Quote:
Originally Posted by Rickenbacker
It's like... everything bad about indie pop rolled into one song. I love their second album though! You should definitely check it out, it's a lot more mature than their first.
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The title track off their second album absolutely razes me to the ground. It's amazing/gorgeous. In fact, I almost put it on this:
No Particular Theme, Just Stuff I Like
1. "Sunset Studies" [5:34] by Augie March, from
Sunset Studies (2000)
Such a pretty band, such a pretty song. It just sort of drifts along on a sort of melancholy melody and some absolutely lovely lyrics ("In a den of quitters, in a hall of hosts/between warn out waltzes and wedding toasts...").
2. "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" [5:25] by Wilco, live at Bumbershoot (2002)
An early version of the song that relies on some deliciously autumnal guitar and completely blows away the album cut, IMO.
3. "In a Sweater Poorly Knit" [5:26] by mewithoutYou, from
Brother, Sister (2006)
There's a driving urgency in this one I quite like--it's emotive but without being too fussy or histrionic about it.
4. "Ghosts" [3:55] by Siobhan Donaghy, from
Ghosts (2007)
One of my favorite pop albums ever, largely because underneath the mainstream danceable gloss, there's a willingness to do something a little groovier and weirder, best exemplified by this, the ending/title cut.
5. "Wake Up" [4:26] by Roddy Hart, from
Home Tapes (2003)
One of the most lovely and articulate break-up songs I've ever heard, the second verse in particular.
6. "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" [3:21] by Ida, from the
Poor Dumb Bird 7" (1997)
A spare, melancholy-yet-energetic cover of the Richard & Linda Thompson classic by a greatly underrated band.
7. "Funeral Singers" [4:10] by Califone, from
All My Friends are Funeral Singers (2009)
One of my favorite songs from last year, full of bittersweet images and a loose, pulsing, organic arrangement. It just swells up and envelops you--wonderful.
8. "The Piano Song" [3:59] by Kenny Young & The Eggplants, from
Even One is Quite a Few (1996)
A tender, straight-faced ballad from a band more accustomed to weird little comedy songs. The sweetness here absolutely kills me.
9. "Above the Ocean" [1:29] by Foot Ox, from
It's Like Our Little Machine (2008)
An all too brief little track that combines a deceptively engaging melody, skewed lyrics ("Horses*** is flowing out of my mouth in the form of words to you") and a surprisingly dense, blustering low-fi arrangement.
10. "Workin' Hard" [2:21] by Retribution Gospel Choir, from
2 (2010)
Alan Sparhawk, from Low, getting his rock on. What's not to love?
Link.