Say goodbye to another giant.

Spooked by Robyn Hitchcock (Yep Roc/2004) - Here’s another one I keep coming back to. Probably my favorite album recorded in recent years. Basically acoustic; a fine set of songs recorded with simple clarity. David Rawlings and Gillian Welch assist, Rawlings produces. Darned good, solid work.

Live, Love, Larf & Loaf by French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson (Rhino/1987) - Low key album by alternative guitar guys supergroup of John French, Fred Frith, Henry Kaiser and Richard Thompson. (Okay, John “Drumbo” French is known primarily as a drummer, but he did do the band arrangements on Trout Mask Replica and has also worked as a guitarist.) The set has a casual feel, with some curiously ordinary, sometimes a little too ordinary, songs. The ones that work best for me are a couple of Thompson angst numbers and a cheery cover of an Okinawan pop tune. On Rhino, of all labels (though apparently, they did a second album, released initially on Windham Hill — yikes!).

Before We Were Born by Bill Frisell (Elektra-Musician/1988) - Frisell’s elegant ECM-ish guitar tones at the service of late 1980s NYC downtown eclecticism. Arto Lindsay and John Zorn are involved.

Joe & Paul: The Best of The Barton Bros. by The Barton Bros. (BB Music/1999) - A CD compilation of late 1940s sides by klezmer comedians, The Barton Bros. Snappy musical wordplay in a dizzying mixture of Yiddish, English and, on Arriba, Spanish even. Mentioned here before.

Lipstick Traces by Greil Marcus (1989) - I first read this back in the early 1990s, and it holds up okay in the present. Marcus ties punk in with obscure revolutionary movements throughout history. Some good insights, some wild over-readings. Most useful for its beginner’s guide to the lettrists and situationists.

Roots N’ Blues: The Retrospective (1925-1950) by various artists (Columbia-Legacy/1992) - A four disc compilation of sides originally released on Okeh Records and related labels. Blues, folk, hillbilly, gospel and the occasional genre defying oddball. Fine stuff, somewhat favoring the little known over the big names. That’s a good thing, okay?

American Primitive, Vol. 1: Raw Pre-War Gospel (1926-36) by various artists (Revenant/1997) - Stunner compilation of early 78s from a disorienting zone where primitive blues and ecstatic gospel blend and boil. Simple, yet classy packaging, and John Fahey’s liner notes are worth the price of admission, as always.

Pink Moon by Nick Drake (Island/1972) - I need to listen to this one every few months. Unlike so many fingerpickers, Drake was not a simple recycler of the usual folk and blues licks. He had his own thing going on; very elegant, very fluid. And the songs ain’t too bad either. Parasite — geeze, that one slays me every time.