A fixture on the Shea stage since Year Zero, the infamous Ray Weiss has been a relentless force on NYC's all-ages circuit since the mid-00s. One of the more underrated songwriters from Brooklyn's "DIY-era", you can certainly hear his influence on a handful of bands in our own archives - many of who, as teens, attended dozens of sweaty basement/house shows during the heyday of Le Rug, Ray's songwriting project that performed hundreds of shows with a revolving door of musicians before disbanding officially in 2010. In the years following their demise, Ray has had a plethora of other musical endeavors - as the self-professed progenitor of "dick-wave" in Red Dwarf, as the drummer of squalling noise-rockers Sweet Bulbs, and even more recently as a founding member of both Butter The Children and Living Serious. Over the years no grass has grown under his feet, playing nearly 50 shows at Shea with these five bands combined since 2009!

A man of many musical talents, Ray's unmistakable style has put a stamp on all of these bands whether he is singing or shouting, weaving his trademark Johnny Marr-inspired guitar licks, or thrashing away on a stand-up drum kit. This signature style also manifests itself in this short-and-sweet serving of deep tracks, both figuratively and literally. Keep an eye out for some exceptionally brief "director's commentary" in the tracks explaining, in often as little as one word, why it has made his shortlist.

In addition to bumping this set of songs, you can also catch the man in action at Shea this week, as he resurrects the classic (albeit slightly revamped) lineup of the definitive era of Le Rug. -AR