5 Songs We Can't Stop Listening To is the result of listening to hundreds of songs a week in order to find those perfect gems that that buried themselves in our heads and hearts. These are 5 songs that did just that this week. We also talked to Boy and Bear this week about a song that got buried in his heart. Listen to the full thing in the Soundcloud link below.
Museum of Love- “Monotronic”
I had always found electronic music to be cold and heartless. There was something about the measured, precise, and repetitive, binary of it. For me, there was something warmer in the fuzz of a guitar, or the warble of plucked string. Then my roommates started listening to LCD Soundsystem that featured beats from Pat Mahoney. And it totally changed my mind. There was warmth in that automation that deeply moved me. It seemed to come out of the imprisonment of the binary form. Like a punk in a three piece suit, there is a longing for emotional escape.
While LCD Soundsystem has since disbanded, Pat Mahoney is now making music in the form of Museum of Love. And that beat, repetitive binary beat, that to me, once sounded heartless, now sounds like a pulse of a heartbeat itself.
Museum of Love’s album was due to come out in “early 2014,” so hopefully it will be soon.
Listen if you like: LCD Soundsystem, rather minimal electronica, restricted emotion
Boy and Bear’s pick: Ray LaMontagne- “Jolene”
Last week, we had Boy and Bear in the studio. I was able to sit down with their lead singer, Dave, and have a great conversation about trying to find a cobbler in the Mall of America, listening to Simon and Garfunkel with ears pressed to the speaker, and Ray Lamontagne’s “Jolene.” Listen to Dave’s introduction in the Soundcloud link above.
Ray LaMontagne’s album, Trouble, was released in 2004.
Listen if you like: Boy and Bear, smoky vocals, broken hearts, Dave’s beautiful Australian accent.
Tweedy- “Summer Noon”
Musicians have never had a great relationship with authority. I was taught that rock was about sticking it to the man.
And who is the highest authority in most people’s young lives? Parents. And what do we know about parent’s fresh prince?
But what if they do understand? What if “the man” is a super cool musician in one of the most respected and critically acclaimed bands of the last 20 years? well, if ya can’t beat em, you might as well join em and start a band. And that is just what Spencer Tweedy, and his dad, Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco did. There is no raging against the machine here. This is a song from a happy father and son.
Tweedy’s debut album, Sukierae, will be out on September 23 rd.
Listen if you like: Wilco, easy sunny day vibes, fathers and sons
Elder Island- “What It’s Worth”
We connect with certain songs because we see our mood reflected in them. In everything we listen to, watch, or read, there is a certain amount of self projection going on. For example: I’ve been having trouble sleeping this week, I’ve been tossing and turning with my stresses echoing in my head, keeping me awake. And when I listen to this song that’s what I hear. The drums sound dark, her voice sounds reflective and worried. I hear her tossing and turning in bed. Her looped overlaying vocal like stressed ideas echoing in her head, keeping her awake. I hear her going through the same struggles as me -and it comforts me. Or maybe I feel like I am going through the same struggles as her and it comforts me just the same. I think that when we really connect with something, we are connecting with ourselves.
Elder Island’s self titled debut EP will be released on July 28 th.
Listen if you like: Glass Animals, snaps and claps, sultry female vocals
J Mascis- “Every Morning”
J Mascis is releasing a new solo album. He is better known as lead singer and guitarist of Dinosaur Jr.
A band like Dinosaur Jr. is like having a old friend. As a kid you grew up together. There was a time where you got really close, spent a lot of time together hiding out in your bedroom, doing things that your parents wouldn’t approve of. And then there was a time where you grew apart didn’t see each other as much, as friendships do. And then after many missed calls, you get together again. This song is like when you finally meet up with that old friend, and you laugh together, you remember old times, and you really appreciate the friendship that you have.
J Mascis’s new album, Tied to a Star, will be out on August 26 th.
Listen if you like: Dinosaur Jr., memories, good vibes