One of the advantages of having a blog like this is being able to make up the rules as you go along, and today that means giving the limelight to our youngest Joe, who reaches the ripe old age of seven today. Now, we are all guilty of bias and of nepotism at times (and this is one of them), but I think you’d be hard pressed to find another seven year old with music tastes as good as his. From age five he chose to go to sleep to the soothing strains of Mclusky loudly singing along, “My dad’s better than your dad” and playing air guitar, and we know with each mix CD we put in the car that he will soon be making selections from the back, “can we have number three then number seven” before creating his own mix CDs for his room.
He has a brilliant ear for a riff, a rhythm and a melody, and picks out lyrics with the best of them. Best of all his choices are all his own – independently reached and determinedly defended.
And for those that are interested, his current ‘hot picks’ are the outstanding Honda Civic from the new Felice Brothers album and the gentle acoustics of Wire from Alessi’s Ark’s Time Travel album.
So, here we have twelve personally hand picked tracks from the coolest seven year old we know. From rockabilly twang to visceral punk to woozy pop and protest folk, he loves it all. And we love him. Way to go Joe!
Download The Magnetic Fields – Drive On Driver mp3 (from Distortion)
Download The Range Rats – Colt 44 mp3
Download Port O’Brien – My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg) mp3 (Ramones cover)
Download Joe Pug – Hymn 35 mp3 (from Nation of Heat EP)
Download The Sheepdogs – I Don’t Know mp3 (from Learn & Burn)
Download Mumford & Sons – Unfinished Business mp3 (White Lies cover)
Download Grass House – A Cockroach mp3 (from Plough More Sky EP)
Download Jones Street Station – The Understanding mp3
Download Mclusky – To Hell With Good Intentions mp3 (from Mclusky Do Dallas)
Download Pancake Breakfast – The Ballad Of Maynard Noe mp3 (from Pancake Breakfast)
Download Katherine Hepburn’s Voice – Out Like This mp3 (from Unlimited Nights & Weekends EP)
Download The Felice Brothers – Run Chicken Run mp3 (from Yonder Is The Clock)
The Mad Mackerel 
The boys done well, I don’t Know many 37yr olds with that kind of ear