MP3: Banjo or Freakout – Idiot Rain

The sticker right on the front of Banjo or Freakout’s debut album has a press quote calling him “London’s answer to Bradford Cox”. It seems no one can get through a review of the album without mentioning either Panda Bear or Atlas Sound, a fact the label decided to embrace and emblazon right on the cover. While understandable to a point, such comparisons heap undue expectations on the record and ultimately belittle Alessio Natalizia’s accomplishment.

It only takes one listen to “Idiot Rain” to understand this point. The song is a buoyant, gauzy highlight of the album, deceptive in its insouciance. It seems to lull you into complacency at first by sounding as unassuming as possible. But then the chorus appears 40 seconds in and washes away any notions you may have had about the album in waves of glimmering guitars. It seems meek, but that’s only until you find yourself singing the song throughout the day without realizing its hold on you. The song ends like so many on the album do, with a slight coda that lets you fully absorb the song and reflect on what you just heard. It’s touches like this that make the album wholly its own creature, free from all associations. In the end, “Idiot Rain” proves Banjo or Freakout is worth delving into. Despite what you may have heard.

MP3 Banjo of Freakout – Idiot Rain

Buy Banjo or Freakout from Rare Book Room/Memphis Industries

The mix with all the girls names

Songs with girls names in the title are just about as old as pop music itself, from “Peggy Sue” to “Layla” to “Jenny (867-5309)” to “For Emma, Forever Ago”, artists have been written love songs addressed directly to that particular special someone. So to celebrate that tradition (and keeping in mind Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching), this is a mix of some of my favorite girls-name-in-the-title songs. Since there’s so many of these and I would have never been able to narrow it down otherwise, I stuck with only songs where the title is the girls name and nothing more; it’s simpler that way (sorry to “Come On, Eileen”, “Oh, Yoko” and “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1 & 2”). Download the songs below and submit your own faves in the comments.

MP3 The National – Karen
MP3 Elliott Smith – Clementine
MP3 The Pixies – Allison
MP3 Jens Lekman – Julie
MP3 Simon & Garfunkel – Cecilia
MP3 Belle & Sebastian – Mary Jo
MP3 The Mountain Goats – Jenny
MP3 The Kinks – Lola
MP3 Atlas Sound – Sheila
MP3 The White Stripes – Jolene
MP3 Girls – Laura
MP3 The New Pornographers – Jackie
MP3 The Beatles – Michelle
MP3 Cut Copy – Alisa
MP3 Iron & Wine – Jezebel
MP3 Wolf Parade – Yulia

Side note: From doing this post, I would venture to guess that “Jenny” is the most popular girls name to appear in song titles. If anyone has another guess though, let me know.

50 Songs of 2009 (2 of 2)

Here is the much-anticipated conclusion to my top 50 songs of 2009 list (if you haven’t already, take a look at the first 25 and read the foreword/ground rules). These are my favorite 25 songs of the year. As before, there’s a link by each song where you can download/hear the song or you can get all the tracks in a handy zip file by clicking this link. Let me know your favorite songs of the year in the comments. Thanks for reading!

25. Harlem Shakes – Sunlight MP3

Harlem Shakes’ Technicolor Health is full of guitar pop gems, but this one is the most magnetic and irresistible. The bright, radiant guitar / keys combo sprinkles on top of a pulsating beat and an absurdly catchy hook. You almost need to make up a new word for this song, because “catchy” just don’t cut it in describing how freakin’ addicting the song is.

24. Passion Pit – Moth’s Wings MP3

Passion Pit have a wealth of booty-shaking dance-pop tunes, but as seen on this track they can be just as potent with emotionally-resonating power pop. I said: “Moth’s Wings shows that Passion Pit aren’t content to just be that band you hear at hipster dance parties. The song is quite ambitious, the opening melody is played on dulcimer before a huge instrumental swell with expansive synths and jubilant piano. By the end of the song you’ve got pounding drums and chorus of “la la las” filling the sonic landscape. The band pulls off anthemic pop very impressively.

23. A.C. Newman – The Heartbreak Rides Y2B

A.C. Newman puts all of his songwriting craft and pop sensibilities built up from his day job (which is being the primary songwriter of New Pornogoraphers) and delivers one of his most devastatingly beautiful songs ever with “The Heartbreak Rides”. This song slowly unveils itself utilizing a dynamic build-and-release, but once that rousing chorus hits, the song shoots towards the stratosphere and doesn’t look back. It’s a gorgeous song and one that’s infinitely rewarding.

22. Slow Club – It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful MP3

Slow Club’s whimsical, Southern-fried folk-pop songs are rollickin’ good-natured celebrations, played with enthusiasm and a good dose of youthful vigor. I said of the band’s first single, “It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful”: Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor call-and-response vocals play off each other perfectly and the chorus of this song is one of the most infectious things I’ve heard all year. By the end of the song, the band is in full out old-fashioned hoe-down mode (complete with a choir of yelping vocals) and it’s damn-near impossible not to be caught up in the pure jubilance of their sound.

21. God Help The Girl – God Help The Girl MP3

Stuart Murdoch took a break this year from his main gig as the singer/songwriter force behind Belle & Sebastian and worked on a collection of songs for an imaginary (or possibly real) film all sung by girls that he chose from a talent contest. While in theory, this would be nothing more than a frivolous vanity project, it actually produced quite a few amazing pop songs, most notably the title track which stands among Stuart’s finest pop compositions. Catherine Ireton’s upbeat vocals are delightfully alluring, the lovestruck lyrics are funny and charming (“I’ll play his messages / Analyze his intonation / Please stop me there, I’m even boring myself”) and the soaring strings arrangement is absolutely lovely.