Fueling the drive.

Fueling the drive.

I will be running non-stop from Thursday night to late Sunday, due to Lollapalooza this weekend. I've been doing lots of prep-work -- listening to the various bands, reading up on biographies, eating right, exercising, gathering gear and making sure it's all in working order -- to ensure that things run smoothly and I don't run out of steam.

Another essential component to surviving the weekend is an appropriate playlist to keep me going when I'm rushing to and from the festival grounds during the day, or around to the after-shows at night. One band that is on that playlist this year is the Australian combo Magic Dirt. I was introduced to the group at just about the same time by two completely different sources, Paul in the U.S. and Amy in Australia, earlier this year. Their sound is firmly rooted in that early-'90s overdriven Alternative Seattle scene, only with sweeter female-led melodies similar to The Breeders. Paul actually put together a pretty terrific compilation of their earlier work for friends to listen to and I'm grateful for the intro or I would have totally missed the release of this year's EP, Beast.

The discs's final track, "Sucker Love," has been wending its way into my DJ sets, and I predict it'll get a bit of airplay in ye olde headphones any time I need a little pick-me-up in the back of a cab or on the way to a late night show over the weekend.

MP3: Magic Dirt "Sucker Love"

UPDATE: As Paul mentions in the comments, you can access his excellent compilation of Magic Dirt's earlier, and out-of-print, work here. Get it!