Songs 315 to 324

As I sit here this morning drinking heated orange juice--my favorite cold cure--while starting to feel the odd effects of the meds I'm on for an equally odd laryngitis I developed, I thought I'd whittle some more on the blog. Everyone's still sleeping, so let's see how much I can accomplish before being forced to watch "Horseland."

Song 315: Danielson, "Did I Step On Your Trumpet." Song has a novelty-ish feel, very intentionally quirky. Apparently this band started as an art school thesis (big, flashing warning lights should be inserted here).

Song 316: Green Day & U2, "The Saints Are Coming." I first saw U2 when they opened for the J. Geils Band (yes, dear readers, I'm old) and stopped listening to them years ago around the time Bono started wearing those post-Onos. I do like Green Day quite a bit, though. Still, this collaboration seems to bring out the worst in GD and underscores why I stopped listening to U2.

Song 317: Shelby Lynne, "Where Am I Now." Shelby Lynne, at her best, cannot be beat for a lived-in, too-knowing, sad-weary-sexy delivery; and, this is a great example. Beautifully stripped down initially, it builds nicely with a lonely echoing track.

Song 318: Iron & Wine, "Each Coming Night." Turns out I already reviewed an Iron & Wine song but forgot. Still, I did buy this. Very spare, with a retro 70s folk vibe. This would make a nice hip-parent lullaby track.

Song 319: Nick Drake, "Pink Moon." I've liked this song since it was in a VW ad years back. Another possibility for hip-parents. Mellow wanderings.

Song 320: Nara Leao, "Meditacao." Classic Brazilian lounge pop. Fantastic dinner/brunch music or just brain drifting music. I could listen to music like this all day sometimes; it just wraps you like a perfect blanket, deflecting the world.

Song 321: Blackfield, "Hello." Modern prog rock from the dales of England and Israel (?!) with a nice touch of Oasis to keep it from being to fairy/hobbit/twee. I like it. Keep those drum fills coming. Has an odd bit of silence at the end. Maybe it's a moment of reflection?

Song 322: Porcupine Tree, "Lazarus." This is the initial band of one of the guys in Blackfield--again prog rock. Very pretty prog rock, but because of the song's length (see genre), it gets a bit repetitive. Still, it is nice to see something that takes all those emo sentiments, plunks them in a new setting, and surrounds them with arena-ready drum fills.

Song 323: Switchfoot, "Faust, Midas, and Myself." It's "The Devil Went Down to San Diego"! I like this song; it opens up well and tells a narrative that's a sliver away from being a Tenacious D song but never crosses that line because of an honest sense of urgency. Cool.

Song 324: Amos Lee, "Colors." Folk music for the Norah Jones/"Grey's Anatomy" demographic (look, dear readers, I'm right there wit ya). Lovely voice, pretty tune.

41 to go.