Listening While Driving #4

Thursday, 4/16/15, 3:43 PM:

1. Andrew Bird "Plasticities" Armchair Apocrypha

The plasticities of our city, of our city... NO! Just kidding. This song is amazing. Bird's violin fingerpicking is comforting and the whole thing just comes together beautifully. The electric guitar, the whistling and the drumming with brush sticks. Mmm. Can't say I have the greatest idea as to what he's singing about, but this is probably my favorite song on what I think is his best album out of the 3 ones I have. "Life is too long to be a whale in a cubicle" is an interesting line to me because most people say "Life is too short to..." but he says "long" instead for pretty much the same kind of sentiment. Below is the full Armchair Apocrypha album, but you can skip ahead to 8:03 to just hear this song.

2. Dinosaur Jr. "We're Not Alone" Beyond

Back in 2007 two important things happened: (1) This seminal indie rock band from Massachusetts returned after 10 long years of being broken up and (2) I started college. After knowing just a few songs of theirs over the years, I dove in and got this album upon their return. It's really, really good and this song is really, really good. It's got all the elements of a great Dino song: simple but effective chord structures, J Mascis's somber voice and a monster guitar solo. This was one of the songs and records that defined my welcome to college. My only complaint is that I really like the acoustic addendum in the final 10 seconds of the track that comes out of nowhere, is in the same key as the song and just ends out of nowhere. I would've loved to hear how that part might continue.

3. Raekwon "Ice Water" Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...

Aaaaaaaah. Aaaaaaaah. Aaaaaaaah. Aaaaaaaah. Aaaaaaaah. Etc.

4. M83 "Claudia Lewis" Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

The bassline in this song is crazy. This is one of the more cosmic tracks on this double LP, if you will, talking about an "infinite night trip". The production on this whole thing is just shiny and glossy and the wash of synths makes it very 80s-esque at times. This isn't my favorite song on this record but there isn't really a bad track on it. I didn't know who she is, but you can find an explanation of who the real Claudia Lewis is here: http://genius.com/M83-claudia-lewis-lyrics.

5. Beach House "Equal Mind" Lazuli 7"

Here we have the B-side to Beach House's 2012 single "Lazuli" off of their most recent effort, Bloom. Again, this is a prototypical Beach House track: arpeggioed guitar lines, a shimmering solo and Victoria Legrand's dramatic voice all tied together by some synth work. I love the part when the solo starts and the drums join in perfectly after a short interlude following the first chorus. I believe this song could have easily been put on the record, though each of the 10 tracks on the album already are pretty strong.

6. Belle & Sebastian "The Boy Done Wrong Again" If You're Feeling Sinister

Slow, sad and sorrowful. These Glasgow lads really put together a gem here on their best album, in my opinion. After starting off with just acoustic guitar, a voice comes in, then another voice, then some sprinkling of electric guitar followed by a violin solo and dreary drumming. The main character of the song seems to keep getting in trouble and just wants to know how he can fix things: "What is it I must do? I will do it all the time..." All he wanted to do was sing the saddest song, and if you would sing along, he'd be happier; I think he got his wish.

7. Deltron 3030 "Time Keeps on Slipping" Deltron 3030

No Steve Miller Band cameos here. This is another track from Deltron 3030's magnum space rap opus, Deltron 3030. Del tha Funkee Homosapien rhymes, intertwining telling us how proficient his lyrical skills are with how he is going to rule the planet. Again, he uses a litany of space/math terms (which I'm not going to get into right now) but this time adds more war terms to expand the scope of what he's trying to convey. The chorus here sounds a lot like what would eventually come on a bunch of Gorillaz cuts.

8. Outkast "You May Die (Intro)" ATLiens

A beautiful piano introduction to the world of Big Boi and Andre 3000 circa 1996 that kind of sets the tone thematically if not musically. Two women are heard singing about trying to do something despite deadly consequences. They sound like they're encouraging, though. This may end up being something that tears you apart, but you also may need to do it in order to survive. For BB & A3000, that was rapping their way from the inner cities of Atlanta into the mainstream.

9. Sigur Rós "Stormur" Kveikur

After releasing their 6th album Valtari in 2012, Sigur Rós appeared to say to themselves, 'Wait a minute. That music was too soft and not urgent enough. We need to ramp things up and release something else ASAP.' (In Icelandic, of course.) So, just one year later, the post-rock crew got together for Kveikur, decidedly darker and stronger. "Stormur", conveniently meaning "Storm" in English, often sounds just like that at times throughout the five minutes of the track. Of course, I have no idea what Jónsi is saying, but that doesn't stop his lilting voice combining with the swirling wind of bells, guitars and drums to create one of the most pleasant storms you may ever want to get caught in.

10. Modest Mouse "Cowboy Dan" The Lonesome Crowded West

Where do I begin with this one? This song is quintessential Modest Mouse, combining every element of what makes the band so unique. It's relatively long-ish at 6:14, has soft parts, loud parts, that signifying mm guitar squeal and, of course, Isaac Brock's fantastic lyrics. This is the story of a cowboy named Dan who plays music and doesn't seem to be in the best place in his life. "He goes to the desert, fires his rifle in the sky and says, 'God, if I have to die, you will have to die' / I didn't move to the city, the city moved to me! And I want out desperately!" Blaming the city that built up around where he grew up for burdening his life and drunkenly yelling at God in the desert for making mankind mortal and not imposing any sentence on Himself. Then... the comedown - in the form of our bridge. I love how this happens musically, with the guitar lines slowing down and becoming sweet as Brock sings: "Standing in the tall grass, thinking nothing / Every time you think you're talking you're just moving your mouth..." Is he still mad at others or is he looking introspectively now to see the faults within himself that has led him to where he is now? After this interlude, he rages again, and our hero winds up back in the desert, angry with his world yet again.

11. Thom Yorke "Harrowdown Hill" The Eraser

An early album single and highlight from the otherwise mixed-bag that is Thom Yorke's debut solo album, "Harrowdown Hill" is a pretty eerie contribution about a location in England where a mysterious body was found. Yorke has been quoted as saying this is the angriest song he's ever written, and I'm not going to go into the whole backstory, but the truth is it doesn't sound that angry. I like the lyrics "Did I fall or was I pushed?" and "We think the same things at the same time / We just can't do anything about it." The first line may be literal in reference to the body he's talking about (suicide or homicide?) and the second one, taken out of context, just makes me think of when I have a good idea that should be on the same wavelength as someone else but for whatever reason the signals get crossed and sometimes things don't work out as you'd hope or expect.