Blame it on plate tectonics.

I don't get it either.

I don't know about leap years.

The thought of an extra or bonus day excites some people and they spend it doing something they might normally avoid or trying to take some advantage of the added time, but it's the kind of thing that gets me all bothered, because if I don't do something, then I'm made to feel like I inherently wasted this glorious extra opportunity that we only get every four years because some dude screwed up when putting together a calendar all that time ago.

Meh.

A bonus day? What better way to spend it than by enjoying that one thing that CDs are always good for... bonus tracks.

The Kinks - Mountain Woman
As if any more reason was needed to get the Kinks amazingly fabulous 1971 album Muswell Hillbillies on compact disc, the boys tacked on a pair of tracks recorded during the sessions that, for whatever reason, never made it far enough to be properly completed or included on the album, but still fit perfectly in the mold of its peers that had. "Kentucky Moon" was a wobbly, piano and slide guitar-led meditation, while "Mountain Woman" told the story of two simpletons that didn't need the mess and holler of city life or big money, no matter how badly the government wanted their water rights. Typically wonderful Ray Davies story telling, and you gotta love a chorus that exclaims "We're uneducated, but we're happy." Did I pay all that tuition money for this misery?

Old 97's - Singular Girl
Some buyers of the Old 97's 2001 opus Satellite Rides got to get their hands on a free bonus disc of five live tracks and this cut, which was recorded during the Satellite sessions but not included on the album proper. Rhett Miller took it for himself on his 2006 album The Believer, but inexplicably chopped out the best bit, where in he says of the girl in question, "You got the teeth of the hydra upon you." Whether or not Marc Bolan's lawyers didn't like the observation or whether or not Rhett thought it was just a little too rock and roll cliche himself (and I wouldn't put that past him), who knows, but simply because that line is included here, this still makes it the best version of the song. Why Cingular Wireless never picked it up for an advertising campaign is beyond me, but now that Cingular is the new AT&T, it will likely never be. For better or worse.

The Traveling Wilburys - Maxine
Recorded during the band's post-Roy Orbison years as a good natured strum around, this song could've easily fit on to Volume 3 or at least served as a viable option for a B-side, but for years this song only cropped up on George Harrison or Wilbury-related bootlegs. Why it was never completed proper is beyond me, given the almost unreasonable lack of Harrison-led songs on Volume 3, but the wrong was finally righted (er... yeah) last year with the release of the long overdue Collection which compiled all the Wilburys' recordings for a public that had wondered too long why the original albums had been out of print for half of forever.


Have a good weekend all.