14 favorite elements of songs I currently have on rotation while I create artwork for my own book

1. The cinematic-sounding French horn lines during Kanye West's "All of the Lights"
Ye is a modern-day Mozart--as in batshit crazy, but a total musical genius.

2. The military drums during Pusha T's "My God"

(Photo source: Trebles and Blues)

3. The piano sample during Trebles and Blues' "The Tempo"

4. The handclaps during The New Pornographers' "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk"

5. The bloops that open The Chemical Brothers' "Car Chase (Arp Worship)" from the Hanna score

6. The bass line of Lyrics Born and Sam Sparro's "Coulda Woulda Shoulda"

7. The really tight brass section during The Heavy's live 2010 performance of "That Kind of Man" for KEXP

8. The "Love You Save"-esque beat of Dennis Coffey and Mayer Hawthorne's "All Your Goodies Are Gone"

9. Dres' flow during the Black Sheep track "Elevation"

10. Bambu's delivery of "I used to sit in church and look at the stained glass and wonder why none of them look like me" during "Misused"

11. The electronic bass line of Daft Punk's Tron: Legacy end credits cue "Solar Sailer"

12. Ernie Isley's smokin' guitar solo at the end of The Isley Brothers' "Summer Breeze"
I only listen to that cover of sappy Seals and Crofts just to get to that guitar solo.



13. Teena Marie (R.I.P.) leading the female half of the Long Beach audience in a playful battle of the sexes with Rick James over which gender is louder during the live 1981 version of "I'm a Sucker for Love" that's on the deluxe edition CD of Street Songs

14. "The Michael McDonald of the rap game," Nate Dogg (R.I.P.), proving he wasn't your father's Michael McDonald when he crooned "And you even licked my balls" during Snoop Dogg's "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)"

"Rock Box" Track of the Day: The Heavy, "Short Change Hero"

Song: "Short Change Hero" by The Heavy
Released: 2009
Why's it part of the "Rock Box" playlist?: It's featured in the end credits of Dwayne Johnson's recent revenge flick Faster, which earns points for also featuring Guido and Maurizio De Angelis' "Goodbye My Friend" from another revenge flick, the 1974 Franco Nero actioner Street Law. Viewers of the Syfy original series Haven might be familiar with "Short Change Hero" from its appearance in Haven promos.

I'm a fan of the British band The Heavy. I'm not a fan of Hollywood's current perception that "How You Like Me Now?" is the only song The Heavy has done. So I'm glad Faster gave exposure to a Heavy track that's not "How You Like Me Now?"

Both those jams and "That Kind of Man" sound incredible live. Hell, all of The Heavy's songs sound incredible live. (David Letterman loved The Heavy's live performance of "How You Like Me Now?" with the horn section of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings so much that he did something he had never done before: he had the musical guest do an encore.)

Check out "Short Change Hero" at my SwiftFM site.