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Listen to “And the Lights…” on MySpace.
A skilled writer of screenplays and novels inserts the audience directly into the middle of the action. This rarely works in songs, but somehow, Delegate drops you into this song already bathed in emotional backlog without much of an intro at all. “And the Lights” is brilliant for many reasons, but the reason given above is my favorite of them.
Listen to “Same Old Drag” on MySpace.
Apples in Stereo make the “Same Old Drag” seem like the peppiest, coolest thing in the world. If the same old drag is this fun, give it to me nonstop! Make sure you pay attention to that punchy organ–freaking sweet! It’s the same old drag, baby, yeah! Hooray!
Listen to “Pretty Girl from Chile” on MySpace.
The Avett Brothers summon honesty in a fresh approach to an old theme. “Pretty Girl from Chile” takes you from love’s failings to love’s failings (the sequel). If I describe it any more it will just seem trite, when really they really really did do an original number on this. Really. You’ll just have to trust me. Aw, come on, just listen to it. And don’t quit until you’ve heard three different songs in one, at least.
Listen to “So Cold” on MySpace.
dd/mm/yyyy give you the best outro of the decade with “So Cold”. It’s exactly like someone’s body going cold, as they slip into the infinite abyss, watching their whole life flash miserable by, and wondering how on earth they ever thought it was a good idea to ride a bicycle into a volcano. Ouch. Goodbye!
Listen to “Zdeth Inflamitory” on MySpace.
If you happen to be near Europa, the moon of Jupiter, in 2010, you’ll luckily be near Zdeth’s only scheduled show date in the star system. I highly suggest you check them out. “Zdeth Inflamitory” may sound like a bunch of kitty sounds turned into song, but the underlying meaning is this: that people are ignorant of undercurrents of societal change taking root in everyday sounds. Of course, YOU are not ignorant of this. You read this blog. Yes, you know what’s going on. I’m SURE you do. Yes, no problem for you, but…play this song for your nearest loved one, then shake your head as they just can’t seem to get it. Alas! They are not for the next world.
Listen to “Silver City” on MySpace.
In “Silver City” (from Delete. Delete. I. Eat. Meat.), Ghostland Observatory bring the tempo down so slow that it’s impossible for the song to be catchy…except that it is, somehow. Incredibly. That takes talent, a kind of talent that will get you hired at the circus, or as an adviser to the world’s most important genealogist. It’s just that rare, and deliciously spectacular.
Listen to “Dumb Luck” on MySpace.
Everything is composed of tiny irregular nonsensical pieces. Dntel makes this clear in “Dumb Luck” (from the album Dumb Luck) by decomposing a common feel-good chord progression into nonstructure. So you see, even when you have it good, it is just a series of randomness that’s going your way. You’re out of control. And control is out of you.
Listen to “The Clock” on MySpace.
Where is space if it exists in your head? Stephanie Böhm (of Couch) and Micha Acher (of The Notwist) team up to tear down Thom Yorke’s “The Clock” and rebuild it using the space time anti-continuum. This relates to mass through energy. And if we weren’t so irrevocably (and stupidly) sure of the direction of time-flow, we’d suppose that this version of “The Clock” created Ms. John Soda. But in our time, we see it the other way around.
Listen to “October Knows” on MySpace.
Excellent pace, dynamic, and harmony punctuate this glimpse of a rain drop melting into oblivion. On “October Knows”, 27 shows confidence in its schedule. At 0:32 you are intrigued. At 1:43 you are a raincoat. At 2:18 it doesn’t matter what you are anymore. Confidence is only beautiful when you are right. On “October Knows”, 27 is right right right right right. And thus, beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful.
Listen to “Mint Juleps and Needles” on MySpace.
Lyrics and enunciation, people. You have to love hearing every syllable clearly while each line presents you with cocktail party-entertaining-quality quips and vocabulary. From the person who popularized the phrase, we are the people our parents warned us about, comes “Mint Juleps and Needles”, perhaps Brenda Kahn’s finest collection of lines and phrases all compacted into one punch of a song. Nestled in one of the top ten albums of the 1990s (Epiphany in Brooklyn), “Mint Juleps and Needles will make you a fan of Brenda Kahn in no time. If you’re craving more, pay her $10 so she becomes convinced to release another album….
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