World's Finest

Exciting news: Stoplight Sleep is now on Hype Machine!

In celebration, I'm finally releasing the first Stoplight Sleep mix.

In Dark Knight Returns and Dark Knight Strikes Back, two of the best Batman stories ever, Batman battles the Man of Steel. While Superman sees Batman as a rogue vigilante, he apparently believes himself the chosen protector of mankind (and fascism). I've always been bored by the Boy Scout, and enjoy him most when he is evil/ambiguous/at odds with Batman. See also: Kingdom Come, JSA: Liberty Files, Infinite Crisis, etc. (With the exception of IC, these stories are out of continuity.)

In honor of one my favorite heroes (Batman) and one of my least favorite (Superman), I've compiled a few of my favorite Superman/Batman related tracks. I've posted a few of them for your downloading enjoyment. If you'd like any of the others, let me know. Enjoy.

Tracklist
1. Donovan "Sunshine Superman"
2. Black Star "Respiration"
3. Stereophonics "Superman"
4. The Jam "Batman Theme"
5. Sufjan Stevens "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Heart"
6. Forget Cassettes "Bruce Wayne"
7. Braid "Collect from Clark Kent"
8. Danny Elfman "The Batman Theme" from Batman: The Animated Series (and Batman, the movie)
9. Our Lady Peace "Superman's Dead"
10. Mogwai "I'm Not Batman"

Notes
1. This is a classic. The song also mentions Green Lantern. Who knew Donovan was such a nerd? Oh, I guess everyone.
2. On Black Star, Mos Def and Talib Kweli make several references to Gotham, Batman, and Robin in there exploration of New York Culture. "Respiration," one of the album's best tracks, also contains a sample from a documentary on 80s street/hip-hop culture which I can't recall the name of. The young gentlemen are discussing the train they tagged the night before.
3. Thanks to Ben Young for giving me this track.
4. I'm also aware of The Who's version of this song. I prefer the Jam's.
5. Like most of Illinois, this track is amazing. We listened to this as we left Metropolis, IL several months ago. This album had to be re-released due to the image of Superman on the cover. See, told you he was evil.
6. Forget Cassettes is a great trio (a duo when this was recorded) from Nashville, TN. I'm not sure how much this track, from Instruments of Action, has to do with Batman, but it's still dynamic and emotional.
7. I really enjoy the lyrics to this one. Leave it to an emocore band to make me like Superman. For a couple minutes.
8. If you've seen the show, you know how good it is. I got this off some site, but can't remember where.
9. I know, I know. 90s post-grunge/modern radio rock sucks. Lets call Our Lady Peace a guilty pleasure. Although I still say Spiritual Machines was a great album.
10. Early Mogwai and its least accessible. Again, as they explained in the documentary accompanying Mr. Beast, their titles have no meaning.

Links
Buy these albums on insound.com:
Donovan's Greatest Hits
Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star
Stereophonics's Language. Sex. Violence. Other?
The Jam's Direction Reaction Creation boxed set
Sufjan Steven's Illinois
Braid's Frame and Canvas
Our Lady Peace's Clumsy
Mogwai's Ten Rapid

Most of these tracks are also available on iTunes. I've made an iMix for the tracks and will update this post when it's available.

Edit: The iMix is now available.