Song Seven

First, in this week's EW, Fred Armisen's "Celebrity iMix" is a top pick. Puhleeze. Have you ever browsed through the "celebrity" iMixes? So many problems. A: iTunes has adopted a remarkably generous definition of celebrity (clearly following the trail blazed by Dancing with the Stars). B: Almost to a one, these are the lamest lists I've ever read . . . and this is coming from someone whose first download was Mariah Carey's "Shake it Off"--great song btw. And, C: an unsurprising number of the celebrities put their own songs on their lists. Unfortunately, I can believe Steve Perry and William Shatner do listen primarily to their own music. And, while my husband thinks it a striking statement that Frank Black's list consists entirely of Burl Ives tunes, I just find it kinda sad. So, message is--don't pick your songs from the celebrity iMixes.

On the other hand, I have had great luck with WOXY.com's best of 05 iMix. I don't know anything about WOXY, but it seems to have some fingers on the alterna-pulse. And, from this list comes song seven,
a few seconds of Sufjan Stevens's "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" parts one and two. Mr. Stevens has popped up on all kinds of lists with his tribute to Illinois album, the follow-up to his Michigan album (which was also a critics' darling and off which I've heard nothing). This level of critical love makes me nervous, but let me tell you this song is super-cool. And at over 6 minutes, you'll get a real bang for your buck!

It falls into the "seven-layer bean dip" category: lots of instruments that envelop you and what I would call looped subliminal samples, where I'm thinking: "I know this . . . god, what is it?!" It's the kind of song I'd listen to repeatedly until I figured it out, which is fun. The lyrics are also really tightly packed. Plus, Mr. Stevens has a very comforting voice. Not archly sensitive or twee, just lyrical as it bounces along the Chicago River of the music.

This is one of the first iTunes I've bought that really makes me want to download the whole album--and not just because it includes a song titled, "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." (Well, maybe a little because.)

358 to go.