Five New Songs We Love: November 11, 2009
You like music. We like music. And there is a lot of it out there. Periodically, we intend to fill you in some of the music we like. No, not just like ... LOVE.
1. "Puzzles," The Mary Onettes
Many of the now-familiar characteristics of Scandinavian pop are present in this song from Sweden's Mary Onettes: reverbed, staccato synth punctures, guitars that dance along the shimmering border between acoustic and electric, open hi-hat accents on the offbeats. Still, the finished four minute whole is greater than the sum of those welcome parts thanks to nuanced dynamics and a melody that seems to float in a crepuscular November light above a grey city that exists only in your dreams.
The Mary Onettes 'Puzzles' from Labrador Records on Vimeo.
2. "20 Minutes/40 Years," Isis
When a band releases a seven minute single, the song can be expected to be epic in scale. This video from Isis' Wavering Radiant does not contradict this assumption, building intensity with an arsenal of crisply recorded drums and a wall of guitars that include the expected distortion but also warm tones, all of which eventually open into the song's lovely penultimate section. "20 Minutes/40 Years" is more than post-metal, the common tag applied to Isis; it's post-genre.
3. "Further Complications," Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker has long been a notably English performer—literate, mischievous, and unburdened by any need to appear, well, macho. Cocker's anglo attributes are on display on this typically catchy single, nowhere more than in the chorus, which boasts an ascending melody and repeating lyric that Ray Davies would be proud to call his own.
4. "First Born," J. Tillman
J. Tillman may be best known for playing drums in Fleet Foxes, but the Seattle resident has been releasing albums under his own name for at least half a decade. "First Born" features beautifully spare arrangements and vocal harmonies more foreboding than those heard in Fleet Foxes. Still, the star of the song is Tillman's spooky lead vocal, which imbues "First Born" with a wonderfully mysterious quality.
5. "Heard 'Em All," Amerie
Hmmm, she may not be singing in this performance from last night's Jimmy Kimmel Live—or there are a whole lot of backing tracks at work here—but this number is undeniably catchy. And Amerie herself? Try taking your eyes off of her.
