Other than the bonus, these tracks have nothing to do with the royal wedding and are as random as can be. Since my “random” function favors recently played tracks, and since I’ve been playing the heck out of the wonderful new Emmylou album released this week, it makes sense that the title cut would be #1.

And the bonus is the greatest and most English of hymns, both patriotic and revolutionary in its reference to “dark satanic mills.”

1. “Hard Bargain”, Emmylou Harris
2. “Wuthering Heights”, Kate Bush
3. “We’ve Met”, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
4. “We Shall Not Be Moved”, Mavis Staples
5. “Virginia, No One Can Warn You”, Tift Merritt
6. “California Love”, 2Pac
7. “Calling All Angels”, Wailin’ Jennys
8. “Georgia Cane”, Zack Walther and the Cronkites
9. “Everybody’s Here”, Brad Paisley
10. “Fountain of Sorrow”, Jackson Browne

Bonus Track: “Jerusalem” (William Blake and Charles Hastings Parry)

No foolin’ about the quality of these terrific songs. We saw Mtukudzi in concert last weekend at UCLA, and downloaded #7 as soon as I got home. #4 was and is in so many ways a theme song for me, and the bonus track is from my favorite new musical discovery of 2011.

1. “The Gunner’s Dream”, Pink Floyd
2. “Highway”, Claire Lynch
3. “The Dangling Conversation”, Simon & Garfunkel
4. “The Lucky One”, Alison Krauss and Union Station
5. “Faded Loves and Memories”, Blaze Foley and the Beaver Valley Boys
6. “When We Are Together”, Texas
7. “Neria”, Oliver Mtukudzi
8. “Sea of Heartbreak”, Don Gibson
9. “You Show Me Yours (And I’ll Show you Mine) Kris Kristofferson
10. “Hallelujah”, Ryan Adams

Bonus Track: “Codeine”, Jason Isbell and the 400 Units

When my new blog/website template comes in, I doubt I’ll be doing Friday Random Tens. But I’ve been listening to a lot of good music lately, so want to keep sharing. This week’s random tracks from iTunes shuffle. And if you know the very obscure category of German country music (not German folk, but country-western sung by Germans), then you know and love #7.

1. “Rural Route”, Chris Knight
2. “Bright Morning Stars”, Wailin’ Jennys
3. “It’s a Heartache”, Juice Newton
4. “Gleams of that Golden Morning”, the Forbes Family
5. “Never Far from My Heart”, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion
6. “Drop Down Dead”, Housemartins
7. “Ich möcht’ so gern Dave Dudley hör’n”, Truck Stop
8. “Must I Paint You a Picture”, Billy Bragg
9. “We’re Not the Same”, Katie Buckhaven
10. “Alcohol”, Brad Paisley

Bonus: “Ching Chong (It Means I Love You)”, Jimmy Wong. More here. Download on iTunes!

I can’t remember the last time I had a Friday Random Ten I liked more — I’ve loved Clark and Cash, Los Lobos and Steve Earle for decades. I fell in love with the Jennys and Buddy Miller a few years back, and Van Etten, Hutchinson and Lambert are more recent discoveries. And the Scorps — well, I was a hormonal adolescent once. Ten glorious tracks here.

1. “Heart Like Mine”, Miranda Lambert
2. “The Zoo”, the Scorpions
3. “Home is Where the Hurt Is”, Hayley Hutchinson
4. “Dublin Blues”, Guy Clark
5. “The Ballad of Barbara”, Johnny Cash
6. “One Time, One Night”, Los Lobos
7. “With God on Our Side”, Buddy Miller
8. “Swing Low Sail High”, Wailin’ Jennys
9. “Galway Girl”, Steve Earle
10. “Save Yourself”, Sharon Van Etten

Ain’t nobody else out there who knows and likes all ten of these artists. I wouldn’t bet my mortgage on that, but close.

1. “Alabaster”, Oh Susanna
2. “Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song”, B.J. Thomas
3. “People in the Hole”, Catherine Feeny
4. “Playing your Song”, Hole
5. “Walk Away From Love”, Eliza Gilkyson
6. “Follow Me There”, Third Day
7. “Chemo Limo”, Regina Spektor
8. “Barbara Allen”, Art Garfunkel
9. “Shir Hamalot”, Sheva
10. “Heart Collectors”, Leila Broussard

Charlie Louvin, one of the great pioneers of country music (and, with his brother, members of the pre-eminent country gospel outfit of the past six decades) died this week. One of my favorite Louvin songs (and surely one of their most famous) shows up as the bonus. My shuffle favors recently played tunes, and I’ve been hearing a lot of country-infused stuff lately. Colvin nails the Carter Family classic with #1, and #9 is a lovely song from an outfit that never got their deserved fame on this side of the Atlantic.

The second bonus track is my favorite song from what was, in January 1986, the album I was listening to most often. And if you’re over 30, you remember what happened 25 years ago this morning.

1. “Single Girl, Married Girl”, Shawn Colvin with Earl and Randy Scruggs
2. “Give it One More Chance”, The Bois d’Arcs
3. “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”, Bob Dylan
4. “How Will You Shine”, The Gourds
5. “Nobody’s Diary”, Yaz
6. “January Wedding”, Avett Brothers
7. “29 Palms”, Robert Plant
8. “Here You Are”, Greencards
9. “Prettiest Eyes”, The Beautiful South
10. “Calling All Angels”, The Wailin’ Jennys

Bonus Track: “Knoxville Girl”, The Louvin Brothers
Bonus Track 2: “The Sun Always Shines on TV”, A-Ha

Does anyone do Friday Random Tens anymore? Is this some vestige of 2006 to which I came late and have clung too long? Perhaps. In any event, hitting shuffle on the iTunes gave me the following this week. #5 and #6 are modern classics that have been covered by countless artists, and these are two of my favorite (and lesser-known) versions.

1. “Closer to Myself”, Kendall Payne
2. “Scare Easy”, Mudcrutch
3. “Forever”, The Bowmans
4. “Whiskey, If You Were a Woman”, Highway 101
5. “The Long Black Veil”, The Chieftains with Mick Jagger
6. “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”, The Mammals
7. “Santa Fe”, Samantha Crain
8. “Step on My Old Size Nines”, Stereophonics
9. “Sinking in the Lonesome Sea”, June Carter Cash
10. “Jerusalem”, Steve Earle

“You’re so white”, a student of mine commented after a quick perusal of my iPod music. And yeah, this FRT gives no evidence to the contrary. Jesse Thomas is one of my favorite discoveries of the past year (and The Avett Brothers may have had the best album of the past half decade), while at different times in my life, #1 and #10 were great sources of comfort. (The background vocals on the first track make it one of the most beautiful pieces of ear candy of the pop era, IMHO. Nicely used by Honda.)

The bonus tracks are the songs that have been in my head all week.

1. “The Only Living Boy in New York”, Simon & Garfunkel
2. “Video”, Aimee Mann
3. “For Love”, Robert Earl Keen
4. “Please Don’t Leave Me”, Pink
5. “The Fuse”, Jackson Browne
6. “Ten Thousand Words”, The Avett Brothers
7. “Saturday Night”, Eagles
8. “Shine”, Jesse Thomas
9. “When Sal’s Burned Down”, Dar Wiliams
10. “Don’t Give Up”, Peter Gabriel

Bonus Track One: “Far Away Eyes”, Rolling Stones
Bonus Track Two: “Only Tongue Can Tell”, Trashcan Sinatras

Usually I have more female than male artists show up in my FRT, but not this time around. And #10 is one of my “life signature” tracks (and it was a theme song to my courtship with the woman who is now my wife.)

Bonus tracks are two of my favorite seasonal carols.

1. “Kern River”, Dave Alvin
2. “Silver Springs”, Fleetwood Mac
3. “Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes”, Elton John
4. “Welcome to the Future”, Brad Paisley
5. “Goodbye”, The Waifs
6. “Estranged”, Guns n’ Roses
7. “To Live Like This”, Easterhouse
8. “Rollin’ and Ramblin’”, Emmylou Harris
9. “Thief”, Third Day
10. “Tougher than the Rest”, Bruce Springsteen

Bonus Track: “We Three Kings”, Martin Souter & Julia Craig-McFeely
Bonus Track #2: “Masters In This Hall”, Ripon Cathedral Choir