Are Seven

I went to the record shop and bought a couple of CDs yesterday: the double-disk Andrew Bird special edition of Noble Beast/Useless Creatures, and the Animal Collective album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, whose artwork artwork was a little disappointing.  Not only does the art not undulate like it seems to in the web images, but the inside is…lacking.

You wouldn’t think that a trip to the record shop would be at all noteworthy, but it is when you consider that my purchases yesterday were only the third and fourth compact discs that I’ve purchased in the last two years.

Why would I do it if I was only going to spin them once (to rip them) and then put them on the shelf to collect dust?  Mostly it’s because I’ve realized the value in having those physical albums as a kind of backup.  I can re-rip them if I ever want them at a higher or lower bitrate, or if anything happens to the files, I always have those backups of my favorite record.  It still hurt a little bit to put out that much money, and I can’t say that I got any sort of “I really miss going to the record shop” feeling, but there was a satisfaction to having that physical product, knowing that I could rip it as I wanted.

As an aside: if you’re in an arguing mood, I took another stab at clarifying my stance on digital vs. physical albums over on Naive Harmonies. I know it’s been said before, but…if you’re up for the debate, I always am.

In case you’re a multiple reminders, “did you get that email I just sent you” kind of person, here’s a reminder that Fine Tune Friday has done packed its bags and moved to Naive Harmonies.  The kids are still getting settled in the schools and the neighbors all seem highly suspicious for some reason, probably because they’re racist, but otherwise, it seems okay.

In the off chance that some of you just want a “best song of the week” kind of thing without a full-on, in-your-face, super-eXtreme music blog, then there is an RSS feed for Fine Tune Friday only, or you could bookmark this page.  If the idea of RSS and bookmarks seem to scary to you, then I’m not really sure how you’ve gotten around the internet all these years.  Please note that dropping breadcrumbs on your computer’s keyboard will not help you find your way back. The birds will totally eat it.

I can never decide if the new disco (aka “dance punk”, aka “dance music”) is truly a signpost in a new direction or just a vacation in a familiar place, where time has changed things, but it’s still basically the same.  Enh.  Either way, it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

The Juan MacLean, “Happy House”

download | buy the full single from Amazon

Every time I hear The Juan MacLean, I wonder why I don’t listen to him/them more. I think that may change after this song.

Okay, let’s get this out of the way: this song needs an edit.  That little player up there is going to unleash the full original version on you, which is TWELVE MINUTES LONG. But that’s why God made fast-forward: so you can get to the good part of the song.  The good part (or rather, the best part. It’s all good, but there’s just a lot of it) of the song starts at around the two minute markand the vocals come in (the real meat of this treat) at around 3:06.  If you can stay still during the vocal part, then your dance machine is busted or never really existed in the first place.

To those of you who aren’t inclined to look over to the left and down slightly on this site to check out the posts on my other site, you may need this heads up: I have posted my top 10 favorite albums of 2008 over at Naive Harmonies. If you’re a constant reader of this site (and you’re probably not reading this unless you are), then there will probably be few surprises, but still…go take a look, huh?  I spent a lot of very valuable life time on it.

It’s probably no coincidence that the year where I’ve finally kicked my headphones habit (well, 99%) is the same year I find myself more attracted to quiet music perfect for dimly lit rooms.

Jessica Lea Mayfield, “We’ve Never Lied”

download | buy album mp3s at Amazon

Hooks can often be pinpointed. You can usually find a song’s catchiness in a riff or a melodic phrase or even just in a part that you can yell really loud (HEY!).

But sometimes, it’s a phrase that sticks in your head, and it has nothing to do with the rhythm, melody or timing of the line. It’s the bluntness of the words or just something that’s fun to sing, for whatever reason.

“We’ve Never Lied” is typical of Jessica Lea Mayfield’s shadowy, fantastically titled With Blasphemy So Heartfelt in that it’s reverbed mood country with pissed off vocals. The appeal lays entirely within the line, “I’ll hold you like I want you to hold me, and I’ll talk to whoever I goddamn wanna” (0:32). It’s an incredibly powerful summation of a stormy relationship: strong desire for someone, but desire to be both closer and to have more freedom, in a way that’s tenderly sad and then suddenly angry.

If you’ve had as much wine and turkey as I have in the last 12 hours or so (note: cannot be sure I was not still eating in my sleep), you’ll find it as appropriate that I do tha today’s song has the world “sleepytime” in the title.

Blitzen Trapper, “Sleepytime In The Western World”

download | buy album mp3s at Amazon

There’s something comforting and familiar about this song, in a way that I wouldn’t be at all surprised that the central melodic hook at “sleeping in the afternoon” is something that’s almost exactly the same as some other older song. But I don’t really care or want to know. It’s just a pleasant and catchy song with an insistent drum pattern to get the head bopping back and forth, nice enough to make the world melt away, which is exactly what we all look for in music.

So now that I’ve plied you with an mp3 on top of the pile of the mp3s I’ve provided you with over the years, I’d like to ask a favor: if you feel compelled to buy an album from Amazon that I’ve written about and linked to, it would be highly appreciated if you went off to buy it by clicking the “buy it from Amazon” links that I put below the players so I get a teeny little commission. If you just go to the Amazon store and buy it, I see no cents. What’s a little begging between friends?

There’s something about slow growers that’s really fun. There are those songs that you think are either boring or terrible the first few times you hear them, but then, for some reason, you keep hearing them and you warm to them and eventually fall in love.

Then there are those songs that are love at first spin.

Architecture in Helsinki, “That Beep”

download

Architecture in Helsinki is a band that’s alternately fantastic and frustrating and tends more towards the latter. But every now and then, they hit the nail on the head. A couple of years ago, they blessed us with “Do the Whirlwind” off of an otherwise maddening record, but now they’ve decided to do away with the album part entirely (for now) and just serve up the “Genius of Love” party tune by itself.

Best part: the slipped in “can you give me that” just before the chorus. I can’t wait to play this at Stay Loose.

To whom it may concern,

Please excuse Fine Tune Friday’s absence yesterday, as he had taken ill with a extreme case of lame excuses.  He has finished the required assignment for yesterday, yet turned it in to the wrong place, because Fine Tune Friday is stupid.

Sincerely,
Fine Tune Friday’s relatively-legal guardian

What if Fine Tune Friday moved over to Naive Harmonies?  Would that be a pain?  What if there was an RSS feed for Fine Tune Friday and/or just for my posts?

It’s hard to be divided.  I love looking back at the week and picking out one song that I’ve loved over all the others, but it’s meant that all my good stuff goes to this site instead of to Naive Harmonies. So I’ve been thinking of moving my favorite song of the week over there and leaving this page as just a babble blog, for better and worse.

Objections or non-objections can be left in the comments.  Until further notice, Fine Tune Friday will stay right here, where we’ll now have content that looks remarkably similar to something that I already posted on Naive Harmonies.  You see my dilemma?

The Sea and Cake, “Aerial”

download | buy album mp3s at Amazon

There’s something…luxurious about Sam Prekop’s voice. Yeah, he makes every song sound exactly the same, but it’s the sound of sinking into a comfy chair and reading something fascinating. That is: relaxed but wide awake and excited.

I can’t think of another time or place when The Sea and Cake have sounded this energetic, though. The end of this song is the type of sincere rocking out at the end of this song is the kind that they always seemed to be afraid of in earlier days, as though it would break their cool and they’d never be able to get it back. It’s nice to hear them letting loose in their old age.

At the college radio station that formed the center of most of my college friendships, we would always secretly joke about the older guys from the community who had shows because it seemed like they were all into country and bluegrass. Well, it was said as a joke, but it was really more like a mystery.  What was it about aging that makes bluegrass suddenly so appealing?

I kind of knew what it was, though, and my theory about it then has only strengthened as I’ve gotten into the upper reaches of my thirties: it’s the familiarity. The comfort of its predictability is exactly its appeal.

The same thing can happen with pop, though, and there are times when I wonder if I’ve gotten too numb to get excited about something, it’s funny how often it’s a predictable pop chorus that gets me jumping again.

Ra Ra Riot, “Dying Is Fine”

download | buy the album mp3s on Amazon

Ra Ra Riot is a band that even sounds young, probably because they are, which puts them in the same 2008 bucket as Black Kids or Los Campesinos, though they really just remind me of a more exuberant Matt Pond PA. And like Matt Pond PA, most of the stuff kind of floats by without me really thinking a whole lot about it.

“Dying Is Fine”, however, gives me the dances. That chorus is something that you’ve heard about a million times before, but it just doesn’t matter because it still works. It’s nothing brilliant, nothing groundbreaking. It’s just a simple song that makes you feel good. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

The song also sparks off a good Halloween game: best songs about death. Go.