Below are two videos by singer/songwriter Andrew Bird. I personally like the first song, "Heretics", much better than the second, but the video for "Spare-Ohs" was too good not to put on here. Enjoy!
I have always been a huge fan of songs that have two or more distinct parts. Until recently, I never really understood why I liked these songs, I just thought it was pretty cool to have completely different styles, tempos, and instruments mixed on the same track. When I was home for my dad's birthday last weekend, I realized why I love these songs so much. Two of my dad's favorite songs of all time, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" by Billy Joel and "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" by Paul McCartney, are songs with two or more distinct songs on one track. These songs bring me back to my childhood.
Two of my favorite tracks that have different sections on one track are "Come Downstairs and Say Hello" by Guster and "Ragged Wood" by Fleet Foxes. I know I have put "Ragged Wood" on here before, but it deserves to be on here again. The song is just that good and Robin Pecknold is my idol. "Siberian Breaks" by MGMT came in a close third for today's entry, but I didn't think many of you had the dedication to sit around for 12 minutes and listen to that one. Enjoy!
Don't really have much time to post about this band but I wanted everyone to listen to them anyway. Girls' self titled album is really awesome. The most well known songs are "Lust for Life" and "Hellhole Ratrace". Both are MJOTW worthy, but I instead chose the Beach Boy-esque "Big Bad Mean Mother Fucker". The band is really interesting (one of the members was raised in a cult), I suggest you read more about them.
I recently found my copy of Illinois by Sufjan Stevens and it's been stuck in the CD player of my car ever since. This is a concept album based on the history of the state of Illinois. Stevens has planned to make an album about each of the 50 states in the union. Illinois was released in 1995 and was his second such album (the state up north was the first). He has failed to release the next volume of the collection.
Although "Chicago" is by far the most well known song on the album, I prefer "Decatur". It's very subtle and simple but the melody and soft spoken lyrics are pretty stunning. Enjoy!
This song has been stuck in my head for the past few days, so I'm putting it on here in hopes it will do the same to you! Modest Mouse's No One's First and You're Next EP followed their previous releases that gained them mainstream success. "Satellite Skin" is the opening track off this offering and it's pretty awesome. If you're looking for more the classic Modest Mouse sound, check out "Guilty Cocker Spaniels".