friday random ten, 2004 edition

1. Spiderbait, "Black Betty." There's a lot of cross-cultural stuff going on here, which I suppose says something about the 21st century. This one's an old Leadbelly tune covered by an Australian band, who follow the lead of Ram Jam's 70s remake.

2. Norah Jones, "Sunrise." Then there's Norah Jones, a Brooklyn girl whose father is Ravi Shankar.

3. Los Lonely Boys, "Heaven." And a Tex-Mex band with a little ZZ Top thrown in.

4. Danger Mouse, "99 Problems." And one of the most famous mash-ups ever, mixing Jay-Z and The Beatles.

5. The White Stripes, "Jolene." And Jack White singing Dolly Parton.

6. The Streets, "Dry Your Eyes." And an epileptic rapper from Birmingham. England, not Alabama.

7. MC Hawking, "Bitchslap." And someone imitating Stephen Hawking as a rapper.

8. Feist, "Mushaboom." OK, I've run out of cross-cultural references … she's just a Canadian indie rocker.

9. Kanye West, "Never Let Me Down." Hopefully, at some point in the future, he will be known once again for his music rather than his antics.

10. Arcade Fire, "Rebellion (Lies)." I've mentioned this before. You know Bruce Springsteen likes your work when he invites you to sing a song with him in concert. You know he loves your work when that song is one of your own. A couple of years ago in Ontario, Bruce had Win and Régine come up on stage, and they sang "Keep the Car Running."