"Kids These Days" ~ Fur Trade

You guys.  I know next to nothing about this band.  It seems to be the rebirth of Hot Hot Heat, a Canadian group (yep, another one from B.C., just like Said The Whale, The Zolas, Hey Ocean!, and Mother Mother, all bands with whom I am slightly obsessed...) who I must confess I've never gotten around to, but may have to check out after this.  I've listened to this track at least twenty times today... maybe thirty.  Yeah, probably at least thirty.  I can't even put my finger on what it is that makes it so awesome... sweet little funky guitar riff, the dirty piano counter-riff, a brilliant line or two, or maybe the girl dancing in the video - speaking of things I can't explain, this girl's moves... she just exudes confidence.  Blends some raggedy ballet with street moves, and it just... works.  I wish I had that kind of confidence when I was thirteen (I'm guessing that's about how old she was at filming)...

Anyway, check out the track, and tell me what you think:

Ridiculously simple, yet amazing, music video:

Soundcloud:


"There's a melody I hone that no one wrote..."

5-8-12 - "Kids+Poker Face" ~ Weezer

I honestly thought this mashup was my own idea, and I pitched it to my buddy Mike last weekend, who burst my bubble by mentioning the Weezer cover.  Perhaps I'd heard this before but blocked it from my consciousness, perhaps I legitimately came up with the same idea as Rivers Cuomo & Co.  Let it be known, however, that in my head, the "can't read my, can't read my, no he can't read my poker face..." part was directly over the hook from Kids; whereas Weezer just segues from one song into the other.

Let it be known that it's unlikely I'll ever post Gaga other than this cover - just not really what I'm into these days.  Let it also be known, however, that she's a musical genius, but also a savvy businesswoman who figured out that she could achieve much greater fame and fortune by going the extravagant pop diva route than playing classical music or just being a girl with a piano.

While we're on covers, who can forget this gem?

At any rate, the original MGMT song rocks, but this does as well:

"No time to think of consequences..."

4-30-12 - "Tongue Tied" ~ Grouplove

Well, to get the ball rolling, I'm going to take a page from my buddy Jordan, who posted this track earlier today.  I've caught Grouplove on WYEP before, and they definitely put out some fun tunes with interesting lyrics and videos that have perhaps a darker edge than the music itself might imply.

This one seems pretty lighthearted, in the vein of enjoying an all night party with a cute  girl (or, guy, if that's more your style).  But then you have these menacing luchadores in suits... well, I don't really know what that's about, but art is in the eye of the beholder, so you tell me:

Update 1-9-13 Howsabout a live version, courtesy of the Hay Bale Sessions:

(Also check out the Hay Bale Sessions performance of "Colours"!)

"marmalade, we're making out..."

12-28-11 - "Sprawl II" ~ Arcade Fire

If you've been paying attention, you'll know that I love juxtaposition.  First, the word itself is something special.  Second, the contrast between joyful music and depressing / somber / provocative lyrics or imagery, or maybe satirical commentary on modern civilization, or just plain self-destructive tendencies.  This song is just that - if you listen to the tune without paying attention to the lyrics, it is inconceivable that you won't be dancing, or at least tapping your toes; but if you pay close attention, the song is about the never ending consumerism, drudgery, and mediocrity that is suburbia... not quite as cheerful as the sonic array would lead you to believe.  I choose to view the music as giving a hopeful edge to the lyrical bleakness, and lines like "dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains" do indicate the expanse of the blight, but "mountains beyond mountains" also rings of hope.  The phrase is partially a tribute to a book by the same name, by a doctor who has spent significant time in Haiti working with disaster relief efforts.  To quote the description: "At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb 'Beyond mountains there are mountains' – as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too."  I have yet to read it, but it's high on my list for the new year.


If you want to dig deeper into the lyrics and their meaning, this one's a good one to pull up on songmeanings.net - complete with a plethora of comments discussing things.


Now for some fun.  Arcade Fire recently released an intense and awesome and epic (further superlatives escape me) website / interactive music video.  If you have a webcam, I highly recommend using it - and if you don't have a webcam, you can still experience (some of) the fun by clicking around during the song:

 Sprawl2.com 

(If you are lacking confidence in your dance skills and need inspiration, watch this and this first.  And if you're totally lame, you can watch the "traditional" version of the music video on the site instead of the interactive version...)


And just for you audiophiles or lovers of Arcade Fire, here are some live performances to further sate your appetite:


 (live studio acoustic session)

(New Orleans Jazz Festival 2011, with special guest Cyndi Lauper - yes, that Cyndi Lauper)

(different song, but had to include - the prelude to the above, in which Arcade Fire's encore began with a cover of Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"... featuring the original artist herself.  If you're clever, you'll watch this one *before* the above...)

(plain ol' music video, for you lame folks)

"They heard me singing and they told me to stop

quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock

sometimes I wonder if the world's so small

can we ever get away from the sprawl...?"

11-22-11 - "Paradise" ~ Coldplay

It's unlikely that tonight's post will be groundbreaking to you; most people have at least heard of Coldplay by now.  But their latest radio hit caught my ear today, so there you go.  I still feel like Parachutes and A Rush Of Blood To The Head are my fave albums by these guys, but they're consistently solid.


This track deals with the loss of youthful innocence and idealism; the realization as we move into our adult years that we're not all going to be pro athletes, astronauts, princesses, models, rock stars, the president, or whatever else we dreamed of in our youth.  Most of us end up shifting our paradigm and creating new dreams for which to strive.  Most of us endure hard times, but often we emerge stronger and discover a life that is better than the one we'd been imagining.  The truth is, life is what you make of it, and paradise is enjoying your life for what it is, not some far-off mystical perfection.


Live at Austin City Limits:

And here's an... interesting... music video.  I think you'll be able to see the correlation between the protagonist's plight and journey and the song's meaning.  Also, elephants on unicycles are arguably as awesome as hiphopopotamuses and rhymenoceroses.  Although I could do without the holding up of cardboard signs with song lyrics - that part is like some bad truck commercial.

PS - I love the dissonant chords at the end...

"So lying underneath those stormy skies

She'd say, 'oh…

I know the sun must set to rise'..."

11-16-11 - "Houdini" ~ Foster The People

So I finally picked up Foster The People's album recently, because who doesn't love an album that's chock full of tunes just waiting for commercials to use them?  I mean, screw Corporate America and The Man, but dang is this album catchy!


After a handful of spins, this track has grabbed me the most.  The hook is off the hoo... wait I mean chain.  And the lyrics are actually fairly deep too.  It delves into the musician's dilemma - opening one's soul up to the masses. It speaks out against conforming and compromising due to fear, fostering the people (a bit of a stretch, I know, but deal with it) and encouraging them to stand strong and put their talents and skills to use.  And sometimes we all wish we could pull off miraculous escapes like Houdini...

And lest you think that they're just hiding behind all the electronic sounds and synths...

And here's a hybrid live performance from SNL which still has some of the synths, but brings more focus on the keys and vox while adding some sick horns... (hey, ah, Foster The People, you got a little, uh, Ben Stiller on your shirt...)

Also featuring Kenny G.  What.

"With the lights turned up, it's hard to hide
sometimes I want to disappear..."


(PS - Mark Foster kinda looks like Zach Braff...)

11-10-11 - "How'd You Like That" ~ The Kooks

Brit rockers The Kooks are fairly new to me, but this tune caught my ear on the radio recently and it's a toe-tapper.  It seems their style has spanned several genres, but this one is straight up pop rock sweetness:

"Well, I was sleeping

only in my head

slipping in and out of time

and I was lifting 

always higher

and the women of heaven sang

they were singing…"

11-7-11 - "You Really Got A Hold On Me" ~ Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

Oldie, but a goodie tonight.  A little Motown soul for you, brought by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.  These guys were one of the founding acts on the Motown label, and Smokey was known as the "King of Motown", so I guess that means they weren't half bad.  Also, did you know that "Motown" is a portmanteau?  What's a portmanteau, you ask?  It's a blend of two or more words into one new word. (thanks, Wikipedia!)  We strive for nothing if not education here at Awesome Song of the Day... 


Oh so smoothly, they sing a tune about a dysfunctional relationship they just can't quit.  Seems like when it's good, it's really good, but when it's bad, it's... not so good.  But hey, life is pain, pain breeds art, and art makes life good, so it all works out, eh?

(looks like The Miracles had a few screws loose.... oh, sometimes I slay myself!)

"I want to leave you

Don't want to stay here

Don't want to spend another day here

Though I want to split now

I can't quit now

You've really got a hold on me…"

11-4-11 - "You Guys Are Gonna Wake Up My Mom" ~ Field Mouse

A few months ago, I saw a pretty swell show at Thunderbird.  I already told you a bit about it, as it featured local Pittsburgh favorites Big Hurry and new to me but quickly growing on me These Animals.  However, I hadn't gotten around to posting about the third band... until now.


Field Mouse, like These Animals, hail from NYC... Brooklyn, to be precise.  Field Mouse, like Big Hurry*, are a four-piece group with two dudes and two chicks.  Unlike Big Hurry, the chicks are lead vox and bass, rather than vox and drums.  Unlike These Animals, Field Mouse are a single specific species.  Their tunes could be classified as "dreampop", and in fact have been so classified.  This one's a new one, quite engaging, with lyrics worth pondering, and lo and behold, you can get it FREE on Bandcamp:





"all the fires I start
I'll put out on my own..."


* - more correctly, Big Hurry was a four piece outfit half comprised of ladies and half comprised of dudes.  But then Andy moved deep in the heart of Texas, and now the ratio is 2 / 1.  But hey, I was going based on the way things were in August, and trying for literary effect!
___________________________________________


EDIT 11-10-11:


OH SWEET, there's a music video all of a sudden!

10-6-11 - "Lights" ~ Ellie Goulding

So I made it 9 months without missing a daily post (although a few came an hour or two past midnight EST.)  But due to a combination of travel, a late night at the Penguins-Canucks game in Vancouver, and a crappy computer that wouldn't connect, I didn't get to post yesterday.  So here's yesterday's song, retroactively.


Heard it on 100.5 The Peak, Vancouver's awesome radio station, whilst driving up from Seattle.  One of a plethora of great songs they played, many of which will likely show up here in the coming days.  This trip is in some ways a mirror of the trip which originally inspired me to start this blog, and this station played a role in that.


This track is from a British songstress and is a bit on the dance/techno side, but it's enjoyable and has some interesting lyrics...

"...the queen has been overthrown..."

9-14-11 - "Polish Girl" ~ Neon Indian

This one is delightfully trippy, and the video matches that vibe.  I'm not quite sure what's going on in the song or the video, but this is one case where I'm fine with just enjoying the beat for now, and I'm sure everything will become clear next time I drop acid... wait I've never done that and don't intend to start.  And despite the fact that Neon Indian has a song titled "Should Have Taken Acid With You", I'm sure he hasn't either.  Drugs are bad, boys and girls.


Anyway, apparently there's this girl, see, and she hails from the land of halushki and pierogies n'at, which is fine by me.  Many Pittsburghers enjoy these fine Polish cuisines, and as a resident of neighborhood of Polish Hill(ish), I count myself as one of them.  So the girl cooked some Polish sausage and pierogies for Neon Indian, who in turn wrote this song to commemorate a lovely evening... yeah, that's a solid interpretation of the song.  I'm gonna roll with it.  Enjoy:

9-4-11 - "Help, I'm Alive" ~ Metric

Actually found this song on a free download mixtape from their label, Mom+Pop Records, and iTunes, which I heard about thanks to labelmates Freelance Whales.  Didn't realize before this, but Mom+Pop actually has a few other swell artists, such as Ingrid Michaelson and Sleigh Bells.


It's a catchy track with vague references to zombies, but probably she's really singing about trying to find her way in a dog-eat-dog world.


Electro-rock original version with somewhat trippy music video:

Chillaxin' acoustic version:

"Come take my pulse, the pace is on a runaway train..."

8-23-11 - "Repatriated" ~ Handsome Furs

Sometimes a song just grabs your ear and won't let go.  I heard this on my commute home today, and fortunately caught the name so I could look it up when I got home.  It's catchy musically and thought-provoking lyrically, which if you've been paying attention you'll know is one of my favorite combinations.


I'll leave to your interpretation the precise meaning of the lyrics, but I think they're certainly a rally cry against apathy...

"The frozen land
I'm never going back there
It was a lie, a lie believing itself..."

8-10-11 - "I Would Die 4 U" ~ Prince

Quickie tonight, because I just got home from a very awesome show featuring NYC bands These Animals and Field Mouse along with local favorite Big Hurry.  I went for Big Hurry, but came away a fan of all three bands.  Due to the laid back atmosphere and light midweek crowd, I got to chat with members of each band, and they were just swell.  If you're on the East Coast, Field Mouse and These Animals are playing DC tomorrow, and These Animals have a couple more dates this week - worth catching if you're nearby.


In honor of the spectacular cover BH played, here's the original version of "I Would Die 4 U" by Prince:

"I'm not your lover
I'm not your friend
I am something that you'll never comprehend..."

7-20-11 - "Who Let The Dogs Out" ~ Baha Men

I know, it's a terribly cheesy song.  But our local minor-league soccer team, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, uses it as a pump up song at their games, and that's where I was this evening, and you know you loved it when it came out back in 2000.  And it's been used in all kinds of movies and TV shows - catchy hook and lyrics which are easily applied to a plethora of situations... the Baha Men knew what they were doing.


So, in part due to my team spirit and in part due to my extreme tiredness, this is what you're getting tonight.  Bob your head and reminisce about the summer of 2000, and come back tomorrow for something a little more serious.

PS - Riverhounds 3 - Dayton Dutch Lions 1.  Woooo!

7-14-11 - "Dancing Machine" ~ The Jackson 5

Quickie tonight, because I'm on the road for work and have to get up super early.  This is a pretty obscure band, you've probably never heard of them.  But they rocked back in the day; just watch the moves and listen to the harmonies and enjoy the supafly coordinated outfits.

"Automatic systematic
full of color self contained
tuned and gentle to your vibes..."