Oops! ...Mislabeled Monday!

Be the first person to name every song correctly on MISLABELED MONDAY and you will receive today's GRAND PRIZE:

Melissa Lefton - Melicious

That's right, list every song correctly in the comment box below and you will actually seriously no-bullshit win a (burned) copy of the shelved and neglected 2001 Melissa Lefton album Melicious. Melissa hasn't been heard from since (believe me I'm looking), so this may be our last contact with her. Ever.

But wait! Let's meet today's contestants!

Sonic Youth - Goo-era demo, untitled

Considered to be a pivotal touchstone in SY's towering career, Goo was a towering achievement for a truly pivotal band. This painstakingly crafted but seemingly off-the-cuff demo is all bristling, angular energy tightly coiled into artfully noisy noise/art-rock that retains a disturbingly hushed ambience. The strikingly evocative instrumental was regrettably left off the recent reissue, in part because it's 27 minutes long with no fewer than thirteen (!) false starts (and six unique tunings), so get it now and be the artiest art-rocker on the art-block!

Death Cab for Cutie - BBC Session, "President of What"

I received this track from one of the regular contributors to what has to be the best Death Cab fansite on the web right now...totally on-point (and quite obsessive) analysis with a personal context lacking from so many Death Cab fansites. This is from a little-known BBC Session recorded just prior to the 2004 election. Notable primarily for Ben Gibbard's brief but effective anti-Bush diatribe, during which he calls the so-called "president," among other things, a royal pussy.

Devendra Banhart and Animal Collective - "Grass/Long Haired Child" (live)

DevBan and AnColl team up for the freakiest folk in town, from this live recording from last summer's legendary performance at the Bowery ("I was there!"). The A.C. ham it up on "Grass," which they extend into a six-minute extended sing-along until Devendra enters and joins in...only to go SEAMLESSLY into "Long Haired Child," at which point seven or twelve people joined them on stage, all with distinctive percussive instrumentation (on the recording it sounds kind of like pots and pans, though, not the best quality). You really get a great communal vibe from this track, real ELECTRICITY. And DevBan's warble has never sounded warblier.

Gnarls Barkley - "Pushin' Too Hard" (Seeds cover, live)

I MUST SEE GNARLS BARKLEY LIVE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THEY ARE WITHOUT A DOUBT THE GREATEST BAND EVER IN THE UNIVERSE INCLUDE THE BEATLES HOLY FUCK. This is so great, it's totally playing on the whole "is it too close to the original or not" controversy of the VERY controversial Violent Femmes cover. Personally I like the Femmes cover, except when I decide I don't like it ('cuz I'm schizo just like Gnarls) but this totally blows it out of the water, shows the GB eclecticism in full effect, and what's REALLY sick is they go right into "Necromancer" after this hahaha (but the recording cuts off, I don't even know WHERE this is, but I'm sure a million of you will fill me in on the comments thread...haha get one CLUE, right?). The Seeds never sounded so fine and Cee-Lo obv. sings the FUCK out of this song (duh!).

Sufjan Stevens and Danielson Famile - "Livin' on a Prayer"

I wouldn't have guessed that Bon Jovi's ballsiest arena-rocker would sound so great gussied up with swirling symphonics and delicate group chorus, but when Sufjan hits that high C on "LIVIN'" in that achingly fragile falsetto, I just want to cry (slight nit-pick, they don't do the key change). Br. Danielson sings a few verses, bringing new life to well-worn lyrics with his strange vocal intonation...maybe a better word would be incantation. It really feels like a prayer, as corny as it sounds. If you listen carefully you can even hear the faint jangling of sleighbells amidst the orchestral majesty. Not sure when or where this was recorded, does anyone else know? It seems kind of obvious now but who knew "Livin' on a Prayer" would make such a great Christmas track?

Enjoy the holiday with some great tunes! Contest ends one week from today or until we have a winner. But feel free to comment on the above tracks, even if you don't know, like, or want our grand prize. Winners can email their home address to the provided link or just request an emailed digital copy.