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I had a really hard time picking just one song from Zoe Keating’s One Cello x 16 Natoma to share since the layering of the cello in each track is so aurally novel and beautiful. I tried generating a random number, but Matlab picked 8, “Legions (Aftermath)” and that track was least representative of the album as a whole in its slow fade out. I ended up picking “We Insist” since it was under 10 mb so I could upload it without degrading the sound quality. Like on the rest of the tracks in this album, this song tells a beautiful multi-layered narrative via the cello.

I am a sucker for songs that entail clapping, and Peter, Bjorn, and John’s “Eyes” from their forthcoming album, Gimme Some (March 29),has some nice ones and is generally a nice little ditty to bop around to.

That said, I was largely underwhelmed by the rest of the album. Some of the lyrics were nauseatingly cliché, and the beginning drum beat of “May Seem Macabre” sounds exactly like Bloc Party’s “She’s Hearing Voices.”

Mos Dub’s “History Town” comprises two of my favorite things: impeccably placed and timed samples of Desmond Dekker’s “Shanty Town” and multiple references to Brooklyn (by Talib Kweli and Mos Def). This one is on 2010’s Mos Dub. Thanks to Justus for the steady flow of good music.

I heard Mazarin’s “For Energy Infinite” rather early this morning before heading to the mountain and it set a nice synth-poppy mood for the day. Thanks to Greg for finding it in a video game.

I was very excited to hear Bad Books’s cover of Built to Spill’s “The Plan” from the moment I heard a riff from the track during their sound check and setup at an ApKmicroshow - you can watch the video here - and it sounded awesome, as most things Built to Spill do. Bad Books posted the song and video recently so I thought I would share the awesome.

I have spent many days listening to Maps & Atlases’s 2010 release Perch Patchwork trying to pick a favorite song, and I finally settled on the closing track, “Perch Patchwork.” They remind me in certain tracks of the Dirty Projectors in their vocal intonations, and have a few lovely instrumental tracks as well. This album is beautiful - thanks to Lauren for bringing it to my awareness. 

(A continuation of yesterday’s song of the day post.)

Some songs are incredibly pleasing to my ears for reasons I can’t explain.  Dreamend’s “Interlude” on So I Ate Myself, Bite by Bite is such a song on an overwhelmingly great album - overwhelmingly in the sense that far more of the album is great than not great, not in the sense that I am overwhelmed by its greatness.  It is just over 2 minutes long, instrumental, and very lovely to wander around the produce section of Wegman’s to.

I loved Penny and the Quarters’s “You and Me” almost as much as I loved the movie I heard it during, Blue Valentine. “You and Me” is a lovely little 70’s soul ditty.  Blue Valentine is one of the best films I have ever seen, to which I credit Derek Cianfrance’s unique approach to creating the film (discussed by Ryan Gosling in a recent interview with Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air).

The Rural Alberta Advantage’s “The Ballad of the RAA” has a sort of alt-country sound, the vocal intonations and violins of Our Lady Peace, and some bell sounds that remind me of Oh No! Oh My!.  That is a weird combination, and I like it.

I wanted to listen to more of Yellow Ostrich after hearing a few amazing covers, and “Whale” from 2010’s The Mistress is such a great original track of theirs.  I like songs about the sea, and their clever instrumentation, so this is my song of the day.

I am a sucker for clapping, whistling, and fiddles in songs, and Andrew Bird has these in spades in “Section 8 City” from 2010’s Fingerlings 4 (Gezelligheid Chicago).  

The Slits’s “Earthbeat.”

Shit Robot’s “Triumph!!!” is wonderful and for some reason makes me think of the Magic Kingdom ride Space Mountain, but as a remix.  Thank you, Justus, for keeping me apprised of all things James Murphy.

When I put on Nadastrom’s Moombaton remix of Win Win’s “Releaserpm,” I instantly lose my thoughts in the instrumental introduction, hear Lizzie Bougatsos’s (Gang Gang Dance) vocals, and wonder where the past minute disappeared to, never wanting that minute back.  

I had to listen to this and the original version many times to pick a favorite, but the trance-y beats in this track are a great fit for the lyrics, and the version I am more inclined to listen to on my snowboard tomorrow. 

When Yeasayer’s “Tightrope” came on my shuffle, I was ecstatic.  How nice it was to be reminded of such a great track (from the Dark Was The Night compilation, which I always like to refer to as “That cd related to that Red Hot concert at Radio City where Sharon Jones brought the entire venue to its feet”).

Then, I heard Yellow Ostrich’s cover of this song, and I was blown away within the first few bars by the hollowed-out drum sounds, which reminded me of Architecture in Helsinki’s 2007 Daytrotter Session version of Heart it Races (which I can’t seem to find anywhere to link to, so I will have to upload the one that I have in the following post).  Then the harmoniously guttural low-fi un-un’s in the background.  And then the string tone, then the squealing computer noises in the background, and then the return of those drums, the humanoid sounds, and the mellifluous flow between each of these seemingly discontinuous and unrelated sounds.  Yellow Ostrich took such an amazing song, and found such unexpected ways to enhance it, that I would consider dubbing it my song of the year if only there weren’t 359 days left.