January 2009
1 post
Song of the Week: "Poor House" - the Burning...
Saw these guys last year opening for Fu Manchu. I love a lot of their songs, but this one rises above the rest. The bass and guitar are elemental, archetypical rock n’ roll, which I’m always a sucker for. That alone merits the song four stars. It gets up to five stars because of the vocals. Everything about the vox is awesome in this song: lyrics, melody, harmony, tone. For most...
December 2008
1 post
Song of the Week: "Spring Came" - the Suburbs
Most of the songs that I write about here, when they come on my ipod I get an immediate feeling of recognition, relief and happiness. Then there are some songs where I realize their brilliance right around the chorus. Sometimes I find myself feeling I’m glad I’m alive just because I got to hear a particular song.
“Spring came” is at a whole other level for me - a song...
November 2008
2 posts
Song of the Week: "Deep Blue Lounge" - One Cut
So, neither iTunes nor Pandora recognizes this artist or this song. But I swear it exists. It’s on an album called “Grand Theft Auto” and I must have bought it during my emusic.com phase.
“Deep Blue Lounge” is electronica - you would call it “downtempo” or “lounge.” It’s something like 90 bpm. It’s unlikely you’ll be able...
Song of the Week: "Viet Nam" - the Minutemen
I’ve always loved this song and it came up on my ipod the other day and it seemed shockingly relevant. First, the music is classic Minutemen - tight, clipped funky but still hardcore punk guitar bass and drums; 3 parts but all at under 1.5 minutes. Second, I usually don’t focus too much on the lyrics, but as a protest song goes, this one is my favorite.
“Oh, here we are, in...
October 2008
2 posts
Song of the Week: "You're One" - Imperial Teen
Imperial Teen’s album “Seasick” is packed full with 5-star rated songs on my Ipod, so the fact that this one is my song of the week instead of one of the band’s other masterpieces is partially due to the random whims of the shuffle gods. Regardless how it got here, this song deserves to be bought and heard by everyone.
“You’re One” is slamming,...
Song of the Week: "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" -...
It’s kind of hard to pick a favorite song from Separation Sunday, The Hold Steady’s genius breakout album. Especially when, like me, you grew up in Minnesota in the ’80s. All the places in the songs - and all of the plotlines in the stories he sings - give me the same aching nostalgia I feel when I drive over the hill entering Duluth after years away.
“Your Little...
September 2008
2 posts
Song of the Week: "Chemicals Collide" - Cloud Cult
Kelli and I discovered this band while wandering around Dinkytown in Minneapolis one night. We saw a crowd outside the Varsity Theater, paid the cover and went in, and were lucky enough to get to see Cloud Cult. That night, they were my favorite band ever. Three years later, they’re still in the running.
“Chemicals Collide” is on their newest album, “The Meaning of...
Song of the Week: "Freedom of Choice" - Fu Manchu
Ah, yes. One of my favorite songs of all time, performed by one of my current favorite bands. What could possibly be better?? Note: this makes me wonder if maybe Devo songs are like Dylan songs in that their main value is in their coverability — they are perfect for covering in tons of different styles, often resulting in a song that sounds better than the original. Artist: Fu Manchu...
August 2008
3 posts
Song of the Week: "Hey Alright" - Atomic Bitchwax
This song has been on my ipod forever, and I have no idea where I got it from. But it’s so damn good that every time I hear it I almost have to cry.
It just came on again, and I looked them up on the web and it turns out they have a bunch of CDs, which I now must buy.
The Atomic Bitchwax at Amazon
Song of Week: "It's On the Rocks" - the Donnas
This song has one of the most perfect rock song openings ever - repetitive, simple guitar and drums for a couple bars and then a second guitar comes in and kicks some ass. It makes you run for the volume knob to turn it up as fast as you can. The Donnas definitely learned the lessons from AC/DC. Plus they get extra points for liberal use of the cowbell on the choruses and for basically...
Song of Week: "Savior" - the Blackouts
Wow, it’s totally sad when a band that created truly fantastic music just disappears off the face of the earth, and their music goes with them. Of course it happens all the time, and apparently it happened with the Blackouts. I used to see the Blackouts in San Francisco in the late ’90s, and played with them a few times with my band MOSS. I have their CD (self-titled), and more and...