Best of 2012: Songs from April

Drive Darling - BOY
The song, the artists, the video. I love it all. On a recent 4 hour drive up to Philly, I listened to this song a billion times. Add it to your road trip mix.



Youth - Daughter
Just listen. You'll get it by the time the drums roll in. Here's a bonus: Landfill.




Coming Down - Dum Dum Girls
I posted their song "Bedroom Eyes" back in October, but this song is a bit edgier.






New Ceremony - Dry the River
I want to cut their hair. But the song is fantastic.



Am I That Lonely Tonight and Unfortunately, Anna - Justin Townes Earle
It's kinda impossible to listen to "Am I That Lonely Tonight" without imagining yourself driving alone across the country in the middle of the night. Justin Townes Earle, who incidentally is named after Townes Van Zandt, has been around for years, but much more in the country arena.  These songs have just enough whiskey and twang in them to make me fall in love with JTE. Unfortunately, Anna is the other one on non-stop loop.



The River - Thomas J. Speight and Allie Moss
A really simple, beautiful love song.



Our Hearts Were on Fire - Firehorse
Weird ass video, but this is just a great indie song with a lot of interesting sounds in it...but in a good way.



Can't Stop - MoZella
The Detroit-based singer-songwriter that shares a name with a search engine is a favorite on TV shows and commercials. You've probably heard her song Magic on a Droid commercial. Most of her songs are too cheerfully poppy or snoozy for my ears, but Can't Stop is her best bluesy Goldilocks track.

Best of 2011: Songs from April

"Her Beautiful Ideas" by Guggenheim Grotto is my favorite video of the year.  It's also in probably in my top 3 songs.  It's so energetic and happy but with terribly depressing lyrics like "I just can't seem to get out of bed anymore," as it retraces a relationship that has somehow fallen apart.  When they sing, "Once she let it slip that I was the best of her beautiful ideas" there's a little glimpse into the intimate, confessional moments of love, followed by all the peppy passion of "Let's get naked and get under the sheets" repeated until it sounds almost angry. And then everything dissolves into strings.  Perfection. Listen to when happy.



For a more acoustic look at the Irish duo, here's "The Universe is Laughing," another song that stayed on repeat thanks to its tight harmonies. Also, it's just full of feeeeelings.

If it's sunny outside and you're wanting to hit the pavement for a good run or just to head out for work full of determination, I highly recommend "Her Beautiful Ideas."  If it's raining or overcast, and you happen to find yourself staring out a window into the mist or watching the rivulets merge and diverge, maybe Marques Toliver is exactly what you need. Listen to when sad.



There was a great piece in The Guardian earlier this year that talks about Toliver's experience busking in New York and London, and being recommended to Jools Holland by Adele.

Best of 2011: Songs from January

It's that time of year when everyone posts their Best o' 2011 lists, so I thought I'd do a similar thing.  I'm not a music writer though, and I don't know much of what's been released this year.  And I like even less of what I have heard. (Also, get off my lawn, ya pesky kids) So this list will be in no way comprehensive or accurate.  What I've done instead is look back through my iTunes library at the songs I've added and became obsessed with each month of 2011.  That doesn't mean they're the best songs ever. It doesn't mean they were even released in 2011. Some of them are a few years old, in fact.

So the first song that got stuck on repeat play during 2011 was Greg Laswell's "Take Everything," one of many songs from the 2010 "Take a Bow" album. And this, I'll admit...is a little bit of a cheat.  I was obsessed with this song throughout the end of 2010, and it bled over into 2011. It's also one of my favorite music videos. I'm included here (because it's my blog and I can do whatever the hell I want right?) because, according to my iTunes, the other song I was obsessed with in January of 2011 was....TI and Rihanna's "Live Your Life." (Embedding is disabled.) This one is a few years old too, and...[mini-rant warning] TI annoys me, especially after his recent homophobic ramblings on behalf of Tracy Morgan's homophobic jokes.  TI says that gays threaten to "shut you down" if you disagree, but that's "not American." You should "have the right to be gay in peace, but if you're against it, you should have the right to be against it in peace."  So, if you are against a different racial minority or women, for instance, that's totally okay too. Whatever.  Anyway, so that's why I decided to give the lovely and charming Greg Laswell top billing. Because TI is a dickhead. Rihanna seems pretty great though.