Hot! Live! Music!

Bruce Springsteen, "Thunder Road"

This was from 42 years ago (!) and yet somehow the Boss is as good in concert now as he was then.  I could listen to this song on a loop forever.

Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, "Motion Picture Soundtrack"

A distinctly different version of the song we all know and love, performed six years before the track showed up on the Kid A album.  It may be because I'm simply more used to the original...wait, if this is from 1995, isn't THIS the "original"?  Okay, it may be because I'm simply more used to the Kid A version, but I prefer "I think you're crazy" to "I think I'm crazy."  Has a nicer lyrical flow.

Stars, "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead"

Canadian content!  Kudos to my old university radio co-host Maggie for introducing me to Stars years ago.  Now, it's not like I've actually ever really looked up any more of their music in the decade-plus since but...uh...I've forgotten my point.  But this album is excellent!

Prince, "Dolphin/Heroes/I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man/Use Me/How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore"

Keeping with this post's theme of cool stripped-down versions of great songs, here's a medley from one of Prince's last concerts.  Among the many reasons why Prince was an impossibly good live performer was his ability to call upon not just the literally hundreds of songs he wrote and produced over the years, but also countless covers, from both a Bowie megahit to a Bill Withers megahit-in-its-day.  Going to a Prince show was like a musical history lesson.