Alphabet Soup Week 47: Artists Filed Under X

Given the limited nature of the X Universe, this week's playlist takes us outside the confines of the alphabet.

Way back in January, when I first launched Alphabet Soup, I knew that there would be letters for which I'd struggle to create a ten track playlist, the most obvious being the letter X. And here we are! In the week 9 installment I posted the following alphabetic breakdown of albums and tracks from my digitized CD collection:

As you can see, there were only three artists beginning with X in my CD library, which makes it pretty hard to pull a complete playlist together. Back in week 33, when I was facing a similar issue, my workaround was to include artists with Q appearing somewhere in their name. That approach doesn’t work this time as, even after expanding my filter to include artists with an X somewhere in their name, I wasn’t overly excited with what I was left with.

So we’re going with a completely different approach for the next two weeks: artists (this week) and tracks (next week) that begin with a number. My only rule was that the artist/track had to start with an actual number, which knocked out bands like Thirty Seconds to Mars, Five For Fighting and Seven Mary Three. Despite what was still a fairly limited selection of artists from which to choose, I’m pleased with the playlist I’ve managed to pull together.

Here’s hoping you connect with something on this week’s playlist, whether it’s an old favorite or something completely new to you. Please hit me up in the comments to let me know what you enjoyed (or didn’t). What artists beginning with X would have have been on your list? What about band names beginning with numbers? I’d love to hear from you!

Happy listening…

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ALPHABET SOUP WEEK 47: Artists Filed Under X

This week’s selections:

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ARTIST: 38 Special

TRACK: "Caught Up In You" from Time Life Guitar Rock Early 80s (1994)

We start off this week's playlist with the Jacksonville-based American rock band 38 Special, a band with a handful of hits in the 1980s and 90s. Caught Up In You found its way into my CD collection via the "Early 80's" installment of the Time Life Guitar Rock series, a collection that numbered over two dozen CDs. I'm not sure I physically owned all of them, but it was pretty close. The song originally appeared on 38 Special's fifth studio album, 1982's Special Forces, and was their first single to make the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, which really surprised me I was so sure that 1981's Hold On Loosely must have been the band's most successful commercial release and was shocked to discover that it only made it to number 27 on the Billboard chart.

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ARTIST: 54-40

TRACK: "One Day In Your Life" from Radio Love Songs - The Singles Collection (2003)

54-40, the Canadian rock band hailing from Delta, British Columbia, has released 15 albums over the last 40 years. The band first began receiving significant college airplay in 1986 with their self-titled second album which included the single I Go Blind (later covered by Hootie & the Blowfish and released as the B-side to their 1994 single Hold My Hand). Commercial success, in Canada at least, would come in 1987 with their third album Show Me, on which One Day In Your Life appears. This is widely considered the band's signature song and peaked at number 90 on Canada's RPM Singles chart in 1988.

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ARTIST: 13 Engines

TRACK: "Slow" from Conquistador (1995)

< < Not on Spotify > >

In the early 90s, 13 Engines felt like one of those bands on the verge of breaking through to the mainstream; they never quite made it. The Canadian band, initially formed as The Ikons by four classmates from Toronto's York University, released six studio albums over nine years. After the success of their breakthrough album, 1993's Perpetual Motion Machine, the band seems poised to solidify their standing with 1995's Conquistador. The album, which is widely considered the band's best work, produced one hit in Canada in the form of Beneath My Hand. I've chosen instead to go with Slow, my favorite song from the album. Sadly, despite their promise, the band broke up in the late 90s.

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As you make your way through this week’s playlist, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do any of these tracks really stand out for you? What do you like? What don’t you like?

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ARTIST: 3 Doors Down

TRACK: "Kryptonite" from The Better Life (2000)

For some reason I've always kinda lumped 3 Doors Down in with Nickelback and Creed for bland, middle of the road, late 90s rock. I did own early albums by all three bands, but they've never had any staying power and their music hasn't held up well for me; like a thrice-chewed wad of Bazooka Joe, the flavor is gone before you even start to enjoy it. Before they'd even released their first album, 3 Doors Down's debut single Kryptonite saw explosive success. The single topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for nine weeks before topping the Modern Rock Tracks chart for a further eleven weeks, making it the most successful single on both charts across the 2000s. The single would also peak at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, with the album, 2000's The Better Life, going on to sell over seven million records and reach number 7 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

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ARTIST: 10 Years

TRACK: "Dancing With The Dead" from Minus The Machine (2012)

The Knoxville-based alternative metal band 10 Years has released ten albums over their two decade career. I owned a couple of their mid-career albums, including their 2012 release Minus The Machine, from which Dancing With The Dead is drawn. Although the band has seen limited commercial success, this album was one of their three that made it into the top 30 of the Billboard 200 chart. The band is still active, albeit with a significantly different line-up as lead singer Jesse Hasek remains the only member of the band from the 2012 album.

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ARTIST: 4 Non Blondes

TRACK: "Spaceman" from Bigger, Better, Faster, More! (1992)

Although 4 Non Blondes were only together for one album, 1992's Bigger, Better, Faster, More!, what an album it was! While the critical reviews were mixed, I thoroughly enjoyed the album and will happily listen to it from front to back (yeah, that expression doesn't really make sense in a streaming world but, ya know...) as there's not a bad song on the entire album. Unfortunately the album itself became a victim of the success of the mammoth single What's Up? which essentially consigned the band to one hit wonder status. The song peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 while also topping the charts in over a dozen countries. I've chosen to go with the album's third single, the more restrained Spaceman, which saw far less success, only reaching the top 20 in a handful of countries and failing to make the Billboard Hot 100.

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ARTIST: 8mm

TRACK: "Give it Up" from Opener EP (2004)

I only ever owned one release by the US rock band 8mm, their independently released debut EP Opener on which Give It Up appears. While researching this week's installment I was somewhat surprised to learn that the band is still active and I've been enjoying their latest album, 2024's Black Cat, which is playing as I write this. The band was started in 2004 by musician, record producer and audio engineer Sean Beavan who had previously worked with Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson (and has since worked with Guns 'N Roses and A Perfect Circle among others). The band is rounded out by Beavan's wife Juliette on vocals and Jon Radtke (who has toured with Filter and Kill Hannah) on lead guitar.

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ARTIST: 21 Hertz

TRACK: "Ever" from Ocean of Time (2005)

Somehow 21 Hertz's 2005 debut studio album Ocean of Time, on which Ever appears, found its way into my CD collection in the late 2000s. I can't be 100% sure, but I have a vague recollection of buying this in the import section of a record store in Boston (perhaps Satellite Records on Mass Ave?) I can't think of where else I might have purchased it as this sort of music wasn't generally available in Bermuda (although there was, very briefly a store called Opus Records, run by a local musician couple, that carried some phenomenal electronic music). I haven't been able to find out much about 21 Hertz outside of the fact that they're a trip hop outfit founded in Stockholm in 2003 and have released two studio albums and a handful of singles.

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ARTIST: 13 & God

TRACK: "Perfect Speed" from 13 & God (2005)

Outside of owning one of their albums in the mid-2000s, I know very little about our next artist. As per their Wikipedia entry, 13 & God is "a collaboration between American indie hip hop duo Themselves and German indie rock band The Notwist." The band's self-titled 2005 debut was well-received, with music review aggregator site Metacritic showing an aggregate rating of 80/100 on 20 critic reviews. Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Tim DiGravina called the album a "compelling experiment of indie collaboration", opining that "the finished piece is a decidedly dark and murky musical excursion into a realm of percolating electronics, moody jazz elements, bizarre raps, ethereal acoustic guitars, and sad pianos." At a time in which I was still deeply into my trip hop phase, this fusion of disparate influences was right in my musical wheelhouse and the album saw heavy airplay that year.

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ARTIST: 311

TRACK: "Amber" from From Chaos (2001)

We wrap up this week's playlist with 311, a band known for their mashups of musical styles, particularly rock, reggae, and funk. I was never a huge follower of the band and was surprised to learn they hail from Omaha, Nebraska as I'd assumed from their sound that they were from Southern California. The band's breakthrough came in 1995 with their self-titled album release on Capricorn Records, an album that spawned three successful singles and went on to sell over three million units. For this week's playlist I've decided to go with Amber, the third single from the band's sixth studio album, 2001's From Chaos.

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An Impromptu Concert in London

No hiking photos this week as Tina and I wrapped up the hiking portion of our adventures last week and decamped to London for some time off before heading over to Europe for some city breaks next week.

On Tuesday evening when I launched Spotify to enjoy some music from my AOTY candidates, a banner message informed me that Bonny Light Horseman would be playing a show the following evening at the Roundhouse, a legendary venue in London’s Camden Town (I was lucky enough to see Thievery Corporation there in 2017). For a band whose first two albums made my annual AOTY lists, and whose latest double album is a contender for this year’s top 20, this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Twenty minutes later I’d booked tickets for the two of us (yes, I dragged Tina along with me) in the standing only section on the main level.

I’ve long been a fan of Eric D. Johnson, primarily through his phenomenal work with his band Fruit Bats, but I’ve also been following Bonny Light Horseman since the beginning when their eponymous 2020 debut made it into the bottom half of my AOTY list (in hindsight it should’ve been much higher). Their last full-length, 2022’s Rolling Golden Holy was my fourth ranked album of the year. Between those two albums, Fruit Bat’s 2021 album The Pet Parade came in at number eight for me that year and was an album that I leaned on heavily to help me get my through some very dark days during my struggles with depression and the ongoing mental and emotional stress that came along with the pandemic.

We were at the venue early and 15th in line when the doors opened at 7 pm, which meant that we had a long wait (opener Bridget Kearney of Lake Street Dive took the stage at at 8 with the main act starting at 9) but also guaranteed us a fantastic view as we were right up at the barrier below and to the left of the stage. Needless to say, I was very excited for the concert which turned out to be, in a word, BRILLIANT!! Johnson and fellow vocalist Anais Mitchell were at the top of their games and Josh Kaufmann’s work on guitar was incredible. I recorded 14 short videos and am including a few of my favorites here to provide a flavor of the show.

The band opened with Keep Me On Your Mind from their current double album (Keep Me On Your Mind/See Me Free, released in June):

The gorgeous ballad The Roving, from the 2020 debut album, was the band’s third track of the evening:

My favorite track from 2022’s Rolling Golden Holy, the album opener Exile, was the fifth track of the evening. I wish I had a longer video, but I also wanted to enjoy the show in real time (there’s always a balance to be struck between being IN the moment and recording it for posterity):

Perhaps my favorite moment of the show came with When I Was Younger from the current album. It’s one of my favorite tracks from the album and there’s a moment in the song when both vocalists come together in what I can only describe as a full-throated (but harmonized) wail. While perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea, for my tastes it’s absolutely sublime. I was wondering how it would come over in a live setting. After a verse each from Mitchell and Johnson, as Josh Kaufman begins shredding on his guitar, both vocalists untethered their mikes and approached the front of the stage. Eric opened up first, followed shortly thereafter by Anais and I was in heaven. That little piece of audio magic was absolutely explosive to witness live, and it’s a moment that will stay with me for a long time:

I’m so grateful to have been able to catch such a brilliant show on short notice. I’ve always been a fan of getting out to shows, but it’s been hard living in Bermuda. The hassle of getting time off work (and cannibalizing our hiking time), as well as the expense of getting to the US, has always limited the amount of live music I can consume so I’m very excited to see what 2025 and beyond brings in the way of live music.

Thanks for being here this week, wishing you the best for another week ahead.

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Here’s the link to the running playlist which is updated on a weekly basis as each new installment is published:

ALPHABET SOUP RUNNING PLAYLIST

Tracks missing from the Spotify playlist:

• Allegory by Murray Attaway (Week 02)

• Face Me and Smile by The Lover Speaks (Week 12)

• From Your Mouth by God Lives Underwater (Week 13)

• This Can’t Go On! by The Lover Speaks (Week 23)

• Two for the Show by Trooper (Week 40)

• Twenty One by Marry Me Jane (Week 40)

• Slow by 13 Engines (Week 47)

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