some stuff from when I was a kid,
All good songs you should have heard,
but because we have no time anymore,
you probably never did.
1. White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
Have you forgotten what Beach Boys style vocal harmony sounds like? Well go buy Fleet Foxes debut and reminisce. This record is the sole candidate for debut of the year in my book. (I’m thinking of doing an end of the year awards, which should be fun, if not necessarily prestigious).
2. Goodnight Bad Morning - The Kills
Okay, so I am breaking one of my rules that I never told you about*, but The Kills released another excellently titled album (Midnight Boom, preceded by No Wow, preceded by Keep on Your Mean Side). This is their weakest album in my opinion, but then I have checked their website bi-monthly for the last year and a half waiting for their next project. So I was set up for the let down. The album still has some great moments, the lyric "You are a fever, You aint born typical" is probably the best couplet I've heard in the 21st century. Yeah that's right, period.
3. One Day Like This – Elbow
Elbow, a band with confidence and consistency and one of the few who can be considered to have their own sound; they’ve been making poignant, beautiful albums for a few years now and their new release The Seldom Seen Kid is my favorite album of the year so far. In case you’re wondering, that sentence was not a run-on.
4. Silent Sigh – Badly Drawn Boy
I’ve listened to a lot of BDB’s music and nothing has yet to top his work on the soundtrack of About a Boy (Probably the only movie where Hugh Grant rises of above the title of B-actor). This song is so bouncy you’d think it couldn’t possibly be melodramatic but the fact that it is…well, you get the idea.
5. City Bird – Of
I’ve been guilty of sucker punching my audience by picking songs that sound nothing like the artist whose song I select. This is definitely the case with Of Montreal. Words that describe them best are generally synonymous with frenetic, frantic, or frenzied. But don’t hesitate to check them out. They use words you’ll have to look up in the dictionary (lysergic stands out), but hey, that’s how you know it’s good.
6. Lovers In
Everybody has those moments when, like John Cusack’s character in High Fidelity, we want to listen to something we can ignore. If we didn’t, bands like Coldplay wouldn’t have a chance. For their new album they went with legendary (and yet you haven’t heard of him?) producer Brian Eno. If you know Eno’s work, you can guess how the album sounds, hence the acoustic version. Enjoy ignoring this playlist for the next 3 minutes 45 seconds.
7. If You Want Me - Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová
The movie Once won the Oscar for Best Song, a prestigious award (I think? I mean, Bob Dylan has his Oscar on stage with him at every show and that means something man). However, this song, from the same soundtrack, isn’t as good. But I like it better, so get over it.
8. Cartoon Music For Superheroes – Albert Hammond, Jr.
The lead guitarist from a former favorite band of mine released a solo album last year, generously titled Yours To Keep. Thanks, I just paid 12 bucks; I appreciate you letting me hang onto it. Failed attempts at humor aside, this is a great Brian Wilson-esque tune.
9. On My Way – Ben Kweller
If there was justice in the world, we would all know Ben Kweller better than Coner Oberst. Freakishly young, talented songwriters may be few and far between, but I guess the world was just too big for the two of them, as virtually no one outside of Texas has heard Kweller’s name, while Oberst has been erroneously labeled the next Bob Dylan. This song, with obvious roots in a deep love of Dylan’s style of songwriting, is more genuine than anything Oberst ever wrote, and the guy can sing.
10. Things Grandchildren Should Know – Eels
Next to Bob Dylan, Eels songwriter-frontman Mark Oliver Everett has influenced me the most. This song is, like a lot of his work, painfully touching and revealing. Look in the mirror if you dare, cuz this guy will hold it up for you.
*= The rule being not to repeat an artist, other rules include always having a pick from a soundtrack and referencing Bob Dylan.
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