advisory opinions

jonatha brooke - how deep is your love? karen was playing some...

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 14:00:43 -0400

jonatha brooke - how deep is your love?

karen was playing some gillian welch for me recently and i was reminded of this jonatha brooke album, which at the time i would listen to over and over (and over). this was always the song that stood out for me - the swoopy motif in the guitar and her voice, the awesome piano section in the bridge (at 2:00), the fact that there’s a version where she sings the whole thing in french. great track.

Kelly Clarkson - Walk Away “i know you know i know”...

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:38:02 -0400

Kelly Clarkson - Walk Away

“i know you know i know” - and i’d forgotten that she dressed like gwen stefani in this video, which is even awesomer because she doesn’t have the stefani flat belly.

George Michael - Freedom! ‘90 fantastic song - both of...

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 16:22:08 -0400

George Michael - Freedom! ‘90

fantastic song - both of the bridges are amazing, with more melody in them than you usually get in a whole song by someone who is not george michael. always makes me sing along even though i am not linda evangelista, or naomi campbell, or christy turlington, or…

Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart ft. Ludacris all i want is a summer...

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:55:56 -0400

Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart ft. Ludacris

all i want is a summer song as good as this one. the stutter in the chorus, the luda verse, the harmonies - i cannot get enough of this. i wanted “till i’m gone” to do it, but it’s just not the same. let’s go, UK. get it together!

Lush - Light from a Dead Star today in “songs that i used...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:55:00 -0400

Lush - Light from a Dead Star

today in “songs that i used to listen to so much that they were a part of me that i’d forgotten about until itunes shuffle served them up,” i present this atypically slow and morose song by lush, which is still, well, lushly layered and dense.

i put this on a mix once in between broken social scene’s “anthem for a 17 year old girl” and radiohead’s “high and dry” and it was magnificent.

tracy chapman - give me one reason i’d forgotten about...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:55:56 -0400

tracy chapman - give me one reason

i’d forgotten about this song until it popped up on pandora. i used to listen to this as i walked back to campus from my outpatient psych program at the hospital, trying to process all the rational reasons for me to break up with my emotionally (mostly) abusive boyfriend. tracy seemed to have a much better handle on an equivalent situation, because while we were both desperately looking for any, tiny, reason to stay with someone who didn’t want us, she sounded energized, hopeful, certain that the world would be better after she walked away. it took me longer to get there, but looking back, the mood in this song was a turning point.

Fats Waller - Black and Blue, Ain’t Misbehavin’...

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:04:01 -0400

Fats Waller - Black and Blue, Ain’t Misbehavin’ Original Cast Recording.

day 26: a song you like that relies heavily on piano. Fats...

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:00:06 -0400

day 26: a song you like that relies heavily on piano.

Fats Waller - Ain’t Misbehavin’

ok. here’s the thing. i love fats waller. when i was young, my parents took me to a lot of musical theater and we saw a touring production of ‘ain’t misbehavin’,’ which is made up entirely of fats waller songs, his trademark ‘stride piano’ sound. i could not believe how amazing it was, promptly bought the cast recording (featuring NELL CARTER) and listened to it about a bazillion times - even the song about “the viper” who dreams of a reefer 5 feet long. it’s a fantastic show. it’s got lots of good yearning love songs (‘mean to me,’ ‘squeeze me’) and is also a fun snapshot of the time period and the war effort (‘when the nylons bloom again’). and then at the end, ‘black and blue’ is one of the most beautiful songs about experiencing racism.

day 25: a song you like that features a whistling part Juelz...

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:02:06 -0400

day 25: a song you like that features a whistling part

Juelz Santana - There It Go

i am definitely surprised that i like a song that a) features whistling this prominently and b) is pretty much an ode to street harassment. but dipset! i love me some juelz.

day 25: a song you like that is loud and/or fast Nine Inch Nails...

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:00:06 -0400

day 25: a song you like that is loud and/or fast

Nine Inch Nails - Wish

this song is both loud and fast. it is best experienced as loud as possible, preferably at a live show, preferably in the pit. the more intense this song is, the more cathartic it is, the more it feels like being enveloped in a single-minded tantrum of pure rage that you can look back on afterwards as being a little silly, a little overdramatic, a little self-indulgent. but deep in the middle of it, part of a throbbing audience screaming every word, united by our wallowing, it feels excellent.

day 23: a song that was your prom or graduation theme. Montell...

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:04:07 -0400

day 23: a song that was your prom or graduation theme.

Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It

this certainly wasn’t the official theme song to anything, but it was pretty much the theme song of the varsity lacrosse team senior year. we would listen to it while driving to away games at fancy charter and private schools in denver and colorado springs, where the girls all wore wool kilts instead of our umbros and looked at us like we were raggedy. they played dirty, knocking you down, then holding out a hand to help you up only to drive their cleats into your shin. and so when we would score a goal - and we scored a lot of goals, we were remarkably good - we would drop our sticks, throw up our arms, and sing “this is how we do it” while swinging our butts. oh, it felt good.

day 22: a song you think is funny All Out - Lights i think this...

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:11:06 -0400

day 22: a song you think is funny

All Out - Lights

i think this song is fucking hilarious. i’m used to hearing (read: i found somewhere and now listen way more than i should to) a version with a rap break with someone named XV, which is marginally funnier because it includes a rap break from someone named XV.

but even without that, this is beyond funny. “i make it rain i make it pour / stay the fuck indoors” gets me every single time. the idea that being a shitty 3oh!3 knockoff is an achievement. and OH MY GOD THIS VIDEO. this video, you guys!! i have never seen anything less tough than the guy who yells with his button up all the way buttoned up. they are so convinced they are so cool, with hoodie dude flirting with the hottie (check him hanging his tongue out at 1:45!) and sunglasses dude, you know, being there.

day 19: a song you like that has no lyrics Rjd2 - Ghostwriter i...

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:00:06 -0400

day 19: a song you like that has no lyrics

Rjd2 - Ghostwriter

i know, i know, this is like the default hipster instrumental song, but i really do not go in for instrumental music. i chose this over ratatat’s “wildcat,” which i like primarily because it’s been the backing track for so many good remixes and my favorite part of which is the wildcat growl, which could be considered non-human lyrics? i don’t know. this is as close as i get. i really like words in my songs.

day 17: a song from the most recent album or single you...

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 17:00:06 -0400

day 17: a song from the most recent album or single you bought.

Olivia Newton John - Hopelessly Devoted To You

i have box tickets to the grease sing-a-long at the hollywood bowl later this summer, so i bought the soundtrack so i could listen in my car and make sure i was totally prepped to sing along. this time around, this song is really standing out to me - i was always more of a fan of ‘summer nights’ or ‘we go together,’ the big group numbers, but this is really quite a good song.

day 16: a song from the first album or single you ever...

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:00:06 -0400

day 16: a song from the first album or single you ever bought

Heart - What About Love?

i’m not sure what i bought first - i definitely owned thriller and a couple of madonna records - but i definitely remember owning the vinyl of heart’s self-titled album. there was a lot of dancing to this in my basement. a lot. it seemed the purest and highest of love to my 7-year-old self. and also, THE OUTFITS.

(see also “never,” from the same album. i totally forgot this song!)

day 15: a song you like from a singer who is dead Morphine -...

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:41:48 -0400

day 15: a song you like from a singer who is dead

Morphine - Cure for Pain

RIP mark sandman. his death - he had a heart attack at age 46 while on stage performing in 1999 - really shook me. his songs, to me, were about finding beauty and hope in pain, in perseverance that was not stoic but joyful. i couldn’t believe that there was anything he couldn’t get through.

day 14: a current song that you find annoying LMFAO - Party Rock...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:14:07 -0400

day 14: a current song that you find annoying

LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem

you know, i can hang with this song for a bit. i will bop my head while i am driving in my car! it is innoccuous.

but - “no led in our zeppelin”??? fuck you. shut up. go away. unacceptable.

day 13: a song that you loved as a little kid Three Dog Night -...

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:02:06 -0400

day 13: a song that you loved as a little kid

Three Dog Night - Joy To The World

i went to an outdoors camp growing up, lots of hiking and backpacking and such. this is what the counselors would sing with us while we walked and then what we’d sing around the campfire. it’s a great song for kids - lots of general happiness, and the singer is friends with a bullfrog!

day 12: a song that gets stuck in your head TLC -...

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:02:06 -0400

day 12: a song that gets stuck in your head

TLC - Waterfalls

ooooh, this song. when it gets stuck in my head, it stays there for days and days.

day 11: a song you only listen to by yourself Tori Amos - Me And...

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 17:00:06 -0400

day 11: a song you only listen to by yourself

Tori Amos - Me And A Gun