2012.09.02
I found a lot of new music this past summer! Some really great stuff in all...
These songs were 4 stars:
- The Rest Of My Days (The Exploding Voids) One of my favorites, but not publically released.
- Too Close (Alex Clare) So good they're using it in that ad for Internet Explorer. Don't dig the sentiment, but the sound is great.
- Hey Boy (The Blow) The absolutely perfect followup to "Call Me Maybe"...
- Bang Bang Bang (Mark Ronson & The Business Intl) Heard this on "Girls". For a while I was too cool to admit how much I liked it.
- When Doves Cry (Damien Rice) Hard to find acoustic cover... knocked over how Prince is using language in this.
- Be My Guest (Gaitana, Ukraine Eurovision 2012) Bright clubby fun with just a bit of a bass drop.
- Aces And Twos (The Devil Makes Three) Bluegrass-tinged -- sometimes Chiptle has the best music.
- Graceland (Paul Simon Cover) (The Tallest Man On Earth) The guy's voice is a little weedy, but I think he brings out some of the sadness of this song in a lovely way.
- Wilderness (Middle Brother) Folksy.
- Ballad of Lucy Jordon (Nicki Gillis) Marianne Faithfull's version of the Sheil Silverstein lyric is the most famous (I heard it in Thelma & Louise) but I find Gillis' version more palatable, if a bit too polished.
- Gimme Some More (Busta Rhymes) That is a freaky video.
- Bonkers (Dizzee Rascal) The Olympics opening had this song. I could see "There's nothing cra-zee about meeeee" being some kind of catchphrase.
- Whistle (Flo Rida) Some people are scandalized by the single entedre of this, but it's not a bad piece of summer bubblegum pop.
- 99 Problems (Jay-Z) I knew about the chorus, but didn't listen to the song 'til I saw this analysis of its second verse in terms of a representation of the 4th amendment.
- Party and Bullshit (Ratatat remix) (Notorious B.I.G.) Awesome remix.
- My Homies Still (Lil Wayne) There was a weird Colorado shooting conspiracy theory floating around, but it's a fun, if filthy, song.
- Gangnam Style (PSY) Making the rounds for its goofy dancing fun, even if (or because) it's mostly in Korean...
- Traktor (Wretch 32) I bought that Olympic Opening Ceremony soundtrack, and this was one of the few other songs I liked on it.
- The Bjork Song (The Brunching Shuttlecocks) (available in MP3 or RealAudio!) "Her name... ahh.. her name is Bjork. Isn't that lovely? It's like a gentle zephyr carressing the surface of a still pond. Bjork."
- Dead Puppies (Dr. Demento) This was on a mixtape of Demento stuff a family friend made for my dad when he was sick. The song is itself a bit sick, but fun. Points for the Roman Hruska reference.
- The Masochism Tango (Tom Lehrer) I prefer the full orchestra version of this over the man at the piano.
- F**k S**t Stack [Explicit] (Reggie Watts) INSANELY catchy a capella groove, in spite or because of the nonstop cussing... at risk for becoming 4 stars.
- Jimmy Fallon, Carly Rae Jepsen & The Roots Sing "Call Me Maybe" (w/ Classroom Instruments Just what it says on the tin.
- Michelle's Song -- ItsYouNotMe (zeFrank) Touching Group Effort.
- Sabre Dance from 'Gayeneh' (The London Symphony Orchestra) For a long while I used to say "I like Classical but only if it's fast" -- this song and "Flight of the Bumblebee" were to big reasons for me saying that.
- Pee Wee's Big Adventure -- Breakfast Machine (The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra) That video is actually the fun fun fun Rube Goldberg-ish clip from the movie.
- Il Buono, Il Cattivo, Il Brutto (The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (Ennio Morricone) I heard Tracy Emin use this in one of her pieces in London last summer.
- Mechanism Eight (UT3 Remix) (Rom Di Prisco) I first heard this great bit of mid-90s techno as a MOD file
- The best drum line video ever! (Keith Urban) Ripped the soundtrack to that video. Man I love funk-tinged drumlines.
- The People's Court 1981-1993 theme music Great music, at least 'til 3:10 or so where it starts to totally wuss out.
- Flat Beat (Mr. Oizo) Oddly chip-tune-ish.
- Someone Like You (Adele) Heard about this after WSJ analyzed why it was so sad...
- Imitosis (Andrew Bird) via The Onion Horrible Couple Really Wants Wedding To Reflect Their Personalities.
- Natural Light (Sun Kil Moon). Crazy Melancholy.
- The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Album) (The Postal Service) Another work tinged with regret.
- I'm Going To Go Back There Someday (Rachael Yamagata) Loved this song on the Muppet Movie soundtrack...
- Settle Down (Kimbra) Less soft than some stuff here, still paints a wistful tone.
- Come Together (The Beatles) A few years ago I saw this great (unauthorized?) Flash video...
- Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd) What can I say, I liked Dukes of Hazzard when I was a kid too.
- Nothing From Nothing (Billy Preston) I enjoy how much Billy Preston seems to enjoy his afro.
- As Time Goes By (Dooley Wilson) Got to take Amber to see this movie for her first time.
- I Love Rock N' Roll (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts) Even better than the Weird Al Version
- Always True To You In My Fashion (Peggy Lee With George Shearing) Sometimes my mom's love of musicals comes out in weird ways.
- Superstition (Stevie Wonder) It's too bad I mostly heard his softer stuff, 'cause man could this guy get funky.
- Steal My Sunshine (Len) Hey remember the 90s? Me too!
- Northern Cree - Red Skin Girl (A Tribe Called Red) Love this group's mix of Native American and modern sensibilities.
- Chammak Challo Punjab Remix I love Bollywood! Had a hard time finding a version with the female vocals.
- We Like to Party! (Vengaboys) Hey remember that old Six Flags ad? Me too!
- Hell Yes (Beck) I like the peculiary Japanese admonition to "Please Enjoy".
- You're Not All That (The Herbaliser) Retro-funk sound.
- Get Some (Lykke Li) Such attitude in this.
- Count On Me (Mat Kearney) Might be a cover of a Bruno Mars song? Cute number and alphabet puns anyway.
- 1940 (AmpLive Remix) (The Submarines) "Something's wrong when you regret things that haven't happened yet."
- He was tall, thin and bony, like a cadaver trying to remember something,
- Fearless, as he was dumb, he walked over to the edge of the ship.
- Jake was not a man to show much emotion, but he found himself supressing the urge to smile out loud.