Friday, May 12, 2006

Songs One-Hundred Twenty Five to Thirty-One

Ack. I don't know where I am in this thing, but whilst I wait for my son's underwear to dry for an overnight at the local gym (Note to self--buy more underwear for son, for god's sake), I'll knock out a couple tunes. But not before adding that it seems wrong that all my "vacation" days are spent on doctors' appts and laundry. At least I got a pedicure.

Song 125: The Spinto Band, "Oh Mandy." Not the Barry Manilow song--more twee (can you imagine?) and with faux-mandolins, I think. Turns "Mandy" into a three syllable name at points. Very post-post. I heard a bit today on the radio whilst driving to the doctor about some online emo band name generator. I thought of it during this song. Here are two: http://members.aol.com/Valdes379/EmoGame.html and http://emo.t-error-ist.de/index.php?l=en

Song 126: Deerhoof, "Twin Killers." This is an awesome song. The opening guitar is backed by a landing flying saucer, and the little girl singer is balanced by perfectly angry, retro rock. It sounds like Cake without horns, fronted by a girl. Well done.

Song 127: Brendan Benson, "Cold Hands (Warm Heart)." Pleasant post-MOR. The instrumentation has a nice lyrical quality at points but at other points it's a bit overcooked. Listening to this, I can tell that Jack White is the king of the Raconteurs, since little of Mr. Benson seems to emerge.

Song 128: Rosa Chance Well, "Bell's Inn." This is a pretty song. It reminds me of another artist, but I can't place it right now. It has a slight alt-country flavor but takes this in a non-pandering direction that's nice. Their official website seems to have died, which doesn't bode well for the band, I guess.

Song 129: The Delgados, "All You Need is Hate." What a great slogan. The song begins with a wonderfully positive swell that is undercut by the lyrics--which are too, too true: "hate is all around." The dissonance between lyrics and music is reminiscent of "Dear God." The band has recently broken up, so maybe they needed a bit more than hate. Still, it's a cool song!

Song 130: Rogue Wave, "Publish My Love." The song balances its emo-ness with a wall of sound in a good way that adds some depth--though it has a hint of Coldplay about it. Very guitar-y. The singer seems in angry, guitar-y love with another, a love that cannot be "published." Clearly, they've never heard of the Star.

Song 131: Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy." I downloaded this song a while back pre-the Gnarls Barkley fever, based solely on the name. Who doesn't love Sir Charles? Though I would argue one could form a tribute band around him, as we all know now, this is a Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo project. Absolutely awesome!! It's driving, lilting, surprising Brit-Soul feeling. Out of all the songs in this post, it is the must listen.

234 to go.

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