Five Songs I'm Loving This Week


The Gifted Children, "Skylab Love Scene"

The instrumental part of this song reminds me of Joy Division's "Atmosphere": dark, insistant, though not nearly as dire. The vocals sound more like Death Cab For Cutie, though, which makes an interesting juxtaposition. (From the album Chinese Food Takeover) Their website.

The Dresden Dolls, "Sing"

I have a deep fondness for Cabaret-inspired music. I don't know if it's because I really liked Liza Minnelli as a child, or the fact that the performers tend to wear all black and heavy makeup. Okay, it's largely to do with the "all black, heavy makeup" thing. I love the torchiness of some cabaret songs (though I can like the more uptempo ones, also). Dresden Dolls is a modern cabaret band, dressed like a Vaudevillian act, with songs that range from send-up to sincere torch-song ballad (such as this one). The singer belts thing song out with an unrestraint and emotion not usually associated with the more comic aspects of cabaret--in this song in particular she displays a sincerity usually lacking in performers wearing pinstripes and a permanently surprised look on their faces..


Dresden Dolls

The Magic Words, "Tiny Spiders"

This song is almost shoe-gaze, but really infectious shoe gaze (ooh--that sounds more like a really bad health problem). The guitars meander at first, as if waiting for inspiration to strike, but then rev up as the song progresses. The vocals and instruments come with lots of reverb, which gives it that "recorded in a very small club" sound that I actually really like. (The song is also available on their Myspace).


The Magic Words

Childballads, "The Onion Domes of Tallahassee"

Well, I first noticed this song because of the name: I live in Florida, and of course Tallahassee is the capital of Florida. I don't really know what they mean by Onion Domes, or if there are any in Tallahassee (hmmm...maybe I could find out by going to Myflorida.com. Or maybe not). I have no idea what the song is about, but it has what sounds like moroccas, and I'm not sure I've ever heard moroccas in a song that wasn't being sung by an elementary school class. Moroccas are a selling point for me.

Architecture in Helsinki, "Do The Whirlwhind"

This is a live version of this song; I had the regular version, but let's just say it was a casualty to my forced mp3 clearing out (turns out mp3s were taking up 35 out of the 40 gigabytes on my computer. That's why it was running so slow!) This version is good as the original and gives you a sense of what the song sounds like. The best way I can describe it is electro-disco. Lots of gadget-y sounds, but so squarely in the disco category. It's like Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah! If they had Saturday Night Fever. (Their Website)


Architecture in Helsinki, Fingers Crossed

Speaking of only having 40 gigabytes of space--not anymore!!! Next week I will have a mean 300 gigabytes (plus the already existing 40). Yay!


Bonus:

I really want the mp3 for a song called "Postcard From a Darkstar". Seriously--the song is as fabulous as the title. I can't find it anywhere, though. I may have to (gasp!) by the CD. For now, though, I can make do with the viideo: Merz, "Postcard From A Darkstar"