Week In Review
New year, new co-blogger, new feature!
Introducing the Music Week in Review (ta-daaaah!) in which I lay bare the contents of my iTunes “Added This Week” smart playlist, and tell you what I thought of each song. Because you were dying to know.
My rating system in iTunes is based on how likely I am to skip the song when it comes up. 5 stars means almost never, 1 star means almost always. (1-star songs tend to get deleted.)
Without further ado, my additions between January 1 and January 7, 2007.
Chloe Day, “With You With Me” from IndieFeed.com. Cute! Pretty guitar work, vocal layering, and self-aware lyrics. Apparently, though, her usual genre is “Trip Hop / Gothic / Industrial” (according to her MySpace page, which isn’t my thing. Also, too much makeup. 3 stars.
Doveman, “Teacup” and “Honey”: I downloaded these songs after rediscovering Salon’s Audiofile column. Doveman is the band of the outgoing editor of the column, Thomas Bartlett. I… don’t love it. “Honey” has a kind of breathy Sufjan Stevens or Stuart Murdoch thing going, only not as good. They’re sung in such a gaspy tone that it’s hard to imagine how they’d perform live. Together, though, “Teacup” and “Honey” sound nice and soothing, as I have a bit of a sore throat. 2 stars.
Apostle of Hustle, “My Sword Hand’s Anger”: Very promising title! Swashbuckling! Or possibly maiden-rescuing! Verdict: meh. I need a strong hook to get me into a song and this one doesn’t really have it for me. The chorus is peppy, but the verses make me sleepy. 3 stars.
Kelly Harrell, “I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again”: A curiosity, to be sure. Worth a first listen; probably not much more than that. And yet, despite myself, I’m kind of bopping my head along. Fine: 2 stars.
James Yorkston, “Summer Song”: Weird. I like the pretty guitars. The harmonies have a kind of desperate quality that’s not particularly musical, but which is pleasant nevertheless. When the the other instruments kick in around 2:40, it’s beautiful. The whole song is a bit Iron and Wine-y, maybe? 3 stars.
Plush, “No Education”: Audiofile says, “one of the great musical achievements of recent memory, an album that inspires hyperbole along the lines of ‘one of rock’s great lost albums.’” I say, seriously? Liam Hayes sounds a bit like a fey Alex Chilton, or possibly Jeff Buckley with a cold. The orchestration is quite something, but I can’t quite get totally on board. Maybe further listenings will open my ears. 3 stars.
Plush, “I Sing Silence”: A rough mix from the upcoming Plush album. See above. So much potential. I love the music, but I’m distracted by the vocals. 3 stars.
Oren Bloedow, “Your Childish Dreams”: Pretty. Boring. 3 stars.
Hallelujah The Hills, “Hallelujah The Hills”: More than anything, this reminds me of “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” which is probably not a good thing. 2 stars.
Masonic, “End Of Summer”: I don’t know why I like this song so much. I think I’m an absolute sucker for quarter note organ hits. Her voice isn’t quite right, but I’m digging on this one. 4 stars.
The Main Drag, “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter”: Hey! Neat electronic beat. Maybe it’s a little long? My mind wandered. 3 stars.
This has been Matt’s Musical Week In Review. I left out the other things in my “Added This Week” playlist, which include the This American Life podcast, and 3 episodes of Scrubs that I bought. What? I like Scrubs. There’s no shame in that.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Thank you for not mocking me for thinking, in a way that is representative of my inability to understand lyrics, that the song was “I Wish I Was a Single Girl, or Gay.”
Great new feature!