East Bay View (a blog about several things)

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Ten songs, with user-friendly links to audio/video!

Let's call these my ten favourite songs from the first quarter of 2006, even though nine of them are from last year and half of them I first heard months ago.

1. Neil Young, "This Old Guitar"
His best song since the Eighties? Sounds like it to me. Respectful of history while deserving a place in it.

2. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood"
The kids aren't alright -- too many of them are dying and all of them are empty.

3. The Hold Steady, "Your Little Hoodrat Friend"
Took me a while to notice anything about this track beyond the title. Turns out it's the most specific song on the album. Craig Finn's telling you he's never been with said hoodrat friend, OK they got high together once but that was years ago and these days she makes me sick, and why would you even think they got together? Listening to Finn declaim, there's no question he's being straight with you.

4. Arctic Monkeys, "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor"
Sex without love. Doesn't sound so bad, even if the sex is at this stage is hypothetical and some way off.

5. Public Enemy, "Bring That Beat Back"
I thought the only first-rate beats on the instantly forgotten New Whirl Odor were on the Moby collaboration "MKLVFKWR". Further listening proved most of the album was worse than it initially sounded, but it revealed there was another major PE track. "Each generation thinks the next one is wack." Also the last one, Chuck.

6. Comet Gain, "Just One More Summer Before I Go"
The title seems like a minor request, but things are pretty bad for most who ask for this.

7. Kanye West, "Gold Digger"
OK OK, so I underestimated this. It's the fourth best song on the album.

8. M.I.A., "Bucky Done Gun"
I'm still deriving novel pleasures from my favourite album of last year. What are those drums?

9. Prince, "Black Sweat"
Token actual new track. Amazing that after 28 years he's still finding new ways to rip off James Brown.

10. Gorillaz, "Feel Good Inc."
I'm not as into the Gorillaz concept as many, but then I never got that deep into Blur either. There's no denying, though, that the 'Rillaz do terrific singles. Besides the big big bassline, the coolest sound here is Damon's wispy falsetto "feel good", a rebuttal to "Song 2"'s "woo-hoo".

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