obsesso-songs 2004
You might well ask why I'm posting a list of songs I loved in 2004 when we're nearing the end of 2005. I have no good answer for this question.
I compiled this list in January and just...didn't get around to filling in the blanks until now. The immediate impetus to finish and post was provided by coffee_and_ink's very sweet comment that she misses getting mixes from me. And I miss making mixes, for her and others; so we're about even, I think.
Last year's list of obsesso-songs is here.
This is a list of the songs that took over my head in 2004, presented more or less in order. It is not a representative list of everything I listened to, or even of the CDs I acquired. It is not an exhaustive list of songs that I would call favorites; I have a lot of favorite songs, because I'm easy like that. These are the songs that burrowed into my brain and wouldn't come out for weeks at a time. They're the songs I heard constantly in my head, the ones I worked out elaborate harmonies for, the ones I'd listen to a dozen or more times on repeat. These are all songs whose sound I love, but in most cases they're also songs with lyrics that not only struck but stuck.
I'm not linking to band sites or other information, for lo, I am lazy. If you need further information, google is your friend.
Garrison Starr, "One Sided" (Airstreams and Satellites)
"Tell me you're joking / that I would follow you here / just to watch you disappear / when this love is broken / is there any other kind?" Somewhere, half-completed, I have a plan for a mix called "Watch You Disappear" for which this is, of course, the key song.
Jeffrey Foucault, "Northbound 35" (Stripping Cane)
"And we fought all night and then we danced / in your kitchen, and you were as much in my hands / as water, or darkness,
or nothing / that can ever be held." The single most beautiful, most heartbreaking, most overwhelming song Jeff has ever recorded. Which is saying something.
Thea Gilmore, "Juliet (Keep That In Mind)" (Avalanche)
"You remind me of some arthouse black and white I saw they'd colored in with chalk / and are you wise beyond your years or all you all talk?" Bitter and catchy in one smart package.
The Promise Ring, "Become One Anything One Time" (Wood/Water)
"You can't keep up / but they can't keep you down / and I'm just happy you stuck around." Sad and hopeful at once.
Frou Frou, "Let Go" (Details)
"It's all right / 'cause there's beauty in the breakdown." Amazing combination of simple vocals and complex sonic texture. Also, of course, unbelievably catchy.
Peter Mulvey, "Charlie" (Kitchen Radio)
"Tuesday morning, blue clay coffee cup / mister Charlie, big sound fill you up / so if Monday laid you low / so what?" One of the very few unambiguously cheerful songs Peter's ever written, and catchy to boot. The recorded version can't hold a candle to a live performance, but it's still damn good.
Peter Mulvey, "Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad (and Faraway From Home)" (Kitchen Radio)
"Perhaps it's worth mentioning / as I write this song down / I am the happiest fucker alive." If you can listen to this song without having a big grin on your face by the end, I do not want to be your friend.
Owen, "Declaration of Incompetence" (Owen)
"If you don't want to see the worst in me / you've got two choices: / cover your eyes with both hands tight / or just leave."
Tegan & Sara, "Walking With A Ghost" (So Jealous)
"No matter which way you go / no matter which way you stay / you're out of my mind." This song only has five lines, none of them profound. Somehow it doesn't matter.
The Frames, "Fighting on the Stairs" (For the Birds)
"If I don't get out of this town / something's gonna break / so I've gotta find my own way now..." Memory and longing and a beat for walking.
Jeffrey Foucault, "Stripping Cane" (Stripping Cane)
"There's no more room for angels / to dance or even stand / upon this pin entangled / bleeding sugar from our hands / bleeding ashes from our feet / won't you help me count my sheep / tonight..."
Joe Rathbone, "Windows Breaking" (I Can Hear the Windows of Your Heart Breaking)
"It's a whole life that did you no good / it's a whole life misunderstood / now I can hear the windows of your heart breaking." A beautifully oblique and utterly hopeful delayed-love song.
The Frames, "What Happens When The Heart Just Stops" (For the Birds)
"So what happens when the heart give up / but the body goes on living?" No sample of the lyrics can convey the ache of this song, the way it builds from a whisper to a cry.
Garrison Starr, "Big Sky" (Songs From Take-Off to Landing)
"If I could hold what you hold / forget the things I don't know / it's easier said than done though / until I hold what you hold." A song about walking up to the edge and jumping. Yeah.
Garrison Starr, "Hardest Part of Living" (Songs From Take-Off to Landing)
"Nobody is safe from heartache / we handle what we're given / but to stand in the face of heartache / maybe that's the hardest part of living." This song has been known to make me cry.
Jimmy Eat World, "Work" (Futures)
"The things we think might be the same / but I won't fight for more / it's just not me to wear it on my sleeve / count on that for sure." Probably the catchiest song on the CD.
Jimmy Eat World, "Kill" (Futures)
"Could it be that everything goes round by chance / or only one way that it was always meant to be? / You kill me / you always know the perfect thing to say / I know what I should do / but I just can't walk away." Probably the second-catchiest song on the CD.
Jimmy Eat World, "Polaris" (Futures)
"They say that love goes anywhere / in your darkest time it's just enough to know it's there." Oh, hell, they're all catchy. I fucking love this CD.
Wheat, "I Met A Girl" (Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second)
"She said: I met a girl I'd like to know better / but I'm already with someone..." Pop perfection.
Wheat, "World United Already" (Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second)
"The winter session's ending / I can see you now / I just hope we can be the same somehow / 'cause I finally feel I'm onto you now / I finally feel I'm onto you now / god, I feel I'm falling now." See above re: pop perfection.
Matt Pond PA, "kc" (Emblems)
"I remember you / Do you remember me? / There's no way to the heart better than awkwardly." Bouncy and yet somehow ominous: a good song for the end of the year.
Looking back, I see that it was almost exactly this time last year that I started posting about 2003's CD acquisitions, and that coffee_and_ink was responsible for that too. Huh. Maybe I'll get the 2004 reviews posted before mid-November, but don't hold your breath.
I compiled this list in January and just...didn't get around to filling in the blanks until now. The immediate impetus to finish and post was provided by coffee_and_ink's very sweet comment that she misses getting mixes from me. And I miss making mixes, for her and others; so we're about even, I think.
Last year's list of obsesso-songs is here.
This is a list of the songs that took over my head in 2004, presented more or less in order. It is not a representative list of everything I listened to, or even of the CDs I acquired. It is not an exhaustive list of songs that I would call favorites; I have a lot of favorite songs, because I'm easy like that. These are the songs that burrowed into my brain and wouldn't come out for weeks at a time. They're the songs I heard constantly in my head, the ones I worked out elaborate harmonies for, the ones I'd listen to a dozen or more times on repeat. These are all songs whose sound I love, but in most cases they're also songs with lyrics that not only struck but stuck.
I'm not linking to band sites or other information, for lo, I am lazy. If you need further information, google is your friend.
Garrison Starr, "One Sided" (Airstreams and Satellites)
"Tell me you're joking / that I would follow you here / just to watch you disappear / when this love is broken / is there any other kind?" Somewhere, half-completed, I have a plan for a mix called "Watch You Disappear" for which this is, of course, the key song.
Jeffrey Foucault, "Northbound 35" (Stripping Cane)
"And we fought all night and then we danced / in your kitchen, and you were as much in my hands / as water, or darkness,
or nothing / that can ever be held." The single most beautiful, most heartbreaking, most overwhelming song Jeff has ever recorded. Which is saying something.
Thea Gilmore, "Juliet (Keep That In Mind)" (Avalanche)
"You remind me of some arthouse black and white I saw they'd colored in with chalk / and are you wise beyond your years or all you all talk?" Bitter and catchy in one smart package.
The Promise Ring, "Become One Anything One Time" (Wood/Water)
"You can't keep up / but they can't keep you down / and I'm just happy you stuck around." Sad and hopeful at once.
Frou Frou, "Let Go" (Details)
"It's all right / 'cause there's beauty in the breakdown." Amazing combination of simple vocals and complex sonic texture. Also, of course, unbelievably catchy.
Peter Mulvey, "Charlie" (Kitchen Radio)
"Tuesday morning, blue clay coffee cup / mister Charlie, big sound fill you up / so if Monday laid you low / so what?" One of the very few unambiguously cheerful songs Peter's ever written, and catchy to boot. The recorded version can't hold a candle to a live performance, but it's still damn good.
Peter Mulvey, "Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad (and Faraway From Home)" (Kitchen Radio)
"Perhaps it's worth mentioning / as I write this song down / I am the happiest fucker alive." If you can listen to this song without having a big grin on your face by the end, I do not want to be your friend.
Owen, "Declaration of Incompetence" (Owen)
"If you don't want to see the worst in me / you've got two choices: / cover your eyes with both hands tight / or just leave."
Tegan & Sara, "Walking With A Ghost" (So Jealous)
"No matter which way you go / no matter which way you stay / you're out of my mind." This song only has five lines, none of them profound. Somehow it doesn't matter.
The Frames, "Fighting on the Stairs" (For the Birds)
"If I don't get out of this town / something's gonna break / so I've gotta find my own way now..." Memory and longing and a beat for walking.
Jeffrey Foucault, "Stripping Cane" (Stripping Cane)
"There's no more room for angels / to dance or even stand / upon this pin entangled / bleeding sugar from our hands / bleeding ashes from our feet / won't you help me count my sheep / tonight..."
Joe Rathbone, "Windows Breaking" (I Can Hear the Windows of Your Heart Breaking)
"It's a whole life that did you no good / it's a whole life misunderstood / now I can hear the windows of your heart breaking." A beautifully oblique and utterly hopeful delayed-love song.
The Frames, "What Happens When The Heart Just Stops" (For the Birds)
"So what happens when the heart give up / but the body goes on living?" No sample of the lyrics can convey the ache of this song, the way it builds from a whisper to a cry.
Garrison Starr, "Big Sky" (Songs From Take-Off to Landing)
"If I could hold what you hold / forget the things I don't know / it's easier said than done though / until I hold what you hold." A song about walking up to the edge and jumping. Yeah.
Garrison Starr, "Hardest Part of Living" (Songs From Take-Off to Landing)
"Nobody is safe from heartache / we handle what we're given / but to stand in the face of heartache / maybe that's the hardest part of living." This song has been known to make me cry.
Jimmy Eat World, "Work" (Futures)
"The things we think might be the same / but I won't fight for more / it's just not me to wear it on my sleeve / count on that for sure." Probably the catchiest song on the CD.
Jimmy Eat World, "Kill" (Futures)
"Could it be that everything goes round by chance / or only one way that it was always meant to be? / You kill me / you always know the perfect thing to say / I know what I should do / but I just can't walk away." Probably the second-catchiest song on the CD.
Jimmy Eat World, "Polaris" (Futures)
"They say that love goes anywhere / in your darkest time it's just enough to know it's there." Oh, hell, they're all catchy. I fucking love this CD.
Wheat, "I Met A Girl" (Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second)
"She said: I met a girl I'd like to know better / but I'm already with someone..." Pop perfection.
Wheat, "World United Already" (Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second)
"The winter session's ending / I can see you now / I just hope we can be the same somehow / 'cause I finally feel I'm onto you now / I finally feel I'm onto you now / god, I feel I'm falling now." See above re: pop perfection.
Matt Pond PA, "kc" (Emblems)
"I remember you / Do you remember me? / There's no way to the heart better than awkwardly." Bouncy and yet somehow ominous: a good song for the end of the year.
Looking back, I see that it was almost exactly this time last year that I started posting about 2003's CD acquisitions, and that coffee_and_ink was responsible for that too. Huh. Maybe I'll get the 2004 reviews posted before mid-November, but don't hold your breath.