Rising from the dirt like a zombified corpse, hecklerspray fought through six solid inches of relatively loose top-soil that was actually only covering part of our legs, to bring you this week's super-songs. We woke up last Thursday to find ourselves half-buried in a mass grave generally set aside for dead and dying dogs. We were scared, we were hungry, and most awkwardly, a dead terrier's tooth seemed to by burrowing deeper into our buttock.

But we weren't alone. We had these six tracks to keep us company, and good company they did keep. It was them that gave us courage to flag down that girl passing by on a lawnmower, it was them that convinced the girl to let us hold onto her axles while she pulled us free from the dirt, and it was these songs that helped us not throw-up when the sudden pull of the lawnmower bent our knees completely backward, and ripped off our smaller fingers.

And now we want you to hear them too. This week we want you to hunt down tracks from Manic Street Preachers, Under The Influence Of Giants, Sting, Bruce Cockburn, Ryan Adams, and The Dandy Warhols. May they soothe your soul as you lay surrounded by dead and whimpering house-pets as they did ours.  

Manic Street Preachers: If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next off This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
(This song was first brought to our attention as bumper music on the late night radio show 'Coast to Coast'. It's deep, it's nice, and it's terribly worried about the future of kids everywhere. As they should be, because the ones that keep coming in and applying for work at our jeans factory keep getting younger and younger.)

Under The Influence Of Giants: Meaningless Love off Under The Influence Of Giants
(These guys are a pretty new discovery for hecklerspray, and we saw them a few days ago – what a fine show! Whatcha got here, we like to call modern disco – wait, stop it! We know what you're thinking! It's not like that, these guys are awesome. They establish a groove, a groove which is scientifically proven to prevent all five primary types of camel-toe. Ladies, just something to ponder the next morning you're trying to decide between your pink or grey sweatpants.)

Sting: Fields Of Gold off Fields of Gold – The Best Of Sting
(We like this song for several reasons, it's got good melody, impeccable rhythm, and most importantly, the field he keeps talking about sounds real valuable. We've been deciphering the lyrics since 1997, only to find out he left no cryptic clues as to the fields location. Oh well, some dreams you gotta let go. On the other hand, if anyone knows where we could find some good gold seeds – or silver seeds, we're not picky – we'd be mighty obliged. But you can keep all your lesser metals, you copper-toting lilly-lickers.)

Bruce Cockburn: Get Up Jonah off Charity of Night
(Cockburn talks more than he sings in this one, but it sounds pretty incredible. As much as we like this song and Cockburn's music in general, we can't help but be a bit uncomfortable with his fiery last name. Stop drop and roll Cockburn, stop drop and roll.)

Ryan Adams: Luminol off Rock N Roll
(A few years ago this album sent us into a Ryan Adams frenzy. Usually Adams does that alt-country stuff [which is good when you're napping] but on this album the man makes glorious strides towards an all encompassing rock and roll. The first time we heard it was because our mail-man pressed play then pinned us down and made us sit. Such a wondrous pin & sit we'd never known.)

The Dandy Warhols: Godless off Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
(In serious contention for 'the best album of all time', the Warhols dish out a mind-numbing experience with the opening track Godless – it's an absolute masterpiece. The title hints towards a not-so-distant past when whoredoms were more readily accepted, and sins were often placed proudly on page two of the community news letter. They were awful times, it's true. By the way, if you're worried about your own soul's eternal welfare, hecklerspray's got a six-part instructional video that'll help you prance right past those pearly gates. No passport required.)

Now listen to these beautiful choices via the magic of Napster

[story by Shawn Lindseth]