Failure as a positive thing: 2006 in Review (Part 1)
It is now May 24th, 2007, and I have finally given up making a 2006 mix CD.
It’s not me-I don’t think. It’s the music. The wonderful, wonderful music. All year long, so much good music and so little of it the kind that you can make flow in a playlist. I’ve broken it all down into groups: rockin’ (which works with everything), cute and/or quirky (which works with only some things), funny (which works with fuck-all, even itself), and slow (which can be stuck at end of rockin’). The thing is, when I try to put it altogether, the ones that get left out call to me but don’t make up a full second disc of their own. The little bastards. So here, I’m going to tell you about all of them. Just don’t expect me to put them in any kind of real order.
The Thermals wrote this song called “Pillar of Salt” that I instantly fell in love with. The Thermals can do that to you, if you let them. In 2004, I downloaded two songs from their Sub Pop webpage-“No Culture Icons,” from 2003’s More Parts Per Million, and “How We Know” from Fuckin A-and I don’t think I’ve ever played songs louder in my life. But “Pillar of Salt” has more to it than sounding good at high volume. It’s a story, reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale, of fear and flight and oppression. I feel like I’m running myself every time I hear it, and I can taste that fear. That’s pretty amazing. Fool that I am, I’m afraid to pick up the album, that no song on it could compare to this one.
Another song that takes me along with it is Muse’s “Starlight.” “Take a Bow” has its own greatness, for bringing politics to the level of rock opera by way of Queen, but “Starlight” trips me out without having an agenda. It’s another story, more science fiction-maybe that’s what 2006 was really about, you know? Our reality feeling less and less understandable, more and more like a dystopian novel. Maybe that’s why I’m connecting to these songs. Or maybe “Starlight” just rocks my socks off.
Keane’s “Is It Any Wonder?” is the song that would come right after “Starlight” if I were making a mix CD. Which I am not. Because what can follow these two tracks? The Keane song is just straight-up pop rock, the catchy, sing-along kind of song that it is getting harder and harder for me to find. If I’m not looking in the right place, let me know, because I could do with more songs like this one to get me through my days.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs blew me away with Show Your Bones, because I foolishly expected more of the same after Fever to Tell. Karen O and co. proved that they could grow musically without any stretch marks or cracked voices or some other sort of metaphor. The whole CD rocks out, but “Cheated Hearts” gets me every time.
Someone needs to explain to me about Calexico, and what it is about “Letter to Bowie Knife” that makes it one of the most-played songs I have from the year. It has just enough of a polish to catch my picky, poppy ear, but it also has a bit of that raw, indie sound that reminds me of stepping away from the radio to find things that weren’t processed, that were straight from the heart. From Calexico’s heart to my ear, down to my heart, I think.
Okay, God bless the pretty ladies who told me about Tilly and the Wall, because “Bad Education” has gotten as much play as “Letter to Bowie Knife.” I’m a sucker for percussion and Tilly and the Wall’s percussion is...tap dancing? FANTASTIC. Add to that a punk art heart and set it on repeat, people. Indeed.
Paste Magazine is quite good and you should check it out sometime. They give you these samplers, and most of the music I can (or have to) ignore, but every once in a while, there’s a jewel in there. Usually it’s someone you already know putting something new out, as in this case. See, I wouldn’t have bothered with Frank Black because, while I love him, he’s not an artist I seek out-at least, not as a solo artist. However, one of his songs was on a Paste sampler, and I love me some Paste and like to keep an ear out, so when “If Your Poison Gets You” started playing, I did a double-take at the name of the artist and suddenly that Franklove surged back up in me. Frank Black and “alt”-country, not really two terms you’d think would go together, and yet they do. SO WELL. The universe throws you curve balls and you close your eyes and hold your glove out sort of randomly and there, you caught it. That’s how I felt when I was in T-ball when I was seven, and that’s how I felt about this song.
Next week: Part 2 of I’m-not-sure-when-I’ll-stop. I think I’ll go to cute and/or quirky next...
It’s not me-I don’t think. It’s the music. The wonderful, wonderful music. All year long, so much good music and so little of it the kind that you can make flow in a playlist. I’ve broken it all down into groups: rockin’ (which works with everything), cute and/or quirky (which works with only some things), funny (which works with fuck-all, even itself), and slow (which can be stuck at end of rockin’). The thing is, when I try to put it altogether, the ones that get left out call to me but don’t make up a full second disc of their own. The little bastards. So here, I’m going to tell you about all of them. Just don’t expect me to put them in any kind of real order.
The Thermals wrote this song called “Pillar of Salt” that I instantly fell in love with. The Thermals can do that to you, if you let them. In 2004, I downloaded two songs from their Sub Pop webpage-“No Culture Icons,” from 2003’s More Parts Per Million, and “How We Know” from Fuckin A-and I don’t think I’ve ever played songs louder in my life. But “Pillar of Salt” has more to it than sounding good at high volume. It’s a story, reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale, of fear and flight and oppression. I feel like I’m running myself every time I hear it, and I can taste that fear. That’s pretty amazing. Fool that I am, I’m afraid to pick up the album, that no song on it could compare to this one.
Another song that takes me along with it is Muse’s “Starlight.” “Take a Bow” has its own greatness, for bringing politics to the level of rock opera by way of Queen, but “Starlight” trips me out without having an agenda. It’s another story, more science fiction-maybe that’s what 2006 was really about, you know? Our reality feeling less and less understandable, more and more like a dystopian novel. Maybe that’s why I’m connecting to these songs. Or maybe “Starlight” just rocks my socks off.
Keane’s “Is It Any Wonder?” is the song that would come right after “Starlight” if I were making a mix CD. Which I am not. Because what can follow these two tracks? The Keane song is just straight-up pop rock, the catchy, sing-along kind of song that it is getting harder and harder for me to find. If I’m not looking in the right place, let me know, because I could do with more songs like this one to get me through my days.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs blew me away with Show Your Bones, because I foolishly expected more of the same after Fever to Tell. Karen O and co. proved that they could grow musically without any stretch marks or cracked voices or some other sort of metaphor. The whole CD rocks out, but “Cheated Hearts” gets me every time.
Someone needs to explain to me about Calexico, and what it is about “Letter to Bowie Knife” that makes it one of the most-played songs I have from the year. It has just enough of a polish to catch my picky, poppy ear, but it also has a bit of that raw, indie sound that reminds me of stepping away from the radio to find things that weren’t processed, that were straight from the heart. From Calexico’s heart to my ear, down to my heart, I think.
Okay, God bless the pretty ladies who told me about Tilly and the Wall, because “Bad Education” has gotten as much play as “Letter to Bowie Knife.” I’m a sucker for percussion and Tilly and the Wall’s percussion is...tap dancing? FANTASTIC. Add to that a punk art heart and set it on repeat, people. Indeed.
Paste Magazine is quite good and you should check it out sometime. They give you these samplers, and most of the music I can (or have to) ignore, but every once in a while, there’s a jewel in there. Usually it’s someone you already know putting something new out, as in this case. See, I wouldn’t have bothered with Frank Black because, while I love him, he’s not an artist I seek out-at least, not as a solo artist. However, one of his songs was on a Paste sampler, and I love me some Paste and like to keep an ear out, so when “If Your Poison Gets You” started playing, I did a double-take at the name of the artist and suddenly that Franklove surged back up in me. Frank Black and “alt”-country, not really two terms you’d think would go together, and yet they do. SO WELL. The universe throws you curve balls and you close your eyes and hold your glove out sort of randomly and there, you caught it. That’s how I felt when I was in T-ball when I was seven, and that’s how I felt about this song.
Next week: Part 2 of I’m-not-sure-when-I’ll-stop. I think I’ll go to cute and/or quirky next...