Thursday, September 17, 2009

5 more songs from the 2000s

And the beat goes on...

M83 "Don't Save Us From the Flames"
I heard this song first in a car commercial that ran during the Texas/USC Rose Bowl in 2006. Apt, as this is the BEST car driving song of the decade. I love the sound of M83's drums and the two single note guitar lines that keep crossing against each other in Interpol-esque ways. And the vocals. Well, I can't really understand much of anything the frontman's saying, but that only means I get to falsetto my brains out with whatever comes to mind during the insane rush of the chorus.

Feist "I Feel it All"
I know. "1, 2, 3, 4." Well, that song is great, but it didn't grab me. The two songs I listened to 30 times each when I first got this album was "My Moon, My Man" (the drums in the middle eight and the vocal harmonies that immediately follow it) and this song. Again, it's about the musical touches. The first chorus: "I love you more" and you have this great little trilly piano line. And THEN after "I don't know what I knew before" you have the same line, but in a two note harmony form. I LOVE that. That's the song for me.

White Denim "I Can Tell"
White Denim is the 60s one hit rockers Nuggets project rolled into one band. The drums on this song just swing (More cowbell!), and the bassist remains the hidden ingredient of this band's success. That stacatto roll he goes on during the riff is great. Love the tiny touch of keyboard as well. "Did you forget to take your medicine, honey?"

Team America "America, Fuck Yeah"
The companion piece to Frank Stallone's "Peace in our Life" EXCEPT it's hilarious as all get out AND manages to distill every bad patriotic song of the last decade into a high-octane call and response frenzy. And if you don't like it, well, lick my butt and suck on my balls.

Ryan Adams "Carolina Rain"
This is the best story song that Adams has ever written. It has a great opening guitar line and earns its vocal and musical climax. As anyone who has heard "The End" knows, he's always eating eggs. "One night at the diner over eggs...over easy she showed me the length of her legs." And the next couplet is the kicker: "But that gold plated cross on her neck it was real / And you don't get that kind of money from pushing a meal." And the fantastic blending of Caroline and Carolina. "29" is one of those albums that I instinctively say I like even though I only listen to three or four of the songs just because those 3 or 4 songs (this one, "29", "Nightbirds", "Elizabeth, you were born to play the part") are SO good.

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