This is off an album in which most if not all of the instruments used were kids toys, which I have a little trouble believing, especially when it comes to the drums. This is originally a Doobie Brothers song, but this cover brings out a lot of the subtle nuances which go unheard in the original.

This is a really wacky song, but I love it. It's by a little-known band. Check out the music video (I found it on Vimeo). It's as crazy as the song!

This one really has everything, to me. I'm not a connoisseur of the Beatles's 'White album', but I'm completely crazy about Ramsey Lewis's superb LP in tribute to it. The entire album has a delicious balance of crisp beats, electric piano, strings, and subtle touches of moog, played by the album's producer, Charles Stepney. I've chosen 'Julia' to recommend because I enjoy the way it changes mood - opening mournful and slow, and then getting very funky. But the entire album is really packed with winners; other highlights are a wacky and extremely funky 'back in the USSR', a superb 'Dear Prudence', and a great 'cry baby cry'.

Progressive MOR Punk with hints of Steely Dan and Zappa influence anyone? Don't worry, give it a try, it's fun. not many songs contain the line 'Holy Sausages' sung a la the Beach Boys do they? The important thing here for me is that the whole never comes across as self conciously 'wacky'.

The song is heavy, complex enough to be interesting, and simple enough to headbang. The bass is particularly awesome, with slap accents throughout. Not to mention Mike Patton's legendary vocals. The song seems to be about losing your mind as you grow older. It clearly has something to do with going mad, with Patton's screaming and laughing in the background between verses.

I really like this song for the punchy rhythm in bass(accompanied fantastically with the guitar, drums, and Bottum's carnival-like keyboard), and Patton's variance in vocal styles throughout.

Predating "Fast Food Nation" by a number of years, Wendy McDonald is a two and a half minute pop song critiquing our need to have things fast and easy..like fast food. I love this song because not only does it make you think, but it also has this hip-hop folk beat to it, that's reminiscent of artists like Beck, Bran Van 3000, or Self. If you're a fan of these artists,..you'd love this.

'The Events Leading up to the Collapse of Detective Dullight' is not a song but a narrative story, and it’s funny as hell. The off-kilter character voices of the already brilliant stream-of-consciousness plot are cartoonish enough for their own Saturday morning series. When the detectives start their investigation nothing makes sense. There’s Jell-O, serenading butterflies, file cabinets, murder, catacombs, and all the seasonings for a hilarious dream. I am usually brought to tears when Detective Slots reads from his revered exercise in free verse titled ‘The Cause of Gauze’. I will supply you with a sample:
"Oh, the cause of gauze. The Manuels have fondled many memories from my lap though each memory has its own lap and swimmers swim laps. Even swimmers have laps however and while in that condition many require a delicate gauze."
If you hear this without purchasing the actual album, 'Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies: A Variety of Whimisical Verse,' then you are being cheated. The dreams of this band are as colorful as the illustrations they provide us in their album sleeves. The 'Where's Waldo' pictorial representations enrich the listening experience by engaging us in a journey deep into the frying-pan brains of these madmen. In fact, this is a perfect introduction into a very strange world of psychedelicado. Think the Beach Boy's 'Smile.' The reaction of my friends after hearing this have been harmoniously the same, 'they have to be on drugs.' The truth is Of Montreal are not on drugs, they are drugs.