Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Ten Records I Still Love.

In no particular order, and subject to change at whim.

The Northwest Bands:
  • Death Cab for Cutie, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes
    Before I had to explain to people that the guy from the Postal Service was in this other band, which is also, believe it or not, ridiculously popular for an indie, there was this record. And it is love.

  • Unwound, The Future of What?!
    Every time I try to explain why this record rocks me, all I can come up with is lyrics: “I'm on a subway to a place I can't pronounce / But at least I didn't pay. / A train of thought for a movie plot / Starring me and you, insane. / Can I tempt you with natural disasters?”

  • 764-HERO, Weekends of Sound
    Great driving music from a band named after the number you call in Western Washington to report carpool lane violators.

  • Quasi, Featuring 'Birds'
    A divorced couple sings dirty harmony about broken relationships, bitterness, and depression. I don't know why I wouldn't like it.

  • The Gossip, Arkansas Heat
    This EP captures the essence of their live shows better than the full-length LPs (not to mention the actual length of the average show). It makes me shake my ass for 20 minutes straight, which is no small feat during traffic.

The Non-Northwest Bands:
  • The Pixies, Doolittle
    This should be obvious.

  • Massive Attack, Mezzanine
    So sexy, I want to die.

  • Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane over the Sea
    Again, obvious. For the uninitiated, this is a spectacle of near-perfect indie rock insanity. Not for the faint of heart.

  • Talking Heads, More Songs About Buildings and Food
    I don't know if it's cool to like the Talking Heads or what, but I do. David Byrne strikes me as completely fucking nuts in a way that rivals Bjork, which is great. Plus, again, it makes me wanna dance.

  • The Mountain Goats, Tallahassee
    This may be thrown on due to its freshness in my mind, and also for “No Children.” Which is not to discount its awesomeness in any way.

That's all I can commit to at this time. I should update this list every couple months, just to see how it shifts. Yes. I aspire to make list so obsessive that I can put them into a spreadsheet and create a graph. To post on my blog. That would be awesome.

2 comments:

Julie said...

I'd love to see such a spreadsheet & graph. I'll check back in 6 months, and I expect lots of colors.

emily said...

i realized that it would take a few of these lists before i got enough data points that a graph would be at all meaningful, so maybe give it a year.