Five Songs I am really digging these days
I’m an Animal, Neko Case
We picked up Neko’s new CD on the basis of listening to the promos on iTunes and loving her voice from her work with the New Pornographers. It is, in a word, gorgeous. The songs are lush and layered and interesting in the best sense of the word. I’m An Animal is 2 minutes and 20 seconds of jangly guitars, soft percussion, an almost-marching band rhythm, and Neko’s courageous vocals. The male backing vocals over the chorus line send the whole thing over into ecstasy for me. It’s a simple and yet complicated love song/confessional, and I adore it.
14 Forever, Stars
I heard this song on satellite radio last fall, searched iTunes for it and failed, and then realized the record it belongs to, Sad Robots, hadn’t been released yet. I waited until February and promptly bought this song and I think I have played it every day since. It’s wistful and contemplative but dance-y and almost happy and when Amy Millan finally takes over the lead vocal from Torquil Campbell for the coda, I realize I’ve been waiting for her since the song began.
The Lovecats, Luke Doucet
Okay, to be fair, I’m listening to this entire record a lot these days, ever since we saw Luke play live in Montreal a month ago. Blood’s Too Rich is, in my opinion, a career-defining record for Mr. Doucet, and I lament the fact that few people seem to know about it. The Lovecats is apparently a Cure song, though I never heard the original until two weeks ago, and this is the only cover on the record. It’s a playful song to begin with, and Luke gives it just the right amount of bounce and twang and sass to make it both self-conscious and smartass.
Come on Get Higher, Matt Nathanson
A sappy love song by a moody male singer-songwriter. One of these things is not like the others? Sort of. But Nathanson is a smartass of the highest order - Chris has a hilarious, expletive-laden bootleg track called “Gospel Song” that came from a live show where Nathanson began freestyling about Jesus, just for kicks. So he’s got cred, with me, and so I can like his silly love songs. Especially with a subtle throwaway line in the bridge where he sings “I see angels and devils when you come/on, come on, hold on…” Wink, nudge.
Signs, Bloc Party
A song I picked up from a show I don’t even watch (yet), Chuck. It’s on before Heroes and sometimes if I hit the couch a few minutes early I’ll watch the last bit of the show. This song played over the end of what I gather was somewhat of a “game-changing” episode a few weeks ago, and I had to look it up before Heroes ended, because it was still in my head. It opens with what sounds like tiny angels playing tiny xylophones, and by the time the poetic vocal starts and the subtle beat kicks in, you’ll be hooked too, I promise. It took a few listens to catch that the “signs” referenced in the title are things the singer see that make him hopeful that his love is “not dead, you’re sleeping”. It’s so very sad, and so very lovely.