Saturday, June 10, 2006

Songs 152 to 160

I swear I am listening to music. I'm just not writing about it. I even took my iPod to the Pres's Retreat and fell asleep on a swing on the porch looking at the Gulf while listening to the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack and then wowed everyone at dinner by using my iTrip to pipe in music to eat by . We're about to head off for a few day family-vaca-at-the-beach, just in time for a tropical depression to ruin it, so I thought I'd write again. I actually have been listening to a bunch of new songs while finishing quilting one of my billion-piece tops from when I had time to thoughtfully compose 63 stars from about 900 different fabrics. Those were the days! Anyway, I've now decided that I must have been loony and will no longer make anything bigger than a lap. Of course, this work was done in avoidance of working on either my dissertation or my book. I've also been avoiding this work through reading. On my most recent business trip I did finish On Beauty, which seemed overpopulated, overlong, and bereft of anyone worth one's investment of time. Too bad. I'm still slogging my way through the expanded The World is Flat--one word: editor. And, I just ordered a bunch of trashy summer stuff, including Jancee Dunn's auto and the new Tilly Bagshawe (I finished her Adored in Charlotte last summer when I was stuck overnight at the airport--fabu!). And, over a month into my new clean home ethos . . . it's still clean. Plus, we resorted to paying someone to put together the big toy in the backyard which was worth every penny. So, I'm now out of excuses and after this short trip, I'll return to the doctoral grindstone. And, on to the music!

Song 152: Tally Hall, "Good Day." Kind of Queen-ish--especially the beginning and very much the end. It seems a bit overpacked, like they're trying to show you all they can do in one song. It does sound different that most of the pressboard alterna-emo out there, I'll grant you that.

Song 153: Pinback, "Penelope." I like this song. It starts nicely sing-songy and fey-folky then the drums kick in and add some depth and a wooshing movement forward. This is also different than a lot of what I've heard. Has a cooling hypnotic quality.

Song 154: Her Space Holiday, "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend." If Weezer weren't such a post-downer now, they might sound a bit like HSH. (They both seem like one man outfits.) This is a peppy I'm-a-loser song with a nice sampled structure and a regularly interrupting guitar mash. Fun!

Song 155: Finley Quaye, "Even After All." There's a Clef-quality to his vocals but without the self-aggrandizing. Nice voice, mellow vibe; perfect for rhythmic head bobbing and swaying. Groovy romantic sadness.

Song 156: Robinella, "I Fall in Love as Much as I Can." Very vintage, perfect for a romantic comedy feel to this one. Upbeat, bouncy, clever. My daughter is snapping her fingers and dancing to it as I write this--what more can I say?

Song 157: Nobody and the Mystic Chord of Memory, "Coyote's Song." This is an odd admixture, kind of like a Native American Polyphonic Spree tune. It's catchy in a weird way. I can't really find a website for the act, which seems to be a one-off collaboration. Interesting.

Song 158: Katie Melua, "Just Like Heaven." Yep, it's the Cure song. She moves it in an AOR direction that actually brings out the delicacy of the songwriting. I do have a sense, though, that her voice would grate if I had more than this one song on my iPod.

Song 159: Tunng, "The Pioneers." This completely reminds me of someone, and I'm wracking my brain to think of who it is. I do like this song; the enunciation is so precise and distancing. The electronic adds a sheen of creepy cool.

Song 160: Corinne Bailey Rae, "Put Your Records On." She's got a bit of a buzz about her now, and this song justifies it. It's mellow brit-soul with nice sing-song phrasing; a very summery song (think floating sundresses and breezy curtains).

205 to go.

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