Harry Nilsson - Jump Into the Fire
4 minutes in comes one of the best breaks/outros I've ever heard. The over-enthusiastic drums would've been good enough on their own, but when the bass subsequently rolls down into a cellar of low frequencies I am right there; on the brink of jumping into the fire. Harry, you mad genius.David Lindley - Mercury Blues
Speaking of energetic drumfills – it was actually all I thought I liked about this track when I first heard it in one of my many downloaded episodes of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour. After all, cheesy macho-rock about cars is one of few genres I advocate a healthy skepticism towards. But then, after repeated listens I can't deny that there's something cheeky and infatuating about the whole song. And after looking up David Lindley's CV I'm growing a real respect for the guy; not only has he played on a majority of Jackson Browne's and Warren Zevon's recordings – he's also one of the uncredited musicians on one of my favourite albums of all time: Songs of Leonard Cohen. Guilty pleasure grown considerably less guilty.Grandaddy - Chartsengrafs
Here is where today's list veers off into slight sadness. One of the catchiest, yet most unashamedly depressed songs off that masterpiece of contemporary ennui; the Sophtware Slump.Yeah, I traded laughs, in for chartsengrafs.
But all of that is only fun, until evening comes.
Your guess is as good as mine, as to just what kind
Of trouble I might find, tonight out of my mind.
The National - Pink Rabbits
This whole song is like one big gentle heave of the sea. It starts out low, desperately low. Then comes that subtle lift – I was solid gold – that builds into a fleeting beautiful crest. And then it just sinks back again. In the middle of it, one of the best lines this year:I was a television version of a person with a broken heart
Stina Nordenstam - I See You Again
It is high time that I introduce Stina to this blog. One of my big idols she is. It's a slightly misleading cliché to present her as Sweden's equivalent to Björk or Kate Bush, but she does belong to that calibre of solitary, independent and unique boundary-pushing artists. While her vocals may come off as quaint, even cutesy, at first listen, it takes only a little scratching on the surface to reveal a vast, complex and dark body of work. She started out as a jazz-singer, but stopped performing live in 1991. Since then she has shied away from media attention, rarely gives interviews or appears uncamouphlaged in photographs, and has released only six albums, each one vastly different. Her songs has dealt with everything from child-murderers and race-crimes to the invention of airplanes. This is from her second album; it's the first I've ever heard from her, and I remember the moment exactly. It's been 9 years since her last (and arguably finest) album. Here's hoping there's a new one in the works!
If not Stina, then at least Julia Holter is offering a new release soon, and I'm having high hopes for it after this pre-taste:
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