - is it our

imagination, or does DC's singer sound a LOT like Stephen Jenkins from

Third Eye Blind? - with the slightly whiny vocals effectively underscoring

this tale of an maybe-abandoned lover.

Mystic pops in on Track Fifteen starting off things with a little "c'mon,

c'mon!" to rev up their low-key ghetto-fabulous hip hop track "The Life"...

and Stereomud anchors down a rather heavy Track Sixteen with the ballistic

Metallic-wannabe tune "Pain."

Up next, the strange and flamboyant Tenacious D at Track Seventeen, with

his rock-opera-meets-comedy track, "Wonderboy" - and, wrapping this

marvelous mix up, it's the

LostProphets, shouting you out with "Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja," the track

that might be the soundtrack to an Asian fighting movie - yeah, IF the

samurais were snowboarding.

This last track is, unfortunately, really the only weak link on this

compilation, so it's a shame that things had to end this way - but, all in

all, MTV2's Handpicked must have been picked, indeed, by someone with an

ear for the unusual and the cutting edge, because more of these songs stand

out in the crowd than get lost in it.

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