Pretty Goes with Pretty

60s Six Pack

I love my iTunes smart playlists, especially my "60s Best" group, which gathers every song in my library made between 1960 and 1969 that I've rated four or five stars. Currently that count sits at 1,280 songs. Of all my smart playlists this one most consistently turns in great mixes. I was playing it yesterday and it spun out this series of gems, including my favorite Donovan song and Hearts & Flowers' "Try for the Sun," which I realized on hearing last night might be one of my top five all-time favorite songs.

• Monks: Monk Chant (1966)
• Donovan: To Sing for You (1965)
• Reparata & The Delrons: Whenever a Teenager Cries (1965)
• The Melodians:Rivers Of Babylon (1969)
• Townes Van Zandt: I'll Be Here in the Morning (1969)
• Hearts & Flowers: Try for the Sun (1968)

Favorite Downloads: April

Unlike previous months most of my random downloads this month were older songs (and country, too). But there were a few 2011 tracks that snuck into my craw—My Morning Jacket's newest, which has me excited for their album coming out in a few weeks, and Matthew Cooper's "Expectation," a lovely ambient track. This mix is thus a little strange but is nevertheless meant to be listened to in order. Enjoy.

• Barbara Lynn: You Can't Buy My Love (via the Adios Lounge)
• Merle Haggard: The Girl Turned Ripe (via the Adios Lounge)
• The International Submarine Band: I Must Have Been Somebody Else You've Known (via Singing in the Wire)
• The Crystalites: Undertakers Burial (via For the Sake of the Song)
• Matthew Cooper: Expectation (via the Cargo Culte)
• My Morning Jacket: Circuital
• Margo Guryan: Sunday Morning (via Aquarium Drunkard)
• Phil Ochs: One Way Ticket Home (via the Rising Storm)
• Kris Kristofferson: From The Bottle To The Bottom (via Singing in the Wire)