2005 Singles, Pt. 3

Happy Christmas Eve, by the way

Stars-Calendar Girl
I'm not sure, but towards the beginning of the year this song stuck with me in an emotional way. It's not the lyrics, I don't think; they are a bit silly. Instead, it's the heartfelt vocals, the quiet accoustics, the feel of the song. There aren't that many songs that I like but can't describe why or how, probably saying something about an over-analytical approach to music and pleasure in general. This song is one of those exceptions, reminding me of times when I just liked music instead of thinking about whether I should or not.

Animal Collective-Banshee Beat
I know that this is Joel's favorite song of the year, and I know that the song that everyone else likes is "Grass." "Grass" is great, but I agree with Joel on this one; the song is sublime. Joel has some theory about the chord change and never being able to go back to the same chord again; I'm not sure what he's getting at, but the musical tension in the song is intriguing without being annoying. The song is pretty and anthemic, two words that don't usually apply to avant-garde music like Animal Collective. It's a keeper, and so are they.

Broadcast-Michael a Grammar
Yes, this is the second time in as many years that my favorite songs list includes a song with my name in the title (Last year: "Michael" by Franz Ferdinand). I think the attraction might be as simple as the song catches my attention; i feel like it is calling me, and in some very superficial way, it is. This song is catchy and creepy. An example: one snowy night in December, I returned to my duplex expecting it to be full of people. Instead of finding everyone though, I found no one in their rooms, and this tune floating through the duplex, like it was haunted: "Michael, Michael Michael". I felt like the Rapture had come, somehow, and I was being chastised for being a non-believer. The song in general has a similar effect on me, a feeling that I feel privy to, given my name.

Missy Elliott-We Run This
I've never loved a Missy album, but man can she make singles. This song is the only mainstream rap song I fell in love with this year, with a possible exception of "Kryptonite." The production on the track is brilliant and ambitious, the rhymes are party-tastic and catchy, the flow is smooth, and the hook is overwhelming. This is exactly what mainstream rap should sound like; likable but ambitious, in the center but far above so much else. Along with Outkast, I'm really glad Missy is popular; she gives me hope for the top 200.

Lou Barlow-Holding Back the Year
There aren't too many single musicians that I follow from band to band with the dedication as Lou Barlow (Malkmus is another example). This might be because few musicians hop bands as often as Barlow; from Dinosaur Jr to sebadoh to the folk implosion to the new folk implosion (the other half is Alaska!) to just plain Lou Barlow. I never completely absorbed the album until late in the year, but ever since I heard the lead-off single back in March (or February) I loved it. In Louisville, I had to make the decision of whether to buy Lou Barlow's CD or Archer Prewitt's; I picked Archer, and I still think his is the better album. Nevertheless, "Holding Back the Year" shows Barlow to have that glint of songwriting talent that Prewitt wishes he could; while Archer's genis lies in beautiful bridges, Lou can just plain write a melody.

Beck-Girl
I can't say enough about this song. First of all, it's a great pop song: the melody is killer, the production makes it widely listenable, and Beck's voice has never sounded better. Secondly, it's an ambitious pop song; the Dust Brothers put down some pop beats, yes, but add crazy fluorishes and details that reward repeat listens, and Beck's melody is equally rewarding. Thirdly, the lyrics are tantalizing; what is he saying? My what girl? Yes, the lyrics sheet has a blank before girl: "My _____ girl." That says it all: you fill in the blank; as Okkervil would say, "add your own intentions." The song is universal in the best way possible, both entertaining and interesting. P.S. The Octet remix is also great, taking the intrigue of the original and undemrining it; Beck's "tongue-tied" lyrics become a jumble of murmurings samples from throughout the song, while the ambiguous chorus takes a turn for the darker side.

Prefuse 73 feat. the Books-Pagina Dos
Yes, I love Prefuse Reads the Books, but I still think this is the best song of the meeting. Everyone has already said so much about this, so I won't; I'll just say I love this song, Prefuse adds something to the Books that made me really happy, etc. There's not much to say unless I want to write an essay.

The Strokes-You Only Live Once
When I first heard "Juicebox;" I became depressed in a way much more real than I'd like to admit. The Strokes, my ex-Rock-Saviors-turned-modern-music-heroes, had fucked up big time. Which made the beauty of this, the second leaked song, so much more important; I had renewed hope, I felt that things might not be so bad after all, maybe even good. As it turns out, it was neither; the album is like a mean between the first two tracks, the best and worst songs on the album. It's no Room on Fire, let alone Is This It, but, like life, the new album has its ups and downs. Maybe this is a little more realistic for the band that for me symbolizes rock and roll; it's not smart, it's not even good, but it has it's lovable moments. This is that moment in a nutshell.

Clor-Magic Touch
What a goofy fucking song. The vocals are laughable, the lyrics as well. "I wear clothes that get me noticed /They get me noticed in a good way." And yet the song somehow manages to be sexy. Goofy+Sexy=a great Michael single. The rest of the album may be full of "pop gems," as Joel says, shaking his head, but if I want pop gems I'll listen to Belle and Sebastian or something. I want goofy, I want embarrassing, I want weird. And this is it; the bridge, a huge blast of distortion in the middle of a dance song. What the fuck? That's what everyone sober enough might have thought when they heard this song in the middle of our dance party, SCHOLARTRON; me, I just kept dancing.

Hot Chip-Playboy
Another single in my top 5 of the year is this one. I laugh everytime I hear it: "Blazin' out Yo La Tengo Hey..." Thematically similar to last year's "Losing my Edge" (though not as clever), "Playboy" exposes the goofiness that any hipster has, nay, that the very idea of cool has. A couple of years ago, frustrated with people making fun of Badly Drawn Boy, I wrote an essay about how ridiculous "cool" music is. Of course I still buy into cool music; I listen to the Velvet Underground more than most people. The best part about the Hot Chip song, though, is that it is a cool, goofy song about how goofy "cool" is; the vocals are amazing, the beat is perfect, and the chorus melody is to die for. That may be some kind of meta-irony, but whatever it is, it is both goofy and cool. You could say the same thing about the Art Brut album, but let's face it; while their wit and goofiness may make them cool, they are not nearly as cool to begin with as Hot Chip.