(Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

On September 9, fans of plastic guitar simulators everywhere will celebrate the release of The Beatles: Rock Band. Lost amid the hoopla is the fact that the band’s records are being reissued that same day. The product of a painstaking four-year effort by Abbey Road engineers, these first-ever Fab Four digital remasters will include all twelve original studio albums. To mark the occasion, we asked local musicians to tell us their favorite tracks.

“I’m Only Sleeping”
“My parents gave me a tape of Beatles hits when I was about 6. One of my earliest musical memories is sitting by the window on a rainy day and listening to this song, trying to sing along to Paul’s harmony.”
—Daniel Rossen, Grizzly Bear

“Girl”
“I like how John does that tense inhale in the chorus. It gets the sentiment across so much better than if he’d put it into words. I can’t think of any other pop songs that have the same effect.”
—Evan Mast, Ratatat

“A Day in the Life”
“Sgt. Pepper’s was the only CD in my dad’s car for about six months when I was 9. I had no idea what ‘turning someone on’ was, but that surrealistic mind-warp feeling made it the coolest thing I’d ever heard.”
—Caroline Polachek, Chairlift

“Not a Second Time”
“Early Beatles are my favorite. I love how laid-back they are, and how much fun they seem to be having. You can just imagine them all young and innocent-looking, playing in a garage somewhere.”
—Cassie Ramone, Vivian Girls

“Octopus’s Garden”
“Because Raffi covered it.”
—Ben Goldwasser, MGMT

Related:

• Archive: “Guides”
• Table of Contents: Aug 31, 2009 issue of New York | Subscribe!