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And some favorite lyrics…
“I’m on my own / You’re selling our old ways / Stop telling me the right way to go / You are free.” (“You Are Free”)
“I know it’s impossible, but you should try to shake it off / and if you really wanna shake it off / you gotta re-arrange, re-arrange, re-arrange us.” (“The Re-Arranger”)
“I’ve been waiting for a sign / I’ve been waiting for a sign / To tell me where / Tell me where I belong.” (“Now”)
I’ve made a lot of great music discoveries this year, either through friends, or concerts, or emusic recommendations (which are almost always spot-on). One of the best shows I went to was Jason Webley’s back pretty early in the year. I wasn’t familiar with Jason Webley at all before the show, but the amazing and lovely Colleen AF Venable was, and wanted to go. I’m so glad I did! Not only was Jason Webley absolutely fantastic, but he and Sxip Shirey also recorded a video for their song “Days with You” there. I watched from the audience, but anyone who was wearing party-ish clothes (including Colleen and another friend) went up on stage to be in the video. Maybe you’ll spot her in the crowd scenes.
And since I only once every few years get my act together to collect addresses and send Christmas cards, instead this year, I made a mix cd for my friends. It’s songs by bands I discovered this year. Not all of them are new songs, or new bands, but they were new to me in 2009. Or, in the case of the last song, one that I didn’t realized I actually liked until 2009, though I’d heard it long before. Here’s the list for you to enjoy!
1. Wake Up / Arcade Fire
2. Keep Yourself Warm / Frightened Rabbit
3. Contender / Pains of Being Pure at Heart
4. Speed of Sound / Chris Bell
5. You Are Free / Mates of State
6. Dominoes / The Big Pink
7. It’s Too Easy / Dave Rawlings Machine
8. New York City Heat / Dead Heart Bloom
9. Be OK / Ingrid Michaelson
10. Hellhole Ratrace / Girls
11. Icarus / Jason Webley
12. Island Garden Song / Mountain Goats
13. Upon Viewing Brueghel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” / Titus Andronicus
14. Poker Face / Lady Gaga
15. Enjoy the Silence / Depeche Mode
So. I’ve had Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” playing continuously in my head since last Thursday.* (Thanks, Vampire Diaries.) In pondering why it’s so catchy, I realized that the refrain has something in common with another song that often gets stuck in my head, “Ultimatum” by The Long Winters.
Now, I know that the main reason these songs are earworms** has to do with the music. But both also involve the idea of reaching and holding.
Ultimatum:
My arms miss you
My hands miss you.
Enjoy the Silence:
All I ever wanted,
all I ever needed,
Is here, in my arms.
Maybe this also has something to do with why they stick in my head. The concept of reaching out and holding and connecting. It’s such an important part of life. And is it perhaps also why book jackets with images of hands are so compelling and appealing?
Or is that a crazy theory?
——
* There may also have been some secret apartment singing and dancing involved.
**I hate the word earworms. I can’t believe I used it.
It seems that making mixes is summery thing for me. Here’s this year’s. Some new bands I’ve been listening to over the past few months, but also some favorite gems, which I feel are important in any mix.
1. “Be OK” / Ingrid Michaelson
2. “Wake Up” / Arcade Fire
I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since the Where the Wild Things Are trailer!
3. “Since U Been Gone” / Ted Leo’s cover
4. “Keep Yourself Warm” / Frightened Rabbit
5. “The Ancient Commonsense of Things” / Bishop Allen
6. “Icarus” / Jason Webley
Jason Webley’s show earlier this year was one of the best concerts I’ve been to in years.
7. “Island Garden Song” / The Mountain Goats
8. “Ceremony” / New Order
9. “Billie Jean” / Michael Jackson
I just can’t get it out of my head!!!!
10. “Jai Ho” / A. R. Rahman
11. “Wish It Well” / Dead Heart Bloom
12. “Look at Miss Ohio” / Gillian Welch
13. “The Crane Wife 3″ / The Decembrists
14. “King of Carrot Flowers Part 1″ / Neutral Milk Hotel
15. “King of Carrot Flowers Part 2″ / Neutral Milk Hotel
16. “Poses” / Rufus Wainwright
17. “Old Old Fashioned” / Frightened Rabbit
18. “Black Star” / Gillian Welch’s cover
19. “Days with You” / Jason Webley with Sxip Shirey
20. “15 Step” / Radiohead
21. “Martha” / Tom Waits
What? It’s a good song!
Here are the songs that have been on repeat in my head this summer…
1. “Mamma Mia,” ABBA
It’s catchy, I can’t help it!
2. “Inside Your Head,” Eberg
3. “Ultimatum,” The Long Winters
One of my absolute favorite songs. I love love love the refrain.
4. “I Hear the Bells,” Mike Doughty
“winds in the night, commas & ampersands…”
5. “In the Night,” Basia Bulat
6. “Click, Click, Click, Click,” Bishop Allen
7. “9 Crimes,” Damien Rice
8. “1 2 3 4,” Feist
9. “Panic,” Puppini Sisters
10. “Momentary Thing,” Something Happens
11. “New Soul,” Yael Naim
12. “The Crane Wife 3,” The Decembrists
13. “L. E. S. Artistes,” Santogold
14. “After Hours,” We Are Scientists
New fave from the Scientists–and it’s playing in the trailer for Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, which is a fantastic pairing, in my opinion.
15. “You Love Me,” Devotchka
16. “Come Pick Me Up,” Ryan Adams
17. “Sweet Darlin’,” She & Him
18. “Love Song,” Sara Bareilles
